 Mosque of el-Bashandī | ||
| el-Bashandī · البشندي | ||
| Governorate | New valley | |
|---|---|---|
| Residents | 1.135 (2006) | |
no tourist info on Wikidata:  | ||
| location | ||
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El-Bashandi (also Izbat / Ezbet el-Bashandi / el-Bashandi / el-Bashendi / el-Bashindi, Cheykh Besendy, Arabic:عزبة البشندي, ʿIzbat al-Bashandī, „Al-Bashandī farm“) Is a village in northeastern the egyptian Sink ed-Dāchla in the New valley. For the Roman Kinites tomb Archaeologists and Egyptologists are mainly interested in the north of the village. It is next to the graves of Qārat el-Muzawwaqa the only accessible grave from Greco-Roman times in the valley ed-Dāchla.
background
The village of ʿIzbat el-Baschandī is located in the northeast of the valley ed-Dāchla about 3.5 kilometers as the crow flies east of Balāṭ (but 11 kilometers by road) and 6 kilometers northwest of Tineida. The village probably got its name from the Sheikh el-Bashandī, who was venerated and buried here. However, the name is not of Arabic origin, even if you occasionally hear that the name originated from "Bāschā Hindī" (Indian pasha). Guy Wagner suggested that the name derive from the Coptic surname Paschonte (Ⲡⲁ ϣ ⲟⲛⲧⲉ) derives.[1]
The history of the village is obscure. It belongs to about 30 former farmsteads that were between Balāṭ and Tineida and from which more or less large villages have now developed. As we know today, this place has been used as a cemetery since the late period. A later settlement since Coptic (Christian) times is quite likely, which is what the place name suggests.
Since the beginning of the 19th century, the village has been visited and mentioned several times by travelers, for example in 1819 by the British Archibald Edmonstone (1795–1871)[2] and from the Italian Bernardino Drovetti (1776–1852)[3] and in 1820 by the French Frédéric Cailliaud (1787–1869)[4] and in 1908 by the US Egyptologist Herbert Eustis Winlock (1884–1950)[5]. But they have nothing significant to report for the village. They only mention mud brick ruins from Roman times southeast of the village in the direction of Tineida, which do not belong to el-Baschandī, but to ʿAin Birbīya. Cailliaud gives the number of inhabitants as 200 for 1820,[4] In 1978 the number was estimated at 2,000.[6] The 2006 census yielded 1,135 residents.[7]
The graves from Greco-Roman times, for which the village is now known, were only discovered in 1947 by the head of the guardians of the oases, Ahmed Zayid. Due to his report, they were taken under in the same year Ahmed Fakhry (1905–1973) uncovered and roughly examined. The finds also included three labeled coffins from the 21st dynasty, which were stored in a magazine. The research results were only published in 1982 after the site was reopened in 1977/1978 by the German Egyptologists Jürgen Osing and Dieter Arnold. However, a systematic investigation is still lacking. The fact that the graves have remained undiscovered for so long is due to the fact that the graves were rebuilt and overbuilt by modern houses. One of the graves was converted into a sheikh tomb in Islamic times and given a dome.
There are five graves within a radius of about 40 meters. In the east there are three graves side by side, the easternmost is the sheikh tomb. To the southwest of this group is the famous one Kitine's tomb (Qtjjnws, Grave 2), and to the northwest of it there are the foundations of the fifth grave. Two graves are almost in full height, a third grave has even higher wall remains, while the other two graves only consist of their foundation walls.
All graves were built from white-gray sandstone blocks, some of which have turned reddish, and have an approximately square floor plan. Only one of the graves is decorated. It is assumed, however, that all five buildings were used as graves.
getting there
Of Tineida to the west (5 kilometers) or Balāṭ Driving to the southeast (about 5 kilometers) one branches off 1 25 ° 31 '36 "N.29 ° 17 ′ 44 ″ E to the north. The village mosque is just under two kilometers away. The village is about 45 kilometers from the main town of the oasis, Courage, away. It is advisable to travel by car, as local public transport is not very well developed. In the morning and evening you can try to take the minibuses to and from el-Chārga to get to the branch mentioned.
mobility
You can also drive to the mosque in large vehicles. Further north it is only possible to use a car, you have to walk near the grave of Kitines because the paths become too narrow and it is no longer possible to turn around.
Tourist Attractions
Buildings in the village
The new one is quite central 1 mosque(25 ° 33 ′ 6 ″ N.29 ° 18 ′ 0 ″ E) located.
In the north of the village in particular there are still a number of them older residential buildingsthat were built from adobe bricks. Some of them are also plastered with clay and whitewashed. Mud bricks placed horizontally and vertically also serve as building decorations. The houses have only a few small windows. The mostly two-story buildings have false ceilings and flat ceilings made of palm or tree trunks, some of which protrude from the structure.
Kitine's tomb
This is located about 220 meters north of the mosque 2 Kitine's tomb(25 ° 33 ′ 13 ″ N.29 ° 18 ′ 1 ″ E), also Kitinos, Qitines, Qtjjnws, Grave 2, which is open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The entrance fee is LE 40 and for students LE 20. There is also a combined ticket for all archaeological sites in ed-Dāchla for LE 120 or LE 60, which is valid for one day (as of 11/2019).
The tomb of Kitines, which is one of a group of five Greco-Roman tombs, is the only one that has been decorated. The approximately 8.5 by 8.5 meter building is almost completely in full height and has its ceiling panels. Only the northwest and southeast corners are damaged. When the grave was found in 1947, there was a residential building on the ceiling tiles, to which a troop led up.
One also knows that from the inscriptions on the grave parents of the grave lord Kitines: His father was an Egyptian named Petosiris, his mother's name was Nemeh. The mother's name is probably Libyan, the name Kitines could be Greek or Libyan. The analysis of the characters used and the style of the reliefs made it possible to narrow down the construction period to the Roman period to the 1st to 2nd centuries AD.
At the facade Apart from the round bars at the corners and the door frame decoration, the grave has no extensive architectural decorations. The entrance of the tomb is on the east side, to which a staircase leads today, as the ancient level is just under a meter below today's street level. The door frame was decorated with a recessed relief, of which only the lower parts are visible today. On both sides of the post you can see the grave lord with a bouquet of flowers in front of the god Horus above a lion figure. A block from the lintel was also found, but not reintegrated into the building: It showed the air god Schu, who was followed by the sacrificing tomb lord, handing a what scepter to Osiris. There are remains of inscriptions on the door reveals.
The grave is divided into three parallel tracts with two rooms each. The front room of the middle wing, to which the entrance leads, served as a passage to the other rooms. At the back one arrives at the only decorated room that functioned as a cult room. The left (southern) rear room has a grave shaft, but it has not been dug. All doors, which are about 1.5 meters high, had doors, the two doors in the middle wing were double-leafed, the rest were single-leafed.
The door frame to the Cult room is also decorated. The winged sun is depicted on the throat above the door. The lintel shows two mirror-image scenes: a human god and two falcon-headed souls from Pe (= Buto, city in Lower Egypt) on the left and two jackal-headed souls from Nechen (= Hierakonpolis, city in Upper Egypt) on the right cheer the one seated in the middle Osiris. The posts consist of three mirror-image registers (picture strips): at the top you can see the gods Horus (left) and the scribe god Thoth (right) pouring out cleaning water. Below are the grave lord and the Anubis jackal on a shrine. The reveals contain a column of inscriptions, in which the grave lord is assured as Osiris water sacrifice and every ten days offerings. On the inside of the door are the four sons of Horus, the protectors of the bowel jars. On the north side these are the human-headed Imset and the jackal-headed Duamutef and on the opposite side the baboon-headed Hapi and the falcon-headed Qebehsenuef. On the lintel is written the wish to have a beautiful, permanent burial in the west of the Abydos district.
The walls are decorated with images in raised relief from the cult of the dead, the characters are sunk. Above is the so-called Cheker frieze with Djed symbols (symbol of Osiris), Isis knots (symbol of Isis) and Abydos fetishes (the symbol of Osiris, who is considered his head and in Abydos was adopted as a cult symbol). Below there is a line of inscriptions, two registers with cult scenes, a repeated line of inscriptions and the base area with the heraldic plants of Upper and Lower Egypt, on which Rechit birds perch and on the back wall a mummy on a lounger. The scenes were originally certainly painted, but have been blackened by later use. In the depictions, the living tomb lord is always dressed in an apron, while the mummified tomb lord wears an ointment cone on his head.
The side walls each have two scenes in both registers. The right wall shows the grave lord on the right in front of a sacrificial table with bread, who worships the enthroned gods Osiris-Onnophris, Isis, Nephthys, Anubis and Horus. The right scene shows the mummy-shaped grave lord with his insignia, who is followed by Hathor and receives the Ankh-Djed-Was scepter from the air god Schu. Below that, on the left, the god Anubis can be seen embalming the mummy laid out in the shrine in the presence of Isis at the foot end and Nephthys at the head end. Next to it is the mummy-shaped grave lord, who is protected by Horus with his wings and offers flowers to Hathor, mistress of the west (realm of the dead), and Shu. Schu donates a water offering.
The upper left scene on the left wall shows the grave lord handing a soda bowl and a mummy bandage to Osiris and the Hathor who followed him. In the right scene the grave lord offers incense and water to Osiris-Onnophris, Anubis and the seated gods Osiris-Onnophris, Thoth and the way opener Upuaut (Wepwawet). In the lower register you can see three priests with standards at the feast for the god of the dead Sokar when leaving the grave.[8] Next to it a board with the mummy of the tomb lord is held up by two men, while Thoth on the left and Horus on the right pour out cleaning water.
There was certainly originally a mirror image on the back wall. However, today the upper right part is destroyed. In the middle stands the mummy-shaped Osiris probably over the full height. At the top left the grave lord worships a ram standard and the Abydos fetish in a double scene. Below that the sons of Horus are shown again, namely Hapi and Qebehsenuef on the left and Imset and Duamutef on the right, worshiping the deceased.
In the inscriptions on the walls, which are only documented here in ed-Dāchla and only in Qārat el-Muzawwaqa have a parallel, the deceased is greeted in the realm of the dead.
There are two between the tomb of Kitines and the tomb of Sheikh el-Bashandī more graves, on the bottom of which several limestone coffins were placed.
Tomb of Sheikh el-Bashandi
This is located about 20 meters east of the Kitine's tomb 3 Sheikhs el-Bashandi grave it(25 ° 33 ′ 13 ″ N.29 ° 18 ′ 2 ″ E)which can be seen from afar on its dome. Walk north until you come to the large forecourt of the tomb. The sheikh tomb is the easternmost of four directly adjacent tombs from Roman times, the so-called grave no.5.
The square grave of the namesake of the village with the side length of about 7.5 meters was laid in an ancient Roman grave. The grave, which was originally built from sandstone blocks, was later supplemented with the upper structure and the dome made of adobe bricks in order to obtain a more dignified grave for the sheikh. The only decorations are the pilasters indicated in the sandstone blocks and the fixed openings in the superstructure.
The entrance to the tomb is on the north side. With a little skill you can find the mighty key so that you can also get into the inside of the grave. The square interior has a flat dome, which, however, is not identical to the dome visible from the outside. Also, no light penetrates into the grave room through the window openings. On the south side of the grave is the prayer niche and on both sides there is another small niche. On the walls there is a band in red that is difficult to see today. The top of the side niches was also decorated. In some places there are also Arabic inscriptions, also in red. The cenotaph, the mock grave above ground, is on the left wall of the entrance.
accommodation
Accommodation is available in courage, in Qasr ed-Dachla and along this road to el-Farafra.
trips
A visit to the village can be combined with other sites in the east of the ed-Dāchla depression. These include e.g. Tineida, Balāṭwho have favourited masters from the Old Kingdom Qilāʿ eḍ-Ḍabba and the ancient settlement Ismant el-Charab.
literature
- : Monuments of the Dachla Oasis: from the estate of Ahmed Fakhry. Mainz: Babble, 1982, Archaeological publications; 28, ISBN 978-3-8053-0426-9 , Pp. 57-69, panels 12-19, 64-69.
Individual evidence
- ↑: Les oasis d'Égypte à l’époque grecque, romaine et byzantine d'après les documents grecs. Le Caire: Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale, 1987, Bibliothèque d'étude; 100, P. 194, footnote 6.
- ↑: A journey to two of oases of upper Egypt. London: Murray, 1822, P. 44.
- ↑: Journal d’un voyage à la vallée de Dakel. In:Cailliaud, Frédéric; Jomard, M. (Ed.): Voyage à l’Oasis de Thèbes et dans les déserts situés à l’Orient et à l’Occident de la Thébaïde fait pendant les années 1815, 1816, 1817 et 1818. Paris: Imprimerie royale, 1821, Pp. 99-105, especially p. 101.
- ↑ 4,04,1: Voyage a Méroé, au fleuve blanc, au-delà de Fâzoql dans le midi du Royaume de Sennâr, a Syouah et dans cinq autres oasis…; Text volume 1. Paris: Imprimerie Royale, 1826, P. 225.
- ↑: Ed Dākhleh Oasis: Journal of a camel trip made in 1908. new York: Metropolitan Museum, 1936, P. 17 f.
- ↑Osing, J., loc. cit., P. 57.
- ↑Population according to the 2006 Egyptian census, accessed June 3, 2014.
- ↑It is not entirely certain whether this is the so-called Sokar festival. In the case of a funeral procession, however, the priests would go to the grave into it to run.
