Ismant el-Charab - Ismant el-Charāb

Mud brick ruins of the north tombs of Ismant el-Charāb
Ismant el-Charab · ‏إسمنت الخراب‎
Kellis · Κελλις
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Ismant el-Charab

Ismant el-Charab (also Ismant / Ismint / Asmant / Esment el-Kharab / el-Charab, Smint, Greek Kellis, Arabic:إسمنت الخراب‎, Ismant al-Charab, „Ismant, lying in ruins“) Is an archaeological site in the east of the egyptian Sink ed-Dāchla, about 5 kilometers east-southeast of the village Ismant away. Archaeologists are likely to be interested in the site. Since the area is still being scientifically investigated, you should visit the tourist information office in Courage or vote with the excavation team.

background

The archaeological site of Ismant el-Charab is about 800 meters south of the trunk road from Balāṭ to Courage located. It is located on a natural clay terrace and measures around 1050 meters (east-west) × 650 meters. As shards indicate, the site has been inhabited since the Middle Paleolithic (over 40,000 years ago). The current remains date from the Roman period between the first and fourth centuries AD. The village with its temples and residential buildings, the Greek Kellis (Κελλις) belonged to the administrative district of Mothis (Mūṭ). The most important branch of the economy was agriculture. Since Coptic times was used as a place name Smne (Ⲥⲙⲛⲉ) or Smint (Ⲥⲙⲛⲧ) is used.[1] The Arabic name was first derived from this Smint (Arabic:سمنت) From which later Ismant has been.

The Temple for the god Tutu is the earliest structure in this settlement. It is located to the west of the excavation site. In the temple is the first Roman emperor Nero (Reigns 54–68) handed down in inscription on a statue base. The temple was expanded and decorated below Hadrian (Reigns 117-138) and Pertinax (Reign 193).

The temple was ancient Egyptian Tutu, god of the sun and creation (Greek Tithoes), his mother, the goddess Neith, and his consort Tap (a) shai (also Tanetpaschai, "those belonging to fate"). The god Tutu has only been in since the 26th dynasty Kalabsha occupied and the local temple the only one dedicated to him. Tutu is depicted either as a sphinx or in human form. The goddess Tapschai is only recorded in this temple and wears horns, a sun disk and two ostrich feathers on her head as her attributes. Tutu and Tapschai also embody the king and queen of Upper and Lower Egypt in this temple. The god Tutu was also found in the tombs of Qārat el-Muzawwaqa shown.

There are several mausoleums to the north and south of the temple complex. Administrative and residential buildings were created in the east of the excavation area. In the southeast there are two churches that, according to ceramic and coin finds, were built between the beginning and the end of the 4th century.

Cult activities in the main temple existed until the middle of the 4th century. In the course of the 4th century that became Christianity Focus of religious life. The churches built here are among the earliest church buildings in Egypt. At the end of the 4th century the settlement became leave. The reason is unknown. Water scarcity or the approach of sand dunes would be conceivable. This place was never settled again later, which is of course a stroke of luck for the archaeologists. In Arab times the place became Ismant Newly built about 5 kilometers to the west. The Egyptian historian Ibn Duqmāq (1349-1407) named both localities in his list of 24 localities in the valley. He named the local town Smint el-qadīma (Arabic:سمنت القديمة‎, „the old Smint“) And mentioned that rice was grown in his vicinity.[2]

The archaeological site was first time in 1819 from the Italian Bernardino Drovetti (1776–1852) under the name Smint el-Ḥamrāʾ (Arabic:سمنت الحمراء‎, „the red smint“) Because of the predominant color of the clay.[3] The Briton John Gardner Wikinson (1797–1875), who visited the depression in 1825, reported a large stone building [the Temple of Tutu] with a stone gate, a chapel painted with squares and flowers, and large clay burial chapels with pilasters on the facade and vaulted Ceilings from Roman times.[4] The Briton Hugh John Llewellyn Beadnell (1874–1944) mapped the place.[5]

Wooden plaque with Coptic text, Archaeological Museum of el-Chārga

The German orientalist Bernhard Moritz (1859–1939) reported in 1900 from his excursion to the Libyan desert that he had found numerous residential buildings, stone blocks lying around and several burial chapels in Ismant el-Charāb. Due to a lack of tools, he was only able to partially uncover the largest burial chapel and found multicolored wall representations.[6] On May 14, 1908, the site was discovered by an American Egyptologist Herbert Eustis Winlock (1884–1950) visited.[7] He describes the funerary chapels, especially the largest, and documents the wall representations of gift bearers in the ancient Egyptian style, which Moritz had already found, but which have now been lost. He believed that he only found grave structures from Roman times, he even found a grave made of sandstone. The finds included ceramics, faience and glass.

After the visit by the British William Joseph Harding King (1869–1933)[8] quiet returned for a long time.

The exploration of Ismant el-Charāb is one of the most important projects of the Dakhleh Oasis Projects (DOP). Since 1981 the site has been investigated by scientists from the DOP, led by Colin A. Hope, and plans have been drawn up. Excavations have been carried out since 1986.[9]

The most important finds in the houses included numerous written documents on wooden tablets and papyrus[10] or, more rarely, parchment. These included private letters, business texts such as accounting in agriculture,[11] Contracts and literary texts. This also included Christian Orthodox texts, but the main part consisted of four codes with Manichean content. This Gnostic revealed religion, established in Egypt in the third century, is a kind of counter-religion to Orthodox Christianity. The religion is named after its founder, the Persian Mani (216-276 / 277), named. It originated in the Jewish Christian environment, but also took ideas from Buddhism and of Zoroastrianism. Asceticism and purity were required of the followers of this religion in order to attain salvation.

Coins, ceramics, and dated Greek treaties date from the 4th century. The most beautiful finds include seven painted glass jugs, the most famous of which is the so-called gladiator jug.[12]

getting there

The journey can be from Courage from across the trunk road to el-Chārga by car, taxi or public transport. You don't need an all-terrain vehicle to get there. You park your own vehicle a few meters away from the road on the side of the road.

mobility

The underground of the archaeological site is sandy and can therefore only be tackled on foot. Be careful not to destroy ancient relics through carelessness.

Tourist Attractions

After robbery excavations, the area is guarded and can no longer be entered without permission from the highest antiquities authority in Cairo or the antiquities service in Mūṭ.

Grave 1 of the north group
South-east corner of grave 1

A number of are already visible from the street 1 20 burial chapels(25 ° 31 '6 "N.29 ° 5 '43 "E), which are located approximately in the northeast of the excavation site. The two largest are at the southernmost end. The chapels were built mainly from adobe bricks. Your entrance is in the east, which is partially preceded by a portico (vestibule with half columns). First you get into a transverse chamber, which leads to one to three rear chambers. The chambers have a barrel vault ceiling. The mausoleums were intended as family burial sites.

The 2 southernmost chapel(25 ° 31 ′ 3 ″ N.29 ° 5 '43 "E) is the largest with a length of about 25 meters (east-west) and a width of 20 meters. Your walls are still about 7 to 8 meters. It has a vestibule, a front chamber and three rear chambers. In 1900 and 1908, Moritz and Winlock found wall representations of gift bearers in the middle chamber in the ancient Egyptian way. But today they are lost. Remnants of the ceiling, which was also painted, were found in the rubble. About twenty burials were found in the area of ​​the rear chambers and behind the chapel.

About 25 meters further north is a similar mausoleum, but it is not that well preserved. Immediately to the north of this chapel there are nine chapels that have been seamlessly added to one another. About 40 meters northeast of the last adobe chapel there is still a destroyed stone grave.

Temple of Tutu
Tempelhof in the east of the enclosure wall, view to the north

The is located southwest of the northern group of tombs Excavation area D with the 3 Temple for Tutu, Neith and Tapschai(25 ° 30 '58 "N.29 ° 5 ′ 39 ″ E), Mistress of the city. For conservation reasons, the temple has now been filled in, but its size and location can still be determined. The temple has two enclosing walls, the outer one is misshapen, while the inner one roughly follows the temple plan. The temple faces east to west. The temple was reached through an undecorated double gate in the inner wall. In the corners of the inner wall there is a mud brick shrine in which popular deities were probably worshiped.

Behind the entrance there is an approximately 25-meter-long courtyard, which was surrounded by adobe pillars on the west, north and south sides. A processional path led to the portico, which had four adobe pillars on the facade and another pillar on the side walls. The facade bore a dedication inscription from the 3rd century AD. Behind it follows the main gate to the temple, which gave access to another courtyard. The temple including the portico is around 25 meters long. The main gate had a painted raised relief on which an emperor, probably Hadrian, was depicted in a cult activity in front of Tutu and a goddess. Behind the courtyard were three more temple rooms, one behind the other. The second formed the sacrificial hall, the rearmost the sanctuary (holy of holies).

The shrine in the southwest corner, which is now also filled in, bore the most interesting representations in the temple area. The shrine probably served as the birthplace, which is derived from the depiction of two gods, perhaps Khnum and Ptah, on pottery wheels. The shrine consisted of a forecourt and two adobe-built rooms with barrel vaults. The representations were executed as wall paintings on stucco. Above a pedestal with square patterns and depictions of birds and plants there were in several registers the sacrifices of various gods to the main gods of the temple, which were carried out in the ancient Egyptian style. Shackled prisoners were also among the victims. The king as the executor of cult acts is absent here. This was only carried out by the priests by virtue of their office. In the shrine were fragments of a barque shrine, several statues of Isis and other deities, and a gilded stele of the Septimius Severus found.

On the back wall of the temple there was a stone counter-temple with its own surrounding wall with its own forecourt and two rooms. In the southern part of this forecourt there were two sandstone cleaning basins. The gate to the sanctuary was designed under Emperor Pertinax and thus represents one of the few inscriptions of this emperor in Egypt. Tutu, Seth and Bes were recognizable in the remains of the images.

To the north of the temple there were two other areas separated by enclosing walls. There were buildings here that were probably used for administration or storage. In the far north-west corner there was a church building from the 4th century. Further to the northeast there was an extensive cemetery on the hills. Some of the buried wore a painted or gilded cardboard mask. There were hardly any grave goods.

South of the temple complex was another group with mausoleums, the 4 South graves(25 ° 30 ′ 51 ″ N.29 ° 5 ′ 41 ″ E).

Great Eastern Church
Great Eastern Church, looking east

To the east of the northern group of tombs, numerous residential buildings were found in the 5 Excavation area B(25 ° 31 '7 "N.29 ° 5 '50 "E) built. They were built from adobe bricks. The interior walls were partially painted and had niches, shelves and shelves. So far, over 200 rooms, corridors and courtyards have been examined. The finds included remains of wooden doors and door frames, furniture, ceramics, clothing, jewelry, coins and large quantities of written documents on wooden tablets or papyrus. On the basis of jug seals it could be determined that the buildings were erected in the 2nd century and used until the 4th century.

South of the aforementioned area is located 6 Excavation area A(25 ° 30 '58 "N.29 ° 5 '47 "E). In its southeast corner there is a building area with a heatable bathhouse and two churches ("Eastern Churches"). The churches were surrounded by an enclosure wall 35 meters long (north-south) and at least 27 meters wide. The 7 great Eastern Church(25 ° 30 '55 "N.29 ° 5 '48 "E)which is about 20 meters long, 17 meters wide and almost 4 meters high, was a three-aisled basilica with a painted apse. 16 adobe pillars stand in the parish room in the square, there is both a west and an east alley. The apse, which is about 2.8 meters wide, was framed with half-columns and had two niches in the round wall. On both sides of the apse there was a small room that served as a place for the priests to stay (Pastophorion). There were four chambers on the south wall of the church. The southwest room had a staircase and two ovens, so it was used as a kitchen. The remains of a painted cross with handles were among the finds.

To the southwest of the large church was the 8 small eastern church(25 ° 30 '55 "N.29 ° 5 '47 "E)which is approximately 10 feet long and 6.5 feet wide. It consisted only of a single chamber with an ornamentally painted apse with half-columns. The coins and ceramic fragments found show that both churches were built in the 4th century and are among the earliest church buildings in Egypt.

To the east is another large residential area, the 9 Excavation area C(25 ° 31 '6 "N.29 ° 5 '59 "E).

accommodation

Accommodation is available for B. in courage and in the range of Qasr ed-Dachla.

trips

The visit to Ismant el-Charāb can be traced to other sites along the trunk road Tineida connect. These include in particular Balāṭ and Qilāʿ eḍ-Ḍabba.

literature

  • Hope, Colin A.: Dakhla Oasis, Ismant el-Kharab. In:Bard, Kathryn A. (Ed.): Encyclopedia of the Archeology of Ancient Egypt. London, New York: Routledge, 1999, ISBN 978-0-415-18589-9 , Pp. 222-226.
  • Hölbl, Günther: Ancient Egypt in the Roman Empire; 3: Sanctuaries and religious life in the Egyptian deserts and oases. Mainz on the Rhine: Babble, 2005, Zabern's illustrated books on archeology, ISBN 978-3805335126 , Pp. 88-95.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑Wagner, Guy: 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. 192, footnote 4.
  2. ↑Ibn-Duqmāq, Ibrāhīm Ibn-Muḥammad: Kitāb al-Intiṣār li-wāsiṭat ʿiqd al-amṣār; al-Guzʿ 5. Būlāq: al-Maṭbaʿa al-Kubrā al-Amīrīya, 1310 AH [1893], p. 11 below – 12, in particular p. 12, lines 8 f.
  3. ↑Drovetti, [Bernardino]: 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. 102.
  4. ↑Wilkinson, John Gardner: Modern Egypt and Thebes: being a description of Egypt; including the information required for travelers in that country; Vol.2. London: Murray, 1843, P. 364.
  5. ↑Beadnell, Hugh John Llewellyn: Dakhla Oasis. Its topography and geology, Cairo, 1901, (Egyptian Geological Survey Report; 1899.4), panel V.
  6. ↑Moritz, B [ernhard]: Excursion aux oasis du desert libyque, in: Bulletin de la Société Sultanieh de Géographie (BSGE), Volume 5 (1898-1902), pp. 429-475, in particular pp. 452 f.
  7. ↑Winlock, H [erbert] E [ustis]: Ed Dākhleh Oasis: Journal of a camel trip made in 1908, New York: Metropolitan Museum, 1936, pp. 20-22, pls. XI-XIII.
  8. ↑Harding-King, William Joseph: Mysteries of the Libyan Desert. London: Seeley, 1925, ISBN 978-1850779575 , P. 37 f.
  9. ↑The preliminary reports were mainly in Journal of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities (JSSEA), for example Volume 11 (1981) 174-241, Volume 12 (1982), pp 93-101, Volume 13 (1983), pp 121-141, Volume 15 (1985), pp 114- 125, 16: 74-91 (1987), 157-176 (1987) and 19, 1-26 (1989). See also: Kaper, Olaf Ernst: Temples and gods in Roman Dakhleh: studies in the indigenious cults of an Egyptian oasis. Groningen: Rijksuniv., 1997.
  10. ↑Worp, K [laas] A.: Greek papyri from Kellis: (P.Kell.G.); 1: Nos. 1-90. Oxford: Oxbow Books, 1995, Dakhleh Oasis Project; 3. See also P.Kell. on papyri.info.
  11. ↑The accounts date from the 360s and are now in the archaeological museum of el-Chārga issued. See also: Bagnall, Roger S.: The Kellis agricultural account book: (P. Kell. IV Gr. 96). Oxford: Oxbow Books, 1997, Dakhleh Oasis project; 7th.
  12. ↑Hope, Colin A.; Whitehouse, Helen V.: The Gladiator Jug from Ismant el-Kharab. In:Bowen, G. E.; Hope, Colin A. (Ed.): The Oasis papers 3: proceedings of the Third International Conference of the Dakhleh Oasis Project. Oxford: Oxbow, 2004, Pp. 290-310; PDF. The file is 1.3 MB in size.

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