 Temple of Seti I on the south side of the | ||
| el-Kanāʾis · الكنائس | ||
| Governorate | Aswan | |
|---|---|---|
| height | 205 m | |
no tourist info on Wikidata:  | ||
| location | ||
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Behind the modern Arabic name el-Kana'is, also el-Kanais, el-Kanaïs or el-Kanayis, Arabic:الكنائس, al-Kanāʾis, „the temples"Or" the chapels ", in dialect il-Kanāyis In other words, an ancient Egyptian well station is hidden on the way to the gold mines of el-Barrāmīya, which was built under King Seti I and which he reported on in the adjoining rock sanctuary. In Greco-Roman times, the well station was located along the route from Edfu to Berenike with a fortress to one Hydreuma expanded and served together with the rock temple as a Pan sanctuary, as Paneion. This route was used to transport goods, including elephants destined for war operations, which were delivered via the Red Sea port of Berenike.
Egyptologists, archaeologists and art historians are likely to be interested in this archaeological site.
background
Location and name
El-Kanāʾis is located about 51 kilometers east of Edfu, 169 kilometers west of Marsā ʿAlam, about 200 meters south of the modern trunk road 212 to Marsā ʿAlam on the southern edge of the Wādī el-Miyāh, also Wādī Miyāh,وادي المياه, „the water valley". East of Edfu begins the Wādī ʿAbbād,وادي عبادWhich still flows west of el-Kanāʾis into the Wādī el-Miyāh. The western part of the trunk road coincides with the western part of the ancient route from Berenike to Edfu.
El-Kanāʾis is a modern name that has been handed down in slightly different variants since the beginning of the 19th century. Their meaning "the temples / the chapels" can be traced back to the local temple complex. Since the middle of the 19th century, the misleading term temple of er-Radīsīya (also el-Redesīya and similar) was used for the local temple. The village of er-Radīsīya on the eastern bank of the Nile,الرديسية, But served for the German Egypt expedition under Karl Richard Lepsius (1810–1884) only as a starting point for their journey.
No place name has been handed down from ancient Egyptian times. At the temple, the name of the entire complex, i.e. fountain and temple, is called “Fountain of Men-maat-Re” in the vestibule, where Men-maat-Re is the name of the throne Seti ’I. is. In Greek times the indication was ὕδρευμα το ἐπὶ τοῦ Πανεῖου, Hydreuma to epi tou Paneiou, used, which is more of a description of the place or function: a fortified well station (Hydreuma) and a Pan-sanctuary.
history
At least since the 18th dynasty, this site was used as a stopping point for expeditions to the gold mines of el-Barrāmīya. The earliest archaeological evidence is a cartouche Amenhotep III., the 7th king of the 18th dynasty, next to the name of his viceroy Mermosi (Merimes, Merymose) east of the rock sanctuary. It has occasionally been speculated that this stopping point has been used since the 1st Dynasty, because about 30 kilometers east of Edfu in the Wādī ʿAbbād at the entrance to the Wādī Shagāb, the king's name was named Horus Hor Wadji, also King Snake, the 4th King of the 1st Dynasty around 2950 BC. BC, found as a rock painting. However, there is no evidence for the use of the gold mines mentioned in or from this time.
Seti I., the 2nd king of the 19th dynasty, had a well built here for the water supply and a rock temple for those in his mortuary temple in Abydos revered gods. The temple is closely connected to the fountain: in a so-called king's novella[1] Sethos I describes his administrative decision to build the well and its successful realization. The considerable effort only served one purpose: the gold deliveries were needed as a foundation for his mortuary temple in Abydos. At the end of his reign he could no longer maintain the foundation. And his son and successor Ramses II had his own mortuary temple built in Abydos.
In Greek times the well station gained importance again. It was on the route from Edfu, the ancient Appolonospolis megalè or Apollinopolis Magna, to Berenike, that from Ptolemy II Founded.[2] Deliveries of goods from the area of today's Sudan and Ethiopia, but also from India and Arabia, were shipped to Berenike. B. Edfu and Qifṭ, the ancient Coptos, brought from what also Pliny the Elder (23 / 24–79 AD)[3] and Strabo (64/63 BC - after 23 AD)[4] knew to report. The goods shipped from Africa also included live elephants. Ptolemy II wanted them in the Diadoch wars to use in his army, even if the African elephants, like the lost battle of Raphia in 217 BC. Not as well suited as the Indian elephants. since Ptolemy V elephants were no longer used in military service. In Roman times gold was also extracted from the Bi Miner Samūt mine and emeralds from the area of Mons Smaragdus transported on this route.
In order to secure the well station, a fortified settlement was built in the immediate vicinity as early as Greek times. Numerous Greek inscriptions on the rock walls prove that the route was also used by numerous travelers and here, also in the rock temple, the shepherd god Pan revered. The worship of Pan is based on his equation with the ancient Egyptian god of fertility Min back by the Greeks. Min was also considered the patron of the caravan routes and miners in the eastern Egyptian desert.
Hardly anything is known about the post-Roman period, even if local Arabic inscriptions and ceramic finds along the Edfu – Berenike route point to a later use by Muslim travelers on their Hajj.
History of science
Following the inscriptions on the temple, the temple has been visited by travelers since the 16th century. 1534 has z. B. the traveler Alixander immortalized.[5]
At the beginning of the 19th century, reports by European travelers from el-Kanāʾis appeared for the first time. The Frenchman Frédéric Cailliaud (1787–1869) first came to the local temple on November 3, 1816[6] and a second time from 27.-29. June 1822[7]. The local Bedouin, the Ababda, called the place Ouâdi el-Kanis (the valley of the temple). Cailliaud enthusiastically described the "newly discovered" temple:
- “I felt vivid joy at this unexpected sight. Will I find another monument to the ancient Egyptians who were still active in the desert with tireless zeal? Impatience to get to these ruins made me quicken the camel's pace. My expectation had not disappointed me. To my great surprise, I found an Egyptian temple, partly built, partly carved into the rock, of pleasing dimensions. Four columns form a vestibule. Inside, the ceiling rests on the same number of pillars ...
- The walls of the temple are covered with hieroglyphs in relief and are well preserved, the colors with which they are painted are of astonishing freshness ... ”(translation from Schott, op. Cit., P. 129)
In the meantime, on September 24, 1818, the temple was also used by the Italian adventurer Giovanni Battista Belzoni (1778–1823) visited on his third trip through Egypt.[8] He was followed by the British Egyptologist in the 1830s John Gardner Wilkinson (1797–1875)[9] and 1841 Nestor L’Hôte (1804–1842), whose manuscripts are kept in the National Library in Paris. From October 10th to 12th, 1843, the area - and not just the temple - was used by the German Egyptian expedition led by the Egyptologist Karl Richard Lepsius (1810-1884) examined.[10]
In 1876 the Egyptologist published Samuel Birch (1813 –1885) English translations of inscriptions in the temple.[11] The later scientists who visited and investigated el-Kanāʾis include, among others. the Russian Egyptologist Vladimir Golénischeff (1856–1947) January 2, 1889,[12] 1906 the British Egyptologist Arthur Weigall (1880–1934)[13] and in 1918 the British Egyptologists Battiscombe Gunn (1883-1950) and Alan H. Gardiner (1879 –1963).[14] In 1920, the French Egyptologist Henri Gauthier (1877–1950) presented a complete description of the temple for the first time. In the expedition led by the German Egyptologist Siegfried Schott (1897-1971) the temple was completely photographed in March 1935, and in 1961 the results were published with a selection of the photographs.
As part of the VIII German Inner-African Research Expedition (DIAFE) under the direction of the German ethnologist Leo Frobenius (1873–1938) were recorded in June 1926 rock art in el-Kanāʾis, but only published in 1974 by the Czech Egyptologist Pavel Červíček (1942–2015). In 1972 the French epigrapher André Bernand (1923–2013) presented 92 edited and annotated Greek inscriptions, the most extensive publication to date on the inscriptions of the Paneion of el-Kanāʾis. These investigations complement the results presented in particular by Lepsius and Weigall.
The archaeological exploration of el-Kanāʾis has not yet been completed. Only the temple is well documented. Many inscriptions, especially from the Arab period, are still unknown. Also, there has been no archaeological investigation of the fortress near the well so far.
getting there
Arrival is not only possible from Edfu, but also from Luxor or Aswan. You can reach Edfu via the trunk road on the east bank and pass Edfu train station.
For the onward journey, however, you need a taxi or a car. From the station building in Edfu, take the paved highway 212 to the east to Marsā ʿAlam and after about 51 kilometers you reach the archaeological site of el-Kanāʾis. The driver or an attendant can help arrange for the guard to arrange a visit to the site. The trunk road was renewed in 2018.
On the way you pass the silted up well 1 Biʾr ʿAbbād, بئر عباد, And that 2 Tomb of Sīdī ʿAbbād in the valley of the same name Wādī ʿAbbād and that 3 Tomb of Sīdī Abū Gihād (also Sīdī Jihād). There is also an old Roman fortress nearby. About six kilometers east of the well mentioned, the branches to the north 4 Wādī Shagāb, وادي شجاب, From.
Tourist Attractions
The archaeological site has not yet been opened to visitors. She is guarded. You can at least take a look at the archaeological site from the roadside. With a little skill you can also see the accessible parts of the area. The inner temple hall itself is locked. A permit from the is required for viewing them Supreme Council of Antiquities in Cairo and the inspector for this site and key. The 5 Guard house is located in the west of the area.
Temple of Seti ’I.
Around 1290 BC BC, consecrated to Amun-Re and Horus of Edfu 6 Temple of Seti ’I. - Throne name Men-maat-Re - is located at the foot of a high sandstone rock and is a so-called Hemispeos, d. In other words, only the rear part with the pillared hall and the three alley sanctuaries (sanctuaries) was knocked out of the rock. The vestibule (or portico) in the north with its four columns was built from sandstone blocks directly in front of it. The quarry stone wall that surrounds the vestibule is more recent. It is missing in early photographs.
The lobby is about 7.30 meters wide and a good 4 meters deep. Its back wall with the two niches for the king statues was made in the adjacent rock. The former barrier walls, which formed the front end of the vestibule and connected the side walls with the front pillars, have been missing since the beginning of the 19th century. But you can still see that it existed. The roof of the vestibule consists of twelve sandstone blocks and rests on architraves and the side walls. The architraves are supported by columns with lotus bud capitals and on the left by an almost undecorated pillar, which was necessary after the architrave was broken. On the post of the left, eastern side wall is a large falcon with a lower Egyptian crown and a graffito by the scribe Smanacht from Aswan and his son Penpata.
The decoration of the side walls is similar: on the left, eastern side wall, King Seti I kills with a double crown in the presence of Amun-Re of Karnak, lord of the earth, who gives the king a curved sword (chepesch) is enough, four pathetic Nubian princes, with a club. Ten princes are named, the prince of Kush and the princes of the nine-arch peoples, whose bound name cartouches are held by Amun-Re. Behind the king is his ka-Standards. On the opposite wall, the king with the lower Egyptian crown kills four princes of the other foreign countries in the presence of Horus of Edfu. Eight Syrian and Libyan tribes are named. On the back there are colossal statues of King Seti I with a double crown, crossed arms, fronds and crook, as well as depictions of the king at the sacrifice. On the left back wall he offers incense to the god Re-Harachte in the well of Men-Maat-Re, on the right side his throne name to Amun-Re in the well of Men-Maat-Re. The columns bear dedicatory inscriptions by the king for Amun-Re, Horus von Edfu, Re-Harachte in the fountain and Ptah in the fountain, the architrave cartouches of the king and the ceiling panels in the central aisle crowned vultures with outspread wings.
Numerous visitor inscriptions tell of modern visitors and their bad habit of having to immortalize themselves everywhere. These are e.g. B. the oldest traveler Alixander 1534[5] and Frédéric Cailliaud 1816.
The Indoor hall the temple has three aisles, a good 6 meters long and 5.7 meters wide. Two square pillars carved out of the rock carry an architrave lengthways. The ceiling in the central nave is again decorated with crowned vultures. Each ship has a chapel on its back wall, in which King Seti I is enthroned next to two deities. The middle chapel is larger than the side chapels and has a three-step staircase that leads to it. In the middle chapel you can see Sethos I next to Amun and Horus, in the left Sethos I next to Osiris and Ptah and in the right Sethos I next to Isis and a destroyed god, probably Amun-Re or Horus. Between the chapels on the back wall on the left is Seti I with an inscription and on the right the king with an incense and libation (water) sacrifice.
On the long walls, depictions of the king's sacrifice can be seen, the colors of which are still well preserved. On the left or east wall, Seti I can be seen in three scenes, how he sends a bouquet of flowers to the ithyphallic Amun-Re and Isis, wine to the enthroned, falcon-headed Horus of Edfu and a portrait of the goddess Maat to the enthroned Amun Re sacrifices. On the opposite side, Seti I can be seen in four scenes, how he worships Amun-Re, anoints Re-Harachte, offers incense to Ptah and Sachmet and a portrait of the Maat to Osiris from Edfu and Isis, mistress of heaven. At the southern end of both long walls there is an empty and undecorated niche.
On all four sides of the pillars, the king is shown performing sacrifices before various deities such as Amun-Re, Mut, Chons, Ptah, Isis, Osiris-Onnophris, Horus, Atum, Re-Harachte, Hathor and Nechbet.
On the left reveal of the door to the inner hall and on the two entrance walls is the important temple inscription, which extends over 38 columns, in which Seti I mentions the reason for the excavation of the well and the construction of the temple. The right door reveal is undecorated because it was covered by the single-leaf door.
On the left reveal, of course, the king praises his deeds, such as successfully digging a well and building the temple. On the left entrance wall is the king on the left and a 14-column inscription with his decision to build a well in the ninth year of the reign. After visiting the gold mines, he held advice with his heart because there was no well on the way to the mines. God guided him to find a suitable place for the well. The newly dug well had plenty of water. Speaking to himself again, the king emphasizes his determination and the fact that God has granted his wish. As a further act, the king decides to build a temple. All of this was necessary to furnish his house, his mortuary temple, in Abydos. What is special about this text is that it is one of the few examples of a King's Novella on the temple walls. In literary form, the king successfully implements his divine inspiration through divine guidance.
On the right wall, the king regulates the transport of gold to his temple in Abydos in a 19-column inscription. He guarantees eternal wages to future kings and officials who continue these gold transports, and curses and threatens to punish all those who abuse this gold.
Rock steles
There are three to the east of the temple 7 Rock steles from Pharaonic times. The left stele shows in the upper part Seti I on the right how he offers wine to Amun-Re, Mut, Re-Harachte, Osiris, Isis and Horus. Below that is an inscription with a worshiping man on the right who is the head of the stables and leader of the gold troops, and a goddess, possibly Astarte, on horseback on the left. Attempts have only been made in recent years to cut this relief out of the rock.
On the middle stele is the Viceroy of Kush, His Majesty's charioteer and leader of the Medjai troops, Yuny / Yuni, shown kneeling in front of the enthroned Seti I. The Medjai, a tribe in the eastern desert, served the Egyptians as caravan drivers, police officers and professional soldiers.
On the right stele in the upper register you can see ʿAnena, leader of the gold troops, how he worships the enthroned Horus of Edfu and the lion-shaped Horus, lord of the desert, including a kneeling, adoring well grave in front of a sacrificial table, Ptah and Sachmet. Amenhotep III's cartouche was to the right.
Rock graffiti
There are numerous in various places, but mainly to the east of the aforementioned rock steles 8 Rock inscriptions, so-called petroglyphs, from ancient Egyptian and predominantly Greek times. They were made by travelers, including soldiers and officials, who stopped here after a long, arduous journey. The rock carvings were usually hammered or scraped out of the rock while the inscriptions were carved into the rock.
On the one hand, there are depictions of people, symbols, ships and boats as well as animals such as birds, elephants, camels and cattle. The animals shown do not come from the local desert and could have been brought along by the travelers.
The Greek inscriptions were placed here over a period of 400 to 500 years and date from Greek times since Arsinoë II Philadelphus around 279 BC Until the early Roman, Hadrianic times, even if inscriptions from Roman times are very rare. Many inscriptions are addressed to Pan, in which he was thanked for the safe journey or for salvation on the journey and in which he was asked for further protection. Thanksgiving offerings were also mentioned in some inscriptions. The origin of the travelers or writers does not play a significant role here. Inscriptions by Jewish-Greek travelers can also be found here.[15]
Fountain
To the northeast of the temple and south of the settlement is the 9 Fountainwhich was dug about 55 meters deep. It would take a stone a good 3 seconds to hit the ground. It is not known whether the well still has water today.
fortress
The 10 fortified settlement has an approximately elliptical floor plan and was probably created in Greek times. This is supported by the numerous inscriptions from Greek times and the fact that rectangular floor plans were used for such settlements in Roman times.
The fortress was surrounded by a wall made of rubble stones, about three meters high. The only access was to the west. The posts and soffits of the gate were built from sandstone blocks. The gate probably had a single-leaf door, because there is only a hole for locking with a wooden beam on the north side of the gate passage.
The houses and their rooms were also built from rubble stones. Most of the still quite well-preserved remains are today in the west and in the center of the settlement. The houses were mainly used for the administration and preparation of meals. In the center of the fortress is a large, now silted up rectangular basin that could be filled with water.
Kitchen and accommodation
Restaurants and hotels can already be found in nearby Edfu. There is a wider choice in Luxor.
trips
On the way there or back you can also visit the Bir ʿAbbād fountain, the tomb of Sheikh Abū Gehād and the nearby Roman fortress.
About 28 kilometers away from Edfu one reaches the branch to the north leading Wādī Shagāb,وادي شجاب. In the entrance area, within sight of the street, above a three-meter-high platform that is difficult to climb, you will find the Horus name of the king Hor Wadj (Hor Wadji) in a so-called. Serech, an image for the palace with the palace facade, on which a falcon god perches, inscribed: the snake hieroglyph. It is one of the few archaeological evidence of the 4th king of the first dynasty. To the right of it there are two more hieroglyphs, probably according to Žába ḥm-k3, "Soul priest".[16][17] It is advisable to have a picture of the rock formation with you for orientation.
Near the well Biʾr Abū Riḥāl / Raḥāl there is a junction to Berenike and further west at Rōḍ el-Birām / el-Burām Turn off to Berenike, Qifṭ. For a trip along the ancient routes to Berenike or Qifṭ you not only need expedition equipment, but also a permit from the Egyptian military.
literature
Temple of Seti ’I.
- : Le temple de l'Ouâdi Mîyah (El Knaïs). In:Bulletin de l’Institut français d’archéologie orientale (BIFAO), ISSN0255-0962, Vol.17 (1920), Pp. 1–38, 20 plates.
- : Kanais: The temple of Seti I in Wâdi Mia. In:News of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Philological-Historical Class, ISSN0065-5287, No.6 (1961), Pp. 123-189, 20 plates.
Rock inscriptions
- : Le Paneion d'El-Kanaïs: les inscriptions grecques. Suffer: E. J. Brill, 1972.
- : Rock paintings of North Etbai, Upper Egypt and Lower Nubia. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner, 1974, Results of the Frobenius expeditions; 16, Pp. 56–62, figs. 249–294.
Individual evidence
- ↑: The Egyptian King's Novella. Glückstadt; Hamburg: Augustine, 1938, Leipzig Egyptological Studies; 10.
- ↑: Routes Through the Eastern Desert of Egypt. In:Expedition: the magazine of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology and Anthropology, ISSN0014-4738, Vol.37,2 (1995), Pp. 39-52, especially pp. 45-49, PDF.
- ↑Pliny the Elder, Natural history, Book 6, Chapter 26, § 102. E.g. : The natural history of Cajus Plinius Secundus; Vol.1: I - VI. book. Leipzig: Gressner & Schramm, 1881, P. 453.
- ↑Strabo, Geological history, 17th book, first chapter, § 45: e.g. : Strabo's description of the earth; 4 = volume 7: books 16 and 17. Berlin, Stuttgart: Langenscheidt, Krais & Hoffmann, 1860, Langenscheidt library of all Greek and Roman classics; 55, P. 126 f.
- ↑ 5,05,1Lepsius, Richard, Monuments from Egypt and Ethiopia, Abth. VI, Volume 12, Bl. 81.125.
- ↑ ; 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, P. 57 f. (Vol. 1), panels I-III. Digitization of the boards.
- ↑: Voyage a Méroé, au fleuve blanc, au-delà de Fâzoql dans le midi du Royaume de Sennâr, a Syouah et dans cinq autres oasis .... Paris: Imprimerie Royale, 1826, Pp. 278-280 (volume 3). On page 279 he gives the name of the valley.
- ↑: Narrative Of The Operations And Recent Discoveries Within The Pyramids, Temples, Tombs, And Excavations, In Egypt And Nubia…. London: John Murray, 1820, Pp. 305 f., Plates 20, 33.3-4, 38.
- ↑: Topography of Thebes, and general view of Egypt: being a short account of the principal objects worthy of notice in the valley of the Nile, .... London: Murray, 1835, P. 420 f.
- ↑Lepsius, Richard, Monuments from Egypt and Ethiopia, Volume IV, pp. 75-84; Abth. I, Volume 2, Sheet 101 (plans); Abth. III, Volume 6, Bl. 138.n ‒ o, 139, 140, 141.a – d (representation of the reliefs); Abth. VI, Volume 12, Sheet 81 (Greek inscriptions).
- ↑: Inscriptions of the gold mines at Rhedesieh and Kuban. In:Records of the past: being English translations of the ancient monuments of Egypt and Western Asia, Vol.8 (1876), Pp. 67-80.
- ↑: One excursion in Bérénice. In:Recueil de travaux relatifs à la philologie et à l’archéologie égyptiennes et assyriennes (RecTrav), Vol.13 (1890), Pp. 75–96, 8 plates, doi:10.11588 / diglit.12258.11.
- ↑: A report on the so-called temple of Redesiyeh. In:Annales du Service des Antiquités de l’Egypte (ASAE), ISSN1687-1510, Vol.9 (1908), Pp. 71-84. — : Travels in the Upper Egyptian deserts. Edinburgh; London: Blackwood, 1909, Pp. 141-168, panels XXV-XXXI. Chapter VI: The temple of Wady Abâd. With the depiction of rock art.
- ↑: New renderings of Egyptian texts. In:Journal of Egyptian archeology (JEA), ISSN0075-4234, Vol.4 (1917), Pp. 241-251, especially p. 250.
- ↑See e.g. B .: : Pilgrimage and Jewish Identity in Hellenistic and Early Roman Egypt. In:Frankfurter, David (Ed.): Pilgrimage and holy space in late antique Egypt. Suffering: Brill, 1998, ISBN 978-90-04-11127-1 , Pp. 99-225, in particular 219 f.
- ↑: Un graffito du roi Djet dans le Désert Arabique. In:Annales du Service des Antiquités de l’Egypte (ASAE), ISSN1687-1510, Vol.38 (1938), Pp. 85–93, figs. 7–9.
- ↑: The Rock Inscriptions of Lower Nubia (Czechoslovak Concession). Prague: [University of Karlova], 1974, Publications / Charles University of Prague, Czechoslovak Institute of Egyptology in Prague and in Cairo; 1, Pp. 239–241, panels CCXXVII – CCXXIX (Figs. 415–418). Inscription A 30.
