 Oil press in ez time | ||
| ez-timeun · الزيتون | ||
| Governorate | Maṭrūḥ | |
|---|---|---|
| Residents | 0 () | |
| height | −16 m | |
no tourist info on Wikidata:  | ||
| location | ||
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The well marking (Arabic: ḥaṭīyat) ez-Zeitun (Arabic:الزيتون, az-zaitūn, „the olives") Or ez-Zeituna (Arabic:الزيتونة, az-Zaitūna, „the olive“) Is a uninhabited village in the southeast of the city since 1975 Siwa on the east bank of the salt lake Birkat ez-Zeitūn, about 5 kilometers southeast of Abū Schurūfwhich is located on a rock plateau.
background
The village is a foundation of the Sanūsī brotherhood in the 19th century. Around 1890 there were 100 residents here.[1] Georg Steindorff reported in 1900 that the place had 60 inhabitants, most of whom came from Sudan and served as workers or slaves of the Sanūsī brotherhood. Even 40 years later, 60 people lived here.
Until the settlement of Schiheibāt nomads in ʿAin āfī this was the easternmost inhabited place in the Siwa Depression. The village had important gardens in the north, which were owned by the Sanūsī brotherhood until the beginning of the First World War and which were cultivated by the Sudanese who lived here.
How Ahmed Fakhry (1905–1973) reported that several houses were destroyed in air raids by the Italian Air Force in World War II. The residents sought protection from the attacks in the ancient stone building.
After the Second World War, the village was initially under the administration of the Ministry of Agriculture, which then sold the village to the wealthy Siwan ʿAlī Ḥaida. Its initial irrigation efforts were thwarted by the 1952 land reform.
The ancient stone building shows that the place was already settled in Greek times. In addition, there were ancient cemeteries in the vicinity of the village, the parallels to the cemetery of Abū el-ʿAuwāf exhibited. In ancient times, the settlement was the last stop on the way to the valley el-Baḥrīya. Other ancient buildings in the vicinity of the modern village are still up to three meters. In the north of the settlement there were larger buildings with stone in the basement.
Gerhard Rohlfs (1831–1896) passed here with his expedition at the end of February 1874. He was advised against visiting the city, however, as the members of the expedition could possibly be harassed by the slaves of the Sanūsī brotherhood. Georg Steindorff (1861–1951) came to ez-Zeitūn on January 4, 1900 and found that the fear of the residents was groundless. In 1938 the ancient sites were examined by Ahmed Fakhry. In March 2009, the ancient remains were again the subject of new investigations by Michael Heinzelmann and his excavation team from the University of Cologne.
getting there
For the journey you can take the asphalt road from Siwa over the Zeitūn lake to ʿAin āfī to use. You have to explore the village on foot.
Tourist Attractions
The oldest attraction is undoubtedly the 1 Stone building(29 ° 9 ′ 6 ″ N.25 ° 47 ′ 20 ″ E)that is literally surrounded by the modern village. However, the ancient settlement was significantly larger than the modern village. It extended about 600 meters from north to south and took up an area of about 20 hectares.
The eight, 8.8-meter-long, 4.2-meter-wide and 3.2-meter-high building made of limestone blocks is slightly sloped on the outside and is closed at the top with a hollow. It has two rooms of the same size, one behind the other, with false vaults, which can be reached from the entrance on the eastern narrow side. The door to the back room was adorned with a groove and the representation of a winged sun disk. Some decorated stones that may have come from other temples were found in the temple. There are no other decorations apart from the architectural jewelry mentioned.
Fakhry suspected a temple in the building. Heinzelmann, on the other hand, believes that this is a grave building, with the rear room serving as a burial chamber. There are parallels to this building, for example. B. in Tūna el-Gebel. So far, there are no findings that could support one of the hypotheses mentioned.
Of course it is Village today it has become a sight in itself. Institutions of interest include 2 old mosque(29 ° 9 ′ 6 ″ N.25 ° 47 ′ 20 ″ E) south of the temple, one 3 Oil press(29 ° 9 '6 "N.25 ° 47 ′ 27 ″ E) and a spacious square in the north of the village.
kitchen
There are restaurants in the nearby town Siwa. There is also a small rest area in Abū Schurūf at the source lake.
accommodation
Accommodation is available in the nearby town Siwa.
trips
The visit to the archaeological site can be combined with the ʿAin Qureishat, Abū Schurūf, ʿAin āfī and Abū el-ʿAuwāf connect.
literature
- : Three months in the Libyan desert. Cassel: Fisherman, 1875, P. 190 f. Reprint Cologne: Heinrich-Barth-Institut, 1996, ISBN 978-3-927688-10-0 .
- : Through the Libyan desert to the Amonsoasis. Bielefeld [et al.]: Velhagen & Klasing, 1904, Land and people: monographs on geography; 19th, Pp. 128-132.
- : Siwa Oasis. Cairo: The American Univ. in Cairo Pr., 1973, The oases of Egypt; 1, ISBN 978-977-424-123-9 (Reprint), pp. 132–135, fig. 35 on p. 136 (in English).
- : Investigations into the settlement structure of the Siwa oasis in Hellenistic-Roman times: preliminary report on a first research campaign at Birket Zaytun 2009. In:Cologne and Bonn Archaeologica (Cuba), ISSN2191-6136, Vol.1 (2011), Pp. 65-76, especially pp. 69-75, PDF.
Individual evidence
- ↑: Siwa - the oasis of the sun god: Living in an Egyptian oasis from the Middle Ages to the present day. Bonn: Political Working Group Schools (PAS), 1998, Contributions to cultural studies; 18th, ISBN 978-3-921876-21-3 (Pb), ISBN 978-3-921876-22-0 (Linen), p. 35.
