Abydos in the First Millennium AD 9042939613, 9789042939615

Table of contents :
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CONTRIBUTORS
ABYDOS AND THE THINITE REGION IN THE FIRST MILLENNIUM AD

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BRITISH MUSEUM PUBLICATIONS ON EGYPT AND SUDAN 9

ABYDOS IN THE FIRST MILLENNIUM AD

edited by

Elisabeth R. O’CONNELL

PEETERS

ABYDOS IN THE FIRST MILLENNIUM AD

BRITISH

MUSEUM

PUBLICATIONS

ON

EGYPT

AND

SUDAN

ABYDOS IN THE FIRST MILLENNIUM AD

edited by

Elisabeth R. O’CONNELL

PEETERS LEUVEN – PARIS – BRISTOL, CT 2020

9

Cover illustration: Abydos, North Cemetery. Remains of a wall-painting in a monastic dwelling, which was built into an earlier, Ptolemaic period ibis hypogeum.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. ISBN 978-90-429-3961-5 eISBN 978-90-429-3962-2 D/2020/0602/29 © 2020, Peeters, Bondgenotenlaan 153, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage or retrieval devices or systems, without the prior written permission from the publisher, except the quotation of brief passages for review purposes.

For Ethan Asher Thomas (born 15 March 2015) and Holt Rhodes Doyon Adams (born 14 July 2015)

TABLE OF CONTENTS Contributors .......................................................................................................................................................

IX

Elisabeth R. O’CONNELL Abydos and the Thinite region in the First Millennium AD ............................................................................

1

Jennifer WESTERFELD Recovering Late Antique Abydos: A review of scholarship from the Enlightenment to World War II ........

33

Mohamed ABUEL-YAZID, Atef William GAD EL-RAB † and Alaa EL-QADI The sacred falcon cemetery in the Great Wadi at North Abydos ....................................................................

57

Matthew Douglas ADAMS With an appendix by Roxanne BÉLANGER SARRAZIN and Jitse H. F. DIJKSTRA Abydos in Late Antiquity: A view from the Shunet el-Zebib .........................................................................

79

Linda R. GOSNER and Laurel BESTOCK Living with the dead: Three examples of Christian reuse in the Abydos North Cemetery ............................

151

Ayman Mohammed DAMARANY and Hazem Salah ABDALLAH The South Abydos Marketplace excavations (2009–2010, 2013): The monastery of Apa Moses? ...............

177

Andreas EFFLAND Apa Moses and his fellow brethren: Christian finds from Umm el-Qa‘ab .....................................................

195

Dawn MCCORMACK and Jennifer WESTERFELD A desert hermitage south of Abydos: Preliminary work of the Abydos Survey for Paleolithic Sites, Historic Division ..............................................................................................................................................................

211

Adrienn ALMÁSY-MARTIN Demotic, Greek and Coptic ostraca from Abydos in the British Museum ......................................................

223

Tasha VORDERSTRASSE British Museum Arabic ostraca from Abydos in context .................................................................................

259

David FRANKFURTER Abydos: Afterword ............................................................................................................................................

271

CONTRIBUTORS Hazem Salah Abdallah is Chief Inspector of Abydos, Ministry of State for Antiquities, Sohag Antiquities District, Balyana Antiquities Inspectorate. He graduated with a BA Hons in 2001 from the Faculty of Art, Egyptology Department, Asyut University. He has excavated several sites at Abydos, accompanied many Sohag missions and joined several Sohag projects as a member. Matthew Douglas Adams is Co-Director of the North Abydos Expedition of the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, and Princeton University. He is a Senior Research Scholar at the Institute of Fine Arts and has directed excavations at Abydos for more than twenty-five years. Since 2000, Mohamed Abul-Yazid has been Senior Inspector and Archaeologist, Ministry of State for Antiquities, Sohag Antiquities District. He graduated with a BA Hons (First Class) in 1999 from the Faculty of Archaeology, Cairo University, and gained an MA from Ain Shams University in 2013 with a thesis on the Slaughterhouse at the temple of Seti I, Abydos. He is currently undertaking a PhD at Tübingen University with a dissertation on the tomb of Psenosiris, the Mayor of Athribis. He has extensive excavation experience at North Abydos, west of Sohag and in Luxor as well as experience as Resident Archaeologist at the rescue excavations at Karnak and Luxor temples (2005–2007). He is also a member of several missions, having also worked as head of the Egyptian side of the joint Egyptian–German mission at Athribis (2015–2016). Adrienn Almásy-Martin was a curator in the Department of Ancient Egypt & Sudan at the British Museum for two years (2017–2018) and is currently a researcher on the ‘Lexicon of Greek Personal Names’ project, Oxford University. Her research interests are in the language and culture of Late Period and Graeco-Roman Egypt. She has published articles on demotic and Greek ostraca, inscribed mummy bands and mummy labels, and she has worked with several excavations and epigraphic projects in Egypt in the Eastern Desert, Thebes and Gebel el-Silsila. She is currently preparing the publication of the bilingual mummy label collection in the Louvre Museum. Roxanne Bélanger Sarrazin is a doctoral candidate at the University of Ottawa/Université Libre de Bruxelles working on a dissertation about Egyptian deities, in particular Isis and Horus, in the Coptic magical papyri. Laurel Bestock is Associate Professor of Archaeology and the Ancient World and Egyptology and Assyriology, Brown University. She is the author of The development of royal funerary cult at Abydos: Two funerary enclosures from the reign of King Aha (2009) and Violence and power in ancient Egypt: Images and ideology before the New Kingdom (2017). She formerly directed excavations in the North Cemetery at Abydos, and is currently co-directing excavation and survey at the Middle Kingdom fortress of Uronarti in northern Sudan. Ayman Damarany is an Archaeologist and Inspector of Antiquities, Ministry of State for Antiquities, Sohag Antiquities District. He holds an MA in Anthropology from Cairo University and a BA in Archaeology from Sohag University. Since 2007, he has directed, supervised and collaborated on numerous excavations and archaeological projects throughout the greater Abydos area. He specializes in bioarchaeology and archaeological photography. He has also worked in recent years as a site and object photographer for the American Research Center in Egypt at Luxor, including as an instructor in archaeological photography for ARCE’s field schools. Jitse H. F. Dijkstra is Professor of Classics at the University of Ottawa. His research centres on the process of religious transformation in Late Antiquity, in particular in its Egyptian context. He is the author of numerous studies on the subject, including the monographs Philae and the end of ancient Egyptian religion: A regional study of religious transformation (298–642 CE) (2008) and Syene I: The figural and textual graffiti from the temple of Isis at Aswan (2012).

X

CONTRIBUTORS

Andreas Effland works for the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Kairo (DAI). He is active in the Research Clusters 4 and 6 at the DAI in the context of the project ‘The Cult of Osiris in Abydos (Umm el-Qa‘ab)’ initiated in 2006. Andreas is the author and co-author of several books and numerous articles, many of them dealing with the Osiris cult especially at Abydos. With his wife Ute, he published the book Abydos: Tor zur ägyptischen Unterwelt in 2013. David Frankfurter is Professor of Religion at Boston University and a specialist in the transformation of Egyptian religion in Late Antiquity, especially through the data of magical texts, apocalyptic texts and monastic literature. He is the author of Elijah in Upper Egypt: The Apocalypse of Elijah and early Egyptian Christianity (1993), Religion in Roman Egypt: Assimilation and resistance (1998) and Christianizing Egypt: Syncretism and local worlds in Late Antiquity (2018). Linda R. Gosner is a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Society of Fellows and an Assistant Professor of Classical Studies at the University of Michigan. Her research centres on local responses to imperialism in the Roman provinces, especially in rural and industrial landscapes of the Mediterranean world. She has broad interests in the archaeology of everyday life, memory and materiality, as well as the history of labour and technology. Linda has worked in Egypt, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Jordan and Turkey. In Egypt, she is a member of the Brown University Abydos Project and has worked previously in Luxor with the Tausert Temple Project and the South Asasif Conservation Project. Currently, she is co-director of the Sinis Archaeological Project, a landscape survey project in west-central Sardinia. Dawn McCormack is an Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Middle Tennessee State University. She has led the historic division of the Abydos Survey for Paleolithic Sites and has directed the South Abydos Mastabas Project. Elisabeth R. O’Connell is Curator of Byzantine World collections, The British Museum (BM). Her research has focused on the archaeology of Late Antique Egypt, including the publication of several case studies on adaptive reuse of monumental architecture. She is editor of Egypt in the First Millennium AD (2014), and co-editor of Egypt: Faith after the pharaohs (2015), which accompanied the BM exhibition (2015–2016). Her wider research interests include the social history and material culture of the Byzantine empire and its neighbours. Alaa el-Qadi is Chief Inspector of Athribis, Ministry of State for Antiquities, Sohag Antiquities District. He graduated with a BA Hons in 1993 from the Faculty of Art, Egyptology Department, Asyut University. He has been Inspector of North Sohag and of Athribis, as well as accompanying several missions working in the Sohag, New Valley and Luxor districts. He is a member of the Egyptian side of the joint Egyptian–German mission at Athribis. Atef William Gad el-Rab † (1963–2014) ended his career as Assistant Director, Ministry of State for Antiquities, Sohag Antiquities District, in the Documentation Department. He graduated with a BA Hons in 1985 from the Faculty of Art, Egyptology Department, Asyut University. He worked as an inspector in the Sohag, Sinai, New Valley districts and as Head of the Antiquities unit at Hurghada Airport. He accompanied several foreign missions excavating in the Sinai, New Valley, Qena and Sohag districts. Tasha Vorderstrasse is the author of Al-Mina: A port of Antioch from Late Antiquity to the end of the Ottomans (2005), and co-editor of Archaeology of the countryside in medieval Anatolia (2009) and A cosmopolitan city: Muslims, Christians and Jews in Old Cairo (2015), which accompanied the exhibition of the same title at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. She has also written numerous articles on Medieval archaeology and texts from the Middle East. Jennifer Westerfeld is Associate Professor of History at the University of Louisville. Her research focuses on the religious and cultural history of Late Antique Egypt, with a particular emphasis on Christian communities’ engagement with pharaonic monuments, material and visual culture. She is the author of Egyptian hieroglyphs in the Late Antique imagination (2019).

ABYDOS AND THE THINITE REGION IN THE FIRST MILLENNIUM AD Elisabeth R. O’CONNELL

This book marks a beginning. To date, scholars have understood Late Antique Abydos mainly through literary texts which have passed down through the manuscript tradition together with inscriptions from one of the site’s temples. This volume aims to provide a first holistic treatment of the archaeology of Late Antique Abydos and the transitions to and from this period, that is, Abydos in the First Millennium AD. Throughout their long histories, the monuments of ancient Egypt have been adapted, reused and reimagined. At Abydos, the monument of one of Egypt’s earliest kings was later imagined to belong to Egypt’s archetypal and mythological king, Osiris. In the Ptolemaic period, Osiris was in some contexts replaced by Serapis, and the locus of cultic activity shifted from the temple of Osiris to the temple of Seti I, which was reimagined as the ‘Memnonion’. In the Roman period, the protective deity, Bes, was addressed there as an oracle until the emperor Constantius II brought some of those who had consulted it to trial for treason around 359. Two centuries later, Bes was remembered as a demon exorcized from the temple by the charismatic monk, Apa Moses, and, thereafter, Moses himself was among the saints commemorated there. Such sources, together with the extant archaeological remains at Abydos, provide an excellent case study for the physical process of adaptive reuse and the function of cultural memory. The archaeological remains of ancient Egyptian monuments have long been excavated and studied at the expense of later phases of occupation, in particular those deemed ‘Coptic’ or ‘Islamic’, and this is especially true at Abydos. Nevertheless, it is precisely through early Egyptologists’ records, when they exist, that we can reconstruct some of the archaeology of these periods. Further, new work in the past decades has frequently documented later strata, even if such evidence has not always been published. This volume brings together the evidence from six recent or ongoing fieldwork projects and the British Museum collection in order to present the archaeology of Abydos in the First Millennium AD, a time when traditional religious practices were largely replaced by Christianity and, later, Islam was introduced.

This chapter aims to situate the site within its larger regional and temporal contexts. After first setting Abydos within the Thinite region (I), I will briefly survey the Greek, Latin and Coptic sources for the history of Abydos (II). My aim is to situate Abydos firmly in its larger Roman, Late Antique and early Medieval worlds with a view to orienting non-Egyptological audiences in particular. A short introduction to the archaeology of the site and the chapters that form the present volume follows, emphasizing the range of excavated spaces and objects, including their wallpaintings and dipinti, datable ceramic assemblages and texts on ostraca, papyrus and parchment (III). Finally, by comparing Abydos to another royal ancient Egyptian necropolis also inhabited in Late Antiquity, Western Thebes, we can begin to place it within the history of Egypt and understand some of the motivations of the people who lived there (IV). First, definitions of terms and their limits are required. In the course of the First Millennium AD, Egypt was ruled by emperors based mainly in Rome and Constantinople, and caliphs largely in Damascus and Baghdad. In political terms, these are the Roman (30 BC–c. 330 AD), Byzantine (c. 330–641) and, after the initial conquest and rule by the Rashidun caliphs (641–659), the Umayyad (659–750) and Abbasid empires (750–868), and the autonomous Tulunid state (868–969). Material culture, of course, does not adhere strictly to politics, and the designation ‘Late Antiquity’ (c. 200–800) has the benefit of emphasizing cultural and material continuity. Still broader, the ‘First Millennium AD’ embraces the time span in which much of the population of the Mediterranean world adopted first Christianity, then Islam (Fowden 2014). In this book, the terms ‘Christian’ and ‘Muslim’ are used to identify the religious affiliation of individuals and communities; they are generally avoided to define periods or material culture. So too, ‘Coptic’ is mainly used to refer to the last stage of the ancient Egyptian language, and not, as elsewhere, variously to period, religion or material culture. While the Coptic Orthodox Church developed as a result of decisions affirmed at the Council of Chalcedon in 451, its success was

E. R. O’CONNELL

2

arguably not secured until sometime after the Arab conquest c. 641 (Booth 2018a). If identifying a beginning to a ‘Coptic’ period is tricky, it is all the more difficult to establish its endpoint, as Coptic communities thrive today. Therefore, when known, ‘Chalcedonian’ and ‘anti-Chalcedonian’ are used to distinguish confessional allegiances. As we will see below (section II), Abydos was remembered in Coptic literature as an anti-Chalcedonian stronghold. For convenience, place names generally are given with their Greek/ Coptic/Arabic names, when known, and thereafter according to the language of the source or, because it was the administrative language for most of the period under consideration here, Greek.1 For this last reason, and out of consideration of space, Greek place names are generally given on the maps. I. The Thinite region in Late Antiquity The Thinite region, historically the 8th Upper Egyptian nome, was located between the Panopolite and Diospolite parva nomes (Fig. 1).2 Between Panopolis/ Shmin/Akhmim and Diopolis parva/Hou, the cultivation of the west bank extends to about 10km from the Nile (Fig. 2), making the Thinite region one of the most agriculturally productive in Upper Egypt and thus politically important from the beginning of Egyptian history (Brovarski 2018, 52–53). Its prominence depends further on its location at the termini of desert routes connecting the Nile valley to Kharga Oasis and beyond into sub-Saharan Africa (e.g., Strabo, Geography 17.42; Hamilton and Falconer 1887–1889, 3: 258). By contrast, the arable land on the east bank is much narrower with rock-cut cemeteries rising over the Nile from Sheikh Farag to Lepidotonpolis/Mesheik. In contrast to the Panopolite and Diospolite parva regions, the Thinite region is little attested by Late Antique sources. Around 325, Eusebius of Caesaria, following Herodotus, names the capital alongside Memphis and Sais as the location from which Egyptian kings ruled (Chronographia 1.44, 45; Schoene 1967), but while its status as a nome continued, the importance of the city diminished. By the early Roman period, the Ptolemaic capital of Upper Egypt, Ptolemais (later, Psoi/Manshah), was counted by Strabo as the most

1

2

For place names and their attestations in the period covered by this volume, see Timm 1984–1992 and the index, Brune 2007. For known nomes in Late Antique Egypt, see Bagnall 1993, 331–35.

prominent city in the Thebaid and equal to Memphis (Strabo, Geography 17.42; Hamilton and Falconer 1887–1889, 3: 258–59). It was reportedly the seat of a Meletian bishop by 325, and several other bishops are named in the Coptic monastic literature (Timm 1984–1992, 3: 1140–47; Martin 1996, 58–96). On the other side of the river, Panopolis/Shmin/Akhmim, too, flourished as the seat of a bishop by at least 347 (Worp 1994a, 301). Today it is best known in this period as the hometown of several famous poets writing in the Greek Classical tradition, foremost among them Nonnus of Panopolis, as well as the poet, ordinary consul, praetorian prefect and prefect of Constantinople, Cyrus of Panopolis (Cameron 2007, 36–38, 41–42), and as an urban centre for Shenoute of Atripe to admonish (Lopez 2013, 21–23). To the south, Diospolis parva was an episcopal see also reportedly with a Meletian bishop by 325 (Timm 1984–1992, 3: 1140–47). This region is otherwise best known as the find-spot for the Nag Hammadi codices and probable find-spot for the Bodmer papyri (Nongbri 2018, 108–15, 157–215). Roman imperial sources demonstrate that Abydos was a waystation between capitals and housed a garrison. The Itinerarium Antonini Augusti or ‘Antonine Itinerary’ (AI) (after AD 286) gives the distance from Ptolemais to Abydos as 22 miles and from Abydos to Diospolis as 28 miles (AI 155; Cuntz and Schnetz 1978, 230). According to the Notitia dignitatum, Roman troops were stationed on either side of the river near both Ptolemais and Diospolis parva around AD 401 (or. 28.13–46, 31.22–67).3 Between the two cities, the 8th ala (cavalry unit) under the command of the dux of the Thebaid was garrisoned at Abydos, with a cohort stationed across the river at Peamou (Notitia dignitatum, or. 31.53, 61; Seeck 1876; Worp 1994b, 464, 469).4 From these geographic and historical sources, the cultural and political landscape of the Late Antique Thinite region comes into focus. The capital Thinis/Tin and the west bank The capital of the Thinite region was This or Thinis in Greek (henceforth Thinis) and Tin in Coptic (Timm 1984–1992, 6: 2682–85). The remains of the ancient city are possibly covered by modern Girga in the cultivation

3

4

For the date and character of this part of the Notitia dignitatum orientis, see inter alia, Palme 2007, 245–47, 255–56. Unlocated today, the village is also named in P.Panop. Beatty 2.292 (TM Geo 6435).

3

ABYDOS AND THE THINITE REGION IN THE FIRST MILLENNIUM AD

Mediterranean Sea Paraitonion

Canopus Alexandria

Gaza za S Sais

Naukratis atis

Marina el-Alamein

Thm hmouis hmo mou s DELTA DE EL A

SCE TIS

Athri Athribi hribis

Pelousion

Rhinokol R oloura

WA A D I T UM I L AT

Siwa Oasis

Babylon

Petra

Kly lysma

Memph Memphis p

Aila

FAY U M

Arsino noe no le

SINAI

Ni

Herakleo He erakleopolis magna Bahariya Oasis

suf B ahr Yu

Oxyrhynchos

Herm mopolis magna

Ankyro Ankyronpolis Kynopolis HA VIA

DR

IAN

A

Antinoopolis

E ASTE R N D E S E RT MONS PORPHYRITES TES

Koussai ai Lykopolis ykopolis olilis is LA N Antaeopolis MONS CLAUDIANUS Ant Hypsele Aphrodito p ito Panopolis Atripe Thinis Ptolemaiss Dendera Den D endera d Abydos os Koptos optos Diospolis iospolis ospolis parva

Farafra Oasis

WE STE R N D E S E RT Dakhla

Memnoneia/Jeme me Hermonthis is

Oas Oasis

Red Sea Myos Hormos

Diospolis ma magna (Thebes) bes

Latopolis is Kharga Oasis

Apollonopolis mag agna Kysis

MONS SM SMARAGDUS S

O Ombos Phila ilae

Syene First Cataract

Lak ake a ak k Nasser

Hierasykaminos rasy s Principal quarries Principal desert roads

(Abu Simbel))

0

Primis is ((Qasr Ibrim)

200 km

Fig. 1: Map of Egypt in Late Antiquity (C. Thorne).

Berenike ke

E. R. O’CONNELL

4

Sohag Red Monastery White Monastery Atripe

Tse Tesmin Panopolis/Akhmim GEBAL EL TUKH

Ptolemais/Manshah

Birba Thinis(?)/Girga Reqaqnah Beit Khallaf

Sheikh Farag Naga ed-Deir Mesaeed Lepidotonpolis/Mesheikh Perdes/ Bardis

Tpouliane/Balayana Abydos

Tabennese GEBAL EL TARIF

Dishna

Phbow

Farshut Nag Hammadi 0

50 km

Chenoboskin Diospolis parva/Hou

Fig. 2: Map of the Thinite district (C. Thorne, adapted from Brovarski 2018, fig. 3.1).

or al-Birba near its limit (Brovarski 1986, 475). Even if it has not been proven that they are identical, Girga eventually took the place of Thinis in importance, appearing in the historical record from the reign of the Fatimid caliph al-Mustansir (1036–1094) (Timm 1984–92, 2: 860). In 1672/73, Johann Michael Wansleben, the traveller and manuscript hunter, named Girga as the chief town of Upper Egypt (1972, 247; on Wansleben, see Hamilton 2006, 142–51), and it continued to be the regional hub for visitors, replaced by Sohag as the local capital in 1960. To date, the Thinite region is poorly represented by published documentary papyri. Sources found at Oxyrhynchos/el-Bahnasa (P.Oxy. 58.3926) and probably Panopolis/Shmin/Akhmim (P.Paris 20–21; SB 1.4503– 4505; 5285–5287; CPR 4.23) attest the name of the capital and little else up to the 7th century. The archive of Aurelius Pachymios, a purple-dye dealer from Panopolis (c. AD 592–616) gives an impression of the

multilingual and multicultural milieu in which names of Latin, Greek and Egyptian origin sit easily alongside names that Christians adopted from the Bible. The archive contains Greek and Coptic documents drawn up by the bilingual notary Paul, the son of Megalos, from Thinis/Tin (SB 1.4503–4505, CPR 4.23; MacCoull 1995, 347–50). Among the witnesses in the texts are ‘John, the son of Abraham, Presbyter of Tin’ (SB 1.4503). It is otherwise difficult to say much about Christians or Christianity in Thinis/Tin before the 6th century. Two bishops known to have participated in the councils of Ephesus (431) and Chalcedon (451), Herakleides and Isaac, respectively, are said to be from Tinnis, which has been argued to be a variant of Thinis/Tin rather than the city in the Eastern Delta (Worp 1994a, 308). A grave stela found at the monastery of Apa Thomas at Wadi Sarga commemorates a monk named Apa Victor from the region of Tin (I.Sarga 37.5; Petrie

ABYDOS AND THE THINITE REGION IN THE FIRST MILLENNIUM AD

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Vorderstrasse points out (this volume), an assemblage of wooden boxes, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, is said to have been found in 1900/1901 in an ‘Arabic deposit on the surface of the tomb’ of the Dynasty 3 king Netjerikhet, better known as Djoser.

1907, pl. 34). A ‘catholic church at Tin’ is named in a booklist associated with a corpus of seventeen late 7th- or early 8th-century Coptic papyrus codices now in Turin. These codices, including books of the Bible, saints’ Lives and acts, martyrdoms, homilies and canons, probably constituted a library. The colophon of one book given by an anonymous female donor refers to the topos of St John the Baptist in Tin (Van Lantschoot 1929, I.1, 180–82, nos CV–CVI; Orlandi 1974; 2013; Buzi 2015/2016; 2018). It has thus been surmised that the church may have been part of a monastery of John the Baptist located at or near Thinis/Tin (Buzi 2018, 42). That at least one codex contained multiple works on John the Baptist (Orlandi 1974, 121) further supports the hypothesis that the books belonged to an institution dedicated to him at some point after their production.5 A ‘catholic church’ should refer to a city’s central cathedral and not a monastic church, but books are, of course, highly portable with their uselives encompassing their place of copying, potentially multiple places of use and final place of deposition (find-spot). With the city of Thinis/Tin probably located in the cultivation, the survival of these papyrus codices almost certainly depended on storage in a dry location elsewhere, perhaps somewhere (a monastery?) along the low desert, at some point prior to their discovery. By the mid-9th century, Tpouliane/Balayana, located south of Thinis and along the Nile, was the seat of a bishop (Timm 1984–1992, 1: 312–14). Five 9th- and 10th-century funerary stelae commemorate individuals from Tpouliane/Balayana and were probably found at Abydos (Timm 1984–1992, 1: 314; van der Vliet 2020). Dipinti in the temple of Seti I name residents of both Tpouliane/Balayana and another place called Pertes/ Bardis, probably the location of a female monastic community (Westerfeld 2017, 209–10; and this volume). Along the edge of cultivation bordering the desert, there is little published evidence of post-pharaonic occupation. At Reqaqnah, John Garstang reported ‘Coptic’ burials about half a kilometre north of the town, but his publication does not provide any further details (Garstang 1904, 13). At Beit Khallaf, Garstang does not mention later occupation at all, but, as Tasha

Across the river on the east bank, archaeological evidence for Late Antique occupation is more plentiful, if largely unpublished. From the limestone spur called Sheikh Farag a narrow band of cultivation broadens south toward Lepidotonpolis/Mesheikh about 6km away. On the desert above the cultivation are a series of cemeteries, which periodically served the population of Thinis/Tin from the Predynastic period on. They were excavated under George A. Reisner between 1901 and 1924 (Brovarski 1986, 475; 2018, 1). Among these cemeteries, the site known as Naga ed-Deir contains thousands of Pre- and Early Dynastic graves together with Old Kingdom (Dynasty 6) and First Intermediate Period rock-cut tombs and shafts, which were reused for burial in the New Kingdom and later (Fig. 3; Brovarski 1982, 299–311; 2018, 1–2). In Late Antiquity, the rock-cut tombs above the cultivation were reused again, this time for habitation (O’Connell 2001). Rock-cut tombs were adapted with retaining walls built in the courtyards, which were themselves equipped with kitchens with adjacent rubbish dumps (Fig. 4). A hoard of coins including many from the reign of Heraclius (610–641), and other contemporary coins, indicate a terminus post quem for the occupation, while Coptic inscriptions carved in rock-cut tombs suggest that the residents were monastic (O’Connell 2001, 23–28).6 In addition to the more famous hieratic papyri found at the site (Papyrus Reisner I–IV), there are dozens of demotic, Greek, Coptic and Arabic fragments, including a c. 550–660 Greek protocol and parts of Coptic codex leaves, most of which await study (P. Hearst inv.).7 One fragmentary leaf of a parchment codex provisionally dated to the 9th century bears the text of Shenoute’s sermon known as On the Judgement (Fig. 5), otherwise

5

6

For the relationship between subjects of books and the topoi to which they were given, see O’Connell 2018 and IV, below.

The east bank

7

Tasha Vorderstrasse is studying the coins with a view to publication. For an up-to-date list of published P. Hearst inv., see ZellmannRohrer 2018, 206 n. 4.

6

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Fig. 3: Naga ed-Deir. View from the cultivation toward the pharaonic rock-cut necropolis (Courtesy of the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology and the Regents of the University of California).

Fig. 4: Naga ed-Deir. Courtyard of pharaonic tomb (N 74), remodelled with a kitchen. (Courtesy of the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology and the Regents of the University of California).

ABYDOS AND THE THINITE REGION IN THE FIRST MILLENNIUM AD

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Fig. 5: Naga ed-Deir. Fragment of a parchment codex, c. 9th century, containing Shenoute’s sermon, On the Judgement (P. Hearst inv. 1281 recto and verso, Courtesy of the Center for the Tebtunis Papyri, University of California, Berkeley).

attested by one of the Turin codices attributed to Thinis and two witnesses from Shenoute’s own monastery, known as the White Monastery (P. Hearst inv. 1281; Zellmann-Rohrer 2018, 206–9). The sermon gives us a first glimpse of what was read at Naga ed-Deir; it concerns a dying man confronted with his sins and judgement before God. On the low desert, below the pharaonic rock-cut tombs, was a Late Antique cemetery. Late Antique graves were cut through Pre- and Early Dynastic burials and, in one instance, bodies were deposited in a mass grave (O’Connell 2001, 16–22). The Late Antique graves held characteristic shrouded and bound burials, both male and female, indicating a civic, rather than monastic, population (Fig. 6; O’Connell 2001, 17). Among 265 or more burials, the dead were provisioned with jewellery including strung beads and copper-alloy crosses as well as weaving implements and glass vessels (O’Connell 2001, 17, 34 and Tables I–III). A terminus post quem is suggested by a coin from the reign of

Justinian (r. 527–556), perhaps an heirloom, pierced and worn as a pendant by a child. At some point, in or after the 12th/13th century, a church was built on the low desert, partly of reused building material (for the type and date, see Grossmann 1982, 196). The church is understood by scholars to have once been part of a larger monastery and thus the site’s defining feature, that is, its ‘deir’ (Clarke 1912, 140; Coquin and Martin 1991; McNally 1991). But only a church is described by early travellers, unless it is the same location as a monastery described by Leo Africanus (1491–1552) (1896, 901–2). By the early 18th century, European travellers such as Claude Sicard, travelling in 1717, and Richard Pococke, travelling in 1743–1745, noted that the Christian residents of Girga crossed the Nile in order to worship at a church on the east bank (Sicard 1982, 83–85; Pococke 1803, 82). At this time, the church was dedicated to Saint Michael (Sicard 1982, 83–85; Coquin and Martin 1991). Somers Clarke was informed that the central

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Fig. 6: Naga ed-Deir. A typical multiple shrouded and bound body (Courtesy of the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology and the Regents of the University of California).

Fig. 7: Naga ed-Deir. View of the 12th/13th-century church and c. early 20th-century Coptic cemetery (Courtesy of the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology and the Regents of the University of California).

ABYDOS AND THE THINITE REGION IN THE FIRST MILLENNIUM AD

altar was dedicated to the archangel, with the northern altar dedicated to Sitt Damyana and the southern to St Shenoute (Clarke 1912, 142). By the early 20th century, the church was surrounded by a Christian cemetery (Fig. 7; O’Connell 2001, 29). The general pattern whereby an ancient necropolis is inhabited by monks, with a centralized ‘deir’ later located nearby, which itself becomes a focus for a later civic cemetery, is known from other sites in Egypt (e.g., Naqlun, Asyut, Hagr Edfu). About 6km south of Sheikh Farag is Lepidotonpolis/ Mesheikh, the pharaonic cemeteries of which were also excavated under Reisner and contained ‘Coptic’ burials (Timm 1984–1992, 4: 1722–23; for the modern history of Mesheikh, see also Muhs 2014). Coptic inscriptions within the temple of Ramses II suggest a Christian presence there (Sayce 1885, 177–78), and the modern village is the possible purchase place of Coptic medical and alchemical papyri (see Vorderstrasse, this volume). II. A history of Abydos in the First Millennium AD: The texts

9

To date, the history of First Millennium AD Abydos has been told through textual sources, each with their own subjectivity, aims and audiences.8 Greek and Latin literature describes Egypt as an exotic land with strange customs (e.g., Hartog 1988). Official Roman handbooks such as the Itinerarium Antonini Augusti and Notitia dignitatum are mainly utilitarian. Graffiti are mostly non-narrative and the circumstances for their production can remain opaque to the modern viewer; nevertheless, the high number of foreign visitors periodically recorded in inscriptions suggests that, like Greek and Latin literature, many represent a foreign interpretation of the place. By contrast, there is no doubt that ritual (or ‘magical’) handbooks are an Egyptian production, even if they invoke international deities and powers; they are, however, naturally archaizing, and their references to cultic practice at Abydos do not guarantee they were contemporary. Monastic literature in Coptic, such as the Life of Apa Moses and other Lives of saints, aims to extol the saints and provide models for pious imitation. While each source has its own agenda, they still reveal something of the place that allows us to sketch its history over the course of the millennium.

Abydos is located on the west bank of the Nile near the Thinite region’s southern boundary. It contains by far the most archaeological evidence for Late Antique habitation in the district and, as well as having its own distinguished history, is a privileged vantage point for the larger region. At Abydos, the desert plateau comes closer to the cultivation than it does anywhere else on the region’s west bank. Here, the desert cliffs form a visual unity, and the opening created by the wadi course running down into the flood plain gives the impression of a gateway. It is these natural features that shaped subsequent anthropogenic activity, which in turn influenced successive centuries’ building projects. Abydos is the location of the burial monuments of Egypt’s earliest kings, and the stage upon which a national cult of Osiris, Egypt’s pre-eminent mythical king, was later performed. This history is well traversed by Egyptologists, for whom Abydos is one of the most significant sites in Egypt (inter alia, O’Connor 2009; Effland and Effland 2013; Regulski 2019).

In Greek and Latin literature,9 Abydos is associated with Osiris, king Memnon, or both, with Memnon perhaps a Greek interpretation derived from the homophonous throne name of Seti I, Men-maat-Ra (Kemp 1975, 39). Pliny the Elder (AD 23–79), the military commander, procurator and natural philosopher who died in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Campania, names Abydos as the location of the royal residence of Memnon and a temple of Osiris (Natural History 5.11.1; Rackham 1971). Plutarch of Chaironeia, in Boetia (c. 40–120), a magistrate and, later, a priest of Apollo at Delphi, interpreted the myth of Osiris for a Greek-speaking audience, explaining that ‘the small town Thinis is so named because it contains the real Osiris, and that the wealthy and powerful among the Egyptians are buried mostly in Abydos deeming it an honour to be buried near the body of Osiris’ (On Isis

8

9

As always, the best reference work is Timm 1984–1992, 1: 591–600.

Abydos in the Roman period

For Classical authors’ references to Abydos, see Effland 2014, 198.

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and Osiris 20 [359 B], Griffiths 1970, 149; Bommas 2012, 424–26). Like Plutarch, Apuleius, author of the Golden Ass or Metamorphoses, emphasizes the universal character of the myth cycle in an otherwise jaunty romp of a novel that concludes with the protagonist’s dead-serious initiation into the mysteries of Isis in the final chapter: ‘I was surprised to discover that though I had indeed been initiated, it had been only into the mysteries of Isis, and I had yet to attain enlightenment in the mysteries of the great god, supreme father of the gods, the invincible Osiris’ (Metamorphoses 11.27; Kenney 2004, 211–12). The popularity of Osiris and the credentials of the place were established within these Roman-period literary circles. Whereas Roman imperial sources, the Itinerarium Antonini Augusti and the Notitia dignitatum, probably reflect the routes along the cultivation, which would have enabled swifter travel for troops than the maze of roads across irrigation networks in the cultivation itself, Strabo’s (64 BC–AD 24) topographical account gives the riverine approach, explaining that a canal leads to Abydos from the ‘great river,’ i.e., the Nile, and along the waterway was an acanthus grove dedicated to Apollo (17.1.42; Hamilton and Falconer 1887–1889, 3: 258). While remarking that it must have once been a great city, second to Thebes, which together with the Labyrinth, might have been constructed by the same person (Memnon), he indicates that it is a departure point for the three Western Desert oases, the first of which he says is seven days’ journey. Strabo’s description of the palace of Memnon, ‘entirely of stone’, with ‘a fountain situated at a great depth’ reached through an arched passage has long been accepted by modern scholars as the temple of Seti I (17.1.42; Hamilton and Falconer 1887–1889, 3: 258). This description nicely fits the relationship between the temple of Seti I and the Osireion, and Greek graffiti from the temple confirm the location of the temple of Seti I as the Memnonion (I.Memnonion 563 in Perdrizet and Lefebvre 1919; Rutherford 2003, 174). About 800 graffiti from the temple of Seti I are well preserved as a result of the stability of the massive structure and its relative inaccessibility after it was filled with sand (I.Memnonion; Rutherford 2003; Westerfeld 2017). The texts’ content and position within the temple give an impression of the shifting religious landscape from the middle of the First Millennium BC to the First Millennium AD. During this period, oracular techniques in Egypt developed under Hellenistic influence and are apparent in the transformation of practices at Abydos

(Tallet 2012, 407–8). The earliest non-Egyptian graffiti in the temple of Seti I date from as early as the 6th century BC and inscriptions in Ionian, Cypriot, Aramaic, Carian and Phoenician are localized in the corridor and staircase leading to the Osireion; when their content gives more than a name and patronymic, they sometimes describe ‘coming before Osiris’, suggesting their authors are pilgrims (Rutherford 2003, 177–79, 182–83; Smith 2017, 469–70; Westerfeld, this volume, fig. 13). In the 2nd century BC, Serapis replaced Osiris in proskynemata and other formulae which suggest coming before ‘the god’ or ‘the gods’, sometimes explicitly for healing or to request a dream oracle; these are located in the barque-shrines of the gods at the rear of the temple, accessible from the hypostyle halls (Rutherford 2003, 179–83; Westerfeld, this volume, fig. 13). Later, it was Bes who delivered the dream oracles alongside his oracular correspondence. Graffiti dating to this period of use are mainly found on the exterior walls of the temple, mostly at the rear, around the staircase exit leading to the Osireion (Rutherford 2003, 180–85). The place names in these texts, when given, suggest that the catchment area is largely Middle and Upper Egypt, and not such places as Alexandria (Rutherford 2003, 181–83). Moreover, the graffiti demonstrate a shift also known from the archaeology, in which the locus of cultic activity at the Osiris temple extends to and is eventually replaced by the temple of Seti I or Memnonion. At this time, the incubation oracle of Serapis, the composite Ptolemaic national god––deriving from Ser-apis (‘fortune-telling Apis’), Osirapis/Osiris-Apis, or both––joins Osiris, and is later, in turn, upstaged by the oracle of Bes (Rutherford 2003; Tallet 2012, 407). Corroborating evidence of Abydene oracles is found in contemporary demotic, Greek and/or Old Coptic ritual (or ‘magical’) handbooks, among the corpora known as the Demotic Magical Papyri (PDM) and Greek Magical Papyri (PGM). Such papyrus handbooks were not found at Abydos, but they frequently refer to the Thinite region in general and Abydos in particular (Effland 2014, 198–200; Smith 2017, 475– 80). Abydene Osiris is invoked as the giver of oracles (2nd–3rd century, PDM XIV.627–35; Betz 1992, 229; 3th–4th century, PGM IV.11–14, Betz 1992, 36), and Bes is invoked as ‘the oracle-giving god’ (4th–5th century, PGM VIII 91–102; Betz 1992, 147). The corpus has been considered by some as direct evidence for contemporary cultic practice at Abydos, whereas others have argued that the genre is archaizing (with bibliography, Smith 2017, 473–83).

ABYDOS AND THE THINITE REGION IN THE FIRST MILLENNIUM AD

References to Abydos and Thinis are also found in later Coptic ritual texts. A small (10.5 × 12cm), c. 6thcentury magical-medical parchment codex from the Fayum gives prescriptions in Sahidic Coptic and Greek, including extracts from the Iliad (Worrell 1935, 17–37; Meyer and Smith 1994, 83–90, no. 43; van der Vliet 2018, 154–60). One of the handbook’s spells concerns childbirth (ll. 60–110) and uses language found in earlier Egyptian spells. Set phrases parallel those found in PGM spells and invoke the same local forms of deities, such as Thoth, ‘Greatest of Five’ (see section III, below). I [Amun] am coming with the south wind northward, between reed and rush, between Thinis and Abydos (cf. PGM IV 107; Betz 1992, 39), between these two mountains, between these two hills. I am mounted on a white horse, a black horse was under me, while the books of Thoth are with me, those of the Great of Five in my hands (cf. PDM xiv 1219–1220; Betz 1992, 250). I make those who are pregnant give birth. (ll. 64–70, van der Vliet 2018, 155)

An echo of the same spell, although omitting reference to Abydos, Thinis or ancient deities, is found in a c. 10th–11th-century charm on paper excavated in 2003 from near the Monastery of Jeremias at Saqqara, testifying to the longevity of ancient Egyptian practice in a Christian world (van der Vliet 2018). The international audience of the oracle of Bes in the 4th century is suggested by the historian Ammianus Marcellinus, a former soldier from the Greek East writing in Latin. In a scathing account highlighting Constantius II’s petty character and poor management style, Ammianus details the role of the Bes oracle at Abydos in treason trials around 359. There is some tension in the account between Ammianus’ characterization of the town as remote and its oracle as serving only a local population on the one hand, and the fame, status and empire-wide origin of the people accused on the other. In the furthest Thebaid there is a town called Abydos, where a god locally called Besa used to reveal the future through an oracle and was worshipped with traditional rites by the inhabitants of the surrounding region. (Res gestae 19.12.3; Hamilton 1986, 181)

Ammianus states that some consulted the oracle in person and others by letter, so that the evidence of the latter’s petitions was to be found in the temple (Frankfurter 2005, 239–43). When these were sent to the emperor, he commanded the infamously cruel

11

notary Paul (‘expert in the art of bloodshed’) to go to Scythopolis in Palestine to conduct trials against those accused of having sought to divine the future succession of the state. Ammianus states that the location was chosen partly because it was halfway between Antioch and Alexandria; the accused were brought from ‘all over the world’ (19.12.8). Exiled were Simplicus, the son of a former Roman prefect and consul, Philip, and Parnasius, a former prefect of Egypt, originally from Patra in Achaea; while the poet Andronicus and Alexandrian philosopher Demetrius were released (19.12.9–12; Hamilton 1986, 181–82). Others were tortured and killed as the accusations spread to anyone wearing an amulet or accused of visiting a grave (i.e., necromancy) (19.12.13–14). By minimizing Abydos (‘in the furthest Thebaid’) and emphasizing its local constituency, Ammianus diminishes its importance; in his over-blown reaction, Constantius II treats the matter ‘as seriously as if a host of people had consulted Claros or the oaks of Dodona or the once famous oracle of Delphi with a view to the emperor’s death’, further reducing the status of Abydos (19.12.15; Hamilton 1986, 183). At the same time, by naming distinguished individuals and the scale of the enquiry, Ammianus gives the impression that the oracle was so famous as to attract men with power and status. Both might be true, of course; the cult of Abydos was local and international, perhaps gaining the latter status in part owing to its location on the imperial and military route. On the basis of Ammianus’ account of the treason trials, the oracle is assumed to have closed at this time, but activity did persist. The latest inscription in the temple of Seti I that names Bes gives the birthdate of the author as 353, and it is unlikely that he was only six years old at the time (so Smith 2017, 483). Christians at Abydos Saints’ Lives preserved in the manuscript tradition place monks in Abydos as early as the 4th and 5th centuries. According to Martyrdom of Apa Apaioule and Apa Pteleme, preserved in a c. 9th-century Coptic manuscript from Hamouli, the martyr Pteleme (Greek Ptolemy) visited Apa John of Abydos on his way from Dendera to Antinoopolis in the reign of a governor known to have been in office c. 305 (Reymond and Barns 1973, 129–37, 223–28; Schenke 2015–, E01220; Effland, this volume). An Apa John is also named in the Coptic Life and martyrdom of Sts Symphronios of Terot (near Hermopolis), also known as Panine, and

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Paneu of Antinoopolis, which survives in a text probably composed in the 6th–7th century and surviving in a 9th–11th-century manuscript (Till 1936, 55–71; Schenke 2015–, E03514; Effland, this volume). After living with monks in the desert, the two were sent first to Shmin (Panopolis/Akhmim) and then to the Mountain of Abydos in the district of Psoi (Ptolemais/ Manshah) where they met an Apa John. After they had helped Apa John to complete the building of a church, it was consecrated by Bishop Psote of (Ptolemais/)Psoi, who ordained Panine a priest and Paneu a deacon, and the two thereafter lived in the Mountain of Abydos, returning once a week to give communion while they awaited their martyrdom. Much more famous among modern scholars is Apa Moses of Abydos. By the end of the 6th century, he was remembered as vanquishing the demon Bes from a temple at Abydos (Frankfurter 1998; 2018; Westerfeld 2017, and this volume). The charismatic monk and abbot is known from his letters, canons, an encomium and his Life (Moussa 1998; 2003, 66). The Life has been mined for historical and geographical information and has dominated the secondary literature on Christian Abydos (Westerfeld, this volume). His exorcism of Bes and his destruction of a temple of Apollo have stood out to modern scholars, but probably do not record historical events. They nevertheless preserve the potent memories of these earlier places (Smith 2017, 434–35; Frankfurter 2018, 242, 244; Westerfeld, this volume). For all of the attention he has received from modern scholars, Moses occupies a decidedly local world. He does not have his own entry in the Synaxarion, but appears in those dedicated to his disciple Macrobius of (Antaeopolis/)Tkou, who founded a community south of Asyut, and the Pachomian abbot, Abraham of Farshut, who, having fled Phbow, established his community near his hometown in the Diospolite (Moussa 2003, 74; Goehring 2012, 122–24; Westerfeld, this volume). Two of the codices that contain Moses’ Life are from Shenoute’s White Monastery, and there is as yet little suggestion that Moses was known beyond the region (Moussa 2003, 74; Uljas 2011, 373; Westerfeld 2017, 190–91, n. 12).

10

For the mid-6th-century emergence of a link between the lineage of Pachomius and Shenoute, via Abraham of Farshut, see Goehring 2012, 47–49 and 64.

In his Life, Moses is modelled on Shenoute, a device which serves to bolster the reputation of Moses on the one hand (Moussa 2003, 68, 71–72; Westerfeld, this volume), and to secure Shenoute’s own legacy on the other. Moses’ monastic credentials and relationship with Shenoute are further enhanced in the Synaxarion entry for Abraham of Farshut, which recounts his travel to Shenoute’s White Monastery to copy the Rules, his journey to deposit them with Moses of Abydos and, later, to retrieve them when he expanded his own monastery (Basset 1915, 684–87; Goehring 2012, 122–24). Moses is thus a safeguarder of the Rules in their transmission from Shenoute’s White Monastery to Abraham’s anti-Chalcedonian Pachomian foundation near Diospolis parva/Hou.10 In these literary sources, Moses is aligned as a partisan of what would become the anti-Chalcedonian, Severan church. Moses is said to have hosted Severus of Antioch (in Egypt 518–538), who fled to Egypt to avoid arrest by the emperor Justin I (r. 518–527). Justin and his successor, Justinian (r. 527–565), sought to enforce the statutes of the Council of Chalcedon, and Severus became the foremost proponent of antiChalcedonian doctrine (Allen and Hayward 2004). According to both the Life of Moses and Life of his disciple Macrobius, Severus came to stay with Moses (Coquin 1991, 1680; ten Hacken 1999a and b). The Panegyric on St Claudius, attributed to Severus himself, states he was in the Monastery of Apa Moses at Abydos together with Theodosius, the Archbishop of Alexandria, as they escaped arrest by Justinian’s officials (Godron 1970, 498–501). According to historical sources, Justinian had called Theodosius (r. 535–566, inclusive of exile 536–566) to Constantinople in the hope of gaining his support, but, when he refused, he was officially exiled (536) and spent the rest of his life in Constantinople (Wipszycka 2015, 162–66; Booth 2018a; O’Connell 2019). Almost a decade after Theodosius’ death, with the election of Peter IV, the Severan church surged back to prominence and, eventually, pre-eminence after Peter established a parallel hierarchy of up to eighty bishops in Egypt (Wipszycka 2015, 145; Booth 2018a, 168–71; Dekker 2018, 8–9). Consolidated under Peter’s successor,

ABYDOS AND THE THINITE REGION IN THE FIRST MILLENNIUM AD

13

Damian of Alexandria (578–c. 607), the Severan church flourished and, in the course of the following decades, was set on course to become the Coptic Orthodox Church that survives to this day (Booth 2018a). That Apa Moses hosted both Severus of Antioch and Theodosius of Alexandria at the same time is unlikely, but the episode secured his allegiance to the anti-Chalcedonian cause for posterity. His membership among the saints who resisted the Chalcedonian purges of Justinian was thus assured.11 Within the Coptic literary sources, the location of Moses’ dwelling at Abydos is given in only relative terms. In his Life, he is said to have gone south into the Mountain (toou) to avoid crowds, but was later convinced to return north by an angel and thereafter built houses for himself and his disciples (Grossmann 1999). In the Panegyric on St Claudius attributed to Severus of Antioch, the Mountain (toou) of Abydos is described in contrast to the cultivated land (shôshe) (Smith 2017, 480–81). This opposition is found in documentary and literary texts describing locations throughout Egypt, especially where the desert escarpment—the ‘Mountain’ (oros/toou)—rises dramatically above the cultivation (Cadell and Rémondon 1967; O’Connell 2007a, 242–43). The term Mountain thus describes what lies beyond the cultivation, with the low desert (‘inner Mountain’) distinguished from the high desert (‘Mountain’) (Smith 2017, 481). The Life of Moses locates Apa Moses’ monastery southwest (i.e., local south) of the temple of Seti I (Grossmann 1999, 417). The memory of Apa Moses was also inscribed on the walls of the temple of Seti I at Abydos. Coptic inscriptions are found throughout the temple, but are especially localized in one room (‘Z’ of the Annex, Rutherford 2003, 185–86; Delattre 2003; Bucking 2014; Westerfeld 2017, 194–99). Provisionally dated c. 7th–10th century, the few place names suggest a small catchment area limited to the immediate surroundings (Westerfeld 2017, 209). Many are written by or for women, some with monastic titles, suggesting to earlier generations of scholars that the Seti I temple was the location of a female monastery (Murray in Murray, Milne and Crum 1904, 36; cf. Crum in Murray, Milne and Crum 1904, 39). Alain Delattre

Until now, the region’s First Millennium AD history has been told largely from a combination of literary sources and graffiti in the temple of Seti I. Recent syntheses have used these sources to explore the memory

11

12

For the Coptic, anti-Chalcedonian literature produced in this context, see Johnson 1986; Orlandi 1986; Boud’hors 2012; Booth 2018a.

(2003) noticed many of them concerned the inundation, and Jennifer Westerfeld (2017) has now re-evaluated their content, suggesting that the inscriptions were made on the occasion of annual visits by women from a community near Pertes/Bardis at the time of the inundation. At Abydos, the group would have witnessed the Nile’s inundation, which would have filled the Oseirion with water, and perhaps also attributed the waters’ rise to the beneficence of the saint (Westerfeld 2017; this volume). Muslims at Abydos Arabic and Islam were slow to penetrate the Egyptian countryside after the Arab conquest of Egypt c. 641. Only in the 9th/10th century, at the close of the First Millennium AD, do we find the first evidence of Arabic used at Abydos (Vorderstrasse, this volume). The appearance of Arabic need not necessarily indicate the presence of Muslims. The majority of Egypt’s population was Christian until around the 10th century, and a Christian minority, periodically flourishing or persecuted, continued into the Medieval period and indeed to the present. While Arabic was used at the upper echelons of the new administration from the beginning of the Muslim state, Coptic continued to be used at a local level into the 9th century (Papaconstantinou 2010; Sijpesteijn 2013, 66). Under the Fatimids (969– 1171), Arabic gained cultural prestige and, at the beginning of the 11th century, the Coptic Church adopted Arabic as its sole language for communication, with Coptic thereafter becoming largely a liturgical language (Papaconstantinou 2007). Nevertheless, among the personal names listed on Arabic ostraca from Abydos, we find the name ‘Mohammed’, and thus our first evidence for Muslims at Abydos (O.BM Abydos Arab. 1, Vorderstrasse, this volume). The subsequent history of Muslims at Abydos belongs to the Second Millennium AD, and another book.12

For Medieval Arabic histories mentioning Abydos, see Westerfeld, this volume.

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of the place after the adoption of Christianity by the majority population of Egypt (Frankfurter 1998, 128–31; 169–74; 2000, 476–80; 2005, 238–43; 2018, 242–47; Grossmann 1999; Kristensen 2013, 146–51; inter alia, Effland 2014; Smith 2017, 475–88). Reassessments of the Coptic graffiti in particular have allowed for a more nuanced interpretation of the use(s) of the temple of Seti I within the larger Abydene landscape. This new work cautions against over-interpretation of the textual evidence.13 The results of new archaeological fieldwork at Abydos offer a deeper and more subtle understanding of the area. III. The archaeology of Abydos in the First Millennium AD and the present volume This volume aims to make the richness and variety of the archaeological evidence available for the first time. The archaeological site of Abydos extends 6km along the cultivation from the northern limit of the ancient town and the North Cemetery to the Ahmose complex to the southeast (local south) (Fig. 8; Porter and Moss 1970, 1–41; 2004, 39–105; Kemp 1975).14 From the limit of the cultivation, it extends across the low desert, up to the cliffs of the high desert and through the wadi systems to the high desert plateau. The archaeology of the pharaonic period, from the earliest evidence of state formation through the First Millennium BC, is well-established by Egyptologists (for surveys, see O’Connor 2009; Effland and Effland 2013; Regulski 2019). Recent studies have explored the social and political contexts of the development of archaeology in Abydos within the wider context of W. M. F. Petrie’s work in Egypt in the late 19th and early 20th centuries (see Quirke 2010, 327 for Araba in index). This modern history of discovery will be further illuminated by the recently discovered 19thand 20th-century paper archives stored in the temple of Seti I (Shalaby et al. 2018).

13

14

For an over-interpretation of the evidence, see Kristensen 2013, 146–51, esp. 149, 151. He suggests, e.g., the identity of mutilators of images in the Seti I temple, stating ‘How did this community of nuns respond to pagan images around them?’ (Kristensen 2013, 148). In fact, we have no evidence for the date of the damage done to the ancient Egyptian relief sculpture. There is some confusion about the parameters of the site in recent studies, e.g., Tudor (2011, 90) equates Christian Abydos

The foundation for this volume and future work in the region is Jennifer Westerfeld’s deeply informed and critical chapter on the history of discovery of Late Antique Abydos up to World War II. She surveys the Medieval and Early Modern sources, before introducing the history of excavations at Abydos, first for the antiquities trade and, later, with the establishment of the Egyptian Antiquities Service under Auguste Mariette. While early excavators such as Émile Amélineau and W. M. F. Petrie held the ‘Copts’ in contempt, their publications allow glimpses of a landscape layered with Christian habitation before it was stripped to reveal ancient Egyptian temples and tombs. Westerfeld’s survey ends with World War II, when British expeditions—those of the Egypt Exploration Fund (later Egypt Exploration Society [EES]), British School of Archaeology in Egypt and the University of Liverpool—largely come to an end, and the Egyptian, American and German fieldwork missions at Abydos represented in this volume begin to take shape (O’Connor 2009, 63–69). These fieldwork projects are represented in the following six chapters. They are organized by chronology and geography, from earlier to later and from local north (northwest) to local south (southeast).15 The relocation of ritual activity from the temple of Osiris to the temple of Seti I is represented by the closure of the processional wadi with human and animal cemeteries (Abuel-Yazid, el-Rab and el-Qadi, this volume). The extensive remains of habitation in and around Abydos’ defining monument, the Dynasty 2 cultic enclosure of Khasekhemwy, known today as the Shunet el-Zebib, and later monuments illustrate the density of monastic settlement in North Abydos (Adams; Gosner and Bestock, this volume). Along the cultivation, south of the Seti I temple, a superstructure with loom emplacements is a probable monastery, perhaps even that of Apa Moses (Damarany and Abdallah, this volume). Evidence from the tombs of Egypt’s earliest kings at

15

with Umm al-Qa‘ab; Kristensen locates the monastery(?) with looms (Damarany and Abdallah, this volume) ‘roughly 1km south of Abydos’, when it is indeed part of Abydos (Kristensen 2013, 148). For the orientation of local directions versus cardinal directions at Abydos, see Regulski 2019.

15

ABYDOS AND THE THINITE REGION IN THE FIRST MILLENNIUM AD

N aan ncient n nccie nci ien en ntt townsite to ow wn nssiite nsi te e

Cemetery D

Osiris temple complex

Deir Sitt Damyana

Bani B ani ni Mansur Man M aans nssur nsu urr

Ibis hypogeum Shunet el-Zebib

North Cemetery

Seti I temple

Middle Cemetery

Osireion

i

ad sio

l

Arabah A rrab ra aba ab baah h el-Madfuna e el-M ell-M -M Mad Ma adf ad dfu d fu fun una naa

Monastery(?) with looms

W

Pr

oc

es

na

floodplain

Roman Tuthmosis III chapel cemetery Ramses II temple

Umm el-QaƗab

low desert

Senwosret III townsite Senwosret III complex Tetisheri chapel S10 Ahmose complex

Desert rt hermitage ag 3.5km

high desert

0

1000 metres

high desert

Fig. 8: Map of Abydos (C. Thorne).

Umm el-Qa‘ab suggests the area was on a processional route or perhaps operated as a waystation to the desert plateau (Effland, this volume). The documentation of one monastic dwelling in a network of around twenty identified in the wadis leading up to the high desert provides an excellent case study (McCormack and Westerfeld, this volume). Each of these chapters addresses simultaneously the ancient past, as interpreted through each project’s objectives, and the present, with each mission explicitly grappling with the hard decisions concerning the provision of land for homes, cemeteries and cultivable land for the region’s current and future population; their roles in making sites vulnerable to looting; and preserving some phases of occupation at the expense of others. The pottery corpora for each site are not yet systematically studied, and future work will provide a more refined chronology.

The last two chapters publish excavated ostraca now in the British Museum. Given the differential treatment of post-pharaonic archaeology and texts in particular (O’Connell 2014a), it is not surprising that the physical remains transmitted to museums are almost all texts. Up to a dozen Coptic grave stelae in international collections have been attributed to Abydos on the basis of onomastica and formulae (Schaten 1993; Tudor 2011, 90–91). In the case of four British Museum stelae usually assigned to the group (EA 54356–59), this attribution is doubtful based on the objects’ acquisition on the antiquities market, their material, i.e., sandstone, which is not available locally unless reused, and by comparison with other limestone funerary stelae excavated at the site (see below). The provenance of ostraca, however, has been confirmed with a selection of demotic, Greek, Coptic and all of the Arabic ostraca published here (Almásy; Vorderstrasse, this volume).

E. R. O’CONNELL

16 A brief orientation to the pharaonic monuments standing in Late Antiquity

In order to understand the reuse of monuments at Abydos in the First Millennium AD, it is necessary to sketch the landscape of standing architecture at the time. The remains of the Early Dynastic enclosures of Egypt’s first kings are located in the North Cemetery, linked by the processional wadi to their tombs located at Umm el-Qa‘ab (see Fig. 8). Of the enclosures, only that of Dynasty 2 king Khasekhemwy (c. 2686 BC), the Shunet el-Zebib, stood in Late Antiquity, with the others probably razed immediately after the death of each owner (O’Connor 2009, 175).16 The ancient town, first evidenced in the Old Kingdom (2686–2181 BC), but probably older, was located along the cultivation and centred on a temple dedicated to the local god Khentiamentiu. The Middle Cemetery, across the wadi from the North Cemetery, contains Old Kingdom mastabas belonging to high officials of Upper Egypt and shrines (Richards 2005). In the Middle Kingdom (2055–1650 BC), the mud-brick tomb of the Dynasty 1 king, Djer (c. 3050 BC), at Umm el-Qa‘ab was excavated and identified as the tomb of Osiris, and the temple in the town was rebuilt, now honouring Khentiamentiu-Osiris (O’Connor 2009, 88–89). From at least Dynasty 13 (1795–after 1650), tomb construction was explicitly prohibited within the processional wadi (Leahy 1989). By this time, Abydos was no longer a privileged location for the burial of elites, much less kings, but its role in the national cult of Osiris spurred the construction of cenotaphs for those wealthy enough to commission them (O’Connor 2009, 92–96). To the southeast, kings Senwosret III (1874–1855 BC) and Ahmose (c. 1539–1514 BC) built extensive complexes with temples (and a settlement) near the cultivation and cenotaphs at the base of the desert escarpment, modelled on the relationship between Osiris’ temple and tomb (O’Connor 2009, 110; Cahail 2019). These sites are not usually associated with much activity after the New Kingdom (O’Connor 2009, 122), but this impression is changing with new excavation and publication (e.g., a Roman-period canine cemetery found at the corner of Tetisheri’s complex, Ikram 2007, 421; Late Antique activity at S10 near Senwosret III’s cenotaph, Wegner and Cahail 2015, 133–35; a ‘grotto

16

Reigns according to Shaw and Nicholson 2008, 350–52.

which has the hallmarks of a Coptic period monastic cell’, Cahail 2019, n. 38; Westerfeld, this volume). Later pharaohs Tuthmosis III (1479–1425), Seti I (c. 1294–1279) and Ramses II (1279–1213), concentrated their building activity in the area around the temple of Osiris, along the cultivation to the south, or both. Seti I’s magnificent temple with an Osireion abutting at the rear is by far the best-preserved standing monument at Abydos. The temple of Osiris flourished through the Late Period and into the Ptolemaic period (O’Connor 2009, 122). Documented Ptolemaic tombs are centred on the Middle Cemetery and at the north edge of the North Cemetery, at the southwest corner of Deir Sitt Damyana (Landvatter 2019; Gosner and Bestock, this volume). At the end of the Ptolemaic period and beginning of the Roman period, there was a shift in the orientation and character of religious activity. Whereas the earlier cult activity was focussed on the temple of Osiris and the processional route to his tomb at Umm el-Qa‘ab, later activity shifted to the temple of Seti I (the ‘Memnonion’), and associated with the oracles of the Ptolemaic national god, Serapis, and, later, Bes (Effland 2014; Smith 2017, 470–71; Landvatter 2019). This is where our story begins. Abydos in the First Millennium AD The ancient prohibition on burial in the processional wadi ended by the Roman period, when the wadi was filled with human and animal burials (O’Connor 2009, 135; Effland 2014; Smith 2017, 470; Landvatter 2019). Although the excavation of this cemetery was not published at the time, it can be somewhat reconstructed from preliminary reports and archival material (Garstang 1907; Abdalla 1992; Landvatter 2019; Abuel-Yazid, el-Rab and el-Qadi, this volume). According to the original excavator, John Garstang, over 200 stelae were found ‘deposited, standing or lying on and around graves’ (Garstang 1907, 79). Further study of the excavation documentation demonstrates single or multiple mummies in simple pits, covered by stone slabs, stelae or both, sometimes with mud-brick rectangular or barrel-vaulted superstructures, some bearing evidence that they were originally whitewashed (Abdalla 1992, 3, 4–8; Cartron

ABYDOS AND THE THINITE REGION IN THE FIRST MILLENNIUM AD

Fig. 9: Abydos, E422. Cartonnage mummy mask, 1st–2nd century, acquired from the Egypt Exploration Fund in 1912 (EA 51146, Courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum).

2012, 11–12). The cartonnage-clad mummies (Fig. 9) were found in roughly hewn limestone sarcophagi, pottery coffins, or placed in the ground sometimes with grave goods such as storage jars or other containers (Abdalla 1992, 6). The stelae were either placed flat over the burial itself or set into the superstructure (Abdalla 1992, esp. pls 71b, 72b, 73). Most of the stelae are of the local, poor-quality limestone, which can be so friable as to be mistaken for sandstone (Abdalla 1992, 125). Since sandstone quarries are only really found south of El Kab, near Apollonopolis magna/Edfu (Klemm and Klemm 1993/2008, 169), the three sandstone stelae from this cemetery are thought to be from

17

Abdalla (1992, 128) suggests that they range in date from the end of the Ptolemaic or early Roman period to the first half of the 4th century based on the number of stelae and the variety of

17

reused stone (Abdalla 1992, 125). Among the stelae which bear text, inscriptions are written in hieroglyphs, demotic, Greek and, in four cases, a combination of two scripts (Abdalla 1992, 119). They usually record the name of the deceased, patronymic, matronymic, or both, and, sometimes, the age at death and, more rarely, profession (Abdalla 1992, 119, 130). Few of the stelae bear dates and all of these belong to the 1st century (Abdalla 1992, 127).17 Most are traditional Egyptian, roundtopped stelae and carved in sunk, raised and incised relief (Abdalla 1992, 99, 128). They depict the deceased standing before Osiris, effectively modelling the death of the individual on the death and rebirth of Osiris (Smith 2017, 470; see also Riggs 2005, 41–94). Even when the image depicts Osiris in his traditional form, the text sometimes names Serapis (Abdalla 1992, 112, 119). The deities are usually shown in traditional Egyptian style, while the deceased is depicted as a mummy or a standing figure wearing a kilt (Fig. 10); in other instances the deceased is shown in naturalistic style, wearing the contemporary dress of tunic and mantle (Abdalla 1992, nos 1–72). The human cemetery blocking the processional route was also the location of animal burials, predominately falcons and other raptors, ibises and vultures (Garstang 1907). Following its chance rediscovery in 2000, part of this animal cemetery was excavated by an Egyptian mission the following year. With the opportunity to excavate and publish this cemetery, Mohamed AbuelYazid, Atef William el-Rab† and Alaa el-Qadi, of the Ministry of Antiquities, provide important evidence for the closing of the processional way and the reorientation of cult activities. Throughout Egypt, animal mummification was an industry that paralleled human mummification. A select few animals were considered the living manifestations of individual gods as well as expressing ‘aspects of Osiris and linked to the apotheosis of the king’ and, as such, acting as oracles and playing roles in dream interpretation (Ikram 2007, 418). From the Late Period on, the practice of dedicating votive animal mummies flourished, apparently with state sponsorship, and declining in the early Roman period with its withdrawal (von den Driesch et al. 2005; cf. Ikram 2015). Large animal cemeteries were supplied by nearby breeding

decoration, but I find this doubtful; Smith has also come to the same conclusion (2017, 473). I have labelled the map (Fig. 8) ‘Roman cemetery’ in accordance with the evidence.

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Fig. 10: Abydos. Round-topped limestone funerary stela depicting Anubis leading the deceased to Osiris, Roman period, acquired from d’Athanasi 1837 (EA 399, Courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum; see Abdalla 1992, no 170).

grounds associated with temple cults. At Abydos, the vast majority of burials are votives dedicated to deities the animals represent, with dogs and other canids in the North and Middle Cemetery and at or near the Osireion and chapel of Tetisheri; cats in the northern part of the Middle Cemetery (Fig. 11); ibises and raptors in the North and Middle cemeteries as well as in the processional wadi that separates them (Fig. 12); and shrews found in the Middle Cemetery and processional wadi (Ikram 2007, 418–19). Formal catacombs for animals at Abydos have been found in the North Cemetery (for ibises, Gosner and Bestock, this volume) and the Middle Cemetery (for canids, Peet 1914, 98–102, pl. 18). Most animals were found buried in the open ground, many in pots (Abuel-Yazid, el-Rab and el-Qadi, this volume). Inscribed fragments from pots are found in museum collections today including that of the British

Fig. 11: Abydos. Cat mummy, Roman period, acquired from the Egypt Exploration Fund in 1902 (EA 37348, Courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum).

Museum, where twenty-nine fragments of jars containing ibises found near the Shunet el-Zebib bear a demotic dedication to the deity they represent, ‘Thoth the Greatest of Five’, followed by the name of the dedicator and their filiation (Fig. 13; Almásy-Martin this volume). It is difficult to say when the practice of animal mummification ceased without relative or absolute dates that might be provided by systematic surveys of their pottery containers, or radiocarbon dating of the animals themselves or their wrappings. It would be useful to establish dates, since the decline of such a distinctive practice provides another metric for the end of traditional religious practice in Egypt. Further south, at Hermonthis/Armant, the stela of the last known burial of a Buchis bull is dated to year 57 of Diocletian, which is actually AD 340, in the reign of Constantius II (Grenier 1983). The Buchis bull, however, was a living manifestation of the god, and votive practices, which

ABYDOS AND THE THINITE REGION IN THE FIRST MILLENNIUM AD

19

account for the vast majority of animal mummies, may have diminished earlier. Among cemeteries at Abydos, the canid cemetery near the Tetisheri complex has been broadly dated to the Roman period (Ikram 2007, 421). Lamps found in the canid hypogeum in the Middle Cemetery were used by the excavators to date it from c. 2nd century BC to 4th century AD (Peet 1914, 101, pl. 39.10–11), but the lamps could just as easily represent the 1st century BC to 1st century AD on the basis of parallels with good archaeological contexts (Thomas 2013 and pers. comm. following Peacock 2011, Knowles 2006). The hypogeum and its contents also give an impression of the scale of burial at Abydos, with tens of thousands of canids estimated to have been buried therein (Ikram 2007, 420).

THE NORTH CEMETERY

Fig. 12: Abydos. Ibis mummy, Roman period, acquired from the Egypt Exploration Fund in 1914 (EA 53938, Courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum).

Fig. 13: Abydos, near the Shunet el-Zebib. Fragments of an ibis jar bearing a demotic dedication to ‘Thoth the Greatest of Five’, acquired from the Egypt Exploration Society in 1927 (EA 58916, Courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum).

The North Cemetery was the locus of monastic activity and is today the location of the Coptic village, Deir Sitt Damyana, and its cemetery. Just to the north of the processional wadi stands the Shunet el-Zebib. Originally built for King Khasekhemwy of Dynasty 2 (c. 2700 BC), the massive enclosure served as a ritual space in connection with his underground tomb located c. 1.5km away at Umm el-Qa‘ab. It was the last in a series of Early Dynastic royal enclosures, the others of which may have been purposely razed upon the death of each king (O’Connor 2009, 175; Adams 2019) so that only Khasekhemwy’s continued to invite reuse before the royal necropolis moved elsewhere. Later interventions at the Shunet el-Zebib include child burials found in the walls, and vast numbers of ibis burials in pots found by Mariette and later expeditions (Ikram 2007, 426). In Late Antiquity, several dwellings were carved into the walls. Matthew D. Adams of the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University expedition, sets out the evidence for the Late Antique occupation of the Shunet el-Zebib and EES-excavated tombs nearby. In and around the Shunet el-Zebib’s massive mud-brick walls, he distinguishes at least fourteen numbered dwellings (or ‘hermitages’) and three kitchens. Their presentation in this volume is all the more important because the voids they created—thereby destabilizing the entire Dynasty 2 structure—have now been filled in as part of recent conservation treatment. The treatment is reversible and occasioned meticulous recording of the inhabited spaces. As part of the massive documentation effort

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undertaken during the conservation, Roxanne Bélanger Sarrazin and Jitse H. F. Dijkstra have now edited the textual evidence, comprised mainly of fragments of wall-plaster. At one dwelling (Hermitage 13), located at the Shunet el-Zebib’s southwest corner, were found pieces of wall-plaster bearing red and black text, and, especially rare at Abydos, a few fragments of papyrus and parchment. Exhibiting fine book hands, these fragments give a first glimpse of the reading habits of the Late Antique inhabitants (Adams, this volume, appendix), and confirm that they were monks. Situating the Shunet el-Zebib in its wider context, Adams usefully compiles the evidence for Late Antique activity at North Abydos. Located north of Deir Sitt Damyana, in Peet’s Cemetery D, the remains of Late Antique settlement have been confirmed by magnetometer survey, revealing streets and houses. Two New Kingdom tombs in Peet’s Cemetery D, D68 and D69, were reused for habitation (Peet 1914, 49–53, pls 12.5, 22.5; Grossmann 1999, 62–63; Westerfeld 2010, 177, n. 29, and this volume). Nearby, Peet also noted contemporary burials (Peet 1914, 53) as well as two funerary stelae found ex situ and mentioning monastic figures (Peet and Loat 1913, 38–39, pl. 13; also discussed in Westerfeld 2010, 173–74, and this volume; Adams, this volume). Other comparable funerary stelae from Abydos commemorating monks are now in international collections, including the British Museum (Fig. 14; van der Vliet 2020; Westerfeld, this volume). Southeast of Deir Sitt Damyana, Petrie described and photographed a reused vaulted tomb, which itself cut through earlier Dynasty 1 tombs (W. M. F. Petrie 1925, 18, pl. 47.8–9). In Late Antiquity, it was outfitted with a door and window, its interior plastered and decorated with images of branches and birds. Southwest or west of Deir Sitt Damyana, Garstang described a vast vaulted Dynasty 1 tomb ‘arranged as a Christian church’, which is probably the equivalent of Tomb 930 A’09 and indeed part of the same Ptolemaic ibis hypogeum described by Gosner and Bestock (Garstang 1909, 125; Snape 1986, 1: 341, 356; Gosner and Bestock, this volume). Long lost is a mud-brick structure built over a ruined chapel of Tuthmosis III south of the Osiris temple recorded in the early 20th century (Naville 1909, 5; Peet 1914, 53). Most recently, the documentation of looting activity at the northwestern margin of the North Cemetery located a large tomb that was subdivided in Late Antiquity (Snape 1986, 64, fig. 4; Adams 2015, 27). While acknowledging the practical utility of such funerary spaces, Adams conveys

some of the physicality of living in spaces originally built for the dead, ‘emptying them of their original contents preparatory to any remodelling’ that ‘would have constituted a process of disarticulating, decontextualizing and discarding the fabric of the pagan past’, and in particular, their human remains (Adams, this volume). North of the Shunet el-Zebib, the razed Early Dynastic enclosures were the locus of Ptolemaic activity and, later, Late Antique habitation. Deir Sitt Damyana itself is enclosed within what are probably Ptolemaic-period walls, and located to the south are an extensive ibis hypogeum and Ptolemaic-period tombs. The Brown University Abydos Project led by Laurel Bestock has investigated this area, documenting a newly discovered Early Dynastic enclosure provisionally attributed to Narmer (Bestock 2019). Within this area, Linda Gosner and Laurel Bestock describe parts of 1) a Ptolemaic tomb and 2) an ibis hypogeum, each of which was partly refashioned for occupation in Late Antiquity. Investigation is complicated by the current use of part of this location as a modern Coptic cemetery (Bestock 2019). Adjacent to and respecting the earlier, Dynasty 1 tombs associated with the enclosure, the Ptolemaic tomb originally was comprised of three vaulted rooms. Two of the rooms were left intact, and contained

Fig. 14: Abydos. Limestone Coptic funerary stela (EA 995 = SBKopt. 4.2001, Courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum).

ABYDOS AND THE THINITE REGION IN THE FIRST MILLENNIUM AD

heavily disturbed human remains alongside their stone sarcophagi and other artefacts. In Late Antiquity, the third room was outfitted with stairs leading down into the subterranean chamber, partitioned and installed with wall niches and beds with raised pillows; it was whitewashed throughout, with animal bones inserted into the walls to be used for hanging items such as lamps. A preliminary survey of pottery associated with the occupation has been dated to the 5th–7th centuries. The second locus of Christian activity, the Ptolemaic ibis hypogeum, was originally built with eighteen vaults arranged on an axial corridor, with nine on each side. Today located mostly under the modern Coptic cemetery, at least two of the vaults were reused as separate dwellings in Late Antiquity. One subterranean vault was partitioned, with one room outfitted with bone pegs and, in the east wall, niches that were whitewashed and decorated. A second dwelling was modified with a superstructure addition made of reused Ptolemaic bricks. The upper level included a large kitchen, and stairs leading down into a central, two-storey, whiteplastered courtyard with its lower level giving access to two rooms. While the southern room had a domestic purpose, the northern space is highly decorated with an apsidal niche in the eastern wall, bearing a painting of a seated Christ (only the legs of which survive) flanked by Sts Paul and Peter below (see cover image), and other paintings depicting the sacrifice of Isaac and other subjects. This latter space may have been the church described by Garstang (Adams, this volume). The North Cemetery as revealed in Adams’ and Gosner and Bestock’s chapters contains several ancient tombs exhibiting patterns of reuse in Late Antiquity. Many are subterranean with later staircases built into them. They either required modification so that space was cleared before doors and windows for light (Adams) or relied on oil lamps (Gosner and Bestock). Adams and Gosner and Bestock emphasize clearance of original tombs, in the latter case, with a mass of bird remains, linen and ceramic neatly disposed of by the builders of the dwelling. In these instances, too, patterns within dwellings are confirmed. Sleeping and utility spaces are found alongside devotional spaces, a combination known from previous excavations at Abydos (H. Petrie, Peet’s D68–69) and in monastic archaeology more generally (cf. Brooks Hedstrom 2017). The northeast (local east) walls of devotional spaces were emphasized with niches, dipinti and in the case of the North Cemetery Vault 11 dwelling, vivid wall-paintings (Gosner and

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Bestock, this volume). Wall treatments, with the area under niches sometimes raised a few millimetres (Peet 1914, fig. 17; Adams’ Hermitage 8 and 10), are consistent with evidence from elsewhere in Egypt (the Daniel villa, 2.5km north of Wadi Sarga, O’Connell 2014b, fig. 72). Although pottery has not yet been systematically studied at either site, initial identifications including Late Roman Amphorae in Hermitage 11 may provide a terminus post quem for settlement at the Shunet elZebib (Adams) and Egyptian Red Slip wares may date the habitation of a remodelled Ptolemaic tomb to c. 5th– 7th century (Gosner and Bestock).

AROUND THE SETI I TEMPLE South along the cultivation, a Late Antique settlement site has been identified between the temples of Ramses II and Seti I, including the remains of a church (Grossmann 1999, 62, 63; Westerfeld, this volume). Within the temple of Seti I itself, remains of habitation and possibly another church, represented by ex situ columns found in the second court, were removed when the temple was cleared in the 19th century (Grossmann 1999; Westerfeld, this volume). Settlement in this area is further supported by localization of Coptic and Arabic ostraca near the Osireion (Almásy-Martin and Vorderstrasse, this volume) and graves belonging to both men and women (and therefore not monastic). Just south of the Seti I temple, at an earlier Predynastic cemetery, an Egyptian mission has discovered at least a dozen burials in simple pit-graves, wrapped in linen secured by bands and dated by their textiles to the Late Roman/Byzantine period (Hossein 2011; Gabr 2011, 282–84, burials 1–8, 10–11, and 13). Among a corpus of c. 9th- and 10th-century funerary stelae originally belonging to male and female citizens of Balayana, and now in international collections, at least two were found or acquired by the EES mission working at the Osireion (van der Vliet forthcoming) so that this location south of the Seti I temple may be a good candidate for their original emplacements. To the south of the temple of Seti I, adjacent to the village of Arabah el-Madfuna, are the remains of a building complex investigated by an Egyptian mission in the 1970s (Farag 1983). It was previously interpreted as a weaving factory, but further investigation by Ayman Mohammed Damarany and Hazem Salah Abdallah has suggested that the large structure with loom pits may have been part of a larger complex they conclude is

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a monastery, perhaps the Monastery of Apa Moses. The pillars of the structure were likely reused from the Osireion, and the other building material is probably from Senwosret III’s cenotaph and nearby Third Intermediate period tombs. That these structures were disassembled for building material in Late Antiquity is suggested on the basis of amphorae found in a Dynasty 13 tomb (S10), one of which bears a dipinto ‘Apa Moses’ (Wegner and Cahail 2015, 133–35; Westerfeld, this volume). Pottery forms and wares date as early as the 5th century, but the majority are probably 6th century, with a limited number of glazed ware fragments dating to the 10th–11th centuries (Damarany and Abdallah, this volume).

UMM EL-QA‘AB AND THE HIGH DESERT At Umm el-Qa‘ab, located in the low desert, c. 2km from the temple of Osiris, decades of investigation by the German Archaeological Institute Cairo have confirmed that votive pottery deposits continued into the Ptolemaic period. The cessation of traditional cult activity between the temple of Osiris and his tomb at Umm el-Qa‘ab—which is thought to have been occasioned by the blocking of the processional wadi—did not mean, however, the end of activity at this site. Instead, Andreas Effland has argued for continued use of another axis, whereby Umm el-Qa‘ab was reached via the desert pylon of the Seti I temple. He suggests that Umm el-Qa‘ab, as the location of the Bes oracle in the Roman period, and with its long history of association as the entrance to the underworld, was perfectly situated for divinatory techniques. In the Roman period these techniques included necromancy (cf. PGM VII.64–69; Effland 2014, 199). About forty ostraca bearing texts and illustrations have been identified so far. The writers used whatever materials they found to hand, including fragments of Early Dynastic stone vessels and New Kingdom pottery sherds, poignantly demonstrating reuse of earlier materials as well as architecture at the site. A later shelter in the tomb of Khasekhemwy is evidenced by Late Roman Amphora 7, Egyptian Red Slip wares decorated with crosses, and two crosses made of organic material. Effland notes that such a shelter may have provided a waystation between the Christian dwellings near the cultivation and those in the high desert.

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For parallels, see Pritchard 2006, 129–39.

Although focussed on prehistoric archaeology, the Abydos Survey for Paleolithic Sites has located over twenty dwellings with Late Antique occupation in the high desert overlooking Abydos. The dwellings make use of natural caves and rock-shelters and are connected to each other and to Late Antique clusters of occupation on the desert plain below. This network will be the subject of a future systematic publication. Here Dawn McCormack and Jennifer Westerfeld detail the construction, decoration and function of one dwelling, which closely parallels another, unlocated structure documented by Hilda Petrie over 100 years ago (H. Petrie 1925). A preliminary survey of ceramic material identifies two datable phases, the Roman period (1st–2nd century) and Late Antiquity (5th–8th century), thus covering the period of this volume. Each instance of habitation described in this volume demonstrates to a greater or lesser extent adaptive reuse of earlier structures as well as the reuse of earlier building material, e.g., Ptolemaic bricks (Gosner and Bestock, this volume) and inscribed pharaonic sculpture (Damarany and Abdallah, this volume). Objects too were reused as building material, e.g., the base of a Ptah-Sokar-Osiris figure was reused as a brick (Adams, this volume, Hermitage 14), and part of a stone sarcophagus was reused as part of a drainage system (Damarany and Abdallah, this volume). Earlier objects were regularly reused as ostraca, with Predynastic pottery and stone vessels used for sketches or Coptic texts (Effland, this volume). British Museum collections In the British Museum (BM) collections today are over 2,170 objects from or said to come from Abydos. The vast majority of these represent pharaonic Egypt and are housed in the Department of Egypt and Sudan (c. 2,030), but there are also objects now in the Britain, Prehistory and Europe (104), Greece and Rome (3), Coins and Medals (28), Middle East (4) and the Africa, Oceania and Americas departments (3), representing Abydos from the Neolithic period to the 20th century. Among them, only c. 100 objects belong to the First Millennium AD. The corpus consists of a few elements of Roman-period human mummy cartonnage (see Fig. 9), animal mummies (see Figs 11–12) and Late Antique elements of personal adornment, such as textiles (Fig. 15)18

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Fig. 15: Abydos. Woman’s wool sprang cap, 5th–8th century, acquired from the Egypt Exploration Fund in 1902 (EA 37352, Courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum).

and jewellery, but foremost of ostraca bearing demotic, Greek, Coptic and Arabic text. In general, few papyrus documents have been discovered at Abydos, owing to the low-lying desert upon which the monuments are built.19 Ostraca are far more numerous, with c. 320 ostraca published to date in international collections. Most are demotic, mainly Ptolemaic in date (c. 250, with c. 150 in BM), a few dozen Greek (c. 28, all in BM) and Coptic (c. 36, with 30 in BM), and only 6 Arabic (all BM) (TM Geo 34). In her chapter, Adrienn Almásy-Martin gives an overview of the BM ostraca donated to the British Museum by the Egypt Exploration Fund. The findspots within Abydos can be determined for most of the ostraca on the basis of the publications, acquisition dates or field numbers written on the objects themselves. Many of the dedications to Thoth on ibis jars, for example, were found in Peet’s Cemetery Z, other demotic and some Greek and Coptic ostraca were

19

Mainly hieroglyphic or hieratic papyri, but a Coptic spell is said by the dealer to be from Abydos (Worrell 1935, 5; Meyer and Smith 1994, no 66).

found at or near the Osireion, and other Coptic ostraca were found in Peet’s Cemetery D, where there is otherwise considerable Late Antique activity (Westerfeld, Adams, and Gosner and Bestock, this volume). A single Coptic ostracon donated by the EES was found at Umm el-Qa‘ab (EA 49293, Effland, this volume). Tasha Vorderstrasse shows that, while small in number, the six Arabic ostraca found in the course of the same EES excavations are suggestive of larger trends in the region and the Egyptian countryside. She finds that the use of Arabic began to extend beyond the upper levels of administration to everyday writing in the course of the 9th–10th centuries. Five of the Arabic ostraca are from or probably from the Osireion. The paucity of Arabic textual material may be real or complicated by selection at excavation. Arabic inscriptions in Gosner and Bestock’s dwelling in the ibis hypogeum (vault 9) may suggest the latter.

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IV. Abydos in context Abydos is situated along the cultivation, between the capitals of Ptolemais/Manshah and Diospolis parva/ Hou. All three were the location of Roman troops by c. 400, and probably earlier. At or near the terminus of a network of desert roads, the Abydos region would have required policing and presumably other controls, which may be reflected in the Roman-period occupation recorded by the Abydos Survey for Paleolithic Sites (McCormack and Westerfeld, this volume). We can expect that towns and hamlets periodically or continually occupied locations along the cultivation, probably at or near the ancient town where the Osiris temple was located, and in and/or between the Ramses II and Seti I temples (Adams, this volume). Monastic occupation adapted and reused abandoned spaces just beyond the cultivation, on the low desert, and, at a further remove, up to the high desert. Examples of Late Antique settlement in ancient tombs are found elsewhere in Egypt, such as one of the necropoleis of Thinis located at Naga ed-Deir (above), and other cemeteries at or near Syene/Aswan (Qubbet el-Hawa), Apollonopolis magna/Edfu (Hagr Edfu), Hierakonpolis/Kom al-Ahmar, Hermonthis/Armant, Panopolis/Akhmim, Hypsele/Shutub (Rifa), Lykopolis/ Asyut (Asyut el-gharbi), Koussai/el-Qusiya (Meir), Hermopolis magna/Ashmunein (including Speos Artemidos, Amarna, Bersha), Antinoopolis/Sheikh Ibada (including Beni Hasan), Oxyrhynchus/Behnasa, Ankyronpolis/el-Hibeh (including Sharuna/Kom al-Ahmar) and Memphis/Saqqara (O’Connell 2014c, 10). In particular the settlement of monuments in the ancient Egyptian royal and elite necropolis at Western Thebes, opposite modern Luxor, is instructive. In Late Antiquity, most, or all, of the ancient necropolis belonged to the Hermonthite region. Here, two of the standing temples dedicated to Ramses III at Medinet Habu and Seti I at Gurna were towns (Hölscher 1954; Myśliwiec 1987). The better documented of the two was the town at Medinet Habu, named Memnoneia in Greek and Jeme in Coptic (for book-length studies, see Wilfong 2002; Cromwell 2017). In Late Antiquity, the temples and tombs on the desert mountain, the ‘Mountain of Memnoneia/Jeme’, were occupied by monasteries, churches, saints’ shrines and monastic dwellings. Many of these have been excavated, and demonstrate patterns of reuse (for the history of study, see O’Connell 2010; for site-by-site surveys, see Winlock and Crum 1926, 3–24; O’Connell 2007b, 108–252; Lecuyot and

Thirard 2008; Bavay 2008, 16–66; Wipszycka 2009, 91–99; Beckh 2013, 5–9; Pimpaud and Lecuyot 2013). In contrast to Abydos, Western Thebes has been especially rich in textual finds, on papyri and parchment, but especially limestone and pottery ostraca. Today, over half the edited corpus of Coptic documentary texts (up to c. 4,300) can be attributed to the Theban region (Delattre 2005–). By localizing papyri and ostraca documents within the Theban landscape, scholars have populated the towns, monasteries, churches, saints’ shrines and dwellings with named and titled individuals and been able to identify their networks (e.g., O.Crum, P.Mon.Epiph. O.Frange, O.Marc, O.Cyriacus; networks, O’Connell and Ruffini 2017; Dekker 2018). In addition to documents, the physical survival of around eighty Christian codices, or fragments thereof, as well as about a hundred books named in inventories or requests, demonstrates what residents were copying and reading (Boud’hors 2017; forthcoming; O’Connell 2018). Together with dipinti on the walls of dwellings, such literary texts demonstrate the anti-Chalcedonian character of many if not all of the residents (van der Vliet 2015; O’Connell 2018; 2019). While papyrus does not appear to survive very well on the low desert of Abydos, ostraca now in international collections, or in early excavators’ dumps, may in time provide a corpus similar in character. While Western Thebes was probably settled by Christians prior to the end of the 6th century, it was with the arrival of several bishops that monastic settlements flourished c. 600–800. One of the two monasteries in the region was probably founded by a bishop, Abraham of Hermonthis. He was appointed by the Severan anti-Chalcedonian patriarch, Damian of Alexandria (d. c. 607), who instructed him to move there (Krause 1985; Wipszycka 2009; Booth 2018a and b; Dekker 2018). Located upon the abandoned remains of the temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahri, the Monastery of the holy martyr Phoibammon flourished for about 200 years (Godlewski 1986). The bishop of Koptos, Pisentius, also appointed under Damian, also lived at Western Thebes, probably at the topos of Epiphanius, at least for a time (Winlock and Crum 1926, 209–31; van der Vliet 2002; Booth 2018a and b; Dekker 2018, 92–98). Just as at Abydos, there was a tradition that Severus of Antioch had spent time there (O’Connell 2019). Christians may have occupied the ancient funerary monuments of Abydos as early as the 4th and 5th centuries, as claimed by Coptic literary sources naming an

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Apa John and suggested by a preliminary assessment of pottery. From the 4th century, Pachomian monasteries in the Panopolite and Diospolite districts, and, from the 5th century, Shenoute’s White Monastery Federation thrived. How did Abydos fit into this larger picture? The dedications of altars at churches to Shenoute and Sitt Damyana at both Naga ed-Deir and Abydos suggest a decidedly local world. The depiction of Moses as an heir to Shenoute in his saint’s Life in the context of the 6th century, when the future of the anti-Chalcedonian church was decided, is illuminating. At this time, the Chalcedonian patriarch in post in Alexandria was the Pachomian, Paul of Tabennese (r. 538–540), rival to Theodosius of Alexandria. Moses here operates as a link between Shenoute, who vociferously opposed Nestorius after the Council of Ephesus (431), and the Pachomian tradition of Abraham, who rejected Chalcedon two decades later. In their refashioning of the Abydos landscape in the First Millennium AD, generations of residents made practical and opportunistic use of the buildings and materials around them. They also engaged with many of the monuments and the decoration thereof, with, e.g., graffiti making use of framing devices provided by earlier sculptural relief programmes. More dramatically, the literary sources demonstrate a historical consciousness surrounding earlier monuments, best exemplified by Apa Moses’ exorcism of Bes at the temple in his Life. The cultural memory deployed therein finds parallels in the Middle Kingdom ‘discovery’ of the tomb of Osiris. As suggested in the context of the settlement of Western Thebes, each site must be investigated on its own historically contingent terms, in order to better understand the motivations of the people living there. Background The contributions to this volume took shape at a workshop entitled ‘Abydos in Late Antiquity’ (8 July 2015), timed to coincide with the British Museum’s Annual Egyptological Colloquium, ‘Abydos: The sacred land at the western horizon’ (9–10 July). The idea for such a workshop had arisen some years before, at the ‘Origin of the state: Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt’ conference, which took place at the British Museum in 2008 (see now, Friedman and Fiske 2011). On that occasion, Matthew D. Adams and I discussed the possibility of inviting representatives of all current

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missions with Late Antique remains in their concessions to a workshop, perhaps at a future ‘Origins’ meeting. The opportunity presented itself when Abydos was chosen as the British Museum annual colloquium topic in 2015. Despite the imminent arrivals (see dedication), we could not miss the chance to organize a workshop. The colloquium had the advantage of being focussed on Pre- and Early Dynastic Egypt and thus the cluster of monuments at the northern end of Abydos and at Umm el-Qa‘ab, but should also have made possible the participation of those working on the Ahmose and Senwosret temple complexes further south. Future work and publication may provide evidence for the Late Antique reuse of monuments at these locations or indeed confirm the lack of it, as well as for objects from Abydos now in international collections. This volume is only a beginning. Acknowledgements I am deeply indebted to the contributors of this volume for taking up the challenge of presenting the results of their fieldwork and research in this volume. Most are not specialists of post-pharaonic Egypt, and their primary research interests (and funding streams) are directed elsewhere. I sincerely appreciate their commitment to delivering contributions and in a timely manner. None of this work would be possible without the support of the Egyptian Ministry of State for Antiquities, Sohag Antiquities District, Balyana Antiquities Inspectorate. I thank staff in the Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan (now Egypt and Sudan) for help with the logistics of organizing and running the workshop, foremost Tania Watkins, Eirini Koutsouroupa and Neal Spencer. In the assembly of the volume, I thank a long list of peer-reviewers for their critical comments and generous suggestions for each of the contributors. For permission to reproduce images, I thank Anna Garnett at the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, UCL; Carl Graves of the Egypt Exploration Society; Todd Hickey of the Center for the Tebtunis Papyri, University of California, Berkeley; and Martina Smith of the Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology. Peter Grossmann kindly gave permission to reproduce his plans. I am grateful to Elizabeth S. Bolman and William Lyster for a provisional steer regarding the dates of the North Abydos wall-paintings pending their further study. For their support and advice in bringing this

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volume together, I am grateful to Louise Blanke, Darlene Brooks-Hedstrom, Kevin M. Cahail, Jennifer Cromwell, Jitse Dijkstra, Dietrich Kessler, Thomas Landvatter, Brian Muhs, Paul Nicholson, Johanna Sigl, Alice Stevenson, Ross I. Thomas and Naïm Vanthieghem. Gillian Pyke has provided her expert advice on numerous occasions throughout the process of compiling this volume, and I am deeply indebted to her. I thank the Publication Support Fund of the British Museum for providing the necessary funding for bringing this volume to press. Nora Shalaby translated Damarany and Abdallah’s contribution from the Arabic. Claire Thorne produced the attractive maps (Figs 1, 2, 8). As ever, Carolyn Jones has provided meticulous copyediting, incisive comments and a sustaining wit during the troubled times in which this volume came together. For their guidance and professionalism, I thank the staff of Peeters and, in particular, Bert Verrept. For their comments and suggestions on this introductory chapter, I thank Jitse Dijkstra, Wendy Doyon, Ilona Regulski, Neal Spencer, Ross I. Thomas, Jacques van der Vliet and Jennifer Westerfeld. All errors in fact and judgement remain my own. Bibliography All papyrological abbreviations are cited throughout this volume according to J. Oates et al. Checklist of Greek, Latin, Demotic and Coptic papyri, ostraca and tablets, http:// papyri.info/docs/checklist (last accessed 8 February 2019). Trismegistos database records for places and archives are recorded herein according to their stable identifiers, e.g., TM Geo and TM Arch., according to conventions of the project, M. Depauw, et al., https://www.trismegistos.org/about_ how_to_cite.php (last accessed 8 February 2019). Abdalla, A. 1992. Graeco-Roman funerary stelae from Upper Egypt. Liverpool Monographs in Archaeology and Oriental Studies. Liverpool. Adams, M. D. 2015. In the footsteps of looters: Assessing the damage from 2011 looting in the North Cemetery at Abydos. Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 51: 5–63. ——. 2019. The origins of sacredness at Abydos. In Abydos: The sacred land at the western horizon, I. Regulski (ed.), 25–70. British Museum Publications on Egypt and Sudan 8. Leuven. Allen, P., and C. T. R. Hayward. 2004. Severus of Antioch. London; New York. Bagnall, R. S. 1993. Egypt in Late Antiquity. Princeton, NJ. Basset, R. 1915. Le synaxaire arabe Jacobite (Rédaction copte) 3. Patrologia Orientalis 11.5. Paris.

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——. 2007a. Transforming monumental landscapes in Late Antique Egypt: Monastic dwellings in legal documents from Western Thebes. Journal of Early Christian Studies 15: 239–74. ——. 2007b. Tombs for the living: Monastic reuse of monumental funerary architecture in Late Antique Egypt. PhD dissertation, University of California: Berkeley. ——. 2010. Excavating Late Antique Western Thebes: A history. In Christianity and monasticism in Upper Egypt II: Nag Hammadi–Esna, G. Gabra and H. N. Takla (eds), 253–70. Cairo. ——. 2014a. The discovery of Christian Egypt: From manuscript hunters toward an archaeology of Late Antiquity. In Coptic civilization: Two thousand years of Christianity in Egypt, G. Gabra (ed.), 143–56. Cairo. ——. 2014b. R. Campbell Thompson’s 1913/14 excavation of Wadi Sarga and other sites. British Museum Studies in Ancient Egypt and Sudan 21: 121–92. ——. 2014c. Settlements and cemeteries in Late Antique Egypt: An introduction. In Egypt in the First Millennium AD: Perspectives from new fieldwork, E. R. O’Connell (ed.), 1–19. British Museum Publications on Egypt and Sudan 2. Leuven. ——. 2018. Theban books in context. Adamantius: Annuario di Letteratura Cristiana Antica e di Studi Giudeoellenistici 24: 75–105. ——. 2019. ‘They wandered in the deserts and mountains, and caves and holes in the ground’: Non-Chalcedonian bishops ‘in exile’. In Clerics in exile: Networks, space and memory, J. Hillner (ed.). Special issue of Studies in Late Antiquity: A Journal 3 (3): 436–71. O’Connell, E. R., and G. Ruffini. 2017. The social networks of Late Antique Western Thebes. In Sinews of empire: Networks in the Roman Near East and beyond, E. H. Seland and H. F. Teigen (eds), 167–84. Oxford; Philadelphia, PA. O’Connor. D. 2009. Egypt’s first pharaohs and the cult of Osiris. London. Orlandi, T. 1974. Les papyrus coptes du Musée Égyptien. Le Muséon 77: 115–27. ——. 1986. Coptic literature. In The roots of Egyptian Christianity, B. P. Pearson and J. Goehring (eds), 51–81. Philadelphia, PA. ——. 2013. The Turin Coptic papyri. Augustinianum 53 (2): 501–30. Palme, B. 2007. The imperial presence: Government and army. In Egypt in the Byzantine world, 300–700, R. S. Bagnall (ed.), 244–70. Cambridge. Papaconstantinou, A. 2007. They shall speak the Arabic language and take pride in it: Reconsidering the fate of Coptic after the Arab conquest. Le Muséon 120: 273–99. ——. (ed.). 2010. The multilingual experience in Egypt, from the Ptolemies to the Abbasids. Farnham. Peacock, D. P. S. 2011. Ceramic lamps. In Myos Hormos – Quseir al-Qadim: Roman and Islamic ports on the Red

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Sea 2: Finds from the excavations 1999–2003, D. P. S. Peacock and L. Blue (eds), 47–56. BAR International Series 2286. Oxford. Peet, T. E. 1914. The cemeteries of Abydos 2. Memoirs of the Egypt Exploration Fund 34. London. Peet, T. E., and W. L. S. Loat. 1913. The cemeteries of Abydos, Part 3, 1912–1913. Memoirs of the Egypt Exploration Fund 35. London. Perdrizet, P., and G. Lefebvre. 1919. Les graffites grecs du Memnonion d’Abydos. Paris. Petrie, H. 1925. A Coptic hermitage at Abydos. In Tombs of the courtiers and Oxyrhynkos, etc., W. M. F. Petrie (ed.), 20–24. British School of Archaeology in Egypt and the Egyptian Research Account 37. London. Petrie, W. M. F. 1907. Gizeh and Rifeh. British School of Archaeology in Egypt 13. London. ——. 1925. Tombs of the courtiers and Oxyrhynkos, etc. British School of Archaeology in Egypt and the Egyptian Research Account 37. London. Pimpaud, A.-B., and G. Lecuyot. 2013. Cartes pour l’étude de la rive gauche de Thèbes aux époques romaines et byzantines. Memnonia 24: 147–54. Pococke, R. 1803. The travels of Richard Pococke, L.L.D. F.R.S., through Egypt, interspersed with remarks and observations by Captain Norden. Philadelphia, PA. Porter, B., and L. B. Moss. 1970. Topographical bibliography of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic texts, reliefs and paintings VI: Upper Egypt. Chief temples (excluding Thebes). Oxford. ——. 2004. Topographical bibliography of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic texts, reliefs and paintings V: Upper Egypt. Sites. 2nd ed. Oxford. Pritchard, F. 2006. Clothing culture: Dress in Egypt in the First Millennium AD. Manchester. Quirke, S. 2010. Hidden hands: Egyptian workforces in Petrie excavation archives 1880–1924. London. Rackham, H. 1971. Pliny: Natural history 3. London; Cambridge, MA. Reed, N. 1978. Pattern and purpose in the Antonine Itinerary. The American Journal of Philology 99 (Summer): 228–54. Regulski, I. (ed.). 2019. Abydos: The sacred land at the western horizon. British Museum Publications on Egypt and Sudan 8. Leuven. Reymond, E. A. E., and J. W. B. Barns. 1973. Four Martyrdoms from the Pierpont Morgan Coptic codices. Oxford. Richards, J. 2005. Society and death in ancient Egypt: Mortuary landscapes in the Middle Kingdom. Cambridge. Riggs, C. 2005. The Beautiful burial in Roman Egypt: Art, identity and funerary religion. Oxford. Rutherford, I. 2003. Pilgrimage in Graeco-Roman Egypt: New perspectives on graffiti from the Memnonion at Abydos. In Ancient perspectives on Egypt, R. Matthews and C. Römer (eds), 171–89. London.

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Sayce, A. H. 1885. On the site of This. Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology 7: 171–78. Schaten, S. 1993. Zur Bearbeitung der Grabsteine mit Inschriften: Die Grabsteine des Apa Moyses-Klosters in Abydos. In Acts of the Fifth International Congress of Coptic Studies, Washington, 12–15 August 1992, D. W. Johnson (ed.), 2.401–10. Rome. Schenke, G. 2015–. The cult of saints in Late Antiquity database. http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/ (last accessed 15 July 2019). Schoene, A. (ed.). 1967. Eusebii Chronicorum: Libri duo. 2 vols. Dublin. Seeck, O. 1876. Notitia dignitatum: Accedunt notitia urbis Constantinopolitanae et Latercula provinciarum. Berlin. Shalaby, N., H. Abu El-Azm, A. Damarany, J. Kaiser, H. S. Abdallah, M. Abu El-Yazid, Y. Abd El-Raziq, F. Baker, Z. Hashesh, W. Ibrahim, E. Minor, R. Regelein, and A. Tarek. 2018. The lost papers: Rewriting the narrative of early Egyptology with the Abydos Temple Paper Archive. Online ARCE Bulletin 2018: https:// www.arce.org/abydos-paper-archive. Shaw, I., and P. Nicholson. 2008. British Museum dictionary of ancient Egypt. 2nd ed. London. Sicard, C. 1982. Œuvres, M. Martin and S. Sauneron (eds). 3 vols. Bibliothèque d’étude 83–85. Cairo. Sijpesteijn, P. M. 2013. Shaping a Muslim state: The world of a mid-eighth-century Egyptian official. Oxford. Smith, M. 2017. Following Osiris: Perspectives on the Osirian afterlife from four millennia. Oxford. Snape, S. R. 1986. Mortuary assemblages from Abydos. 2 vols. PhD dissertation, University of Liverpool. Tallet, G. 2012. Oracles. In The Oxford handbook of Roman Egypt, C. Riggs (ed.), 398–418. Oxford. Thomas, R. I. 2013. Lamps in terracotta and bronze [pp. 1–19]. In Naukratis: Greeks in Egypt. The British Museum, Online Research Catalogue (2013–2019), A. Villing, M. Bergeron, G. Bourogiannis, A. Johnston, F. Leclère, A. Masson and R. Thomas (eds). https:// www.britishmuseum.org/research/online_research_catalogues/ng/naukratis_greeks_in_egypt/material_culture_ of_naukratis/lamps.aspx Till, W. 1936. Koptische Heiligen- und Martyrerlegenden. Orientalia Christiana Analecta 108. Rome. Timm, S. (ed.). 1984–92. Das christlich-koptische Ägypten in arabischer Zeit: Eine Sammlung christlicher Stätten in Ägypten in arabischer Zeit, unter Ausschluss von Alexandria, Kairo, des Apa-Mena-Klosters (Dēr Abū Mina), der Skētis (Wādi n-Naṭrūn) und der SinaiRegion. Vol. 6. Beihefte zum Tübinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients; Reihe B. Geisteswissenschaften 41 (6). Wiesbaden. ——. 1983. Ägypten: Das Christentum bis zur Araberzeit (bis zum 7. Jahrhundert); Egypt: Christianity up to the Arab Conquest (up to the 7th century). Tübinger Atlas

des Vorderen Orients der Universitat Tübingen B VI 15. Wiesbaden. Tudor, B. 2011. Christian funerary stelae of the Byzantine and Arab periods from Egypt. Marburg. Uljas, S. 2011. The IFAO leaves of the ‘Life’ of Moses of Abydos. Orientalia 80: 373–422. van der Vliet, J. 2002. Pisenthios de Coptos (569–632) moine, évêque et saint: Autour d’une nouvelle édition de ses archives. In Autour de Coptos: Actes du colloque organisé au Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon (17–18 mars 2000), 61–72. Topoi: Orient-Occident, Supplément 3. Lyon. ——. 2015. Le prêtre Marc, Psan et Pesynthios: Un réseau miaphysite autour du monastère d’Epiphane. In Études coptes XIII: Quinzième journée d’études (Louvain-laNeuve, 12–14 mai 2011), A. Boud’hors and C. Louis (eds), 127–36. Cahiers de la Bibliothèque copte 20. Paris. ——. 2018. Charming a clogged nose: A late Coptic magical spell from Saqqara. Journal of Near Eastern Religions 18 (2): 145–66. ——. 2020. Coptic epitaphs from Abydos. Journal of Coptic Studies 22: 205–28. van Lantschoot, A. 1929. Recueil des colophons des manuscrits chrétiens d’Égypte. Leuven. Wansleben, J. M. 1678/1972. The present state of Egypt or a new relation of a late voyage into the Kingdom, performed in the years 1672 and 1673. Westmead. Wegner, J., and K. Cahail. 2015. Royal funerary equipment of a king Sobekhotep at South Abydos: Evidence for the tombs of Sobekhotep IV and Neferhotep I? Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 51: 123–64. Westerfeld, J. 2010. Landscapes of memory: Pharaonic sacred space in the Coptic imagination. PhD thesis, University of Chicago. ——. 2017. Monastic graffiti in context: The temple of Seti I at Abydos. In Writing and communication in early Egyptian monasticism, M. Choat and M. Giorda (eds), 187–212. Leiden. Wilfong, T. G. 2002. Women of Jeme: Lives in a Coptic town in Late Antique Egypt. Ann Arbor, MI. Winlock, H. E., and W. E. Crum. 1926. The Monastery of Epiphanius at Thebes I. Publications of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Egyptian Expedition 3. New York. Wipszycka, E. 2009. Moines et communautés monastiques en Égypte (IVe–VIIIe siècles). Journal of Juristic Papyrology Supplement 4. Warsaw. ——. 2015. The Alexandrian church: People and institutions. Journal of Juristic Papyrology Supplement 25. Warsaw. Worp, K. A. 1994a. A checklist of bishops in Byzantine Egypt (AD 325 – c. 750). Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 100: 283–318.

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——. 1994b. The Notitia dignitatum and the geography of Egypt: Observations on some military camps and place names in Upper Egypt. In Proceedings of the 20th International Congress of Papyrologists, Copenhagen, 23–29 August, 1992, A. Bülow-Jacobsen (ed.), 463–69. Copenhagen; New York.

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Worrell, W. H. 1935. Coptic magical and medical texts. Orientalia 4: 1–37. Zellmann-Rohrer, M. 2018. A new witness to the acephalous sermon of Shenoute, On the Judgement (A26). Journal of Coptic Studies 20: 205–15.

RECOVERING LATE ANTIQUE ABYDOS: A REVIEW OF SCHOLARSHIP FROM THE ENLIGHTENMENT TO WORLD WAR II Jennifer WESTERFELD

The winter season of 1899–1900 found W. M. Flinders Petrie working at Abydos on behalf of the Egypt Exploration Fund, together with his wife Hilda, a team of young excavators and a sizeable crew of Egyptian workmen. Petrie’s focus that season was on the Early Dynastic royal tombs in Wadi Umm el-Qa‘ab, and in the introduction to his report on the excavations, he describes his dismay at the condition in which he found those monuments:

Petrie went on to say, of course, that worse than any of these ancient depredations was the haphazard excavation of the site by his French predecessors, Auguste Mariette and Émile Amélineau, but this casual remark about ‘the Copts’ reveals a good deal about the perception of Late Antique material, and especially Late Antique Christian material, by 19th- and early 20thcentury archaeologists.1 Like many other sites which were continuously occupied from pharaonic times into the Late Antique and early Islamic periods, Abydos has suffered not only from the passage of time but also from its treatment at the hands of treasure hunters and archaeologists whose main focus was on the site’s rich corpus of Predynastic and pharaonic artefacts (generally on this issue and on the emergence of a distinct archaeology of Late Antique Egypt, see Brooks Hedstrom 2013; O’Connell 2014). Mariette and Amélineau, like Petrie after them, viewed

the Late Antique artefacts that they found as proof that Christian zealots had plundered the area, and their treatment of this material reflects their disdain for these ‘furious adepts of Christianity’, who, in Amélineau’s words, ‘found no better means than to break everything, burn everything, and destroy as far as possible everything of which they did not approve’ (Amélineau 1899a, 101–2; trans. Westerfeld). The consequences of these attitudes for the modern understanding of Abydos during the period of Late Antiquity are significant; many Late Antique remains were destroyed or discarded during the course of the early excavations in the region, and the documentation and publication of this material have been neither complete nor systematic. With these concerns in mind, the aims of the present chapter are twofold: first, to survey some of the earliest reports of exploration and excavation at Abydos, examining the factors that have shaped academic approaches to the Late Antique material from the site; and second, to piece together what information we can about Late Antique activity at Abydos from the reports of early excavations there. Work at Abydos has, of course, continued apace since World War II, and the decision to end this review of scholarship at that point in time is admittedly somewhat arbitrary. However, I would argue that the concerns and attitudes of the site’s early excavators continue to dictate many of the questions that are still being asked about Late Antique Abydos. The search for the monastery of Apa Moses, the adaptive reuse of funerary monuments by Christian ascetics and the putative plundering of the cemeteries by Christian zealots, for example—all discussed by other contributors to this volume—can all be traced back to the scholarship of that formative early period from the late 19th to the early 20th century.2

1

2

Nothing is more disheartening than being obliged to gather results out of the fraction left behind by past plunderers. In these royal tombs there had been not only the plundering of the precious metals and larger valuables by the wreckers of early ages; there was after that the systematic destruction of monuments by the vile fanaticism of the Copts, which crushed everything beautiful and everything noble that mere greed had spared … (Petrie 1900, 2)

The early scholars whose work is discussed here, tended to apply the term ‘Coptic’ broadly and indiscriminately to script, language, religion and time period alike (see O’Connell above for the terminology used in this volume).

To the best of my knowledge, there is no comprehensive publication documenting all the missions which have excavated at Abydos in the past. The work of British scholars affiliated with the Egypt Exploration Society is surveyed by Kemp (1982); a more general overview is provided by O’Connor (2009).

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Early exploration and scholarship at Abydos: An overview References to the site of Abydos are limited in number and scope prior to the early modern period. Medieval Coptic and Christian Arabic texts focus on the Christian churches and monasteries in the region rather than on the surviving pharaonic remains. Most prominent among these institutions appears to have been a monastery of Apa Moses (Abū Masīs) in the vicinity of el-Balayana, which was known to Abu al-Makarim and which is referenced in his early 13th-century catalogue of Christian churches and monasteries in Egypt (Evetts 1895, 231–32). A handful of other Medieval sources refer to the same establishment, of which more will be said below (Timm 1985, 595–97). In the works of the Medieval Muslim historians and geographers who investigated the history and archaeology of Egypt, Abydos seems not to have played any significant role. Far more important was the nearby city of Akhmim, in which the great temple of Min was said to be a repository of all the wisdom of Egypt (Sauneron 1952).3 That Abydos had not entirely receded from popular consciousness, however, is suggested by the 15th-century Arabic treasure-hunting manual published in 1907 under the title Livre des perles enfouies. Two passages in that work refer to the site of Deir el-Kharbah, modern Beni Mansur, and the anonymous author describes structures that may correspond to the Shunet el-Zebib and the wall enclosing the village of Deir Sitt Damyana (Kamal 1907, §346–47; Effland 2008). In both cases, the structures serve as landmarks helping the treasure-seeker to identify the proper spot in which to excavate. In Europe, a scant handful of references in classical sources (notably Strabo, Geography 17.1.41; Pliny, Natural History 5.11.60–61; and Ammianus Marcellinus, History 19.12.3–5) kept the memory of Abydos and its monuments alive in the minds of scholars through the Middle Ages and into the early modern period, but for all practical purposes the site was lost to Western scholarship until the first quarter of the 18th century. One of the major goals of European travellers to Egypt at that time was to match the evidence of the classical literary sources with the archaeological remains then visible on the ground. The challenges posed by this

3

Sauneron (1967, 164) notes the possibility that some of the Medieval Arabic descriptions of the temple of Akhmim might properly refer to the mortuary temple of Seti I at Abydos; the parallel is particularly striking in the case of al-Maqrizi, who

endeavour are illustrated by the case of the French merchant-explorer Paul Lucas (1664–1737), who visited Egypt in 1714 at the behest of King Louis XIV. Having read Pliny, Lucas was aware of the existence of the ancient site of Abydos and knew that it was situated somewhere in Upper Egypt between Asyut and Luxor, but he did not know its precise location. Visiting the village of el-Manshah and observing the remains of a pharaonic temple there, Lucas concluded, erroneously, that this must be the site of ancient Abydos: ‘I have no doubt that these are the remains of the city of Abydos … and what confirms my conjecture is that there was, in that city, a Temple of Osiris, as we learn from Pliny’ (Lucas 1724, 366–67; trans. Westerfeld). It would be another four years before the site of Abydos was correctly identified by the Jesuit missionary and explorer Claude Sicard (1677–1726). Sicard arrived in Egypt in 1712 and lived there until his death in 1726; although he travelled officially on behalf of the Jesuit order with the mission of converting the Copts to Roman Catholicism, he was also charged by the French regent Philip of Orléans with gathering information about the country’s landscape and ancient monuments (Hamilton 2014, 84–88; Thompson 2015, 77–78; see also Sicard 1982a, v–xi). A handful of relatively brief notices or ‘relations’ detailing Sicard’s extensive travels throughout Egypt were published between 1717 and 1729 in Nouveaux mémoires des missions de la Compagnie de Jésus dans le Levant (Sicard 1982b), but Sicard also intended to publish a more detailed synthesis of his research, and a lengthy outline of the work appeared in 1725 in Nouveaux mémoires. In this outline, Sicard claimed to have discovered the location of numerous ancient sites, including ‘Abydus with its Palace of Memnon, & its Temple of Osyris’ (Sicard 1725, 219; trans. Westerfeld; see also Sicard 1982b, 213–33). The proposed volume had not been published by the time of Sicard’s death in 1726, however, and the work was believed lost in its entirety until a manuscript copy of the beginning sections was brought to light by Serge Sauneron in the mid-1960s (Sauneron 1967; Sicard 1982c). The surviving text of this Parallèle géographique documents Sicard’s visit to Abydos (which he identified with the modern village of Arabah el-Madfuna) in

highlights the presence within the temple of annals listing the names of Egypt’s kings, a feature well-known from the Seti I temple.

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May of 1718, and it illustrates his characteristically diverse interests, which ranged from the so-called Memnonion, or temple of Seti I, made famous by Strabo, to the ruins of two Christian monasteries in the area (Sicard 1982c, 66–68). Although Sicard’s published works on Egypt were relatively few in number, his influence was widely felt, particularly among scholars concerned with the study of Egypt’s historical geography. A manuscript map of Egypt that Sicard produced in 1722 showing the location of the various ancient sites he had been able to identify, including Abydos, was copied shortly thereafter by the eminent French cartographer Guillaume Delisle and furnished the basis for some of the earliest scientific maps of Egypt ever published (Fig. 1; d’Anville 1766; Sicard 1982a, vi–vii). Sicard was followed to Abydos in 1731 by a French physician named Tourechot, whose travel account, published under the pseudonym ‘le sieur Granger’, provides an evocative impression of the condition of the mortuary temple of Seti I, or Memnonion, so deeply buried in drifted sand that it had to be entered through a window

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(Granger 1745, 38). Many subsequent 18th-century visitors to Upper Egypt seem to have bypassed the site entirely, however, and of the few who did stop at Abydos, their accounts are generally less detailed than those of Sicard and Granger. Richard Pococke, for example, described his visit to ‘a village call’d El-Berbi (The temple)’, but when he asked his local interlocutors where the ‘temple’ was, ‘they shew’d me a hollow ground from which probably all the stones had been carried away to Girga’ (Pococke 1743, 84). Pococke believed this to be the site of ‘antient Abydus’, but his description of the physical remains is lacking in detail and heavily reliant on Strabo, and the reader is entitled to wonder whether he truly saw the site of Abydos at all. Claude Étienne Savary, who visited Egypt in 1777, also draws heavily on Strabo’s account of Abydos in his description of the site, which he characterizes as consisting of ‘heaps of ruins without inhabitants’; his impressions of the Memnonion, which are rather less detailed than those of Granger, are notable for the contention that among the hieroglyphic inscriptions and reliefs appear images of Hindu deities such as Vishnu

Fig. 1: Detail of a manuscript map of Egypt by Guillaume Delisle, 1726, after a 1722 map by Claude Sicard, showing the location of Abydos (Courtesy of Bibliothèque Nationale de France).

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(Savary 1786, 63–65; trans. Westerfeld).4 Other prominent visitors to Egypt in the second half of the 18th century seem to have been unaware of, or uninterested in, the site of Abydos; Frederic Louis Norden, the comte de Volney, James Bruce and William George Browne all make no mention of the site in their accounts of travel through Upper Egypt, although all four must have passed close by as they sailed from Akhmim to Girga and Farshut. Abydos is treated in some detail in the Description de l’Égypte; after summarizing the earlier 18th-century efforts to locate the site, including the work of Granger and Sicard, Edmé Jomard describes the visit of Napoleon’s savants to the site on 22 October 1799 (Fig. 2). He characterizes Abydos as so sand-covered as to be nearly buried, and virtually unoccupied, consisting of ‘just two poor villages [el-Kherbeh and Haraba, or Beni Mansur and Arabah el-Madfuna], scarcely inhabited’ (Jomard 1818, 3; trans. Westerfeld). Among the archaeological remains examined by the Napoleonic expedition were the temple of Seti I (the ‘palace of Abydus’), the Shunet el-Zebib (‘an immense enclosure of mud-brick which, according to the locals, was once a monastery’) and Deir Sitt Damyana; Jomard claimed the latter site was inhabited at that time by just two monks, whom he could see at the windows of their monastery, watching the French savants with no little bewilderment (Jomard 1818, 9–12; trans. Westerfeld). The descriptions of Abydos in late 18th- and early 19th-century European travel accounts and scholarly publications, particularly the Description de l’Égypte and the Denkmäler of Richard Lepsius, brought the site to the attention of both scholars and treasure hunters (Richards 2005, 126). The first half of the 19th century saw numerous such individuals active at Abydos, chief among them the Armenian antiquities dealer Giovanni Anastasi and the Greek excavator and collector Giovanni d’Athanasi, who frequently operated digs on behalf of the British Consul-General Henry Salt (Dawson and Uphill 1972, 8 and 13). In a process that has been described as ‘a sort of quarrying or mining operation for inscribed stones’, Anastasi and d’Athanasi’s local agents removed dozens of inscribed objects, including stelae, offering tables and statues, from the cemeteries of Abydos, many of which were eventually sold at

4

Savary’s account of Abydos was received unfavourably by later commentators on the site; for example, William George Hamilton, who visited the site in 1801, remarked that ‘Savary’s pompous

auction to the highest bidder (Simpson 1974, 6). As their efforts focused on saleable objects and Late Antique artefacts were viewed as having little value, retail or otherwise, little attention seems to have been paid to the material remains of Late Antique Abydos at this time. Systematic excavation at Abydos is commonly held to have begun with Auguste Mariette’s arrival on the scene in 1858. Although to call his work ‘systematic’ is perhaps overly generous—his campaigns have been described as ranging ‘haphazardly and unchecked over the entire areas of both North and South Abydos’ (Richards 2005, 128)—Mariette’s eighteen-year mission to Abydos did result in publications dealing with the temple of Seti I, the Osiris temple, the temple of Ramses II, the Shunet el-Zebib and multiple different zones of the necropolis (Mariette 1869; 1880a; 1880b). These volumes make it clear that Mariette had little interest, if any, in Late Antique material; given his absolute focus on the procurement of monumental artefacts for the newly founded Boulaq Museum, this is hardly surprising. Mariette’s excavations at Abydos were followed by those of his younger compatriot, Émile Amélineau, who worked at the site for three seasons between 1895 and 1898 (Amélineau 1896–98; 1899a; 1899b; 1904). Much of Amélineau’s work focused on the Dynasty 1 royal tombs at Umm el-Qa‘ab, where he is known in particular for his discovery of the Middle Kingdom Osiris-bed in the tomb of Djer and for the identification of that site with the purported tomb of the god Osiris (Amélineau 1899b). Although Amélineau was trained as a Coptologist and was active in editing and translating Coptic literary sources, including the Life of the local monastic saint Moses of Abydos (of which more will be said shortly), this interest in the literature and history of Christian Egypt does not seem to have translated into a corresponding interest in Late Antique material culture. As noted above, Amélineau was outspoken in his disdain for the Christians of Late Antique Abydos, and he viewed the traces of their presence in the necropolis as clear indicators of anti-pagan zealotry, highly damaging to the Predynastic and pharaonic artefacts which were his principal interest (Amélineau 1899b, 15–19).

account of Abydus is a fictitious narrative of a place he never saw’ (Hamilton 1809, 261).

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Fig. 2: Plan of Abydos and its environs, 1817 (Jomard 1818, 4: pl. 55).

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Amélineau’s methods, including his haphazard approach to documentation and his penchant for discarding small finds not deemed worth preserving, were the subject of intense criticism even before the ink had dried on the last of his excavation reports, and his fiveyear concession to dig at Abydos had not yet come to an end when the site was turned over to the British archaeologist Flinders Petrie. Petrie worked at Abydos himself between 1899 and 1904, returning for a final season in 1921/22, and the first four decades of the 20th century saw numerous additional British missions to Abydos, many of them carried out under the auspices of the Egypt Exploration Society (Fig. 3). British excavators focused on four major areas: the royal tombs at Umm el-Qa‘ab; the main temple of OsirisKhentiamentiu and the adjacent settlement mound; the expansive cemeteries; and the New Kingdom temples of Seti I and Ramses II (Kemp 1982). Like Mariette and Amélineau before them, Petrie and his compatriots were principally interested in the Predynastic and pharaonic periods, and although Petrie deplored the methods of his French predecessors, his remarks about the Copts and their ‘vile fanaticism’, quoted above, suggest that he shared some of their prejudices about the Christian communities of Late Antique Abydos. Petrie’s insistence on thorough documentation, however, means that although the early 20th-century British

missions to Abydos dealt only grudgingly with the Late Antique material they uncovered, their publications nonetheless offer a means to begin piecing together a picture of Late Antique Christian activity in the region. Before such a reconstruction can be attempted, however, it is necessary first to say a few words about a work of Coptic literature which has had a profound impact on shaping modern scholarly approaches to the subject of Abydos in Late Antiquity. The long shadow of Moses of Abydos In 1895, the Parisian publisher Ernest Leroux released a new volume in Émile Amélineau’s series of Coptic text editions, Monuments pour servir à l’histoire de l’Égypte chrétienne aux IVe, Ve, VIe et VIIe siècles. Included in this collection was an edition and translation of the 6th-century Coptic Life of Moses of Abydos (Amélineau 1895). Moses of Abydos (sometimes called Moses of Balayana) was already known to scholars, at least by name, prior to that point; although he does not receive his own entry in the Arabic translation of the Coptic Synaxarion, he is mentioned in the entry for Apa Macrobius as the head of the ‘monastery of alBalayana’, and references to that establishment appear in the writings of Abu al-Makarim, al-Maqrizi and Claude Sicard, among others (Timm 1985, 595–97).

Fig. 3: Hilda Petrie at Abydos (date unknown) (Courtesy of the Egypt Exploration Society).

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From these references, and from a fragment of the Life published by Georg Zoega in 1810, Moses was known to have been a monastic leader of the late 5th to early 6th century, active in the area of Abydos, whose monastic foundation continued to operate for several centuries after his death. The lengthy fragments of the Life that Amélineau published, however, situate Moses much more specifically within the physical landscape of Abydos. Moreover, in representing Moses’ interactions with local polytheists and with the surviving pharaonic monuments in the area, the Life established a paradigm according to which Amélineau, Petrie and many of their later colleagues would interpret all Late Antique Christian activity at the site. The text of the Life of Moses is incompletely preserved in two codices from the White Monastery, and the surviving portions show it to be a fundamentally polemical work, anti-Chalcedonian and anti-pagan (for an introduction to the text and its manuscript history, see Moussa 2003; Uljas 2011a; 2011b). The anonymous author of the text explicitly sought to identify Moses as the spiritual heir of Shenoute of Atripe, who was well known both for his violent opposition to traditional polytheism and for his role in the destruction of polytheistic cult-places in and around the city of Panopolis; the Life of Moses actually depicts Shenoute on his deathbed prophesying the birth of Moses and claiming that the latter will continue Shenoute’s antipagan crusade. Two episodes from the Life have proven to be particularly influential in shaping views of Late Antique Christian activity at Abydos. In the first, Moses is cast in the mould of Elijah confronting the priests of Baal; drawing heavily on the model of 1 Kings 18, the author depicts Moses praying for the destruction of a local ‘Temple of Apollo’. We are told that the temple immediately began to shake, and that although most of the worshippers fled the scene, the priests remained behind in the mistaken belief that their gods would protect them. And immediately the temple (Ⲣⲡⲉ) of Apollo fell; and twenty-three priests (ⲟⲩⲏⲏⲃ) died, along with seven prophets (ϩⲟⲛⲧ). And at dawn, the other four temples fell. Up to the present day, no-one has gathered at the

5

The terminology employed in this passage offers several points of interest. The Coptic terms Ⲣⲡⲉ, ⲟⲩⲏⲏⲃ and ϩⲟⲛⲧ preserve ancient Egyptian vocabulary used to designate temples and their personnel (r-pr, w῾b, and ḥm-nṯr, respectively), while the Greek

39

mount of Abydos in order to make sacrifices, because those who had misled them died. And they became Christians at the end, namely the pagans (ϩⲉⲗⲗⲏⲛ), together with the children of the priests. (Till 1936, 49–50; trans. Westerfeld)5

This passage, which establishes the motif of Moses as the destroyer of temples and killer of priests, associates the monastic leader very closely with Shenoute, whose self-presentation similarly emphasized actions taken against temples in the vicinity of his monastery (see, e.g., Emmel 2008). Although the so-called ‘Temple of Apollo’ cannot be securely identified with any known archaeological site at Abydos (Effland 2013a, 81), the same is not true of the temple that serves as the focal point of a second, thematically related episode in the Life. In that passage, Moses directs his actions against a seemingly derelict temple located to the north of his monastery, which has been occupied by an ‘evil demon called Bes’, who is afflicting the local villagers with a host of ills. Not one to decline such a challenge, Moses leads a band of his monks into the temple and stages a dramatic midnight exorcism. The conclusion of the story is not preserved in the surviving fragments of the Life, but Moses clearly has the upper hand at the point where the manuscript breaks off, and the episode surely ended with the demon’s expulsion from the temple (Till 1936, 52–54; for commentary on this passage, see Kákosy 1966; Schulz 1990; Frankfurter 2000; Ullmann 2000). The author’s identification of the demon by the name of Bes allows us to situate this story with some precision in the mortuary temple of Seti I, which is known to have housed an oracular cult of the Egyptian dwarf-god in the late Roman period; this is surely the temple exorcised by Moses and his brother-monks (on the Bes oracle, Dunand 1997; Frankfurter 2005; Effland 2013a; 2013b; 2014). The image of Moses as a latter-day Elijah, despoiler of temples and killer of priests, clearly coloured early 20th-century interpretations of the archaeological evidence from both the Seti I temple and the necropolis. Amélineau himself spoke frankly about the importance of the Life for his reading of the archaeological sources; every Late Antique artefact recovered in the course of

loan-word ϩⲉⲗⲗⲏⲛ (Ἕλληνες) was widely used by Late Antique Christian authors to designate adherents of various ‘pagan’ traditions, including traditional Egyptian religion.

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his excavations was a sign of the passage of Moses and his brethren, and he concluded that ‘there can be no possible doubt: the necropolis of Umm el-Qa‘ab was despoiled by the Copts or the monks of Moses and, as the efforts of the vandals were limited to this part of the Abydene necropolis, there is no need to look elsewhere for the site that the monks of Moses despoiled’ (Amélineau 1899b, 19; trans. Westerfeld). Petrie, for his part, did not specifically reference the Life of Moses in his discussion of Christian activity in the necropolis, but it is hard not to hear the echo of both Amélineau’s words and the text of the Life itself in Petrie’s claim that the tomb of Djer ‘was especially despoiled by the Copts in erasing the worship of Osiris’ (Petrie 1901, 8). Although Amélineau’s purported evidence for monastic tomb-robbers may rightly be called into question, and although recent research has begun to produce a more nuanced view of the complex later history of the necropolis of Umm el-Qa‘ab, I would argue that Moses of Abydos still casts a long shadow over modern discussions of Late Antique Abydos. The search for his monastery continues to preoccupy archaeologists (e.g., Damarany and Abdallah, this volume); the interpretation of Coptic epigraphic sources from the area of Abydos still tends to rely on his Life as a reference point (e.g., Westerfeld 2017); traces of vandalism and destruction in the necropolis and the royal temples are still frequently attributed to his agency (e.g., Damarany and Cahail 2016). In short, more than a hundred years after Amélineau’s publication of his Life, Moses of Abydos continues to dictate many of the questions that are asked today about the history of Abydos in Late Antiquity. Recovering the traces of Late Antique Abydos As the preceding overview makes clear, none of the 19th- or early 20th-century missions to Abydos had as a principal or even secondary objective the study of Late Antique activity at the site, although Late Antique remains were frequently uncovered during the course of excavation. Remarks on this material are, consequently, often anecdotal in nature and are widely dispersed throughout the various excavation reports resulting from this period of exploration. For the purposes of the following discussion, prior research on Late Antique material from Abydos will be grouped into three major categories: scholarship on Late Antique domestic architecture; examinations of Late Antique (especially monastic) activity in the necropolis; and discussions of Late Antique Christian activity in the royal mortuary temples.

Late Antique settlement British excavations of the 1910s first identified a zone of Late Antique habitation in North Abydos, lying to the north of Deir Sitt Damyana in the portion of the North Cemetery identified as ‘Cemetery D’ by RandallMacIver and Mace. This area was excavated by T. Eric Peet during the course of the Egypt Exploration Fund’s 1912–13 season at Abydos; Peet’s description reveals the site’s complex stratigraphy and the extent to which the region had been built up over during the course of several millennia: This mound proved to contain remains of almost every period of Egyptian history. On the top were the floors of Coptic houses on which a few remains of this period still rested, such as a large leaden storage jar and the beautiful little lamp of bronze (plate II, fig. 2), both of which are now in the Cairo Museum. At a lower level were tomb shafts of the twelfth and eighteenth dynasties, below these again the mastaba cemetery of the Old Kingdom, and at a still greater depth the predynastic kilns. (Peet 1914, 37)

Peet concluded that the houses he found ‘showed few features of interest’, and he neither drew plans nor recorded any details of the Late Antique domestic architecture (Peet and Loat 1913, xi). Happily, settlement in the North Cemetery is once more under investigation thanks to the work of the Brown University Abydos Project, which has identified a Ptolemaic settlement near Cemetery D that shows some evidence for limited reuse in the late Roman period (Bestock 2012, 73–74). A second zone of Late Antique settlement in the region of Abydos appears to have been situated in the area between the temples of Seti I and Ramses II. Caulfield noted the existence of a settlement mound in the northeast corner of the Seti I temple’s temenos wall, consisting of ‘a mass of ruined brick houses of all dates, Roman, Coptic, early Arabic, and tumbled-down recent Arabic’ (Caulfield 1902, 12–13). Although this area has not been fully excavated, a basic plan of the settlement remains was published in the Coptic Encyclopedia (Fig. 4). Peter Grossmann has noted further that at the southern edge of the settlement mound, a multi-aisled, basilica church was destroyed during the construction of an Antiquities Service dig-house; the column-capitals from the church have apparently been reused in constructing a wall around the courtyard of the house (Grossmann 1999, 63). Today in the region of Abydos, the Christian population is concentrated in the village of Deir Sitt Damyana,

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Fig. 4: Plan of settlement remains located between the temples of Ramses II and Seti I (Grossmann 1991, 1: 39).

which has grown up in and around an ancient brick enclosure to the northwest of the Shunet el-Zebib and the other Dynasty 1 and 2 royal enclosures (Ayrton, Currelly and Weigall 1904, 2; Kemp 1975, col. 40).6 The antiquity of the settlement within this enclosure is difficult to ascertain; the village church, dedicated jointly to the martyr Sitt Damyana and the local monastic saint Apa Moses, is said to have been restored around the year 1590, which suggests that the settlement had been in existence for some time already by that point (Kemp 1975, col. 40; Timm 1985, 596;

6

The enclosure within which the village has been built was long assumed to be of Early Dynastic date; however, this assumption has recently been called into question: ‘close examination of the exposed ancient brickwork around the Coptic village has shown these bricks are quite different in size, proportion and quality from the Early Dynastic brickwork, found consistently throughout the enclosures. The brickwork in question [from the

further on the church, see al-Syriany and Habib 1990, 64). Claude Sicard identified the settlement as the monastery of Apa Moses, known from the 6th-century Life of Moses and mentioned in the early 13th century by Abu el-Makarim (Sicard 1982c, 66).7 This identification was followed by later scholars, including Émile Amélineau, but Peter Grossmann has argued more recently that Deir Sitt Damyana cannot be the site of the original late 5th- or early 6th-century monastic foundation, because references in the Life of Moses to the topography of Abydos place the monastery somewhere to

7

enclosure of the village] is identical to that of a structure located to the southwest of the Coptic village, a part of which was excavated in 2002–3 and proved to be associated with Ptolemaic pottery’ (O’Connor 2009, 166). Abu el-Makarim places the ‘monastery of Banī Mūsā’ as lying ‘to the west’ of the village of Balayana, which is some 7 miles (11km) east of Abydos proper (Evetts 1895, 231–32).

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Fig. 5: Coptic funerary stela from Cemetery D (Peet and Loat 1913, cf. pl. XIII, fig. 1; Courtesy of the Egypt Exploration Society).

Fig. 6: Coptic funerary stela from Cemetery D (Peet and Loat 1913, cf. pl. XIII, fig. 3; Courtesy of the Egypt Exploration Society).

the south of the temple of Seti I (Amélineau 1899a, 54–55; Grossmann 1999, 51 no. 4; Damarany and Cahail 2016, 12).8 Without further investigation of the site, it is difficult to say more about the age of the village there or about its relationship to the other Late Antique settlement remains in the area.

In addition to remains of domestic architecture, early excavators at Abydos also found evidence for significant Christian monastic activity in the region, particularly in the North Cemetery; this evidence includes both architectural remains and textual material, notably

ostraca and stelae. In his publication of the Late Antique material from Cemetery D, Peet included two Coptic funerary stelae which point to monastic activity in the area. The first of these was said to have been ‘used face downwards as the cover of a drain under a late Coptic home in Region D’, and the text entreats the persons of the Trinity and a series of Biblical and monastic figures to ‘remember Apa Leontse, the man of Panaaho’. There follows a list of monastic elders including one ‘Ama Sousana’, who is likewise invoked in a graffito from the temple of Seti I (Peet and Loat 1913, 38–39 and pl. XIII, fig. 1; Engelbach 1939, 313– 17; SB Kopt. 1.792).9 The second stela was also found in Cemetery D, but buried in the sand rather than

8

9

Monastic activity in the cemeteries

Amélineau also noted the topographical reference in the Life of Moses, but as he failed to make the connection between the Seti I temple, with its late Roman Bes oracle, and the ‘temple dedicated to the god Bes’ which is mentioned in the Life; he assumed that the purported Bes temple was situated somewhere to the north of Deir Sitt Damyana (Amélineau 1899a, 55).

Engelbach was evidently unaware of the stela’s provenance and attributed it, based on the names of the saints invoked, to the region of Bawit. Ama Sousanna is referred to, together with Apa Moses and Apa Shenoute, in I.Abydos Copt. 78.

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Fig. 7: Tomb card from the excavation of D68, 1912 (Courtesy of the Egypt Exploration Society).

reused in a domestic context; also funerary in nature, it commemorates two monks: ‘Papa Sire’ and ‘Papa Joseph’ (Peet and Loat 1913, 39 and pl. XIII, fig. 2). The names of ‘Papa Lamasou’, ‘Brother Anoup’, and ‘Brother Johannes’ follow, and it seems likely that they are also being memorialized, as the text continues ‘in charity remember them, Jesus Christ’ (Figs 5–6). The titles of the individuals commemorated in these two stelae, together with the invocation, in both instances, of a series of monastic saints, strongly suggest some type of monastic presence in or near Cemetery D. This is substantiated by the evidence of anchoritic dwellings discovered in the cemetery by the British excavations. Tombs D68 and D69, both vaulted brick tombs of probable New Kingdom date, were extensively remodelled to serve as monastic dwelling-places (Peet 1914; Grossmann 2002, 260–61, pl. 149). D68 is the simpler of the two, consisting of a single rectangular chamber; Late Antique modifications include the construction of a staircase in the shaft which gives access to the chamber, the addition of a bench along the south

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Fig. 8: Photo showing some of the Late Antique modifications to D68, including the stairs and the mud-plaster and whitewash used to finish the walls, 1911–1912 (Courtesy of the Egypt Exploration Society).

and west walls, and the cutting of niches in the east, west and north walls. The floor is of ‘pinky cement’ and the vault and walls were covered with a coating of mud plaster and then whitewashed (Figs 7–8; Peet 1914, 49–50). D69 has a more complex plan, consisting of two chambers, one on either side of a central shaft; when the tomb was remodelled the floor-level was raised and the whole interior, including the floor, was plastered over. The south chamber, which probably served as sleeping quarters, was fitted with a low bench along the west wall. The north chamber, which would have served as the anchorite’s oratory, was furnished with niches in the east, west and north walls. The conch-shaped niche in the centre of the east wall is the largest and most prominent of the room’s several niches, supported beneath by a 2cm-thick projection of the wall extending 70cm down towards the floor; this would have provided a focal point for the anchorite’s prayer activity (Fig. 9; Peet 1914, 50–53). One of the most striking features of the remodelled tomb is the use

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Fig. 9: Tomb card from the excavation of D69, 1912 (Courtesy of the Egypt Exploration Society).

Fig. 10: Verso of the tomb card depicted in Fig. 9, showing the archaeologist’s hand-copy of Coptic inscriptions from D69, 1912 (Courtesy of the Egypt Exploration Society).

of what the excavators identified as human thigh-bones as pegs for storage or for the hanging of lamps; this is noted in the north wall of the northern chamber and the south wall of the southern chamber. Such a use of human remains may have been intended to serve the monk as a type of memento mori; alternatively, it may simply represent a pragmatic response to the local environment, in which wood was scarce but bone—from several thousand years’ worth of plundered graves— was common.10 Unlike D68, which was uninscribed, Tomb D69 contained a small number of Coptic inscriptions and drawings, all in the northern chamber and all clustered around the prayer niche in the east wall (Fig. 10). On

the wall to the lower left of the niche are drawings of three animals with pointed ears and long tails, perhaps lions; to the lower right of the niche is a drawing of a single-masted sailing ship with steering oars, of a type common in Coptic epigraphy (Peet 1914, 52). The textual inscriptions all occur within the prayer niche itself or on the projection of the wall beneath it. Two of the texts are invocations; No. 2 names ‘the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, Jesus the Christ, our mother Mary, Apa Michael, Amen’, while No. 4 invokes the Trinity alone (Peet 1914, 53).11 The other three inscriptions contain personal names: ‘Apa Thômas, (son of) Papnoute’ (No. 1), ‘Papa Sernê’ (No. 3), and ‘Isaac’ (No. 5). Whether these individuals were actually

10

Extensive use of bone and flint pegs was also noted in the hermitage discovered in 1922 in the cliffs above Abydos, but the

bones in that case were identified as bovine, rather than human (H. Petrie 1925, 23–24; compare Bestock 2012, 76).

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residents of the hermitage or not is unclear; Isaac is clearly identified by the first person pronoun ⲁⲛⲟⲕ as the writer of inscription No. 5, and he may well have lived in the converted tomb, but this is less explicit in the case of Apa Thômas and Papa Sernê. One ‘Papa Sernê, man of Damshir’ is known from a funerary stela in the Cairo Museum (Journal d’entrée no. 67049; Engelbach 1937). This stela, purchased on the antiquities market, is of unknown provenance; its editor suggested—apparently on onomastic grounds, although this is not explicitly stated—that it came from Bawit. However, the stela of Sernê bears strong stylistic similarities to the two stelae discovered at Abydos by Peet and Loat, and it is tempting to associate Papa Sernê of Damshir with the Papa Sernê attested in tomb D69.12 Peet noted the presence of Late Antique burials in the area around D68 and 69, so if Journal d’entrée no. 67049 is, indeed, the funerary stela of the same Papa Sernê who is mentioned in the hermitage, it might well have been found in this part of the North Cemetery at Abydos. Although Peet identified D68 and D69 as ‘Coptic chapels’ and expressed some uncertainty as to their purpose (Peet 1914, 53; compare Garstang 1909, 125), it seems clear from the later architectural modifications (plastering, whitewash, addition of benches, and cutting of niches) and inscriptions (in the case of D69) that both tombs were adapted in Late Antiquity for use as hermitages, or dwellings for solitary monks.13 In both layout and décor, the D68–69 hermitage grouping is similar to other monastic dwellings known from the Abydos area, including a hermitage published by Hilda Petrie and Margaret Murray and a hermitage in the high desert south of Abydos which was investigated in 2005–2006 by the Abydos Survey for Paleolithic Sites (H. Petrie 1925; McCormack and Westerfeld, this volume).14 In contrast to these desert hermitages, the lack of cooking facilities in D68–69 is somewhat surprising; however, as these facilities were sometimes situated apart from the central unit of oratory and living space, it may be that evidence for a kitchen or kitchens associated with D68–69 was simply overlooked by

the excavators. Alternatively, given the proximity of the D68–69 hermitage grouping to the areas of Late Antique domestic architecture in the North Cemetery, it may be that the resident hermits were supplied with food and drink by the local villagers; such arrangements are well attested elsewhere (see, e.g., Goehring 1993). The adaptive reuse of pharaonic and Ptolemaic architecture in the North Cemetery remains a subject of ongoing investigation, notably by the Brown University Abydos Project. Two sites excavated by this mission— a Ptolemaic family tomb and an ibis hypogeum, also of Ptolemaic date—were adapted in Late Antiquity, very likely to serve the needs of Christian ascetics, and the excavators have identified an original construction of late Roman date in the North Cemetery which may also represent a hermitage (Bestock 2012; 2015; this volume). A further piece of evidence for Late Antique Christian (and probably monastic) activity revealed by the 19thcentury work in North Abydos comes from the mudbrick enclosure of the Dynasty 2 pharaoh Khasekhemwy, commonly known as the Shunet el-Zebib or Shuneh. Already in 1880 Mariette noted that small chambers or cells had been cut into the western face of the enclosure; irregular in size, some of the chambers had been coated with mud plaster and then whitewashed. Although Mariette recognized that the creation of these chambers post-dated the construction of the enclosure itself, he did not specifically assign them to the Late Antique period (Mariette 1880a, 47). The Shuneh was excavated further in 1904 by the Egypt Exploration Fund, and it is to Ayrton that we owe the identification of the secondary chambers carved into the walls of the enclosure as modifications of the Coptic period; he writes, ‘in the walls of the fort which were most sheltered from the cold winds the Copts had dug out hollows, and lining them with stucco had turned them into small rooms … The Shuneh, then, narrowly escaped being turned into a Coptic village like the Deir’ (Ayrton, Currelly and Weigall 1904, 4). The use of these chambers by Late Antique Christians has been confirmed by finds of Coptic ostraca and fragments 12

11

The positioning of these two texts (at the centre of the conch and along the upper edge of the projection below the niche, respectively) and the use of red ink to write No. 2, suggests that they were used as guides for prayer. On the presence and function of such inscriptions in monastic oratories, see Brooks Hedstrom 2001, 255–56.

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13

Engelbach himself noted (1939, 313) the resemblance between the stelae of Leontse and Sernê, but he was unaware of the Abydene origin of the stela of Leontse. Peter Grossmann has suggested (1999, 62–63) that the two tombs were used jointly by a monk and his disciple, with the northern chamber of D69 serving as a shared oratory; such an arrangement would explain the (otherwise rather unusual) lack of a clearly defined oratory space in D68.

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of inscribed plaster in the course of ongoing conservation work carried out under the aegis of the University of Pennsylvania Museum-Yale University-Institute of Fine Arts, New York University Expedition to Abydos. Although Ayrton considered the chambers to be evidence of a nascent Coptic village, more recent research suggests that these should be seen rather as monastic dwellings, although the nature and degree of organization of the monastic community housed therein remains to be determined (Adams and O’Connor 2010, 4–5; Adams, this volume). An ostracon bearing a Coptic letter, discovered by Mariette in the ‘ruins of the ancient city’, by which we should probably understand either the settlement remains in Cemetery D or those to the northwest of the Seti I temple, provides further evidence of communal monastic activity in the area (Mariette 1880b, no. 1501). Neither the writer nor the recipient is named in the text of the letter, but the author writes in the first person plural to recipients designated by the second person plural, and the use of the phrases, ‘remember us in your (pl.) holy prayers’ and ‘all the brothers greet you (pl.) by name’ suggests that one monastic community is here addressing a second. This is further supported by the reference to the senders’ grief at the death of an elder monk: ‘we were greatly grieved over the death of the old man, since we were not able to come south and visit him and receive his blessing, on account of the unrest which is in the region’. Unfortunately, the writer does not spell out the nature of the regional unrest which prevented this journey. Isolated as it is, this letter still offers a relatively rare piece of documentary evidence for men’s communal monasticism in the vicinity of Abydos, a form of religious activity well attested archaeologically and in literary sources such as the Life of Moses. Although most of the evidence for monastic activity discussed up to this point comes from North Abydos, another potential locus of monastic settlement is situated further to the southeast, in an area now covered by the village of Arabah el-Madfuna. In 1718, Claude Sicard reported seeing the ruins of a ‘Monastery of St Pachomius’ in the area to the south of the temple of Seti I (Sicard 1982c, 68); two centuries later, Gustave Lefebvre noted that local tradition identified the site as the ‘convent of the Greeks’ (Lefebvre 1911, 240 no. 1). This tradition is supported by the discovery nearby of a Greek funerary inscription commemorating a monk named David. The inscribed limestone slab was found to the south of the modern village, lying face-down on

the floor of an Islamic-period house; Lefebvre speculated that it had been removed from a nearby Christian cemetery (Lefebvre 1911, 239–40). Peter Grossmann has suggested more recently that the mud-brick ruins seen by Sicard and Lefebvre could perhaps be identified as the original monastic foundation of Moses of Abydos, as the location of the ruins to the south of the Seti I temple corresponds generally to the information given in the Life of Moses, which places the monastery to the south of the temple haunted by the demon Bes (Grossmann 1999, 64). Grossmann also noted the possibility of a connection between the purported monastery ruins and the extensive Byzantine remains uncovered nearby during the course of a salvage operation directed by Rifaat Abdallah Farag in 1977 (Fig. 11; Grossmann 1991, 40; 1999, 64). The excavations covered an area of 42,000 square metres in the marketplace of Arabah el-Madfuna, and Farag noted in his excavation report that: remains of ancient buildings were found nearly everywhere immediately below the actual surface. They form a part of the late Roman and Byzantine occupation of the area in question, whose total extension one has to expect went further in all directions. Traces of a boundary wall are also visible to the western and southern sides. (Farag 1983, 51)

The principal structure uncovered in this area was a two-room mud-brick building furnished with eight loom-pits; the building, which has been identified as a weaving factory, was tentatively dated by Farag to the 7th or early 8th century (Farag 1983, 51–54). That this establishment shared some connection with the monuments to the north is suggested by the use of spolia from the entrance passage of the Osireion, some still bearing their original painted decoration, as column bases in the construction of the weaving factory; Farag also reported finding a broken granite stela of Khasekhemwy incorporated into a wall in the area near the factory (Farag 1983, 55). Inscribed finds from the site do not conclusively point to a monastic context, but the discovery of several pieces of architectural sculpture, including a finely carved limestone panel depicting a jewelled cross flanked by lions and vegetal motifs, suggests that the site once housed a Christian establishment of some wealth and importance (Farag 1983, 55–57 and fig. 10a–d). Farag’s work in the marketplace of Arabah el-Madfuna was continued from 2009 to 2011 by archaeologists from the Ministry of State for Antiquities, under the direction of Ayman Damarany, and their analysis of the site is ongoing.

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Fig. 11: Plan of ‘weaving factory’ (Grossmann 1991, 40).

On the basis of their findings, which include a columned hall and a block of what may be residential cells immediately adjacent to the area investigated by Farag, the excavators have argued that the structure is to be identified with the monastery of Moses of Abydos (Damarany and Cahail 2016; Damarany and Abdallah, this volume). Weaving is not specifically mentioned in the Life of Moses nor in the fragments of Moses’ letters as one of the forms of manual labour in which the monks were exhorted to pass their time; however, a reference to the weaving factory may perhaps be identified in a few of the graffiti from the temple of Seti I. The clearest example is I.Abydos Copt. 64, which reads, ‘Apa Sabinos the archimandrite (and) the Lord God Almighty, may (you) protect the people of the nêt’. The interpretation of this graffito hinges upon the understanding of the word nêt, which also appears in obscure contexts in I.Abydos Copt. 10 and 80 and which may perhaps be restored in I.Abydos Copt. 40, 41 and 57. In his discussion of the Coptic graffiti from the Seti I temple, Crum noted that nêt is ‘an unknown word, unless the same as that designating a building to be sold, in the deed Br. Mus., Or. 4883. Here it may be the convent or congregation’ (Crum 1904, 40 no. 6). In other contexts, however, the word nêt clearly has the meaning ‘loom’ and, as Crum himself noted, the fact that the term could be applied to

a free-standing structure and not just the weaving mechanism itself is indicated by its use in P.KRU 27.26, where it is qualified by the phrase ‘from its foundations up to the top’, which is normally used to describe buildings and walled compounds (P.Lond.Copt. I 419, no. 5). On this basis, I would suggest that the word nêt, as it is used in the graffiti from the Seti I temple, may designate the weaving works excavated by Farag. If this is correct, we may infer a close connection between the monastic women who left the majority of the Coptic graffiti in the Seti I temple and the individuals who were active in the weaving factory (and, presumably, the larger complex of which it formed a part). Such a connection could lend support to the suggestion that the purported monastery ruins first described by Sicard and Lefebvre, now largely vanished beneath the fields and houses of Arabah el-Madfuna, might be identified with the monastery of Apa Moses. Before going on to examine the archaeological and epigraphic evidence for Christian activity in the royal mortuary temples at Abydos, a few words should be said about tomb robbery and the question of whether or not the destruction of tombs in the cemeteries of Abydos can be attributed to the actions of Christian monks. Amélineau vigorously rejected any suggestion that the tombs of Umm el-Qa‘ab and those of the North and Middle Cemeteries had been plundered prior to

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Late Antiquity. Heavily influenced by the tales of monastic iconoclasm in the Life of Moses, he wrote scathingly of Christian activity in the necropolis and argued that the same individuals were responsible for vandalizing both the Seti I temple and the necropolis (Amélineau 1899a, 101–2).15 As evidence for the Copts’ destructive activities, Amélineau cited a handful of ostraca found in the tombs of Umm el-Qa‘ab, some bearing sketches, others—perhaps school texts or writing exercises—random letters of the Coptic alphabet. Most damning, he felt, was an ostracon bearing the name Johannes, which he thought was sufficient to demonstrate ‘to which religion its author adhered and who were the despoilers and destroyers of this ancient city of the dead’ (Amélineau 1899a, 181; trans. Westerfeld). Amélineau’s imaginative vision of Coptic zealots taking time out from their destructive endeavours to make sketches and practise their letters—using as writing materials the smashed remains of Predynastic pottery and embers drawn from the stillsmouldering ruins of the earliest royal tombs!—is implausible, to say the least, and it drew some welldeserved criticism at the time of its publication (Loret 1902). However, his view was to some degree shared even by his more scientific contemporaries, including Flinders Petrie, who argued that the tomb of Djer in particular was targeted by the Copts in an attempt to put an end to the veneration of Osiris (Petrie 1901, 8). More recent excavations documenting phases of tomb robbery and destruction dating as early as the Middle Kingdom have to some degree absolved the Late Antique monks of the charge that they executed a systematic, religiously motivated campaign of destruction in the environs of Abydos (O’Connor 2009, 148). However, the work of the German Archaeological Institute at Umm el-Qa‘ab points to some degree of continued cultic activity in the royal necropolis well into Late Antiquity, leading Andreas Effland to propose that the area may indeed have been a focus of Christian anti-pagan and exorcistic activity (Effland 2013a; 2014; this volume). Recent finds at South Abydos also speak to the potentially destructive activity of Late Antique Christian monks; in tomb S10, for example, excavators found a number of late Roman amphorae, including one bearing a painted inscription in the name of Apa Moses. They associate the presence of 14

A significant difference, however, is that both the Petrie hermitage and the hermitage discovered by the ASPS team are located in the cliffs in the high desert and make use of naturally occur-

this ceramic material with the large-scale denudation of masonry from the site, observing that many of the pharaonic blocks removed from South Abydos were reused in the construction of the Late Antique complex excavated in the marketplace of Arabah el-Madfuna (Wegner and Cahail 2015, 133–35; on the reuse of pharaonic blocks, including an inscribed sarcophagus fragment, in that complex, see Damarany and Cahail 2016, 12–16). Whether such reuse was motivated by religious zealotry, the pragmatic search for a convenient source of masonry, or some other combination of factors, evidence from across Abydos demonstrates that the activity of Late Antique Christians had the potential to profoundly reshape local mortuary landscapes. Christian activity in the New Kingdom royal temples In addition to surveying settlement remains and examining the traces of Christian monastic activity in the cemeteries, the British excavations of the early 20th century also considered the impact of Late Antique Christian activity in the royal temples at Abydos, notably the New Kingdom foundations of Tuthmosis III, Seti I and Ramses II. The small mud-brick and limestone chapel of Tuthmosis III was initially identified by Mariette (though attributed by him to Tuthmosis IV) and later explored by Ayrton and Loat. It is situated on the southern side of the processional wadi in the area between the temple of Ramses II and the Osiris temple temenos. In the preliminary report of their excavations, Ayrton and Loat reported finding ‘the remains of an old Coptic church built on the ruins of a small stone chapel of Thothmes III’, but they published nothing further on the subject (Mariette 1869, 4–5; Ayrton and Loat 1908–1909, 5; see now Pouls Wegner 2002, 361– 63). A slightly more detailed description of the Coptic remains was furnished by Peet in his discussion of the Coptic hermitages in the North Cemetery: The only other chapel in Abydos, so far as I know, is the much larger and more complicated one excavated by Ayrton and Loat in 1908. It is built in brick over the ruins of a temple of Thothmes III, not far to the north of the great Rameses temple on the edge of the cultivation. Though small, it deserves the name of a church, and even contains slight remains of fresco work, but it has suffered sadly since its excavation. (Peet 1914, 53)

ring caves in the rock, rather than tombs, to serve as the core of the dwelling.

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Although Pouls Wegner takes the ‘almost complete absence of the Coptic structure, of which only the lowest course of brickwork remains at the site’ as an indication that in all likelihood the British team did carry out their intended clearance of the church, the whereabouts of Ayrton and Loat’s field records for the season in question are currently unknown, so this may be as much as we will ever know about the Late Antique reuse of this particular site (Pouls Wegner 2002, 362, no. 174).16 More poorly documented still is the evidence for Late Antique activity in the area of the temple of Ramses II. In his rather cursory publication of the site, Gustave Lefebvre noted in passing that ‘atop the ruins of the [Ramesside] chapel the Christians had built houses’, and he reported the discovery of a Greek ostracon and a lamp bearing the inscription ‘of Saint Paul’ (Lefebvre 1906, 219 no. 1; trans. Westerfeld; Timm 1985, 592–93), but beyond this brief mention, nothing further is known about the Late Antique remains there. Much more extensive but still incompletely documented is the evidence for Late Antique activity in the mortuary temple of Seti I and the adjacent Osireion. The most visible evidence for the reuse of the Seti I temple is epigraphic. Greek graffiti from the site attest to at least three major phases of reuse from the 6th century BC onward, culminating in the late Roman Bes oracle discussed above (Perdrizet and Lefebvre 1919; Rutherford 2003). Coptic dipinti are found scattered throughout the temple, but Christian epigraphic activity was concentrated in the Annexe and especially in Room Z, the square, four-pillared chamber to the southeast of the Hall of Barques, which opens onto the Butcher’s Court (Fig. 12; for the texts, see Bouriant 1887; Murray, Milne and Crum 1904; Delattre 2003; for the distribution of Coptic graffiti throughout the temple, see Westerfeld 2010, chapter 4; Westerfeld 2017). The vast majority of the Coptic inscriptions in the temple, which were tentatively dated by Crum between the 7th and 10th centuries on prosopographic grounds, were produced by, or in the name of, Christian monastic women. Their inscriptions, coupled with the fact that Moses of Abydos is known to have overseen a women’s monastic community, led Margaret Murray to conclude that the Seti I temple housed a convent or ‘nunnery’ in Late Antiquity (Murray, Milne and Crum 1904, 36); this hypothesis has come to dominate

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Fig. 12: Coptic dipinto from Room Z (= SB Kopt. III 1528) (Courtesy of the Egypt Exploration Society).

most subsequent discussions of the Seti I temple’s Late Antique history (see, e.g., Kemp 1975, col. 40; Coquin 1991, 1680; Rutherford 2003, 180). In a recent article, I re-examine the ‘nunnery’ of Abydos in light of both the archaeological and epigraphic evidence. Drawing on Alain Delattre’s new edition of a group of Coptic inscriptions from the temple which appear to refer to the annual observation, by monastic women, of floodwaters filling the ‘reservoir’ of the adjacent Osireion (Delattre 2003), I argue that neither the archaeological nor the epigraphic evidence from the temple supports the traditional identification of the temple with the location of the women’s monastery. Rather, the evidence points to a pattern of intermittent visitation of the temple, likely connected with the inundation and perhaps associated with the celebration of the festival of Apa Moses (Westerfeld 2017). 15

Amélineau reported finding additional Coptic ostraca in other parts of the necropolis, including the tombs of Djer and Peribsen (1904, 27, 32, 82, 86, 137, 144, 161–62, 168, 182, 187, 261,

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Archaeological evidence for Late Antique Christian activity in the Seti I temple is, like the epigraphic material, concentrated in the Annexe, although it is unclear to what extent this may result from accidents of survival (Fig. 13). The existence of a Christian church or chapel within the Seti I temple has been widely assumed, but it is unclear where this might have been located. Mariette suggested that the Butcher’s Court was reused in Late Antiquity as a church, although he did not state the basis for this claim; alterations to the fabric of the temple which he notes in that area include a well cut through the paving stones and the installation of three large ceramic storage jars built into a rectangular stand of plastered mud brick in the northeast corner of the court (Mariette 1869, 25; further on the storage vessels, Bucking 2014, 67–69). Caulfield, who undertook to produce a more detailed plan and description of the temple’s architectural features, proposed that Room Z had been used as a Christian chapel; he notes that the Copts had ‘thoroughly ruined it’, but the only structural modification he describes is the

cutting of doors in the southwest corner of Room Z and the south wall of Room Y (Caulfield 1902, 8–9). More recently, Bucking has noted that a variety of niches, slots and holes have been cut into the walls of Room Z, and the room received a coat of plaster at some point after Coptic epigraphic activity was already under way there (Bucking 2014, 67–70). Although these modifications are suggestive, neither the Butcher’s Court nor Room Z seems ideally suited for use as a place of congregational worship, and in neither area is there evidence for the installation of an altar or a clearly defined prayer niche or apse, as one might normally expect to find in a Christian church (see, e.g., Dijkstra 2011, 427). Peter Grossmann has documented a group of Late Antique column and capital fragments in the southeast corner of the temple’s second court, which could indicate the existence of a church in that area, dismantled during the archaeological clearance of the temple (Grossmann 1999, 62). Alternatively, these fragments could have been gathered from another area within or near the temple temenos and placed in the second court

Fig. 13: Plan of the temple of Seti I at Abydos (after O’Connor 2009, fig. 16; with thanks to L. Bestock).

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at a later time. Another possible point of origin might be the second hypostyle hall; Caulfield noted significant architectural modifications in that area, and he attributed these to the action of Late Antique Christians: the bases of the columns on the raised floor in front of the chapels have been cut out by the Copts, as if walls or long beams had been fitted along them. Sometimes the whole side of a base is cut away to within 10cm of the floor; sometimes only a right-angled segment has been taken out. The edges of the columns on either side of the middle passage are worn, as if the columns had been used as pulleys to pull some heavy weight up the central passage. (Caulfield 1902, 11)

The walling-off of intercolumnar spaces to create a space appropriate for congregational worship would be consistent with Late Antique Christian practice at other sites in Egypt and elsewhere in the Mediterranean (Dijkstra 2011, 407–8), but without the supporting evidence of an altar, prayer niche, or in situ Late Antique columns or column bases, the use to which this area of the temple was put in Christian times cannot be conclusively demonstrated. Coptic graffiti have been found in both the outer court and the second hypostyle hall, but in neither area do the inscriptions clearly point to the use of that space as a church. Before moving on to consider the evidence for Late Antique activity in the Osireion, a few words should be said about the mutilation of reliefs in the Seti I temple, an activity commonly and plausibly attributed to the action of ‘Copts’. Throughout the temple, many relief images show evidence of deliberate mutilation, typically targeting the heads, hands and feet of human and divine figures; in the case of ithyphallic images of Min and Amun, the phallus is often mutilated as well. This phenomenon was already noted by the earliest excavators of the temple, and, like the plundering and destruction of tombs in the necropolis, the mutilation of relief images in the Seti I temple was regarded as a clear expression of Christian religious fanaticism (Mariette 1869, 22). However, recent analyses of the mutilation and destruction of images in Late Antiquity suggest rather that these actions should be seen as part of a more complex system of responses to images—particularly images of the human body—and as indicative of an ongoing belief in the power of those images to injure or otherwise negatively affect the viewer (Stewart 1999; Frankfurter 2008a; 2008b; Kristensen 2009). Given the targeting of certain features in the relief carvings from the Seti I temple, it seems reasonable to see

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the damage to these images as part of this broader cultural phenomenon, probably intended to negate any possible threat to viewers of those images and/or users of the temple space. It is very tempting to associate the mutilation of these images, with its strong exorcistic connotations, with the story of Apa Moses’ confrontation with the demon Bes; such an activity would have been completely appropriate to the acknowledged spiritual successor of Shenoute of Atripe. However, as Kristensen has noted, the mutilation of reliefs appears unsystematic—some scenes are heavily damaged, while others are completely untouched—and cannot in any case be dated or connected with any specific individual (Kristensen 2013, 150–51). The evidence for Late Antique Christian activity in the Osireion is less extensive than the evidence from the Seti I temple itself, but it is nonetheless suggestive. Some textual and figural Coptic inscriptions were documented in the structure, although the publication of this material is incomplete (Fig. 14; Frankfort, de Buck and Gunn 1933, 33; Piankoff 1960). As noted above,

Fig. 14: Figural inscriptions from the Osireion, 1925 (Courtesy of the Egypt Exploration Society).

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the group of ‘inundation’ graffiti in the Seti I temple suggests that at least for a certain amount of time in the Late Antique period the hydraulic features of the Osireion—the famous ‘well’ of Strabo—continued to fill with water on a seasonal basis. However, Frankfort observed that the concentration of Coptic graffiti on the eastern pillars of the Osireion’s Great Hall indicated that the chamber was ‘for a long time filled with sand sloping down from west to east’; in this (presumably later) period, it seems that the main use of the building was as a stone quarry (Frankfort, de Buck and Gunn 1933, 13). Wooden wedges were pounded into rectangular holes in the granite blocks; when the wedges were moistened their expansion caused the blocks to crack and the resulting smaller pieces of granite could then be removed. Painted guidelines for the insertion of such wedges were in one location associated with a cross painted on the block to be cut, indicating with a high degree of likelihood that the stonemasons were indeed Copts (Frankfort, de Buck and Gunn 1933, 33). The use of the Osireion as a quarry is further substantiated by the discovery, noted above, of blocks from the Osireion’s entrance passage reused in the Late Antique weaving factory further to the south (Farag 1983, 51–52). Conclusions As the preceding remarks have shown, recovering a clear picture of Late Antique Abydos from the reports of early excavations there poses significant challenges, some unique to the site and some shared with other sites similarly occupied from the pharaonic period into Late Antiquity and beyond. The primary interest of Mariette, Amélineau, Petrie and their later colleagues lay in the lower strata of Predynastic and pharaonic remains, which were often obscured by material of subsequent eras; this later evidence was widely seen as intrusive, a nuisance to be dealt with (usually by wholesale clearance) as quickly as possible. Interpreting the Late Antique material remains through the lens of the polemical, anti-pagan Life of Moses, early archaeologists frequently characterized Late Antique activity at Abydos as fundamentally iconoclastic, initiated by monastic zealots who deliberately sought to destroy any material support for traditional Egyptian religion. Even when these attitudes are not explicitly stated, they often may be perceived lurking just below the surface of the excavation reports—the Shuneh, for example, ‘narrowly escaped’ the fate of becoming a Coptic village, and the Copts ‘thoroughly ruined’ certain areas

of the Seti I temple. In more recent scholarship, even when the Late Antique Christian material has not been so devalued, the tendency has largely remained to read the landscape in light of the Life of Moses; consequently, scholarly attention has continued to focus to a considerable degree on monastic activity above all else. Notwithstanding these considerable challenges, the reports of late 19th- and early 20th-century excavations at Abydos also point to the site’s great promise for the study of Late Antique Egypt, and especially for the study of Christian engagement with the earlier pharaonic built environment. Recent methodological discussions of how to even begin approaching this subject (e.g. Dijkstra 2011) have highlighted the necessity of integrating literary, archaeological, documentary and epigraphic sources wherever possible, and Abydos offers an excellent opportunity to do this. The region also offers us the chance to explore the evolution of local cultures of memory across an extremely long chronological expanse. The archaeology of dynasticperiod Abydos offers some of the clearest evidence for what we might call an Egyptian historical consciousness; from the Middle Kingdom exploration of the Predynastic royal tombs to the Late Period renovation of the tomb of Djer/Osiris, many of the area’s monuments were restored and reinvented in later centuries, serving to commemorate various aspects of the country’s religious and political history (O’Connor 2009). As the Late Antique material, fragmentary and incompletely documented though it may be, brilliantly shows, this process of reinterpretation and reinvention of the local landscape continued throughout Late Antiquity, even as Christianity spread and traditional templecentred religion began to wane. It is to be hoped that ongoing excavation, museum archaeology and archival work, the edition and publication of documentary and epigraphic sources, and continued reassessment of the literary tradition will ultimately bring our picture of Late Antique Abydos into ever-sharper focus.

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Hamilton, A. 2014. The Copts and the West, 1439–1822: The European discovery of the Egyptian Church. OxfordWarburg Studies. Oxford. Hamilton, W. 1809. Remarks on several parts of Turkey 1: Aegyptiaca, or, some account of the antient and modern state of Egypt, as obtained in the years 1801, 1802. London. Jomard, E. F. (ed.). 1818. Description de l’Égypte: Ou recueil des observations et des recherches qui ont été faites en Égypte pendant l’expédition de l’armée française, publié par les ordres de Sa Majesté l’Empereur Napoléon le Grand, Tome 2.1.2, Texte 2: Antiquités. Paris. Kákosy, L. 1966. Der Gott Bes in einer koptischen Legende. Acta Antiqua Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 14 (1–2): 185–96. Kamal, A. (ed.). 1907. Livre des perles enfouies et du mystère précieux. Paris. Kemp, B. 1975. Abydos. In Lexikon der Ägyptologie 1, W. Helck and E. Otto (eds), cols 28–41. Wiesbaden. ——. 1982. Abydos. In Excavating in Egypt: The Egypt Exploration Society 1882–1982, T. G. H. James (ed.), 71–88. Chicago; London. Kristensen, T. M. 2009. Embodied images: Christian response and destruction in Late Antique Egypt. Journal of Late Antiquity 2 (2): 224–50. ——. 2013. Making and breaking the gods: Christian responses to pagan sculpture in Late Antiquity. Aarhus Studies in Mediterranean Antiquity 12. Aarhus. Lefebvre, G. 1906. Une chapelle de Ramsès II à Abydos. Annales du service des antiquités de l’Égypte 7: 213–20. ——. 1911. Égypte chrétienne IV: Inscriptions coptes et grecques. Annales du service des antiquités de l’Égypte 11: 238–50. Loret, V. 1902. Le tombeau d’Osiris. Sphinx 5 (1): 37–52. Lucas, P. 1724. Voyage du sieur Paul Lucas 2. Rouen. Mariette, A. 1869. Abydos, description des fouilles exécutées sur l’emplacement de cette ville. Tome premier: Ville antique – temple de Séti. Paris. ——. 1880a. Abydos, description des fouilles exécutées sur l’emplacement de cette ville. Tome deuxième: Temple de Séti [supplément] – Temple de Ramsès – Temple d’Osiris – Petit temple de l’ouest – nécropole. Paris. ——. 1880b. Catalogue général des monuments d’Abydos découverts pendant les fouilles de cette ville. Paris. Moussa, M. 2003. The Coptic literary dossier of Abba Moses of Abydos. Coptic Church Review 24: 66–90. Murray, M., J. G. Milne, and W. E. Crum. 1904. The Osireion at Abydos. London. O’Connell, E. R. 2014. The discovery of Christian Egypt: From manuscript hunters toward an archaeology of Late Antique Egypt. In Coptic civilization: Two thousand years of Christianity in Egypt, G. Gabra (ed.), 163–76. Cairo.

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O’Connor, D. 2009. Abydos: Egypt’s first pharaohs and the cult of Osiris. London. Peet, T. E. 1914. The cemeteries of Abydos 2. Memoirs of the Egypt Exploration Fund 34. London. Peet, T. E., and W. L. S. Loat. 1913. The cemeteries of Abydos, Part 3, 1912–1913. Memoirs of the Egypt Exploration Fund 35. London. Perdrizet, P., and G. Lefebvre. 1919. Les graffites grecs du Memnonion d’Abydos. Nancy. Petrie, H. 1925. A Coptic hermitage at Abydos. In Tombs of the courtiers and Oxyrhynkos, W. M. F. Petrie (ed.), 20–24. British School of Archaeology in Egypt and the Egyptian Research Account 37. London. Petrie, W. M. F. 1900. The royal tombs of the First Dynasty: 1900 – Part I. Egypt Exploration Fund Memoirs 18. London. ——. 1901. The royal tombs of the earliest Dynasties: 1901 – Part II. Egypt Exploration Fund Memoirs 21. London. Piankoff, A. 1960. The Osireion of Seti I at Abydos during the Greco-Roman period and the Christian occupation. Bulletin de la Société d’archéologie copte 15: 125–49. Pococke, R. 1743. A description of the East and some other countries, volume the first: Observations on Egypt. London. Pouls Wegner, M.-A. 2002. The cult of Osiris at Abydos: An archaeological investigation of the development of an ancient Egyptian sacred center during the Eighteenth Dynasty. PhD thesis, University of Pennsylvania. Richards, J. 2005. Society and death in ancient Egypt: Mortuary landscapes of the Middle Kingdom. Cambridge. Rutherford, I. 2003. Pilgrimage in Greco-Roman Egypt: New perspectives on graffiti from the Memnonion at Abydos. In Ancient perspectives on Egypt, R. Matthews and C. Roemer (eds), 171–89. Encounters with Ancient Egypt. London. Sauneron, S. 1952. Le temple d’Akhmim décrit par Ibn Jobair. Bulletin de l’Institut français d’archéologie orientale 51: 123–35. ——. 1967. Villes et légendes d’Égypte (§ XII–XIV). Bulletin de l’Institut français d’archéologie orientale 65: 157–68. Savary, C. E. 1786. Lettres sur l’Égypte 2. Paris. Schultz, R. 1990. Vom Schutzgott zum Dämon: Gedanken zur Struktur und Deutung der Bes-Legende bei Apa Moses. In Lingua Restituta Orientalis: Festgabe für Julius Assfalg, R. Schultz and M. Görg (eds), 311–20. Ägypten und Altes Testament 20. Wiesbaden.

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Sicard, C. 1725. Plan d’un ouvrage sur l’Égypte ancienne et moderne en XIII chapitres. In Nouveaux mémoires des missions de la Compagnie de Jésus dans le Levant 5: 204–33. ——. 1982a. Œuvres I: Lettres et relations inédites. M. Martin (ed.). Bibliothèque d’étude 83. Cairo. ——. 1982b. Œuvres II: Relations et mémoires imprimés. M. Martin (ed.). Bibliothèque d’étude 84. Cairo. ——. 1982c. Œuvres III: Parallèle géographique de l’ancienne Égypte et de l’Égypte moderne. S. Sauneron and M. Martin (eds). Bibliothèque d’étude 85. Cairo. Simpson, W. K. 1974. The terrace of the great god at Abydos: The offering chapels of Dynasties 12 and 13. Publications of the Pennsylvania-Yale Expedition to Egypt 5. New Haven, CT; Philadelphia, PA. Stewart, P. 1999. The destruction of statues in Late Antiquity. In Constructing identities in Late Antiquity, R. Miles (ed.), 159–89. London. al-Syriany, S. and B. Habib. 1990. Guide to ancient Coptic churches and monasteries in Upper Egypt. Cairo. Thompson, J. 2015. Wonderful things: A history of Egyptology from antiquity to 1879. Cairo. Till, W. 1936. Koptische Heiligen- und Martyrerlegenden. Orientalia Christiana Analecta 108. Rome. Timm, S. 1985. Das christlich-koptische Ägypten in arabischer Zeit. Wiesbaden. Uljas, S. 2011a. The Cambridge leaves of the Life of Moses of Abydos. Le Muséon 125: 1–33. ——. 2011b. The IFAO leaves of the Life of Moses of Abydos. Orientalia 80: 373–422. Ullmann, M. 2000. Zum Ende des altägyptischen Kultes am Beispiel der Tempel von Abydos. Biblische Notizen 102: 133–40. Wegner, J., and K. Cahail. 2015. Royal funerary equipment of a king Sobekhotep at South Abydos: Evidence for the tombs of Sobekhotep IV and Neferhotep I? Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 51: 123–64. Westerfeld, J. 2010. Landscapes of memory: Pharaonic sacred space in the Coptic imagination. PhD thesis, University of Chicago. ——. 2017. Monastic graffiti in context: The temple of Seti I at Abydos. In Writing and communication in early Egyptian monasticism, M. Choat and M. Giorda (eds), 187–212. Leiden.

THE SACRED FALCON CEMETERY IN THE GREAT WADI AT NORTH ABYDOS Mohamed ABUEL-YAZID, Atef William GAD EL-RAB† and Alaa EL-QADI

A team from the Sohag Antiquities office, under the supervision of the late Prof. Yahia Elmasry, excavated a Graeco-Roman period sacred falcon cemetery in the northern side of the Great Wadi beginning in 2000. The wadi served as the processional route between the temple and the tomb of Osiris at Umm el-Qa‘ab in North Abydos, located at about 170m in front of the University of Pennsylvania-Yale expedition house. A part of the cemetery had already been discovered by John Garstang during his work at the site in 1907. The cemetery contained both human and falcon burials, all quite close to the surface, with no obvious superstructures. The burials were in large pottery jars that were cylindrical or barrel-shaped and of slightly varying sizes. They contained groups of mummified birds wrapped carefully with linen, mainly falcons1 and other raptors, probably vultures, as well as shrews. Several other objects, such as stelae, Osiris figurines of bronze alloy, amulets and beads were also found. The Great Wadi The mortuary landscape of the Abydos region lies across the low desert, a plateau of sand and gravel lying between the alluvial plain and the cliffs of the high desert to the west. In North Abydos, this plateau is divided in two by a large natural wadi (seasonal water course), running from a cut through the sheer limestone cliffs of the high desert, that opens out onto the low desert nearly 250m below and leads down to the cultivation (Pouls 2002, 58; Richards 2005, 130) (Fig. 1). This cut was regarded by the ancient Egyptians as a gateway between the worlds of the living and the dead. The riverbed has been described as a tongue sticking out into this world from the world beyond (Effland and Effland 2013, 15). The ancient Egyptians used this wadi as a processional way for nearly three millennia (Richards 2005, 130). It formed a focal point for mortuary activity for many levels of Egyptian society, particularly from the end of the Old Kingdom onward. 1

Unfortunately the team did not include zooarchaeologists, so precise identifications of the raptors were impossible, particularly in terms of differentiating hawks from falcons or vultures from eagles.

The Great Wadi was an important area as early as the Naqada I period, but it gained further importance once it became the route to ‘Cemetery U’, the burial place of the Thinite rulers, the predecessors of the kings of Dynasty 1 (Dreyer and Hartung 2000, 25–29). Most likely, it served as a processional way or causeway during the Early Dynastic period, linking funerary enclosures in the North Cemetery adjacent to the flood plain with the royal graves in Umm el-Qa‘ab (O’Connor 2009, 148; Effland and Effland 2013, 15). By the end of the Old Kingdom, Abydos was already established as the burial place of Osiris, who had merged with the indigenous funerary deity Khentiamentiu (Wegner 1996, 36; 2001a, 9). By Dynasty 12, Umm el-Qa‘ab, the burial place of Egypt’s earliest rulers, had also been identified as the burial place of Osiris, with the tomb of king Djer being the supposed interment place of Osiris. This tomb provided a focal point for festivals and pilgrimage through the wadi, continuing until Graeco-Roman times (Kemp 1975, 36; Richards 2005, 39, 158). Despite the many cemeteries flanking the wadi, the riverbed itself was left completely free of burials or other structures because it was sacred to Wepwawet,2 and was used as a festival route (Kemp 1975, 36). A royal decree, written on a series of four large stelae set up at the terminal ends of the processional way by the end of the Middle Kingdom, enforced the absence of structures within it (Randall-MacIver and Mace 1902, 64, pl. xxix). The stela: decrees the protection of the holy land [i.e., the wadi] … for his father Wepwawet, lord of the necropolis … forbidding anyone to trespass upon this holy land. Two stelae … on its south and two on its north … . As for anyone who shall be found within these stelae, except for a priest about his duties, he shall be burnt. Moreover, as for any official who shall cause a tomb to be made for himself within this holy place, he shall be reported. (Leahy 1989, 43)

2

The important role of Wepwawet in the wadi continued in the Graeco-Roman period. He appeared on stelae discovered by Garstang not only in the scenes and texts about the gods, but also as part of the deceased’s profession (Abdalla 1992, 122).

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Fig. 1: Processional route towards Umm el-Qa‘ab through the Great Wadi.

THE SACRED FALCON CEMETERY IN THE GREAT WADI AT NORTH ABYDOS

In the New Kingdom the annual festival progressed from the temple of Osiris at Kom es-Sultan through the chapels of the votive zone (Simpson 1974, 9) including a pair of small temples for Tuthmosis III that flanked the entrance to the wadi (Pouls 2001, fig. 95; Eaton 2007, 231; O’Connor 2009, 116). These might have functioned as barque stations (Pouls 2002, 356). The route also passed the ‘small temple of the west’ (Mariette 1880, 36–37; Porter and Moss 1937/1962, 5: 70–71), which was probably used also as a way-station (Effland and Effland 2013, 42–43). About 300m before Umm el-Qa‘ab, at the head of the processional route located at the so-called ‘Heqreshu Hill’, there was a low hill approached by a ramp, which probably ended at a Dynasty 18 chapel which also functioned as a barque station (O’Connor 2009, 114; Effland and Effland 2013, 16, pl. 8). This was a major focal point during the festival, as only the select few could continue beyond it to the much more restricted area of Umm el-Qa‘ab, where ‘mysteries’ of Osiris were celebrated (Effland and Effland 2013, 16). Here, the image of Osiris was ritually buried and regenerated, then carried back in triumph, accompanied by the waiting participants, and finally re-deposited in his temple (O’Connor 2009, 43) (see Fig. 1). By the Graeco-Roman period, the royal decrees were no longer respected and the wadi ceased to act as a processional route to Umm el-Qa‘ab (Kemp 1975, 36; Richards 2005, 39, 158). Thus, a very extensive cemetery filled with humans and votive animal mummies came to occupy it (Snape 1986, 55; Abdalla 1992, pls 76, 81; Robins 1996, 689–95).

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Part of this cemetery was excavated in January and February 1907 by John Garstang during his work on

behalf of the former Institute of Archaeology, University of Liverpool, now the Dept of Archaeology in the School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology (Snape 1986, 54–55). The cemetery was located 230m in front of the present University of Pennsylvania-Yale Expedition House.3 It was not planned to excavate this cemetery in the wadi, as is understood from a letter sent on 2 January 1907 to Garstang from his assistant, E. H. Jones,4 stating that the Copts of the village had obliged him to stop excavating near their cemetery, so he had had to turn back and work in the wadi closer to Petrie’s house (Snape 1986, 53–54). Unfortunately, this part of the excavation remains unpublished and, moreover, no field notebooks have survived. The main source of information is collected from the photographic negative archive of the expedition now housed in the Liverpool SAOS (identified by the negative numbers below). The photographic record is supplemented by the reports Garstang sent back to the excavation committee as well as other correspondence (Snape 1986, 56; Abdalla 1992, 1–3). Both Garstang and Jones situate the cemetery that they excavated in relation to Petrie’s dig house.5 Jones stated in one of his letters to his family, dated 11 January 1907, that he began his digging ‘10 yards’ at least from Petrie’s house doorstep (Snape 1986, 54; Abdalla 1992, 2), while Garstang in his report sent to the committee on 8 February 1907 said the excavation was about 50 yards from Petrie’s house (Snape 1986, 55). Our excavation of 2008 demonstrated that this cemetery was indeed about 50 yards from Petrie’s house, as Garstang intimated (Fig. 2). Garstang and Jones seem to have excavated what was just a part of a vast Graeco-Roman cemetery that occupied the northeastern side of the Great Wadi. It was undisturbed and lay just under the wadi surface, continuing into the North Cemetery (Garstang 1907,

3

5

History of excavation

4

Garstang’s dig house was built in 1906/07 and christened the ‘Bet El Sahara’ (Kemp and Merrillees 1980, fig. 36; Snape 1986, 50, fig. 1; Abdalla 1992, 2, pl. 76). Subsequently it became the ‘Northern House’ of the Egypt Exploration Fund and later, in 1967, was replaced by the University of Pennsylvania-Yale Expedition House (Kemp and Merrillees 1980, 105; Picardo 2007). Mr E. Harold Jones, Garstang’s assistant and artist 1905–1907 (Snape 1986, 30–31; The Sphere, 27 July 1907, Supplement: I), who supervised the excavation of the cemetery in the wadi in January 1907. Unfortunately his field notebook does not survive (Snape 1986, 54–56), though his correspondence with his family is now preserved in the National Library of Wales (Abdalla 1992, 1).

Petrie’s house was built at the end of 1901 on the slope towards the Middle Cemetery (Rawnsley 1904, 8; Petrie 1931, 180; Kemp and Merrillees 1980, 107), and it was reputedly demolished by Petrie at the end of his campaign (O’Connor 2009, 65). This, however, might have been an exaggeration as it was used for Garstang’s workers during the seasons of 1906–1909 (Snape 1986, 53). Furthermore, Garstang’s report to the committee in Liverpool, dated 8 February 1907, mentioned that Petrie’s house was then in a good state (Snape 1986, 143; Abdalla 1992, 3). More likely it was demolished completely after Garstang’s time, as Petrie lived in tents when he returned to excavate at Abydos in 1921 (Drower 1995, 351).

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Fig. 2: View of excavated site in 2001.

79; Kemp and Merrillees 1980, fig. 36 no. 3a; Abdalla 1992, fig. 1). The excavations revealed several tombs, one with two decorated walls (Neg. A. 58; Snape 1986, 55; Abdalla 1992, pls 76, 81; Robins 1996, 689–95), and 280 funerary stelae (Snape 1986, 55, 147), as well as several human burials (Neg. A. 52; Abdalla 1992, pl. 69b), a statue of a hawk (Neg. A. 87; Abdalla 1992, pl. 74), and a group of mummified hawks deposited in large cylindrical pottery jars (Negs A. 56, 61, 66 and 69; Abdalla 1992, pls 69a, 81, 82a–b). These latter burials all lacked superstructures. Also found there were anthropoid stone coffins and a small coffin, likely for a hawk, and five smaller ones for shrews (Negs A. 51, 53 and 54; Abdalla 1992, pls 66a–b, 69a–b, 77b, 81), in addition to bronze Osiris figures (Negs A. 100 and 116; Abdalla 1992, pls 83a–b). One hundred years later: The SCA mission Another part of this cemetery, containing raptor and human burials, was excavated by a team from the

6

In general it may be said that the cemetery area at Abydos consists of Pleistocene gravel/sand overlying the earlier Pliocene bedded sands. The largest exposure of these earlier sands seems

Ministry of Antiquities/Supreme Council of Antiquities Sohag Inspectorate in 2000. It is undoubtedly a continuation of the mummified hawks of Garstang, mentioned above. The site is located in the bottom of the wadi, and is almost all on one level. The matrix is composed mainly of loose sand, with bands of gravel 50–80cm thick at a depth of about 50cm.6 The only modern activity evidenced in the area is the University of Pennsylvania-Yale Expedition House complex, together with the Qufti’s house and a few outlying temporary structures. The car and tractor track, running adjacent and parallel to the slope of the Middle Cemetery, passes by the site. The cemetery was found by chance during the 2000– 2001 New York University-Institute of Fine Art (NYUIFA) field season, directed by Dr Matthew D. Adams. On 22 November 2000, Ramadan Husain Diab, one of the NYU-IFA workers, was leaving the expedition house via the wadi, and heading for his home in the nearby village of Beni Mansur, when he tripped and his leg dropped into a hole some 200m from the house.

to be the ‘Great Wadi’, which is possibly the remains of an ancient wadi, running from a gap in the Eocene cliffs down to the river (Snape 1986, 4).

THE SACRED FALCON CEMETERY IN THE GREAT WADI AT NORTH ABYDOS

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The hole, when measured later, was 40cm wide and 74cm deep and was not really a hole at all—Diab had stepped on the lid of a jar, broken it, and fallen into the pot containing the mummified birds. Once Diab had been rescued by the NYU-IFA team, plans were instituted to explore the area more carefully. Eventually this was carried out by the late Prof. Yahia Elmasry, General Director of the Sohag Antiquities Office, and the late Mr Atef William Gad el-Rab, the site inspector, in collaboration with Dr Adams. They made a 5 × 5m trench in the area surrounding the hole, Operation 501, based on the NYU-IFA grid (Figs 3–4). Between 23 November and 7 December 2000, six undisturbed cylindrical ceramic jars containing mummified birds, some shrews in limestone gilded coffins, and three human skeletons were revealed. These results encouraged the Inspectorate to conduct larger-scale archaeological investigation in this part of the wadi in 2001.7 The site was divided into nine ‘operations’ measuring 5 × 5m each, with the first square, ‘Op. 501 A’, in the middle. Further enlargement of the area was made in the northwest as more objects came to light.8 This work was carried out between February and June 2001. In the end, the whole excavation comprised an area of 425 square metres divided into seventeen operations that were excavated to depths varying between 1.20 and 1.70m (see Fig. 2). Basically, the site from upper to lower excavated levels can be described as follows. The area beneath the surface to the depth of c. 50cm consisted of loose debris, rich with organic materials (charcoal) as well as large vessels, including zirs (storage jars) and amphorae. Smaller vessels of ceramic and a few of faience and glass were also found, as well as beads, lamps, ostraca and stelae. The next c. 50cm was the level in which the majority of the jars housing the mummified birds and the groups of human and bird burials were found. However, there were fewer objects here than in the upper level. The most attractive finds were three bronze figures of Osiris (below, Fig. 12). The next, third, level was also c. 50cm in depth, and was where the majority of human burials were found, also with few associated artefacts. Results indicated that the

cemetery of the mummified falcons extended farther in all directions. After this, the excavation paused. Then, between March and June 2008, the Sohag Antiquities Office continued its excavations at the site, digging an additional fifteen operations,9 radiating around the previously discovered section of the cemetery. Results of the work showed that most of the adjacent operations, squares 504A, B, C, D, E, F, 505E, 503F, situated to the north, were partially disturbed. Most likely, this part of the site was Garstang’s raptor cemetery. Three additional operations were opened to investigate the extensions. Two of them crossed the current path used for cars and are located in the lower part of the slope towards the Middle Cemetery. Excavations in both areas showed that the cemetery did not reach that far. The more northern one of them, Op. 506H, contained the remains of a previously disturbed human burial, while the lower part of a small mud-brick wall was found just beneath the surface of Op. 497H. The wall was about 28cm thick and 3.28m long. The wall extended to the east, beyond the eastern limit of the trench. It has been interpreted as part of Petrie’s old dig house. The third square, Op. 496F, located on the western side, about 60m from the Qufti’s house and almost 170m from the expedition house, was not completely excavated. The team excavated to a depth of 70cm and found three jars containing mummified birds of prey in the upper 50cm. Clearly, the raptor cemetery extended this far, if not further. The results collected from the excavations of seasons 2000–2001 and 2008 indicate that the falcon cemetery is more extensive than Garstang or indeed we thought. It probably spreads farther to the west towards Op. 496F. The work also seems to have rediscovered the parts that Garstang and Jones had examined in 1907 (Snape 1986, 55) (see Figs 3–4).

7

9

8

The team of 2001 consists of Atef William Gad el-Rab†, Mohamed Abuel-Yazid and Alaa el-Qadi. In fact we measured the site by traditional methods, by hand, without a surveyor nor total station. Thus while the site is not quite accurately planned, the correctly surveyed Op. 501A helped in the work.

Results from the cemetery The cemetery contained the burials of birds as well as their eggs in jars and, surrounding them, some birds in coffins, shrews in coffins and human burials. Several types of vessels were found containing the mummies.

The team of 2008 consisted of Mahmoud Mostafa, Mohamed Abuel-Yazid, Ahmed Sediq, Mohamed El-Khatib, Amr Zakaria and Mohamed El-Deep. Mohamed Naguib and Ayman Damarany participated part time.

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M. ABUEL-YAZID, A. W. GAD EL-RAB† AND A. EL-QADI

Fig. 3: General plan showing the location of the sacred hawk cemetery (base map courtesy of M. D. Adams).

THE SACRED FALCON CEMETERY IN THE GREAT WADI AT NORTH ABYDOS

Fig. 4: General plan showing the location of human burials and jars containing birds.

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Not all jars contained animal burials; two notable examples contained the remains of grains, probably as symbolic food for the birds (although raptors are not avid consumers of grain [Salima Ikram, pers. comm.]). Interestingly, at Abydos, as well as at other sites, there has been evidence of food introduced into the body of mummified birds as sustenance (Wade et al. 2012; Ikram et al. 2015). Deposits of mud were found in many areas, and we think it was used for sealing the lids on the jars. Evidence for funerary rites may be found in the upper levels of the site, where the fill contained ash and charcoal, and the sand in many areas looked as if it were mixed with liquids, such as oil, and tended to appear in dark clumps. Fragments of amphorae were collected from the debris, some containing remains of a dark substance that might be resin or pitch or bitumen, together with remains of linen bandages and scattered parts of birds. These might be connected with the mummification process rather than the results of plundering, as there was little evidence for the latter. A 3–5cm layer of clay was found at a depth of about 40cm in many places on the site, possibly a result of a flooding of the wadi in the past (Effland and Effland 2013, fig. 1b). Human burials Thirty-six burials, containing the skeletons of thirtyeight individuals, were identified (Fig. 5). They had

undergone basic mummification, and were found scattered among the animals with no particular orientation. Owing to time and funding constraints, only skeletons 1, 2, 3 and 36 were fully excavated and lifted. The remaining burials were cleared of sand and photographed, but later backfilled and left in situ. All except numbers 16, 33 and 37 were undisturbed. Three burials were multiple inhumations: skeleton 27 was placed on top of the feet of skeleton 30; skeleton 3, a child, was placed between the legs of skeleton 2; skeleton 24, likely a woman, was placed on top of skeleton 23, which was probably male, the right arm of skeleton 23 embracing skeleton 24. In addition to the multiple inhumations, child burial 17 also truncated the earlier skeleton 16, resulting in the legs of the latter being displaced. The burials were placed in rectangular pits, in a supine position, with the arms extended along the sides or with the hands on the pelvis. Probably, several of the burials had received at least a cursory style of mummification, as indicated by a layer of salt immediately above the skeleton that occurred in several of the graves. The depth of the burials varied slightly, but all exceeded 1m beneath the modern surface. Burial orientation was not uniform, though the majority of them were placed with the head towards the south. The burials were interspersed among the jars. Except for a small vessel placed below the head of skeleton 11 and fragments of two amphorae and one zir-type storage jar associated with skeleton 7, no burial

Fig. 5: Human burials: a. Skeleton 2; b. Skeleton 36; c. Skeleton 38; d. Skeletons 23 and 24, Skeletons 27 and 30; f. human and baboon skeletons commingled.

THE SACRED FALCON CEMETERY IN THE GREAT WADI AT NORTH ABYDOS

items were found with the adult burials. However, remnants of an organic substance at the left leg of skeleton 36 may be the remains of some type of seed or incense. In addition, two of the children were buried with jewellery. Skeleton 17 had a beaded necklace consisting of a central oblong green-coloured faience bead flanked by two smaller spherical glass beads, in addition to one bracelet of coloured glass beads around each wrist. Skeleton 29 had one coloured glass bead bangle on each ankle, and a bracelet around the right wrist, as well as a necklace of glass beads and a blue wedjat-eye amulet (see Fig. 12). Seven skeletons belonged to children. The sex distribution of the adult burials is not clear, since only two skeletons, 36 (male) and 38 (female), were analysed. However, preserved facial hair found with skeletons 2, 7 and 16 suggest these three skeletons were male as well, and long hair associated with skeletons 5 and 24 suggest the latter two may have been female. In addition to the burials described above, five disturbed skeletons were found at 65cm beneath the surface level in operation 503D. The bodies had all been deliberately disturbed and commingled. This deposit also contained an animal, likely a baboon, and a fake falcon mummy in a small limestone coffin was found nearby. Though these bodies had been disturbed, gilding on the forehead, fingers and teeth on some of the bodies suggest that they may have received a slightly higher level of mortuary treatment, and one that is typical of the Roman or late Ptolemaic era (Ikram and Dodson 1998, 130). Better-preserved skin and pieces of linen found in this deposit also support this interpretation. The jars housing the animal mummies Jars were the main feature of the cemetery (see Fig. 2 and Fig. 6). Fifty-four were placed in different levels and spread apparently at random, individually or in groups of two, three or four.10 All contained mummified raptors, mostly wrapped with linen, and eggs. Shrews shared Jar 3 with the birds, and within a few jars additional sheets of linen were found. Only Jar 24 is a good example of a jar filled up to the mouth with mummified raptors. The rest varied between two-thirds and a quarter full. In the case of the vultures, sometimes a single bird filled the whole jar. 10

Only jars numbered 45–54 were kept in situ. Others were stored at the site and reburied in the location of Operations 503C and 503D, while a few examples were taken to the magazine of

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All the jars were of Nile silt and were roughly made, with flat bottoms and barrel-shaped or cylindrical bodies of slightly varying sizes. Jar 15 has a spherical body, is short-necked and narrow-mouthed and is made of sun-dried mud. All jars were found upright, except Jar 16, which was horizontal. This might be because it contained one larger vulture whose size exceeded the jar, and, had the jar originally been upright, the bird might have caused the jar to tip over. The mouths of the jars were flat, except for Jar 36, which had a rounded projection of 5cm inward, and Jar 34, which also had a slight rounded projection sloping inward. This probably prevented the lid from slipping. Decoration on the external surface existed in a few cases and was restricted to a horizontal line incised below the rim. Jar height varied between 50cm and 86cm, with rim diameter being between 32cm and 64cm. Handles were found on many of the jars, just below the rim. The majority of examples had two handles, but four handles were found on Jar 34. All the handles, except for those of Jar 34, seemed more ornamental than functional. Almost half of the jars were discovered undisturbed, sealed with the original lid. The team noted fifteen made of pottery (Jars 1, 2, 7, 9, 10, 18, 21, 24, 38, 39, 43, 47, 50, 52, 53) and nine made of limestone (Jars 19, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 45, 48, 49), with one, Jar 8, made of sun-dried mud. All the lids were circular, except a single limestone one (Jar 32), which was square. Ceramic lids covered the jars. They were often decorated with a raised frame at the outer edges and a knob in the centre. Conical-shaped lids were also extant. Many of them almost fitted to the mouth of the jars, but some were larger. These lids were sealed with mud in general, but gypsum was also used, particularly for jars with stone lids. The seals were consolidated in a few examples by pottery sherds, as was the case in Jar 49. Two of the jars, 38 and 39, shared an additional, larger lid on top of their own lids. The knobs of the lids had, in some cases, two finger holes to aid in grasping it. The lid of Jar 7 was perforated in the centre, and the hole was probably used instead of the normal handle. Many of the jars had a layer of sand and gravel covering the birds, in some cases apparently left by plunderers, since the lids had been thrown away and bits of bird mummies thrown about. Sheikh Hamad, west of Sohag, to be registered as nos 945 and 959.

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Fig. 6: Undisturbed jars with lids.

Bird burials around the jars The cylindrical jars housing the mummified birds were surrounded, in some cases, by additional bird burials (Fig. 7). These birds were buried within the fill of the holes cut to house the jars in the bottom of the wadi. The burials were deliberate, and on the whole, oriented to the jar at random, placed in different levels around its base, body and mouth. Nevertheless, all the buried birds faced the jar and all were larger in size than the ones inside the jars, perhaps

forming a protective ring around it. It is notable that the limestone coffin housing a fake falcon mummy was uncovered adjacent to Jar 37. Moreover, one of the negatives from Garstang’s excavations shows two stone coffins surrounding one of the jars, likely one for a falcon, while clearly the second was for a shrew (Neg. A. 51; Abdalla 1992, pl. 66a). An exceptional example was around Jar 7 where we found eggs and a scarab beetle.

THE SACRED FALCON CEMETERY IN THE GREAT WADI AT NORTH ABYDOS

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Fig. 7: Clockwise from top right: Birds 9, 45, 49 buried around jars and the location of 49 within a large assemblage.

Raptors Vultures were buried around the jars containing the falcons, but generally in receptacles such as stone coffins, like the one found to the east of Jar 33 (see Fig. 8). In two cases vultures were buried within two vessels joined together in order to accommodate the longer birds: one to the northwest of the upper body of the group of Jars 26, 27, 28; and one to the east near the bottom level of Jar 31. Another bird was found inside a single jar, Jar 16, lying to the north of grouped Jars 13, 14, 15 (Fig. 9).

Smaller raptors played the main role at the site. They were probably falcons, since kestrels are quite probable and fairly common in such deposits (Salima Ikram, pers. comm.). Comprising nearly two-thirds of the wrapped and unwrapped birds, they occurred in several sizes, probably representing different ages or species. They were found stacked inside the large cylindrical jars, often vertically placed, or lying on their back, or on their side (Fig. 10). Falcon burials, as noted above, also surrounded some of the jars. The birds were soaked

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Fig. 8: Coffins housing mummified vultures and two small falcons.

in a black substance11 before and after wrapping. The majority of those found in jars were wrapped in narrow, linen bandages, giving them the form of a bird or turning the bird into a sort of cone. In some cases the heads were modelled separately in linen, and in a few 11

This substance was not analysed, so its components are unclear. It has been suggested that this is a mixture of oils and resins (Salima Ikram, pers. comm.).

examples, they were made of gesso or cartonnage, with, in two cases, the remains of decayed gold leaf and the features of the Horus-falcon in black and blue pigments. Many unwrapped birds were found both inside and outside the jars.

THE SACRED FALCON CEMETERY IN THE GREAT WADI AT NORTH ABYDOS

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Fig. 9: Vulture burials alongside jars housing falcons.

Two limestone coffins for falcons were found. Both had lids with rounded ends. The smaller one was found in the oval ceramic coffin of Op. 502D (37cm long, 24cm wide and 20cm high), and contained two small, mummified, well-wrapped birds, while the larger one was found next to a group of human skeletons beside Jar 37 (62cm long, 34cm wide and 28cm high).12 However, it contained no falcons. Avian eggs, wrapped in linen, were found at the site, which had no relation to the jars. Possibly they had been disturbed from their original contexts, and originally were related to specific jars. One was found with bird mummies in Jar 9, and another decayed example was found around Jar 7. Here a scarab beetle was found next to one of the eggs, in addition to the bird buried individually. Linen bandages were found in small amounts inside a few jars with birds. No analyses were carried out to see if any of the bird mummies were ancient fakes (Ikram and Iskander 2002; Ikram 2015), but one example was noted in the

12

The smaller one is Reg. no. 948 and the larger one is Reg. no. 947 at the magazines of Sheikh Hamad, west of Sohag.

stone coffin found next to Jar 37. It housed a very decayed painted cartonnage mummy-case containing the very degraded remains of faunal or organic materials, but no complete bird. Vultures Vultures (or other large raptors) were buried here, both in and around the jars, as well as in limestone coffins. Plunderers had scattered the remains of some throughout the area. These birds are the next most common animal found in the cemetery, after the falcons. One unusual oval ceramic coffin from Op. 502D contained three vultures and two falcons. Some individual jars housed only vultures. These mummified birds were also soaked in a black substance, and a few examples were wrapped with linen and probably afterwards soaked again with the same or a similar material. The three mummified birds in the ceramic oval coffin were also unique, in that their heads were hidden under their wings and wrapped completely in linen.

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Fig. 10: Bird burials stacked inside jars.

The large cylindrical Jar 16, placed horizontally adjacent to three jars housing falcons, contained two unwrapped but well-preserved vultures. The jar measured 86cm in external length, and was buried horizontally in order to accommodate the large birds, one of which measured 88cm, and thus extended beyond the confines of the jar. It was sealed with mud and sherds. Otherwise, vultures tended to be buried upright. Two smaller vultures measured 52 and 53cm, respectively,

and were buried in the fill around a falcon jar. Each of the vultures was buried within two vessels joined together and sealed with mud, and deposited in two different levels and orientations to the falcon jars. Coffins housing vultures were also found. One made of limestone has a flat lid with a round end, and measures 104cm in length and 45cm in width, and it contained a mummified bird about 85cm in length. This was deposited to the east of falcon Jar 33 and almost at

THE SACRED FALCON CEMETERY IN THE GREAT WADI AT NORTH ABYDOS

the level of its lid. The second coffin (Reg. no. 958) is the oval ceramic one revealed at the western corner of Op. 502D, with two round ends. It measured 137cm in length, 40cm in width and 37cm in height. One measured 90cm and was the largest in the cemetery, with the two smaller ones being 33 and 35cm. Shrews Mummified shrews, wrapped in linen, were found in fourteen small coffins, eight of them made of limestone and six of wood (Fig. 11). They were deposited with the falcons, inside the cylindrical Jar 3, discovered during the first year of the excavation. The cases were mainly rectangular, and in many instances the lid was surmounted by an image or images of free-standing shrews. This was seen in seven of the stone coffins, and five of the wooden ones. These carved shrew images had been gilded, thereby underlining their solar connection (Ikram 2005; 2007, 423). The eight limestone ones (Reg. nos 936–43) are much better preserved than the wooden ones. Each is unique in terms of size, design, contents, the carved animal on top of the lid and decoration. Dimensions varied from 9.2–18cm in length, from 6.5–17cm in width and from 4–13cm in height. Of these, four had one rounded end and slightly curved sides to the lids. Two lids were surmounted by double raised figures of shrews (Reg. nos 938 and 942), indicating that it contained two mummies, with two smaller compartments inside one of them. The most remarkable one (Reg. nos 936 to 943), was decorated with geometric motifs of several lines on the lid, surrounding the raised figure of the animal, and on all the coffin’s outer sides, and bears four vertical columns of hieroglyphic inscription in black ink on a blue background that refer to the god Horus on one side. It has a hole at the frontal end of the lid, probably for locking it. An additional six wooden rectangular coffins (the Reg. no. for all is 944), designed like the stone ones, are very decayed. One of them has a lid bearing double raised gilded figures, indicating it contained two shrews, though it had a single compartment within it. Other animals Of the various unidentified decayed faunal remains encountered in the site, some of them might represent additional species of birds or creatures familiar from falcon cemeteries in other locations (Davies and Smith

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2005; Rowland et al. 2013, 53–84). Only one very decayed scarab beetle was identified in the cemetery, north of the body of Jar 7, within a bundle of linen that also contained eggs and other faunal remains, and which was deposited in the fill of a cut made to house the jar. An additional creature that might be attested at the site is a possible baboon, which was found within a depth of 65cm beneath the surface level in operation 503D. The possible baboon was found among five disturbed human skeletons and a stone coffin for a falcon. The ‘baboon’ measures 61cm without the head; its fingers and toes are large, and its fur is well preserved in parts. Stelae in the cemetery Several funerary stelae (Fig. 12) found at the site were probably related to the human burials and placed at the end of the burials by relatives or friends as part of the funerary rituals. About six funerary stelae were found during our work in the bottom of the wadi. Of these six, four are almost complete. All were buried lying horizontally beneath the surface in the upper 50cm, as was the case with those that Garstang found. Three were made of limestone and one was made of gypsum. The stelae are round-topped, lightly incised and divided into three registers. In most, the lunette contained a winged sun disc with two pendent uraei, and one stela had sun rays (the Reg. no. at the magazines of Sheikh Hamad for all is 949), while another had couchant jackals, facing inward. The second register shows the deceased with the gods. It is often difficult to identify the contents of the third register, except in the case of the one with the jackals, which has demotic writing (Reg. no. 950). The most remarkable stela, discovered at a depth of about 25cm beneath the surface of Op. 501C, was unfortunately only preserved in its lowest sections. Its dimensions are 43cm in width, with a preserved height of 21cm, and a thickness of 8cm. It is larger than, and completely different from, those mentioned above. It is carved in raised relief and shows Osiris enthroned, his close-fitting garments hatched with incised lines as if representing the bandages of a mummy. Before him are two figures, one in a Greek tunic, and another wearing a kilt. The image is framed, and inside, along the frame, is a Greek text, incised in tiny letters. The stela was discovered upright, with its decorated face towards the northern mouth of the wadi, indicating that it was visible on the top of the site and facing oncoming visitors.

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Fig. 11: Shrew coffins (Photo: M. D. Adams).

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Fig. 12: Selected objects: base fragment of raised relief stela with Greek inscription; two limestone stelae; dark blue faience vessel; bead necklaces and bracelets with eye of Horus and Bes amulets; and three bronze alloy figures of Osiris.

M. ABUEL-YAZID, A. W. GAD EL-RAB† AND A. EL-QADI

74 Other selected finds

Additional finds (see Fig. 12) collected at the site include lamps, ostraca, beads and various types of vessels made of ceramic, glass and faience. Three bronze alloy figures of Osiris were also found. Two of these are 5–6cm in height, and represent the god standing. Details of the figure are obscured by corrosion, but the god appears to wear the atef crown. The third example is a seated statuette of Osiris, preserved to 9cm high, as it is missing the part below the knees. He also wears the atef crown and a false beard, and holds the crook and flail. Many objects made of faience were found, including amulets and vessels. Amulets included a pale blue wedjat-eye with a suspension hole, and a Bes amulet with the headdress of five upright plumes. Bead necklaces and bracelets were also found on the mummies. A blue faience vessel of unusual design has a high neck, a rounded body enhanced by diagonal lines, and a handle that ends with a Hathor/cow head in raised relief. It was much deteriorated and missing its lower part, but the most striking element was an old break on its neck that had been nicely repaired by a sheet of metal, indicative of the vessel’s value and its owners desire to preserve it (see Fig. 12). Dating of the cemetery Generally, Abydos was the site of significant animal cemeteries from the Late Period onward (Ikram 2007, 428). Garstang dated the falcon cemetery in the wadi to the Ptolemaic period (Snape 1986, 55) or to the Graeco-Roman period (Garstang 1907, 79). According to Snape, this cemetery probably only came into existence after the Great Wadi was no longer used as a processional route to Umm el-Qa‘ab. Scholars believe that the wadi ceased to be used for this purpose by the Graeco-Roman period (Kemp 1975, 36; Richards 2005, 39, 158).13 Complete scientific study has not been undertaken for the pottery collected during the excavations. Preliminary investigations were made by Mohamed Naguib in a random sampling carried out in 2008, and for some other items from the 2001 excavations. Naguib dated 13

This view might be correct, but it should be accepted cautiously as the car and tractor track, running on the eastern side of the cemetery, adjacent and parallel to the slope of the Middle Cemetery, is not yet excavated, and it may be that they left it empty to be used as a route towards Umm el-Qa‘ab.

the majority of materials to the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, while evidence from the 3rd and 4th centuries was also extant. Some other results supported the 1st century or slightly earlier dates, such as the seated statue of Osiris, shrew coffins, Greek stelae and the gilding of human mummies, which is known from the early Roman period (Ikram and Dodson 1998, 130). This result fits with the dating of the ibis cemetery in the neighbourhood of the Middle Cemetery (see Fig. 1), where many similar cylindrical jars were discovered filled with hawks and falcons. The excavators, Peet and Loat (1913, 40), dated it to the Roman period, citing the traditional dates 30 BC–379 AD. The dating also fits with Abdalla, who studied Garstang’s stelae and concluded: the large number of stelae recovered from Abydos and the variety of scenes would suggest that they encompass a long period of time, probably ranging from the end of the Ptolemaic Period or beginning of Roman Period to at least the first half of the fourth century. (Abdalla 1992, 127)

Abdalla also mentioned specific dates from the texts of three of the stelae. One of them has a precise date, year 7 of Vespasian, Mesore, day 24(?) corresponding to 17(?) August AD 75. A second stelae, probably from Abydos, is dated year 4 of Domitian, Phamenoth day 1, corresponding to 26 March AD 85. A third example, probably from Abydos, has a regnal year 29 to be read in the Greek text, which Abdalla attributes to the reign of Augustus according to the character of the letters and the high year number, corresponding to June/July 1 BC (Abdalla 1992, 127). This suggests that the apogee of the cemetery was the end of the Ptolemaic and early Roman period, and it declined afterward but continued in use occasionally until the 4th century, a span which is in keeping with the dating of other animal cemeteries at Abydos (Ikram 2007, 419).14 Discussion Although the full extent of the cemetery is not known, it is clear from the 2000, 2001 and 2008 excavations made by the SCA team, as well as the 1907 work of Garstang in the north, that it is a large cemetery. It is 14

S. Ikram is currently revising the dates of the animal cemetery within the Shunet el-Zebib.

THE SACRED FALCON CEMETERY IN THE GREAT WADI AT NORTH ABYDOS

hoped that the southern boundary of the cemetery can be more securely established by working in and around Op. 496F. The deposits throughout are similar, containing humans, birds and shrews, together with some Osiris figurines, coffins, stelae and vessels made of different materials. Throughout the site the deposits seem to be made in the same way. We reconstruct the sequence of events as follows: the jars were neatly filled with the mummified birds, probably at the embalming place, then transported to the site. There, a vertical hole was made in the ground to accommodate the jar or jars. Once the jar was set into the hole, it was partially filled by placing bird mummies around it, at the base, body or mouth level. The jar was then sealed with mud or gypsum. Funerary rituals involving liquids, such as oils, charcoal and incense, then took place, after which the hole was filled. Humans were buried at deeper levels, in shallow, rectangular cuts. After backfilling, stelae were sometimes placed beneath the surface, generally horizontally, although we found one standing vertically, facing north. Indeed, many of the stelae might have come from the falcon cemetery but have been reused elsewhere, for example as covers for sarcophagi, as some of Garstang’s stelae did not seem to have been recovered from the places they were originally erected (Snape 1986, 55, 147). It is possible that each human burial was associated with one or more jars containing bird burials, and the jars were part of the funerary ritual of interring the dead people. However, it is more probable that the jars filled with animal mummies had other symbolic or votive roles to play, and the human burials belonged to those involved with the upkeep of the animals. One of the stelae discovered by Garstang belongs to a deceased man, who was an ‘embalmer’ and probably, according to Abdalla, took care of the sacred animals (Abdalla 1992, 127). The different birds are of interest. Most were smaller raptors, but there are several vultures found here as well. How were these related? Does the presence of the latter have something to do with issues of obtaining large numbers of any one particular bird (Rowland et al. 2013, 69)? The eggs and raptor mummies found here are also found in the bird cemetery in the nearby Middle Cemetery above the wadi (Peet and Loat 1913,

15

As Schäfer (1904, 65) has observed, it is Wepwawet rather than Horus who champions Osiris in the Middle Kingdom Osiris mysteries at Abydos.

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pl. XX, 43–47), and those in the Shunet el-Zebib (Petrie 1902, 38–39, pl. LXXX; Ikram 2007). The vultures also seem to have had their eggs buried in the wadi cemetery, as attested by the fragments of larger eggs found within the disturbed fauna. This discovery supports the idea that these birds may have been bred at Abydos, as suggested by Ikram (2007, 423). Judging by the results of the excavations, this cemetery might have been dedicated to Horus, son of Osiris. Mummified raptors were clearly linked to Horus (Davies and Smith 2005, 54), as were shrews (Houlihan 1995, 127; Kessler 2007, 74). Horus appears prominently on the stelae found here, and his name was also inscribed on one of the shrew coffins. Moreover, a stone statuette found in one of the tombs Garstang revealed in the vicinity belongs to him (Neg. A. 87; Abdalla 1992, pl. 74). Horus represented the living king, and thus it would have been natural to have sacred animals connected with kingship such as falcons, vultures (Houlihan 1995, 174) and baboons (Kessler and Nur Ed-din 2005, 130). Wepwawet was considered the main deity of the wadi (Kemp 1975, 36; Wegner 2001b), and might also have been understood to guard the mouth of the processional route leading to his father’s tomb. It is true, though, that he was sometimes merged with or replaced by Horus (Schäfer 1904, 65; Pouls 2007, 147).15 This cemetery might also be dedicated to Re, because all of these creatures are associated with either the diurnal or nocturnal manifestation of the sun god (Ikram 2007, 423), as are the eggs with their yellow solar yolks (Ikram 2007, 425). Moreover, Re’s name is written once in hieroglyphs on the best of Garstang’s stelae (Abdalla 1992, 121, pl. 50). These sacred animals might be the manifestations of the god Osiris (Kessler and Nur Ed-Din 2005, 128–30; Ikram 2007, 419), who was the great god of Abydos, the main figure in all of the stelae (Abdalla 1992), and the subject of the three bronze alloy figures. Horus, then, could be regarded as the representation of the living king, and the son of Osiris. Re himself fuses with Osiris, as manifested as ‘Re Resting in Osiris’ and ‘Osiris Resting in Re’, where the sun god is often depicted as a mummiform figure (Osiris) with the head of a ram (Re in his night-time aspect), though Re may also be represented in this combination by the head of

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a falcon or scarab (Wilkinson 2003, 209). The shrews are a nocturnal, or perhaps Osirid form of the god and are often found at Saqqara, Tuna el-Gebel and elsewhere (Davies and Smith 2005, 8–9; Ikram 2007, 423; Kessler 2007; Rowland and Ikram 2013, 6). The baboon is sacred to Thoth, and provides both Re and Osiris imagery; D. Silverman’s work at the portal temple at the votive zone revealed adoring baboons depicted at the entrance way in the portico facing west, ‘the area sacred to Osiris locally to Umm el-Qa‘ab, whereas they normally face east towards the rising sun’ (Silverman 1985, 272). Thus, it would be more convenient for these animal cemeteries to be dedicated to the god Osiris himself. Judging by the location of the falcon cemetery within the topographical landscape of Abydos, Osiris would seem to be the most likely god to whom the birds were dedicated. The cemetery is located in North Abydos and occupies the bottom of the Great Wadi leading from the cultivation to the tomb of Osiris at Umm el-Qa‘ab. Cemeteries of other mummified animals including canids, raptors, shrews, serpents, scarabs and ibises are concentrated on both sides of this wadi (Ikram 2007, 429, fig. 1). Three of them are noteworthy in this context: a Ptolemaic ibis-mummy hypogeum near the cultivation within the modern cemetery of Deir Sitt Damyana (Laurel Bestock, pers. comm.); another ibis cemetery in Shunet el-Zebib; and the third on the opposite side within the Middle Cemetery; all of them contained falcons and other creatures as well. Ibises and falcons are representations of the gods Osiris-Ibis and Osiris-Falcon (von den Driesch et al. 2005, 239), with both animals regarded as the god Osiris himself, known to have participated in the yearly procession of the Osiris-festival in the month of Khoiak, and connected to the fate and resurrection (Kessler and Nur Ed-Din 2005, 128–30) of the god Osiris during the yearly procession passing through the wadi. Burying these sacred animals in such cemeteries within and around the wadi might ensure the eternal repetition of the procession, even if such events stopped in reality. Future work might shed light upon the relationship between the human and other animal burials; it also might reveal textual evidence that can clarify the deity or deities as well as the professions associated with the cemetery. Moreover, accurate mapping and further pottery research can be done. In the interim, this cemetery sheds light on the continuing religious importance of Abydos in the Graeco-Roman period, and the changing cult practices of that era.

Acknowledgements The authors are extremely thankful to the late Prof. Yahia Elmasry (General Director of Sohag Antiquities Office and head of the team), and to Mr Ahmed Elkhatib (General Director of Abydos 2001); the team is deeply grateful to Matthew D. Adams of the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, who supported the work and helped in the initial documentation of the site and finds; Josef Wegner and Kevin M. Cahail of the University of Pennsylvania; and Janet Richards of the University of Michigan. At the Balyana Inspectorate we are indebted to Aziza Sayed Hasan, Mahmod Mostafa, Mohamed Naguib, Ayman Damarany, Yasser Mahmoud and Hazem Salah, and at the Sohag Antiquities Office, to Mr Zein Al Abedin Zaki, Mr Ashraf Tarabishi, Ahmed Sediq, Mohamed Abdulrahman, Amr Zakaria and Mohamed Eldeeb. Thanks are also due to the British Museum Department of Egypt and Sudan for their support and help. We are indebted to Salima Ikram for her endless support and encouragement, and also for her help in preparing this manuscript. All images are courtesy of the authors, unless otherwise credited.

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Effland, U., and A. Effland. 2013. Abydos: Tor zur ägyptischen Unterwelt. Darmstadt/Mainz. Garstang, J. 1907. Postscript. Egypt Exploration Fund Reports 1906–1907: 79. Houlihan, P. F. 1995. The animal world of the pharaohs. Cairo. Ikram, S. 2005. A monument in miniature: The eternal resting place of a shrew. In Structure and significance: Thoughts on ancient Egyptian architecture, P. Jánosi (ed.), 335–40. Vienna. ——. 2007. Animals in the ritual landscape at Abydos: A synopsis. In The archaeology and art of ancient Egypt: Essays in honor of David B. O’Connor, Z. Hawass and J. Richards (eds), 417–32. Supplément aux Annales du Service des antiquités de l’Égypte 36. Cairo. ——. (ed.). 2015. Divine creatures: Animal mummies in ancient Egypt. 2nd edition. Cairo. Ikram, S., and A. Dodson. 1998. The mummy in ancient Egypt: Equipping the dead for eternity. Cairo. Ikram, S., and N. Iskander. 2002. Catalogue général of the Egyptian Museum: Non-human mummies. Cairo. Ikram, S., R. Slabbert, I. Cornelius, A. du Plessis, L. C. Swanepoel, and H. Weber. 2015. Fatal force, feeding or gluttonous gagging? The death of Kestrel SACHM 2575. Journal of Archaeological Science 63: 72–77. Kemp, B. J. 1975. Abydos. In Lexikon der Ägyptologie, W. Helck and E. Otto (eds), 1: 28–41. Wiesbaden. Kemp, B. J., and R. Merrillees. 1980. Minoan pottery in second millennium Egypt. Mainz am Rhein. Kessler, D. 2007. Spitzmaus, Ichneumon und Ratte im Tierfriedhof von Tuna el-Gebel. Bulletin of the Egyptian Museum Cairo 4: 71–82. Kessler, D., and A. H. Nur Ed-Din. 2015. Tuna al-Gebel: Millions of ibises and other animals. In Divine creatures: Animal mummies in ancient Egypt, S. Ikram (ed.), 120–63. 2nd edition. Cairo. Leahy, A. 1989. A protective measure at Abydos. Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 75: 41–60. Mariette, A. 1880. Abydos: Description de fouilles exécutées sur l’emplacement de cette ville 2. Paris. O’Connor, D. 2009. Abydos: Egypt’s first pharaohs and the cult of Osiris. New York. Peet, T. E., and W. L. S. Loat. 1913. The cemeteries of Abydos 3. Egypt Exploration Fund Excavation Memoirs 35. London. Petrie, W. M. F. 1902. Abydos 1. Egypt Exploration Fund Excavation Memoirs 22. London. ——. 1931. Seventy years in archaeology. London. Picardo, N. S. 2007. The dig house at Abydos. Expedition Magazine 49 (3): 44–48. Porter, B., and R. L. B. Moss. 1937/1962. Topographical bibliography of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic texts, statues, reliefs and paintings. 2nd revised edition. Oxford. Pouls, M. A. 2001. The chapel of Thutmose III: New Kingdom pilgrims and patrons at Abydos. Archaeology 54 (4): 58–59.

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——. 2002. The cult of Osiris at Abydos: An archaeological investigation of the development of an ancient Egyptian sacred center during the Eighteenth Dynasty. PhD dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, UMI, Ann Arbor, MI. ——. 2007. Wepwawet in context: A reconsideration of the jackal deity and its role in the spatial organization of the North Abydos landscape. Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 43: 139–50. Randall-MacIver, D., and A. Mace. 1902. El Amrah and Abydos. Egypt Exploration Fund Excavation Memoirs 23. London. Rawnsley, C. 1904. The resurrection of oldest Egypt: Being the story of Abydos as told by the discoveries of Petrie. Laleham. Richards, J. 2005. Society and death in ancient Egypt: Mortuary landscapes of the Middle Kingdom. Cambridge. Robins, G. 1996. Abbreviated grids on two scenes in a Graeco-Roman tomb at Abydos. In Studies in honor of William Kelly Simpson, P. Der Manuelian (ed.), 2: 689– 95. Boston. Rowland, J., and S. Ikram. 2013. The falcon necropolis at Quesna. Egyptian Archaeology 42: 5–7. Rowland, J., S. Ikram, G. J. Tassie, and L. Yeomans. 2013. The sacred falcon necropolis of Djedhor(?) at Quesna: Recent investigations from 2006–2012. Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 99: 53–84. Schäfer, H. 1904. Die Mysterien des Osiris in Abydos unter König Sesostris III. nach dem Denkstein des Oberschatzmeister Ichernofret im Berliner Museum. Leipzig. Silverman, D. P. 1985. The so-called Portal Temple of Rameses II at Abydos. In Akten des vierten internationalen Ägyptologen Kongresses, München, S. Schoske (ed.), 2: 270–77. Hamburg. Simpson, W. K. (1974). The terrace of the Great God at Abydos: The offering chapels of dynasties 12 and 13. New Haven, CT. Snape, S. R. 1986. Mortuary assemblages from Abydos. 2 vols. PhD dissertation, University of Liverpool. Wade, A. D., S. Ikram, G. Conlogue, R. Beckett, A. Nelson, R. Colten, B. Lawson, and D. Tampieri. 2012. Foodstuff placement in ibis mummies and the role of viscera in embalming. Journal of Archaeological Science 39 (5): 1642–47. Wegner, J. 1996. The mortuary complex of Senwosret III: A study of Middle Kingdom state activity and the cult of Osiris at Abydos. PhD dissertation, University of Pennsylvania. ——. 2001a. Abydos. In The Oxford encyclopedia of ancient Egypt, D. B. Redford (ed.), 1: 7–12. Oxford. ——. 2001b. Wepwawet. In The Oxford encyclopedia of ancient Egypt, D. B. Redford (ed.), 3: 496–97. Oxford. Wilkinson, R. H. 2003. The complete gods and goddesses of ancient Egypt. London.

ABYDOS IN LATE ANTIQUITY: A VIEW FROM THE SHUNET EL-ZEBIB Matthew Douglas ADAMS with an appendix by Roxanne BÉLANGER SARRAZIN and Jitse H. F. DIJKSTRA

The Late Antique Abydos workshop held at the British Museum in the summer of 2015 came at an opportune moment, just when, in large part through the recent work of the scholars and field projects represented in this volume, the window on Late Antiquity at the site has opened considerably. Both new basic data and a broadening of the scope of scholarly inquiry1 create the basis for an emerging and much richer new understanding of Late Antique life at Abydos. I am pleased to be able to offer here some of the results bearing on this question from the work of the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University Expedition, which

is focused on North Abydos, the core of the site in earlier, pharaonic times. The Shunet el-Zebib The greatest concentration of Late Antique features in North Abydos, based on presently available evidence, is to be found in the monument known locally as the Shunet el-Zebib (Figs 1–2). The Shuneh, as it is called for short, consists of two massive concentric enclosure walls built of mud brick that cover an area of more than 10,000 square metres. The main inner

Fig. 1: General view of a part of the Abydos North Cemetery including the Shunet el-Zebib (Photo: Greg Maka).

1

The importance of which is emphasized by Westerfeld (2010).

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Hermitage 11 Hermitage 12 Hermitage 9

Hermitage 1 Hermitage 2

Kitchen 1

Hermitage 10

Kitchen 2

Hermitage 3

passages

Hermitage 4 Hermitage 5

Hermitage 8 passages Kitchen 3

Hermitage 6 Hermitage 7

Hermitage 13 0

Meters 20

Hermitage 14

Fig. 2: Plan of the Shunet el-Zebib showing the locations of major Late Antique features (M. D. Adams).

enclosure still stands in many places to near its original height of around 11m, with walls around 5m thick. The now much more denuded outer enclosure was lower, perhaps 7 or 8m, with walls of around 3m thickness, constituting an enclosure around the enclosure, as it were. It was built for King Khasekhemwy of Dynasty 2, c. 2700 BC, to serve as the visible monumental component of his two-part funerary complex at Abydos, the

other being his underground tomb some 1.5km distant at Umm el-Qa‘ab. The Shuneh, which has remained the dominant feature in the desert landscape of North Abydos since it was built, has produced evidence of three main phases of ancient use: (i) during and immediately after the reign of Khasekhemwy; (ii) around 2,000 years later when the monument was used as a sacred animal necropolis; and (iii) in Late Antiquity, when it

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Fig. 3: The Shunet el-Zebib seen from the west, showing the large voids in the southwest wall of the main enclosure that mark the locations of Late Antique rooms (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

was occupied by an early Christian monastic community. The Christian adaptive reuse of existing, ancient monuments is one of the dominant characteristics of Late Antique life at the site. It remains an active pattern in the landscape today, in the Christian village of Deir Sitt Damyana, which is situated in and surrounding another ancient mud-brick enclosure in North Abydos, though this is likely of Ptolemaic date. In modern times the Late Antique occupation of the Shuneh has been most evident in a series of huge voids in the exterior side of the southwest wall of the inner enclosure (Fig. 3). The existence of these features was noted by Mariette, who indicated them on his published plan, though he was unable to suggest a date (Mariette 1880, 47, pl. 68). They are clearly visible in one of the earliest published photographs showing this side of the monument (Randall-MacIver and Mace 1902, pl. 30, top right). Edward Ayrton, who conducted extensive excavations at the Shuneh at the beginning of the last century, observed: In the walls of the fort which were most sheltered from the cold winds the Copts had dug out hollows, and lining them with stucco had turned them into small rooms. In fact, the western wall is so honeycombed on the outer

2

The work at the Shuneh carried out to date as part of this initiative was made possible in large part by a series of major grants from the American Research Center in Egypt, with funding

side in this way that it is marvelous that it should have stood so long; the inner side of the eastern wall had been similarly weakened, but did not stand the test, and only some 12 ft. of wall remain. The Shuneh, then, narrowly escaped being turned into a Coptic village like the Deir; and it seems probable that, had it not been for the Copts, the four walls would still be standing as they were built. (Ayrton, Currelly and Weigall 1904, 4)

Ayrton does not mention having made any significant investigation of the ‘Coptic’ features at the Shuneh, nor did other early excavators, at least insofar as the published record indicates. The scholarly focus always seems to have been primarily on determining the original purpose of the monument. After limited excavation in the interior of the monument in the 1980s (O’Connor 1987; 1991), a new comprehensive programme of archaeological investigation and architectural conservation was initiated under the joint direction of David O’Connor and the present author in 20002 as part of the fieldwork programme of the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University Abydos Expedition. This work has included the systematic investigation of the known Late Antique features at the Shuneh and has, in addition, produced dramatic new

provided to ARCE by the United States Agency for International Development, Egypt.

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evidence about the extent and nature of the last major phase of use of the monument in antiquity. Careful excavation and documentation of the large voids in the southwest wall of the inner enclosure has confirmed Ayrton’s basic characterization but has generated much additional and informative detail about their original design, construction and use, as well as their subsequent impact on the fabric of the monument. Each void was in origin a small room cut into the wall in Late Antiquity. Although there is variability in detail between the rooms, there are significant commonalities, including the basic method by which they were created. The first stage in each case, with one possible exception, appears to have been the cutting of a narrow opening to a depth of approximately half a metre into the wall, through which the remaining masonry that would be excavated away to create the space was removed. The original masonry of the Shuneh’s façade was left in place to serve as a front wall approximately 50cm thick, with the initial cutting serving as the doorway to the room that had been created behind. The final effect left the interiors of the rooms hidden from view, with only the narrow doorways visible from outside. Although the collapse of original masonry above all the rooms has destroyed the original ceilings, preserved patches of plaster and evidence of curvature at the corners in some rooms suggest that they had somewhat concave profiles and that the larger rooms may have been as much as 1.8m high. None of the six rooms contained appreciable cultural deposits, which suggests that they had all been cleared out at some point in relatively recent times, probably by one or the other of the early excavators, even though work in them is not specifically mentioned in the published reports. The deposits covering the floors consisted primarily of eroded and fallen mud brick from the wall above mixed with wind-blown sand. For ease of reference in the present discussion, these rooms, as well as the other main Late Antique features at the Shuneh, will be designated ‘Hermitage 1’, ‘Hermitage 2’, etc., with the sequence beginning with those in the southwest main enclosure wall, ordered northwest to southeast. ‘Hermitage’ is used broadly to include all architectural features that may have comprised a given grouping. Each known feature was documented during excavation with a unique identifier assigned in reference to a continuous excavation unit sequence employed in the Expedition’s overall research area in North Abydos. These unit designations, or Operation (‘Op’) numbers, which are given on the

letter boards in the photographs and allow navigation of the original field records, will also be noted in each case below. Hermitage 6 One of the better-preserved examples, Hermitage 6, excavated as Operation 119, serves as a useful introduction to the activity along the southwest wall of the inner Shuneh enclosure. As preserved, it consisted of two rooms (Figs 4–5). The single entrance was at the south corner of the larger Room 1 (c. 3.4 × 2.2m), and the lower courses of the Dynasty 2 masonry that comprised the room’s front wall were preserved. No evidence remained of a threshold in the doorway, but a small stone pivot was set into the floor on the southeast interior side, demonstrating the presence of a wooden door. On entry, the door would have swung open to the right. Just where the end of the open door would likely

Fig. 4: The void of Hermitage 6 (Operation 119) before excavation (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

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Fig. 5: Panoramic view of Hermitage 6 (Op 119) after excavation (Original photos: Robert Fletcher; panorama: M. D. Adams).

have stood, a small ceramic vessel had been set into the floor. At Esna, similarly positioned vessels have been interpreted as possibly functioning as a receptacle for wooden rods used as door-stops (Sauneron and Jacquet 1972, 53), and the regularity of the association of these floor features with doorways is certainly suggestive of such a function at the Shuneh. A low L-shaped bench had been constructed on the southwest and northwest sides, with the remains of another evident on the southeast side. The floor, benches, and the lower sides of the room had been finished with hard white cementitious lime plaster.3 Nowhere was a finished top edge of the plaster preserved, and consequently the original height of the plaster on the wall could not be ascertained. Three niches had been cut into the original masonry comprising the northeast side of the room (Fig. 6). The larger central niche, originally on the order of 1m tall, was flanked by a smaller pair, each approximately half that height. Damage to the wall here did not allow the exact original dimensions of the niches to be determined. A single smaller niche, semicircular as viewed in elevation, had been cut into the northwest wall approximately 60cm above the floor. This was also

3

The hard white plasters from the Late Antique features at the Shuneh have been subject to basic chemical analysis, which has shown them to be lime-based (H. Kariya, pers. comm.). This

finished in white plaster. A doorway in the southeast side wall of Room 1 led into a much smaller ancillary Room 2 (c. 1.15 × 1.7m). The doorway’s jambs and raised threshold were finished in mud plaster. Two mud bricks had been placed against the interior side of the threshold, creating a step of sorts. Room 2 was completely finished in brown mud plaster. A small break in the floor plaster at the west corner, just inside the doorway, suggested a stone pivot may have once been embedded in the floor here. A large niche appears to have been cut into the southeast side wall, approximately 1.25m above the floor, but no plasters remain in it, if any were ever present (Fig. 7). Hermitage 7 Southeast of Hermitage 6 was a single room (c. 3.0 × 2.1m), Hermitage 7 (Fig. 8). It was excavated as Operation 120. Here, too, the front wall was composed of Dynasty 2 masonry left in place, and the entrance was at the south end of this wall. Only patches of the original white plaster floor were preserved in the northwestern part of the room. A low bench was built

parallels practice at Esna, where the floor and wall plasters are also lime-based. See Sauneron and Jacquet 1972, 9–10.

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Fig. 6: The northeast side wall of Hermitage 6 (Op 119) with the remains of three niches (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

Fig. 8: Overhead view of the floor and lower parts of the side walls of Hermitage 7 (Op 120). The opening of the cupboard niche in the northwest side wall is visible at left (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

Fig. 7: View looking southeast from Room 1 into Room 2 of Hermitage 6 (Op 119) (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

Fig. 9: The northeast side wall of Hermitage 7 (Op 120) with the remains of three niches (Photo: Jason Goodman).

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along the interior side of the southwest wall, and a small patch of remaining plaster shows it was finished apiece with the floor. No white plaster was preserved on the side walls, although remaining patches of brown mud plaster suggest this may have been the wall finish in this case. Hermitage 7 had the best-preserved wall niches of the six rooms cut into this wall (Fig. 9). Although the masonry around them was damaged, the outlines of the niches were clear. The degree of preservation of the brown mud plaster remaining in the larger central niche and the northern of the smaller flanking pair suggests that it may have been the original finish. The central niche was between 90cm and 1m tall and approximately 50cm wide at its base. Of the smaller pair, the northern was the larger, around 60cm tall and 40cm wide at the base, with its mate measuring approximately 40cm square. Hermitage 7 also had a small ancillary space, almost like an oversized niche or cupboard, cut into the masonry of the northwest side (Fig. 10). The floor of this feature was some 55cm above the level of the white-plastered floor. Hermitages 4 and 5 Northwest of Hermitage 6, two adjacent room voids, Hermitages 4 and 5, excavated as Operations 121 and 122, respectively, were equally informative (Fig. 11). The northern and larger of the two, Hermitage 4 (Fig. 12),

Fig. 10: The northwest side wall of Hermitage 7 (Op 120) with its large cupboard niche (Photo: Jason Goodman).

Fig. 11: Elevation view of Hermitages 4 and 5 (Ops 121, 122) after excavation. The smaller concavities at left and right represent the rear parts, cut into the main enclosure wall, of ancillary rooms built in the corridor between the two enclosures (Photo: Jason Goodman).

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Fig. 12: Overhead view of the floor of Hermitage 4 (Op 121) (Photo: Jason Goodman).

was similar to Hermitage 6 in size (c. 3.0 × 1.9m), as well as in features, though without the ancillary chamber. Its doorway was at the southern end of the southwest side, and several courses of the Dynasty 2 masonry that had once served as the southwest front wall were preserved. Here, too, low benches had been built along the southwest and southeast sides, and the floor, benches, and lower parts of the side walls had been finished in white plaster. There was a notable colour difference between the floor plaster of the southeast third of the room, which had a markedly pink hue, and the northwestern two-thirds, which was whiter. A crack also separated the two sections. Close examination suggested that the northwestern part of the room had been replastered at some point during its use life. A large hole in the floor, as well as the pattern of damage to the plaster around it, indicated that something set into the floor had been removed. This may have been a stone, possibly to serve as a support for a wooden pole, which, if correct, suggests that the original masonry of the wall above may already have threatened to collapse while the room was still in use and thus required shoring. The replastering may have been done in connection with the installation of the stone or whatever may have been set into the floor. Faint traces of a red stripe were preserved at the bottom of the plaster of the northeast side wall just above the floor. A patch of the wall plaster near the east corner preserved a finished top edge,

marked by a red line border, which demonstrated that the white plaster only extended approximately 60cm above the floor in a dado similar to those seen in other hermitages at the Shuneh. This same patch of plaster also exhibited a graffito of cross-hatching in black line. The upper parts of the room were finished in mud plaster. A set of three niches had been cut into the northeast side of the room (Fig. 13). The larger central niche,

Fig. 13: The northeast side wall of Hermitage 4 (Op 121) with the remains of three niches. A short length of a horizontal red line border on the taller area of white plaster at lower right marks the original height of the plaster dado. The base of a small niche in the southeast side wall is visible at the lower right (Photo: Jason Goodman).

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Fig. 14: Hermitage 5 (Op 122) after excavation, with the remains of five niches in the northeast side wall (Photo: Jason Goodman).

approximately 65cm tall × 50cm wide, was flanked by a smaller pair, one of which measured approximately 30cm tall × 35cm wide, with the other being damaged but probably similar. A single small niche had been cut into the southeast side wall at a slightly lower level than those on the northeast side. Only the base of this was preserved, which had been finished in white plaster. A large pit of uncertain date completely destroyed the floor in the northwestern half of the room. The pit penetrated into the original masonry of the enclosure wall more than 1m below the plastered floor and also cut away the masonry that had comprised the northwestern side wall of the room. The adjacent room, Hermitage 5, was significantly smaller (c. 2.3 × 1.9m) than its neighbour to the north (Fig. 14). No trace of masonry that could represent a front wall survived. Given the relative shallowness of the penetration of this room into the enclosure wall, it is possible that its front wall may have been a built feature, rather than being composed of original Dynasty 2 masonry left in place. Here, too, the floor was finished in hard white plaster, which also covered a low bench built along the southeast side. The position of the doorway is uncertain. Evidence for the now familiar set of three niches survives on the northeast side, with the central niche approximately 90cm tall × 50cm wide and the smaller pair 45cm tall × 35cm wide. Below these

were two smaller niches, both with rounded tops and originally approximately 35cm wide × 25cm tall. Damage to the wall around the three larger niches above left no trace of plasters, but the two lower niches were finished in the same white plaster as the floor and lower side walls. Adjacent to Hermitage 4 on its north side and to Hermitage 5 on its south two substantial concavities were identified in the existing face of the Dynasty 2 wall (see Fig. 11). These had been cut into the wall and likely represent the rear parts of small ancillary rooms associated with the adjacent larger rooms. The greater part of each of the ancillary rooms was probably built against the enclosure wall, and the parallel pattern suggests that each was an element of a ‘suite’ comprised of a larger white-plastered ‘main’ room and an adjacent smaller room, rather like the arrangement in Hermitage 6, although in that case the ancillary room was cut fully into the wall. The distance between the ‘main’ and each of the associated ancillary rooms suggests that other features may have once existed between or connecting them. Hermitage 1 Two additional room voids were situated in the northwestern part of the main enclosure wall. The

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found at the north corner near the gateway (see the discussion of Hermitage 11, below) and near the south corner. Hermitage 2

Fig. 15: Overhead view of Hermitage 1 (Op 100) after excavation, showing the large pit that cut through the remains of the Late Antique features and the masonry of the original wall below, and which penetrated more than 1m into the sterile natural deposits on which the wall was built. The small door pivot stone of the Late Antique room is visible at lower right (Photo: the author).

northern of the two, Hermitage 1, was excavated as Operation 100 (Fig. 15). This void once contained a finished room like the others, but it had sustained considerably more damage, leaving only a few traces of Late Antique plasters and surfaces cut into the Dynasty 2 masonry. One notable feature was a small stone door pivot that demonstrated the location of the door at the south end of the room, as was the case with the other rooms in the southwest main enclosure wall where evidence survived. Given the extent of the damage, the original dimensions of Hermitage 1 could not be determined with certainty, but it seems likely to have been c. 3 × 2m. Most of the damage to the Late Antique features appeared to be the result of the cutting of a large L-shaped pit that penetrated completely through the original Dynasty 2 brick masonry below the floor of the room and well into the natural sand and gravel deposits under the wall. It appears not to be an ancient feature. Rather, it seems likely that the pit, being situated near the corner of the enclosure, may have been dug as part of a modern search for foundation deposits. Although no documentary evidence is known at present that indicates who was responsible, Mariette seems the most likely candidate. In his published discussion of work at the Shuneh, he emphasizes the basic questions of the date and purpose of the monument, questions which foundation deposits, had they existed, would likely have helped answer. Similar tunnels have been

Adjacent to Hermitage 1 to the south was another, Hermitage 2, excavated as Operation 101, which was quite similar in size, at c. 3 × 2m, and features to the others discussed above (Fig. 16). A front wall of original masonry was preserved, with a doorway at its southern end. The doorway exhibited a one-brick-high raised threshold that appeared originally to have been covered in mud plaster, though this was mostly eroded away. The floor and lower parts of the side walls were finished in white plaster. A roughly circular hole in the floor plaster in the south corner just inside the doorway suggested the one-time presence of a stone pivot for a wooden door. This would have opened swinging to the right against the southeast side wall. A second round hole was found in the floor against this wall, roughly 30cm into the room from the pivot hole. This almost certainly once contained a small ceramic vessel, similar to the arrangement in Hermitage 6 and others at the Shuneh. Of the wall plaster on the northeast and southeast sides, only a small area at the east corner, extending just a few centimetres above the floor, remained. The plaster was better preserved on the interior side of the front wall, extending to its full preserved height, although this was only around 40cm at maximum. On the floor adjacent to this wall a deposit of fallen plaster fragments was found that likely originated on a now destroyed higher part of the wall. These

Fig. 16: Overhead view of Hermitage 2 (Op 101) after excavation. A white-plastered elevated sleeping platform originally stood at left (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

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included a significant number of pieces with decoration in red or black line, which were carefully lifted by Expedition conservators. They demonstrate that at least some walls of Hermitage 2 once bore both textual and graphic graffiti, as demonstrated by a small fragment with the Coptic letter ‘Π’ in red line and a number of others bearing elements of a complex but obscure graphic in black line. A bench of original masonry had been left on the northwest side of the room, spanning its entire width. The masonry that made up the bench has been destroyed, but its position was indicated by a break in the floor plaster and a thin line of white plaster on the northwest side wall some 50cm above the floor, which suggested that the bench itself was finished in the same white plaster as the floor and lower side walls. The bench almost certainly served as a sleeping platform, similar to those in other hermitages at the Shuneh, although the flat tops of some of the others were finished in brown mud, not white, plaster. Although the original masonry that once comprised the northeast side wall had been damaged, traces remained that indicated the presence of at least one large niche in the middle of the wall, with a possible smaller niche adjacent on the north side (Fig. 17). The original configuration was probably similar to that in its neighbours to the southeast, with a larger central niche between a pair of smaller ones.

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Fig. 17: Elevation view of the northeast side wall of Hermitage 2 (Op 101) during detailed architectural documentation by Damon Cassiano (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

Hermitage 3 Evidence for an additional pair of Late Antique rooms in the southwest wall of the main enclosure was uncovered around the original Dynasty 2 gateway, excavated as Operation 105 and discussed here as Hermitage 3. The wall above and adjacent to the gateway opening had collapsed long ago, creating a very substantial gap (Fig. 18). Excavation and careful examination of the area revealed that a pair of rooms had been cut into the wall here, one on each side of the gateway. The position of these voids, in the middle of the thickness of the wall and adjacent to the gateway, created serious structural instabilities that caused the large-scale collapse here. The remains of Room 1 (as preserved c. 2.3 × 2.6m) on the northwestern side of the gateway were surprisingly substantial despite the scale of loss to the enclosure wall above and around it (Fig. 19). Its floor was finished in hard white plaster, as were the lower parts of at least three of the side walls. No evidence survived as to the exact position of the southeast side wall or the

Fig. 18: The gap in the southwest wall of the main enclosure of the Shunet el-Zebib that resulted from the collapse of the original gateway and the masonry above the two rooms of Hermitage 3 (Op 105) (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

Fig. 19: Room 1 of Hermitage 3 (Op 105) after excavation, looking northwest (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

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location of the entrance, although this seems likely to have been on either the southwest or the southeast side. On the northwest side were the remains of a sleeping bench created by leaving the Dynasty 2 masonry in place up to a height of approximately 65cm above the floor and cutting back the masonry above this level a further 75cm or so, creating a sort of oversized niche. The upper finished surface of the bench was destroyed, but a small patch of white plaster remained on the wall behind on the northwest, which indicates its height. A low white-plastered bench some 24cm deep was built along part of the southwest side wall. At its southeast end, the bench abutted a white-plastered feature that projected some 12cm farther out into the room, although it was too damaged to permit certainty as to its purpose. Close examination of the white plaster floor showed that it was a secondary feature. The original floor, which was visible in the northeastern part of Room 1, where the later floor was missing, was of smoothed brown mud plaster. Not enough evidence survived to permit the determination of whether the addition of the white plaster floor was part of a broader remodelling of the room, although it seems likely that it represented a functional change. Most notable in Room 1 was the discovery of a number of fragments of white plaster with graphic decoration and Coptic graffiti, all in black pigment (Fig. 20; see Appendix, nos 3–23). The main discernible graphic element appears to be part of a small cross, and the texts include fragments of lists of saints. The latter in particular would appear to confirm the monastic character of both this space specifically and the Late Antique occupation of the Shuneh more broadly (see commentary in Appendix). Of significance for understanding the original layout of the room, some of the plaster fragments bearing or associated with the graffiti had rounded convex or concave surfaces that suggested they may have been from the edge and interior of a wall niche, doorway, or window opening. The fragments were concentrated in the northeast part of the room, which may indicate that they once were part of the northeast side wall above their find-spot, a likely location for a wall niche, given the pattern seen in the other hermitages at the Shuneh. Of Room 2 on the southeastern side of the gateway, little remained (Fig. 21): only a small patch of mudplaster floor and a shallow concavity cut into the masonry of the vertical wall end as preserved, which

represented only a small part of the original volume of the room. The original dimensions could not be determined. This room may have been ancillary to its whiteplastered mate across the gateway, paralleling the arrangement observed in Hermitage 6, as well as in Hermitages 8, 9, and 10 (see below), and inferred for Hermitages 4 and 5. Additional features in the southwest corridor Further evidence that the rooms in the southwest main enclosure wall were components of larger ‘suites’ was found in a series of kitchens and other features built into the adjacent perimeter wall. The remains of three kitchens have been identified. The best preserved by far, Kitchen 1, was one of two excavated as part of Operation 58. It consisted of a small rectangular room (c. 1.9 × 1m) cut into the wall, with a two-chambered

Fig. 20: Coptic graffiti on fallen wall plaster fragments in Room 1 of Hermitage 3 (Op 105) (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

Fig. 21: Remains of Room 2 of Hermitage 3 (Op 105), view to southwest (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

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stove in the northwest end (Fig. 22). The fireboxes comprised a pair of large ceramic vessels that had been encapsulated upright inside a brick and mud bench. Stoke-hole openings in the front of the bench and through the sides of the vessels allowed access for fuel and air, with vents opening out the top of the bench in the back corners. The circular vessel mouths constituting the tops of the fireboxes were approximately 14cm below the top of the bench, with the sides of the opening above sloping back at angles varying between approximately 45 and 60 degrees, such that each could accommodate a substantial cooking pot. A low kerb was built across the room at the base of the stove, incorporating a shallow gutter immediately in front of the openings to the fireboxes, presumably to prevent hot embers from spilling out onto the adjacent floor. The kerb expanded against the southwest wall to accommodate a pair of small ceramic vessels that were set into it. Very similar stoves were regular features in the hermitages at Esna (Sauneron and Jacquet 1972, 21–22, figs 4–5, 2:11–12, 14–15, 22–23, 36–37, 42–43, 48–49, 53–54, 63–64, and 72–73). The floor, walls, and stove were finished in brown mud plaster, while an additional layer of a lighter-coloured, sandy plaster with a harder texture had been applied to the top, making it more able to withstand the wear and tear of cooking. The room was separated from the adjacent corridor by a thin wall that consisted in its northern half of original Dynasty 2 masonry left in place, with a thinner, built southern half. A similar but smaller single-chambered stove feature, Kitchen 2, was found just to the northwest of the preceding, also excavated as part of Operation 58. In this case, the stove was built directly into and filling a rectangular cut in the perimeter wall’s interior side (Fig. 23). If it had been a component of a larger room, which seems likely, the rest would have existed in the corridor between the enclosure walls and is now lost. A single ceramic vessel encapsulated into a mud bench comprised the firebox, with a stoke-hole on the corridor side. No kerb or other floor feature was preserved in front of the stove, although the downward-lipping mud plaster of the floor of the stove at the front of the stoke-hole suggested a kerb with a gutter may have once been present. A rear vent opening was on the northwest side. The opening above the firebox was marked by a mud plaster ring raised above the adjacent bench top, with an angled interior similar to those of its neighbour, here also fire-blackened. There was no hard sandy plaster coating. Set into the bench top on the

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south side of the firebox was a smaller closed-mouth ceramic vessel. After a period of use, a larger cut was made in the masonry of the perimeter wall at a somewhat higher level, creating a small room, and the stove was covered by the new room’s mud-plaster floor

Fig. 22: Kitchen 1 (Op 58) (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

Fig. 23: Kitchen 2 (Op 58), original configuration (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

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Fig. 24: Kitchen 2 (Op 58), after remodelling (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

(Fig. 24). This may have corresponded to a rise in the ground level in the corridor as a result of the accumulation of debris generated by the Late Antique occupation. The original brick masonry of the southwest and southeast side walls of this later room were fireblackened, though the floor is not similarly discoloured. Notable here was the use on the floor of the same hard sandy mud plaster as was used on the top of the doublechambered stove nearby. Kitchens 1 and 2 were situated more or less opposite Hermitage 2 and seem likely to have been associated with it, part of a cluster of features comprising a Hermitage 2 suite that spanned the corridor. The mudplaster floor of a small rectangular room cut into the eroded top of the perimeter wall opposite Hermitage 1 probably represents an ancillary space belonging to it, which suggests that Hermitage 1 also included features that spanned the corridor, connecting the larger main room with the small one in the perimeter wall. The remains of a third, considerably less well preserved, stove, Kitchen 3, documented as part of Operation 50, had been built into a rectangular cut into the interior side of the perimeter wall opposite Hermitage 6. Only the lower part of this feature was preserved (Fig. 25). It appeared to have been very similar to the two-chambered stove in Kitchen 1, with ceramic-vessel fireboxes, front stoke-holes, and a front kerb and gutter arrangement. Part of one of the ceramic-vessel fireboxes was still in situ. The stove faced the corridor, suggesting it may have been part of a larger architectural grouping spanning the corridor, long destroyed. The proximity to Hermitage 6 suggested it may have been a component of its grouping.

At the southern end of the southwest perimeter wall as preserved were found the remains of yet another small room cut into the interior side, excavated as part of Operation 50. Like the stove feature just described, it was also located quite close to Hermitage 6 and seems likely to have been associated with it, part of its ‘suite’. The floor and side walls were finished in brown mud plaster, similar to Room 2 of Hermitage 6 (Fig. 26). No evidence survived of any interior features. Its northeast ‘front’ wall was completely missing. The perimeter wall was so eroded in this area that it was impossible to know whether the front wall consisted of original masonry left in place or was a built feature, as well as whether and how far the room may have extended into the corridor. The general character of this room was similar to a much more eroded example at the northwest end of the perimeter wall that was likely part of Hermitage 1. A further indication that all the existing rooms along the corridor were components of larger groupings was observed in a series of transverse ‘slots’ cut into the top of the southwest perimeter wall (Fig. 27). A part of one

Fig. 25: Remains of the two-chambered stove of Kitchen 3 (Op 50) (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

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Fig. 26: Remains of a small Late Antique room at the south end of the southwest perimeter wall, probably associated with Hermitage 6 (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

of these is visible in Fig. 11, opposite Hermitage 4. These ‘slots’ were the lower parts of narrow passages, c. 60–70cm wide, that had been cut through the thickness of the wall, presumably in Late Antiquity at the

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same time as the hermitages in the main enclosure wall were created. The outer enclosure wall was probably still standing to something near its original height of 7 or 8m at that time, and these passages were cut to provide access to the suites that existed behind the wall, partly built in the corridor and partly cut into the walls themselves. Presently, the floors of these passages, as well as of the plastered rooms, are well above the modern ground level in the corridor and on the exterior side of the perimeter wall; however, they must correspond more or less to the ground level at the time they were made. The remains of four passages were in the eroded wall top opposite the section of the main enclosure between Hermitages 4 and 6, with two additional opposite the section of the main enclosure between Hermitage 2 and the gateway. That the locations of these passages do not correspond directly to the positions of surviving features cut into the walls suggests that now-missing features once connected them. The picture of the Late Antique occupation at the Shuneh provided by the features identified along the southwest corridor at the Shuneh is rendered substantially

Fig. 27: Elevation view of the exterior side of the southwest perimeter wall. Arrows mark the position of passages cut through the wall in Late Antiquity. Hermitage 8 is at far left in the perimeter wall, with Hermitages 4, 5 and 6, left to right, in the main wall behind (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

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incomplete by the absence of whatever once existed in the corridor itself between the two walls. Ayrton may have been responsible for the removal of the deposits that still filled the corridor at the end of the 19th century, as well as any remains of mud-brick architecture and other features that may have been preserved within those deposits. He published a photograph showing excavation under way here, in which a cross section through the quite deep strata is visible (Ayrton, Currelly and Weigall 1904, pl. 5.5). He mentioned finding ‘a very fine pot of the Coptic period, ornamented with hunting scenes in yellow and black on a polished red surface, similar to the designs on the textiles’ at a level 1.25m above the original Dynasty 2 floor (Ayrton, Currelly and Weigall 1904, 4). The presence of a cache of bronze figures he dated as Ramesside some 50cm lower suggested that the deposits he was excavating may have been more or less intact at the time of his work. He made no mention of any architectural remains or other features, and it may be that mud surfaces and eroded wall stubs, should those have been present, were too ephemeral to have been of much interest. Hermitage 8 A fuller sense of the nature of the architectural ‘suites’ that once characterized the Late Antique occupation of the Shuneh may be gained from a remarkably well-preserved set of features, Hermitage 8, discovered on the exterior side of the southwest perimeter wall, excavated primarily as Operation 52 (Figs 28–29). Here, two rooms had been cut from the exterior side into the thickness of the wall more or less opposite Hermitage 4. The two rooms were separated by a dividing wall of original masonry left in place between them. The original masonry of the southwest façade of the perimeter wall appeared to have been completely removed, with new walls built to enclose the rooms on this side, with additional associated rooms and other features constructed well beyond the footprint of the perimeter wall. Hermitage 8 appeared not ever to have drawn the attention of either plunderers or early excavators, which contributed substantially to its degree of preservation. The single entrance to Hermitage 8 as preserved was at the northern end of the southwest side wall of what was likely a roughly square open court, Room 1 (c. 2.2 × 2.3m). A narrow walkway, c. 62–72cm wide, paved with large flat pieces of limestone led from the entrance straight across the northwest end of the court

to the doorway to Room 2. Several of the stones bore traces of carving, including some hieroglyphs, indicating reuse of older stelae or architectural fragments from the surrounding cemetery (Fig. 30). Set into the walkway just inside the entrance to Room 1 against the northwest wall was a small ceramic jar, perhaps an indication that a wooden door was used in the doorway. The floor of the remainder of Room 1 was finished in mud plaster. The doorway to Room 2 had a slightly raised limestone threshold but mud-plastered jambs (Fig. 31). Inside Room 2 (c. 1.6 × 1.2m), the side walls were finished in mud plaster, while the floor was paved with limestone pieces, smaller than those used in the walkway of Room 1. At the back of Room 2 a thin low wall-let of mud brick had been built perpendicular to the rear wall, creating a pair of small bin-like spaces, presumably for storage of some sort. These features were floored with mud plaster and were separated from the stone paving of the remainder of the room by a raised mud kerb. A blocked doorway in the southwest wall of Room 2, along with the eroded remnants of a mud floor outside this to the southwest, indicated that additional features once existed southwest of Room 2. Apart from the immediate area of this blocked doorway, the exteriors of the side walls of Room 2 were not finished, and the rough character of the masonry suggested that these sides of the walls may not have been intended to be visible. Given the accumulation of sand deposits along the perimeter wall, they may have served as retaining walls, with the interior of Room 2 being below the exterior ground level. The northeast side of Room 1 was dominated by the elaborate entrance to Room 3 (Fig. 32). The interiors and fronts of the jambs and the raised threshold of the doorway were finished in hard white plaster, which extended onto the adjacent walls, while the jambs were finished in mud plaster on the interior. To the left, i.e., northwest, of the doorway, the wall was white-plastered up to the side of a large niche next to the doorway to Room 2. The niche, some 29cm wide, 34cm tall, and 24cm deep, was rather low in the wall, only c. 23cm above the floor, and was finished in brown mud plaster, as was the remainder of the wall around it. A whiteplastered U-shaped kerb, originally some 45cm high, separated the doorway to Room 3 from Room 1. Similar features occurred regularly, though not exclusively, at the entrances to the oratories in the hermitages at Esna (Sauneron and Jacquet 1972, 50–51, pl. 18). The floor of the small semicircular area defined by this kerb

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Fig. 28: General view of Hermitage 8 (Op 52) from the southwest. Numbers represent room designations (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

Fig. 29: Overhead view of Hermitage 8 (Op 52) from the northeast. Numbers represent room designations (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

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Fig. 30: An inscribed stone reused in the paved walkway in Room 1 of Hermitage 8 (Op 52) (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

on one side, and by the white-plastered threshold of the doorway to Room 3 on the other, was paved with flat pieces of limestone. The kerb was missing a considerable part of its fabric, and its top, as preserved, was lowest in the centre, exactly the pattern one might expect to result from traffic passing through the doorway. As on the northwest side of the doorway, white plaster extended approximately half a metre onto the adjacent wall separating Rooms 1 and 4, with the remainder of this wall finished in mud plaster. Room 3, although of modest size (c. 1.85m square), appeared to constitute the central feature of Hermitage 8. Its floor and a dado on the lower side walls were finished in the same hard white plaster used on and around the doorway. On its northwest side, a large alcove had been created by cutting a substantial volume of the original masonry out of the interior of the perimeter wall (Fig. 33). The base of this niche constituted a platform 180 × 85cm elevated 48–54cm above the room’s floor (Fig. 34). A slightly raised bench-like ‘pillow’ extended out 14–18cm along the full width of the southwest end of the platform. The face of the wall below the niche was finished in the same white plaster as the lower parts of the other walls. The basic configuration suggested that this feature was a sleeping platform, similar to those that once existed in Hermitages 2 and 3 and that are known from other Late Antique monastic contexts. The surface of the platform, as well as the side walls of the niche around it, was finished in brown mud plaster. The same brown mud plaster was used on the upper parts of the room’s side walls.

Fig. 31: Hermitage 8 (Op 52), Room 2, view to southeast (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

Fig. 32: Hermitage 8 (Op 52), Room 1, doorway to Room 3, view to northeast (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

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Fig. 33: Overhead view to northwest of Hermitage 8 (Op 52), Rooms 1–5, with the bed niche of Room 3 at upper right (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

Notably, the bed niche was not an original feature of Room 3. Another feature present in the northwest wall revealed its original configuration. At the time of the cutting back of the northwest wall to create the bed alcove, the upper part of a considerably smaller original niche in this wall was destroyed. The surviving lower part was partly filled with dry-laid mud bricks, which were then covered by the same mud plaster used to finish the sleeping platform and the sides of the new larger niche (Fig. 35). This mud-plaster in-filling clearly defined the outline of the original niche in the white plaster of the northwest wall. Removal of the mud plaster and bricks revealed a rather remarkable feature: what may have been an elevated seat built into the wall (Fig. 36). The niche exhibited the same pattern of decoration as the plastered niche in the adjacent northeast wall. The squared-off corners were highlighted by single stripes of red paint, while the front edge of the bottom was treated more elaborately, with a twisted rope, or guilloche, design between two lines, a motif also used in the northeast wall niche. The bottom and back of the niche bore a dark residue in patterns that suggest it may have been some sort of adhesive that held cushions in place in the niche. One is

Fig. 34: Detail of the bed niche in Room 3 of Hermitage 8 (Op 52) (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

tempted to speculate that this elevated seat may have been used by a senior figure in the small monastic community occupying the Shuneh, from which he dispensed instruction to junior members seated below on the low benches on the adjacent and opposite walls, their regular presence responsible for the stains on the walls described below.

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Fig. 35: The seat niche in Room 3 of Hermitage 8 (Op 52), showing the two stages of infilling: dry-laid bricks and a thick covering of mud plaster (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

Fig. 36: The seat niche in Room 3 of Hermitage 8 (Op 52), after removal of the infill. The dark stains on the bottom and back of the niche may indicate the positions of cushions (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

Fig. 37: Interior side of the doorway between Rooms 1 and 3 of Hermitage 8 (Op 52) (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

The upper edge of Room 3’s white plaster dado was marked with a single band of red. A white-plastered step was built just inside the doorway at a level intermediate between that of the raised threshold and that of the floor of the room (Fig. 37). A rough piece of limestone was set into the southeast corner, just inside the doorway on top of the step, to serve as a door pivot, with a distinct hemispherical depression in the top bearing marks left by abrasion from the movement of the door. The wooden door would have opened swinging to the right upon entry, against the southeast side wall. A small niche-like feature in the interior side of the northwest jamb had a flat stone set into its bottom (Fig. 38). Just below was a small round hole through the mud plaster and into the brick masonry of the jamb. This combination is similar to the door latching and locking features in some of the hermitages at Esna (Sauneron and Jacquet 1972, 40–42, see esp. fig. 13d and pl. 14A and B), and indicates that the door likely had a dual mechanism that allowed it to be latched from either outside or inside, as well as bolted from inside. A small ceramic bowl was set into the floor adjacent to the southeast end of the step, which may have been part of a door-stop system (see above, Hermitage 6). Low benches, also finished in white plaster, were constructed at the base of the southeast and southwest side walls, similar to the low plastered bench features observed in other hermitages at the Shuneh. The white wall plaster above each of these benches in Room 3 appeared at the time of excavation to be distinctly ‘dirty’, exhibiting dark staining with an almost greasy quality (Fig. 39). This gave the impression of perhaps having been the result of people leaning against the walls, with dirty hair and soiled clothes rubbing against and discolouring the white plaster. Without chemical analysis, however, which has not been done, this interpretation remains speculative. The lower part of a round window opening was preserved in the upper part of the southeast wall (see Fig. 29). Like the upper part of the wall around it, the interior of the window opening was finished in mud plaster. The position relative to the doorway, as well as its conical profile through the wall, recalls porthole-like windows in the desert hermitage near Abydos recorded by Hilda Petrie (Petrie 1925, 20–24, pls 50.7, 55), in a reused tomb excavated by her husband in the North Cemetery at Abydos (see below), as well as in the subterranean desert hermitages at Esna (Sauneron and Jacquet 1972, 3–44, figs 15–16, pl. 15). A small, lenticular feature was situated in the wall just below the

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Fig. 38: Bolt hole (below) and small stone catch for a wooden door latch (above) in the northwest jamb of the doorway of Room 3, Hermitage 8 (Op 52) (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

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base of the window. The size would have been suitable to hold a small ceramic oil lamp, although no soot was detected on the plaster around it. A prominent feature of Room 3 was a large niche in the northeast side wall (Fig. 40), the bottom of which was approximately 98cm above the floor. The white plaster of the dado below was extended up and into the niche, which appeared to have been originally fully plastered on the interior. The upper part of the niche had been destroyed, but it was approximately 52cm wide × 36cm deep. The interior three edges of the bottom of the niche were marked by a single red stripe, while the front edge bore the same guilloche pattern seen in the seat niche in the northwest side wall (Fig. 41). Below the niche was a single line of Coptic text and below that a small cross, both in red (see Appendix, no. 1). The simple inscription invokes the Trinity and, along with the cross, firmly established the Christian character of the space. The inscription and cross also marked the niche as the ritual focal point in the room. The base of a second niche, roughly 56cm wide and 30cm deep and finished in mud plaster, was preserved on the southeast side of the main niche, but there was no corresponding example opposite on the northwest side. Two additional niches, both mud-plastered, had been constructed in the southeast side wall (see Fig. 39). The smaller of the two, adjacent to the east corner and

Fig. 39: Panoramic view of Room 3 of Hermitage 8 (Op 52), looking southeast, showing the low plastered bench along the base of the southeast side wall and discolorations on the plaster dado above (Original photos and panorama: Robert Fletcher).

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Fig. 40: Room 3 of Hermitage 8 (Op 52) during excavation, view to east, with the remains of the decorated niche in the northeast side wall at upper left (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

Fig. 41: Detail of the Coptic text below the decorated niche in the northeast side wall of Room 3, Hermitage 8 (Op 52) (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

possibly originally joining the nearby niche in the northeast wall, was at approximately the same level as its neighbour. Damage to the wall around it precluded determination of its exact original dimensions, but it appears to have been perhaps 40cm wide and 30–35cm tall. The other niche in this wall was much larger, 56cm wide, 40cm deep and 48cm tall. The masonry immediately under this niche was badly damaged, possibly in the removal of a ceramic vessel that may once have been set into the bottom. Further damage at the rear of the niche was caused by burrowing hornets,4 which indicates that the niche was exposed for some time after the abandonment of Room 3, but before it was completely filled with wind-blown sand. The upper part of the interior of the niche was finished in the same brown mud plaster as the walls of Room 3, but the base was treated differently, with a finish of the harder sandy plaster seen in the nearby kitchens. An area of distinct incised cross-hatching was preserved in this plaster in the rear of the niche. The wall between Rooms 1 and 4 represented not only the boundary between these two spaces, but also between a sort of ‘front group’, consisting of Rooms 1–3, and what may be considered an ‘ancillary group’, consisting of Room 4 plus two additional spaces accessed from it, Rooms 5 and 6. The wall incorporated a doorway that consisted of a raised mud threshold with mud-plastered jambs. The plaster of the northeast jamb showed abrasion along its full preserved height, suggesting there was considerable traffic through the doorway. In Room 4 (c. 1.5 × 1.7m) the floor and side walls were finished in a uniform brown mud plaster. A considerable deposit of ceramics, including reconstructable vessels, was found on the floor. The main feature in Room 4 was a low bench built along the full length of the southeast side, which was also finished in mud plaster. A small ceramic vessel was set into the floor in the north corner. There was no pivot stone or other evidence for the use of a wooden door, and this feature may have had a function unrelated to the doorway (Sauneron and Jacquet 1972, 51). Access to Room 5 from Room 4 was via a narrow doorway with mud-plastered jambs and a raised mudplastered threshold (Fig. 42). A stone door pivot inside

4

Fig. 42: Doorway between Rooms 4 and 5, Hermitage 8 (Op 52), view to northeast (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

The oriental hornet, Vespa orientalis, is responsible for considerable structural damage at the Shuneh. It excavates cavities in the masonry in which it constructs elaborate multi-level paper nests. Hundreds have been identified during the Expedition’s conservation programme.

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Room 5 on the southeast side of the opening marked the position of a wooden door with the same orientation as that in Room 3 (Fig. 43). Just inside the doorway to the left upon entering was a feature similar to that seen in the same position in Room 3, a small recess with a flat stone set into the bottom to receive the latch of the door. No bolt-hole was present. The entire interior (c. 1.15m × 1.6m) was finished in brown mud plaster. The only other features in Room 5 were two wall niches, a larger one in the southeast side wall (Fig. 44), 37cm wide, 46cm deep, 40cm tall and 29cm above the floor, with a ceramic jar set into the bottom with its rim slightly above the level of the mud-plaster finish, and a smaller niche, 26cm wide, 28cm deep, and 26cm tall, opposite in the northwest side wall some 45cm above the floor (Fig. 45). Damage at the rear of this niche had broken through the wall into Room 3. Room 6 (c. 60 × 90cm) was not large enough to have served as any sort of living space and seems likely to have been a cupboard-like storage feature (Fig. 46). The interior was roughly finished in mud plaster. The floor was elevated approximately 20cm above the floor of Room 4, and its front edge was reinforced with several large cobbles. The area in front of Hermitage 8, i.e., on its southwest side, had been denuded, mainly through wind action, such that the existing ground level was well below that of the floors in Hermitage 8 and presumably the exterior ground level in Late Antiquity. The mass of the perimeter wall itself protected Rooms 3 and 5, and wind-blown sand that accumulated against the exterior side of the wall protected those features immediately adjacent to it, but with distance from the perimeter wall, the degree of erosion increased. The walls separating Rooms 1 and 3 from Rooms 4 and 5 were preserved well over 1m high, whereas the height of the southwest side walls of Rooms 1 and 4 was only around 40cm at best. The angle exhibited by the preserved wall tops corresponded exactly to the angle of repose of the tops of the sand deposits along the wall. Considerable evidence survived of additional features southwest and southeast of Rooms 1 and 4 (see Fig. 28). At the doorway to Room 1, the eroded stub of a wall defining the southeast side of the opening and running perpendicular to Room 1’s southwest side wall appeared to constitute the northwest wall of another enclosed space, Room 7. Its northeast side wall was shared with Room 1. Of the room’s interior, only a compact deposit of mud-brick debris and mud consti-

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Fig. 43: Detail of the interior side of the doorway between Rooms 4 and 5, Hermitage 8 (Op 52) (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

Fig. 44: Niche in the southeast side wall of Room 5, Hermitage 8 (Op 52) (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

Fig. 45: Northwest side of Room 5, Hermitage 8 (Op 52), showing the wall niche and, at left, the stone latch-catch in the northwest jamb of the doorway (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

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tuting the under-part of the floor remained. The wall dividing Rooms 1 and 4 extended through their respective southwest side walls, and this extension served to separate Room 7 from yet another space to the southeast, Room 8. No evidence survived of how far to the southwest Room 7 may have extended.

Fig. 46: Room 6, Hermitage 8 (Op 52), view to east (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

Fig. 47: Denuded remains of a stove, Room 8, Hermitage 8 (Op 52) (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

Near the north corner of Room 8 were found the denuded remains of a pyrotechnic feature that almost certainly was a stove (Fig. 47). The broken base of a ceramic vessel that served as the firebox remained in place, set into the eroded remains of the mud floor. The interior of the vessel base was blackened and filled with an ashy deposit. The bricks of the wall behind the firebox had been heat-reddened. A faint indication of the mud-plaster lining of the bottom of a stoke-hole connected the firebox to a plastered shallow trough. Nothing survived of a mud kerb opposite the stokehole, though one originally was almost certainly present. The overall arrangement suggested that this feature was quite similar to the stoves in the southwest perimeter wall described above. The preserved southwest end of the trough indicates that the stove had only a single firebox. Nothing else remained of the interior of the room except the eroded floor, and no evidence survived to suggest the original extent of Room 8 to the southwest. An additional space belonging to Hermitage 8 was preserved. On the southeast side of Room 4, an eroded stub of a wall in line with the southwest walls of Rooms 1 and 4 appears to have defined Room 9 (see Fig. 28). The northeast side of the room had been cut some 40–50cm into the perimeter wall, and it shared walls with Rooms 6 and 4 on the north and northwest, respectively. The interior of Room 9 originally had a mud floor, though this was highly eroded. Traces of heat discoloration of the floor near the wall separating it from Room 4, as well as of the mud plaster of the southeast face of that wall, indicate the presence of pyrotechnic activity, but not enough survived to allow its nature to be defined. A low wall-let had been built perpendicular to the perimeter wall in the cut back section, the mud-plastered top of which was concave and trough-like. The plaster preserved a rilling pattern, suggesting that the neck of an amphora was once set in it (Fig. 48). The southeast face of this feature was finished in smooth mud plaster, which also had been applied to the interior of the cut-back in the perimeter wall, creating a bin-like feature. The floor of the bin appeared to have been somewhat lower than that in the rest of Room 9. The remains of a club-like wooden implement were found on the floor of the bin. It had been completely eaten by insects, with very little wood remaining and only insect frass retaining the shape of the original object. In the sand nearby was found a small Coptic ostracon (see Appendix, no. 38).

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Hermitage 9

Fig. 48: Detail of bin feature in Room 9, Hermitage 8 (Op 52) (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

A second large suite rather similar to Hermitage 8 was discovered in the northeast wall of the main enclosure (Fig. 49). Hermitage 9, excavated as Operation 102, consisted of three primary spatial elements: Room 1, probably an open court built against the interior side of the enclosure wall; Room 2, a whiteplastered room with wall niches; and a small kitchen, Room 3. Room 2 was relatively large in comparison to most of the other in-wall rooms at the Shuneh, with a floor area of c. 3.4 × 2.4m. It was cut into the wall from the southwest interior side and penetrated nearly the full thickness of the wall. Less than 1m of original masonry was left between the northeast side of Room 2 and the exterior face of the wall to the northeast. Rather than working through a narrow doorway opening, the entirety of the original masonry of the interior face of the wall was removed and a new dividing wall built along more or less the original line, separating the white-plastered interior of Room 2 from a series of additional features built in front of it. The structural instability created by this large void eventually resulted in the collapse of a major section of the enclosure wall above and adjacent, part of the masonry of which fell into Room 2, resulting in considerable damage to the interior features.

Fig. 49: General view of Hermitage 9 (Op 102), view to northeast. Numbers represent room designations (Photo: Jason Goodman).

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Although with a northwest–southeast dimension of c. 3.3m, the full original extent of the court, Room 1, could not be determined, as its southwest side had been completely destroyed, probably by Mariette’s excavations at the Shuneh in the mid-19th century. Traces of what may have been a doorway were present at the southwest end—as preserved—of its northwest wall, but the door to the court may have been set back substantially from the southwestern limit of the suite, overall, as appears to have been the case in Hermitage 8. As originally constructed, the floor of Room 1, unlike that in Hermitage 8, had been finished in white plaster. The profile of the stratigraphy of the floor visible in the cut made by Mariette’s work shows that the floor was renewed several times with thin layers of mud, before a final renewal of a thicker mud plaster that was laid down over a deposit of around 10cm of mud and brick debris (Fig. 50). The original layout of the court also had the now familiar low, white-plastered benches along its northeast side, on both sides of the doorway to Room 2, and on at least part of the southeast side along the base of the wall of Room 3 (Fig. 51). These came to be gradually obscured by the accumulation of floor replasterings. Room 2 was entered through a doorway in the northeast side of the court. In front of the doorway was the same sort of high, U-shaped, white-plastered kerb seen in the doorway to Room 2 of Hermitage 8, as well as in several of the hermitages at Esna (Sauneron and Jacquet 1972, 21–22, figs 4–5, 11–12, 14–15, 22–23, 36–37, 42–43, 48–49, 53–54, 63–64, and 72–73), and which exhibited similar damage to its top caused by movement across it (Fig. 52). The fronts and interiors of the jambs and the front and top of the raised threshold of the doorway were finished in the typical hard white plaster, as was the floor of the space defined by the kerb in front of the doorway. This plaster appeared to have extended only a few centimetres beyond the doorway on the northwest, the remainder of this part of the wall having been finished in mud plaster, but on the opposite side, it had been applied to the full length of the lower part of the wall to the east corner. The interior sides of the jambs and threshold in Room 2 were finished in mud plaster only (Fig. 53). Set into the floor just inside the doorway were two flat pieces of limestone that served as stepping stones. A stone door pivot was set into mud plaster on the southeast side of the doorway, demonstrating that the opening was originally closed by a wooden door that, upon entry, swung to the right against the southeast wall of the room. A

small flat stone in the eroded top of the wall on the opposite side of the doorway probably served as the bottom of a receptacle for the door’s latch, similar to those in Hermitage 8. A small ceramic bowl was set into the floor at the base of the southeast side wall at approximately 60cm from the doorway, another parallel with Hermitage 8 and others at the Shuneh, as well as at Esna (see above, comparing Sauneron and Jacquet 1972, 9–10). Adjacent to the doorway on the northwest was a large window, of which only the lower part was preserved (Fig. 54). Although its position relative to the doorway was the same as that in Hermitage 8, the window in Hermitage 9 differed in its more rectilinear shape and the use of white plaster in the opening itself. The Hermitage 8 and 9 windows were similar in that the window opening on the interior side of the wall was substantially larger than on the exterior, with the

Fig. 50: Detail of the stratigraphic profile of the floor of Room 1, Hermitage 9 (Op 102) (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

Fig. 51: A part of the original floor of Room 1, Hermitage 9 (Op 102), after removal of later surfaces (Photo: Jason Goodman).

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bottom angled steeply upward towards the exterior side. The design of this window is similar to a number of examples in the hermitages at Esna, where both the angle of the lower interior side of the window opening and the use of white plaster have been suggested to be design details intended to maximize the amount of light that would be reflected into the room from a small exterior opening (Sauneron and Jacquet 1972, 43–45, pl. 15). Inside Room 2 (Fig. 55), the floor was finished in white plaster, as were at least the lower parts of the southeast, southwest, and northwest side walls. The rear northeast wall, though damaged by the collapse of the masonry from the enclosure wall above, was preserved to its full height (c. 2.1m) and was fully finished in white plaster (Fig. 56). A small area of mud plaster was preserved on the southeast side wall at the east corner, suggesting that the upper part of this entire side

of the room was probably similarly finished, with the white plaster constituting a dado that extended some 80cm up the wall from the floor. The northeast side wall was characterized by the now familiar set of three niches. The larger central niche, 50cm wide, 45cm deep and 70cm tall, had an arched top, whereas the smaller, shallower examples on either side had squared-off tops. The northwestern

Fig. 52: Exterior side of the doorway of Room 2, Hermitage 9 (Op 102) (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

Fig. 54: Interior side of the window of Room 2, Hermitage 9 (Op 102) (Photo: Jason Goodman).

Fig. 53: Interior side of the doorway of Room 2, Hermitage 9 (Op 102) (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

Fig. 55: Overhead view of Room 2 of Hermitage 9 (Op 102), view to southwest (Photo: Jason Goodman).

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Fig. 56: The northeast side wall of Room 2 of Hermitage 9 (Op 102), with four niches (Photo: Jason Goodman).

of these was approximately 38cm wide, 22cm deep and around 40cm tall, and its mate opposite was 32cm wide, 30cm deep and perhaps 50cm tall. The floors of all three had been destroyed, presumably by the collapse of the wall above. In the upper right part of the wall was a pair of holes that may once have held pegs or hooks of some kind, perhaps to support curtains to cover the niches. A fourth niche had been constructed in this wall, only slightly above floor level. This was considerably smaller than the other three, some 30cm wide, tall and deep, with a rounded top. Its shape and position recall the two small niches in the lower part of the northeast wall of Hermitage 5. Very faint traces of a Coptic inscription in brown paint, perhaps originally red, were detected on the white plaster preserved in the upper rear of the central niche (see Appendix, no. 2). The main feature of the northwest side of Room 2 was a bed platform, some 90cm wide and as much as 2m long, the front of which was finished in white plaster, while the top was finished in brown mud plaster (see Figs 55–56). An alcove existed above the flat top of the bed, which was approximately 70cm above the adjacent floor level and was finished in the same brown mud plaster as the platform top. A raised brick ‘pillow’ was constructed at the northeast end of the bench, an orientation opposite to that in Room 3 of Hermitage 8. Below the bed platform at the transition to the floor was a low white-plastered bench. This ended at the southwest end of the bed platform, where some other feature, now destroyed, projected some 20cm farther into the room (see Fig. 54). A finished edge in the white floor plaster provided an indication of its original footprint and suggested that it may have been finished in mud, not white, plaster. In the west corner, below the window, the front edge of the bench continued the line

of the front edge of the now-missing feature. The masonry behind and around this feature had been largely destroyed, leaving a substantial hole oriented towards the west that penetrated completely through the enclosure wall (Fig. 57). Significantly, in the bottom of this hole was found the remains of a wooden trough (Fig. 58). This appeared to have served as a channel for liquids to pass under the wall and in the direction of a large mud basin that abutted the southwest end, as preserved, of the northwest wall of the court. The size of the hole on the interior side suggested that something may have been set into the wall here that was removed at the time of abandonment. Evidence for the presence of liquids suggested it may have been a large vessel of ceramic or another material that may have served as a reservoir of some sort. Neither the wooden drain nor the basin provided clear evidence as to the nature of the liquid or liquids involved.

Fig. 57: Hole through the masonry at the west corner of Room 2, Hermitage 9 (Op 102), possibly the result of the removal of some large object, perhaps a ceramic vessel, that had been set into the wall here (Photo: Jason Goodman).

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The basic configuration of the southeast side of Room 2, opposite the bed platform and the mysterious destroyed feature, could be defined with reasonable certainty, despite the fact that the upper part of the side wall was almost completely missing. As noted above, the lower part of the wall was finished in white plaster, creating a dado that ended in a horizontal finished edge some 80cm above the floor in the wall’s southwest half (Fig. 59). A large niche had been cut above the dado, with the floor of the niche roughly 90cm above the floor of the room. With the collapse of the enclosure wall above the room, the top and sides of the niche were completely destroyed. The mud plaster of the floor of the niche survived to provide its basic dimensions in plan, 85cm wide × 50cm deep. The bowl mentioned above, which had been set into the floor and may have been part of a door-stop system, was directly below the southwest side of the niche. Small sections

Fig. 58: Wooden trough that probably served as a drain associated with some feature in the west corner of Room 2, Hermitage 9 (Op 102) (Photo: Jason Goodman).

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Fig. 59: Southeast side wall of Room 2, Hermitage 9 (Op 102) (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

of the white plaster missing from the wall immediately above the bowl were likely the result of repeated use of the feature. Facing the side wall, to the left, or northeast, of the wall niche was another feature, consisting of a larger void cut out of the original masonry that may have served as a storage bin or cupboard. The floor of this feature, some 20cm higher than the floor of Room 2, was also finished in mud plaster, with enough preserved, in spite of the damage to the masonry around it, to allow determination of its approximate dimensions, roughly 140 × 70cm in plan. The interior of the bin was separated from the room by a thin wall-let, the exterior side of which was white-plastered apiece with the rest of the dado on this side of the room. The upper part of this wall-let was not preserved, though it may have been slightly lower than the dado, in the interest of ease of access. A final significant architectural detail of Room 2 was a post-hole in the floor (see Fig. 55). It was not located in the centre of the room, but rather was in the approximate middle of the southwest quadrant. The edges of the hole had been reinforced with stones set into the floor around it. Presumably, a sturdy wooden pole had been installed here to support the ceiling of the room, which likely consisted only of the underside of the mass of original masonry of the enclosure wall that still stood above, though the roughness of the masonry was probably covered by a thick mud plaster that was continuous with the finish of the upper parts of the side walls. The void in the wall consisting of the room and its associated features, particularly given its size, created severe structural instabilities that eventually led to a large-scale collapse. The use of a pole to support the ceiling may have been an effective short-term measure, though the

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Fig. 60: Drawing of a boat on the plaster of the southeast side wall of Room 2, Hermitage 9 (Op 102) (Photo: Jason Goodman).

catastrophic failure of the mass of the enclosure wall above was almost certainly inevitable. A number of faint graffiti were present on the northeast and southeast side walls of Room 2, all in black line. Some consist only of parallel lines or rough crosshatching, but there were two reasonably complete depictions of boats. Both represented the high-prowed hulls familiar in representations of boats not uncommon in early Christian contexts in Egypt (Clédat 1906, 12.2: 139, fig. 62; Piankoff 1958–1960; Sauneron and Jacquet 1972, 78, fig. 50). One included considerable additional detail, with a vertical mast, boom, and complex indications of rigging (Fig. 60). Another incompletely preserved representation appeared to show part of a hull with a steering oar. Southeast of the court, Room 1, a small ancillary space, Room 3 (c. 1.1 × 1.2m), served as the kitchen of Hermitage 9 (Fig. 61). The entrance must have been in its now mostly destroyed southwest wall. Inside, the floor of its southwest half was paved with cobbles set into mud. In the east corner were the remains of a stove of the same basic form as those seen on the southwest side of the Shuneh. At its front, separating it from the cobble floor, were a low mud kerb and shallow trough. The firebox, which probably was a ceramic vessel, was missing, perhaps having been deliberately removed when Hermitage 9 was abandoned, which could account

Fig. 61: Room 3, the kitchen, of Hermitage 9 (Op 102) (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

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for the observed damage to the fabric of the stove overall. One small patch of blackened mud plaster in the east corner indicated the position of the top surface of the feature. A cut into the Dynasty 2 masonry on the north side may have been the remains of a vent hole. There was a circular depression in the floor at the west end of the kerb in front of the stove, a feature paralleled in the kitchens built into the west perimeter wall. The narrow space on the northwest side of the stove did not display evidence of pyrotechnic activity. The observed pattern of damage suggested that something, perhaps a large ceramic vessel, had been set into this space that was later removed, perhaps at the same time as the stove’s firebox. Two additional major features are to be associated with Hermitage 9: the mud basin mentioned above and an adjacent concavity cut into the base of the enclosure wall (see Fig. 49). A functional association between the mud basin and drainage through the wooden trough was not completely certain, owing to disturbance of the stratigraphy between them. The feature itself was indistinguishable from a type of mixing basin, known locally as a mahmara, and typically part of the process of building in mud brick. Many such examples have been found in and around the Shuneh, as well as in the surrounding North Cemetery. It is possible that this feature was part of the construction of the Late Antique rooms and was not still in use while the adjacent suite was occupied. In that case, whatever was flowing through the wooden trough may either have simply flowed out onto the adjacent ground or else emptied into some feature or container that was located closer to the trough but is now lost. Northwest of the through-wall drain a substantial concavity had been cut into the enclosure wall at the base. As preserved, it was approximately 140cm wide × 70cm high × 45cm deep at the base. Given the extent of the damage to both the enclosure wall and the Late Antique features around it, whether or not this feature was functionally associated with the drain could not be determined. No evidence of a floor or any plaster finish survived, and the nature of the front of the feature, i.e., whether and how it may have been walled, was uncertain. A small section of mud kerb was preserved in front of it, but this may just as easily have been part of the edging of the adjacent mahmara. Next to this kerb a large ceramic bowl was found, overturned and broken in place. At the back of the feature were a second small bowl and a leather object, perhaps a cap or bag.

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Hermitage 10 Some 50m southeast of Operation 102, the wellpreserved remains of another suite were found, Hermitage 10, excavated as Operation 106 (Fig. 62). Here, two rooms had been cut into the interior side of the enclosure wall. The larger, northwestern Room 1 (Fig. 63) penetrated deeply into the wall, leaving just over 1m of original masonry between its northeast end and the exterior façade of the enclosure, similar to the situation in Hermitage 9. The preserved dimensions at floor level were approximately 3.8 × 2.5m, larger than its parallel to the northwest, but the room may have originally been somewhat longer, given that the southwest end had been destroyed, presumably by Mariette’s excavations. The floor was finished in hard white plaster, which also coated a low bench along the full preserved length of the northwest side wall. The plaster near the southwest end of the bench exhibited a scar from the removal of something that once had been set into it. There was a slight lipping up in the plaster on the southwest and southeast sides of the roughly square scar. Immediately in front, i.e., southeast, of this hole in the plaster was another, this one likely the base for a post set into the floor, reinforced with several stones. The position in the room and proximity of these two features paralleled the combination of features in Hermitage 9, Room 2. The repetition of the pattern here may raise an alternative to the interpretation suggested above, that the postholes were the result of a need to provide structural support to the ceiling. They may, alternatively, have been related to the function of the now-missing features. A significant difference, however, is to be seen in the complete absence in Hermitage 10 of any evidence of a connection with any other feature outside the room. The lower parts of the three preserved side walls appear to have been originally finished with a thin white plaster dado, perhaps to a height of around 30cm above the floor, with the upper parts finished in brown mud plaster. The walls had been replastered, perhaps more than once, with mud plaster that covered the original white dado. Five niches had been cut into the northeast end wall of Room 1 (Fig. 64). The largest, at 70cm wide, 84cm tall, c. 40cm deep and more or less central, received the most elaborate treatment. It was trapezoidal as seen in elevation, with sharply angled corners, and concave in section. The interior of the niche was finished in hard white plaster, which extended down the wall below to the floor. The plaster in and around the niche was

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Fig. 62: General view to northeast of Hermitage 10 (Op 106). Numbers represent room designations (Photo: Greg Maka).

Fig. 63: Room 1 of Hermitage 10 (Op 106) (Photo: Greg Maka).

Fig. 64: The rear northeast side wall of Room 1, Hermitage 10 (Op 106), with five niches (Photo: Greg Maka).

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examined carefully, but no traces of graphics or text were detected. Two small circular breaks in the floor plaster that align with the edges of the white-plastered area below the niche suggested that a screen of some sort stood in front. On the left, northwest, side of the main niche was a smaller one, roughly square at 40cm wide × 38cm tall and 30cm deep, which was finished in mud plaster. There were three niches on the right, southeast side of the central niche. The largest of these was just above the floor and finished in mud plaster. Only the northwest part of this feature was preserved, with the remainder destroyed by animal burrowing along the base of the wall; however, it appeared to have been at least 60cm wide and approximately 56cm deep. The finished bottom of the niche was approximately 18cm above the floor of the room, and a ceramic vessel, broken by the animal burrow, was inset similarly to that in Room 5 in Hermitage 8. Directly above this was a smaller niche, roughly square at c. 30 × 30cm and c. 20cm deep, which was finished in mud plaster. Between the latter and the main white-plastered niche was the smallest on the wall at 30 × 28cm, 18cm deep and with a rounded top. Traces survived indicating that the bottom of this niche was finished in white plaster, distinguishing it from the other small examples in Room 1. Traces of a mud-plastered niche were found in the northwest side wall, but because of damage to the wall only the depth, c. 31cm, could be accurately determined. Above the niches, the remains of the mud plaster on the northeast end wall gave an indication of the original height of the room. The highest point in the preserved plaster was 2.14m above the floor, and its curvature suggested that the ceiling was concave, was probably only slightly higher at its maximum, and was also finished in brown mud plaster. The other preserved room of Hermitage 10, Room 2 (Fig. 65), was approximately 1.5m to the southeast of Room 1 and separated from it by a mass of original masonry. It was smaller, at 2.3 × 2m. Its interior was entirely finished in brown mud plaster. A low bench stood along the northwest side wall. In the middle of the opposite wall was a section of a similar, slightly lower bench. This had been truncated on the northeast by a large hole. The southwest end of this bench ended at a thin, low wall-let that appeared to have acted as a windbreak for a small open hearth, which was marked by a circular fire-blackened depression in the top of the bench. The southwest side wall of the room, which appeared to have been a built feature, not a remnant of original

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masonry, had been mostly destroyed, but a raised brick threshold at its northwest end was preserved, showing the position of the doorway. A break in the mud-plaster floor at the northwest interior side of the doorway suggested that a door pivot stone may once have been set there. A cooking stove had been built against this wall (Fig. 66). It resembled the other examples at the

Fig. 65: Overhead view of Room 2 of Hermitage 10 (Op 106) (Photo: Greg Maka).

Fig. 66: Stove feature in the southeast corner of Room 2 of Hermitage 10 (Op 106) (Photo: Greg Maka).

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Shuneh, with an embedded ceramic vessel used as a firebox, a stoke-hole in the front, and a mud kerb defining a trough in front of that. The original finish was the hard sandy plaster seen elsewhere at the Shuneh in association with stoves. This had been worn off the top of the kerb at the front of the stove, and the top of the underlying mud core of the kerb also had been significantly abraded. The exterior of the original part of the stove appeared to have been replastered at least once. After an initial period of use, the stove was significantly modified on its southeast side, which made the determination of whether a separate vent hole was originally present impossible. In the remodelling the original side wall of the stove was removed. A large stone was wedged into the break at the top, and the original opening above the firebox vessel replastered. A new side wall that incorporated a ceramic jar as a space filler was constructed, enlarging the stove by some 40cm on the southeast side. The addition of this new side wall created a second opening in the top of the stove, comparable in size to the first. Although it could have been intended to serve primarily as a vent, the size of the opening, as well as the smooth surface of the plaster in it, suggested it may instead have been added to allow for the use of a second cooking vessel. The south corner of Room 2, between the stove and the original masonry of the enclosure wall, had been destroyed, including the floor between the stove and the wind-break wall-let. A few stone cobbles remained in place along the southwest side of the wall-let, perhaps an indication that the floor in the corner had been so paved. Cobble paving was used in the kitchen of Hermitage 9, as well as in Room 2 of Hermitage 8. Given the parallels between Hermitage 10 and Hermitages 8 and 9, it seems likely that these two rooms were originally accompanied by additional architectural features. These probably included a walled mudpaved court, of which no trace survives. Whatever once stood in front of Rooms 1 and 2 was probably destroyed by Mariette’s excavations here in the 19th century. Ayrton mentions that ‘nearly the whole of the eastern half of the Shuneh was dug over by Mariette’s workmen’ (Ayrton, Currelly and Weigall 1904, 1), and recent Expedition work has defined the approximate boundaries of this excavation, which ran continuously along most of the length of the northeast wall of the 5

The Expedition’s excavations along the northeast wall of the main enclosure revealed a continuous pattern of sand slumping and resulting collapse of masonry from the interior side of the

enclosure from just southeast of Hermitage 10 to some metres northwest of Hermitage 9, approaching the interior wall of the North Gateway. This sondage appeared to have cut away significant parts of both Hermitages 9 and 10. In the case of the latter, in addition to any walled court or other features that may have been built in front of the two surviving rooms, the front walls of the rooms themselves were also destroyed. It may be that at the time of Mariette’s work these were only eroded stubs and thus of little consequence for his workers, or else that they collapsed subsequently, as the sand slumped from the sides of his sondage.5 Hermitage 11 Another Late Antique room, Hermitage 11, was identified at the northwest end of the northeast wall of the main enclosure, adjacent to the North Gateway and excavated as part of Operation 107. Here, as at the gateway in the southwest wall, the presence of the void in the wall represented by the room created serious structural instabilities, which eventually resulted in a large-scale collapse (Fig. 67). Only the lower 1.5m or so of the original masonry of the northwestern end of the wall survived. The top of the preserved section corresponded more or less to the floor level of a single room that had been cut into the wall, likely from the southwest side, i.e., from the interior of the gateway. Of the room (Fig. 68), the north corner and parts of the northwest and northeast side walls were preserved, to a maximum height of around 40cm above the floor. Of the floor, only a few patches of hard white plaster remained, and its original area could not be determined. The lower edge of the northeast side wall also retained a small amount of white plaster. The massive collapse of the enclosure wall above the room was largely responsible for the poor state of preservation, but considerable additional damage was done when two large holes were dug down completely through the masonry of the wall below the room and into the natural sand and gravel deposits on which the wall was built. These holes parallel that in Hermitage 1, in that these also appear to have been a deliberate attempt to probe under the corner of the monument, likely in a search for foundation deposits. wall, largely attributable to Mariette’s sondage having been very close to the wall, perhaps up to 5m deep, and never backfilled.

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Fig. 67: The northwest end of the northeast wall of the main enclosure of the Shunet el-Zebib. The large missing section of masonry appears to have collapsed in part due to the presence of the cell void of Hermitage 11, the remains of which are located just at the base of the tall section of standing masonry (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

Fig. 68: The remains of Hermitage 11 (Op 107). The large pit penetrated completely through the masonry of the wall and into the natural sand and gravel deposits on which the wall was built, paralleling a similar feature in Hermitage 1 (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

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The northeast end of the northwest wall of the main enclosure exhibited a pattern of collapse virtually identical to that on the opposite side of the gateway around Hermitage 11. No traces of a room or other features were detected in the flat top of the preserved lower part of the wall, although the one-time presence of a void here seems the most likely explanation of the observed loss of masonry from the wall. The surviving white-plastered room of Hermitage 11 may have been but one element of a suite of several rooms built into the walls and spaces of the North Gateway, paralleling the situation at the gateway in the southwest wall. Hermitage 12 Another cluster of Late Antique features, Hermitage 12, was revealed by excavation along the northeast perimeter wall as part of Operations 102 and 114 (Fig. 69). A small Room 1 had been cut into the perimeter wall directly opposite Hermitage 9. Only the northwestern part of the room was preserved (Fig. 70), the remainder having been destroyed by a large hole of indeterminate date that cut completely through the thickness of the wall. The lower parts of two corners of the room were preserved, providing a southwest– northeast dimension of c. 2m. Given the dimensions of the hole through the wall and the height of the

preserved masonry on its southeast side, the dimensions of the room northwest–southeast can have been 1.8m at maximum. The floor and lower part of the northwest side wall of the room were finished in hard white plaster, as was a low bench against the southwest side wall. Given the damage from the hole, it was impossible to determine whether this room was entered from the corridor on the southwest or from the opposite side. Room 1 was part of a larger grouping, of which only small features remained immediately adjacent to or cut into the exterior side of the perimeter wall. These had been in part built on a deposit of brick debris from the collapse of the upper part of the perimeter wall, and most of the Late Antique features, as well as the underlying collapse deposit, had been lost to erosion. The traces that remained were sufficient to demonstrate the presence of a second larger space, Room 2. The southwest side of Room 2 was comprised of the exterior face of the perimeter wall, and its southeast side was represented by the stub of a mud-brick wall built perpendicular to the perimeter wall. The floor had been finished in white plaster, of which only a narrow ledge remained along the perimeter wall. A small bin feature had been built into the south corner of Room 2, partly cut into the perimeter wall (Fig. 71). The interior of the bin, the floor of which was finished in white plaster,

Fig. 69: The remains of Hermitage 12 (Ops 102 & 114), built in and on the exterior side of the northeast perimeter wall of the Shuneh (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

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was separated from the floor of Room 2 by a low whiteplastered kerb. A scar in the bin’s floor plaster demonstrated that it was originally divided in two. The bin’s sides were finished in mud plaster. The hole cut through the perimeter wall had destroyed the area where, presumably, a doorway connecting Rooms 1 and 2 once stood. On the northwest side of the area of damage from the hole, a small patch of white plaster in a concavity cut into the perimeter wall indicated the presence of a small wall niche. A substantial area of original masonry appears to have been cut out of the perimeter wall just northwest of these features (see Fig. 69). No plaster finishes were preserved in the resulting concavity, although its rectilinearity suggests it likely represented another feature of Hermitage 12. Two additional bin-like features stood on the southeast side of the southeast wall of Room 2. The northwestern of the two had been cut approximately 30cm into the surviving masonry of the perimeter wall (see Fig. 71). Its interior was finished in mud plaster and was bounded on the northeast side by a low mud kerb. This was finished in white plaster on the exterior, i.e., the northeast, which was continuous with the white plaster finish of the preserved patch of floor in front of it. This floor plaster ran slightly up onto the southeast face of the southeast wall of Room 2, as well as onto the northwest face of a thin wall that had been built perpendicular to the perimeter wall in line with the southeast side of the bin. The white plaster was largely abraded from the middle part of the kerb at the front of the bin. The elevations of both the floor of the bin and of the space in front of it are around 20cm lower than that of Room 2. A second bin-like feature, excavated as part of Operation 114, was identified just to the southeast, where a larger cut into the perimeter wall, 115 × 85cm, created a rectangular space that had been closed by a thin mud-brick wall built parallel to the face of the perimeter wall (Fig. 72). No traces of plasters were preserved on the interior. The purpose of both features, as well as their relationship to the others nearby, is uncertain. The area along the exterior side of the perimeter wall immediately southeast of Hermitage 12 remains unexcavated at the time of this writing. Observation of the exposed parts of the perimeter wall here have, however, revealed evidence for additional Late Antique features, including fragments of white-plastered and red-painted plaster floors, suggesting that the Late Antique activity extended some distance to the southeast.

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Fig. 70: The preserved remains of the northwest side of Room 1 of Hermitage 12 (Op 102) (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

Fig. 71: Bin features in Hermitage 12 (Op 114). That on the right was built in the south corner of Room 2, while the other is on the opposite side of the southeast wall of the room. Both were partly cut into the original masonry of the northeast perimeter wall of the Shuneh (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

Fig. 72: The void at right in the masonry of the northeast perimeter wall represents a bin-like feature likely part of Hermitage 12 (Op 114). It is located adjacent to the left-hand example in Fig. 71 (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

M. D. ADAMS WITH AN APPENDIX BY R. BÉLANGER SARRAZIN AND J. H. F. DIJKSTRA

116 Hermitage 13

Two additional Late Antique features have been investigated during the Expedition’s work at the Shuneh, both located near the south corner of the main enclosure, an area excavated as Operation 136. One of these was a small, nearly square room (c. 2.3 × 2.2m), cut into the southeast wall from the exterior side, Hermitage 13 (Figs 73–74). The upper part of the room had been destroyed by the collapse of a large section of the enclosure wall above and around it, and the structural instability created by the room void may have been a major contributing factor in the collapse. Of the surviving lower part of the room, little remained of its original finishes or features. It was situated more than 3m above the present-day ground level in the adjacent corridor. It appeared likely to have been entered from the corridor, but the exact position of the doorway was impossible to determine. The front, i.e., southeast, wall was a built feature, rather than consisting of original masonry being left in place. The floor and lower parts of the side walls had originally been finished in white plaster, though only a few small patches remained in place on the sides and none on the floor. In the eroded mud-brick debris inside Hermitage 13, a considerable number of plaster fragments were found, likely dislodged primarily from the side walls, probably

as a result of the collapse of the surrounding masonry. Of these, many were undecorated, but a significant number showed traces of graphic decoration (Fig. 75) and Coptic text in red and black (see Appendix, nos 24–32). All the decorated fragments appear to have been from flat wall surfaces, i.e., not from the edges or interior of a wall niche. In addition to the decorated plaster fragments, three small pieces of parchment and two of papyrus, all with Coptic text in black ink, were also found in Hermitage 13 (see Appendix, nos. 33–37). These are the only fragments of documents recovered during the Expedition’s work at the Shuneh. The notable concentration of decorated and inscribed plaster, as well as the unique presence of fragments of documents, in Hermitage 13 suggest it may have served a different function from most of the other preserved Late Antique spaces at the Shuneh, although their occurrence here may also simply have been an accident of preservation. The other attested examples of inscriptions on wall plaster were in rooms that could, with certainty, be identified as oratories. This room may also have been an oratory, although no evidence survived of the presence of wall niches, and it was smaller than most of the certain examples. This room likely was part of a larger architectural grouping, the remainder of which would have been built atop sand deposits in the adjacent corridor, perhaps with some features cut into

Fig. 73: General view of the upper part of the southeast wall of the main enclosure of the Shuneh, between the southeast gateway and the south corner. Hermitage 13 (Op 136) is visible at left (Photo: Jason Goodman).

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Fig. 74: Overhead view to southeast of the remains of Hermitage 13 (Op 136) (Photo: Jason Goodman).

Fig. 75: Decorated plaster fragments in Hermitage 13 (Op 136) (Photo: Jason Goodman).

the perimeter wall opposite. However, the loss of both the deposits in the corridor and the upper part of the perimeter wall preclude any possibility of certainty on this question.

Two ceramic amphorae were found adjacent to Hermitage 14 (Fig. 80), both of which contained wads of coarse black animal hair that had been woven into strings and bands, some of which had attached fringes of small ringlets (Fig. 81). Additional pieces, including one complete object (Figs 82–83), were found loose in the sand downslope from the room. The more complete of the two vessels, found adjacent to the southwest wall of the enclosure just outside the room, was filled with this material, which had become a hardened mass such that it could not be removed for further examination. The bottom of the other amphora was broken, and at least some of the pieces of hair found loose nearby probably originated in it. The concentration of woven animal hair at Hermitage 14 was unique in the Late Antique occupation at the Shuneh. No significant quantity of this material was found elsewhere, and the association between this particular architectural feature and the animal hair products was clear. Since no special features or tools that might have been associated with production or processing were identified, apart from the amphorae in which the material was stored, it remains uncertain whether the fabrication of the hair products took place here or the association was limited to storage only. Another feature near Hermitage 14 may have been associated with the Late Antique occupation of the Shuneh. A large ‘notch’ of masonry missing from the top of the southwest main enclosure wall was likely an artificially created feature (Fig. 84). Natural processes

Hermitage 14 The second Late Antique feature excavated as part of Operation 136 was Hermitage 14, a room built into the interior south corner of the main enclosure, near the top of a large sand dune that had accumulated in ancient times owing to prevailing wind patterns (Fig. 76). The northwest and northeast walls of the room were built of dry-laid mud bricks, mostly reused from the enclosure (Fig. 77), although a painted block of wood was found used like a brick in the northwest wall (Fig. 78).6 The 3.3 × 1.9m area defined by these two walls and the adjacent walls of the enclosure had a thick mud-plaster floor laid down directly on the sand of the underlying dune. The doorway was likely located at the northwest end of the room’s northeast wall. During excavation, it became clear that the dry-laid walls had collapsed down the slope of the dune (Fig. 79), suggesting that the room was deliberately ‘perched’ atop this already ancient feature. A sort of channel cut or worn into the masonry of the interior corner of the enclosure wall beginning at the floor level of the room suggested that there may have been regular traffic from inside the room to the wall top above (see Fig. 76). No hearths or other features were identified.

6

Cleaning and consolidation by Expedition conservators revealed this to be the base of a Ptah-Sokar-Osiris figure. This type of object was a not uncommon component of Egyptian burial

assemblages after the New Kingdom, and this example probably originated in a nearby tomb in the North Cemetery.

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Fig. 76: Hermitage 14 (Op 136), general view from the north, showing the partly excavated dune in the south corner of the main enclosure of the Shuneh, and the likely corner access way to the wall top (Photo: Jason Goodman).

Fig. 77: Overhead view to southwest of Hermitage 14 (Op 136) (Photo: Jason Goodman).

Fig. 78: The painted wooden base of a Ptah-Sokar-Osiris figure was reused in the construction of the northwest wall of Hermitage 14 (Op 136) (Photo: Jason Goodman).

Fig. 79: Brick collapse from the northeast wall of Hermitage 14 (Op 136), which indicates the slope of the dune at that time (Photo: Jason Goodman).

could probably not have produced a loss of masonry like this. The top quarter of the wall appeared to have been removed down to a more or less flat, even surface, with more or less vertical surfaces left in the original masonry at both ends, creating a roughly ّ-shaped gap. No evidence survived of secondary mud-brick architecture or any other features. The proximity to Hermitage 14, with its ‘channel’ leading to the wall top at the corner, was suggestive of a possible connection between the notch and the Late Antique occupation at the Shuneh, but this remains uncertain.

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A second large wall ‘notch’ at the Shuneh, this one in the middle of the northwest wall of the main enclosure (Fig. 85), may similarly have been the result of Late Antique activity. Documented as Operation 12, its shape suggested the void in the masonry may have been created to serve as a room like those in other walls of the

monument. It had a flat bottom that could have served as the base for a floor. The void did not originally penetrate completely through the wall, and its general dimensions are similar to those of other in-wall rooms. No plasters or other features were present, and whether the void was ever a finished space remains uncertain.

Fig. 80a and b: Amphorae found in association with Hermitage 14 (Op 136) (Photos: Jason Goodman).

Fig. 81: Packed woven hair inside an amphora (Fig. 80a, above) from Hermitage 14 (Photo: Jason Goodman).

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Fig. 82: Woven hair found near Hermitage 14 (Photo: Jason Goodman).

Fig. 83: A woven hair object (ANC99-001) found near Hermitage 14 (Drawing: Heather Harvey).

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Fig. 84: The large gap, or ‘notch’, in the upper part of the southwest wall of the main enclosure near Hermitage 14, view to southwest. This image shows the full height of the sand dune in the south interior corner before any excavation (Photo: Richard Barnes).

Fig. 85: Gap in the upper part of the northwest wall of the main enclosure of the Shuneh (Op 12), view to northwest (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

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The patterns of Late Antique occupation at the Shuneh The Late Antique features presented in some detail above appear likely to constitute nearly all of what has survived at the Shuneh from the Late Antique occupation. Although the excavation and architectural stabilization programmes remain unfinished as of this writing, it is quite unlikely that any additional features of the scale of those discussed here remain to be discovered. It is possible, therefore, to consider the overall patterns seen in the occupation with some confidence. It seems likely that the basic architectural template being followed at the Shuneh is to be seen most clearly in Hermitages 8 and 9. In both cases, the main features of the grouping were: a walled courtyard; a whiteplastered room with one or more niches in the northeast wall; and ancillary ‘utility’ features, such as kitchens and storage spaces. Elements of this ‘template’ are present elsewhere at the Shuneh, such as in Hermitage 10 and along the southwest corridor, in configurations that suggest that other elements were once present. Thus, the now-isolated rooms cut into the southwest wall of the main enclosure were originally but components of larger architectural groupings that were built across the corridor. These groupings, in terms of the functions of the spaces and features they contained, probably resembled those in Hermitages 8 and 9. The southwest perimeter wall appears to have provided a convenient exterior wall for these suites, some (at least) of which may have been entered via the narrow passages cut through it. In all instances at the Shuneh, the rooms finished in white plaster that also were provided with wall niches can confidently be interpreted as monastic prayer spaces, or oratories. Brooks Hedstrom defines the space ‘with a centralized focal point for prayer, commonly a central, eastern niche’ as the primary component of monastic dwellings in Late Antique Egypt (Brooks Hedstrom 2001, 261). This is exactly what was seen in the rooms cut into the southwest enclosure wall in Hermitages 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, as well as those in other parts of the Shuneh in Hermitages 8, 9 and 10. In the majority of these instances, the main niche was emphasized both by its larger size and by its central position between two or more smaller ones. The basic religious character of these spaces is confirmed by the religious nature of the content of the Coptic inscriptions found in association with several of the niches and by, in the two instances of Hermitages 3 and 8, the presence of representations of a cross. This association between

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wall niches and religious inscriptions and imagery is seen at many other monastic sites in Egypt, as well as elsewhere at Abydos, both in Peet’s Cemetery D (see below) and in the desert hermitage excavated by Hilda Petrie (Petrie 1925, 22, pls 49.5, 55). Another characteristic of Late Antique Egyptian monastic dwellings was that the oratory was often ‘directly connected to other utilitarian areas such as sleeping quarters, kitchens, and subsidiary rooms’ (Brooks Hedstrom 2001, 261). This is certainly the case at the Shuneh, where there was abundant evidence that the white-plastered rooms with wall niches were components of larger architectural groupings. The presence of cooking facilities, bed niches and storage features, among others, all argue for the architectural units at the monument being monastic dwellings, not just chapels subject to periodic use by persons residing elsewhere. The concentration of monastic dwellings made the occupation of the Shuneh a monastic community. In terms of understanding the nature of that community, it should be noted that it did not appear to have had major communal facilities such as a church; at least, no evidence of such facilities has been detected. If they had existed, it seems likely that some evidence would have come to light, particularly given the scope of the Expedition’s excavations in and around the monument. It remains possible that those living at the Shuneh may have availed themselves of a facility located elsewhere in North Abydos, but other desert monastic communities, such as that near Esna, consisted of a cluster of more or less self-contained dwelling units, without additional major architectural features. Evidence pertaining to the internal organization of the Shuneh community may perhaps be seen in several aspects of the archaeology presented here. Elevated sleeping platforms, or bed niches, were present in several, but not all, of the white-plastered rooms: those in Hermitages 2, 3, 8 (second phase) and 9. Although it may be rather speculative, one might wonder whether in this distinction is to be seen some division in status or seniority within the small community. Could the positions of more senior figures have been marked, at least in part, by the presence of these features, either at all or inside the oratories? It should be noted, however, that bed niches could also have been incorporated into parts of the various hermitages now missing. At other sites sleeping facilities, where they can be definitively identified, were usually separate from and smaller and less rectilinear than the oratories but did not always have special bed features, e.g., at Deir el-Naqlun

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(Godlewski 1990, 30–32; 1991, 48–49; 1998, 79–80; 2018, 162–67), and Esna (Sauneron and Jacquet 1972, 17–18, pl. 7). It may be, too, that some of the preserved mud-plastered ancillary rooms at the Shuneh, e.g., those in Hermitages 6 and 8, served as sleeping quarters, even absent bed platforms. The unique feature of the seat niche in Room 3 of Hermitage 8 may also be an indication of the internal organization of the community at the Shuneh. If the interpretation of this feature is correct, it seems likely that whoever sat in it would have been a senior figure, of a status appropriate to being so ‘framed’, in a rather icon-like manner. The pattern of junior members of a monastic community attached to and taking instruction from more senior figures is common in the textual record of early Christianity in Egypt (Brooks Hedstrom 2001, 26) and may also be reflected in the design of monastic dwellings at a number of sites, including Naqlun (Godlewski, Herbich and Wipszycka 1990, 194; Godlewski 1990, 29–32; 1998, 77–83; Godlewski and Parandowska 1997, 88–93), Esna (Sauneron 1972, 12–13) and Kellia (Descœudres 1988, 81–84), the layouts of which have been interpreted as possibly reflective of the relationship between senior and junior occupants. The relationships between certain members of the community at the Shuneh may be similarly reflected in broader architectural patterning, specifically, possible functional pairings suggested by the proximity of some of the features in the southwest corridor of the Shuneh. The rooms along the corridor were not evenly spaced; rather, distinct pairings were evident: Hermitages 1+2, 4+5, and 6+7. In each of these cases, the preserved rooms are considerably closer to each other than to any others, and, taking into account the additional features that likely once stood in the corridor in front of each one, it seems at least possible that the pairs may have been not only spatially but also functionally connected, as with the ‘double hermitages’ at Esna (Sauneron and Jacquet 1972, 9), perhaps reflective of senior–junior relationships between the occupants. Other units at the Shuneh appear to have been more ‘standalone’ features (Hermitages 8, 9 and 10), and these may have been occupied by individuals who were not part of such pairings. It seems possible that such relationships may be further reflected in the locations and configurations of cooking facilities. In the cases of what might be considered the ‘single’ Hermitage groups at the Shuneh, i.e., those not part of an obvious pairing, each appears

to have had only a single-chambered stove. Both preserved examples of a double-chambered stove, however, were likely to be associated with an architectural pairing: that excavated in Operation 58 near Hermitages 1 and 2, and that in Operation 50 near Hermitages 6 and 7. In the case of the two stove features in Operation 58, the single-chambered stove appeared likely to be the earlier of the two, with the addition of the double-chambered example being part of a broader pattern of modification near Hermitages 1 and 2. The architectural changes probably were the result of changing needs deriving from social factors. One additional aspect of the monastic occupation at the Shuneh not yet mentioned is the dating. Absent an inscription with a specific date, the most important evidence for dating is to be derived from the ceramics. The ceramic assemblage associated with the features discussed above is without question Late Roman in general character. This assessment is, however, and quite regrettably, based only on superficial and unsystematic examination during excavation. The detailed analysis of the material has not yet been undertaken. Consideration of some individual vessels may, in the meantime, be useful. The most informative may be the amphorae found in association with Hermitage 14 in the south interior corner of the main enclosure, which appear to correspond to Late Roman Type A in Bailey’s analysis of material from el-Ashmunein in Middle Egypt (Bailey 1982; 1998, 125–29). This and closely related forms, e.g., Egloff 172 (Egloff 1977, 114), do not seem to occur much later than the end of the 5th century AD, which would provide a possible terminus ante quem for the occupation at the Shuneh, or in this particular case, at least for the activity in the south corner of the monument. A note of caution, however—a date derived from only one or two pieces from a much larger assemblage cannot be considered as anything other than suggestive as to the general chronological position of the Shuneh community. The broader landscape of North Abydos in Late Antiquity Although the greatest concentration of Late Antique features in North Abydos is to be found at the Shuneh, the occupation of that monument should not be viewed in isolation. Evidence for a considerably broader pattern of Late Antique activity has been found in a number of parts of the ancient North Cemetery. Most notable in the published record from earlier excavations are

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Peet’s Cemetery ‘D’

Op 158

SCA tomb (approx.)

hypogeum

Petrie tomb (approx.)

Ops 216 & 219

Chapel built over Thut. III structure Shunet el-Zebib

Fig. 86: GoogleEarth satellite image of the North Cemetery showing the location of Peet’s Cemetery ‘D’ and other locations mentioned in the text (Imagery © DigitalGlobe 2017).

examples of the reuse of pharaonic tombs found by Peet and Petrie, which are now supplemented by more recent discoveries. Peet, reporting on his work in an area he termed ‘Cemetery D’,7 a substantial expanse of low desert terrace north of Deir Sitt Damyana (Fig. 86), described in some detail two tombs he dated to Dynasty 18 that had been modified and repurposed in Late Antiquity (Peet 1914, 49–53, pls 12.5, 22.5). Peet did not publish a site plan, and so the exact position of neither tomb is presently ascertainable, but he described them as being ‘within a few yards of one another’ (Peet 1914, 53). Tomb D68 was a rectangular vaulted chamber, oriented north–south, and with an entrance shaft at the south end (Figs 87–89). As part of the Late Antique modifi-

7

Not to be confused with the other ‘Cemetery D’ at the opposite, far southern end of the North Cemetery, south of the Shunet el-Zebib and overlooking the processional wadi leading to Umm

cations, an access stair with a right-angle turn was constructed in the shaft, which led to a narrow arched doorway leading into the tomb chamber. The doorway opening was closed by a wooden door that opened inward and to the right, pivoting on a stone set just inside the doorway. Here, the top door pivot was also preserved, consisting of the neck of a ceramic vessel set into the arch over the doorway. A low, narrow bench, a common feature in the Late Antique rooms at the Shuneh, was constructed along the west wall of the chamber, ending in an elevated platform or seat in the southwest corner. Niches had been cut into the west (three), north (two) and east (five) walls of the chamber. Of the two in the north wall, one was just above floor level, as in a number of the rooms at the Shuneh, and

el-Qa‘ab. This ‘Cemetery D’ was excavated by Arthur Mace with the results published by him in Randall-MacIver and Mace 1902, 63–102.

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Fig. 87: Peet’s plan and other drawings of Tomb D68, including an elevation of the east side wall with niches (from Peet 1914, figs 14, 15; Courtesy of the Egypt Exploration Society).

the other directly above that. Somewhat unusually, although greater emphasis was placed on the east wall of the chamber, with the largest number of niches, no single niche stood out as an obvious focal point. The whole of the vault and side walls, including the niches, had been coated with a thick mud plaster over which a thin coat of whitewash was applied. Peet described the floor as being ‘of pinky cement very carefully smoothed’ (Peet 1914, 50), which recalls the use of red-tinted plaster in Hermitage 4 at the Shuneh. No inscriptions were found. Peet’s second reused tomb, D69, was more elaborate. It consisted of a pair of vaulted chambers opening off a central shaft (Fig. 90). As part of the Late Antique repurposing, the interiors of both chambers and the shaft were coated with thick white plaster, with new

plaster floors laid down some 30cm above the original floors of natural sand in both chambers. In the northern chamber, the lower parts of the side walls were finished with a dado of even thicker plaster, and niches had been cut into the northern end wall (one), as well as both side walls: west (one) and east (four). Of those in the east wall, one was considerably larger and more elaborately treated than the others. It was visually set apart not only by its size, but also by the presence of a set of two plastered projections of the wall below, a treatment that to some degree recalls the white plaster below the main niches in the oratories of Hermitages 8 and 10 at the Shuneh. Inside and on the wall around this niche were a series of Coptic inscriptions in red and black, paralleled by the inscriptions associated with niches in Hermitages 8 and 9 at the Shuneh. The

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Fig. 88: Photograph of the interior of Peet’s Tomb D68, looking southwest. What appears to be a bolt hole is visible in the right-hand jamb of the doorway (from Peet 1914, pl. 12.5; Courtesy of the Egypt Exploration Society).

Fig. 89: Photograph showing a detail of the stair built into the original entrance shaft of Tomb D68 as part of the late antique remodelling. A stone that likely served as a door pivot is visible at lower left (unpublished archival photograph; Courtesy of the Egypt Exploration Society).

content of the inscriptions made clear both the Christian monastic character of the reuse of the tomb and the specific use of this chamber as an oratory (Peet 1914, 53). On either side of the projection below the niche were graphic graffiti, one depicting animals, possibly lions, and the other a boat, which recall the depictions of boats in Room 2 of Hermitage 9 at the Shuneh. The southern of the two chambers in D69 was considerably simpler in the treatment of its interior. Although it was also finished in white plaster, this chamber had no wall niches. A low plastered bench had been constructed along the west wall. The original central shaft continued to serve as the means of access to the two chambers, and it also had been considerably altered in Late Antiquity. A new floor was constructed of baked bricks that was then covered in white plaster. This floor, which was considerably higher than those of the chambers, was separated from them by raised thresholds in both doorways. The northern doorway appeared to

have been closed by a wooden door that swung outward, as a socket hole was found adjacent in the floor of the shaft, rather than inside the chamber. Grossmann proposes that D68 and D69 should perhaps be interpreted as dwellings for a senior figure and his pupil, with the oratory of D69 being shared by both (Grossmann 1999, 62–63), an idea also supported by Westerfeld (2010, 177, n. 29). Possible paired dwellings at the Shuneh, however, show oratories in both, and it seems possible that one of the niches in D68 may have served as a focus for prayer by its occupant. Hints as to the broader Late Antique context in which these reused tombs were situated are provided by references made by Peet to other features of the same period in Cemetery D, but regrettably he did not provide any detail. He mentioned that a low mound in the northern part of the area ‘served as a Coptic settlement, for the floors of Coptic houses still remained in situ on its surface. Unfortunately these remains showed

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Fig. 90: Peet’s plan and other drawings of Tomb D69 (from Peet 1914, figs 16, 17; Courtesy of the Egypt Exploration Society).

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few features of interest’, although he referred to finding a fine lead storage jar as well as a number of large ceramic jars still in situ (Peet and Loat 1913, xi). He also made brief mention of two tombs of the Ptolemaic or Roman periods, D221 and D225, which were described as having been ‘too badly damaged by the building of Coptic houses over them to show the details of their construction’ (Peet and Loat 1913, 33). Given that neither the exact location of these tombs nor that of Peet’s chapels D68 and D69 is now known, it is not possible to understand what the relationship may have been between them. Peet’s observation about the presence of settlement remains in Cemetery D has been confirmed more recently by both magnetic survey and excavation. Magnetic survey of the area was done in 2007 for the IFA Expedition by a team led by Tomasz Herbich. This showed the presence of extensive buried architecture, which appeared to be domestic in character, with individual houses arranged along a clearly defined street. Recent excavations undertaken by Sandiford confirm this basic finding and allow the occupation to be dated primarily to the Ptolemaic period, with some evidence of reuse and structural modification in Late Antiquity (Sandiford 2014, 84). The strata from this later phase of activity are highly denuded, in line with Peet’s description, and no comprehensive view of the Late Antique activity in the area is possible at present. One may speculate, however, whether the occupations represented by the Late Antique house floors and the reuse of earlier tombs were contemporary and whether they may have been components of the same Christian/ monastic occupation and transformation of this part of the site. In addition to settlement remains, there is limited evidence that at least parts of Cemetery D were still being used as a place of burial in Late Antiquity, a pattern that had been more or less continuous for more than two thousand years. Peet noted that a number of Coptic burials were found in the vicinity of tombs D68 and D69, but these were not described further (Peet 1914, 53). He also found two funerary stelae mentioning monastic figures (Peet and Loat 1913, 38–39; also discussed in Westerfeld 2010, 173–74) that, together with the occurrence of burials, suggest that monastic activity in the area included a necropolis. The evidence from early work in Cemetery D can now be supplemented by new information generated by the IFA Expedition in the same area. In response to pressing encroachment threats around Peet’s Cemetery

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D, the Expedition made a series of test excavations in the area in 2009 based on the results of the 2007 magnetic survey. A number of clearly defined architectural features on the magnetic map were targeted and partly excavated. The intention was to demonstrate conclusively, both to the local authorities and to those looking to build on the site, that the area is archaeologically rich, full of important features as yet unexplored, and worthy of sustained protection from threats of this sort. The tests generated significant results, including the relocation of the cluster of early Old Kingdom mastaba tombs discovered by Peet (Peet and Loat 1913, 8–22, pls 2, 15), and the effort produced the hoped-for result, as shortly thereafter, Egyptian antiquities authorities expanded the Abydos site protection wall system to include virtually all of Cemetery D. One of the 2009 test units, Operation 158, focused on a structure that was revealed to be a substantial mud-brick vaulted tomb, probably post-New Kingdom, which had been extensively modified and repurposed in Late Antiquity (Figs 91–92). Two ostraca were found in association with it (see Appendix, nos 39–40). The original subterranean tomb chamber, which was oriented southwest–northeast, had been emptied of its original contents and then reconfigured as a chapel, or oratory (c. 3 × 2.25m), discussed here as Room 1, drawing on the same architectural vocabulary as was employed at the Shuneh and in Peet’s D68 and D69. The interior of the vault had been finished with brown mud plaster, while the lower parts of the side walls, beginning just below where the vault springs from the walls, had a thick hard white plaster dado. The northeast end wall of Room 1, the whole of which was coated in white plaster, had three niches cut into its upper half, the bottoms of which were roughly in line (Fig. 93). The larger central niche, c. 40 × 58cm, had originally been entirely finished in white plaster, although this has suffered substantial damage. Just under the large niche was a horizontal projection extending beyond it on each side, which would have contributed to its visual prominence in the wall. Although more modest in scale, this feature recalls the wall treatment under the main niche in Peet’s tomb D69. Of the smaller flanking pair, the left-hand example, c. 23 × 23cm, had a flat top and roughly trapezoidal shape, whereas that on the right was round-topped and somewhat larger, 32 × 24cm. The floors of both side niches were coated in white plaster, while the upper parts were finished in brown mud plaster. Near the northeast end of the southeast side wall of Room 1,

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Fig. 91: General view of the reused tomb in Operation 158, showing its setting in Peet’s Cemetery ‘D’ (Photo: Greg Maka).

Fig. 92: General view of the reused tomb in Operation 158, looking northeast. Numbers represent room designations (Photo: Greg Maka).

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a hole had been cut near the bottom of the wall through the plaster and the brick masonry behind it. The purpose of the hole is unknown, but the edges of the white wall plaster around it showed evidence of repair. Directly above this hole, a part of the masonry of the vault had been cut back to create a wall niche, which had been finished in mud plaster. This method of niche construction, using the curve of the vault as the back of the niche, is very similar to that seen in Peet’s tombs D68 and D69. Next to the niche were the remains of what appeared to be a larger rectangular opening in the middle of the wall (Fig. 94). This feature was not fully defined in 2009. The angle of the bottom of the opening suggested it probably was a window, similar to those in Hermitages 8 and 9 at the Shuneh. If this interpretation is correct, this would likely have been the main source of natural light in the chamber, which, despite the modifications, remained a subterranean feature. The floor of Room 1 was deliberately not exposed in 2009, owing primarily to time constraints,8 and whether floor features, such as benches, were present remains undetermined. Given the patterning of the wall plasters, however, as well as the parallels elsewhere at Abydos, it seems virtually certain that the floor was finished in hard white plaster. The entrance to Room 1 was a doorway cut through the southwest end of the southeast side wall. This connected to a stair leading up to surface features that will be described below. Just inside the entrance, to the right upon entry from the stair, projecting jambs and a raised threshold had been added that created a small vestibule separated from the white-plastered room to the northeast. The threshold was finished in hard plaster with a distinctly reddish colour. Opposite this threshold, another doorway had been cut through the original southwest end wall of the tomb, which led into a second vaulted chamber, Room 2 (Fig. 95). The jambs of this doorway were finished in mud plaster, but whether it also had a raised threshold remains undetermined. The northeastern part of the vault was not preserved. The interior was finished in mud plaster. The rear, southwest part, where the masonry of the vault appeared to be more or less intact, was not excavated in 2009, owing to concern about its structural stability. Room 2 was slightly off-axis in

8

The remains of several disturbed human burials were encountered in the lower part of the chamber, though well above floor level. These clearly post-date the main Late Antique phase of use of the tomb, when it had become partly filled with sand. The

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Fig. 93: The northeast end wall of Room 1, Op 158, with three niches (Photo: Greg Maka).

Fig. 94: Overhead view of Rooms 1 and 5, Op 158, with connecting stair. View to southeast (Photo: Greg Maka).

burials were not fully defined, and their date and cultural affiliation at the time of this writing remain unknown. Thus, it is not presently possible to say whether they represent a further reuse of the tomb as part of a Christian necropolis or are later.

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Fig. 95: Elevation view into the partially excavated Room 2, Op 158. View to southwest (Photo: Greg Maka).

relation to the orientation of Room 1 and the basic construction was considerably lighter. Differences between the bricks of the vault and those in the walls of the superstructure above suggested it had been constructed in pharaonic times as an addition to the original tomb, rather than a new construction that was part of the Late Antique modifications. The smaller size and exclusive use of mud plaster in Room 2 suggested it served as an ancillary chamber to the oratory of Room 1, similar to room pairs observed in Hermitages 6 and 8 at the Shuneh. The two subterranean chambers were accompanied by a substantial superstructure added in Late Antiquity, part of which was built over the vaulted roof of Room 2, with the remainder constructed directly on the adjacent surface (see Fig. 90). The superstructure consisted of at least three distinct walled spaces. Thin brick walls were built atop the side walls supporting the vault of Room 2 that then comprised the side walls of Room 3. This

space may have extended slightly over the southwest end of the vault of Room 1. The southwest end wall of Room 3 was thicker and appeared to be entirely a surface construction, thus probably standing somewhat farther to the southwest than the end wall of the adjacent subterranean chamber. The space between these walls over the smaller vault was filled with a mixed deposit of sand, gravel and brick debris, on top of which the room’s plaster floor was laid down. The finished floor consisted of hard white plaster over a thick layer of mud plaster. Only the southwest end of Room 3 was preserved, and how far it may have extended towards the northeast is unknown. The side walls were denuded to the level of the interior floor, which itself was only preserved in the south corner. Adjacent to the preserved section of the floor, an eroded but slightly raised threshold marked the location of a doorway in the southeast side wall that connected Room 3 to what seems likely to have been a considerably larger walled space, Room 4. Room 4, like 3, had a white plaster floor. Here, too, the walls were denuded to near floor level, and the floor itself was badly damaged by erosion and pitting. The southwest and northeast walls of Room 4 were relatively solid constructions of which on average five to six courses were preserved, while the southeast wall was thinner. The southwest wall of Room 4 appeared to be a continuous construction with that of Room 3, although there was a noticeable difference in orientation between the two. The exteriors of the walls exhibited no traces of plasters, and the preserved courses of masonry may have been below the ancient ground level. As in Room 3, the lower part of the space between the walls was filled with a deposit of sand, brick debris and rough stones, exposed in the profile of a pit at the east corner, on top of which a thick deposit of mud had been laid down to serve as a sub-floor to which white plaster was applied to create the finished floor. A low white-plastered bench stood along more or less the full length of the southwest wall, abutting the base of the doorjamb at its northwest end. Preserved edges in the white floor plaster that exhibit distinct lipping up, as well as adjacent damage to the mudplaster sub-floor, indicate that some feature roughly 50 × 65cm had been set in the floor perpendicular to the bench just over a metre from the south corner, but it is not possible to say what this might have been. There may have been a doorway at the southeast end of the northeast wall that connected to the third walled space in the superstructure, Room 5.

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Room 5 was created by the construction of a lightly built L-shaped wall against the northeast side of Room 4 and the southeast side of the original tomb chamber, Room 1. The floor of Room 5 was some 90cm lower than that of Rooms 3 and 4, and the remains of what may have been a small connecting stair were found in the south corner. This appears to have been partly reinforced with pieces of limestone set into mud. Another elevated mud feature of some sort was built into the east corner, but it was too damaged to permit certainty as to its original form or function. The floor, of which only a small area was preserved in the southeast part of the room, consisted of large flakes of limestone set into mud, which had been at least partly covered by a thick white plaster. Mud-brick retaining walls were constructed perpendicular to the side of Room 1, which created a passage in which the stair leading down to the vaulted tomb was built. The steps and side walls of the stairway had been finished in hard white plaster, with flagstones set into the plaster of the top two steps. No evidence survived as to whether the stair passage was roofed, but it seems likely that Room 5 may have been an open court, which would have provided natural light for the window of Room 1, which appeared to have opened onto Room 5’s northwest side. The modest architectural grouping in Operation 158 can certainly be interpreted as a Late Antique monastic dwelling, with living spaces above and an oratory and ancillary chamber below in the remodelled tomb. The parallels with Peet’s D68 and D69, which must be in the vicinity, are obvious, and raise the question as to whether either of these may originally have been associated with comparable superstructures that either have eroded away, were nearby but not physically connected to the tombs, or were somehow missed by the excavators. One is tempted to speculate further whether Peet’s tombs D221 and D225, the Ptolemaic or Roman vaults with ‘Coptic’ houses built over them, may have been similar. Additional evidence has emerged in recent years that supports the picture of a significant cluster of Late Antique monastic units in this part of the site. In 2005– 2006, the Expedition lent assistance to a test excavation project carried out by the local Antiquities Inspectorate9

9

The excavation was supervised by Mr Mohamed Abd el-Mutagali, to whom I am most grateful for his kind permission to mention this work.

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at the southern end of Cemetery D, i.e., immediately north of the main village block of Deir Sitt Damyana and southeast of the location of Operation 158. Like the Expedition’s testing programme in 2009, this also was intended to demonstrate conclusively the presence of significant archaeological remains, in response to pressure to allow new house construction in the immediate area. This work revealed a large number of burials and several subterranean mud-brick vaulted tombs, one of which had been remodelled and reused in Late Antiquity (Fig. 96), presumably as a monastic dwelling similar to those in the general vicinity described above. A thick mud plaster had been applied to the entire interior of the vaulted chamber, to which the typical hard white plaster was added. The Late Antique floor, which was roughly 40cm above the original natural sand floor of the vaulted chamber, had also been of white plaster. No wall niches were present, although a large section of the vault was not preserved. The tomb’s original brick-built entrance shaft had also been modified (Fig. 97), with a new floor higher than that of the vaulted chamber and the application of white plaster to both floor and walls, a pattern similar to that observed in Peet’s tomb D69. The limits of excavation did not permit the full definition of the Late Antique entrance. There is evidence, admittedly limited at present, that Late Antique monastic activity in the North Cemetery was not limited only to the Shuneh and the extreme northern margins of the site. In the present volume Laurel Bestock discusses important recent discoveries south and southwest of Deir Sitt Damyana. In Petrie’s report on his final season at Abydos, he included a brief description and two photographs of a reused vaulted tomb that had been cut through some of the Dynasty 1 tombs on the northeastern side of the grave rectangle of King Djet, northeast of the Shuneh and southeast of Deir Sitt Damyana (Petrie 1925, 18, pl. 47.8–9). He did not make specific reference to the tomb as being shown on his plan of the Djet graves, so its exact position remains uncertain. It is possible, however, that it is to be seen in the unlabelled rectangular structure shown in dashed line at the northern end of the eastern line of graves (Petrie 1925, pl. 17). No plan of the tomb itself was published, although the basic architectural form, well attested in the North Cemetery (Peet 1914, 84–91;

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Fig. 96: Interior of a vaulted tomb southeast of Peet’s Cemetery ‘D’ excavated by a team from the el-Balyana Inspectorate, Ministry of Antiquities. View to southeast, looking from the tomb’s original entrance shaft into the burial chamber (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

Fig. 97: Another view of the vaulted tomb illustrated in Fig. 96, showing the southeast end wall with doorway and remodelled entrance shaft (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

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see also Adams 2015), is clear both from his brief description and the two published photographs: a rectangular tomb chamber roofed by a mud-brick barrel vault. This had been remodelled in Late Antiquity for use as a ‘chapel or oratory’, drawing on the same architectural vocabulary as was used at the Shuneh and in the monastic features in Cemetery D. In one end wall of the tomb, a doorway was constructed, adjacent to which, on the left facing the doorway from outside, was a circular window, which Petrie terms a ‘watching hole’, similar to those seen at the Shuneh and at Esna (Fig. 98). The interior of the tomb (Fig. 99) was provided with what appears to have been a white plaster floor, with a low bench along one wall. At least the lower parts of the side walls also appear to have been white-plastered. In the end wall opposite the doorway were five niches. Four were at more or less the same level in the upper part of the wall, and all of these had white plaster interiors. The middle niche, Petrie noted, probably meaning the largest one, exhibited ‘fragments of a painting of branches and birds’, although no photograph or drawing was included in the publication. Decoration including similar elements was, however, illustrated by Hilda Petrie for her report on the remote desert hermitage she excavated the same season (Petrie 1925, pls 50–51). Below the four white-plastered niches, a fifth, which appears to have been finished only in mud plaster, was only 15 or 20cm above the floor level. Although the published photograph of the interior is not completely clear, there may have been another niche in one of the side walls (see Fig. 99, lower left). Petrie made no reference to the presence of any additional features that may have been associated with the reused tomb, although evidence in the photograph of the façade of the tomb suggests their possible presence (see Fig. 98, left of the window). An extension of the front wall to the left of the window suggests something was built against the exterior of the tomb. Also, although tombs of this type were intended to be subterranean structures, the positions of the doorway and window suggest that the area in front of the tomb was open in Late Antiquity, providing both access to the doorway and light for the window; perhaps it was a small court similar to those seen in Hermitages 8 and 9 at the Shuneh. Only a few additional references to the existence of other Late Antique features are to be found in the early reports from Abydos. Peet noted that only two further ‘chapels’ were known to him. One was discovered by Garstang ‘immediately behind the Coptic Dêr’ and was

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‘of somewhat similar type’ to those in Cemetery D (Peet 1914, 53). Peet did not provide more specific information, but it seems likely he meant that mentioned by Garstang in a brief report on his work at Abydos in 1909: In the ordinary course of soundings other features were disclosed, notably a fine tomb of the first dynasty, through which one wall of a series of vast subterranean vaults had

Fig. 98: Reused vaulted tomb excavated by Petrie along the northeast side of the grave rectangle of King Djet in the Abydos North Cemetery. The position of the window relative to the doorway is analogous to those in Hermitages 8 and 9 at the Shuneh (from Petrie 1925, pl. 47.8; Courtesy of the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, UCL).

Fig. 99: Interior view of Petrie’s reused tomb, showing a plastered bench at lower left, a niche in the side wall above, and five niches in the end wall (from Petrie 1925, pl. 47.9; Courtesy of the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, UCL).

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been constructed. One of these chambers was found to have been arranged as a Christian Church, and the Coptic writing upon the walls may be as early as the fourth century A.D. (Garstang 1909, 125)

Garstang provided no more specific location information here and never published a detailed report on most of his work at Abydos; however, the surviving, though incomplete, original field records held in Liverpool and partially published by Snape help to situate this discovery southwest or west of Deir Sitt Damyana. ‘Tomb 930 A’09’, the ‘great series of vaulted chambers’, is described as ‘west of Coptic Der’ and ‘next to 859’, which is the large tomb of Dynasty 1 mentioned in the Annals report (Snape 1986, 1: 341, 356). It seems implausible that this could refer to anything other than the Ptolemaic ibis hypogeum excavated by Laurel Bestock and discussed by her in the present volume. The other significant Late Antique feature known to Peet was a mud-brick structure built over a ruined chapel of Tuthmosis III at the edge of the cultivation on the southeast side of the mouth of the processional wadi

dividing North Abydos. It received a brief mention in the Egypt Exploration Fund’s Archaeological Report for 1908–1909 (Naville 1909, 5), but no more detailed description was ever published. Peet described it thusly: ‘Though small, it deserves the name of a church, and even contains slight remains of fresco work, but it has suffered sadly since its excavation’ (Peet 1914, 53). More recent excavations at the site by Mary-Ann Pouls Wegner revealed that little now remains of the Late Antique structure, and the underlying New Kingdom chapel itself is now severely denuded (Pouls Wegner 2002, 362). A previously unpublished photograph in the Lucy Gura Archive of the Egypt Exploration Society appears to show the area in question during the 1908– 1909 season (Fig. 100).10 Regrettably, the angle of view does not provide a sense of the overall plan, and does not permit complete certainty as to whether the visible mud-brick architecture belongs primarily to the Late Antique structure, although this seems most likely, since the excavation of the area appears to have taken place the following season, with this photograph documenting its essentially pre-investigation state. It would

Fig. 100: Remains of a Late Antique ‘chapel’ built over a ruined structure of Tuthmosis III. Unpublished archival photo (Courtesy of the Egypt Exploration Society).

10

Identified among the photographs from Ayrton and Loat’s excavations of the Predynastic cemetery at el-Mahasna.

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appear that the Late Antique structure was quite substantial in size and that it was a surface construction, in both aspects quite different from the pattern seen in the reuse of pharaonic tombs discussed above. It is not possible to determine from the photograph alone the extent to which the Late Antique building may have incorporated elements of the New Kingdom chapel, although the observation that it was ‘built on the ruins of a small stone chapel of Thothmes III’ (Naville 1909, 5) suggests it probably did so. Without information from the excavation records, which appear not to be in the Egypt Exploration Society archive (Pouls Wegner 2002, 362, n. 175), it is now impossible to say anything further about this structure, its date, and how it may have related to the broader pattern of early Christian activity now emerging in North Abydos. Recent work of the Institute of Fine Arts Expedition has produced further evidence, albeit quite limited, of additional Late Antique activity in North Abydos. As part of a broad initiative to document 2011 looting damage in the Expedition’s project area, excavations of several looting features on the northwestern margin of the North Cemetery exposed parts of a large tomb, the plan of which bears some resemblance to the courtyard tombs of the New Kingdom and later in the southern Cemetery D excavated by Mace, with an exterior wall more than 1m thick that defined a rectangular interior space, the main feature of which was the mouth of a brick-lined shaft leading to subterranean chambers. The central part of the interior of the superstructure, now characterized by a large sanded-in pit, had clearly been excavated in relatively modern times, probably by Garstang, who worked in this part of the site in 1909 (Snape 1986, 64, fig. 4). This earlier digging was focused on exposing the shaft, but it left intact strata around the edges of the interior. Limited exposure in two units excavated in 2013, Operations 216 and 219 (Fig. 101), demonstrated that both the main outer wall of the superstructure and an interior wall that parallels the northwest exterior wall appear to have been still largely standing in Late Antiquity and that this standing architecture was reused at that time (Adams 2015, 27). Evidence of this secondary occupation was seen in the west interior corner (Fig. 102), excavated in Operation 216, where a cross wall was built across the space between the interior and exterior walls, subdividing a larger room or corridor-like space. A doorway in the cross wall had jambs finished in hard white plaster, which was also applied to the interior of the original walls. The plaster was

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identical to that so characteristic of Late Antique activity elsewhere in North Abydos. Near the north interior corner of the superstructure, excavated in Operation 219, the northeastern end of the interior dividing wall abutted the northeast exterior wall. A large ceramic barrel vat, likely part of the secondary phase of use, stood in the southeastern of the two opposing corners formed by this abutment. Thus, much of the interior of this structure may have been occupied and subject to significant modification in Late Antiquity, although the limited exposure to date precludes an understanding of the overall pattern of reuse. The presence of both the white-plastered room and the barrel vat installation, which may have been associated with storage or food preparation, suggests that the nature of the occupation here may parallel that represented by the combinations of ‘sacred’ and ‘utility’ spaces seen elsewhere in the North Cemetery. Conclusion: The Late Antique occupation of the Shuneh in context The small community that occupied the monument of King Khaskhemwy in Late Antiquity appears to have been at the heart of a much broader pattern of reuse and redefinition in North Abydos, which transformed a very ancient pagan sacred landscape into a Christian one. At the Shuneh, a concentration of monastic dwellings claimed and transformed this ancient structure from a monument that had long defined the Abydos landscape in terms of its pharaonic, mythic past into one full of meaning in the newly emerging cultural order. One may wonder about what specifically drew the early Christians to the Shuneh. Of course, there would have been practical considerations such as shelter from prevailing winds and ease of access; however, cutting rooms into its massive walls would have involved a very significant effort. It was not something that could have been accomplished easily or quickly, and other motivations may have been involved. It may be significant that the rooms cut most deeply into the original fabric of the monument were the oratories, with their niches and white plasters, the spaces dedicated to prayer, while the more utilitarian spaces and features were more often, though not exclusively, built between and against the walls. Perhaps the status of the monument as the dominant feature representing the pagan past in the desert landscape of North Abydos made occupying and transforming it a priority in the overall redefinition of the site.

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Fig. 101: General view, looking south, of a large tomb superstructure partly excavated as Operations 216 and 219 (Photo: Greg Maka).

Fig. 102: Detail of partly excavated Late Antique features in Operation 216 (Photo: Greg Maka).

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The transformation of the Shuneh must be considered in the context of broader patterns in both North Abydos and the site as a whole. Evidence from work a century ago and more recently attests to a considerable concentration of Late Antique activity in the northern and northwestern margins of the North Cemetery, although not limited to these areas, which includes the occupation and repurposing of domestic, funerary and other ritual structures.11 Until better control of the chronological dimension of Late Antiquity in North Abydos is obtained, however, a sense of the specific relationship between the occupation of the Shuneh and activity elsewhere will remain uncertain. Thus, at present, we cannot be sure, for example, whether the activity in Cemetery D and elsewhere was contemporary with that in the Shuneh, and thus part of a more or less synchronic broad repurposing of this part of the site, or whether these were components of a process that saw considerable variability in practice over time. Nevertheless, the clearing out and reconfiguration of tombs and other pharaonic era constructions expands the basic pattern observed at the Shuneh, one of possession, of penetration into and transformation of the fabric of the ancient place, across much of North Abydos.

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Although existing tombs would have been convenient structures to use, once properly prepared, emptying them of their original contents preparatory to any remodelling would have constituted a process of disarticulating, decontextualizing and discarding the fabric of the pagan past: the remains of the pagans themselves as well as of their burial assemblages, the material basis for their continued existence in a pagan afterlife. Building a chapel or church over and incorporating elements of Tuthmosis III’s southern chapel would have involved direct physical contact with, and experience of, the ancient fabric of the monument, thereby exerting control over it. Through both architectural modification and use, the structures became something new, severed from their original function and part of a broader claiming and reinterpretation of place within a new conceptual framework. A landscape that had been defined for millennia as one of Egypt’s most ritually important places became a locus of early Christian religious life, and one may consider whether the unique religious importance of this part of Abydos for many centuries preceding may have made it an especially attractive and important place for ‘Christianization’.

APPENDIX: THE TEXTUAL FINDS Roxanne BÉLANGER SARRAZIN and Jitse H. F. DIJKSTRA During the excavations several texts were recovered, mainly inscriptions painted on plaster and, where this can be decided, all in Coptic. They are presented here in a catalogue, in which each heading represents a different archaeological context. Nos 1–2 are inscriptions found in situ in association with white-plastered wall niches in Hermitages 8 and 9. Nos 3–23 are fragments of fallen wall plaster containing remains of texts and decoration from Room 1 of Hermitage 3. Nos 24–37 consist of textual finds from the debris found on the floor of the single small room of Hermitage 13. In this context, several dozens of plaster fragments were found with both decorative motifs and text, of which nine

11

12

The variability of early Christian interaction with the material remains of the pagan past at Abydos is noted in Westerfeld 2010, 196–98. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Matthew Adams for inviting us to work on these materials and greatly

more substantial pieces have been included in the catalogue (nos 24–32). Belonging to the same layer of debris are three scraps of parchment (nos 33–35) and two scraps of papyrus (nos 36–37). No. 38 is an ostracon found along the exterior side of the outer enclosure wall, just southeast of Hermitage 8. Finally, while all the finds so far are from the Shunet el-Zebib, two ostraca have been added from a tomb in another part of the site (Peet’s ‘Cemetery D’; nos 39–40) that was reused in Christian times. Together these finds, limited though they are, constitute interesting snapshots of the monastic community at the Shunet el-Zebib.12

facilitating our collation of the texts during a stay at the American house at Abydos from 14 to 17 April 2018. Many thanks also to Alain Delattre for reading a preliminary version of this Appendix and improving some of the readings.

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No. 1: Hermitage 8, Room 3 (Fig. 103) Inscription painted in red on the plaster just below an oratory niche, the bottom front edge of which is marked by a band of guilloche. The wall, and indeed the entire room, has a white plaster dado, the top border of which is marked by a band of red. From below just in line with the sides of the niche, the dado projects up into it, and both edges of this projection have a band of red. To the right of the inscription we can see one of these edges joining the band of guilloche. The red of the decoration seems lighter than, and so different from, that of the inscription. Underneath the inscription there is some space before a cross, of which the arms end in cross bars (a cross ‘potent’, see Dijkstra 2012, 81), is painted. It has the same colour red and may well belong with the inscription. The text consists of a conventional invocation of the Trinity, then of Jesus Christ. Most of the words contain a superlinear stroke. A small stroke can also be seen above the ⲏ of ⲡⲥⲱⲧⲏⲣ, but it is thicker and fainter than the other strokes and, since before it no traces can be seen, it is unlikely that the word had a superlinear stroke. In ⲡⲉⲡ{ⲡ}ⲛⲁ, there is a dittography.

Translation: The Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. The Saviour, Jesus Christ, our Lord. ☩

No. 2: Hermitage 9, Room 2 (Fig. 104) Written at the back of the main wall niche in the east wall of one of the larger oratory rooms of the Shunet el-Zebib is a very faint inscription in brown paint, possibly with the name ⲍⲁⲭⲁⲣⲓ|ⲁⲥ ‘Zacharias’ (see Trismegistos People, available online at https://www.trismegistos.org/ref/index.php, Nam_ID 6440; NB Kopt. s.v.). In this reading, the letters ⲁⲥ in the second line are found beneath ⲁⲣⲓ; no traces can be seen before it.

ⲡⲓⲱⲧ ⲡϣⲏⲣⲉ ⲡⲉⲡ{ⲡ}ⲛⲁ ⲉⲧⲟⲩⲁⲁⲃ. ⲡⲥⲱⲧⲏⲣ ⲓⲥ ⲡⲉⲭⲥ ⲡⲉⲛϫⲥ. vacat ☩

Fig. 104: Text 2, Hermitage 9, Room 2 (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

Fig. 103: Text 1, Hermitage 8, Room 3 (Photo: Robert Fletcher).

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Nos 3–23: Hermitage 3, Room 1 (Figs 105–25) In the debris of this room twenty-one fragments were found with decoration and text. The first five fragments (nos 3–7) are written in the same thick black ink and almost certainly belong to the same text. This interpretation is supported by the similar way in which ⲙ (in nos 3, 5, and perhaps 6), ⲡ (nos 3, 4, 5, and perhaps 6) and, especially, ⲁ (tilted towards the right; nos 3, 5, 6, 7) are written, as well as the character of the fragments (names separated by high dots, nos 3–5, 7). In l. 2 of the larger fragment (no. 3), the word ‘the apostles’ can be read and in ll. 4–6 the names Apa Moses, Apa Pshoi and Apa Paule, so we are dealing here with a list of saints. For inscriptions of this type, see Tudor 2011, 187–93 and Choat 2015, esp. pp. 413– 14, on similar texts from Abydos. The text was written above a niche, as appears from the larger fragment (no. 3), which includes part of the rounded top right corner of the niche; two smaller fragments (nos 5–6) also contain parts of the top of the niche, though none of the fragments join. Since these fragments were found close to the eastern wall of the room, it seems likely that, just as nos 1–2, this text was written in the vicinity of a niche in the eastern wall of the room. To begin with the largest fragment (no. 3, Fig. 105; inv. no. ANC 17099), it measures 19.2 × 14.5cm and consists of seven lines of text. In ll. 2–5 high dots serve as separators for the names. In l. 3, a hole prevents the reading of several letters. The word ending on ]ⲣⲏⲙⲓⲥ in l. 4 cannot be identified, though it may be a misspelling of ⲓⲉ]ⲣⲏⲙⲓⲥ ‘Ieremias’. The spelling of the names Moses (ⲙⲱⲓⲥⲏⲥ) and Paule (ⲡⲁⲟⲩⲗⲉ) in ll. 4 and 6 is rare but not unattested (https://www.trismegistos.org/ref/index.php, Namvar_ID 54391 and 54650; NB Kopt. s.v.). The reconstruction ⲡⲁⲟⲩ[ⲗⲉ (not ⲡⲁⲟⲩ[ⲗⲟⲥ) is based on the common spelling of the name in similar lists. There is an ‘Amen’ in l. 7, which is written in larger script, probably signalling the end of the text. Beneath ⲁⲙ is a bent line.

5.

]ⲁ[ ] · ⲛⲁⲡⲟⲥ[ⲧⲟⲗⲟⲥ ]ⲁ[] · ⲁⲡⲁ [ ]ⲣⲏⲙⲓⲥ · ⲁⲡⲁ ⲙⲱⲓⲥ[ⲏⲥ ⲁⲡⲁ ⲡϣⲟⲓ · [ ⲁⲡⲁ ⲡⲁⲟⲩ[ⲗⲉ ϩⲁⲙⲏ[ⲛ

The second fragment (no. 4, Fig. 106; inv. no. ANC 17098) measures 8.7 × 7cm and has two lines of text. In l. 1, we read ]ⲟⲩⲡ ·. The absence of writing after the

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high dot indicates that we are dealing with the right margin of the text. As a result, we can reconstruct the name ⲁⲛ]ⲟⲩⲡ ‘Anoup’. In l. 2, the top of a curved letter is visible, probably of a ⲥ, followed by a high dot as in the previous line. After a space of white there is a triangular-shaped piece of decoration with a circle attached to the point where the lines meet, exactly as in the cross below (no. 11), so we have here the top part of the left arm of a cross that was added to the right of the text. ⲁⲛ]ⲟⲩⲡ · ]ⲥ ·

The third fragment (no. 5, Fig. 107; inv. no. ANC 17099) measures 8 × 4cm and has two lines of text. ]ⲙⲉ · ⲁⲡ[ⲁ ] ⲁⲡⲁ [

The fourth fragment (no. 6, Fig. 108; inv. no. ANC 17098) measures 4.4 × 2.6cm and reads ]ⲙⲁⲡ[. For the ⲙ, compare the same letter in the previous fragment. The fifth fragment (no. 7, Fig. 109; inv. no. ANC 17098) measures 4 × 3cm and reads ]ⲁⲥ · [. In addition to these five fragments, there are two small fragments that seem to have been written in the same hand and possibly also belong to the text. The sixth fragment (no. 8, Fig. 110; inv. no. ANC 17098) measures 2.3 × 2.8cm. Two letters are visible above each other, of which the one above is probably a ⲗ, the one below perhaps an ⲩ. For comparison, see the ⲩ in no. 4. The seventh fragment (no. 9, Fig. 111; inv. no. ANC 17098) measures 3.6 × 2.8cm and only has the top part of what, again, looks like an ⲩ. Next we move to a series of miscellaneous fragments, in which we only note those with more than one letter. All of the texts are written in black ink. The eighth fragment (no. 10, Fig. 112; inv. no. ANC 17098 or 17099), measuring 6 × 10.5cm, is another list of saints. It is written in a much smaller, thinner script and consists of six lines of text. In some lines the ink has faded or is smeared out. The list starts with an invocation of Jesus Christ (l. 1; cf. nos 1, 12–13), which is written in larger script than the names that follow (ll. 2–6). In l. 2, we have tentatively reconstructed ⲡⲁⲟ[ⲩⲗⲉ on the basis of no. 3, l. 6.

5.

ⲓⲤ ⲡⲉ[Ⲭ⳰Ⲥ ⲁⲡⲁ ⲡⲁⲟ[ⲩⲗⲉ (?) ⲁⲡⲁ ⲡⲁ[ ⲁⲡⲁ ϣⲱ[ ⲁⲡⲁ ⲙ[ ⲁⲡⲁ [

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Fig. 108: Text 6, Hermitage 3, Room 1 (Photo: Ayman Damarany).

Fig. 105: Text 3, Hermitage 3, Room 1 (Photo: Ayman Damarany).

Fig. 109: Text 7, Hermitage 3, Room 1 (Photo: Ayman Damarany).

Fig. 106: Text 4, Hermitage 3, Room 1 (Photo: Ayman Damarany).

Fig. 110: Text 8, Hermitage 3, Room 1 (Photo: Ayman Damarany).

Fig. 107: Text 5, Hermitage 3, Room 1 (Photo: Ayman Damarany).

Fig. 111: Text 9, Hermitage 3, Room 1 (Photo: Ayman Damarany).

ABYDOS IN LATE ANTIQUITY: A VIEW FROM THE SHUNET EL-ZEBIB

Fig. 112: Text 10, Hermitage 3, Room 1 (Photo: Ayman Damarany).

Fig. 113: Text 11, Hermitage 3, Room 1 (Photo: Ayman Damarany).

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The ninth fragment (no. 11, Fig. 113; inv. no. ANC 17099), which measures 11.5 × 16.2cm, actually consists of four pieces that have been put together again. We see a cross with arms flaring out (a cross ‘pattée’, see Dijkstra 2012, 81), in which the lower arm tapers out wider than the other three. There are circles as decoration attached to the points at the end of each arm, of which three have been preserved, as well as around the arms arranged in square form. These latter ones are larger and in thicker paint. The arms of the cross are painted in. Above the cross is the word ‘cross’ written as the nomen sacrum ⲥⳁⲟ[ⲥ]. The tenth fragment (no. 12, which consists of two joining pieces, see Fig. 114; inv. no. ANC 17098) measures 15.7 × 8cm and has three lines of text, written in a thin script. First there are two lines, then an open space, and then a third line, which may be a separate text though the ink looks the same. The first two lines start with a cross with forked endings (cross ‘fourchée’, see Dijkstra 2012, 81) and just as in no. 1 above seem to contain an invocation of the Trinity (l. 1) and Jesus Christ (beginning of l. 2). After ⲓⲥ ⲡⲉⲭⲥ, no doubt the word ⲥⲧⲁⲩⲣⲟⲥ ‘cross’ is written in some form, probably ⲧⲟⲥ (through haplography with the ⲥ of preceding ⲡⲉⲭⲥ). Close examination of the first letter reveals that the vertical does not extend beyond the horizontal, so that ϯⲟⲥ, a rendering which is attested in two inscriptions from Deir Abu Hennis (Van Loon and Delattre 2004, 93 [nos 8–9; figs 9–10], with n. 24), is not possible. In the third line, only four letters are preserved, presumably of the name Apollo.  ⲡⲓⲧ ⲡϣ[ⲏⲣⲉ ⲓⲥ ⲡⲉⲭⲥ ⲧⲟⲥ [ vacat ⲁⲡⲟⲗ[ⲗ]ⲱ

The eleventh fragment (no. 13, Fig. 115; inv. no. ANC 17098) incorporates two pieces that have been reassembled. It measures 2.8 × 4.5cm and contains two lines of text, again in thin script. In l. 1, following a staurogram, there is an invocation of Jesus, as in other texts we have seen so far (nos 1, 10, 12). In l. 2, the word ⲁⲅⲓⲟ[ⲥ is written, so perhaps a saint is invoked as well. ⳁ ⲓⲤ [ ⲁⲅⲓⲟ[ⲥ Fig. 114: Text 12, Hermitage 3, Room 1 (Photo: Ayman Damarany).

The twelfth fragment (no. 14, Fig. 116; inv. no. ANC 17099) measures 4.5 × 3.5cm and is of three lines

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ing their name twice, see the eight Coptic inscriptions left by four persons at the Isis temple at Aswan, Dijkstra 2012, 156–59 (nos 302–9). ⲓⲉⲣⲉ]ⲙⲓⲁⲥ ⲓ]ⲉⲣⲉⲙⲓⲁⲥ

Fig. 115: Text 13, Hermitage 3, Room 1 (Photo: Ayman Damarany).

Fig. 116: Text 14, Hermitage 3, Room 1 (Photo: Ayman Damarany).

There follow eight fragments with very little text. Two fragments include parts of the left and one fragment of the right edge of a niche and they were thus written left and right of it. The first one originally located on the left-hand side of a niche (no. 16, Fig. 118; inv. no. ANC 17098), in a faint and thin script, measures 5.1 × 11cm and can be read ⲉⲓⲣⲏⲛⲓ ‘peace’. Before it, there is a vertical, either of an unknown letter

Fig. 117: Text 15, Hermitage 3, Room 1 (Photo: Ayman Damarany).

in thin script. In l. 1, the three letters after the lacuna read ⲅⲓⲁ, probably of ⲁ]ⲅⲓⲁ. The downward-going stroke of the ⲁ is extended. In l. 2, we can likely read the verb ⲕⲱ ⲉ[ⲃⲟⲗ ‘forgive’. The second letter in l. 3 is a ⲧ rather than a ⲅ, as the horizontal is extended towards the left (the ink has faded a bit here but is clear). ⲁ]ⲅⲓⲁ [ ]ⲁ ⲕⲱ ⲉ[ⲃⲟⲗ (?) ]ⲧ[

The thirteenth fragment (no. 15, Fig. 117; inv. no. ANC 17098), dimensions 5.8 × 3.7cm, consists of two pieces that we were able to join. The text has two lines. In l. 2, the name Ieremias is written, and no doubt in l. 1 as well, so the same person may have written his name twice. Even though the rendering ⲉⲣⲉⲙⲓⲁⲥ is attested, we have reconstructed the more common ⲓⲉⲣⲉⲙⲓⲁⲥ (cf. https://www.trismegistos.org/ref/index. php, Nam_ID 3405; NB Kopt. s.v.). For people record-

Fig. 118: Text 16, Hermitage 3, Room 1 (Photo: Ayman Damarany).

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or a cross. The second fragment located to the left of a niche (no. 17, Fig. 119; inv. no. ANC 17098 or 17099), 5.3 × 9cm, preserves the last two letters of two lines in slightly faded ink: ]ⲛⲉ in l. 1 and ]ⲡⲓⲥ in l. 2. The fragment from the right side of a niche (no. 18, Fig. 120; inv. no. ANC 17099) measures 4.7 × 14.3cm. In l. 1, there is probably a ⲙ. L. 2 starts with a ⲡ, followed by the vertical of an unknown letter. Below are two faded letters of a third line, the first of which is an ⲟ. The writing seems to be in thicker ink and with more interspace than between ll. 1–2, so may belong to a different text. Traces of more letters, maybe of the same text, are visible further down. Two other fragments (no. 19, Fig. 121; inv. no. ANC 17099: 4.2 × 4.1cm; no. 20,

Fig. 122; inv. no. ANC 17098: 3 × 2.1cm), in thin ink, both contain a name beginning with Eli- (ⲉⲗⲓ[), which could be Elias or, more probably, Elisaios (https:// www.trismegistos.org/ref/index.php, Nam_ID 2927 and 2929; NB Kopt. s.v.), and may well be written in the same hand (cf. Ieremias writing his name twice, no. 15). Above the ⲉ in the first fragment is a trace of another letter. A small fragment (no. 21, Fig. 123; inv. no. ANC 17098), 1.7 × 2.7cm, has two lines in thin ink. In l. 1, we read ⲁⲛ, in l. 2 ⲁⲧ. Another small fragment

Fig. 121: Text 19, Hermitage 3, Room 1 (Photo: Ayman Damarany). Fig. 119: Text 17, Hermitage 3, Room 1 (Photo: Ayman Damarany).

Fig. 122: Text 20, Hermitage 3, Room 1 (Photo: Ayman Damarany).

Fig. 120: Text 18, Hermitage 3, Room 1 (Photo: Ayman Damarany).

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Fig. 123: Text 21, Hermitage 3, Room 1 (Photo: Ayman Damarany).

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M. D. ADAMS WITH AN APPENDIX BY R. BÉLANGER SARRAZIN AND J. H. F. DIJKSTRA

Fig. 124: Text 22, Hermitage 3, Room 1 (Photo: Ayman Damarany).

The same debris layer contained several smaller miscellaneous plaster fragments with decoration (inv. no. ANC 28342) and script (inv. no. ANC 28336). Of the latter, six pieces have been selected that display more than the occasional letter. The first of these (no. 27, Fig. 129), measuring 4.3 × 8cm, has four lines of text in red paint. In l. 3, we can probably read ⲥⲟⲛ ‘brother’ followed by a name starting with ⲫ-. In l. 4, one could think of ϩⲁⲙ]ⲏⲛ ϩⲁ[ⲙⲏⲛ. ]ⲁϩ[ ]ⲃⲟⲗ ⲉ[ ]ⲥⲟⲛ ⲫ[ ]ⲏⲛϩⲁ[

Fig. 125: Text 23, Hermitage 3, Room 1 (Photo: Ayman Damarany).

(no. 22, Fig. 124; inv. no. ANC 17317), 1.8 × 2.4cm, in a similar black ink, has the letters ϩ and ⲣ above each other. The final fragment (no. 23, Fig. 125; inv. no. ANC 17099), measuring 6.5 × 5.9cm, is written in a slightly larger, faded ink. It reads ]ⲥⲃⲓⲏ[. Below the ⲏ are a horizontal and a vertical line that meet, perhaps belonging to another inscription. Nos 24–37: Hermitage 13 (Figs 126–42) In the debris of this room three larger plaster fragments were found. The first (no. 24, Fig. 126; inv. no. ANC 28195) is a fragment of 9.1 × 6.5cm with two lines of text in black ink. In l. 1, there is an unidentifiable trace, followed by the letters ⲫϩⲃ, in l. 2 possibly ⲟⲩ. The second fragment (no. 25, Fig. 127; inv. no. ANC 28181) is written in similar black letters and measures 7.1 × 8cm. In the first line, three letters are visible, though only the middle one (ⲉ) can be read. In the second line, after the vertical of an unidentifiable letter, there is a ⲫ. To the bottom-right we can see the rounded form of a piece of decoration. A third fragment is written in finer script (no. 26, Fig. 128; inv. no. ANC 28181), 8.5 × 4.8cm, and consists of a cross ‘fourchée’ (for another example from the same site, see no. 12) followed by the letter ⲙ.

The second fragment (no. 28, Fig. 130), also in red and with dimensions 5.1 × 3.9cm, contains two lines, in which only ⲣⲉϥ in l. 1 is secure. Before and after these three letters there are traces of two more letters. In l. 2, one can read the letters ⲉⲥ (note the diaeresis as in the previous fragment). The third fragment (no. 29, Fig. 131), in the same red paint and measuring 3.6 × 4cm, has three lines of text. In l. 1, there is an unidentified letter, in l. 2 we can read ]ⲉⲗⲁ[ (the sloping line of the ⲗ is extended in the opposite direction), and in l. 3 ]ⲡⲛ[. The fourth fragment (no. 30, Fig. 132), again in red paint and 3.6 × 4cm, is also of three lines. In l. 1, probably read ]ⲛ[ (compare the ⲛ’s in the other texts in red paint, nos 27, 29 and 31), in l. 2, we have ]ⲟⲥ [, in l. 3 there is an unidentified letter. The fifth and last fragment in red paint (no. 31, Fig. 133), 3.5 × 3.1cm, has been included because of the vertical line left of the ⲛ marking the edge of the text. There is also a trace of a letter below the ⲛ. The sixth fragment (no. 32, Fig. 134), which measures 4.2 × 5.9cm, is written in black ink and has the three letters ⲁⲃⲣ, maybe of the name ‘Abraham’. In addition to the plaster fragments, in the same layer three small fragments of parchment and two of papyrus were found. All have text on both sides, but given that only a limited number of letters have been preserved in each case, nothing can be said about the date or type of text. The first two parchment fragments (nos 33–34, Figs 135–36; inv. no. ANC 28160) contain, on the front, the first (and on the larger fragment in some cases [part of] the second) letter of the left margin of the text and, on the back, the last letter(s) of the line. The larger fragment (dimensions: 2.9 × c. 8cm) preserves, on both sides, the first and last letter(s) of nine lines. In l. 6 of the back a small ⲟ has been squeezed between ⲣ and ⲛ for lack of space at the end of the line.

ABYDOS IN LATE ANTIQUITY: A VIEW FROM THE SHUNET EL-ZEBIB

Fig. 126: Text 24, Hermitage 13 (Photo: Ayman Damarany). Fig. 130: Text 28, Hermitage 13 (Photo: Ayman Damarany).

Fig. 127: Text 25, Hermitage 13 (Photo: Ayman Damarany).

Fig. 131: Text 29, Hermitage 13 (Photo: Ayman Damarany).

Fig. 128: Text 26, Hermitage 13 (Photo: Ayman Damarany). Fig. 132: Text 30, Hermitage 13 (Photo: Ayman Damarany).

Fig. 129: Text 27, Hermitage 13 (Photo: Ayman Damarany).

Fig. 133: Text 31, Hermitage 13 (Photo: Ayman Damarany).

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M. D. ADAMS WITH AN APPENDIX BY R. BÉLANGER SARRAZIN AND J. H. F. DIJKSTRA

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verso ⲱ[ in l. 1 (with a trace of a letter above it) and ϭ[ in l. 2. On the recto, the first fragment contains the left and the second fragment the right margin; the reverse is the case on the verso. Both fragments have the bottom margin. If they belong to the same page, the first fragment may thus have preserved the lower left corner of the page, the second the opposite, lower right corner. No. 38: Vicinity of Hermitage 8, exterior side of outer enclosure wall (Fig. 143) Fig. 134: Text 32, Hermitage 13 (Photo: Ayman Damarany).

5.

Front:

Back:

[ ⲧ[ ⲁ[ ϫ[ Ⲛⲣ[ ⲉⲡ[ ⲣⲟ[ ϭ[ ⲧ[

]ⲕ ]ⲉ ] ]ⲁ ]Ⲙ ]ⲣⲟⲛ ]ⲧⲁ ] ]

5.

The smaller fragment (dimensions: 2.5 × 3.2cm) has three lines. On the front side, l. 1 has an unidentifiable letter, in l. 2 read ⲛ, in l. 3 Ⲣ. On the back side, the letters in ll. 1 and 3 cannot be read; l. 2 has an ⲁ. The third fragment (no. 35, Figs 137–38; inv. no. ANC 28161), of 1.9 × 3cm, includes the remains of five lines of text from within the column. The fragment is accompanied by a small piece that has broken off, of which nothing can be made. In l. 1 on the front side an ⲉ can be read, with the trace of another letter following, in l. 2 Ⲛⲧ, in l. 3 ϩⲏ, and in l. 4 ⲉⲧ; l. 5 does not contain enough of the letter to identify it. L. 1 on the back only has a trace of an unidentifiable letter, l. 2 reads ⲉⲧⲔ, l. 3 has a ⲧ, l. 4 an unidentifiable letter, then Ⲛ, l. 5 an unidentifiable letter. Going on the few letters available for comparison (especially ⲉ, ⲛ and ⲧ), this fragment seems to come from the same manuscript as the previous two. The two papyrus fragments (nos 36–37, Figs 139–42; inv. nos ANC 28163 and 28162) are of similar sizes (first: 2.2 × 2.6cm, second: 2 × 2.7cm) and contain (letters from) two lines. The recto (→) of the first fragment (no. 36) reads ⲟ[ in l. 1, ⲉⲓ[ in l. 2; the verso (↓) ]ⲛⲓ in l. 1 and ]ⲩⲱ in l. 2. The recto of the second fragment (no. 37) reads ]ϥ in l. 1 and ]ⲧⲣⲁ in l. 2; the

From the exterior side of the outer enclosure wall, not far from Hermitage 8, comes a triangular piece of pottery (no. 38, Fig. 143; inv. no. ANC 33225),

Fig. 135: Texts 33–34, front, Hermitage 13 (Photo: Ayman Damarany).

Fig. 136: Texts 33–34, back, Hermitage 13 (Photo: Ayman Damarany).

ABYDOS IN LATE ANTIQUITY: A VIEW FROM THE SHUNET EL-ZEBIB

Fig. 137: Text 35, front, Hermitage 13 (Photo: Ayman Damarany).

Fig. 139: Text 36, recto, Hermitage 13 (Photo: Ayman Damarany).

Fig. 141: Text 37, recto, Hermitage 13 (Photo: Ayman Damarany).

Fig. 138: Text 35, back, Hermitage 13 (Photo: Ayman Damarany).

Fig. 140: Text 36, verso, Hermitage 13 (Photo: Ayman Damarany).

Fig. 142: Text 37, verso, Hermitage 13 (Photo: Ayman Damarany).

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Fig. 143: Text 38, Vicinity of Hermitage 8 (exterior side of outer enclosure wall) (Photo: Amanda Kirkpatrick).

Fig. 144: Text 39, Peet’s ‘Cemetery D’ (Photo: Amanda Kirkpatrick).

measuring 5.4 × 5.4 × 0.6cm, on which four letters can be read: ⲕⲉⲟ[. It is impossible to say from these letters what kind of text we are dealing with. Nos 39, 40: Peet’s ‘Cemetery D’ (Figs 144–45) The last two ostraca are not from the Shunet elZebib but were found in association with a hermitage in a remodelled vaulted mud-brick tomb in Peet’s ‘Cemetery D’. The first ostracon (no. 39, Fig. 144; inv. no. ANC 33772) has two lines of text, it is unclear of what kind. In l. 2, the text appears to mention the number ϣⲟ ‘thousand’, though it is unclear of what. ]ⲉⲟⲥ[ ]ⲚϣⲞ Ⲛⲣⲟ[

The second ostracon (no. 40, Fig. 145; inv. no. ANC 33757), unlike the previous ones, is incised in a very untidy hand, of which nothing can be made. Acknowledgements Unless otherwise noted, all photographs and graphics are courtesy of the Abydos Expedition.

Fig. 145: Text no. 40, Peet’s ‘Cemetery D’ (Photo: Amanda Kirkpatrick).

ABYDOS IN LATE ANTIQUITY: A VIEW FROM THE SHUNET EL-ZEBIB

Bibliography Adams, M. D. 2015. In the footsteps of looters: Assessing the damage from 2011 looting in the North Cemetery at Abydos. Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 51: 5–63. Ayrton, E. R., C. T. Currelly and A. Weigall. 1904. Abydos, Part III: 1904. Egypt Exploration Fund Memoirs 25. London. Bailey, D. M. 1982. Four groups of Late Roman pottery. In British Museum Expedition to Middle Egypt: Ashmunein (1981), A. J. Spencer and D. M. Bailey (eds), 11–59. British Museum Occasional Paper 41. London. ——. 1998. Excavations at El-Ashmunein V: Pottery, lamps and glass of the Late Roman and early Arab periods. British Museum Expedition to Middle Egypt. London. Brooks Hedstrom, D. L. 2001. ‘Your cell will teach you all things’: The relationship between monastic practice and the architectural design of the cell in Coptic monasticism, 400–1000. PhD dissertation, Miami University. Choat, M. 2015. Narratives of monastic genealogy in Coptic inscriptions. Religion in the Roman Empire 1: 403–30. Clédat, J. 1906. Le monastère et la nécropole de Baouît. Mémoires publiés par les membres de l’Institut français d’archéologie orientale du Caire 12. Cairo. Descœudres, G. 1988. L’architecture des Kellia. Le monde copte 14–15: 75–97. Dijkstra, J. H. F. 2012. Syene I: The textual and figural graffiti from the temple of Isis at Aswan. Darmstadt; Mainz. Egloff, M. 1977. Kellia III: La poterie copte. Quatre siècles d’artisanat et d’échanges en Basse-Égypte. Recherches suisses d’archéologie copte 3. Geneva. Garstang, J. 1909. Excavations at Abydos, 1909: Preliminary description of the principal finds. Annals of archaeology and anthropology 2: 125–29. Godlewski, W. 1990. Polish excavations at Naqlun (1988– 1989). Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 1: 29–34. ——. 1991. Deir el-Naqlun, 1990. Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 2: 48–53. ——. 1998. Naqlun: Excavations 1997. Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 9: 77–86. ——. 2018. Naqlun 2016: Hermitage EE.50 preliminary report. Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 26/1: 161–72. Godlewski, W., T. Herbich and E. Wipszycka. 1990. Deir el Naqlun 1986–1987: Preliminary report. Nubica 1.2: 171–207. Godlewski, W., and E. Parandowska. 1997. Naqlun: Excavations 1996. Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 8: 88–97. Grossmann, P. 1999. Zu Moses von Abydos und die Bischöfe seiner Zeit. Bulletin de la Société d’archéologie copte 38: 51–64.

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Mariette, A. 1880. Abydos, description des fouilles exécutées sur l’emplacement de cette ville. Tome deuxième: Temple de Séti [supplément], Temple de Ramsès, Temple d’Osiris, Petit temple de l’ouest nécropole. Paris. Naville, E. 1909. Excavations at Abydos. Egypt Exploration Fund Archaeological Report 1908–1909: 5. O’Connor, D. 1987. The earliest pharaohs and the University Museum. Expedition Magazine 29 (1): 27–39. ——. 1991. Boat graves and pyramid origins. Expedition Magazine 33 (3): 5–15. Peet, T. E. 1914. The cemeteries of Abydos, Part II, 1911– 1912. Memoirs of the Egypt Exploration Fund 34. London. Peet, T. E., and W. L. S. Loat. 1913. The cemeteries of Abydos, Part III, 1912–1913. Memoirs of the Egypt Exploration Fund 35. London. Petrie, W. M. F. 1925. Tombs of the courtiers and Oxyrhynkhos. British School of Archaeology in Egypt 37. London. Piankoff, A. 1958–1960. The Osireion of Seti I at Abydos during the Greco-Roman period and the Christian occupation. Bulletin de la Société d’archéologie copte 15: 137–44. Pouls Wegner, M.-A. 2002. The cult of Osiris at Abydos: An archaeological investigation of the development of an ancient Egyptian sacred center during the Eighteenth Dynasty. PhD dissertation, University of Pennsylvania. Randall-MacIver, D., and A. Mace. 1902. El Amrah and Abydos. Egypt Exploration Fund Excavation Memoirs 23. London. Sandiford, T. L. R. 2014. The northern Abydos settlement site: Preliminary report on the first three seasons of excavation (2010–2013). MA thesis, Brown University. Sauneron, S. 1972. Les ermitages chrétiens du désert d’Esna. Vol. 4, Essai d’histoire. Fouilles de l’Institut français d’archéologie orientale du Caire 29 (4). Cairo. Sauneron, S., and J. Jacquet. 1972. Les ermitages chrétiens du désert d’Esna. Vol. 1, Archéologie et inscriptions. Vol. 2, Descriptions et plans. Fouilles de l’Institut français d’archéologie orientale du Caire 29 (1–2). Cairo. Snape, S. R. 1986. Mortuary assemblages from Abydos. 2 vols. PhD dissertation, University of Liverpool. Tudor, B. 2011. Christian funerary stelae of the Byzantine and Arab periods from Egypt. Marburg. Van Loon, G. J. M., and A. Delattre. 2004. La frise des saints de l’église rupestre de Deir Abou Hennis. Eastern Christian Art 1: 89–112. Westerfeld, J. 2010. Landscapes of memory: Pharaonic sacred space in the Coptic imagination. PhD dissertation, University of Chicago.

LIVING WITH THE DEAD: THREE EXAMPLES OF CHRISTIAN REUSE IN THE ABYDOS NORTH CEMETERY Linda R. GOSNER and Laurel BESTOCK

Abydos is not customarily mentioned among the many ancient sites with Christian communities of hermits dating to the Late Antique and Medieval periods, since there is hardly any published evidence attesting to any such community there. However, recent archaeological work by multiple projects is providing an increasing amount of information that suggests that monastic activity at the site was in fact vibrant and varied. This chapter will provide preliminary details of three Christian monastic dwellings excavated in the last ten years in the Abydos North Cemetery by the project currently operating as the Brown University Abydos Project. Though they differ in size and opulence—the smallest contains two bare rooms while the largest contains at least ten, some painted—these dwelling spaces share a number of qualities. All were built into pre-existing subterranean mud-brick barrel vaults originally dating to the Ptolemaic period, all include substantial modification of those earlier structures, and all include the characteristic brilliant white plaster so familiar to archaeologists of this period. All three suites of rooms are also notable for their close proximity to the Coptic town of Deir Sitt Damyana (see Westerfeld this volume), itself likely set within a Ptolemaic wall, and to the entrance to the cemetery associated with that town, which is still in use today (Fig. 1). These factors demonstrate that the monastic dwellings were simultaneously separate—set apart from urban life at Abydos and from one another—and also closely integrated into both an ancient past and a more communal contemporary existence. These structures raise questions about how to approach the practice of adaptive reuse at Abydos. Further, they bring up questions about regional trends in Late Antique monasticism in general and about the relationship of Abydos to other Late Antique sites in Egypt. Architectural parallels pertaining to spatial organization between the most complex monastic dwelling discussed here and 1

Two of the three monastic dwellings have been discussed in previous preliminary site reports. See Knoblauch and Bestock 2009; Bestock 2012.

those at other sites, particularly purpose-built structures at Esna, are striking. Parallels for the paintings found in the Abydos complexes discussed here likewise show some commonality with finds from Bawit, Saqqara and Kellia. The recording of the recently excavated monastic dwellings at Abydos and the analysis of the ceramics and inscriptions found in these chambers are not yet complete; as such, no dating is offered here, the interpretations suggested are provisional, and the gathering of comparative material is far from comprehensive. The spaces are described in the order in which they were discovered, as their chronology relative to one another has not yet been established.1 A monastic dwelling in a Ptolemaic tomb The first of these monastic dwellings to be discovered was built inside the eastern vault of a three-vault tomb, located 20m south of the southern corner of Deir Sitt Damyana (Fig. 2). The other two vaults of this tomb held the heavily disturbed remains of a number of burials—many with stone anthropoid sarcophagi—and ceramics, ostraca and an offering table. The artifacts date the tomb to the Ptolemaic period, and it was probably used over generations, with the vaults accessible from short entrance ramps and small vaulted antechambers at one end (Fig. 3). The Ptolemaic tomb itself was probably constructed in multiple stages, and because the remodelled vault was (even in inception) quite different from the other two, it may have been the first to be built (Knoblauch and Bestock 2009, 232; Bestock 2012, 50). The remodelled vault had been entirely cleared of its prior contents in order to turn it into what appears to have been a living space, perhaps also used for worship. The preservation of this vault was remarkable: its brick arch was intact over a substantial portion of the subterranean structure, despite the fact that its top

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Fig. 1: Plan showing areas in the Abydos North Cemetery with the monastic dwellings discussed here.

Fig. 2: Ptolemaic tomb, one vault of which was remodelled into a monastic dwelling.

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Fig. 3: Plan of the Ptolemaic tomb. The features of the remodelling are difficult to see in plan because so much of the vault itself is intact. The red line shows the vault that was remodelled.

had lain close to ground level and the surface had become a road to the cemetery that was traversed by heavy trucks. The chamber itself was never entirely filled with sand; the strength of the vault alone was sufficient to withstand modern traffic. The vault in its original use probably already had two basic rooms: a narrower antechamber reached by a sloping ramp and a wider main chamber. The main chamber measures 2.37m wide, and the two rooms together had an original length of about 5.5m. The remodelling that converted the vault into a dwelling involved the blocking of the original antechamber, which was refitted with two vertical divisions that created three very deep niches covered in white plaster, and the construction of

a stairwell into the newly defined antechamber (Fig. 4). The stairwell itself is narrow, and the steps take a rightangle turn three stairs from the bottom. By turning, the stairs make the deep trio of niches in the northeast wall accessible. While they are undecorated, it seems likely that these niches once held portable images and served as the ceremonial focus of the monastic dwelling, though they could also have served as additional storage space. This is the only place in the interior that would have received much natural light, since it was immediately next to the stairwell. During the remodelling of this vault, a new wall with an arched doorway in its centre was built to separate the original main chamber into two spaces (Fig. 5). The

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Fig. 4: Stairs into the antechamber of the monastic dwelling in the Ptolemaic vaulted tomb.

Fig. 5: View from the main chamber, with its bed-bench, towards the three deep niches in the northeastern end of the dwelling in the Ptolemaic vaulted tomb.

northeastern room is the abovementioned antechamber, which is reached by the stairs and which contains the three deep niches. The walls of this chamber were white-plastered. The floor was badly disturbed but appears to have been only mud plastered. The south-

western room, now the largest chamber of the monastic dwelling, appears to have been a domestic space. A bench wide enough for an individual to lie on was built along the northwest wall, with a sculpted pillow in the northern corner. This bench turns the corner, providing something of a threshold to the door between chambers. The floor and bench were plastered with hard white gypsum plaster, but the walls received only a plain mud plaster. Two depressions were carved in the southwest wall (Fig. 6). The left one is a niche with a white-plastered ledge, but the one on the right has only a sloping base, unlike more usual niches. While the purpose of this second depression is less clear, the sloping base with a white-plastered back resembles the chamfered windows with circular openings discussed in our third example, Vault 12, below.2 These niches were cut into a wall shared with an earlier Ptolemaic vault, which probably collapsed, thus becoming open to the sky before the period of Late Antique reuse. If the second depression indeed served as a window, it made strategic use of this collapsed architecture to provide a means of illuminating this room with natural light and of providing ventilation for the subterranean space. No traces of inscription or painting remain in either room, but their walls were modified by the insertion of broken long bones of large animals, in addition to the plaster and niches already discussed. These broken animal bones are very common in such adaptively reused spaces of the Late Antique period, and presumably were intended to hold hanging oil lamps; the three monastic dwellings discussed here often have oil stains on the floor beneath such bones.3 Ceramics excavated in this monastic dwelling include a number of fine open vessels, larger storage vessels and cooking pots. The forms and fabrics, which include large storage vessels of Elephantine fabric as well as open small vessels in Egyptian Red Slip ware, have numerous parallels that allow them to be well dated to the 5th–7th centuries, though some types may also have later parallels (Knoblauch and Bestock 2009, 240–45). All ceramics were excavated in loose sand that had filtered through the holes in the vault; no stratified deposits were found,

2

3

See, in addition to Esna: Maspero 1931, pl. XLVIIA (Room 40); Clédat 1999, photos 114 and 129 (Chapel LI), photo 124 (Chapel LIV). Bone and antler hooks are also known at Esna and Kellia. For Kellia, see: Henein and Wuttmann 2000, 237–40, figs 243–46.

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Fig. 6: Niche and window (?) in the southwest end of the dwelling in the Ptolemaic vaulted tomb.

so none of the vessels can be assigned to the phase of adaptive reuse of the vault. The Late Roman remodelling of this vault is not the only instance of construction interacting with past structures in this specific location. The Ptolemaic tomb itself was built in a way that took into account the substructures of two much earlier tombs, dating to early Dynasty 1 in the late 4th millennium BC. One of these tombs—which the later architects were clearly aware of—was not only left architecturally intact but was also not robbed nor its contents disturbed. The tombs themselves belonged to a royal temple of the type usually known as a funerary enclosure (Bestock 2008; 2019). This layered interaction with a much deeper past is also relevant for our understanding of the two monastic dwellings found within an ibis hypogeum inside the modern cemetery. Two monastic dwellings in a Ptolemaic ibis hypogeum The other two suites of rooms under consideration here were built within a single structure, though they are not physically interconnected with one another. The structure itself is a massive underground block of mudbrick vaults, with a central corridor leading to at least

nine vaults on either side, totalling eighteen (Fig. 7). The complex was first discovered in 2008, but its nature and extent were not fully understood until 2010; the first of the reused monastic dwellings was the first area to have been accessed, and it was sealed off from the remainder of the subterranean structure. Like the tomb in which the first monastic dwelling discussed above was built, this ibis hypogeum originally dates to the Ptolemaic period. This date has been determined on the basis of the overwhelming quantity of Ptolemaic ceramic vessels used for ibis interments, as well as a coin hoard ritually buried by the entrance stairwell (Bestock 2012, 68–69). Together, the previously discussed tomb and the hypogeum suggest that this particular area of North Abydos was monumentalized during the Ptolemaic period; this is even more the case if the interpretation of the brick wall surrounding the village of Deir Sitt Damyana as originally Ptolemaic is correct (Bestock 2008, 44 n. 2). Additionally, and in a parallel to the Ptolemaic tomb, the fact that the ibis hypogeum was built in such close proximity to a Dynasty 1 monument—again a funerary enclosure— makes it highly likely that the earlier structure was both known about and intentionally respected by the later builders (Knoblauch and Bestock 2009, 233; Bestock 2009, 42–44, 57–61, 66–88).

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Fig. 7: Plan of the subterranean many-vaulted hypogeum built in the Ptolemaic period for the burial of ibis mummies.

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Vault 9 The monastic dwelling built into Vault 9 of the ibis hypogeum is in many ways similar to the one described above. An intact older barrel vault was subdivided into three spaces by the construction of two cross-walls, and a new staircase was built as a means of accessing the space. The back room, closest to the central corridor of the ibis hypogeum, measured 3.1m long and 3.25m wide; its height of 2.4m is the original height of the vault. The original door leading to the vault from the central corridor of the hypogeum was bricked up, rendering the rest of the hypogeum inaccessible from the monastic dwelling. This nearly square room was separated from the large chamber of the dwelling by a wall that was built across the width of the original vault; an off-centre door leads between the two rooms (Fig. 8). The doorway has a raised threshold and a shallowly pointed top. An engaged pillar to the side of the doorway would originally have held a bolting mechanism for a door on the inside of the otherwise inaccessible small chamber, indicating that a person could lock himself inside the room. Also in the dividing wall are found a small square window, which is both central and high, and at least three holes for bone hooks to hold hanging lamps—without such lamps the room would have been extremely dark, since very

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little sunlight could have reached it. The walls of this chamber were only mud plastered, not white. The floor was rough dirt, and no benches were built along its sides. The largest, central part of the subdivided Vault 9 monastic dwelling appears to have been a religious space, though its function certainly could have extended beyond that. It measures 3.25m wide—the original width of the vault—and 5.75m long. Its northwest end is defined by the wall separating it from the lockable smaller chamber. The door could not be locked from this side: one could lock oneself into the small chamber but not lock the chamber itself when it was empty of people. The face of this wall in the main room has the remains of five bone lamp holders. The main chamber’s southeast end was defined by the second cross-wall, this time built to define not a room but rather a stairwell, which was newly constructed into the southeast end of the original vault. A doorway led through this wall from the main chamber to the stairwell. A great deal of sand flowed in through the open doorway in this wall; as this has not been removed, the recording of the southeast end of the vault is still incomplete. The side of this cross-wall that faces the main chamber is the only one that was not white-plastered in this room; the other three walls are plastered in three zones, each approximately a third of the vault height. The central

Fig. 8: The innermost room of the monastic dwelling built into Vault 9 of the ibis hypogeum, view towards the main chamber.

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band is the whitest of the gypsum plaster, while the material covering the areas above and below the plaster is closer to whitewash. The long walls, which were part of the original vault, were treated more elaborately than the newer dividing walls. The southwest wall includes two square niches— which seem more like cabinets, carved at approximately waist height—below the line separating the bottom two plaster zones. A number of crude crosses and occasional other motifs, none either elaborate or figural, are carved into the plaster of the middle plaster zone. There are numerous lamp holders in this wall. A low and narrow kerb, much too narrow to serve as a bench for lying on, runs the entire exposed length of the base of the southwest wall. As was the case with the previously described monastic dwelling, the northeast wall also received the most attention here; because this vault is turned 90 degrees from the previous one, in this case it is a long wall rather than a short one that appears to have been the ceremonial focus. Here this is demonstrated by the presence of five roughly square niches carved at irregular intervals into the original fabric of the vault wall. The most central and largest of these was provided with a raised, plastered frame and a line drawing of a seated figure framed by a drawn arch (Fig. 9). The face and torso of this figure are unfortunately now missing, but the context and preserved areas suggest that the figure is Christ enthroned with a nimbus. A line of holes for bone lamp holders is present above the niches. Well above the decorated niche, above the line of the bright whitewashed surface of the wall where it becomes the vault, is a Coptic inscription written with red paint in a careful hand with an elaborate cross painted between words. Other inscriptions on this wall, in Coptic but with a small handful in Arabic, evidence a long-term interplay between relatively formal and more informal interactions with the space, also demonstrated by the difference between the red-painted cross and the crosses scratched through the plaster on the opposite wall. While enough light comes through the doorway to make the inscriptions visible without lamps, it is still a very dim space. This—the most intact of the three monastic dwellings—shows how much an inhabitant of

4

Garstang excavated in the area and noted the presence of a multi-vaulted subterranean structure: ‘One of these chambers was found to have been arranged as a Christian Church, and the Coptic writing upon the walls may be as early as the fourth century A.D.’ (Garstang 1909, 125). But there is no evidence,

these spaces would have been aware of being underground, and how the experience of being inside the chamber would have been altered by the use of hanging oil lamps. The staircase built to access Vault 9 in its remodelled state is itself a somewhat odd and quite impressive structure (Fig. 10). It was constructed in the southeastern portion of the vault and is so large that it obliterated slightly more than one third of the vault’s length, substantially decreasing what would have been the available interior space for the monastic dwelling itself. The stairs descend from the northeast before bending at a right angle, with a white-plastered landing at the turning and a more enigmatic plastered platform inside the bend of the landing. A retaining wall was built to keep sand from flowing in; it is notably irregular on the northeast side of the stairwell. The construction of the stairwell and retaining wall left some open spaces in what had been the vault and above it; the use, if any, of these spaces is unclear. Immediately outside the stairwell was found a solidified mass of unravelled linen wrappings about 2m wide and so glued together by an unidentified substance that it had to be be moved—by several men working together—as a solid mass (visible in Fig. 10). A few scarab seal impressions on mud, a small handful of bird bones, and a number of broken ceramic vessels were found associated with this mass. It seems most probable that the people who constructed the stairwell and cleared out the vault to make the monastic dwelling encountered large quantities of mummification supplies—whether as part of an embalming cache or wrapped around birds is not clear—and dumped them quite neatly outside the new dwelling. Not a shred of material relating to the original use of the vault was found within it, and only a small amount of pottery from the Late Antique period was discovered on the floor. The floor of the vault was still mostly bare, except near the stairs where sand had flowed in. This may be due to earlier archaeological or looting activity, or the room might have been largely cleaned out when its occupants moved away.4 We have not excavated at all in this vault to date; the observations above are based purely on what was visible when we found it.

from Garstang’s brief publication or from the structure itself, that he undertook much or any clearance of the vaults, and indeed we cannot be entirely sure that this was the structure he entered.

LIVING WITH THE DEAD: THREE EXAMPLES OF CHRISTIAN REUSE IN THE ABYDOS NORTH CEMETERY

Fig. 9a: Northeast wall of the large room in the Vault 9 dwelling.

Fig. 9b: Detail showing drawing in the largest niche.

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Fig. 10: Stairwell providing access to the Vault 9 dwelling. The mass of linen discarded immediately atop the stairs can be seen at lower left, and the top of Vault 7 is on the right.

Vault 12 The second monastic dwelling found in the ibis hypogeum, built into what we have labelled Vault 12 (see above, Fig. 7), is substantially more complicated than either of the previous two described here. It was first discovered in 2008, when only its upper rooms were found; these were not completely excavated at that point, and it was assumed to be a ground-level, purpose-built domestic structure (Bestock 2012, 76–78). Subsequent excavation in 2012–2013 demonstrated that these upper chambers, which were indeed new constructions of the Late Antique period, were connected to a subterranean suite in a vastly remodelled vault. This two-storey structure was a veritable monastic palace (Fig. 11), and it was excavated in its entirety in 2013.5 Its rooms were given alphabetic designations by us; these are used in the following description.

5

Because the integrity of the structure had been seriously compromised by the collapse of part of the vault prior to our discovery, some areas of decoration that were initially seen and recorded on the walls had subsequently to be removed and consolidated separately for storage. This could not always be done with control; some sections fell. The decision to completely excavate in a relatively short span of time despite the fact that we knew we would lose some parts of it was a difficult one. It was made primarily because of concerns about looting in this area; Egypt was then not stable after the revolution, and Abydos in general

The complex was constructed with reused Ptolemaic period mud bricks, mud mortar, mud and white-plastered walls, and white-plastered floors; one room had its floor painted red. It contained over thirty Coptic architectural inscriptions in situ and an elaborate series of polychrome and black paintings of animals, geometric designs and religious figures. Its spaces include those that appear to have been primarily for religious use (Rooms I and J), and others primarily for food preparation, consumption and storage (Rooms B, E and K), as well as less clearly designated rooms that may have served multiple domestic functions, including acting as bedrooms. Both architectural and artistic parallels to monastic dwellings at other sites in Egypt are numerous; some of these will be noted below. The Late Antique building consists of a superstructure of at least six rooms (Fig. 12) and an additional four subterranean rooms (Fig. 13); the subterranean

and this area in particular had already seen serious looting (Adams 2015). The discovery but non-excavation of a remarkable Christian structure was felt likely to increase the vulnerability of the area. I remain uncertain that this was the right choice, knowing that some information was lost. I take full responsibility for the decision. I am grateful to the conservators Sanchita Balachandran and Lamia el-Hadidi, neither of whom was present on site but both of whom provided valuable consultation during excavation. LB

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Fig. 12: Plan showing the purpose-built rooms above ground level of the Vault 12 dwelling.

Fig. 11: A monastic dwelling built into and on top of Vault 12 of the ibis hypogeum.

spaces were re-appropriations of all of Vault 12 and a part of the central corridor of the Ptolemaic period ibis hypogeum (Room K, which is not marked on Fig. 12, but was located under Room E). Vault 12 was divided into four rooms by the construction of three crosswalls. Part of the vault ceiling was either removed or had collapsed prior to the remodelling; the open area was used as both a light well and as the location of communication between the remodelled and newly built spaces by means of a plastered staircase. Additionally, a subterranean basement was added in the hypogeum’s central corridor; it was probably used for storage space, and was accessed through a hole cut in the southwest corner of Room E. The duration of the building’s occupation remains unclear without a full study of the ceramics and other artifacts, but there is ample evidence to suggest that it was lived in and remodelled over an extended period of time. This evidence includes the repairing and

Fig. 13: Plan showing the subterranean rooms of the Vault 12 dwelling; these were constructed in the pre-existing vault.

remodelling of floors, doorsteps and walls. During a later period, the building partially collapsed and was again remodelled with several sets of stairs that made certain spaces accessible after others had been completely abandoned. This secondary occupation may not have happened long after the initial construction of the building. Finally, in its post-abandonment period the structure was used as a place for refuse deposits and as an informal tomb for one body, which was dumped in the basement.

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From its primary phase of use, distinct spaces for religious activity, cooking and storage, and also multipurpose areas for sleeping and other daily life activities, can be identified in the complex. Aside from the cooking and storage areas, the entire building had white plaster floors (except for one, which was red) and walls coated in both white plaster and mud plaster. Many of the rooms had low benches—10–15cm high and 20cm wide—along one or more walls, and most doorways were lined with raised thresholds of these same dimensions. Square and rectangular storage niches were carved or built into many of the walls on both levels, especially on the east- and west-facing walls. Another common feature in many rooms was one or more small pot emplacements in the floor, which in many cases appear to have been situated near doorways or in corners in order to catch dust and sand. In some cases, they were positioned in such a way that they could have propped open doors if a stick or other instrument was placed in them. Such pot emplacements are also common at other monastic complexes, and are referred to as ‘dust-catchers’ by Pyke and Brooks Hedstrom (2013). The decoration of the complex consisted of red painted outlines around some niches and doorways;6 red and black painted inscriptions or dipinti; black graffiti and images;7 and polychrome figural paintings. The painted decoration and inscriptions were concentrated primarily in the religious space. The following description will first give details about the domestic and multi-purpose spaces, then about the kitchen and storage spaces, before turning to the religious space. Religious activity was certainly part of everyday domestic practice at monastic dwellings, and other kinds of everyday tasks could be performed as prayer.8 In this sense, each space under consideration here probably had flexibility in terms of its function and purpose. Rooms categorized as domestic and multi-purpose spaces, for instance, could have been used for sleeping, prayer, meetings or domestic production, among many other daily activities. Rooms with more specific designations such as cooking or

6

7

Red outline decoration is a common decorative element in white plaster rooms in other monastic complexes. A good comparison can be found at Bawit, Chapel XIX: Clédat 1999, pl. LXXXI. We differentiate between painted inscriptions, or dipinti, and graffiti in the descriptions below. Painted inscriptions are generally part of the formal decorative programme of the building and are executed in bold paint by a well-trained hand. What we term graffiti—both writing and images—are characterized by the use

religious spaces have been assigned these designations because of specific features located in them, such as ovens and a prayer niche, respectively. These functional designations serve to divide the discussion and highlight aspects of daily activity associated with each space, but are not meant to suggest that any room or space had a singular use. Domestic and multi-purpose spaces (Rooms A, C, D, F, G, H) The original entrance or entrances to the structure are no longer preserved, but a set of four stairs leading into Room F suggests that this may have originally been a means of access. Room F itself is configured in a U-shape and serves as a central corridor that led to all rooms in the superstructure. It also surrounds a depression leading to the central court (Room G) via the set of stairs descending into the lower level. Room F, similarly to most of the structure, was constructed with a white plaster floor and surrounded by walls coated in white plaster, as indicated by the collapsed remains of the east wall. Although it has both standing walls and doorways, the space probably remained either partly or completely unroofed to allow light to stream down into the central court and lower levels from above. Indeed, the subterranean space in Vault 12 had much more natural light than the monastic dwelling in Vault 9 discussed above. Aside from Room F, the upper storey has three other rooms with plaster floors: Rooms A, C, and D (Fig. 14). These are all small rectangular rooms accessible via Room F. Though none of their walls are preserved above 60cm, traces of white plaster remain on them. The wall plaster of Room C preserves some bevelling at its highest extent, suggesting that this room was only plastered up to about 60cm. We found no evidence of roofing material, but these rooms with plaster floors were likely covered in their original design, in contrast to the lightwell area encompassing Rooms F and G. These three rooms are small and

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of lighter paint that has not been preserved as well, and/or were executed in an informal or ad hoc style; we currently interpret these as later and less formal additions to the decorative programme. These designations are used here on a preliminary basis pending the analysis and publication of the epigraphy and paintings. See Brooks Hedstrom 2009 for a close analysis of literature surrounding the geography of the monastic cell.

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Fig. 14: The southeastern rooms of the above-ground portions of the Vault 12 dwelling.

probably domestic or multi-purpose in function, given their location between the kitchen and the lightwell and their proximity to the structure’s entrance. Because of their position relative to the modern surface, none of these rooms retained any artifacts or other remains that could indicate the activities that occurred in them. Additionally, if the walls had been preserved to a higher extent, they might have revealed inscriptions, paintings or other significant features that are now lost. Room A is a small rectangular room with a completely preserved plaster floor and a small pot emplacement in the southwest corner near the door leading south into Room E, the kitchen space. This space therefore served in part as a connecting room or hall between the kitchen and Room F. Room D must have had a configuration similar to that of Room A. Its plaster floor is only partially preserved, including a small pot emplacement and one niche along the eastern wall of the room. This room was heavily damaged by looting or other pitting activities after the structure’s abandonment. The floor was ripped out and a hole in the northwest corner of the room provided access to the lower

level into Room H. The back wall of Room D was also completely missing, though collapsed traces of it remain and prove its existence in antiquity. As a result, it is unclear if this room also opened into the kitchen, or if the only kitchen access was through Room A. Room C is unique for several reasons. First, it is the only room accessible from Room F that has only one entrance. Unlike Rooms A and D, it could not have served as a connecting hall and was instead a specific destination. Second, it was the only room of the superstructure whose entrance was blocked in antiquity with an actual door, probably made of wood. This door would have opened into the room, as evidenced by the stone doorjamb in the northwest corner of its interior. Finally, Room C is the only space in the entire structure that has a floor of red-painted plaster instead of white plaster. In all of the other spaces, red paint was reserved for window and door outlines and inscriptions. The room also has two small niches, of which only the bottoms are preserved. One contains a Coptic inscription of at least five lines painted in red letters, now unfortunately illegible. Because most of the other inscriptions

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are concentrated in the religious space or oratory, the presence of this long inscription could be significant; the room could have functioned as an auxiliary religious space. On the other hand, the walls of the other superstructure rooms were not preserved well enough to indicate whether there were other niches or wall inscriptions elsewhere. Room C has another unusual feature: the southern portion of the room is delineated by a small step containing a gravel fill. This might be a bench still under construction or ripped out and in the process of repair, but this is not certain and its function remains unclear (Fig. 15). Leading down from Room F into Room G, the central court, is a set of ten mud-brick stairs coated in plaster and carefully shaped with bevelled edges (Fig. 16). The construction and style of the stairs at the Esna monastic dwellings are remarkably similar to those uncovered here, even that they descend into the central court from the south (Sauneron and Jacquet 1972a, 10, 13). The court is located in the middle of what was once Ptolemaic Vault 12, though all remaining architectural traces of the vault were demolished and removed at the time of the monastic dwelling’s construction. It is possible that this room was so extensively remodelled as a result of pre-existing damage to the vault top, since dismantling an intact vault would have meant a substantial labour investment. However, the need for light in the lower level and the parallels for this architectural plan in the Esna monastic dwellings suggest that the central court was purpose-built for this particular type of monastic dwelling. This also created a rectangular room with straight standing walls rather than a vault, as was the case in the rest of the subterranean spaces. Room G serves as the central access point to the other subterranean rooms and was probably also used as a domestic space. The wall is plastered from top to bottom, and the plaster floor is very well preserved. One faint decorative horizontal red stripe lines the upper walls of the room. Along the northeastern wall is a substantial bench or bed with a pillow on its northern end, covered with the same plaster as the walls and floor. Above the bed on the northeast wall are two square niches, both lined in red paint. An additional niche, preserved only at its base, is located just above the ‘pillow’ of the bed on the northwest wall. A double niche, which forms a shelf, is carved at the foot of the bed into the southeast wall. This double niche has one Coptic inscription in red, but the others were simply outlined in red paint. The lower niche in the double

niche arrangement is unusual in its form: it contains a round depression, most likely for the placement of a round pot (Fig. 17). This particular niche installation has parallels at Esna, where both the double niche and the niche with the depression for a pot are present (Sauneron and Jacquet 1972a, 55; see Niche Type B present in monastic dwelling 9, Room E, and Niche Type C present in monastic dwelling 7, Room C). Walls were newly constructed on both the northwest and southeast ends of Room G during the Late Antique remodelling, splitting the original vault into roughly thirds. Mirroring each other, both of these walls contained two chamfered windows with circular openings and a door. The window type and placement used here is similar to that seen in the monastic dwellings at Esna (Sauneron and Jacquet 1972a, 43), and additional parallels can be found at Bawit (Maspero 1931, pl. XLVIIA; Clédat 1999, photos 114, 129 and 124). In our monastic dwelling, the southeastern end of the vault became Room H, which appears to have been used as a domestic space. This room has the only intact portion of the Ptolemaic vault, though there is one hole in the ceiling and some evidence of repair in one corner of the vault top. Room H is completely covered in white plaster from floor to ceiling, and contains four wall niches— two on the northeast wall and two on the southwest wall—each outlined in red paint. The niches on the northeast wall contain round stains from the bottoms of cups, though no cups were found in situ. The wall dividing this room from the central court has some interior decoration, and both of its circular windows have curved slopes leading to rectangular outlines in red paint (Fig. 18). In one of these curved window sills was a small outline of a head and neck, and below another was a square knot decoration; both were painted in red. Although none are intact, a series of bone hooks once lined the walls of this room, evident from the holes with rock and ceramic supports cemented in with mud. Room H also has one small bench along its southeast wall; this wall would have had to be partially remodelled to block off the original Ptolemaic entrance into the vault. The bench measures 10cm high by 20cm wide. It could have served as a pillow for sleeping on the floor, and sitting on it provides a view through the circular windows and directly across to the matching set of windows leading into the oratory (Room I). Unfortunately, the fill of Room H was extremely mixed—no artifacts were found in situ, and many appeared to have come in from the hole in the ceiling along with the massive amount of sand that

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Fig. 15: Detail of red-plastered Room C.

Fig. 16: Stairs in Rooms F and G—the lightwell/courtyard that gives access between the two levels of the Vault 12 dwelling.

Fig. 17: Double niche with pot emplacement in Room G.

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Fig. 18: Windows looking out from Room H to Room G. The platform visible in the doorway belongs to a later phase of construction and use.

filled nearly the entire chamber. Both Ptolemaic ibis mummy jars from the interior of the hypogeum and ceramics contemporary with the monastic dwelling were present in the fill. In total, six rooms of the monastic dwelling appear to have been primarily intended for domestic and multipurpose uses. Though very few artifacts that could provide any clue as to specific activities that took place within or outside the walls were left behind, the sheer amount of elegantly designed and constructed space provides some clues as to how the building as a whole was used. There would have been ample space for more than one person to live, and certainly space for guests who were passing through or on pilgrimage to Deir Sitt Damyana. As Boutros reminds us, the fact that there was only one bed means very little in terms of how many people might have inhabited the monastic dwelling, since multiple inhabitants could have been accommodated on the floor (Boutros 2010, 192). Attention was given to ensure that the subterranean rooms were properly lit by both sunlight and probably hanging lamps or candles, niches were provided for storage, and pot emplacements would have provided an easy mechanism for keeping the domestic space clean. Additionally, the open areas would have provided a cool, semi-enclosed space for the hot summer months,

and the indoor spaces with doors would have provided warmth in the winter. Kitchen and storage spaces (Rooms B, E, K) Directly south of Rooms A, C and D in the superstructure is a space designed primarily for cooking and eating (Fig. 19; see plan, Fig. 12). This space extends along the entire southeastern edge of the monastic dwelling and is divided into two rooms: one large room (Room E) with a small, very deteriorated oven on its southwestern end, and a small room containing a much larger oven on its northeast side (Room B). While the rest of the monastic dwelling is formally coated in white plaster, the mud bricks and mud plaster in this area are undecorated. The floor is informal, too, consisting of packed mud and debris that accumulated on top of the Ptolemaic hypogeum’s central corridor ceiling over which the rooms were constructed. Room E is delineated to the southeast by a rather unstable wall only one brick wide. Because most other walls of the structure are two bricks wide, it seems that this space was less formal and probably not roofed. Despite the informal and dirty nature of Room E, it was probably meant for sitting: an L-shaped bench constructed of two courses of mud brick stretches along

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the entire southeastern wall and along the wall that separates Room E from Room B. This could have easily served as a communal eating and/or food preparation space. A similar bench was also constructed on the southeast exterior of Room E; this could have simply been another sitting area outside of the confines of the structure. The ovens found in the kitchen space of Vault 12 have parallels at Esna, where it was likewise not uncommon to have two different types in a single structure. One type—usually referred to as a bread oven, though certainly it could have been used to cook a variety of foods—is comparable to the Room B oven described in the following paragraph. This type is present in four of the monastic dwellings at Esna (Sauneron and Jacquet 1972a, 22). The other type consists of two pots placed one on top of the other, cemented into a mud-brick platform. Although the smaller oven in this monastic dwelling (in Room E) is so fragmentary that it is hard

Fig. 19: Rooms B (foreground, with large ceramic oven) and E, the cooking areas of the Vault 12 dwelling.

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to determine its original form, it may well have been this type. Also important to note is the fact that this particular oven type was present in all nine of the excavated Esna monastic dwellings (Sauneron and Jacquet 1972a, 22), indicating that it was an integral part of the kitchen space. The larger of the two ovens in the Vault 12 monastic dwelling occupies nearly all of Room B. It is made out of a large ceramic vessel with walls 3–4cm thick, which was cemented into the floor with mud. A low wall lies in front of the oven; it provided an access point to place food or charcoal into the oven. A large quantity of charred faunal bones and ash was present both in the interior of the oven and in the remaining parts of Room B; it was also found pouring out into Room E. Little effort seems to have been made to remove the food and cooking refuse, at least in the later phases of the oven’s use. Animal bones can be used as fuel for fire in the absence of wood (Mentzer 2009, 53); the bones discovered here await faunal analysis but appear to come from primarily smaller animals, perhaps mostly sheep, goats and birds. The smaller oven is located on the southwestern edge of Room E, built directly into the thick exterior wall of the monastic dwelling. Although it lay near the surface and had been badly damaged prior to excavation, two circular spaces could be delineated, both carved into the burned and heat-reddened brick of the wall. Extending out from each of these circles is a flat, charcoal-covered brick surface, which was apparently used for inserting food into the oven. Curiously, no obvious food remains were recovered from this area, though soil and brick samples have been taken. This kitchen area also includes a storage cellar (Fig. 20). Room K is located directly below Room E and is accessed through a square cut in the top of the hypogeum, in the southwest end of that room; it was built into the partly sand-filled central corridor of the hypogeum. Although this space is in the original subterranean hypogeum, it does not connect to the other subterranean spaces of Vault 12. Additionally, its floor level was significantly higher during the Late Antique phase, since it was built in a corridor already abandoned and filled with sand. There must have been some kind of cover used to close the access hole, which is located directly outside the exit of Room A and in front of the small oven (visible in Fig. 19 towards the back). The cellar itself was made by simply plastering the blackened ceiling with clean mud mortar and using white plaster on the walls to a height of roughly 50cm.

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Fig. 20: Storage cellar, Room K, below the kitchen area of the Vault 12 dwelling.

The sand was retained by a small wall on either side, one of which is still in situ. One bone hook was placed in the northern wall, presumably to light the space when it was in use. There was no formal floor. The fill of the cellar contained some large storage vessels and other pottery consistent with the room’s probable storage function. Religious spaces (Rooms J, I) The primary religious space or oratory (Room I) (Fig. 21) of the monastic dwelling lies to the northwest

of the central court, Room G. This is another parallel to Esna, where oratories are consistently found north of the central courts. All Esna oratories also have additional storerooms attached and are entered through a southern door on a wall containing two windows that open to the central court (Boutros 2010, 186). The configuration of the Abydos Vault 12 oratory is remarkably similar. It has one small room to the northwest (Room J), presumably used for storage and accessible only through a small arched window. Room I’s entrance is similar to that of Room H: through a doorway from the court and positioned next to two circular windows. As evidenced by the in situ stone doorjamb and remains of a mud-brick lock contraption, the oratory could be locked by a door that opened inward and was probably made of wood. Lighting was apparently of the utmost importance in the interior of Room I; it contains many more bone hangers than the other covered subterranean space (Room H), and stains below these hangers attest to their use to hang lamps. Low benches run along the southwest and southeast walls, providing seating that looks towards the focal point of the whole room: an apsidal niche carved into the centre of the northeast wall. The oratory (Room I) contains the majority of both the paintings and inscriptions in the monastic dwelling, with the northeast wall and its niches, particularly the apsidal one, demonstrating the customary

Fig. 21: Room I, the oratory of the Vault 12 dwelling.

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devotional direction of Coptic monastic dwellings. The other walls are not devoid of decoration, however, and will be described first. The southwest wall of the room contains one central niche, with an inscription invoking the Father, Son and Holy Spirit above it. An additional niche is located on the far right-hand side of the wall. Running the length of this side of the room, above a somewhat sketchily drawn black depiction of the head and wing of an angel, is a long inscription invoking a series of saints. The inscriptions in this room, all in red, are painted in the same colour and possibly by the same hand as the window and niche outlines throughout the subterranean level. The low bench running the length of this wall contains two small pot emplacements. These must have had a distinctly different function from those placed directly in the ground, since they are neither located near the doors to serve as door props nor in places

where they could be used to collect dust and sand. They contain no traces of wax, burning or any other unusual substances. While their function remains unclear, they must have had a defined purpose in the space; similar pot emplacements are present in the benches of the northern oratories in seven of the monastic dwellings at Esna (Numbers 1–7). Those pot emplacements were also empty upon discovery, and their role is unclear (Sauneron and Jacquet 1972a, 16). The additional cross-wall on the northwestern end of Room I, which separates it from Room J, contained just one central window large enough to provide access into the smaller room. The wall includes three bone hooks and a series of both formal and informal paintings.9 On the lower right is a polychrome depiction of the sacrifice of Isaac complete with Abraham, the hand of God coming from a tree, an altar, a sheep, several other human figures, and a horse (Fig. 22). Many of these

Fig. 22: Painting of Abraham preparing to sacrifice Isaac, northwest wall, Room I. 9

On the basis of photographs, Damià Ramis identified two of these bone hooks as adult bovids and one as an equid (personal communication).

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figures are also present in a sketchier style in black paint—either graffiti or preliminary drawings to be added upon the arrival of a skilled artist. The upper portion of the wall on the right also has a graffiti drawing of a boat and an unidentified or fantastic quadruped. Something of a parallel for this painting can be found in a more elaborately coloured and somewhat differently arranged and styled depiction of the same event at the monastery of Apa Jeremias at Saqqara (Quibell 1912, pls V and XII). The southeastern wall of the oratory, that with the door leading to the court, has a small niche on the far east side, which is the only niche from the monastic dwelling with remnants of burning on its interior. This niche is decorated with a red outline and a fish bone design extending out from each corner. An inscription to Jesus is painted in red above the niche. Additionally, to the left of the door is a shallow, rectangular recess. It is outlined in red like the other niches, but is much too shallow (c. 5–7cm) to have held anything in its base. It has a series of mud-filled holes along its upper edge (Fig. 23). This feature is found in five of the Esna monastic dwellings, and all of the extant examples are positioned on the sides of the oratory doors. In one case, the holes along the upper edge of the recess contain small bones, which appear to have functioned as hangers. Both the proximity of the door and the presence of multiple hangers led Sauneron and Jacquet to suggest that these hangers would have functioned as key holders. They hypothesize that there could be a correspondence between the number of lockable doors in the monastic dwelling and the number of hangers in these small niches (Sauneron and Jacquet 1972a, 58–59). Bones were clearly used as hangers for lamps, so these smaller bones could have served as hangers for smaller items such as keys. While plausible, this suggestion remains unproved. As noted above, the northeastern wall of the oratory is the most elaborate in terms of both architecture and decoration. It contains three squared niches of the sort seen elsewhere in this complex and one apsidal niche, distinguished not only by its circular top but also by a moulded mantle and pilasters extending up from either end. The apse and moulding are intricately painted. Both pilasters contain paintings of two heads with haloes (Fig. 24); the use of heads in circles to decorate the frame of an apsidal niche can also be seen at Saqqara, though the treatment is not the same (Quibell 1912, pls XXII and XXIII). The frame of the arch was painted with a red, green, black and yellow geometric

knot design (Fig. 25). Much of this upper portion was unfortunately destroyed in antiquity; we found small fragments in situ that were too unstable to be conserved in place, and also recovered more pieces from the sand filling the room. The central apse contains an elaborate cross, with an enrobed figure of Christ above it, now gone but for his feet and shins (Fig. 26). He appears to be seated. On either side of the cross are depictions of saints and angels. St Peter stands on the left alongside the angel ‘Zegiel’, and St Paul stands on the right. All of these images are painted in black outlines with polychrome details and black inscribed labels executed in what seems to be the same hand as the labels for the scene of Abraham and Isaac on the northern cross-wall. On the left side of the central apse is a recessed niche, below which is a depiction of a large lion held by its hind legs by a seated man holding a rope, also

Fig. 23: Doorway, looking from Room I towards Room G. Repair to the doorjamb can be seen, as well as the stone door socket and a shallow niche that may be related to locking of the door.

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in painted black outline with polychrome detail (Fig. 27). Might this be Daniel in the Lion’s Den? Below the lion are found both original depictions and copies of lion cubs. The lion is mirrored on the right side by the faint outline of another with similar proportions, which was either mostly erased or never finished. Over this second lion, several images of circles are sketched in addition to a lion biting the rear end of a dog. The right side of this wall contains two niches, both outlined in red. The southernmost niche includes a series of head outlines drawn on its interior left side, as if the artist had been practising in a discreet location. This wall has other preliminary drawings and graffiti in black, including geometric designs, a head and a figure (both unlabelled), and a full depiction of a man labelled ‘Solomon’. Below the central apse is another inscription in black and several layers of unfinished drawings. The first, in faint outline, appears to be a large bird with extended wings. It was covered

over with preliminary drawings of lions, similar in form to the more finished lion depicted on the left side of the niche. The use of elaborate colour in some places but not others in this room may suggest the presence of multiple decorative programmes. Perhaps of significance is that Peter and Paul, Christ, Abraham and Isaac, and what might be Daniel and the Lions, all lack the elaborate polychromy of the roundels, cross and borders of the apsidal niche, each of which includes green. As mentioned, Room J appears to be an auxiliary or storage room for the oratory. It is lime plastered only to a height of roughly 50cm, and the rest of the walls, which would not have been visible from Room I, were only mud plastered. The back wall—which is also the back wall of the Ptolemaic hypogeum itself—was modified with one niche, which is also lime plastered on the interior and is visible through the window. Three bone hooks in this wall correspond to stains on

Fig. 24: Haloed heads to the right of the apsidal niche in Room I.

Fig. 25: Head on the left of the apsidal niche, showing the geometric design border.

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Fig. 26: The feet of Christ above a cross in the apsidal niche of Room I. The cross is flanked by Peter, Paul and an angel.

Fig. 27: A fettered lion controlled by a man, with lion cubs below.

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the floor. Small benches or pillows are present at the ends of the room. No artifacts were found in situ. There is no doubt that Room I was the primary religious space of the monastic dwelling. The concentration of religious decoration and inscriptions coupled with the elaborate apsidal niche that was as close to east-facing as the pre-existing architecture allowed make it a typical Christian oratory. Despite the great attention to architectural and decorative detail in this space, however, the structural design seems to have been fragile. The removal of vault bricks to form the large central apse may have caused architectural weakness to the extent that the roof completely collapsed in antiquity, very likely at a time when the monastic dwelling was still in use (see below). Upon first examination, the artifacts recovered from this space all appear to date to the Late Roman/Byzantine period; more precise dating awaits a study season. Continued use and adaptation The monastic dwelling in Vault 12 was used for an indeterminate span of time, but certainly long enough to allow for regular repairs and some more substantial modifications. For example, there are repair holes in the floor plaster of both Rooms I and H on the lower level. These were done by cementing extra pieces of white lime floor plaster in with mud. In Room I, the moulding around the doors appears to have been broken and was in the process of being repaired either when the space was abandoned or when the ceiling collapsed (visible in Fig. 23). Mud had been reapplied and reshaped using mud plaster over the broken edges of the lime plaster; a muddy handprint is visible over part of the remaining lime plaster. Modifications to the architecture, such as an extra niche behind the small stairs in Room F and the blocking of a door (both on the upper level), suggest some remodelling over time. Finally, many additional drawings and inscriptions seem to have been added at later phases of occupation. As is attested at many Coptic sites, monochrome graffiti and drawings rendered by unskilled hands lined the walls of this building alongside the more elaborate drawings and inscriptions. Given that this was such common practice, there appears to have been no stigma attached to adding personal drawings and inscriptions to such monastic dwellings. Brooks Hedstrom suggests instead that graffiti was indicative of the residents being ‘active participants in ascetic living’ (2007, 380).

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Though smaller remodellings occurred over time, a larger reconfiguration of the space was necessary after a major collapse. This appears to have been a result of the weakening of the original structure in the oratory caused by the carving of niches into the fabric of the vault. The collapse seems to have occurred while the space was still in use, since the interior fill of Rooms I and J produced a great number of whole or reconstructable vessels, other small finds, and even an undisturbed deposit of ash (possibly from a lamp) in the central area of the floor. Additionally, the collapse of this northern portion of the vault may have precipitated a partial collapse of debris into the open light well of Room F, rendering much of Room G inaccessible. However, an awareness of the remaining and intact underground Room H was maintained, and an effort was made to preserve this as an accessible space. At this time, a new informal occupation level was introduced in Room G on top of the layers of collapse and debris that covered the room’s original floor. This new floor surface was simply constructed out of packed dirt and was apparently used as a storage space for many Late Roman amphorae, which were discovered mostly intact. Because these amphorae are of the same form as many of those discovered in Rooms I and J, there is reason to believe that this reoccupation occurred not long after the primary occupation period. It is possible that there was, in fact, continuous occupation and simply a restricted use of space after part of the building was deemed irreparable. Of course, if the occupants of the space were still hermits at that point, the loss of the oratory would have had a profound impact on their daily life, probably leading them to search for an alternative location for prayer, perhaps in one of the upper rooms of the structure. Associated with the new occupation level in Room G was a new mud stairway and mud-brick landing, which leads down into Room H. At this time the west window of the wall between Rooms H and G was blocked up with mud-brick fragments and mud because it was at foot level with the descent of the new staircase; the modification would have kept sand from blowing into the room from the stairway. A small wall was also built around the east window, probably to allow the opening to remain unblocked so that sunlight could enter the room while still providing a sand barrier, since this window was just above the new floor level (Fig. 28). Finally, the newly built mud-brick landing inside the door to Room H provided a base for a new stone doorjamb and a new door in the modified

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Fig. 28: Collapse and continued use in Room G; a secondary stairway.

doorway, which is likely to have been secured with a wooden door (see Fig. 18). Apparently, the white plaster floor was maintained intact and was used in the rest of the room during this period, but the aesthetic perfection as well as the religious use of the structure as a whole was seriously compromised by the reconfigurations needed after this collapse. In the end, the monastic dwelling in Vault 12 was abandoned and allowed to fill up with wind-blown sand. Comparison to other sites A comparison of the Vault 12 monastic dwelling to the nine purpose-built monastic dwellings from the Late Roman Period at Esna is instructive. This has been suggested above on the basis of several details; however, it is their configuration of space—at one site purpose-built and in the other shoehorned into an existing structure—that is most strikingly similar between Esna and Abydos. The Esna monastic dwellings are all variants on what seems to be a prescribed plan. They are subterranean dwellings, which were built by first digging deep holes below the surface. In these dwellings, a staircase leads down into a central court that is left open to the sky. To the north of the central court is the oratory, which always contains a painted niche on the east wall and oftentimes is adorned with other decoration and Coptic inscriptions. In the larger monastic dwellings, second oratories are sometimes added in the south. Otherwise, southern rooms are usually meant to

serve as spaces for sleeping and daily activities. Each monastic dwelling is also equipped with a kitchen, often with two types of ovens. These monastic dwellings are constructed out of mud brick and white lime and mud plasters, with painted decoration of a variety of colours, especially red and black (Sauneron 1972; Sauneron and Jacquet 1972a; 1972b; Brooks Hedstrom 2007, 382; Boutros 2010). The Vault 12 monastic dwelling at Abydos shows that the repeated architectural model found at Esna, almost a ‘blueprint for monastic living’ (Brooks Hedstrom 2007, 382), could also be adapted for a space that already existed. The similarities between this Abydos monastic dwelling and the Esna monastic dwellings are striking. For us—who are trained neither in Coptic archaeology nor art—finding the publication of Esna seemed so miraculously familiar on the basis of what we had excavated that we immediately posited a close relationship for the two sites, going as far as to think that the same people had perhaps built at both. But the fact that the paintings have somewhat closer parallels at other sites, including Saqqara which is quite far away from Abydos, is a reminder that such monastic dwellings cannot be understood except as sums of their parts: architecture, paintings, epigraphy and material culture. Planned collaborative future study of the inscriptions and paintings will, we hope, enable the sum of this particular dwelling at Abydos to be brought into the broader study of Coptic monastic communities.

LIVING WITH THE DEAD: THREE EXAMPLES OF CHRISTIAN REUSE IN THE ABYDOS NORTH CEMETERY

Conclusion While the three monastic dwellings recently discovered in the Abydos North Cemetery were all abandoned, Christian activity of course did not cease in and around Deir Sitt Damyana. Multiple churches exist nearby, including a recently built one just across the street and to the south of the plot of land in the Abydos Northern Cemetery where the hypogeum and its monastic dwellings are located. The cemetery is still actively used, and the town itself is still filled with people. Additionally, the monastery, which lies further east, remains occupied to this day. Local memory maintains that the most ancient church lies in or around the area where the hypogeum was discovered, and it is possible that the oratory of either modified vault is remembered as such. It is also possible that a more substantial church or other similarly rich monastic dwellings remain to be discovered. Acknowledgements The Brown University Abydos Project (BUAP) is directed by Laurel Bestock under the auspices of the Ministry of State Antiquities. The BUAP operates under the aegis of the University of Pennsylvania Museum-Yale University-Institute of Fine Arts, New York University Expedition to Abydos (PYIFA), directed by David O’Connor and William Kelly Simpson. The first of the cases discussed here was excavated under the direction of L. Bestock while she was conducting excavations for her PhD dissertation as a member of the PYIFA. We express our gratitude to the PYIFA. We are especially grateful to the very helpful anonymous reviewer who brought numerous parallels to our attention. All images are copyright BUAP.

Bibliography Adams, M. 2015. In the footsteps of looters: Assessing the damage from the 2011 looting in the North Cemetery at Abydos. Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 51: 5–63. Bestock, L. 2008. The Early Dynastic funerary enclosures of Abydos. Archéo-Nil 18: 42–59. ——. 2009. The development of royal funerary cult at Abydos: Two funerary enclosures from the reign of Aha. Wiesbaden. ——. 2012. Brown University Abydos Project: Preliminary report on the first two seasons. Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 48: 35–79.

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——. 2019. Visibility and invisibility in the landscape of Abydos: A case study in the effect of Early Dynastic monuments on the later use of sacred space. In Abydos: The sacred land at the western horizon, I. Regulski (ed.), 71–84. Leuven. Boutros, R. 2010. The monastic dwellings in the Desert of Esna. In Christianity and monasticism in Upper Egypt 2: Nag Hammadi-Esna, G. Gabra and H. N. Takla (eds), 181–99. Cairo. Brooks Hedstrom, D. L. 2007. Divine architects: Designing the monastic dwelling place. In Egypt in the Byzantine world, 300–700, R. S. Bagnall (ed.), 368–89. Cambridge. ——. 2009. The geography of the monastic cell in early Egyptian monastic literature. Church History 78 (4): 756–91. Clédat, J. 1999. Le monastère et la nécropole de Baouît. Mémoires publiés par les membres de l’Institut français d’archéologie orientale du Caire 111. Cairo. Garstang, J. 1909. Excavations at Abydos, 1909: Preliminary description of the principal finds. Annals of Archaeology and Anthropology 2: 125–29. Henein, N. H., and M. Wuttmann. 2000. Kellia: L’ermitage copte QR 195. Archéologie et architecture. Cairo. Knoblauch, C. M., and L. Bestock. 2009. Four thousand years in Abydos: A preliminary report on the architecture and ceramics of the 2004–05 excavation in the north cemetery, West. Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 65: 211–52. Maspero, J. 1931. Fouilles exécutées à Baouit. Mémoires publiés par les membres de l’Institut français d’archéologie orientale du Caire 59. Cairo. Mentzer, S. M. 2009. Bone as a fuel source: The effects of initial fragment size distribution. In Fuel management during the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic periods, I. ThéryParisot, S. Costamagno and A. Henry (eds), 53–64. Oxford. Pyke, G., and D. L. Brooks Hedstrom. 2013. The afterlife of sherds: Architectural re-use strategies at the Monastery of John the Little, Wadi Natrun. In Functional aspects of Egyptian ceramics in their archaeological context: Proceedings of a conference held at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Cambridge, July 24th–July 25th, 2009, B. Bader and M. F. Ownby (eds), 307–25. Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 217. Leuven. Quibell, J. E. 1912. Excavations at Saqqara (1908–09, 1909– 10): the Monastery of Apa Jeremias. Cairo. Sauneron, S. 1972. Les ermitages chrétiens du désert d’Esna IV: Essai d’Histoire. Cairo. Sauneron, S., and J. Jacquet. 1972a. Les ermitages chrétiens du désert d’Esna I: Archéologie et inscriptions. Cairo. Sauneron, S., and J. Jacquet. 1972b. Les ermitages chrétiens du désert d’Esna II: Descriptions et plans. Cairo.

THE SOUTH ABYDOS MARKETPLACE EXCAVATIONS (2009–2010, 2013): THE MONASTERY OF APA MOSES? Ayman Mohammed DAMARANY and Hazem Salah ABDALLAH

Although several studies have been devoted to understanding the origins, systems and general features of monasteries in Egypt (e.g. Goehring 1999; Wipszycka 2009), only minimal attention has been given to the study of their material culture. Until recently, remains dating to the early Christian period were not prioritized on archaeological excavations, but now this is an emerging area of study with increasing interest in fieldwork, yielding exciting results (O’Connell 2014). One of the main foci of this new work is to investigate the built environment of Egyptian monasticism, and its material culture, thus providing a view of the conditions under which monks lived. Monasteries (Arabic: adayra, sing. dayr) are still a feature of the Egyptian landscape, but these tend to be walled communities, representing the current style of monastic living. Although this lifestyle was present in early Christian times, at, for example, the monasteries of St Shenoute, St Pachomius and St Antony (Harmless 2004), there were also more solitary monastic dwellings, often located in the mountains or desert places (Petrie 1925; Brooks Hedstrom 2007). Recent research has shown that monasteries could combine both modes of living, as is the case at the monastery of St Macarius (Innemée 2016). Darlene Brooks Hedstrom (2007) has shown that adaptive reuse of existing temples, tombs and other structures also formed an important part of early monasticism in Egypt. The contribution of new excavations and further research has led to the questioning of the accepted view of the evolution of monasticism in Egypt as a linear process, and the development of new ideas (Wipszycka 2013).

1

In the official documentation of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, this area is termed ‘Division 30’ (Arabic: hod da’ar al-nahya).

South Abydos marketplace: The site and its location One of the key responsibilities of the ongoing development project undertaken by the Supreme Council of Antiquities in al-Arabah, Abydos, is the removal of unplanned recent housing erected between the temples of Seti I and Ramses II. The encroachment of houses risks damaging the archaeological area located between the two temples. In order to be able to remove the modern settlement, the area of each house in square metres was calculated by the relevant authorities in an attempt to estimate the area of empty land required to compensate the residents of 101 of these houses for the loss of their buildings. For this purpose, the Inspectorate chose an area of land owned by the Supreme Council of Antiquities located to the south of the Seti temple, where they had already done some test excavations.1 This apparently empty land is where the village of al-Arabah holds its market on Saturday and Tuesday of every week. Excavation was undertaken to test whether or not it was indeed devoid of archaeological material. The marketplace site is situated at a distance of approximately 500m south of the Seti I temple, and approximately 1500m east of the ancient royal cemetery known as Umm al-Qa‘ab. The land reserved for the marketplace is directly north of the wall of the Shaheed Hosni Hamad preparatory school, east of the Arabah Youth Centre soccer field and west of a block of houses belonging to the people of the village of Arabah (Fig. 1). The archaeological site is adjacent to the marketplace, a proximity which proves challenging for excavators on Saturdays and Tuesdays, the days of the market. It is an irregularly shaped area with boundaries measuring 115 × 110 × 95 × 110m. The site is mostly flat, but the ground level is higher at its western end compared to the central and eastern parts of the site, with a slight slope running down from west to east.

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Fig. 1: View east over the excavation site with the marketplace defined within the white square.

History of the excavation of the South Abydos marketplace and nearby sites The site was first investigated in 1977, when Rifaat Abdallah Farag directed excavations on behalf of the Egyptian Antiquities Organization (later, the Supreme Council of Antiquities, and since 2011, Ministry of State for Antiquities). At that time, the local authorities of the village of Arabah al-Madfuna sought to build apartments in the marketplace. The publication focused on the main structure in the area (designated below as a hall or courtyard in Area D) and a peristyle to its southeast (not excavated by the present team). He identified this complex as a weaving factory dating to the Byzantine period (Farag 1983; Westerfeld, this volume, fig. 11). Excavations took place to the north of the marketplace in 1993, directed by Fandy Ahmed Mahmoud, and in an empty plot of land situated to the east in 2004, directed by Mahmud Mustafa. The archaeological finds retrieved from this work have been dated by the excavators to the Roman period. Between 2006 and 2008, the Supreme Council of Antiquities negotiated the substitution of excavated land in the marketplace in exchange for that occupied by the illegal housing opposite the Seti I temple. However, this was not possible because the area proposed

for exchange was found to contain archaeological remains, most of which was Early Dynastic in date (Gabr 2011; Hossein 2011). Archaeological work here, especially in its eastern section, uncovered numerous archaeological finds that date to the Roman period. The eastern limit of the site, which is largely Early Dynastic in date, is simultaneously the western limit of the marketplace. Textual evidence for monastic activity at Abydos The most famous monastic figure associated with Abydos is the 6th-century Apa Moses, the literary evidence for whose life has been assembled and scrutinized by Mark Moussa (2003). According to the Life of Apa Moses, he founded two monastic communities in Abydos: a male foundation situated south of the temple of Seti I and a female foundation, the location of which is not known (Coquin and Martin 1991, 40; Moussa 2003; Westerfeld this volume). Apa Moses built a church at the male foundation, with the help of Bineen and Binwa, two local monks. He also expelled the pagans from a temple, presumably the Seti I temple, in a victory that parallels the earlier work of Apa Shenoute of Atripe (Emmel 2008). In addition to appearing in this literary evidence, Apa Moses is

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Excavations in the Marketplace: 2009 The Supreme Council of Antiquities conducted excavations in the area of the marketplace between 2009 and 2013, under the direction of the current authors. The findings of this work, presented below, consist of architectural remains of substantial buildings and ceramic material. In addition, items of material culture, ostraca and faunal remains were recovered and documented, but have yet to be studied.2 These findings are here presented by year of excavation.

The 2009 excavations: Areas A–C

Fig. 2: Coptic inscription on the walls of the Seti I temple mentioning the name of Apa Moses and the annual celebration held for him (cf. Crum 1904, no. 44, p. 42, pl. 36).

named in a Coptic inscription in the Seti I temple (Fig. 2; Crum 1904, no. 44, p. 42, pl. 36). In more recent times the name of Moses does not seem to have been associated with known monastic sites at Abydos. Ruins of a monastery were attributed by Claude Sicard to Pachomius (Deir Bakhum) when he visited in the early 18th century, but identified as the ‘Monastery of the Greeks’ (Deir el-Rum) by Gustave Lefebvre, visiting in the early 20th century (Lefebvre 1911, 239–40; Sicard 1982, 68; Timm 1985, 595–97; Westerfeld, this volume).

2

One of the ostraca has been studied by Malcolm Choat, Macquarie University, but has yet to be published. See Damarany and Cahail 2016, 12–13, fig. 3.

At the beginning of the excavation, a 5 × 5m grid was put in place at the site, ensuring that it covered as much as possible of the entire archaeological area, though it bypassed some areas with informal housing or other obstructions. Stone sculpture in different materials (granite, sandstone, limestone) was found scattered throughout the site and used by the market-goers for different purposes. In the foundations of one of the kiosks, an inscribed limestone block was found. Following the cleaning and drawing of the stone block, it became clear that it was originally part of a relief or architectural element depicting a man wearing a loincloth with a lion in front of him (Fig. 3). Lions are not a particularly common motif in early Christian art, but do appear in hunting scenes at Bawit (Clédat 1904, pl. XXXVII; 1906, pls LXXXIV, LXXXVIII and LXXXIX; Maspero 1931, pl. XXXVIIIB) and in an as-yet-unidentified scene elsewhere at Abydos (Gosner and Bestock, this volume). Following the division of the site into 5 × 5m squares, it became clear that 434 squares, each measuring 5 × 5m, would be needed. A sampling strategy was followed in which excavation focused on squares around the perimeter of the area to determine the extent of the site. In the interior, squares were selected on a semi-random basis, paying attention to areas in which architectural remains were visible on the surface. Three areas were chosen for more intensive study, expanding the 5 × 5m test squares. Area A (western section) was interesting because of its good stratigraphic sequence.

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Area B (southern section) included a well-preserved basin. A section of wall that might be that of an enclosure was found in Area C (eastern section). Area A: The western section

Fig. 3: A stone relief depicting a figure wrestling a lion framed within by an interlace motif with rosettes.

A number of sondages in the western section (Fig. 4), in close proximity to one another, were dug and revealed a series of very similar floor layers that continued from the north to the south for approximately 60m, and with a width ranging from around 3m to 8m. One of these sondages shows the typical stratigraphy: 1. The surface layer: fine sand. 2. A layer c. 20cm thick of modern waste, cement pieces and garbage from the marketplace. 3. A layer c. 10cm thick of dung and other animal waste. 4. A layer c. 15cm thick of dark sand that included a large quantity of pebbles and pottery sherds. 5. A layer c. 20cm thick of mud with small sand particles (approximately 65 microns), similar to that found deposited along the banks of the Nile. 6. A homogeneous sand layer 7cm thick. 7. A homogeneous mud layer 30cm thick. 8. A sand layer 5cm thick. 9. A homogeneous mud layer. 10. Sand.

Fig. 4: Area A, western section, view from the south of the site showing a number of sondages.

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This stratigraphic sequence is not found throughout the entire site but only in parts of the site and in some of the sondages. To the east of this area, a trench measuring approximately 8.5 × 2m was dug, and revealed a layer of pink mortar on top of which a fired-red-brick floor was found at the southern end, measuring approximately 12cm in thickness (Fig. 5). A sounding carried out uncovered a 15cm-thick mud layer underneath it, under which was a sand layer. This flooring is badly preserved. At the northern end of the trench, the red-brick pavement (0.49 × 0.28m, and 0.07m thick) slopes slightly downwards from west to east. Area B: The southern section (Fig. 6) A 10 × 10m test pit was dug approximately 8m north of the preparatory school wall, uncovering a well-made limestone basin, measuring 1.60m from east to west, and 1.27m from north to south, with an approximate depth of 0.43m (Fig. 7). The walls of the basin consist of rows of good-quality limestone blocks lined up vertically on end. Along the eastern and southern sides are extant additional rows of limestone blocks supporting the walls of the basin. At the northwestern end of the limestone basin, above the wall, is a limestone channel that is a reused sarcophagus. It begins with a width of approximately 0.39m in the north and tapers to a width

Fig. 5: Area A, western section, part of the fired, red-brick flooring.

of 0.29m in the south. Traces of a patina on the interior surface are consistent with its having contained water. Adjacent to the west of this stone channel is a ceramic water pipe which also feeds into the basin. It measures 49cm in length and has an average diameter of 9cm. Lengths of ceramic drain pipe were fitted together by an interlocking method, one after the other. The pipe had perhaps been used for the same purpose, that is channelling water into the basin, but the mud blocked the ceramic supply pipe over time, so a stone channel seems to have been substituted. The mud is still extant inside the ceramic drain pipe.

Fig. 6: Area B, overview looking northwest.

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Fig. 7: Area B, southern section, view of the basin with the foot section of a limestone sarcophagus reused as a channel.

This pipe and stone channel appear to have been related to water management. The sondages in this area reveal the direction of the ceramic pipes coming from the northwest to all parts of the site that were to be connected with water. In other words, a slope from the northwest to the southwest allowed water to run inside these ceramic pipes down to the channel. An aspect that should be considered, but cautiously, is the oral history of the region. When asked, the elderly residents of the area relayed that once a saqqiyya (water-lifting device; Ménassa and Laferrière 1974) was located in the northwestern part of the site. One day the wheel of a tractor fell into the well and, as a result, it was filled in. If this story is true, then we are faced with a complex water supply system. A small test excavation in this area found abundant bases belonging to the pots used on the saqqiyya garland for lifting the water, confirming the presence of this device here. Approximately 3m north of the basin are the remains of a wall (Wall A) made of limestone blocks. The exposed part runs from west to east for a length of approximately 9m and is bonded using mud mortar. At the beginning of the western face of the wall, there is a solid block of stone (resembling a threshold) fixed with a white mortar. It measures approximately 0.50m from east to west, and the exposed part from north to south measures 1.20m, continuing underneath the wall (Fig. 8). To the east, amphorae and other vessels have been set into the floor to the north of the wall, which is made of blocks of limestone with a few blocks of granite. This entire area is covered by a dense layer of ash, ranging from brown to black in colour, showing that

Fig. 8: Area B1, southern section, a view from the northwest showing the remains of the limestone wall (Wall A), to the north of which are some pots set into the ground with part of an apparent threshold to the east of the pots, continuing underneath the wall.

the function of this area included the use of fire on a regular basis. Six amphorae, deliberately set vertically into the floor, form a curved feature. Perpendicular to the remains of the east–west wall are the remains of another wall (Wall B) that runs from north to south. The upper part of this wall is built of stone, while the lower part is of red brick. Within the fabric of the wall, placed on their sides but aligned with the wall, are three amphorae. On top of the pots was a large amount of ash (Fig. 9). It is possible that the installation in Area B, including the stone basin, the amphorae, the water pipes and the stone walls, represents an outdoor space for cooking and perhaps other domestic activities. The Christian character of the area is suggested by small decorated limestone block with the nomen sacrum ‘Jesus Christos’ (IC XC), written on it in black pigment (Fig. 10). Other blocks were reused. For example, some of the stone blocks that were used in the building of part of the wall have square openings in the middle of the stone. It is possible that these stones were once thresholds for doors or gates and then were reused without any modification. Others were decorated pharaonic blocks that were repurposed, such as a reused granite block with hieroglyphic inscriptions (Fig. 11). Area C: The eastern section The remains of a mud-brick wall were discovered in an area that is at a distance of approximately 16m from the door of the preparatory school, to the south,

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Fig. 9: Area B1, southern section, a view from the northeast showing the amphorae at the bottom of Wall B.

Fig. 10: Area B1, southern section, a piece of carved limestone inked with the nomen sacrum of Jesus Christ.

Fig. 11: Area B1, southern section, a fragment of a stone inscribed with hieroglyphs.

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and adjacent to the asphalt road, to the north, at a depth of 0.30m below the modern surface. It is possible that it represents the eastern part of an enclosure wall. It was transected by three sondages on a north– south alignment. The first sondage from the southern end was widened to measure approximately 8 × 5m. In the sondage, the remains of this mud-brick wall could be traced from the south to the north. After a 5m gap, the second sondage was dug, where the same mud-brick wall was found to continue towards the north. The length of the wall (at least 15m) suggests that it belongs to an enclosure rather than a structure. However, its thickness (1.0m) is not inconsistent with what might be expected for a large building, so this should not be ruled out, particularly because no traces of buttresses were detected (for which, see below). In addition, excavations by Mohammed Mutagaly in 2001 to the northeast of the marketplace found traces of buildings similar in construction to those observed in the current work, as well as ostraca with mixed Coptic and Arabic script (Mohammed Mutagaly, pers. comm. 2016). This suggests that the site extends to the northeast under the modern houses, perhaps as far as the edge of the agricultural land.

The 2009–2010 excavations: The building in Area D Area D is located in the northeastern corner of the site and contains the site’s most substantial building (Fig. 12). The area where work was undertaken measures approximately 1,200 square metres. It comprises two main components: eleven rooms open off an open passageway running north–south along the eastern part of the building (Fig. 13); and to the west of these rooms is a large pillared space, a possible hall or courtyard, containing the remains of fourteen reused sandstone pillars (cf. Farag 1983). Surrounding all of these features are the remains of a mud-brick wall, extant to the east, north and west. The southern extent of this architectural feature lay outside the 2009–2010 excavation area. The pillared hall or courtyard The pillared hall or courtyard is defined by a mudbrick wall, extant on all four sides and measuring 18m per side (Fig. 14). To the south is another structure, still unexcavated. The entrance is located on the southwestern side of the building. The entrance measures

Fig. 12: Area D, northern section, looking southwest.

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Fig. 14: Area D, northern section, a view of the columned hall or courtyard.

Fig. 13: Area D, northern section, view southeast down the corridor with the rooms (cells) on either side; all the rooms open onto the corridor.

approximately 1m wide and it leads into a square hall or open court. The remains of a limestone pavement is only partially extant; elsewhere it is red brick with some parts covered in white plaster, probably the remains of an upper plaster layer (Fig. 15). The remains of the square pillars making up the hall number fourteen in total, twelve arranged equidistantly around the perimeter of the space, with two that are of smaller size in the centre. It is possible that this pair of smaller pillars supported parts of a ceiling, given the long distances between the others; or a wooden support was placed on them in order to cover the hall with a wooden ceiling; or perhaps they were placed here for another reason, since they are completely different from the rest of the surrounding columns. The pillars are made of sandstone, placed on bases made of red brick that measure approximately 1 square metre. The pillars themselves differ in size from one another and measure c. 0.76 × 0.76m and 0.78 × 0.78m. Their extant height does not exceed 1m. The central pillars measure 0.55 × 0.40m, with a height that does not

Fig. 15: Area D, northern section, a view of the pavement of the court or hall made of red brick.

exceed 0.60m. On some of the pillars, there are remains of hieroglyphic writing and traces of colour. Similar pillars have been found close to the Osireion, located adjacent to the Seti I temple, and it is possible that the pillars were originally part of this complex (Westerfeld, this volume). Around the perimeter of the pillared hall/courtyard are a series of long rectangular basins, two set against each of the four walls, making a total of eight. A further basin, this one almost square, is positioned at the centre of the space (Fig. 16). The long basins along the walls are entered by steps (Fig. 17). The parts of the wall along which they are situated are built with fired red brick and not mud brick, as is the case for the rest of the wall. Each fired red brick measures 32 × 15 × 6cm. The presence of ash within the plaster suggests

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Fig. 16: Area D, northern section, a view of the central basin.

Fig. 17: Area D, northern section, oblique view of one of the long, stepped basins.

that it was not waterproof. Traces of paint on the wall of one of the basins are perhaps also an indicator that these are not water tanks. However, it was not possible to determine whether the painting was contemporary with the construction of the basin. The purpose of these basins is not certain, but there exist a number of options. One possibility is that these were for baptism, which at that time would have been performed on adults and would be full-immersion (Godlewski 1991). However, the presence of multiple tanks and the fact that they are not waterproof argues against this interpretation, as does their location within a pillared hall/courtyard with no obvious markers of a baptismal location. A more mundane activity, such as textile dyeing, would be a better match to the architectural setting, but again this may be excluded on the basis of the absence of waterproof plaster. Another possibility, suggested by Farag (1983), is that these basins are loom emplacements. This interpretation was supported by Johanna Sigl (pers. comm. 2010, 2016), who examined these installations in 2010. However, she notes that although the Abydos installations have a similar configuration to the archetypal loom emplacements of the Monastery of Epiphanius (Winlock and Crum 1926, 68–70; Sigl 2007), no looms have ever been found in situ that would confirm this identification. The same problem holds true for other archaeological loom emplacements in monastic contexts, such as those at the North Tombs settlement at Amarna (Sigl 2011). However, literary evidence from the White Monastery (Krawiec 2002, 17–19) suggests that weaving did form part of the monastic economy of early Christian Egypt. In the northeastern corner of the hall or courtyard, a decorated limestone block (Fig. 18) with raised relief was discovered. It depicts two gazelles on either side of a symmetrical grape vine motif with a rosette at the centre. The large size of the individual grapes, which are easily counted, suggests that this relief can be attributed to the 6th century AD.3

3

Fig. 18: Area D, northern section, decorated limestone block.

We thank Dr Ashraf al-Bakhshoungy, Professor in the Faculty of Literature, Sohag University, for his description and dating of the object.

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The passageways and small rooms To the northeast of the pillared hall/courtyard is an entrance that leads to the second element of this complex. It is rectangular, measuring 23m from north to south and 16m from east to west, divided into four units. In the centre is a passageway (C2) of red-brick construction, the floor of which is red brick covered by a layer of good-quality plaster. A second passageway (C1), running along the eastern edge of the building, does not give access to these rooms. It has a floor of red brick with two layers of plaster, the top layer being soft and smooth. On the eastern and western sides of the central passageway, there are two small mastaba benches that are the same length as the structure, and measure 0.30m in width and 0.23m in height. The width of the corridor is approximately 2.90m. Leading off the passageway to the east and west sides are a series of rooms of different sizes. The second room from the east (RO2), measuring 3.90 × 2.90m, has a round-topped niche at the south end of the east wall, adjacent to a blocked doorway leading to the eastern passageway (C1). A large hand-made rectangular ceramic vessel was found in the third room from the east (number RO3). It was on the floor in the northwestern corner, next to the entrance to the room, set against the walls forming the corner, and was open on the side facing into the room. The ash and charcoal found within the vessel, and traces of soot on the surfaces, suggest that it might have been used as a brazier for heating. This room also had many niches in its northern wall. A hollowed-out rectangular limestone block was found in the western passageway (C2), following the same alignment (Fig. 19). It could represent a water gutter that was placed on top of the wall to allow water to pass from one place to another. On one of its sides is a large equilateral cross. It is inscribed with four Coptic letters on another of its sides. Due to the heavy weight of this gutter, we believe that it belonged to a substantial building. If it is part of this complex, it could belong to Room RO0, which is the only one that is of red-brick construction and could bear the weight of this architectural element. In many instances, ceramic pots were found embedded in the core of the wall, having been also used for

4

Dating provided by ceramic specialist Mohammed Naguib.

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storage. Such ceramic emplacements, for which various functions are proposed, are known in both walls and floors at several monasteries, including the Esna hermitages (Sauneron and Jacquet 1972, 52, pl. 20), Kellia (Henein and Wuttmann 2000, 233–36) and the Monastery of John the Little (Pyke and Brooks Hedstrom 2013, 218). In addition, the ceramic vessel in the corner of Room RO6 contained a small ceramic pot dating to the 6th century, which contained fish bones and eggshell (Fig. 20).4

Fig. 19: Area D, northern section, a limestone gutter decorated with a cross.

Fig. 20: Area D, northern section, room RO6, a view of a large ceramic basin with a small ceramic pot inside it, both dated to the 6th century AD.

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To the east of these rooms and the passageway (C2), there is another passageway (C1) that separates the block of rooms from the eastern exterior wall. This passageway (C1) measures 2m in width and has a pavement made of large red bricks measuring 6 × 31 × 51cm. Traces of a white colour that are from the remains of the plaster are still found on parts of the eastern wall of the complex, some with painted red motifs (Fig. 21). Although they are architecturally distinct, the eastern block of rooms and western pillared hall/courtyard are associated by their enclosure to form a single complex, and are interconnected via a doorway at the northern end. It is possible that the western area was an industrial centre for weaving, but this remains uncertain. The small size and diversity of shapes of the eastern rooms perhaps suggest that these were storage or workrooms, which would be in keeping with the character of the western zone. This layout and industrial feel to the space is consistent with the area to the south of the Church of St Shenoute in the White Monastery (Grossmann, Brooks Hedstrom and Osman 2009, 12–20; Pyke, pers. comm. 2017). However, an interpretation of the eastern rooms as monastic living accommodation, with an organization similar to that of the Monastery of St Simeon in Aswan (Grossmann 2002, 563, fig. 176) and Ansina in Middle Egypt (Grossmann 2002, 520, figs 137 and 140), is also possible.

2013 season: Further exploration Despite its brevity, the findings of the 2013 season were important. In addition to the architectural survey of the site, excavation concentrated on three areas: the north, east and south of the structures uncovered in 2009–2010, which together formed Area D. Area D extension: The area south of Rooms RO1–RO8 Cleaning revealed part of an inscribed granite sarcophagus in the central corridor (C2 south) in front of one of the rooms (RO0). Following close study of the sarcophagus and a translation of its text, the owner was revealed to be the High Priest of Amun, Menkheperre of Dynasty 21, and the inscriptions were from the Book of Gates (Damarany and Cahail 2016). The sarcophagus fragment had been reused in this location as a threshold or paver outside the room (Fig. 22). This room (RO0) was the focus of the 2013 season’s excavation. The placement of part of a sarcophagus in front of Room RO0 as a threshold, the use of red brick rather than mud brick, and well-plastered walls and floor suggest that special attention was paid to this space. In addition, a limestone block forming part of the pilaster on the north wall is inscribed with a cross. However, it is not possible to determine whether, for example, this was the accommodation or office for the head of the monastery or one of his close associates, owing to the lack of material culture remains. To the east is another smaller room built of red brick; its pavement is broken and only the foundations remain (Fig. 23). It was not possible to detect the entrance to this room due to the collapse of its upper parts. Area B extension: The southern service area

Fig. 21: Area D, northern section, eastern wall of the complex, some of the red drawings.

The southern part of the site, which we identified in 2009 (above) as a probable outdoor space for cooking and perhaps other domestic activities, was cleaned and the excavation area enlarged. Three sarcophagi of poor craftsmanship were found south of the water basin (see Fig. 6, above). They appear to have been reused as basins for washing and were placed here due to the proximity to water and the basin. At the western side of the service area and basin, remains of a row of amphorae set into the ground were discovered (Fig. 24). In one of them, plant remains and organic material was found. Roland-Pierre Gayraud

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Fig. 22: Area D extension, area south of the main buildings, view west of the extent of the excavations during the 2013 season, south of Rooms RO1–RO8, looking west. Room RO0 is in the centre.

Fig. 23: Area D extension, area south of the main buildings, room east of Room RO0.

Fig. 24: Area B extension, southern section, a row of amphorae set into the ground.

(2007, 722–23) suggests that such ephemeral constructions were used to divide up spaces, often outdoor spaces, into convenient activity areas. Examples of comparable walls of amphorae are known from Naqlun and Fustat (Godlewski, Herbich and Wipzycka 1990, 193, fig. 13; Gayraud 2007). The amphorae in the wall here are examples of the same type of Egyptian

amphora, dating to approximately the 8th or 9th century (Pyke, pers. comm. 2017; see also below). One thing that needs to be researched and examined, considering that it is one of the most important necessities in the monastery without which life would not be possible, is the source of water or the well that would have supplied the monastery. As was mentioned

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previously, the pipes begin from the northwest of the site and continue in a southeastern direction. After digging a trench at the northwestern extent of the site and excavating approximately 20cm, a large number (>100) of bases for saqqiyya pots were discovered, indicating the presence of a water-lifting installation.

this construction. In addition, the first courses of the wall are made of red brick, and the sizes of these bricks are very close to the sizes of the bricks in the buildings of the monastery. This suggests that the wall is most likely an original feature of the monastery. The pottery

An enclosure wall? A well-preserved mud-brick wall (width 0.60m) was found in the same area as the saqqiya pots. It runs north–south and comprises six surviving courses of brick, with rectangular buttresses along its eastern face (Fig. 25). The first course was made from red brick with the individual bricks measuring 10 × 16 × 32cm. The wall was detected in a further test trench, located approximately 100m to the south. This part of the wall included, on its western (exterior) face, a circular mudbrick feature that is immediately to the north of the gateway. This buttress is similar to those on the enclosure wall of the village adjacent to Bawit, as it appeared in the early 20th century (Clédat 1906, pl. III). The rectangular buttresses on the eastern (inner) face are comparable to those on the enclosure wall of the White Monastery (Grossmann, Brooks Hedstrom and Osman 2009, fig. 1; Pyke, pers. comm. 2017). The comparison with both village and monastery enclosure walls supports the hypothesis that this is the wall that surrounded the entire monastery, with the interior to the east (given the presence of buttresses in the east) and the entrance in the west. The wall would have been built in order to define the area of the monastery, and the excavated portion formed the western part of

Fig. 25: Area B, southern section, a view south along the wall.

The excavations south of Abydos marketplace uncovered a large amount of pottery, with many incomplete vessels that date from the 6th century to the 11th century AD. The clay used to manufacture the pottery found at the site of the marketplace was Egyptian (Nile silt, marl and Aswan fabric) and non-Egyptian (imports from what is now North Africa, Cyprus and Turkey). Late Roman pottery (AD 400–650) The largest amount of pottery sherds dates to the late Roman period (AD 400–650). The sherds were divided into several types based on their function at the site, in preparation for the study of every individual sherd in terms of its history, use and the type of clay it was produced from. Amphorae represent the largest number of pottery finds. They were utilized for the transport and storage of oil, wine and other commodities (Pyke 2005, 212– 43; Dixneuf 2011). The discovered amphorae can be divided into three types, two Egyptian productions and one import. The Egyptian silt amphora (termed Late Roman Amphora 7 in the Carthage classification [Riley 1979, 225–26]), was manufactured and traded throughout Egypt between the 5th and 9th centuries (Dixneuf 2011, 154–73, figs 152–74). The illustrated example (Fig. 26) is one of the later types, dating to the 8th to 9th centuries. The other Egyptian production was made in Aswan (Gempeler 1992, type K 717) from a kaolinitic clay, and is less common than the silt type. The imported type, Late Roman Amphora 1 in the Carthage classification (Riley 1979, 212–16) was manufactured in Cyprus, on the southern coast of Turkey or the western coast of Syria (Williams 2005; Piéri 2007, 613, fig. 2). Saqqiya pots, which were attached to the garland of the lifting mechanism of the saqqiyya, were mostly represented by their characteristic knob-shaped bases. Also identified were bread trays, cooking pots (usually sooted on their exterior), storage vessels, lamps and tablewares such as plates, jugs (Fig. 27) and drinking vessels.

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Fig. 27: A ceramic jug dated to the 6th century AD (dating by Mohammed Naguib).

Fig. 26: Late Roman 7 amphora, 8th to 9th century AD (cf. Dixneuf 2011, AE 7-2; dating Pyke, pers. comm. 2017).

Pottery from the Islamic period (after AD 650) Islamic-period pottery is only found in small numbers at the site. The fragments of typical 10th- and 11th-century glazed wares (Fig. 28) representing plates and cups are found in a variety of colours and patterns (François 1999). The other common type identified in

Fig. 28: Fragments of largely c. 10th–11th century glazed pottery.

these excavations is the latest form of Late Roman Amphora 7 dating to the 8th to 9th centuries. This was sometimes used as an architectural element, as in Area B. Some of the lamps found in the excavations have the flared neck and handle typical of the earlier part of this period (Pyke, pers. comm. 2017).

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Conclusion The recent work by the Supreme Council for Antiquities in the marketplace shows that this part of Abydos has a rich, but as yet little explored, monastic landscape. The test excavations have revealed a number of important components of this landscape, including evidence for a substantial and organized water distribution system. An outdoor area was probably associated with cooking and other domestic activities, with ephemeral ceramic constructions and other reused elements. A large complex possibly associated with weaving points towards this as a significant component of the monastic economy. The enclosure wall has been identified through its characteristic buttressing and provides the western margin of the monastic area. Ceramic evidence suggests that the excavated portion of the monastery was in use between the 6th and at least the 10th century. Future exploration in the area of the marketplace will focus on tracing the extent of the enclosure wall, and thereby the western side of the monastery. In addition, further excavation would associate this wall more closely with the monastic buildings. This will provide a more detailed picture of this important feature of Christian Abydos, contributing another episode to the long history of the sacred landscape of Abydos. It is also hoped that archaeological evidence will be found that will confirm that this area formed part of the monastic foundation of Apa Moses.

Acknowledgements The excavation team would like to extend their thanks, appreciation and gratitude to the Deputy Minister of Culture, the Head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Dr Zahi Hawass; Dr Sabri Abdel-Aziz, Head of the Sector; Dr Ateya Radwan, Head of Central Administration; Mr Mansour Boriak, General Supervisor of Upper Egyptian Antiquities; Mr Gamal AbdelNasser, Director General of Sohag Antiquities; Ms Aziza al-Sayed Hasan, Director of Southern Sohag; Mr Magdi al-Badri Ahmed, Director of Balyana Inspectorate; Ms Sanaa Sami Salama, Chief Inspector of Balaya. We would also like to thank Mr Zayn al-Abideen Aly Diyab, former Director General of Sohag Antiquities, for his support and advice. We thank them all for extending a helping hand, for their encouragement and assistance, and for their repeated visits to the archaeological site, offering advice and guidance which benefited the team during the excavation period. They have

our sincere thanks, gratitude, appreciation and respect. This contribution would not have been possible without the suggestions and support of Dr Gillian Pyke, to whom we are most indebted. All photographs have been taken by Ayman Mohammed Damarany.

Bibliography Brooks Hedstrom, D. L. 2007. Divine architects: Designing the monastic dwelling place. In Egypt in the Byzantine world, 300–700, R. S. Bagnall (ed.), 368–89. Cambridge. Clédat, J. 1904. Le monastère et la nécropole de Baouît. Mémoires publiés par les membres de l’Institut français d’archéologie orientale du Caire 12.1. Cairo. ——. 1906. Le monastère et la nécropole de Baouît. Mémoires publiés par les membres de l’Institut français d’archéologie orientale du Caire 12.2. Cairo. Coquin, R.-G., and M. Martin. 1991. Abydos: Archaeological and literary evidence. In The Coptic encyclopedia, A. S. Atiya (ed.), 1: 38–41. New York. Crum, W. E. 1904. Coptic graffiti &c. In The Osireion at Abydos, M. A. Murray, J. G. Milne, and W. E. Crum (eds), 38–44. Egyptian Research Account Publications 9. London. Damarany, A., and K. Cahail. 2016. The sarcophagus of the High Priest of Amun, Menkheperre, from the Coptic monastery of Apa Moses at Abydos. Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 72: 11–31. Dixneuf, D. 2011. Amphores égyptiennes, production, typologie, contenu et diffusion (IIIe siècle avant J.-C.– IXe siècle après J.-C.). Alexandria. Emmel, S. 2008. Shenoute of Atripe and the destruction of temples in Egypt: Rhetoric and reality. In From temple to church: Destruction and renewal of local cultic topography in Late Antiquity, J. Hahn, S. Emmel, and U. Gotter (eds), 161–99. Leiden; Boston. Farag, R. A. 1983. Excavation at Abydos in 1977: A Byzantine loom factory. Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 39: 51–70. François, V. 1999. Céramiques médiévales à Alexandrie: Contribution à l’histoire économique de la ville. Études Alexandrines 2. Cairo. Gabr, A. M. 2011. The new archaic period cemetery at Abydos: Osteological report. In Egypt at its origins 3: Proceedings of the Third International Conference ‘Origin of the state. Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt’, London, 27th July–1st August 2008, R. F. Friedman and P. N. Fiske (eds), 281–93. Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 205. Leuven.

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Gayraud, R.-P. 2007. Quand l’amphore fait le mur…. Cahiers de la céramique égyptienne 8: 721–25. Gempeler, R. 1992. Elephantine X: Die Keramik römischer bis früharabischer Zeit. Archäologische Veröffentlichungen 43. Mainz am Rhein. Godlewski, W. 1991. Architectural elements of churches: Baptistery. In The Coptic encyclopedia, A. S. Atiya (ed.), 1: 197–200. New York. Godlewski, W., T. Herbich, and E. Wipzycka. 1990. Deir el Naqlun (Nekloni), 1986–1987: First preliminary report. Nubica 1 (2): 171–207. Goehring, J. E. 1999. Ascetics, society, and the desert: Studies in early Egyptian monasticism. Harrisburg, PA. Grossmann, P. 2002. Christlicher Architektur in Ägypten. Handbuch der Orientalistik 62. Leiden; Boston; Köln. Grossmann, P., D. L. Brooks Hedstrom, and S. M. M. Osman. 2009. Second report on the excavation in the monastery of Apa Shenute (Dayr Anba Shinuda) at Sohag. Dumbarton Oaks Papers 63: 1–54. Harmless, W. 2004. Desert Christians: An introduction to the literature of early monasticism. Oxford; New York. Henein, N. H., and M. Wuttmann. 2000. Kellia II: L’ermitage copte QR 195 I. Archéologie et architecture. Fouilles de l’Institut français d’archéologie orientale du Caire 41. Cairo. Hossein, Y. M. 2011. A new Archaic period cemetery at Abydos. In Egypt at its origins 3: Proceedings of the Third International Conference, ‘Origin of the state. Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt’, London, 27th July–1st August 2008, R. F. Friedman and P. N. Fiske (eds), 269–80. Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 205. Leuven. Innemée, K. C. 2016. The monastery of St. Macarius, survey and documentation work 2009–2012. In Coptic society, literature and religion from Late Antiquity to modern times: Proceedings of the Tenth International Congress of Coptic Studies, Rome, September 17th–22nd, 2012, and plenary reports of the Ninth International Congress of Coptic Studies, Cairo, September 15th–19th, 2008, P. Buzi, A. Camplani, and F. Contardi (eds), 1463–78. Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 247. Leuven. Krawiec, R. 2002. Shenoute and the women of the White Monastery: Egyptian monasticism in late antiquity. Oxford. Lefebvre, G. 1911. Égypte chrétienne IV. Annales du service des antiquités de l’Égypte 11: 238–50. Maspero, J. 1931. Fouilles exécutées à Baouît. Mémoires publiés par les membres de l’Institut français d’archéologie orientale du Caire 59. Cairo. Ménassa, L., and P. Laferrière. 1974. La saqia: Technique et vocabulaire de la roue à eau égyptienne. Bibliothèque d’étude 67. Cairo. Moussa, M. 2003. The Coptic literary dossier of Abba Moses of Abydos. Coptic Church Review 24: 66–90.

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O’Connell, E. R. (ed.). 2014. Egypt in the First Millennium AD: Perspectives from new fieldwork. Leuven; Paris; Walpole, MA. Petrie, H. 1925. A Coptic hermitage at Abydos. In Tombs of the courtiers and Oxyrhynkos, W. M. F. Petrie (ed.), 20–24. British School of Archaeology in Egypt and the Egyptian Research Account 37. London. Piéri, D. 2007. Les centres de production d’amphores en Mediterranée orientale durant l’antiquité tardive: Quelques remarques. In LRCW 2: Late Roman coarse wares and amphorae in the Mediterranean. Archaeology and archaeometry, M. Bonifay and J.-C. Tréglia (eds), 613–14. BAR International Series 1662. Oxford. Pyke, G. 2005. Late Roman Egyptian amphorae from Squares U and V at Kom el-Nana. In Late Roman pottery at Amarna and related studies, J. Faiers (ed.), 212–43. Egypt Exploration Society Excavation Memoir 72. London. Pyke, G., and D. Brooks Hedstrom. 2013. The afterlife of sherds: Architectural re-use strategies at the Monastery of John the Little, Wadi Natrun. In Functional aspects of Egyptian ceramics in their archaeological context: Proceedings of a conference held at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Cambridge, July 24th–July 25th, 2009, B. Bader and M. F. Ownby (eds), 307–25. Leuven; Paris; Walpole, MA. Riley, J. A. 1979. The coarse pottery from Berenice. In Excavations at Sidi Khrebish Benghazi (Berenice) II: Economic life at Berenice, J. A. Lloyd (ed.), 91–263. Supplements to Libya Antiqua 5. Tripoli. Sauneron, S., and J. Jacquet. 1972. Les ermitages chrétiens du desert d’Esna II. Descriptions et plans. Fouilles de l’Institut français d’archéologie orientale du Caire 29 (2). Cairo. Sicard, C. 1982. Œuvres 3: Parallèles géographiques, S. Sauneron and M. Martin (eds). Bibliothèque d’étude 85. Cairo. Sigl, J. 2007. Pits with cross-bars: Investigations on loom remains from Coptic Egypt. In Proceedings of the Fourth Central European Conference of Young Egyptologists, K. Endreffy and A. Gulyás (eds), 357–72. Studia Aegyptiaca 18. Budapest. ——. 2011. Weaving Copts in Amarna: Further studies on Coptic loompits in the northern tombs of Tell elAmarna. Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur 40: 357–86. Timm, S. 1985. Das christlich-koptische Ägypten in arabischer Zeit 2. Wiesbaden. Williams, D. F. 2005. An integrated archaeometric approach to ceramic fabric recognition: A study case on Late Roman Amphora 1 from the Eastern Mediterranean. In LRCW 1: Late Roman coarse wares and amphorae in the Mediterranean. Archaeology and archaeometry, J. M. Gurt i Esparraguera, J. Buxeda i Garrigós and M. A. Cau Ontiveros (eds), 613–24. BAR International Series 1340. Oxford.

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Winlock, H. E., and W. E. Crum. 1926. The monastery of Epiphanius at Thebes I. Publications of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Egyptian Expedition 3. New York. Wipszycka, E. 2009. Moines et communautés monastiques en Égypte (IVe–VIIIe siècles). Journal of Juristic Papyrology, Supplement XI. Warsaw.

——. 2013. A look at the origins of monasticism in Egypt from a geographical point of view. Przeglad Humanistyczny 2: 109–26.

APA MOSES AND HIS FELLOW BRETHREN: CHRISTIAN FINDS FROM UMM EL-QA‘AB Andreas EFFLAND

As the resting place of Egypt’s earliest pharaohs, Umm el-Qa‘ab began its history more than 5,000 years ago. The tomb of the Early Dynastic king, Djer, which was considered to be a specific place of veneration for Osiris, the god of the dead, became the primary destination for countless pilgrims, at least from the 2nd millennium onwards. The remains of the Osiris cult in Umm el-Qa‘ab are numerous. These finds cover a time span from the Old Kingdom until Late Antiquity. This paper presents a very brief overview of Late Antique finds from this sacred area. Umm el-Qa‘ab The spot chosen by M. Amélineau for exploration was the hill known to the natives as Om el-Ga’ab (Mother of Pots), and is a succession of small natural hillocks and man-made tumuli lying to the westward of the great necropolis of Abydos excavated by Mariette in 1860–68. The whole group rises considerably above the level of the surrounding plains, and is covered with fragments of red pottery. According to M. Amélineau, its existence as a source in which funeral and other jars and pieces of pottery can be found has long been known to the natives, who have made a practice of going there in procession on Good Friday to procure playthings for their children. The upper soil consists entirely of loose sand mixed with brick-bats and rubbish, the foundation being apparently limestone rock. (Legge 1899, 183)

Umm el-Qa‘ab is just a small part of the large sacred space that makes up Abydos, but an important part nevertheless (Fig. 1). The exact circumstances in which graves were first dug into the ground of the flat elevation in the lower desert area of Abydos still remain unknown and are much debated (Hartung 2007; Hartmann 2011; Hartmann 2016; Hartung 2016; Stevenson 2016, 376–79). The necropolis of the first dynastic kings evolved at this spot from an elite cemetery of the Naqada period (Dreyer 2007a; 2007b; Engel 2008; Köhler 2016). Later in history the mythical burial site

1

On the history of these excavations see Étienne 2007.

of the predecessors of these first human rulers, the legendary divine rulers, was also localized here. One of the most important cult centres of Egypt was formed: a necropolis for the gods with the tomb of the mythical king and god Osiris in its centre (Effland and Effland 2013, 8–15; A. Effland 2016, 205–6). Umm el-Qa‘ab originally evolved from north to south and consists of three main areas. Cemetery U in the north comprises approximately 650 graves from the Predynastic period that developed from the simple grave pits of the early Naqada I period towards the end of the occupation phase, to an elite burial site with the larger structures of the late Predynastic rulers (c. 3800– 3150 BC). Cemetery B lies in the middle of the necropolis with the burials of the last Predynastic rulers (c. 3150–3050 BC) such as Irj-Hor, Sekhen/‘Ka’ and Narmer as well as the large funerary complex of king Aha. The largest area is located in the south: the tomb complexes of six kings and one queen of Dynasty 1, namely Djer, Djet, Den, Anedjib, Semerkhet, Qa‘a and Merneith, as well as two kings of Dynasty 2, Peribsen and Khasekhemwy (c. 3050–2800 BC) (Engel 2008, 37–40; A. Effland 2014b, 22–24). At the furthest part of our concession area to the northeast and adjacent to Cemetery U, lies the so-called Heqreshu Hill with an offering place and a cult site that were probably in use from the late Old Kingdom until well into the Late Period (U. Effland 2013, 321–22). Finally, in the south lies the so-called South Hill (Fig. 2), prominent as a cult and resting place during Osirian processions (Effland and Effland 2013, 93–97; A. Effland 2014a, 195–98, 203 and fig. 2, pls 6–7). Excavations at Umm el-Qa‘ab Intensive excavations were carried out in Umm el-Qa‘ab towards the end of the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th century by Émile Amélineau (in 1895– 1899: Amélineau 1899a; 1899b; 1902; 1904–1905);1 W. M. F. Petrie (in 1899–1901: Petrie 1900; 1901;

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Fig. 1: Map of Umm el-Qa‘ab (M. Sählhof, © DAI, Cairo).

1902, 3–8; Randall-MacIver and Mace 1902, 86–87);2 and Édouard Naville and Eric Peet (in 1908–1911: Naville 1909, 1–2; 1910, 1–4; 1911, 1–2; 1914, 35–39).3 Henry Hall in the year 1925 (A. Effland 2014b, 23) and Walter B. Emery at an unknown date (Kaiser and Dreyer 1982, 211, n. 2) also carried out research on smaller, limited areas, but the results of these two scholars were unfortunately never published. During the course of these early excavations, an area of approximately 150 × 600m in the centre of Umm el-Qa‘ab was almost entirely turned over (Naville 1914, pl. XXI). In addition to the original high mounds of pottery,4 heaps of up to 11m in height containing burial

2

3 4

Fig. 2: Aerial photograph from the 1950s (Photo © DAI, Cairo, annotated by A. Effland).

On the history of taking over the concession for work at Umm el-Qa‘ab from Amélineau see Quirke 2010, 107–8 and 121–22; Kraemer 2013. On the history of these excavations see Spencer 2014. Amélineau mentions an original height of 4–10 m when beginning his excavation work at the tomb of Djer, moving about 60,000–70,000 m³ of sand and spoil and other debris (Amélineau 1898a, 279–80; 1898b, 7).

APA MOSES AND HIS FELLOW BRETHREN: CHRISTIAN FINDS FROM UMM EL-QA‘AB

equipment, votive material, rubble, sherds and spoil resulted from the excavation work (Figs 3–5). In 1977, the German Archaeological Institute resumed scientific study of the site under the aegis of Werner Kaiser and Günter Dreyer. The initial aim of this excavation was to further the understanding of the funerary architecture of Egypt’s Early Dynastic period (Kaiser and Grossmann 1979, 155).5 From 2006 onwards it became possible to intensify research. In the context of the newly established research clusters at the German Archaeological Institute, a project was initiated to deal with questions concerning the secondary phase at Umm el-Qa‘ab, the Osiris cult at Abydos. The investigations carried out within the framework of this project under the direction of Ute Effland have shown that the potential of the ancient sacred site has not yet been exhausted. We were able to determine, for example, that the use of Umm el-Qa‘ab in the context of Osiride cult practices stretched over a time period from the Old Kingdom to the mid-6th century AD. Therefore, a cult

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continued almost continuously at this place for a period of over 3,000 years (U. Effland 2006; Effland, Budka and Effland 2010; U. Effland 2013; A. Effland 2014b, 26–27; Effland and Effland 2016). Late Antique and Christian finds from Umm el-Qa‘ab Objects from the Roman and Late Antique periods found recently during the ongoing excavations at Umm el-Qa‘ab most probably have to be seen in the context of oracular activity, interconnecting the sacred areas of the western part of the temple of Seti I and the old Osiris tomb (Effland, Budka and Effland 2010, 85–91; Effland and Effland 2013, 126–30; A. Effland 2013a; 2013b; 2014a; 2016). Our research on Late Antique Umm el-Qa‘ab is so far only just beginning (U. Effland 2006, 138, 139–40, 147, 149; Effland, Budka and Effland 2010, 54–55, 76–77, 78, 90–91; A. Effland 2018).

Fig. 3: The tomb of Djer during the excavation work undertaken by Amélineau 1897–98 (from Amélineau 1899a, pl. II.6).

5

For the results of these excavations see e.g. the monographs Dreyer 1998; Hartung 2001; Martin 2011; Effland and Effland

2013; Hartmann 2016. The latest preliminary report is Dreyer et al. 2013.

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Fig. 4: View of Umm el-Qa‘ab from the east: 1. Wadi Umm el-Qa‘ab; 2. South Hill; 3. royal tombs (Photo: A. Effland).

Fig. 5: View of the royal tombs from the South Hill (Photo: A. Effland).

In the context of the early excavations at this place, unfortunately, Late Antique finds were mainly left unpublished. Only Amélineau, well trained in the field of Coptic studies, listed such finds in his voluminous tomes (e.g. Amélineau 1899a, 18, 19 and 78–90; 1899b, 99 and 181; 1904–1905, 162). Owing to his finds and the results of the recent excavations by the German Archaeological Institute, two areas were obviously in

the main focus of Coptic interest: the immediate vicinity of the tomb of king Djer, the so-called tomb of Osiris, in the centre of Umm el-Qa‘ab, and the area in the southern part of the tomb of the Dynasty 2 king Khasekhemwy. The spectrum of finds from so-called Coptic Umm el-Qa‘ab consists mainly of ostraca, pottery, amphorae, textiles and some small finds. In the following I will present a short overview.

APA MOSES AND HIS FELLOW BRETHREN: CHRISTIAN FINDS FROM UMM EL-QA‘AB

Ostraca Nearly nothing is known about any Coptic finds from Petrie’s excavations at Umm el-Qa‘ab, or at least he did not publish anything about such finds.6 On the other hand, the fragment of a cross made of rush-work (today in the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, 1901.40.120) and found in the tomb of Khasekhemwy stems from Petrie’s excavations (see below). From 1908 to 1911 the Egypt Exploration Society under the direction of Édouard Naville and T. Eric Peet excavated or re-excavated large parts of this necropolis, especially the areas of the tomb of Den, the tomb of Djer to the north and the tomb of Peribsen to the northeast (Naville 1914, pl. XXI). In their published excavation records not a single word is mentioned about Coptic finds made during the excavation.7 On the other hand, the British Museum, for example, possesses a still-unpublished Coptic pottery ostracon from these excavations: BM EA 49293. From Amélineau’s excavations a handful of ostraca were published or at least briefly mentioned (e.g. Amélineau 1899a, 18, 19 and 78–90; 1899b, 99 and 181; 1902, 36; 1904–1905, 162, 269, 293, pl. XLVI). Several ostraca from the excavations of 1898 are now in Cairo: JdE 32077, JdE 32078, JdE 32079. Inscriptions, most often just names (e.g. Ioannes, Shenoute, Paulos, Viktoros, Demetrios and Martyrios), were written on contemporary or older pottery sherds or even on Early Dynastic stone vessel fragments. The inscriptions are either written with ink or charcoal or they are incised into the ceramic. These ostraca were unearthed mainly in or near the tomb of Djer and the tomb of Khasekhemwy. The number of late ostraca discovered during the excavations of the German Archaeological Institute is about forty (U. Effland 2006, 138–40; Effland, Budka and Effland 2010, 76–78). Most of them were found in the direct vicinity of the tomb of Djer and the southern area of the tomb of Khasekhemwy; some were found near the tomb of Den. The inscriptions are written on Early Dynastic stone vessel fragments, or sherds

6

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Petrie just mentions ‘… the systematic destruction of monuments by the vile fanaticism of the Copts, which crushed everything beautiful and everything noble that mere greed had spared’ (Petrie 1900, 2; see also Petrie 1901, 8, 17). According to Naville’s report only one small pottery fragment of the Roman period was found (Naville 1914, 39 and pl. XV.9), now in the British Museum (BM EA 49316; another one eventually was identified BM EA 49292). A small fragment of

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of amphorae from the New Kingdom, material found and reused at the spot. They are written in black ink, charcoal, or rather carefully scratched or incised. These ostraca mostly bear just names—e.g. Kostantinos, Viktoros, Pau(l)os, Bes, Phoklos, Iosef, Mates, Iohannes, Ioannes, Andreas—except for some cases where we find short prayers. Some ostraca are rather extraordinary in different ways. In the Predynastic Cemetery U, the tomb U-j contained hundreds of pottery vessels, one of which was reused more than 3,500 years later in the Late Antique period either in total or in part, since one fragment contains four lines of a short inscription, again (as in most cases) just a number of names (Dreyer 1998, 166, fig. 98, no. 246, 170–71, no. 246, pl. 23c, pl. 42, no. 246). Among the millions of small ceramic votive cups, the qa‘ab-vessels (Effland, Budka and Effland 2010, 25–30, 35–69; Budka 2014), one was reused in much later times, decorated and provided with a short inscription in Coptic: Ⲓ⳰Ⲥ ⲡⲉϫⲟⲓⲥ (Figs 6–7). The Vita of Apa Moses of Abydos (see the literature cited in A. Effland 2016, 226, n. 121) had a strong impact on the interpretation of Coptic material found all over Abydos (Westerfeld 2010, 196–98 et passim). In this context another ostracon is of importance; it was found in the tomb of king Den, with only the words ‘Apa Moses’ (Fig. 8–9) on it (U. Effland 2006, 140, pl. 31b; Effland, Budka and Effland 2010, 90–91, fig. 56; A. Effland 2013a, 82, fig. 9; A. Effland 2014a, 203, fig. 5).8 Ostraca with decoration A small number of pottery sherds with painted or incised decoration or sketches was discovered (Amélineau 1904–1905, 162, 261–62). Most prominent is probably the ‘face of Christ’ found by Amélineau inside the tomb of Djer in chamber N (Amélineau 1899a, 19, 79, 108–9, pl. IV.16; Effland, Budka and Effland 2010, 87, nn. 425–26). It represents the face of a bearded man, drawn with charcoal on an Early Dynastic alabaster vessel. Three more drawings of a

8

transparent deep-blue glass of the 2nd century AD also came from these excavations (BM EA 49315; Naville 1914, 39; Cooney 1976, 424). On a recently found Late Roman amphora (from South Abydos, tomb S10) with an inscription naming Apa Moses see Wegner and Cahail 2015, 133–34, fig. 7; see also Damarany and Cahail, 2017.

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Fig. 6: Reused qa‘āb (pot) with Coptic inscription and decoration (Photo: F. Barthel © DAI, Cairo).

Fig. 7: Reused qa‘āb (pot) with Coptic decoration and inscription (Photo: F. Barthel © DAI, Cairo).

Fig. 8: Ostracon with the name Apa Moses (Photo: P. Windszus, © DAI, Cairo).

Fig. 9: Ostracon with the name Apa Moses (Drawing: U. Effland, © DAI, Cairo).

APA MOSES AND HIS FELLOW BRETHREN: CHRISTIAN FINDS FROM UMM EL-QA‘AB

face—one very skilfully painted—on pottery sherds were discovered in recent years during the excavations of the German Archaeological Institute (Figs 10–13). Other pottery sherds are just decorated with incised crosses (Figs 14–15). Amphorae To date, the ceramic material of the Roman and Late Antique periods has not been studied in detail. It consists primarily of amphorae and storage vessels, and only a small number of fine wares (Effland, Budka and Effland 2010, 54–55). Most common in this corpus are broken and complete amphorae (Fig. 16), of the type Late Roman 7 (Effland, Budka and Effland 2010, 55), common throughout Egypt in the 6th and 7th centuries AD (Pyke 2005, 213–43; Aston 2008, 365–66, nos 3035–42, pl. 149); Amélineau already discovered some at the tomb of Khasekhemwy (Amélineau 1902, 279–80, pl. XXIV.3). All in all, however, the Late Antique material comprises less than 1% of the entire corpus of pottery from Umm el-Qa‘ab (Effland, Budka and Effland 2010, 57).9

Fig. 11: Decorated ostracon from the tomb of Djer (Photo: F. Barthel © DAI, Cairo).

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For the latest evidence of ceramics at Umm el-Qa‘ab up to the Fatimid period see U. Effland 2006, 137; 2013, 329.

Fig. 10: Decorated ostracon from the tomb of Djer (Photo: F. Barthel © DAI, Cairo).

Fig. 12: Infrared photograph of decorated ostracon in Fig. 11 (Photo: A. Gatzsche © DAI, Cairo).

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Terra sigillata Again, mainly around the tomb of Djer we discovered dozens of fragments of fine wares, Terra sigillata or red-slipped ‘A’ wares, with impressed decoration, most of it datable from the late 5th to the early 7th century (cf. Faiers 2005, 67–80). Some of these sherds are decorated with crosses (Figs 17–18), presumably from the late 5th to early 6th century (see also Gempeler

Fig. 13: Infrared photograph of decorated ostracon from the tomb of Khasekhemwy (Photo: A. Gatzsche © DAI, Cairo).

Fig. 14: Incised pottery sherd from the tomb of Djer (Photo: A. Effland © DAI, Cairo).

Fig. 15: Incised pottery sherd from Cemetery B (Photo: A. Effland © DAI, Cairo).

Fig. 16: Amphora of the type Late Roman 7 (Photo: A. Effland © DAI, Cairo).

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1902, 36–40). Some small fragments of leather, probably belonging to shoes, were also discovered. Crosses Again from the tomb of Khasekhemwy comes a fragmented cross, made of rush-work (10 × 10cm). Though not mentioned in his publications, it was found during Petrie’s excavations and is now in the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford (1901.40.120). Another, but less well preserved, cross made of straw (Fig. 19) was found at the same place during recent excavations (U. Effland 2006, 147). A Christian shelter at the tomb of Khasekhemwy

Fig. 17: Terra sigillata or red-slipped ‘A’ ware, with impressed cross (Photo: C. Benavente © DAI, Cairo).

Beside the area around the tomb of Djer in the centre of Umm el-Qa‘ab (Fig. 20–22), the most prominent place of ‘Coptic interest’ in this former royal necropolis and Osirian sacred landscape has been probably the southern end of the tomb of the Dynasty 2 king Khasekhemwy (Figs 23–24). Amélineau found some late amphorae at this place (Amélineau 1902, 279–80, pl. XXIV.3), and during the excavations of the German Archaeological Institute two deposits with several more were discovered (Dreyer et al. 2000, 125, n. 225; 2003, 124; cf. also Dreyer et al. 1998, 165; U. Effland 2013, 329). They are Late Roman 7, probably used originally for the transport and storage of wine and oil or other products which were bottled in liquids. They were also reused as, for example, water carriers.

Fig. 18: Terra sigillata or red-slipped ‘A’ ware, with impressed crosses (Photo: A. Effland © DAI, Cairo).

1992, 38–39; Faiers 2005, 78, fig. 2.8.76–78 and 81, 79–80 [nos 76–78, 81]). Textiles and leather A very tightly woven piece of fabric that has a brown floral pattern was found during the recent excavations in the southwest of Umm el-Qa‘ab at the tomb of Khasekhemwy. Another fragment from this same area shows clear signs of use and may be derived from a tunic (U. Effland 2006, 147; see also Amélineau

Fig. 19: Cross made of straw/rush-work from the tomb of Khasekhemwy (Photo: P. Windszus © DAI, Cairo).

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Fig. 20: Map of the central area of Umm el-Qa‘ab (© DAI, Cairo).

But not only amphorae were found in the southern part of the foundation ditch of the tomb of Khasekhemwy; about 2–4m below the surface, fragments of partly decorated textiles as well as crosses made of rush-work and Coptic ostraca were discovered. In addition, in this part of the pit secondary walls were excavated, erected presumably as a shelter, in a very favourable area, several metres below the desert surface so protected from wind and weather (Dreyer et al. 2006, 70, 112, pl. 26.c), and roughly midway between the boundary of the fertile plain (with its ancient temples and canals), and the escarpment of the impressive western plateau (with the hermitages built into the cliff-side caves of the large Wadi Umm el-Qa‘ab and the subsidiary wadis) (Effland, Budka and Effland 2010, 78, no. 342). At least for some time during the ‘Coptic’ or Late Antique period, this part of Umm el-Qa‘ab was occupied and used. Probably it was a place used for storage in order to supply the more isolated sites, the anchoritic or monastic settlements in the west, and

10

Apa Iohannes of Abydos is also mentioned in the martyrdom of St Ptolemy of Dendera: in the times of governor Arianus, attested as dux from late 305, Apa Pahnutius of Nikentore (Dendera) sent the young Ptolemy to Apa Dorotheos of Ansina

served as a way station (U. Effland 2006, 149–50; 2013, 329; Effland, Budka and Effland 2010, 78). This assumption may remind us of the story of the legendary saints and martyr monks Panine and Paneu. Their Vita is sometimes given as an attestation that monasticism was present at Abydos at least from the 5th century. From the surviving portions of this attractive legend, we can learn that Apa Panine and Apa Paneu came from Akhmim to a mound called Mount Ebot in Abydos. There they found the blessed Apa Iohannes,10 who was working on the erection of a small church. They helped him finish the work. This brought them into contact with the famous martyr bishop Psote of Psoi, who consecrated this newly constructed church and ordained Panine as a priest and Paneu as a deacon. Then they lived an ascetic life on the Mount of Ebot for a long time, serving the Lord. They used to go to the desert from Sunday evening to Saturday morning. They came down to distribute Holy Communion to the people on Saturday and Sunday, returning to their desert places until the next Saturday (Till 1935, 35–71).

(Antinoe). On his way Ptolemy first had to visit Apa Iohannes at Ebot/Abydos (Downer 2007: 441; see also Downer 2012; U. Effland 2013, 329).

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Fig. 21: Tomb of Djer during the excavations, view from the northeast, 2008 (Photo: A. Effland).

Fig. 22: Aerial photograph of the area around the tomb of Djer (Photo: L. Ziemer © DAI, Cairo, annotated by A. Effland).

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Fig. 23: Map of the tomb of Khasekhemwy (© DAI, Cairo).

Fig. 24: Tomb of Khasekhemwy, view from the north (Photo: U. Effland).

A long-lasting tradition The ‘Mount of Ebot’ in Abydos is probably the area of the southern part of Umm el-Qa‘ab (Effland, Budka and Effland 2010, 78; A. Effland 2013a, 81; 2014a, 203; 2016, 226).

It was not until around the year AD 535 that Moses of Abydos, according to his Vita, ended the ancient pagan cult in Abydos and Umm el-Qa‘ab (Grossmann 1999; 2002, 44, n. 110; A. Effland 2016, 225–26,

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Bibliography

Fig. 25: Coin of Sultan Ahmed III, r. 1703–1730 (Photo: F. Barthel © DAI, Cairo).

n. 119). However, it seems that cult practices at Umm el-Qa‘ab never really came to an end. During the excavations of the German Archaeological Institute objects were found coming from Medieval, Fatimid, Mamluk and Ottoman times (Fig. 25) (U. Effland 2006; 2008; Effland and Effland 2013, 131–39). The adherents of local popular Islam also used the site (Hansen 2008, 15, 52–53). Amélineau observed during his excavations that processions took place on Good Friday led by the local Copts from the nearby monastery, the so-called Deir Sitt Damyana, which was in part consecrated to Apa Moses of Abydos (Sadek 2008, 261–65), to Umm el-Qa‘ab (Amélineau 1899a, 29, 89; Legge 1899, 183). Ironically this procession from the monastery of the destroyer of ancient Egyptian cults at Abydos used the same old processional route through the wadi that had been used by the followers of Osiris for hundreds of years (A. Effland 2018). Acknowledgements An investigation of Umm el-Qa‘ab/Abydos during Late Antiquity was undertaken under the auspices of the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut (DAI) Research Cluster 4 and Research Cluster 6 in the context of the project ‘The Cult of Osiris in Abydos’ initiated in 2006 under the direction of Ute Effland.

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Hansen, N. B. (ed.). 2008. Omm Sety’s living Egypt: Surviving folkways from pharaonic times. Chicago, IL. Hartmann, R. 2011. The chronology of Naqada I tombs in the Predynastic Cemetery U at Abydos. In Egypt at its origins 3: Proceedings of the Third International Conference, ‘Origin of the state. Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt’, London, 27th July–1st August 2008, R. F. Friedman and P. N. Fiske (eds), 917–38. Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 205. Leuven. ——. 2016. Die Keramik der älteren und mittleren Naqadakultur aus dem prädynastischen Friedhof U in Abydos (Umm el-Qaab). Umm el-Qaab IV. Archäologische Veröffentlichungen 98. Wiesbaden. Hartung, U. 2001. Umm el-Qaab II: Importkeramik aus dem Friedhof U in Abydos (Umm el-Qaab) und die Beziehungen Ägyptens zu Vorderasien im 4. Jahrtausend v. Chr. Archäologische Veröffentlichungen 92. Mainz. ——. 2007. Der prädynastische Friedhof U: Nilpferdjäger und erste Bürokraten. In Begegnung mit der Vergangenheit – 100 Jahre in Ägypten: Deutsches Archäologisches Institut Kairo 1907–2007, G. Dreyer and D. Polz (eds), 187–92. Mainz. ——. 2016. Der Friedhof U in Umm el-Qaab und die funeräre Landschaft von Abydos in prädynastischer Zeit. In Gedenkschrift für Werner Kaiser. Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 70/71: 175–91. Kaiser, W., and G. Dreyer. 1982. Umm el-Qaab, Nachuntersuchungen im frühzeitlichen Königsfriedhof, 2. Vorbericht. Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 38: 211–69. Kaiser, W., and P. Grossmann. 1979. Umm el-Qaab, Nachuntersuchungen im frühzeitlichen Königsfriedhof, 1. Vorbericht. Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 35: 155–63. Köhler, E. C. 2016. Die Königsnekropole in Abydos: Zur Entstehung des pharaonischen Königtums. Antike Welt 1: 17–22. Kraemer, B. 2013. The Petries’ unpublished archaeological survey between Hu and Abydos. Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 69: 143–69. Legge, F. 1899. Recent discoveries at Abydos and Negadah. Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology 21: 183–93. Martin, G. T. 2011. Umm el-Qaab VII: Private stelae of the Early Dynastic period from the Royal Cemetery at Abydos. Archäologische Veröffentlichungen 123. Wiesbaden. Naville, É. 1909. Excavations at Abydos. In Archaeological report 1908–1909: Comprising the work of the Egypt Exploration Fund and the progress of Egyptology during the year 1908–1909: 1–2.

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——. 1910. Excavations at Abydos. In Archaeological report 1909–1910: Comprising the work of the Egypt Exploration Fund and the progress of Egyptology during the year 1909–1910: 1–8. ——. 1911. Excavations at Abydos. In Archaeological report 1910–1911: Comprising the work of the Egypt Exploration Fund and the progress of Egyptology during the year 1910–1911: 1–5. ——. 1914. The cemeteries of Abydos I, 1909–1910: The mixed cemetery and Umm el-Ga‛ab. Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Fund 33. London. Petrie, W. M. F. 1900. The royal tombs of the First Dynasty 1900, Part I. Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Fund 18. London. ——. 1901. The royal tombs of the earliest dynasties, 1901, Part II. Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Fund 21. London. ——. 1902. Abydos I. Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Fund 22. London. Pyke, G. 2005. Late Roman Egyptian amphorae from squares U and V at Kom el-Nana. In Late Roman pottery at Amarna and related studies, J. Faiers (ed.), 213– 43. Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Fund 72. London. Quirke, S. 2010. Hidden hands: Egyptian workforces in Petrie excavation archives, 1880–1924. London. Randall-MacIver, D., and A. C. Mace. 1902. El Amrah and Abydos 1899–1901. Special extra publication of the Egypt Exploration Fund. London. Sadek, A. A. 2008. Two witnesses of Christian life in the area of Balyana. The Church of the Virgin and the Monastery of Anba Moses. In Christianity and monasticism in Upper Egypt I: Akhmim and Sohag, G. Gabra and H. N. Takla (eds), 253–67. Cairo; New York. Spencer, P. 2014. Preparing for an excavation: The 1909– 10 EEF season at Abydos. In A good scribe and an exceedingly wise man: Studies in honour of W. J. Tait, A. M. Dodson, J. J. Johnston and W. Monkhouse (eds), 279–90. London. Stevenson, A. 2016. Locating a sense of immortality in early Egyptian cemeteries. In Death rituals, social order and the archaeology of immortality in the ancient world: ‘Death shall have no dominion’, C. Renfrew, M. J. Boyd and I. Morley (eds), 371–81. Cambridge. Till, W. 1935. Koptische Heiligen- und Märtyrerlegenden I. Orientalia Christiana Analecta 102. Rome. Wegner, J., and K. Cahail. 2015. Royal funerary equipment of a king Sobekhotep at South Abydos: Evidence for the tombs of Sobekhotep IV and Neferhotep I? Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 51: 123–64. Westerfeld, J. T. 2010. Landscapes of memory: Pharaonic sacred space in the Coptic imagination. PhD dissertation, University of Chicago.

A DESERT HERMITAGE SOUTH OF ABYDOS: PRELIMINARY WORK OF THE ABYDOS SURVEY FOR PALEOLITHIC SITES, HISTORIC DIVISION Dawn MCCORMACK and Jennifer WESTERFELD

In the first of three seasons (2002–2003, 2005–2006 and 2007–2008) conducted by the Abydos Survey for Paleolithic Sites (ASPS), the team discovered a threeroom structure containing painted inscriptions (dipinti) and decorative elements which suggest that the site served as a hermitage, or residence for a Christian ascetic (Fig. 1).1 During that season, Dawn McCormack, who was analysing all of the historic sites and material found by the ASPS team, documented the hermitage and collected a sample of the ceramics found within it. No excavation was allowed, so investigation

was limited to describing, photographing and sketching what was readily visible at the time of the survey. In the 2005–2006 season, Jennifer Westerfeld joined the historic part of the team and examined the inscriptions at the site. Since the conclusion of the overall ASPS project in 2008, the historic division has continued its investigations of the Late Antique material. Field study of the ceramics was completed in 2016, and a comprehensive publication of the historic division’s findings is planned. Dawn McCormack has also conducted a visual, satellite imagery study of the hermitage’s physical

Fig. 1: View of the hermitage showing Rooms 2 and 3 with courtyard in foreground. The benches are visible to the right and the left.

1

Although recent scholarship has rightly problematized the blanket identification of all Late Antique structures in the high desert as ‘hermitages’ (Delattre and Lecuyot 2016), we believe that such an identification is justified in this case on the basis of a number of features, including structural modifications indicative of long-term habitation (e.g., provisions for food storage

and perhaps food preparation), the presence of a well-defined prayer niche in the east wall of one of the rooms and epigraphic material consistent with the use of the space by a Christian ascetic. All of these elements are discussed further below.

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Fig. 2: Digitized sketch map showing the location of the hermitage relative to local wadi systems.

context in the high desert of the Abydos region. Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping revealed trails connecting the hermitage to other Late Antique structures in the vicinity and to the valley below, a network of relationships that can be compared with those observed, for example, at Dra’ Abu el-Naga (Polz et al. 2012, 133), Deir Abu Hinnis (van Loon and De Laet 2014) and North Amarna (Pyke 2014). The hermitage is located in a finger of the Banī Hamīl wadi system to the south of Wadi Umm elGa’ab. It is an approximately 2.5 hour hike to the site from the area of the ancient Osiris temple, past the Early Dynastic tombs and through Wadi Umm elQa‘ab (Fig. 2). The ceramic materials from the hermitage and other structures in the area demonstrate that Roman and Late Antique activity in the cliffs may have begun as early as the 1st–2nd centuries AD and continued through the 7th–8th centuries. The ASPS team identified over twenty structures of probable Late Antique date in the portion of the high desert that was surveyed, a large area of more than 15km extending from the limestone quarry to the north of Wadi al Jir to Wadi Samhud, containing an ancient and modern road extending toward the Kharga Oasis. The intent of the survey was to sample the archaeological remains in the region, and it was not comprehensive, so it is very likely that more such sites remain undiscovered. These structures were constructed in blockedoff caves, rock shelters and caverns in the ground; their

layouts vary, but some share common features such as niches, storage areas and flattened places for animals or workspaces. Most contain no decoration. Inscriptions in some of the structures suggest that they were used by Christians, but in other cases the users cannot be identified with certainty. The more complex of these desert structures, such as the hermitage discussed here, are set apart by their layout, decoration and diversity of features. It has long been known that there was extensive Late Antique activity in the high desert near Abydos. Georges Daressy, who carried out an archaeological survey of the cliffs at the desert edge in the late 19th century, described an area of Wadi al Jir that was peppered with caves, many of which he claimed had been used by Christian ascetics (Daressy 1898/9), and in 1925 Hilda Petrie reported the excavation of a desert hermitage that offers a very close parallel to the site presented here (Petrie 1925). Unfortunately, the location of this hermitage has since been lost. Other Late Antique sites, including some purported hermitages, have been reported anecdotally by members of the various archaeological missions that have been active in the region of Abydos throughout the past century, but little of this material has been assessed in a systematic way. It is to be hoped that the findings of the ASPS historic-period team, which we present in a preliminary form here, will help to shed some additional light on the use of the high desert of Abydos by Late Antique Christians. The hermitage The hermitage presented here is composed of three rooms, two of which are set into a modified cave. This natural cave has been carved out and shaped to create the core of the hermitage. The builder(s) sealed off a small extension of the cave when they finished the back walls of the two largest rooms by flattening the stone with chisels and smoothing the surface with plaster. In front of the rooms is a courtyard which extends to the edge of a small wadi (Fig. 3, courtyard). In terms of its components and overall design, the site bears a strong resemblance to the hermitage excavated in 1921–1922 by Hilda Petrie in the cliffs west of Abydos (Petrie 1925). Although the Petrie hermitage appears to have been in a significantly better state of preservation at the time of its discovery, there are similarities in style and a number of features common to both sites. These include the modification of a natural cave through the

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Fig. 3: Digitized sketch plan of the hermitage. Locations of texts are denoted in red.

addition of walls, built-in benches, basins, niches and painted decoration and inscriptions (Fig. 4). Further afield, useful comparanda may be offered by other sites at which natural caves were adapted to serve as

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dwellings for Christian ascetics (generally on this phenomenon, Brooks Hedstrom 2007, 375–77). These sites include Deir el-Naqlun (Godlewski 1997), Deir el-Dik (Martin 1971; van Loon 2008), Deir Abu Hinnis (van Loon and De Laet 2014; van Loon with Delattre 2014), the north cliffs at Amarna (Kemp 2005; Pyke 2014) and Hagr Edfu (O’Connell 2013). On the cliff above and to the north of the hermitage is a linear stone formation 2.35m long and 0.45m high. The team noted similar features at several other sites in the area, and they seem to have been constructed to prevent rocks or debris from falling into the courtyard of the hermitage. To the east of the hermitage, on the top of the cliff, there is a well-defined trail that runs north/south. A cairn marks the location of a smaller trail which leads down along the cliff towards the hermitage. The trail incorporates a stairway composed of uncut limestone (Fig. 5). Closer to the hermitage, to the north of the trail, there is a flat, cleared area which may have served as a workspace or a place for animals, as is found in other hermitages in the Abydos region. The trail ends at the edge of the courtyard. In the hermitage that she excavated, Hilda Petrie likewise documented the presence of a trail, incorporating a stairway, which ran from the entry of the hermitage to

Fig. 4: Sketch plan of the hermitage excavated by Hilda Petrie (Petrie 1925, pl. LV).

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The ceiling and most of the walls are natural or roughly hewn stone, and the shape is irregular. The wall closest to the bench was composed by stacking uncut (or partially dressed) limestone, and the doorway is well defined and includes a preserved door lintel. This room is not tall enough for someone to stand up inside and was heavily silted up with sand, stone and debris. A very similar storage space utilizing a naturally occurring fissure in the rock, augmented with dry stone walls, was reported in the Petrie hermitage (Petrie 1925, 21). To the northeast of the storage room is the most elaborate of the hermitage’s three chambers, which was probably the main room of the structure (see Fig. 3, Room 2; Fig. 7). Room 2 has rectangular walls and is relatively well preserved. Along the back wall of the room, there is a bench with ridges on either end which

Fig. 5: Stairs composed of uncut limestone. This staircase is located along the trail leading from the top of the cliff to the hermitage below.

the plateau above; there too, a low retaining wall shielded the structure below (Petrie 1925, 24). The use of cairns as way-markers along trails linking Late Antique installations in the high desert has also been noted at other sites, for example Dra Abu el-Naga North (Beckh 2016, 743–44). The courtyard in front of the hermitage is approximately 2.25m wide and roughly 4.5m deep (see Fig. 1; Fig. 3, courtyard). To the west is a well-defined bench which extends from the doorway of Room 1 to a large natural boulder near the lip of the wadi (see Fig. 3, bench 1). On the eastern edge of the courtyard, there appears to be another bench, which is less well preserved (see Fig. 3, bench 2). These benches appear to have been carved into the natural limestone; thorough cleaning as well as some excavation would be required to confirm this. Thus the courtyard was lined on either side by benches which, in addition to being used by the resident monk, could have provided seating for visitors to the hermitage. Room 1, located at the end of the western bench, is a small storage chamber (see Fig. 3, Room 1; Fig. 6).

Fig. 6: Room 1. The storage room built into the side of the cliff.

Fig. 7: Room 2. The most formal of the rooms, with a bench at the back and preserved decoration.

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may represent built-in pillows or arm-rests; similar features have been noted at other monastic sites, including a Late Antique hermitage in the North Cemetery at Abydos (Bestock 2012, 76). The bench was plastered and whitewashed, and its angles were outlined in red paint. The ceiling and walls were also plastered and whitewashed, and the walls show the same red outlining at the angles of the room. In the western wall, there is a rectangular niche, while the focal point of the eastern wall is a large arched niche flanked by smaller rectangular niches on either side (only traces of the lefthand niche are preserved). The bulk of the inscriptions found in Room 2 are clustered on the eastern wall in close proximity to the central niche; this fact, together with the niche’s prominence and ornamentation (on which, see below), leads us to suggest that this feature served as the focal point of the resident monk’s life of prayer (on the centrality of prayer niches to monastic life, and consequently to monastic architecture, see Grossmann 2002; Brooks Hedstrom 2007). The wall separating Room 2 from the courtyard was made of a mixture of uncut and partially dressed limestone blocks secured with a mortar composed of sand and pebbles. Due to the nature of the components of this room, it appears to have been the main room of the structure and was likely used both for sleeping and for prayer. This represents something of a divergence from the Petrie hermitage, where the oratory and living quarters occupy separate rooms (Petrie 1925, 21). Room 3 occupies the same natural cave as Room 2. Separation between the two rooms was effected by the construction of a wall dividing the cave roughly in half; the wall is composed of stone and mortar sealed with a heavy coating of plaster on either side (see Fig. 3, Room 3; Fig. 8). The room has whitewashed plaster on the walls but not on the ceiling. As in Room 2, there are three niches in the eastern wall (an arched niche flanked by smaller rectangular niches). Along the back wall, there is a large stone basin and possibly other built-in features. It is likely that this room served as the kitchen, as it looks similar to those in the hermitages excavated in the walls of the Shunet el-Zebib at Abydos.2 The room is poorly preserved overall. All three rooms were filled with sand and debris, which was not excavated. For this reason, the nature of

2

These were excavated by the NYU–Institute of Fine Arts team during the restoration of the Shunet el-Zebib under David O’Connor and Matthew Adams (see Adams, this volume).

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Fig. 8: Room 3. Possible kitchen with a built-in basin and other features.

the floors remains unknown at this point. The debris within the rooms contained plaster, ceramic material and possibly other items, which could be investigated in the future with complete excavation of these rooms. Ceramic material was also found in the courtyard and down the slope of the wadi. On the surface, the pottery frequency was approximately 10–20 per square metre, noticeably higher than at most other sites in the ASPS survey area. Gillian Pyke carried out a preliminary analysis of the collected sample of pottery, which included transport, storage and cooking wares, focusing on fabric and types that could be dated. For this site, there were two main datable clusters: the first in the 1st–2nd century AD and the second in the 5th–8th century. Thus, the initial use of this site likely pre-dated the use of the space as a Christian hermitage, but full excavation would have to be conducted in order to further understand the nature of this earlier phase. Inscriptions and decorative elements In 2005–2006, the ASPS historic-period team recorded a total of twelve inscriptions in the hermitage, ten in Room 2 and two in Room 3. All of the inscriptions are red dipinti, and most are now fragmentary owing to damage to the underlying plaster, patches of which have fallen away in many areas. Palaeographical comparison of the inscriptions suggests that multiple

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hands may have been responsible for their production.3 The fill in both rooms contains many fragments of plaster bearing traces of dipinti. Few of these can be matched palaeographically with the texts found in situ, which suggests that the total number of inscriptions in the structure would originally have been somewhat higher than the twelve preserved today. We also recorded a small number of painted figures and decorative elements, some associated with texts and some seemingly independent.4 In the case of both the inscriptions and decorative elements, the evidence from this hermitage is comparable to epigraphic material found at other monastic sites of this type, both in the area of Abydos (Peet 1914, 49–53; Murray 1925) and elsewhere in Egypt, for example at Deir el-Dik and Deir Abu Hinnis (Martin 1971; van Loon with Delattre 2014). As a full edition of the inscriptions and decorative elements is to be included in the eventual publication of the ASPS historic-period survey, the following remarks will be confined to the better-preserved and more noteworthy examples. Only two of the texts recorded in the hermitage are fully preserved, and both of these are short invocations of biblical figures. Text 2.6 consists of only two lines, written on the plastered north wall of Room 2, to the right of a dipinto figure with which it may or may not be associated (Fig. 9). The text invokes the persons of the Trinity, reading ⲡⲓⲱⲧ ⲡϣⲏⲣⲉ | ⲡⲚ⳰Ⲁ ⲉⲧⲟⲩⲁⲃ, ‘the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit’. Such an invocation often stands at the beginning of a longer prayer, as in examples from the Abydos hermitage published by Hilda Petrie and Margaret Murray (Murray 1925, 24, nos 3, 5 and 6). However, it can also stand alone, as it does here (compare Peet 1914, 53, no. 4; further on the epigraphic use of this common formula, Wietheger 1992, 132–33). Text 3.1, the only other completely preserved text from the hermitage, is slightly longer. It consists of seven lines enclosed in a decorative frame in the form of a tabula ansata, written on the unplastered roof of Room 3 (Fig. 10). It lists the names of the seven archangels: ⲙⲓⲭⲁⲏⲗ | ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ | ϩⲣⲁⲫⲁⲏⲗ |

3

Whether the variations in palaeography from one inscription to another indicate the evolution of a single individual’s writing style over an extended period of time, the presence of graffitiwriting visitors in the hermitage or the occupation of the site by multiple generations of hermits (or some combination of these things) is at present difficult to say. It is to be hoped that future analysis of the ceramic materials from the hermitage will help to clarify the use-life of the site.

Fig. 9: Text 2.6: east wall of Room 2, to the right of the central niche.

Fig. 10: Text 3.1: ceiling of Room 3.

4

The number of inscriptions and decorative elements we recorded is roughly consistent with the quantity documented in the hermitage excavated by Hilda Petrie; in that structure, eighteen textual and figural inscriptions were recorded in total (Murray 1925).

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ϩⲣⲁⲅⲟⲩⲏⲗ | ⲥⲟⲩⲣⲓⲏⲗ | ⲁⲥⲟⲩⲏⲗ | ⲥⲁⲗⲁⲫⲟⲩⲏⲗ, ‘Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Ragouel, Souriel, Asouel, Salaphouel’. Different configurations of this list are known from other sources, as the seven members of the group were not completely standardized in the Coptic tradition. A direct parallel appears in a Coptic magical text now in the British Library (London MS Or. 6796 ro, lines 85–86), a Coptic magical text which calls upon the same seven archangels listed in this inscription to carry out the action of the spell (Meyer and Smith 1999, no. 131). Partial parallels from epigraphic contexts include a lengthy text from Hermitage 7 at Esna, which includes the names of six out of the seven archangels listed here, omitting Asouel (Jacquet-Gordon et al. 1972, 108–11, no. 89), and a text from Chapel 62 at Bawit which names Gabriel, Raphael and Saraphouel/ Salaphouel (Clédat 1999, 41–44). Local examples are

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also known; a Coptic inscription from the mortuary temple of Seti I invokes the ‘seven holy angels’, although the names of all seven are not preserved (Crum 1904, 39, no. 23 [description] and pl. 31 [facsimile]; SB Kopt. III 1529, lines 3–5 [Coptic text]). It should be noted, however, that in the parallels from Esna, Bawit and the temple of Seti I, the archangels are invoked in the company of other biblical figures, rather than standing alone as they do here. The placement of Text 3.1 also represents a difference from these parallels, which are all written on wall surfaces rather than ceilings. One of the most striking features recorded in the hermitage was a very fine bandeau inscription, Text 2.2 (Figs 11–13, detail), which runs along the west and north walls of Room 2 in a single line below a narrow band of red paint. The text begins to the left of the niche cut into the west wall; the niche breaks the line of the inscription, which continues immediately to the right of the niche (see Fig. 12, detail). Judging from paint traces in the northeast corner of the room, the text would originally have wrapped around that corner and continued onto the east wall as well (see Fig. 13, detail),

Fig. 11: Beginning of Text 2.2: west wall of Room 2.

Fig. 12: Continuation of Text 2.2 to the right of the niche in west wall of Room 2.

Fig. 13: Northeast corner of Room 2, showing probable continuation of Text 2.2 onto east wall.

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but the plaster has fallen in that area and carried the text away with it. The text is a litany, invoking the persons of the Trinity, followed by the Virgin Mary and a series of Old Testament figures: [ⲡⲓⲱⲧ ⲡϣⲏⲣⲉ] ⲡⲉⲡⲚ⳰Ⲁ ⲉⲧⲟⲩⲁⲁⲃ: ⲧⲙⲁⲁⲩ ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ: ⲡⲉⲛⲓⲱⲧ ⲁⲃⲣⲁϩⲁⲙ ⲓⲥⲁⲕ: ⲓⲁⲕⲱⲃ: ⲡⲉⲛⲙⲱⲩⲥⲏⲥ · ⲙⲚⲁⲁⲣⲱⲛ · ⲙⲚⲙⲁⲣⲓ[ϩⲁⲙ] [the text is interrupted at this point by the niche cut into the west wall but resumes immediately to the right of the niche] ⲡⲉⲛⲉⲓⲱⲧ ⲓⲉⲥⲟⲩ · ⲙⲚⲭⲁⲗⲉⲃ: ⲡⲉⲛⲉⲒⲱⲧ ⲓⲱⲃ: ⲡⲉⲛⲓⲱⲧ ⲇⲁⲩⲉⲓⲇ: ⲡⲉⲛⲉⲒⲱⲧ ⲥⲟⲗⲱⲙⲱⲛ … ⲙⲚⲧϩⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ · ⲁⲛⲁⲛⲓⲁⲥ ⲁⲍⲁⲣⲓⲁⲥ ⲙⲓⲥⲁⲏⲗ · ⲡⲉⲛⲓⲱⲧ ⲇⲁⲛⲓⲏⲗ · … ⲙⲧⲁ …, ‘[The Father, the Son], the Holy Spirit; the mother Mary; our father Abraham; Isaac; Jacob; our Moses and Aaron and Mariam; our father Esau and Caleb; our father Job; our father David; our father Solomon … and the saint (sic) Ananias, Azarias, Misael; our father Daniel …’ This sort of litany represents a text type amply attested elsewhere, although the individuals listed may vary from one instance to another. Such texts are often associated with architectural features such as door lintels and may have served as a kind of blessing for the space in which they occur (Wietheger 1992, 136 and 210–19; for a parallel from Saqqara, Quibell 1912, 107). A very similar bandeau inscription was documented in courtyard B of Hermitage 7 at Esna (JacquetGordon et al. 1972, 108, no. 81 and pls CXLII and CXLIII). A local parallel, in content if not in format, may be found in the hermitage excavated by Hilda Petrie; that text begins by invoking ‘the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, our father Michael, [and] our father Adam’, followed by ‘our fathers the patriarchs’, ‘our fathers the prophets’ and a series of monastic fathers who are listed individually by name (Murray 1925, 24). In addition to these invocations and litanies, the other major textual genre represented in the hermitage is that of prayers or petitions. None of the examples we recorded was fully preserved, but in some cases enough remained to at least identify the genre. For example, Text 2.1 (Fig. 14) begins by invoking the Trinity together with ‘Saint Apa Apollo the Martyr’ (ⲡⲓⲱⲧ ⲡϣⲏⲣⲉ | [ⲡ]ⲉⲡⲚ⳰Ⲁ ⲉⲧⲟⲩⲁⲁⲃ | [ⲡϩⲁ]ⲅⲓⲟⲥ ⲁⲡⲁ \ⲁ/ ⲡⲟ | [ⲗ]ⲗⲱ ⲡⲙⲁⲣⲧⲩⲣ| [ⲟⲥ]). The petitioner then appears to ask for remembrance (ⲙⲏⲏⲟⲩⲉ), perhaps on behalf of a man named Theodore. If Theodore is indeed the beneficiary of this petition, the text is especially significant, as the surviving inscriptions preserve no other personal names outside the lists of biblical figures and monastic saints discussed above. The infrequency of personal names and monastic titles in the

preserved inscriptions from the hermitage represents a significant difference from the epigraphic corpus at comparable sites such as the rock-cut hermitages at Deir el-Dik and Deir Abu Hinnis, where personal attestations are very common (van Loon with Delattre 2014). It is of course possible that such inscriptions were once present but have simply not survived. A number of painted decorative elements were also recorded in the hermitage. As noted above, in Room 2, lines of red paint were used throughout to highlight architectural features including the niches (Fig. 15) and the angles of the walls and ceiling. Judging from the traces of red outlining in niche no. 5, the same was probably done in Room 3 as well, but the plaster surfaces in that room are so badly damaged that relatively few traces remain. The practice of highlighting architectural features in this way is known from a number of other monastic sites, particularly the hermitages at Esna, where it is characteristic (Sauneron and Jacquet 1972). The central niche in the east wall of Room 2 received the greatest amount of attention. Traces of moulded plaster suggest that the niche was set off by

Fig. 14: Text 2.1, partial wall at southwest corner of Room 2.

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an architectural frame. This was embellished with a guilloche motif consisting of green and yellow interlaced bands outlined in red; only a tiny fragment of this still survives (Fig. 16). At the back of the niche, the barest traces are visible of a large figure of an embellished cross on a stand, painted in red; the lower righthand corner of the stand can still be seen, together with traces of embellishments that originally dangled from the arms of the cross. Such features are wholly consistent with the treatment of prayer niches in monastic dwellings throughout Egypt (Grossmann 2002; cf. Sauneron and Jacquet 1972, 63 and 71–72). Just visible below the central prayer niche are the bottom corners of what was probably once a decorative frame enclosing an inscription, as in the Petrie hermitage (Murray 1925, 25). Unfortunately, the wall surface has completely disintegrated in this area and no traces of the inscription are visible. Between this damaged area and the modern floor level, a few additional painted figures can be seen, including a sketch of what might be a jar (Fig. 17).

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Conclusions Over the three seasons of survey work, the ASPS team recorded over twenty sites of Late Antique date in the high desert to the south and west of Abydos, including the hermitage presented here. This corpus of

Fig. 16: Central niche in east wall of Room 2 showing fragment of multi-coloured guilloche border and traces of painted cross within the niche.

Fig. 15: Niche in west wall of Room 2, showing red painted detail.

Fig. 17: Painted figures on east wall of Room 2 below central niche.

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sites has the potential to contribute significantly to our understanding of Late Antique Christian activity in this region. Most of these possible Late Antique structures were built into natural caves or rock shelters, with internal divisions formed by man-made walls; some show traces of plaster and painted decoration, although most do not. Many of the sites appear to have been connected in some way to one another. As noted above, the hermitage presented here was linked by a stairway and small pathway to a larger and more well-defined trail passing by the cliffs to the east, and the intersection of the trail and the pathway leading to the hermitage is marked with a cairn. The survey team noted the presence of similar trails in other locations in the region, and ceramic remains suggest that those trails were in use during Late Antiquity, and perhaps earlier as well. Further analysis of the ceramic material should confirm these conclusions and will be presented in detail in future publications. In the past two years, the information provided by the ASPS ground survey has been augmented by a satellite imagery study of the area, funded by Dumbarton Oaks. The results of this study suggest that most of the Late Antique sites identified by the survey are located on what were likely pre-existing roads leading across the upper desert. These roads clearly avoid the wadis, skirting above them and making the seemingly inhospitable desert relatively easy to traverse. It is clear that the monk who occupied the hermitage presented here had a deliberate connection to others and that the placement of the hermitage facilitated this connectedness. The notion that desert hermitages were often not as isolated as the literature of desert monasticism would lead us to believe is by now widely accepted (Goehring 1993). Evidence for this is provided by studies of hermits such as the Theban monk Frange, whose extensive correspondence, conducted from his cell in a tomb in the Theban necropolis, attests to his wide network of personal interconnections (Boud’Hors and Heurtel 2010). Similarly, recent work at sites such as Dra’ Abu el-Naga (Polz et al. 2012, 133), Deir Abu Hinnis (van Loon and De Laet 2014) and North Amarna (Pyke 2014) has drawn new attention not only to the diversity of Late Antique installations in the high desert but also to the systems of roads and pathways which facilitated communication between those installations. In the region of Abydos, attempts have long been made to connect Christian hermitages in the high desert with the coenobitic monastery of Apa Moses, which is known to have been located somewhere in the vicinity

of Abydos (Murray 1925, 24). However, we should probably also be looking for connections between desert installations like the hermitage presented here and a wide range of Late Antique communities situated closer to the cultivation, including the residents of the cells carved into the Shunet el-Zebib in the low desert, the hermits who built their dwelling-places in and around the tombs of Cemetery D and the villagers who inhabited the area surrounding the temple of Seti I, to name just a few possibilities. The issue of how hermitages like the one described here were situated within a broader network of local relationships is particularly significant insofar as it relates to the question of how the hermits were supplied with the basic necessities of life. The ASPS team found no water source associated with the hermitage described here, suggesting that water (and presumably other resources as well) had to be brought from the valley to support the hermit in his or her way of life. The connections between the desert hermitages and the communities of the valley would thus have been of vital importance and would likely repay further investigation. In terms of future avenues of research, there is much more work to do in this area, including in the hermitage described here. Inscribed plaster fragments and pottery are significant within the debris, especially in Room 2, and excavation here would be fruitful and well worth the logistical issues. Modern activity in the high desert increases every year, and it is paramount for scholars to record as much of the ancient activities and features as possible so that this information is not lost. It is to be hoped that the results of our studies can help others to do further work in similar contexts throughout Egypt as the security situation allows; there is much left to discover both in the Abydos region and elsewhere. Acknowledgements From 2002 through 2016, the historic team has included Dawn McCormack, Jennifer Westerfeld, Gillian Pyke, Leslie Warden, Tracy Musacchio and Paul Kucera. The Abydos Survey for Paleolithic Sites was directed by Harold L. Dibble, Deborah Olszewski, Shannon P. McPherron and Jennifer R. Smith and was supported by the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, the Max Planck Institute, Washington University, the National Science Foundation and the Leakey Foundation. The satellite imagery survey of the region was carried out by Dawn MacCormack with the support of a 2014–2015 Byzantine Studies Grant

A DESERT HERMITAGE SOUTH OF ABYDOS

from Dumbarton Oaks. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Ministry of State for Antiquities and the inspectors who worked with us during this project: Zein el Abdin Zaki, Director General of Antiquities for Sohag; Mohammed Abd El Aziz, Chief Inspector Balyana; Miss Aziza El Sayed Hassan, Chief Inspector Balyana; Ashraf Sayeed Mahmoud, Inspector of Antiquities; Ashur Kamer Abas, Inspector of Antiquities and Alaa AbedElheleem AbedAlah, Inspector of Antiquities.

Bibliography All papyrological abbreviations are cited throughout this volume according to J. Oates et al. Checklist of Greek, Latin, Demotic and Coptic papyri, ostraca and tablets, (last accessed 8 July 2018). Beckh, T. 2016. Monks, magicians, archaeologists: New results on Coptic settlement development in Dra’ Abu el-Naga North, Western Thebes. In Coptic society, literature and religion from late antiquity to modern times: Proceedings of the Tenth International Congress of Coptic Studies, P. Buzi, A. Camplani and F. Contardi (eds), 1: 739–47. Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 247. Leuven. Bestock, L. 2012. Brown University Abydos Project: Preliminary report on the first two seasons. Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 48: 35–79. Boud’hors, A., and C. Heurtel. 2010. Les ostraca coptes de la TT29: Autour du moine Frangé. Études d’archéologie thébaine 3. Brussels. Brooks Hedstrom, D. 2007. Divine architects: Designing the monastic dwelling place. In Egypt in the Byzantine world, 300–700, R. S. Bagnall (ed.), 368–89. Cambridge. Clédat, J. 1999. Le monastère et la nécropole de Baouit. Mémoires publiés par les membres de l’Institut français d’archéologie orientale du Caire 111. Cairo. Crum, W. E. 1904. Coptic graffiti &c. In The Osireion at Abydos, M. Murray (ed.), 38–44. Egyptian Research Account Publications 9. London. Daressy, G. 1898/99. Exploration archéologique de la montagne d’Abydos. Bulletin de l’Institut Égyptien, 3ème série 9: 279–88. Delattre, A., and G. Lecuyot. 2016. À qui et à quoi servaient les ‘ermitages’ des vallées sud-ouest de la Montagne Thébaine? In Coptic society, literature and religion from late antiquity to modern times: Proceedings of the

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Tenth International Congress of Coptic Studies, P. Buzi, A. Camplani and F. Contardi (eds), 1: 709–18. Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 247. Leuven. Godlewski, W. 1997. Deir el Naqlun: Topography and tentative history. In Archeologia e papiri nel Fayyum: Storia della ricerca, problemi e prospettive, 123–45. Syracuse. Goehring, J. 1993. The encroaching desert: Literary production and ascetic space in early Christian Egypt. Journal of Early Christian Studies 1 (3): 281–96. Grossmann, P. 2002. Christliche Architektur in Ägypten. Handbuch der Orientalistik 62. Leiden; Boston, MA; Cologne. Jacquet-Gordon, H., J. Jarry, S. Sauneron and R.-G. Coquin. 1972. Les inscriptions. In Les ermitages chrétiens du désert d’Esna 1: Archéologie et inscriptions, S. Sauneron and J. Jacquet (eds), 1: 83–121. Fouilles de l’Institut français d’archéologie orientale du Caire 29. Cairo. Kemp, B. 2005. Settlement and landscape in the Amarna area in the Late Roman period. In Late Roman pottery at Amarna and related studies, J. Faiers with contributions by S. Clackson, B. Kemp, G. Pyke and R. Reece, 11–56. Egypt Exploration Society Excavation Memoir 72. London. Martin, M. 1971. La laure de Dêr al Dîk à Antinoé. Bibliothèque d’études coptes 8. Cairo. Meyer, M. W., and R. Smith. 1999. Ancient Christian magic: Coptic texts of ritual power. Princeton, NJ. Murray, M. A. 1925. The Coptic inscriptions. In Tombs of the courtiers and Oxyrhynkhos, W. M. F. Petrie (ed.), 24–26. British School of Archaeology in Egypt and the Egyptian Research Account 37. London. O’Connell, E. R. 2013. Sources for the study of Late Antique and early Medieval Hagr Edfu. In Christianity and monasticism in Aswan and Nubia, G. Gabra and H. N. Takla (eds), 237–48. Cairo. Peet, T. E. 1914. The cemeteries of Abydos 2. Memoirs of the Egypt Exploration Fund 34. London. Petrie, H. 1925. A Coptic hermitage at Abydos. In Tombs of the courtiers and Oxyrhynkhos, W. M. F. Petrie (ed.), 20–24. British School of Archaeology in Egypt and the Egyptian Research Account 37. London. Polz, D. A., U. Rummel, I. Eichner and T. Beckh. 2012. Topographical archaeology in Dra‘ Abu el-Naga: Three thousand years of cultural history. Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 68: 115–34. Pyke, G. 2014. The Christianisation of the Amarna landscape: Conquest, convenience or combat? In Egypt in the First Millennium AD: Perspectives from new fieldwork, E. R. O’Connell (ed.), 139–55. British Museum Publications on Egypt and Sudan 2. Leuven. Quibell, J. E. 1912. Excavations at Saqqara 4: 1908–09, 1909–10. The Monastery of Apa Jeremias. Cairo.

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Sauneron, S., and J. Jacquet. 1972. Les ermitages chrétiens du désert d’Esna 1: Archéologie et inscriptions. Fouilles de l’Institut français d’archéologie orientale 29.1. Cairo. van Loon, G. J. M. 2008. Dans les pas du Père Maurice Martin S. J.: Deir al-Dik. In Études coptes X: Douzième journée d’études (Lyon, 19–21 mai 2005), A. Boud’hors and C. Louis (eds), 179–98. Cahiers de la bibliothèque copte 16. Paris. van Loon, G. J. M. and V. De Laet. 2014. Monastic settlements in Dayr Abu Hinnis (Middle Egypt): The spatial perspective. In Egypt in the First Millennium AD: Per-

spectives from new fieldwork, E. R. O’Connell (ed.), 157–75. British Museum Publications on Egypt and Sudan 2. Leuven. van Loon, G. J. M., with an appendix on inscriptions by A. Delattre. 2014. Patterns of monastic habitation on the east bank of the Nile in Middle Egypt: Dayr al-Dik, Dayr Abū Ḥinnis, and al-Shaykh Sa‘īd. Journal of Coptic Studies 16: 235–78. Wietheger, C. 1992. Das Jeremias-Kloster zu Saqqara unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Inschriften. Arbeiten zum spätantiken und koptischen Ägypten 1. Altenberge.

DEMOTIC, GREEK AND COPTIC OSTRACA FROM ABYDOS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM Adrienn ALMÁSY-MARTIN

There are 157 demotic, 31 Greek, 27 Coptic and 6 Arabic ostraca from Abydos in the British Museum today.1 These were found during the excavations undertaken between 1908 and 1926 by the Egypt Exploration Fund (EEF; renamed as the Egypt Exploration Society [EES]), in the northern part of Abydos, in the areas called the North and Middle Cemeteries and in the Osireion.2 They entered the collection together with other objects between 1909 and 1988. Four Arabic ostraca were transferred to what is now the British Museum’s Middle East Department in 1998. In two or more transfers dating to the 1970s and 1980s, twentyeight Greek ostraca were transferred to the Department of Manuscripts (now Western Heritage), British Library, and are no longer part of the British Museum collection (O’Connell 2019). The aim of this contribution is to give an overview of the demotic, Greek and Coptic written material from Abydos that is now in the British Museum (for Arabic, see Vorderstrasse, this volume). They are discussed here and listed in a catalogue with the edition and translation of selected examples (twenty-six demotic, four Greek and two Coptic). The registration book of the British Museum, the distribution list of the EES, and notes and photographs taken in the field during the excavations can help us to determine the provenance of the objects and contribute to our understanding of the archaeology of Abydos in the First Millennium AD. The first stage in identifying the excavation where the objects were unearthed is to check the date of distribution, but some ostraca were registered probably years after their acquisition without any details about their provenance (see the acquisition of 1988 below).

The EEF commenced work in various parts of Abydos in 1899. For objects kept in the British Museum the following excavations are relevant. Those cemeteries given in italics below are marked on ostraca in the BM collection. For the locations of the cemeteries, see Map 1.3

1

3

2

Photographs and data are available on the British Museum homepage, Collection online: . On the mortuary and ritual landscape of Ptolemaic and Roman Abydos, see Landvatter 2019. For Late Antique and early Medieval Abydos, see the contributions in this volume.

1908–1909: Edward R. Ayrton and William L. S. Loat, North Cemetery, F. 1909–1910: Thomas E. Peet, North Cemetery B, F, G, K, L, M, O, W, Y, Z; Middle Cemetery, E, R, T. 1911–1912: Thomas E. Peet, North Cemetery, C, D, S, Z; Middle Cemetery, E. 1925–1926: Henri Frankfort, Osireion Although the excavation notes often do not mention the find-spots of the objects from the Ptolemaic, Roman and Late Antique periods, the excavators frequently annotated the objects themselves, which helps to identify them. In addition, the early excavation sites were systematically marked by letters and the last two digits of the date of the season. Acquisitions 1909 The first acquisition was of one demotic and six Greek ostraca, which arrived in the Museum on 29 October 1909 from the EES. The demotic and some of the Greek have ‘Rubbish heap F’ written on the back. This refers to ‘Cemetery F’ where Ayrton and Loat conducted an excavation in the 1908/9 season (Ayrton and Loat 1911, 7‒8). In this region they unearthed c. 300 tombs, mostly from the Old Kingdom, but the results

Only excavations where the objects of the British Museum were found are mentioned here. The identification of the find-spots is very difficult, as the early excavation reports and notes did not indicate them. In reconstruction I used Snape 1986, 9–10. For a map showing earlier excavations, see Kemp and Merrillees 1980, 287–89 and fig. 36.

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7

4 3 2

6 5

North Necropolis

1 8

Middle Necropolis

9

11

10

Map 1: GoogleEarth satellite image showing the excavated areas: 1. Temple of Ramses II; 2. Ayrton’s Cemetery F; 3. Peet’s Cemetery T; 4. Peet’s Cemetery R; 5. Peet’s Cemetery S; 6. Deir Sitt Damyana; 7. Peet’s Cemetery D; 8. Shunet el-Zebib; 9. Peet’s Cemetery Z; 10. Peet’s Cemetery B; 11. Osireion.

from Cemetery F were never published in full owing to Ayrton’s sudden death in 1914. The exact find-spots of the ostraca are not known.4 The nature of these texts is administrative; while the demotic text is probably Ptolemaic, the Greek texts are Roman.

Ab. 12’, referring to Cemetery D, and another one (EA 51120) as ‘S top A 12’, referring to Cemetery S excavated in 1912 by Peet (Peet 1914, 48‒53 and 30‒47).

1910

The First World War and its aftermath disrupted the fieldwork between 1914 and 1921, as well as the distribution between the institutions. On 22 April 1922, two demotic, sixteen Greek and one Arabic ostraca were acquired. The Greek ostraca are all now in the British Library, but there is no information as to when they were transferred. The two demotic texts (O.BM Abydos Dem. 5 and 6) were found in the 1911/12 season and were edited by Herbert Thompson in Peet’s publication (Peet 1914, 124‒25, pl. xxv, 4, 6). Here, the find-spot of the two ostraca was indicated as tomb Z 18.

The following year (8 October), another demotic and two Greek ostraca arrived at the Museum. The Greek ostraca were transferred to the British Library in 1981. They are marked as R and T at the top; these letters correspond to Peet’s marking system and refer to cemeteries R and T. There is, however, no mention of these ostraca in his publication.5 1912 On 12 October 1912, the Museum received sixteen demotic, twelve Greek and two Coptic ostraca. Of the Greek items only two are now in the British Museum; the rest were transferred to the British Library in 1977. One demotic ostracon (EA 51123) is marked as ‘D top

4

On the cemetery, see Sowada 2010, 219‒20.

1922

1926 The next acquisition of Abydos material was on 28 July 1926, when ninety-six demotic, twenty-three Greek, twenty-four Coptic and five Arabic ostraca

5

North Cemetery; R and T, Peet 1914, 76, in the Middle Cemetery.

DEMOTIC, GREEK AND COPTIC OSTRACA FROM ABYDOS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM

came to the Museum. In the register, the list of objects acquired on that day starts with the comment ‘Abydos 1925–1926’; however, only the Greek and Coptic ostraca are listed here. The inventory numbers of these ninety-six demotic ostraca are not mentioned in the register, although the registration date written on the objects themselves is 28.07.26. The last number assigned to an actual object in the BM acquisition list for that day is 249. There is, however, a following entry, no. 250, which reads ‘two cardboard boxes of ostraca (Hieratic, Demotic)’, so these must be the demotic ostraca, which were then in those two boxes. Written on the ostraca themselves are inventory numbers 251–398 (and often ‘Osireion’), but these are not recorded in the Acquisition Book. This group includes six hieratic and demotic ostraca. According to the EES distribution list from October 1926, a box of hieratic ostraca was given to the Museum. This might be the demotic material, although these ostraca had been registered in July. Of these ostraca, fifty demotic, five Greek and seven Coptic were marked as ‘Osireion’ or ‘Osireion ‘26’’. Given the circumstances of their acquisition, it would seem highly probable that these were found there during Frankfort’s 1925/26 excavation season. The content of these texts is diverse. A few ostraca from this acquisition have the numbers 800, 1000, 1800 or 1818 written on the back, as well as a reference to ‘W trench or redîm (‘debris’)’. This latter refers to the west trench of the Osireion temenos wall and the numbers probably to other trenches in the Osireion area. 1927 On 10 November 1927 (according to the Acquisition Book), seventeen demotic and one Coptic ostraca were donated to the Museum by the EES. These demotic texts, with two exceptions, all mention ‘Thoth the Greatest of Five’ (see below). Attached to two ostraca of this acquisition are small notes on the interior which read ‘Ab. 5’ (EA 58917) and ‘Ab. 14’ (EA 58918). These notes obviously do not refer to the excavation year, but they may belong to the excavation object list or to the trenches. 1985 On 22 April 1985, several items from the excavations at Armant arrived from the EES. These included one box of four objects which were stated to be of

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unknown origin. Three of them were demotic ostraca and one (EA 69582) had ‘Osireion ‘26’’ inscribed on one side. It is, therefore, quite likely that the rest of the contents of this box also come from the Abydos excavations, but we do not know which one. 1988 Finally, on 6 December 1988, twenty-one demotic ostraca were registered but there is no data as to when they entered the collection from the EES. There was no information on provenance. One ostracon (EA 71320), however, has ‘Ab. 11’ written as a field note on the back, so Abydos has been specified in the Acquisition Book as the possible find-spot for all the texts. This possibility is supported by the content, for they all refer to ‘Thoth the Greatest of Five’ (see below). Texts In the following, the objects are divided into demotic, Greek and Coptic ostraca. Within each section they are classified by acquisition date. A selection of texts are translated and studied; the rest of the material is enumerated at the end of the chapter. The translated texts are the best preserved and chosen to illustrate the variety of the collection. Texts currently under study by other scholars were also omitted in order to avoid duplication (see below). The ‘excavation notes’ written on some ostraca are also provided. This catalogue includes those items that were only partially or incorrectly published, as well as some new material. The potsherds’ descriptions were written by Valentina Gasperini. The numbering system (O.BM Abydos) used in this section has been created for this publication and is the suggested sigla. Demotic ostraca The 157 demotic Abydos ostraca in the Museum are principally administrative (accounts, tax receipts, name lists) or votive texts. Most of them are fragmentary and the majority are not related. None of them mention the name of the reigning king, but two can be dated precisely in the 3rd century BC through a combination of the regnal-year date and the amount of the paid taxes (O.BM Abydos Dem. 17 and 18). Other texts show distinctive Roman features, e.g. O.BM Abydos Dem. 22. A selection of twenty-six demotic texts is published in this contribution.

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‘Thoth the Greatest of Five’ texts One particular group of twenty-nine ostraca (EA 55387–88, 58914–17, 58919–20, 58921+58929, 58922, 58924–26, 58927+58918, 58930, 66248, 71317–21, 71330, 71333, 71335–38) bear the same formulaic text, a dedication to ‘Thoth the Greatest of Five’, followed by the name of the dedicator and their filiation.6 Two of these ostraca come from the 1922 acquisition, one possibly belonging to this group from 1926, fifteen from 1927 and eleven from 1988. The first two were published by Thompson in Peet’s excavation report.7 In the same publication it is mentioned that ‘about 18 ostraca’ were found in tomb Z 18 during the 1911/12 season. It is very likely that these are the ostraca that were donated in 1927. The two published texts are described as the ‘fullest surviving form[s]’; however, there are in fact larger and better-preserved ostraca with this formula in the BM collection. This votive formula, rn=f mn dy m-bꜢḥ …, ‘his name remain here …’ is well known from other dedications (for which cf. Vleeming 2001, 256). There are broken jars with similar texts dedicated to ‘Thoth the Great God, the Ibis’, which are now in the Oriental Institute Museum of the University of Chicago. These were acquired at Thebes and may well have come from the ibis cemetery there (Scalf 2015, 363–64). The Abydos texts will have had a similar votive function and been dedicated to Thoth in the ibis cemetery of Abydos (Peet and Loat 1913, 40‒48). The ‘Greatest of Five’ was originally a title of the Thoth priests in Hermopolis that became the epithet of the god Thoth himself (Smith 2005, 184 n. f). In addition, the same title was also applied to Osiris as the oldest of the five children of Nut and Geb (Bedier 1995, 65–66, n. 10). One large fragment in the BM collection (EA 58914) even has ibis figures drawn next to the dedicatory text. It is clear that these texts are not ostraca but broken fragments from large jars that were inscribed, which supports the theory that they were dedicated to the deity. Most of them show traces of a white substance on the top part, close to the rim, which are the remains of the sealant used on the jars. These traces and their shape indicate that they were most probably containers

6

7

Bryan Kraemer (PhD candidate in Egyptology at the University of Chicago) will publish these objects as part of his PhD thesis (pers. comm. 28 March 2017, and Kraemer 2011/12). See above, 1922 acquisition.

for ibis mummies and inscribed by the dedicators. Such demotic texts we know from similar jars from Tuna el-Gebel (Ebeid 2006, 62–65, nos 11‒15). The ibis cemetery excavated by Peet and Loat at Abydos (Cemetery E) was located on the surface, not in underground catacombs, and large jars each containing four to five mummies were placed on the ground next to each other (cf. Peet and Loat 1913, 40–47). This appears to conflict with Peet’s account that gives tomb Z 18 as the find-spot of the group. This tomb, which is located in the Shunet el-Zebib region where most of the ibis mummies of Abydos have been found (Ikram 2007, 425–26), may have been reused for another ibis cemetery but was robbed later. There is an additional text, EA 66248, which belongs with this group and which we know was found in the Osireion and comes from the 1926 donation. This text is very faded but appears to have the same religious formula, although it was found in a different location at Abydos. 1909 O.BM Abydos Dem. 1 (Fig. 1) Dipinto8 Inventory number: EA 49116 Dimensions: H 18.5, W 21.5cm Description: Light brown marl clay, amphora shoulder, preserving the attachment of a vertical handle. Cream slip on exterior. Traces of pitch on internal surface. The writing is just above the shoulder’s carination, below the attachment to the handle. Excavation note: F top rubbish. Transliteration: 1. grm 5 Translation: 1. 5 grm Notes: The precise meaning of the word grm is uncertain. It is often found, followed by a number, on jars/amphorae similar to ours. Marie-Pierre Chaufray has suggested

8

The texts originally written on vessels which give personal/product names, quantities or dates related to the transport of the product (see, e.g., Vleeming 2015, 398–99 nos 2110–13) are all classified here as ‘dipinti’.

DEMOTIC, GREEK AND COPTIC OSTRACA FROM ABYDOS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM

8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16.

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sw ꜥrḳy ˹7½˺ sw ˹1 7½˺ sw ˹2 ḥḏ 7½˺ sw 3 ˹ḥḏ 8˺ sw ˹4 ḥḏ˺ 45 Pa-Ἰmn ḥḏ 7½ sw 5 ḥḏ 15 ˹sw 1˺ ḥḏ 32½ […..] ˹.˺ ḥḏ 7½

Col. II 17. ˹sw 1˺ 32 ½ 18. ˹sw 2˺ 16 〚½〛 19. ˹sw˺ 3 ḥḏ 8 20. ḥḏ 265 Fig. 1: O.BM Abydos Dem. 1 (EA 49116).

that grm may be a liquid measure and a variant of ḳlby (Erichsen, Glossar 546; CDD Letter Q, 75–76). It is identical with the Coptic ϭⲉⲗⲙⲁⲓ, which was used later with the meaning ‘jar’ (Crum, Dict. 811a), and Greek κάλπη, κάλπις (LSJ 870). According to her calculations one grm equals 12 litres, which means that the quantity of product stored in the jar here would be 60 litres (Marie-Pierre Chaufray forthcoming, and personal communication 12 September 2017).

Translation: Col. I 1. The account of Esenchebis that he gave: 2. 22 silver (deben) 3. 12½ silver (deben) for Totoes son of Harsiesis 4. 7½ silver (deben) for Senesis 5. 10 silver (deben) for Herianoupis 6. 2 silver (deben) for Sty

1910 O.BM Abydos Dem. 2 (Fig. 2) Account of Esenchebis Inventory number: EA 49369 Dimensions: H 22, W 16cm Description: Red Nile silt, possibly part of an amphora. Thin cream slip on the external surface. A black substance adheres on the interior (pitch?). Excavation note: R. top. Transliteration: Col. I 1. pꜢ ỉp n Ἰs.t˗m˗ḥb r.tw=f s 2. ḥḏ 22 3. ḥḏ 12½ ẖr Twtw sꜢ Ḥr˗sỉ˗Ἰs.t 4. ḥḏ 7½ ẖr SꜢ˗šr.t˗Ἰs.t 5. ḥḏ 10 ˹ẖr˺ Ḥry˗Ἰnp 6. ḥḏ 2 [ẖr] Sty 7. r.tw=f s 134½

Fig. 2: O.BM Abydos Dem. 2 (EA 49369).

A. ALMÁSY-MARTIN

228 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16.

that he gave 134½ last day: 7½ day 1: 7½ day 2: 7½ silver (deben) day 3: 8 silver (deben) day 4: 45 silver (deben) Pamounis: 7½ silver (deben) day 5: 15 silver (deben) day 1: 32½ silver (deben) … 7½ silver (deben)

Col. II 17. day 1: 32½ 18. day 2: 16 19. day 3: 8 silver (deben) 20. 265 silver (deben) Notes: L. 1 For the writing of Ἰs.t˗m˗ḥb see NB Dem. 78, 2. L. 2 22 is written in an unusual way, with a straight oblique stroke (cf. CDD, Numbers 80). L. 3 The name attested here, Twtw, is erroneously interpreted as Ḥr˗Twtw in NB Dem. 841; cf. the identical writing of ẖr in the next line. L. 6 The reading of the name Sty (NB Dem. 946) seems possible, although the determinative is unusual. L. 7 The writing of 100 is rather strange, but in the context this seems the most plausible reading. L. 11 For the similar writing of sw 3 see: O.Leid. Dem. 437 L. 1. L. 16 The first, faded word ends with a divine determinative and is therefore presumably a personal name. L. 17 The last four lines of the account are written in a second column. It is not clear to whom the payment in this column belongs. L. 18 The last sign, ½, seems to have been erased by the scribe.

The text is faded and hardly legible. The position of the text and the large signs suggest that it was originally an inscription written on a container. Transliteration: 1. grm 5 1a. PꜢ˗šr˗Ḏḥwtỉ 2. nꜢ mtn PꜢ˗dỉ˗Mnt (?) 3. pꜢỉ=f ˹…˺ pꜢ bty 10 3a. ˹…..˺ 4. …] sꜢ Ḥr˗bs ḥḏ 1 (kt) 8½ ḥnꜥ 5. …] ˹glḥ(t)˺ 10 [… Translation: 1. 5 grm 1a. Psenthothes 2. that Petemonthes (?) has brought 3. his… the palm leaf: 10 3a. ….. 4. […] son of Harbesis: 1 silver (deben), 8½ with 5. […] 10 pot(s) [… Notes: There are traces at the beginning of three other lines on the left-hand side. L. 1a The ink is very faded and written in thinner signs, leaving the first half of the line empty. It must have belonged to a previous, erased text. L. 2 The end of the name is rather faded, making the reading questionable. Another possibility is PꜢ˗dỉ˗Ἰn˗ḥr.t Petenouris (NB Dem. 286). L. 3 The faded word might also be hy ‘expenses’. The determinative suggests the interpretation of the word bty as ‘palm leaf’ (CDD Letter B, 93).

1912 O.BM Abydos Dem. 3 (Fig. 3) Dipinto Inventory number: EA 51116 Dimensions: H 12.2, W 21cm Description: Brown Nile silt, possibly an amphora fragment. Thin layer of brown slip on exterior. Excavation note: The sherd is numbered ‘434’, the significance of which is uncertain. Fig. 3: O.BM Abydos Dem. 3 (EA 51116).

DEMOTIC, GREEK AND COPTIC OSTRACA FROM ABYDOS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM

L. 3a The line is faded and written after a gap. The ostracon may be reused and this line may have belonged to the original text. Traces of the erased text are also visible in line 3. L. 5 glḥ(t) is written without the strong t before the pot determinative. For glḥt, ‘pot’, cf. CDD Letter G, 61. O.BM Abydos Dem. 4 (Fig. 4) Account of the door guardians to Parates Inventory number: EA 51128 Dimensions: H 5.8, W 7cm Description: Red Nile silt. Thin layer of cream slip on exterior. A few traces of burning on both surfaces and on break (post-depositional). Transliteration: 1. pꜢ ỉp (n) nꜢ ỉrỉ˗ꜥꜢ.w tpỉ sꜢ [… 2. ẖr pꜢ šp (n) Pa˗rt nḥ[ḥ… 3. …] sw 29, Ḏḳwr nḥḥ [… 4. …] ˹ꜥꜢ˺ [… Translation: 1. The account (of) the door guardians of the first phyle [… 2. for the income (of) Parates, oil [… 3. …] day 29 Ḏḳwr oil [… 4. …] ‥ […

the Temple (information courtesy of Joachim Quack, personal communication 28 August 2017; cf. also Hoffmann and Quack 2014, 137). L. 2 The writing of the first sign of the word šp is rather cursive, but the reading is clear. For the meaning ‘income’, ‘proceeds’, ‘receipt’, cf. CDD Letter Š, 95–98). For a similar writing of Pa˗rt: NB Dem. 394, 28. L. 3 The word Ḏḳwr has the same personal name determinative as Pa˗rt in line 2. Although it has not hitherto been attested elsewhere in demotic or hieroglyphic sources as a personal name, it is found in Coptic as a noun, ϫⲁⲕⲟⲩⲗ ‘sparrow’ (Crum, Dict. 763a), and as a name written ϫⲁⲕⲟⲩⲗ and ϫⲁⲕⲟⲩⲣ (NB Copt. 118). It is also attested in Greek sources as a personal name Χεχοῦλ (Onomasticon 340). 1922 O.BM Abydos Dem. 5 (Fig. 5) Dedication to Thoth the Greatest of Five Inventory number: EA 55387 Dimensions: H 13.7, W 17.9cm

Notes: L. 1 That the ‘door guardians’ were organized in four rotating phyles is clearly stated in the Book of

Fig. 4: O.BM Abydos Dem. 4 (EA 51128).

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Fig. 5: O.BM Abydos Dem. 5 (EA 55387).

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A. ALMÁSY-MARTIN

Descriptions: Red Nile silt, fragment of a jar. Oblique wall and attachment of slightly convex base. Uncoated. Bibliography: Thompson 1914, 124; Vleeming 2015, 490–91 no. 2324. For the possible function of this jar and of O.BM Abydos Dem. 6, see above. Transliteration: 1. rn=f mn dy m˗bꜢḥ Ḏḥwtỉ 2. pꜢ wr˗5 n nꜢ nṯr.w Pa˗rt sꜢ PꜢ˗wr˗tỉw 3. pꜢ wr wr Ḏḥwtỉ tw=y ỉr nꜢỉ=k smꜢꜥ(.w) dy 4. m˗bꜢḥ Ḏḥwtỉ pꜢ wr˗5 n nꜢ nṯr.w Ḏḥwtỉ˗mꜢꜥ 5. (sꜢ) Ḏḥwtỉ˗ỉw sẖ (n) ḥꜢ.t˗sp 3.t ỉbd˗2 Ꜣḫ.t sw 22 Translation: 1. His name remain here before Thoth 2. the Greatest of Five of the gods: Parates son of Portis. 3. The twice great Thoth, I greet you here 4. before Thoth the Greatest of Five of the gods, Thothomous 5. (son of) Thotheus. Written (in) year 3, month˗2 (of the) achet˗season, day 22. Notes: L. 1 The translation of the formula with a subjunctive, ‘his name remain’ follows Vleeming (2015, 491‒92 no. 2325). L. 3 Vleeming, who only had access to the facsimile made by Peet, interpreted the line as pꜢ ꜥ(Ꜣ) wr but on the object and the photograph the pꜢ wr wr is clear. tw=y ỉr nꜢỉ=k smꜢꜥ(.w) dy is literally ‘I make your greeting(s) here’.

3. rn=f mn dy ˹m˗bꜢḥ Ḏḥwtỉ˺ pꜢ wr˗5 [… 4. Ḥr˗pa˗˹ẖrd˺ (?) sꜢ Twtw ỉrm nꜢ rmṯ.w nb ntỉ mtw. t=f ḏr=w šꜥ ḏ.t 5. rn=f mn dy n˗m˗bꜢḥ {n} Ḏḥwtỉ pꜢ wr˗5 n nꜢ nṯr.w PꜢ˗dỉ˗Ἰn˗ḥr sꜢ ˹Ḥtr˺ (?) [… 6. ỉrm rmṯ nb ntỉ mtw.t=f ḏr=w šꜥ ḏ.t 7. rn=f mn dy n˗m˗bꜢḥ Ḏḥwtỉ pꜢ wr˗5 n nꜢ nṯr.w 8. …]˹…˺˗ỉt.t=f ỉrm rmṯ nb ntỉ mtw.t=f ḏr=w šꜥ ˹ḏ.t˺ Translation: 1. His name remain [… 2. Pete-…-minis with every man who belongs to him [… 3. His name remain here before Thoth the Greatest of Five [… 4. Harpochrates (?) son of Totoes with all the men who belong to him, all of them, forever. 5. His name remain here before Thoth the Greatest of Five of the gods: Petenouris son of Hatres (?) [… 6. with every man who belongs to him, all of them, forever. 7. His name remain here before Thoth the Greatest of Five of the gods 8. …]…˗ỉt.t=f with every man who belongs to him, all of them, forever. Notes: L. 4 The end of the name Ḥr˗pa˗˹ẖrd˺, a graphical variation of Ḥr˗pꜢ˗ẖrd, is faded making the reading uncertain. It could also be read as Ḥr˗pa˗Ἰs.t (NB Dem. 807-808). Thompson (1914) read Ḥr˗m˗ꜥḫ? and Vleeming (2015) Ḥr˗m˗Ꜣḫ(.t)?.

O.BM Abydos Dem. 6 (Fig. 6) Dedication to Thoth the Greatest of Five Inventory number: EA 55388 Dimensions: H 13.7, W 17.9cm Description: Red-brown Nile silt, jar fragment. Thin layer of cream slip on exterior. A black painted horizontal line decorated the pottery, in the middle of the sherd. Bibliography: Thompson 1914, 124–25; Vleeming 2015, 491‒92 no. 2325. The text is written by at least two scribes. Transliteration: 1. ˹rn=f mn dy˺[… 2. Pa˗dỉ.t˗[…]˗Mỉn ỉrm rmṯ nb ntỉ mtw.t=f […

Fig. 6: O.BM Abydos Dem. 6 (EA 55388).

DEMOTIC, GREEK AND COPTIC OSTRACA FROM ABYDOS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM

L. 5 m-bꜢḥ is written here and in line 7 as n-m-bꜢḥ (for this writing, cf. Vittmann 1982, 80, n. 2). The name PꜢ˗dỉ˗Ἰn˗ḥr was read PꜢ˗dỉ˗Mnt on the basis of the handcopy by Thompson and Vleeming. Consultation of the original, however, rules out the possibility of t as the last sign. For similar writings of the name, see NB Dem. 286, 4–5. Vleeming (2015) read the last sign of the line as pa, ‘son of’, but this was based on the misleading handcopy. From a consultation of the original, this reading can be rejected. As an alternative, Ḥtr might be considered; for similar writings, cf. NB Dem. 850–51. L. 8 The fragmentary name at the beginning of the line might be Ḥr˗nḏ˗ỉt.t=f (NB Dem. 825–26), but the traces before ˗ỉt.t=f are not clear. 1926 Spiegelberg had studied twenty-one ostraca found in the ‘Cenotaph of Seti’ during Frankfort’s 1925/26 excavations in the passage of the Osireion and a partial translation of these texts with eight photographs was published (Spiegelberg 1933, 94–96, pl. xciii). The eight texts for which photographs were provided (nos 1–8) were republished by R. Jasnow and M.-A. Pouls Wegner (2006/7, 21–52); three of these plus a further one (O.BM Abydos Dem. 10, EA 66257, 66325, 66333) had also been published previously by Wångstedt (1976/77, 17‒18; 1980, 18; 1969, 96–97; 1978/79 15–16). Ostraca nos 9–21 had been published with partial translations by Spiegelberg (1933, 94‒98), but without photographs or facsimiles. These ostraca, with two exceptions, have now all been identified on the basis of the photographs taken in the field and kept in the archives of the EES, and are now provided with EA numbers.9 Three of these ostraca (EA 66323, 66372, 66325)—which were published by Spiegelberg (1933) and Jasnow and Pouls Wegner (2006/7)—were inscribed on both sides, but the text on only one side (the better-preserved) was mentioned in both editions. The outer side of EA 66323 is illegible but the other two are better preserved and are published below (O.BM Abydos Dem. 26, O.BM Abydos Dem. 22). In Frankfort’s photography archive there was another demotic ostracon, O.BM Abydos Dem. 10, which was published later by Wångstedt (1976/77, 17‒18), but this 9

I would like to thank the Egypt Exploration Society and Carl Graves for assisting me in this research and giving me access to the archives.

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cannot be identical with Spiegelberg’s unidentified no. 12, which is described as an account. Another demotic ostracon (whose photograph is faded) and a Greek ostracon (EA 66269 + 66273) were also in this archive. O.BM Abydos Dem. 7 (Fig. 7) Dipinto Inventory number: EA 66230 Dimensions: H 7.4, W 10.2cm Description: Red-brown Nile silt, jar fragment. Thin layer of brown slip on exterior. The function of the ostracon is not known. It might be the end of a longer text or a dipinto with a name indicating the owner of a product written on a container. Transliteration: 1. …] ˹.˺ Ḥr˗mꜢꜥ˗ḫrw pꜢ ꜥꜢ Translation: 1. …] . Harmachoros the elder. Notes: L. 1. The first preserved sign, which is the end of the missing previous word, might perhaps be [mr]-šn, ‘lesonis’ (see CDD Letter M, 135). The writing of Ḥr˗mꜢꜥ˗ḫrw is listed in NB Dem. 817, 7.

Fig. 7: O.BM Abydos Dem. 7 (EA 66230).

A. ALMÁSY-MARTIN

232 O.BM Abydos Dem. 8 (Fig. 8) Account

Inventory number: EA 66231 Dimensions: H 7.4, W 6.4cm Description: Red Nile silt. Thin layer of cream slip on exterior. Excavation note: Osireion ‘26. Both sides of the ostracon have been inscribed, but the exterior (side B) is illegible (only unrecognizable traces of five lines, see Fig. 8 Side B). Side A (interior) Transliteration: 1. pꜢ wtb n ỉbd˗4 Ꜣḫ.t sw 1 2. grḥ 6 wp˗s.t ỉbd˗3 [… 3. sw 2 4.t sw 3 4.t sw [… 4. sw 19 sp 2.t ꜥn 5. PꜢ˗dỉ˗Ḥr˗pꜢ˗ẖrd sꜢ Twtw ˹.˺ [… Translation: 1. The income of month˗4 of achet˗season day 1 2. 6 grḥ˗vessel specification: month-3 [… 3. day 2: 4th day 3: 4th, day [… 4. day 19: remainder 2 again 5. Petecharpocrates son of Totoes . […

Notes: L. 1 wtb is usually written with t rather than t (cf. CDD Letter W, 200–201), but for an example with a strong medial t, cf. Chauveau (2011, 43 n. 6b). L. 2 The reading of grḥ is certain, although the word is not well attested in demotic. Another example is O.Narm.Dem. II 73, for which cf. Gallo 1997, 73 and 137‒38 n. 200, where it is translated ‘vase’ and equated with hieroglyphic ḳrḥ.t ‘pottery, pot’ (Wb 5, 62.12‒63.4). Alternatively, it could be hieroglyphic krḥ.t ‘basket’, for which cf. Wb 5, 135.10–12. The determinative is unclear; either the jar or the plant sign is possible. In either case, a type of container is intended. O.BM Abydos Dem. 9 (Fig. 9) List of quantity of materials for construction Inventory number: EA 66233 + 66255 Dimensions: H 11, W 14.7cm Description: Light brown Nile silt. Thin layer of cream slip on exterior. It preserves a horizontal black painted line (1.2cm high) and a red painted decoration on the top of it. The ostracon is in two pieces and registered with two inventory numbers. Bibliography: Spiegelberg 1933, nos 11 and 20. The two sides are by the same scribe.

Fig. 8: O.BM Abydos Dem. 8 (EA 66231), Side A and B.

DEMOTIC, GREEK AND COPTIC OSTRACA FROM ABYDOS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM

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Side B 1. The first (row)… 99 (blocks and) pegs [… 2. The second (row) 122 (blocks and) 6 pegs 3. . (which) makes 26 makes 18 3a. 6 4. The third (row) 121 (blocks) 342 stone blocks 5. The fourth (row) 133 8 6. [The] fifth (row) 20 7. Remainder 495 stone blocks 8. …..

Transliteration: Side A (interior) 1. pꜢ mḥ˗1 [10]2 2. pꜢ mḥ˗2 121 3. pꜢ mḥ˗3 121 4. pꜢ mḥ˗4 1Ꜣ1 5. r ỉny 475 6. sp ˹2˺5 7. r ỉny ˹.˺ Side B (exterior) 1. pꜢ mḥ˗1 ˹9˺9 gr˹t˺[… 2. pꜢ mḥ˗2 122 grt 6 3. ˹.˺ r 26 r 18 3a. 6 4. pꜢ mḥ˗3 121 ỉny 342 5. pꜢ mḥ˗4 133 8 6. [pꜢ mḥ˗]5 20 7. sp ỉny 495 8. ˹….˺ Translation: Side A 1. The first (row) [10]2 (blocks) 2. The second (row) 121 (blocks) 3. The third (row) 121 (blocks) 4. The fourth (row) 131 (blocks) 5. (which) makes 475 stone blocks 6. Remainder 25 7. (which) makes .. stone blocks

Notes: Side A L. 1 Only the 2 is visible, but the restoration seems certain as 102 is required to make the total 475. Side B Fragment EA 66255 has been reused, as traces of a previous and erased text are still visible on the lefthand corner. L. 1 The first digit of the number is hardly visible but the calculation requires 99. Both writings of the word are damaged, but the traces support the reading gr.t. A connection with ḳlꜢ.t ‘lock, bolt’ is possible (CDD Letter Ḳ, 70–71), in which case it must be some item used, in comparatively small quantities, in construction work. L. 3 The line starts in the second half of the sherd, leaving a long blank space. L. 3a Below the number 26, the 6 has been repeated, the function of which is not certain.

Fig. 9: O.BM Abydos Dem. 9 (EA 66233 + 66255), Side A and B.

A. ALMÁSY-MARTIN

234

L. 5 The function of number 8 written below 342 is not clear. L. 8 Traces of illegible signs. O.BM Abydos Dem. 10 (Fig. 10) List of divine statues (notes for a declaration of temple property)

a lexical exercise. As this type of temple document was usually written on papyri, it is likely that this ostracon just contains notes drawn up in advance of the official declaration of temple property. The fabric of the potsherd is identical with O.BM Abydos Dem. 14, which is a personal name list, and the handwriting is very similar.

Inventory number: EA 66241 Dimensions: H 6.4, W 7.8cm Description: Red-brown Nile silt. Thin layer of brown slip on exterior, traces of pitch on the interior. Bibliography: Wångstedt 1976/77, 17–18 (only with facsimile), photo from Frankfort’s archives. Excavation note: Osireion /26.

Transliteration: 1. sšt rpy 2. sšm ˹.˺ [… 3. sḫm 4. ꜥẖm tr 5. […] ˹…˺

Palaeographically, the text can be dated to the Roman period. It is similar to the inventory lists written by priests that we know from papyri (see for an overview, Dousa, Gaudard and Johnson 2004, 184‒86). These are found written in hieratic, demotic and Greek and most can be dated to the Roman period (Jasnow 1994, 100 n. 10). The priesthood drew up annually a list of temple objects (including divine statues) and temple staff for local officials (Otto 1905‒8, 325‒29; see e.g. BGU 1 338; BGU 2.387; BGU 12.2217; BGU 12.2218; P.Oxy 49 3473). Usually these lists mention the object, its material and a number, but here we only have the names of the items. Dousa, Gaudard and Johnson (2004, 185 n. 89) have suggested that it is, therefore,

Translation: 1. Image of temple 2. (Divine) statue . [… 3. (Divine) image 4. Falcon, kite (?) 5. […] …

Fig. 10: O.BM Abydos Dem. 10 (EA 66241).

Notes: L. 1 The word sšt ‘secret’ is used here with an extended meaning and refers to a secret image (CDD Letter S, 455). L. 2 A faded horizontal sign is visible on the left end of the line, which may belong to a second column. L. 4 This line was interpreted by Wångstedt as ‘tr˗falcon’ where tr as the demotic version of twr (ṯr) is an epithet of the Horus˗falcon (Wångstedt 1976/77, 18). It is translated in CDD Letter T, 250 as ‘kite’, from hieroglyphic ḏr.t (Wb 5, 596. 2). Here it seems to be part of the preceding word, however, and not an independent part of the list, as new items are listed in separate lines. A divine determinative is placed after the noun ꜥẖm but not after tr, which is written with the sign of the seated goddess. The word tr ‘kite’ is usually written with a bird determinative. It is more likely to be an epithet of the falcon statue, as Wångstedt suggested, or perhaps alternatively the statue’s material. In similar lists, the material is often copper, wood or stone. The only demotic example of a material called tr, however, is ‘willow’ (Erichsen, Glossar 647). L. 5 The last fragmentary line was interpreted by Wångstedt (1976/77) as ‘1200’. However, the second sign seems to be a snake and the last the letter t-sign. The traces must be the end of another divine object.

DEMOTIC, GREEK AND COPTIC OSTRACA FROM ABYDOS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM

O.BM Abydos Dem. 11 (Fig. 11) Account for poll tax and salt tax, paid by three individuals Inventory number: EA 66247 Dimensions: H 5.8, W 9.2cm Description: Red-brown Nile silt. Thin layer of brown slip and traces of rope marks on exterior. The ꜥp.t poll tax, introduced in the early Roman period, was paid by Egyptian males between the ages of fourteen and sixty (see Lichtheim 1957, 16–20). The amount was regionally and chronologically different and paid annually in several instalments (cf. Devauchelle 1983, 209–11; on the changes of payment during different Roman emperors, see Wångstedt 1954, 25–29). Given the high amounts in our text, it must contain a series of collective payments by the tax collectors (cf. Lichtheim 1957, 17) or include other taxes. The relevance of the reference to salt in the broken line 6 is unclear.

Transliteration: 1. pꜢ ỉp 2. ꜥp.t 3. Ḥr˗sꜢ˗Ἰs.t sꜢ Pa˗rhw ˹..˺ [… 4. PꜢ˗dỉ-Ἰs.t ḥḏ 2 ḳt 2[… 5. SꜢ˗šr.t˗Ἰs.t ḥḏ 15 [… 6. ḥmꜢ ḥḏ ˹.˺ [… Translation: 1. The account 2. (of the) poll tax 3. Harsiesis son of Paleuis.. [… 4. Peteesis 2 silver (deben) 2 kite [… 5. Senesis 15 silver (deben) [… 6. Salt . silver (deben) [… Notes: L. 2 ꜥp.t is the abbreviated form of ḥḏ ꜥp.t ‘poll tax’. For the ꜥ˗sign written as a small vertical stroke above the p, cf. O.Leid.Dem. 10.1. L. 3 It seems there is a superfluous vertical stroke in the name Harsiesis before the word Ἰs.t (for similar writings, see: NB Dem. 834, 32). O.BM Abydos Dem. 12 (Fig. 12) Votive text Inventory number: EA 66248 Dimensions: H 5, W 6.7cm Description: Red Nile silt. Excavation note: Osireion.

Fig. 11: O.BM Abydos Dem. 11 (EA 66247).

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Fig. 12: O.BM Abydos Dem. 12 (EA 66248).

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A. ALMÁSY-MARTIN

The text is quite fragmentary, but it has the characteristics of a votive inscription. It is similar to the texts of the Thoth-group, although it was found in the Osireion (see above). Transliteration: 1. rn=f dy mn[.. 2. ỉrm nꜢ nṯr.w ntỉ [… 3. ḏrḳ ˹…˺ 4. ˹…˺ Translation: 1. His name remain here [… 2. with the gods who [… 3. ḏrḳ … 4. … Notes: L. 1 The word dy is hardly recognizable here, but the long oblique stroke and the context make the reading acceptable. On the other hand, the word order of the sentence is unusual, as it usually reads rn=f mn dy. L. 3 The meaning ḏrḳ (or should we read ḏrnḳ?) is problematic. We would expect the personal name of the dedicator here, but no similar name is known and it lacks a person determinative. A loan word ḏrḳ is attested in the expression rmṯ ḏrḳ ‘tailor’ (Ryholt 2012, 112 L. 8), as well as in Coptic as a verb ϫⲱⲗⲕ ‘to stretch, to extend, to sew’ (Crum, Dict. 766a–768a). O.BM Abydos Dem. 13 (Fig. 13) Field measurements Inventory number: EA 66251 Dimensions: H 7.6, W 6.2cm Description: Red Nile silt, pale firing surface. Bibliography: Spiegelberg 1933, no. 14. Excavation note: Osireion. The structure of the text refers to land measurements, which are more usually found on papyrus. Land measurements written on ostraca are rare: see for example, O.Leid.Dem. 80–82. The ostracon is reused; traces of a previous land measurement are still visible below the text. Transliteration: 5 1. 4 — 3 4 2. ˹ỉ˗〚…〛 (sṯꜢ) 15 ½ ¼ ˹..˺ 3. (sṯꜢ) 3 ½ ¼ 1⁄8 1⁄16

Fig. 13: O.BM Abydos Dem. 13 (EA 66251).

Notes: L. 1 The four numbers indicate the length of the four sides of the land in schoinia (see Vleeming 1985, 220). Line 2 (after the erased text) reads 15¾ arouras, which is the correct answer to the calculation in line 1. L. 2 Spiegelberg (1933) read: ‘15 3⁄5 (?)’. L. 3 This line may refer to a previous calculation. Spiegelberg interpreted this as ‘3 3⁄5…’ O.BM Abydos Dem. 14 (Fig. 14) Name list Inventory number: EA 66260 Dimensions: H 5.2, W 6.9cm Description: Same fabric and possibly the same vessel as O.BM Abydos Dem. 10. Bibliography: Spiegelberg 1933, no. 16. Excavation note: Osireion. The handwriting is similar, albeit not identical, to O.BM Abydos Dem. 10 and would support a dating in the Roman period. Transliteration: x + 1. ˹…˺ 2. ˹Ḥr (sꜢ)˺ Šꜥ˗ḫpr

DEMOTIC, GREEK AND COPTIC OSTRACA FROM ABYDOS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM

Fig. 14: O.BM Abydos Dem. 14 (EA 66260).

3. WꜢḥ˗ỉb˗pꜢ˗Rꜥ ˹.˺ 4. ˹…˺˗ m˗ḥꜢ.t 5. ˹PꜢ˗ḥtr˺˹…˗wr˺ Translation: x + 1. … 2. Horos (son of) Shakhpere 3. Oaphres … 4. …-emchat 5. Phatres …. Notes: L. 2 The fragmentary first sign looks like Ḥr. As *Ḥr˗šꜥ˗ḫpr is otherwise unattested to date, we should probably read Ḥr (sꜢ) Šꜥ˗ḫpr. For Šꜥ˗ḫpr written with the ḫpr sign, cf. Vleeming 2011, no. 775 L. 2, and Vleeming 2015, no. 2327. Spiegelberg (1933) had read Ḥr˗šꜢꜥ˗ḫpr˗w. L. 4 The beginning of the name is lost but the divine determinative is clear. Spiegelberg read Ph˗w(?)˗tꜢ(?)˗ ḥꜢ.t(?). L. 5 Spiegelberg translated the first part of this line as PꜢ˗sjt and marked the end by a question mark. However, the beginning looks more like PꜢ˗ḥtr. What follows is unclear.

237

Fig. 15: O.BM Abydos Dem. 15 (EA 66271 + 66245).

is in two pieces and registered with two inventory numbers. The fabric is very similar to O.BM Abydos Dem. 16. This is possibly a letter (or draft of a letter), but the content is unclear. Transliteration: 1. hb nꜢy ˹…˺ ˹…˺ [… 2. ỉ.ỉr˗ḥr nꜢ ntỉ ỉw ỉw=w wḫꜢ ḥꜢ.t=k [… 3. n rmṯ ỉw=f nḥt Ḥr˗sꜢ˗[Ἰs.t… 4. mtw=y dỉ.t ỉn(=w) t=f ỉw=f [… Translation: 1. send these…[… 2. before those who will seek your heart [… 3. to a man who is entrusted/believed. Harsi[esis … 4. I am to cause that he is brought, while he is [… Notes: L. 2 Rather than ỉ.ỉr˗ḥr an alternative reading would be ỉrm ‘with’. L. 3 The writing of nḥt is very faded, but the reading is certain. O.BM Abydos Dem. 16 (Fig. 16)

O.BM Abydos Dem. 15 (Fig. 15) Draft letter (?) Inventory number: EA 66271 + 66245 Dimensions: H 5.4, W 7.8cm Descriptions: Red-brown Nile silt. Thin layer of brown slip and traces of rope marks on exterior. The ostracon

Grain receipt Inventory number: EA 66272 + 66326 + 66347 Dimensions: H 12.5, W 14.1cm Description: Red-brown Nile silt. Thin layer of brown slip on exterior. The ostracon is in three pieces and registered under three inventory numbers. The fabric

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238

is similar to O.BM Abydos Dem. 15. and EA 66318 (probably described by Spiegelberg 1933, no. 18). This may also belong to this text, as the fabric and the writing are very similar, but the pieces do not join. Bibliography: Described, Spiegelberg 1933, no. 10. The text is not continuous, but has the appearance of different notes written by the same person. Transliteration: 1. …] ˹..˺ sw 14 ntỉ PꜢ˗dỉ˗Ἰmn˗˹.˺ sꜢ [… 2. …sw] 15 ntỉ ẖr (hrw) ms Ἰs.t ntỉ(?) 12 ỉbd˗4 pr.t [… 3. …] ˹.˺ ẖr ḥꜢ.t˗sp 4 sw 10 ꜥn 4. …] ˹.˺ ẖn rtb sw 18 102⁄3 5. …] ˹.˺ 7 ˹..˺ tn 2.t sw 19 6. 〚….〛 [… 7. nꜢy rtb sw 15 ˹¼˺ ꜥn 8. …] sw 5 [… 9. …] sw 2 〚..〛 ꜥn [… Translations: 1. …] day 14 which Peteamon-… son of [… 2. …day] 15 which is on the Birth (day) of Isis which? 12 month˗4 peret˗season [… 3. …] . for the year 4 day 10, again 4. …] . within 18 (and) 102⁄3 artabas of grain 5. …] 7… each second, day 19 6. … 7. These 15¼ artabas of grain … again

8. …] grain 5 [… 9. …] grain 2 … again Notes: L. 1 The last group of signs of the name PꜢ˗dỉ˗Ἰmn˗… is unclear; they may be m˗ḥb, but this name is not attested (but cf. Ἰmn-m-ḥb, NB Dem. 64). L. 2 Birth (day) of Isis = 4th epagomenal day (CDD Letter H, 82). The significance of ntỉ written before 12 is unclear. L. 5 The second half of the line is partly erased. The signs before the number 2 are uncertain. L. 6 This line was erased by the scribe. O.BM Abydos Dem. 17 (Fig. 17) Salt tax receipt 248/7 BC Inventory number: EA 66287 Dimensions: H 5.7, W 9.9cm Description: Red Nile silt. Uncoated. The fabric and the handwriting are identical with EA 66257 (Jasnow and Pouls Wegner 2006/7, 51) which is also a salt tax receipt. Bibliography: partially translated by Spiegelberg 1933, no. 13. Excavation note: Osir. ‘26 Year 38 and the mention of the salt tax mean that the text can be securely dated to the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus, 248/7 BC. Transliteration: 1. ỉn Ἰy˗m˗ḥtp sꜢ Wrš ḥnꜥ Ta˗sy tꜢỉ=f rmṯ(.t) ˹ḥḏ-ḳt 2 1 ⁄3 ⁄12˺ 2. (n) ˹ḥḏ˺ ḥmꜢ (n) ḥꜢ.t˗sp 38 sẖ PꜢ˗wr˗tỉw sꜢ PꜢ˗dỉ˗˹Ἰnp˺

Fig. 16: O.BM Abydos Dem. 16 (EA 66272 + 66326 + 66347).

Fig. 17: O.BM Abydos Dem. 17 (EA 66287).

DEMOTIC, GREEK AND COPTIC OSTRACA FROM ABYDOS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM

239

3. ỉbd˗4 ˹šmw˺ 4. sẖ Ḏd˗˹ḥr sꜢ Ἰy˗m˗ḥtp˺ Translation: 1. Imouthes son of Orseus and Tasis his wife, 2⁄3 1⁄12 silver kite 2. (for the) salt tax (for) year 38. Written by Portis son of Peteanoupis. 3. month˗4 shemu-season. 4. Written by Teos son of Imouthes. Notes: L. 1 The end of the line is badly rubbed, but the traces fit the reading of the fractions as 2⁄3 and 1⁄12 (= ¾ kite = 9 obols = 1½ drachmas). This would be ½ kite for Imouthes and ¼ for Tasis his wife, which was the standard rate for the salt tax after the reduction in year 32 of Ptolemy II (cf. Muhs 2011, 21–22). L. 2 There seems to be a small extraneous vertical line written after the divine determinative of PꜢ˗wr˗tỉw and this is followed by a rather clumsily written sꜢ˗sign. The n and p˗signs of Inp in the father’s name are ligatured and the reading is not entirely certain. L. 3 The scribe had omitted the month and season in line 2 and added them later at the left edge of line 3. Of the season, only the first letter is still visible and pr.t is also a possible reading. L. 4 There is a blank space between the scribe’s name and his filiation. O.BM Abydos Dem. 18 (Fig. 18) Receipt 25 June 233 BC Inventory number: EA 66296 Dimensions: H 7.1, W 7.6cm Description: Limestone. Excavation note: Osireion, temenos wall (south of) west trench 16.I.26. As the salt tax is first known from year 22 of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (264/3 BC) and 217 BC marks the date when it is last attested (Clarysse and Thompson 2006, 39–44), year 14 Pachons 9 can only be that of Ptolemy III Euergetes.

Fig. 18: O.BM Abydos Dem. 18 (EA 66296).

3. n ḥꜢ.t˗sp 14 ỉbd˗1 šmw (sw) 9 4. sẖ Bl sꜢ Ἰy˗m˗ḥtp Translation: 1. Orseus (son of) Petebastet and Amenhotep his son have brought 2. 1 (silver) kite (as) the salt tax for year 14. Written by Totoes son of Sisos 3. in year 14 month˗1 shemu˗season (day) 9. 4. Written by Belles son of Imouthes. Notes: L. 2 The second half of the name Twtw is ligatured, but the reading is secure. For the name ṮꜢỉ˗ḏ / ṮꜢỉ˗ḏy cf. NB Dem. 1354–55, where the writing from our text is listed, no. 11 (but read ṮꜢỉ˗ḏ rather than ṮꜢỉ˗ḏe). The rate for the salt tax at this period was 1⁄3 kite (4 obols) for a man (Muhs 2011, 22), so the payment here was either for three men, even though only two are named, or (less likely) it includes an additional unspecified tax. L. 3 The writing of šmw is very abbreviated, reduced to little more than its initial sign with the second part merged with the following sw. O.BM Abydos Dem. 19 (Fig. 19)

Transliteration: 1. ỉn Wrš (sꜢ) ˹PꜢ˗dỉ˺˗BꜢst.t ḥnꜥ Ἰmn˗ḥtp pꜢỉ=f šr 2. (ḥḏ) ḳt 1 (n) pꜢ ḥḏ ḥmꜢ n ḥꜢ.t˗sp 14 sẖ n Twtw sꜢ ṮꜢỉ˗ḏ

Short list of names Inventory number: EA 66297 Dimensions: H 4.7, W 11.2cm

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240

Fig. 19: O.BM Abydos Dem. 19 (EA 66297).

Description: Limestone. The ostracon is complete but the text, which is written on a thick piece of stone, is very faded. Excavation note: Abyd. 26 1800. The function is uncertain. Transliteration: 1. PꜢ˗dỉ˗Mnt (sꜢ) Ḫnsw˗ỉ.ỉr˗dỉ˗s 2. SmꜢ˗tꜢ.wy sꜢ PꜢ˗˹šr˺˗Wsỉr Translation: 1. Petemonthes (son of) Chesertaios 2. Semtheus son of Psenosiris Notes: L. 2 The šr˗sign in the name PꜢ˗šr˗Wsỉr is hardly visible but the reading of the rest of the name is secure. O.BM Abydos Dem. 20 (Fig. 20) Dipinto Inventory number: EA 66312 Dimensions: H 9.9, W 9.9cm Description: Brown Nile silt, fragment of a jar. Uncoated. Bibliography: Spiegelberg 1933, no. 9 Excavation note: Osireion. Marked in black on the exterior ‘From 2 handled / large jar’.

Fig. 20: O.BM Abydos Dem. 20 (EA 66312).

Notes: L.1–2 The two short vertical strokes make the reading sw 16 plausible (cf. CDD Days, 17–18) but the last long vertical line added at the end of the word is unusual. The other possible reading is sw 17 (cf. CDD Days, 19–20). O.BM Abydos Dem. 21 (Fig. 21) Dipinto Inventory number: EA 66313 Dimensions: H 8.1, W 14cm Description: Brown Nile silt, fragment of an amphora. Uncoated. Traces of pitch on the interior surface.

Its purpose is uncertain, but it might refer to the transport / sale etc. of the contents of the jar. Transliteration: 1. ḥꜢ.t˗sp 19 ỉbd˗3 pr.t sw 16 (?) 2. ḥꜢ.t˗sp 19 ỉbd˗3 pr.t sw 16 (?) Translation: 1. Year 19 month˗3, peret˗season day 16 (?) 2. Year 19 month˗3, peret˗season day 16 (?)

Fig. 21: O.BM Abydos Dem. 21 (EA 66313).

DEMOTIC, GREEK AND COPTIC OSTRACA FROM ABYDOS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM

Transliteration: 1. ḥꜢ.t˗sp 29 tꜢ mḥ˗4.t n Ns˗Ἰmn sꜢ PꜢ˗šr˗Twtw ḳw ˹7½˺ Translation: 1. Year 29, the fourth, to Esamounis son of Psentotoes: 7½ chous. Notes: For other examples of an ordinal number preceded by feminine definite article on dipinti, cf. e.g. Ray 2013, 202–05. It might refer to the instalment number of a batch of vessels that a person received. For the ḳws-measure written ḳw without any determinative and its equation with the Greek chous, cf. Schentuleit 2006, 358–59. It is presumably used here as a wine measure (CDD Letter Ḳ 12–13). If the reading 7½ is correct, the amphora contained 36.3 litres of wine (1 chous = 4.84 litres). O.BM Abydos Dem. 22 (Fig. 22)

241

Description: Red-brown Nile silt. Uncoated. The ostracon is in two pieces and registered with two inventory numbers. Bibliography: Spiegelberg 1933, no. 8; Wångstedt 1969, 96–97; Jasnow and Pouls Wegner 2006/7, 52 (interior) and Spiegelberg 1933, no. 15 (exterior, described = EA 66361). Excavation note: Osireion 26. The ostracon consists of two pieces which were inventoried separately. The text on the interior of the upper fragment (EA 66325) was published by Spiegelberg (and subsequently Wångstedt, and Jasnow and Pouls Wegner). The text on the exterior of the upper fragment is unpublished (and largely illegible). The lower fragment (EA 66361) is uninscribed on the interior, but contains a text on the exterior. This was described by Spiegelberg (no. 15), but not edited. That the two fragments belong together is clear from a photograph in Frankfort’s archive. The two texts, however, are written in different hands.

List of products Inventory number: EA 66325 + EA 66361 Dimensions: H 7.6, W 8.1cm

Fig. 22: O.BM Abydos Dem. 22 (EA 66325 + EA 66361).

242

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Side A (interior) Transliteration: 1. nḥḥ n mꜢꜥ.t ¼ nḥḥ n tkm 2. 1⁄8 ḥsmn wꜢḏ kt 4.t ỉby 1⁄16 3. hl ḳt 2.t mnḥ ḳt 8.t mtḥ 4. ḳt 4.t tpe.t ḳt 3.t ꜥte 5. ntm ḳt 4.t smy wꜢḏ ḳt 4.t Translation: 1. Genuine oil, ¼; tkm˗oil, 2. 1⁄8; fresh natron, 4 kite; honey, 1⁄16; 3. Myrrh, 2 kite; wax, 8 kite; salve, 4. 4 kite; tpe.t˗oil, 3 kite; sweet 5. fat, 4 kite; fresh milk, 4 kite. Side B (exterior) Transliteration: 1. ˹.˺ wꜥ ỉp wh ỉpy ˹…˺ y ỉpy ˹…˺ [… 2. ˹.˺ n pꜢ mtn ỉpy ˹.˺ pꜢ ˹.˺ 3. 6 n ˹W˗pk˺ (?) ˹…˺ ky ˹.˺ [… 4. ˹…..˺ 5. ˹…..˺ Notes: Side A L. 1 The expression nḥḥ n mꜢꜥ.t lit. ‘oil of truth’ refers to olive oil (cf. CDD Letter N, 110). L. 2 The writing of the end of ḥsmn is very abbreviated, but the reading is to be preferred to sntr, as suggested by Jasnow and Pouls Wegner (2006/07). The following cross˗like sign we would see as an ideographic writing of the word wꜢḏ ‘fresh’ (CDD Letter W, 189–90), which is also to be found in line 5 below. L. 5 Jasnow and Pouls Wegner suggested reading the expression smỉ wꜢḏ as smt šw ‘dry black paint’ (Jasnow and Pouls Wegner 2006/7, 52 L. 5). However, after the ˗m there is a clear mi˗sign, followed by a vertical stroke. The determinative is blurred, but an interpretation as ‘milk’ seems plausible in the context (CDD Letter S, 227), followed by wꜢḏ (as in line 2). For the same expression smy wꜢḏ ‘fresh milk’ on a collection of recipes, cf. Vittmann 2006/7 158 L. 7 and n. 31. Side B The text is too fragmentary for a coherent translation. It is an account but its content is uncertain. L. 3 The second sign in the word W˗pk, the sacred district in Abydos, Oupkra, where the burial place of Osiris was located, is slightly faded, but the clear geographical determinative makes the reading plausible

(for writings of the place-name in demotic, cf. CDD Letter W, 1–2). O.BM Abydos Dem. 23 (Fig. 23) Dipinto Inventory number: EA 66327 Dimensions: H 9.4, W 8.9cm Description: Red Nile silt, amphora fragment. Thin layer of brown slip on exterior. Excavation note: 1800. Transliteration: 1. ḥꜢ.t˗sp 15 tꜢ mḥ˗4 bs (?) [… 2. ṯꜢỉ rꜢ (?) hỉn 14 ˹..˺ [… 3. ḥꜢ.t˗sp ˹15 tꜢ˺ mḥ˗4 bs(?) [… Translation: 1. Year 15: the fourth vessel (?) [… 2. Taking … 14 hin of [… 3. Year 15: the fourth vessel (?) [… Notes: L. 1 The first and third line appear to be identical, but unfortunately the word starting with b˗ is damaged in both cases. As the second line mentions the hin vessel / measure, we are probably dealing with quantities of products, so this might be bs ‘vessel’ (CDD Letter B, 82–83) or byr ‘basket’ (CDD Letter B, 29). However, both words are masculine, so the ordinal number

Fig. 23: O.BM Abydos Dem. 23 (EA 66327).

DEMOTIC, GREEK AND COPTIC OSTRACA FROM ABYDOS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM

might refer to the fourth vessel of a batch brought to the same owner; cf. O.BM Abydos Dem. 21 supra. L. 2 The second word in the line is unclear. Given the ‘flesh’ determinative, a reading rꜢ is possible, but in the damaged context no plausible translation suggests itself. O.BM Abydos Dem. 24 (Fig. 24) Writing exercise Inventory number: EA 66338 Dimensions: H 9.5, W 7cm Description: Red Nile silt, possibly an amphora fragment. Thin layer of brown slip on exterior. A few traces of pitch on the internal surface. The text consists of just letters and numbers arranged in a list. It may be a school exercise, which is also suggested by the clumsiness of the handwriting. The sequence of letters suggests that this could be a sign-list arranged alphabetically, with consecutive numbers. (For papyri with word lists in alphabetical order, see Gaudard 2012, 69, n. 6). The alphabetical sequence for Egyptian has been reconstructed with the order of m, k, n, ẖ, ḏ/ṯ, p (see Quack 2003, 170; Gaudard 2012, 66, table 6.1), but this only partially

corresponds to our list and we would expect ẖ, ḏ/ṯ to follow n. Instead of ẖ we possibly have an r, but this is very faded and its reading is not sure. As for the following b-sign, it is also damaged and a reading ḏ cannot be ruled out. Transliteration: 1. m tꜢ 11.t 2. k 1˹2˺ 3. n 1Ꜣ 4. ˹r˺ 14 5. ˹b˺ ˹1˺ 5 [… 6. p [… O.BM Abydos Dem. 25 (Fig. 25) Account of grain delivery Inventory number: EA 66355 Dimensions: H 6.2, W 7.9cm Description: Brown Nile silt. Excavation note: Osireion /26. Transliteration: 1. pꜢ ỉp (n) PꜢ˗šr˗Wsỉr 2. sw 28 sw 11⁄6 3. sw 29 sw 11⁄6 4. pꜢ ỉp (n) PꜢ˗šr˗Wsỉr Translation: 1. The account (of) Psenosiris 2. day 28 grain 11⁄6 3. day 29 grain 11⁄6 4. the account (of) Psenosiris

Fig. 24: O.BM Abydos Dem. 24 (EA 66338).

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Fig. 25: O.BM Abydos Dem. 25 (EA 66355).

A. ALMÁSY-MARTIN

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Notes: L. 2–3 For the writing of 1⁄6, cf. the comments of Chauveau 1986, 27 n. 11, 2. O.BM Abydos Dem. 26 (Fig. 26) Draft letter (?) Inventory number: EA 66372 Dimensions: H 8.3, W 7.7cm Description: Red-brown Nile silt. Bibliography: Spiegelberg 1933, no. 2; Jasnow and Pouls Wegner 2006/7, 49. Excavation note: Osireion, Abydos 26. Only side B has been published. The two sides are in the same hand and both texts mention a certain Anempeous. Side A is very faded and that is probably why it was not mentioned in Spiegelberg’s publication. The word ‘greeting’ on side A suggests that this may be a draft (?) letter. Transliteration: Side A (exterior) 1. Wp˗wꜢ.wt˗ỉw sm˹Ꜣꜥ˺ 2. ˹Wp˺˗ [..]˹….˺˹ỉrm PꜢ˗dỉ˗Wsỉr˺ 3. ỉrm ˹….˺ 4. ˹..˺ Wp˗wꜢw.t˗ỉw ỉrm nꜢy=f ỉry.w 5. tw=y ˹….˺ 6. …]˗Wsỉr ỉrm Ἰnp˗ỉw 7. …] ntỉ ỉw=w ˹sḏm=y˺ 8. …] ˹…˺ 9. …] ˹.˺

Side B (interior) 1. tꜢ sṯꜢ.t 6 (?) Ꜣḥ.w m˗sꜢ ˹Tw˺˗ Ἰs.tH(?) 2. ỉrm Pa˗Wsỉr (?) ỉrm Ἰnp˗ỉw 3. ḥtp ỉw tꜢ mt.t ẖn ꜥš˗sḥn [nfr…] 4. ˹…˺ 5. tꜢ 10.t ˹…˺ [… 6. 11.t [… Translation: Side A 1. Ophieus greets 2. Ophieus …with Peteosiris 3. with … 4. .. Ophieus with his companions 5. I caused … 6. …]˗osiris with Anempeous 7. … (those) who will hear me 8. … 9. … Side B 1. The six arouras (?) of land after/pertaining to Taesis (?) 2. and Pausiris (?) and Anempeous 3. are satisfied, the matter being in a [good (?)] condition. 4. … 5. the tenth… 6. 11th…

Fig. 26: O.BM Abydos Dem. 26 (EA 66372), sides A and B.

DEMOTIC, GREEK AND COPTIC OSTRACA FROM ABYDOS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM

Notes: Side A L. 1 Only the beginning of smꜢꜥ is legible (for the transliteration, cf. Vittmann 1998, 439 n. 944), but the reading seems certain (CDD Letter S, 211‒15). L. 2 Although only the first part of the name is preserved, this person is probably the same as that in lines 1 and 4. Side B L. 1 A reading of the first word as nꜢy is problematic (see Jasnow and Pouls Wegner 2006/7, 49 L. 1) and the alternative suggestion tꜢ sṯꜢ 6 ‘the 6 arouras’ seems more likely. For this first group, ḫy ‘measurement’ (CDD Letter Ḫ, 18) might also be considered. For what follows, we would read m˗sꜢ rather than šꜥ (pace Jasnow and Pouls Wegner 2006/7, 49 L. 1, Ꜣḥ.w šꜥ˗tw ỉs.t…), although the translation in the context is unclear. The rest of the line is equally uncertain. Ἰs.t seems likely. As in the next line we appear to have personal names that incorporate Osiris and Anubis, it is possible to read Tw˗Ἰs.t and understand it as a personal name (for TꜢy˗Ἰs.t). The end of the line is not broken, so we can rule out the possibility of a fragmentary name starting with Is.t (Jasnow and Pouls Wegner 2006/7, 49 L. 1). Greek ostraca The thirty-one Greek ostraca of Abydos come from different excavations. All of these are administrative texts: name lists, accounts, private documents and tax receipts. There are also single names or monograms which, like their demotic counterparts, would originally have been written on containers. Seven texts contain the names of emperors of the 1st–2nd century AD: Domitian: EA 49117 (91 AD), EA 49118 (90 AD) Trajan: EA 49120, EA 49121, EA 49122 Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus: EA 66250 (163 AD) Commodus: O.BM Abydos Gr. 5 (186 AD). Six tax receipts of this group (EA 49117–49122) belong together: they all concern a certain Petermouthis son of Harsiesis, grandson of Haronnophris (AlmásyMartin and R. Duttenhöfer 2019). They come from a rubbish heap on the site of Ayrton’s cemetery F and were found in 1909. EA 49118, 49120 and 49122, and possibly 49119, are dyke tax receipts (χωματικός).

245

On EA 49121, only the father’s name Harsiesis is legible. Five Greek ostraca have been found in the Osireion, part of which was the site in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, if not before, of the famous Bes oracle (e.g., Dunand 1997, 68‒84). Around 650 Greek graffiti cover different sections of the temple and most were left behind by visitors who came and slept in the temple where they had visionary dreams inspired by the divinity (Perdrizet and Lefebvre 1919; Rutherford 2003). Although our ostraca collection is not related to this activity specifically, the graffiti prove that the site was frequently visited by Greek-speakers. 1926 O.BM Abydos Gr. 1 (Fig. 27) Dipinto Inventory number: EA 66292 + EA 66305 Dimensions: H 11, W 20.6cm Description: Brown Nile silt, fragment of an amphora, possibly LR7. Traces of pitch on interior. The ostracon is in two pieces and registered with two inventory numbers. As the inscription has been placed immediately below the edge of the vessel, it might be a short note with the name of the owner written on a container. 1. Aις Σιμώνος 1. Ai(…)s son of Simon

Fig. 27: O.BM Abydos Gr. 1 (EA 66292 + EA 66305).

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Notes: L. 1 Aις would be an abbreviated form of the owner’s name and the second word, written in the genitive, would be the patronym. Alternatively, it might be the case that αις is a product that the vessel contained, but what this might be is uncertain. O.BM Abydos Gr. 2 (Fig. 28) Name list Inventory number: EA 66362 Dimensions: H 5.4, W 7.9cm Description: Brown Nile silt (?) (lack of clear breaks). Pale firing surface on exterior.

Fig. 28: O.BM Abydos Gr. 2 (EA 66362).

1. Πα〚…〛 2. Λουσία 3. Τεπκι Notes: L. 1 The first name was erased by the scribe. L. 2 The name Lousia is attested in Greek as well as in Coptic sources of the 3–4th centuries AD (NB Copt. 56; Trismegistos, name id 22367). L. 3 The word may be a variant of Τβῆκις (NB 425). O.BM Abydos Gr. 3 (Fig. 29) Dipinto Inventory number: EA 66369 Dimensions: H 4.7, W 2.7cm Description: Brown Nile silt. Uncoated. Fig. 29: O.BM Abydos Gr. 3 (EA 66369).

The two Greek letters are presumably an abbreviation of a name or an abbreviated word. 1. φη— O.BM Abydos Gr. 4 (Fig. 30) Account 21 August 189 AD Inventory number: EA 66348 Dimensions: H 6.5, W 7.5cm Description: Brown Nile silt, possibly an amphora fragment. Uncoated. Traces of pitch on interior. Excavation note: Abydos ‘25 Redîm 1000. Fig. 30: O.BM Abydos Gr. 4 (EA 66348).

DEMOTIC, GREEK AND COPTIC OSTRACA FROM ABYDOS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

…] ..η. διαβῆσις …]ως (δρ.) τριακονταδύω (ἔτους) κη Αὐρηρίου Κομμόδου Ἀν]τωνίνου Κασαρας τοῦ κυρίου M]εσουρή κζ̄

1. διαβῆσις l. διαβᾶσις. 4. Κασαρας l. Καίσαρoς

247

unearthed during the 1912‒1913 season (Peet and Loat 1913, 38‒39; also see below), even though O.BM Abydos Copt. 2 only entered the collection in 1927.

1926 O.BM Abydos Copt. 1 (Fig. 31)

Translation: 1. …]… transport 2. …].. thirty-two drachma 3. Year 28 of Aurelius Commodus 4. An]toninus Caesar the lord 5. M]esore 27 Notes: L. 1 διαβῆσις (LSJ 390) probably refers to ferrying or transportation costs. L. 3 The second half of the name Commodus is faded, but given the high year date the reading can be taken as certain. Coptic ostraca There are twenty-seven Coptic ostraca, all from the EES excavations. These include private documents, letters, accounts and short notes written on jars that relate to the contents of the container. There is nothing to suggest any connection with monasteries, but rather just the secular communities. Seven of these texts are registered as coming from the Osireion. O.BM Abydos Copt. 2, which came to the Museum in 1927, is marked ‘D top Abydos ‘13’, while EA 51145 (which was acquired in 1912) has ‘D top Ab. ‘12’’ written on it. As the number that comes after Abydos in the archaeological notes often indicates the last two digits of the year of excavation, these objects were both probably found in Peet’s cemetery D, where two Coptic stelae were

Religious text (?) 6th‒7th centuries AD Inventory number: EA 66350 Dimensions: H 2.5, W 7cm Description: Pink Aswan clay, fragment of a plate. Fine red slip on both surfaces. Burnish on interior. For identification see: Hayes 1972, 389 and 391, type J, which would suggest a date of the 6th‒7th centuries AD. The fragment is too small for its function to be identified, but the presence of the word ‘saviour’ on the interior points to a religious purpose. The rim suggests that it comes from a plate. It might have been a plate with a magical text (cf. O.Brit.Mus.Copt. I 38:1, plate inscribed with religious sentences), but the text is too fragmentary for any certainty. Side A (interior): 1. …] ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ [… 2. … Side B (exterior): 1. …] ⲯⲱⲧⲏⲣ [… 2. …] .ⲓⲉ.. [.. Side A (interior): 1. …] Maria [… 2. …

Fig. 31: O.BM Abydos Copt. 1 (EA 66350), sides A and B.

A. ALMÁSY-MARTIN

248 Side B (exterior): 1. …] the saviour [… 2. …] ..ie..[…

1927 O.BM Abydos Copt. 2 (Fig. 32) Account Inventory number: EA 58928 Dimensions: H 11.6, W 7.2cm Description: Pale green Upper Egyptian marl clay. Cream slip on exterior. Excavation note: D top Abydos ‘13’. 1. ⲧⲁⲡϫⲟⲕ[… 2. ⲕⲁⲕⲟ[… 3. ⲓⲱϩ[…

4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14.

ⲕⲧⲉⲁ[… … … …ⲧⲉⲓⲥ ϩⲣⲉⲃⲉⲕⲕⲁ: [.. [ⲙ]ⲱⲩⲥⲏⲥ: ⲍ [… ϩⲣⲁⲕϩⲏⲗ: ⲉ [… ⲥⲁⲃⲓⲛⲉ: ⲉ [… ⲧⲉⲕⲥⲓⲁ: [… ⲃⲓⲕⲣⲓ: ⲉ· ϩⲣⲁⲕϩⲏⲗ: […

Translation: 1‒7. … 8. Rebecca: [.. 9. [M]ouses: 7 10. Charachel: 5 11. Sabine: 5 12. Teksia: [… 13. Bikri: 5 14. Charachel: [… Notes: L. 1‒7 The first seven lines are very faded and illegible. It might be an intentionally erased previous text. L. 3 Probably the name ⲓⲱϩⲁⲛⲛⲏⲥ. L. 10 Charachel is a variant writing of Rachel, the Semitic female name: Trismegistos name id 11853; NB Copt. 114 ϩⲣⲁⲭⲏⲗ. The ⲭ is written here as ⲕϩ. L. 12 The name Teksia is not attested elsewhere. It is probably a variant of the Greek name Τησχία (NB 434) or ⲧⲁⲥⲓⲁ (NB Copt. 98). L. 13 Bikri may be an abbreviated form of Bikras (Trismegistos name id 9019; Onomasticon 80).

Fig. 32: O.BM Abydos Copt. 2 (EA 58928).

DEMOTIC, GREEK AND COPTIC OSTRACA FROM ABYDOS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM

Concordance (Table 1) Inventory number O.BM Abydos BM EA 49116

Excavation note written on the object

Demotic

1909

F top rubbish

BM EA 49117

Greek

1909

F top rubbish

BM EA 49118

Greek

1909

BM EA 49119

Greek

1909

BM EA 49120

Greek

1909

F top rubbish

BM EA 49121

Greek

1909

F top rubbish

BM EA 49122

Greek

1909

F top rubbish

Demotic

1910

R. top

BL O 49370

Greek

1910

Tomb R (top)

BL O 49371

Greek

1910

Tomb T (top)

Demotic

1912

434

BM EA 51117

Demotic

1912

BM EA 51118

Demotic

1912

BM EA 51119

Demotic

1912

BM EA 51120

Demotic

1912

BM EA 51121

Demotic

1912

BM EA 51122

Demotic

1912

BM EA 51123

Demotic

1912

BM EA 51124

Demotic

1912

BM EA 51125

Demotic

1912

BM EA 51126

Demotic

1912

BM EA 49369

BM EA 51116

Dem. 1

Language Acquisition date

Dem. 2

Dem. 3

BM EA 51127

Demotic

1912

Demotic

1912

BM EA 51129

Demotic

1912

BM EA 51131

Demotic

1912

BM EA 51132

Demotic

1912

BL O 51133

Greek

1912

BM EA 51134

Greek

1912

BL O 51135

Greek

1912

BL O 51136

Greek

1912

BL O 51137

Greek

1912

BL O 51138

Greek

1912

BL O 51139

Greek

1912

BL O 51140

Greek

1912

BM EA 51141

Greek

1912

BL O 51142

Greek

1912

BL O 51143

Greek

1912

BL O 51144

Greek

1912

BM EA 51130

Coptic

1912

BM EA 51145

Coptic

1912

Demotic

1922

BM EA 51128

BM EA 55387

Dem. 4

Dem. 5

S top A 12

D top Ab. 12

D top Ab. ‘12’

Bibliography

249

A. ALMÁSY-MARTIN

250 Inventory number O.BM Abydos BM EA 55388

Demotic

1922

BL O 55389

Greek

1922

BL O 55390

Greek

1922

BL O 55391

Greek

1922

BL O 55392

Greek

1922

BL O 55393

Greek

1922

BL O 55394

Greek

1922

BL O 55395

Greek

1922

BL O 55396

Greek

1922

BL O 55397

Greek

1922

BL O 55398

Greek

1922

BL O 55399

Greek

1922

BL O 55400

Greek

1922

BL O 55401

Greek

1922

BL O 55402

Greek

1922

BL O 55403

Greek

1922

BL O 55404

Greek

1922

Arabic

1922

BM EA 58643

Demotic

1926

BM EA 58658

Demotic

1926

BM EA 55406

Dem. 6

Language Acquisition date

Arab. 1

Excavation note written on the object

Vorderstrasse, this volume

Osireion

BM EA 66230

Dem. 7

Demotic

1926

BM EA 66231

Dem. 8

Demotic

1926

Osireion ‘26

Demotic

1926

1800

Demotic

1926

BM EA 66234

Demotic

1926

BM EA 66236

Demotic

1926

1800

BM EA 66238

Demotic

1926

Osireion

BM EA 66239

Demotic

1926

BM EA 66240

Demotic

1926

Osireion W room 16 I. 26

Demotic

1926

Osireion /26

BM EA 66242

Demotic

1926

BM EA 66243

Demotic

1926

BM EA 66244

Demotic

1926

BM EA 66246

Demotic

1926

BM EA 66232 BM EA 66233 + 66255

BM EA 66241

Dem. 9

Dem. 10

Spiegelberg 1933, no. 11 and 20 (desc.)

Dem. 11

Demotic

1926

BM EA 66248

Dem. 12

Demotic

1926

Osireion

Demotic

1926

Osireion 26

Demotic

1926

Osireion

BM EA 66252

Demotic

1926

Osireion W trench

BM EA 66253

Demotic

1926

BM EA 66254

Demotic

1926

BM EA 66251

Dem. 13

Wångstedt 1976/77, 17‒18

Osireion

BM EA 66247

BM EA 66249 + 66235

Bibliography

Osireion W trench W right Redîm Ab. ‘26

Spiegelberg 1933, no. 14 (desc.)

DEMOTIC, GREEK AND COPTIC OSTRACA FROM ABYDOS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM

Inventory number O.BM Abydos

Language Acquisition date

Excavation note written on the object

BM EA 66256

Demotic

1926

Osireion W trench

BM EA 66257

Demotic

1926

1818

BM EA 66258

Demotic

1926

1818

BM EA 66259

Demotic

1926

Osireion 26

Demotic

1926

Osireion

BM EA 66261

Demotic

1926

1000

BM EA 66262

Demotic

1926

Abyd 25 Redîm 800

BM EA 66263

Demotic

1926

Osireion w trench

BM EA 66264

Demotic

1926

[.]800?

BM EA 66265

Demotic

1926

Osireion w trench

BM EA 66266

Demotic

1926

Osireion /26

BM EA 66267

Demotic

1926

Osireion ‘26

BM EA 66268

Demotic

1926

BM EA 66260

Dem. 14

BM EA 66271 + 66245

Dem. 15

Demotic

1926

BM EA 66272 + 66326 + 66347

Dem. 16

Demotic

1926

BM EA 66274

Demotic

1926

Osireion Ab 26 […]

BM EA 66277

Demotic

1926

1818

BM EA 66279 + 66319

Demotic

1926

Osireion ‘26

BM EA 66280

Demotic

1926

Osireion /26

BM EA 66281

Demotic

1926

Osireion /26

BM EA 66282

Demotic

1926

Osireion 26

BM EA 66284

Demotic

1926

Osireion /26

BM EA 66285

Demotic

1926

Demotic

1926

BM EA 66289

Demotic

1926

BM EA 66293 + 66294

Coptic

1926

BM EA 66287

Dem. 17

Osir. ‘26

Dem. 18

Demotic

1926

Osireion, temenos wall (south of) west trench 16.I.26

BM EA 66297

Dem. 19

Demotic

1926

Abyd. 26 1800

Demotic

1926

BM EA 66311

Demotic

1926

1800

Dem. 20

Demotic

1926

Osireion, ‘From 2 handled / large jar’

BM EA 66313

Dem. 21

Demotic

1926

Demotic

1926

BM EA 66317

Demotic

1926

BM EA 66318

Demotic

1926

BM EA 66321

Demotic

1926

BM EA 66323

Demotic

1926

Spiegelberg 1933, no. 5; Wångstedt 1980, 18; Jasnow and Pouls Wegner 2006/7, 51; Photograph in Frankfort’s archives

Spiegelberg 1933, no. 16 (desc.)

Spiegelberg 1933, no. 13 (desc.)

Spiegelberg 1933, no. 4; Jasnow and Pouls Wegner 2006/7, 50–51

BM EA 66312

BM EA 66316

Bibliography

Spiegelberg 1933, no. 10 (EA 66272 desc.)

BM EA 66296

BM EA 66308

251

Spiegelberg 1933, no. 9 (desc.)

Spiegelberg 1933, no. 18 (desc.)

Spiegelberg 1933, no. 1; Jasnow and Pouls Wegner 2006/7, 49

A. ALMÁSY-MARTIN

252 Inventory number O.BM Abydos BM EA 66324

Language Acquisition date

Excavation note written on the object

Bibliography

Demotic

1926

Osireion /26

Spiegelberg 1933, no. 17 (desc.) (?). Image in Frankfort’s archives Spiegelberg 1933, no. 8 and no. 15 (desc.)

BM EA 66325 + 66361

Dem. 22

Demotic

1926

Osireion 26

BM EA 66327

Dem. 23

Demotic

1926

1800

BM EA 66328

Demotic

1926

Osireion ‘26

Spiegelberg 1933, no. 19 (desc). Image in Frankfort’s archives

BM EA 66329

Demotic

1926

Osireion /26

Spiegelberg 1933, no. 3; Jasnow and Pouls Wegner 2006/7, 49‒50

BM EA 66332

Demotic

1926

Osireion /26

Spiegelberg 1933, no. 7; Jasnow and Pouls Wegner 2006/7, 51

BM EA 66333

Demotic

1926

Osireion 16 I. 26 South of temenos wall in W trench

Spiegelberg 1933, no. 6; Wångstedt 1978/79, 15‒16; Jasnow and Pouls Wegner 2006/07, 51

BM EA 66335

Demotic

1926

Osir.

BM EA 66338

Demotic

1926

BM EA 66339

Demotic

1926

Abyd. 26 1800

BM EA 66340

Demotic

1926

Osireion

BM EA 66343

Demotic

1926

BM EA 66345

Demotic

1926

Osireion /26

BM EA 66351

Demotic

1926

Osireion 26

BM EA 66354

Demotic

1926

Demotic

1926

BM EA 66356

Demotic

1926

BM EA 66357

Demotic

1926

BM EA 66358

Demotic

1926

BM EA 66359

Demotic

1926

BM EA 66360

Demotic

1926

BM EA 66365

Demotic

1926

1800

BM EA 66368

Demotic

1926

Osireion 26

BM EA 66371

Demotic

1926

Demotic

1926

Osireion, Abydos 26

BM EA 66373

Demotic

1926

Osireion /26

BM EA 66374

Demotic

1926

Osireion 26

BM EA 66375

Demotic

1926

Osireion /26

BM EA 66376

Demotic

1926

Osireion

BM EA 66377

Demotic

1926

Osireion /26

BM EA 58653

Greek

1926

BM EA 58654

Greek

1926

BM EA 58655

Greek

1926

BM EA 58656

Greek

1926

BM EA 66250

Greek

1926

BM EA 66269 + 66273

Greek

1926

BM EA 66355

BM EA 66372

Dem. 24

Dem. 25

Dem. 26

Osireion /26

Abydos /26 600

Osireion trench

Spiegelberg 1933, no. 2; Jasnow and Pouls Wegner 2006/7, 49

DEMOTIC, GREEK AND COPTIC OSTRACA FROM ABYDOS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM

Inventory number O.BM Abydos

Language Acquisition date

Excavation note written on the object

BM EA 66270

Greek

1926

BM EA 66275

Greek

1926

BM EA 66278

Greek

1926

Osireion /26

BM EA 66286

Greek

1926

Osireion /26

BM EA 66290

Greek

1926

Abyd. 25 1000

Greek

1926

BM EA 66306

Greek

1926

BM EA 66320

Greek

1926

BM EA 66330

Greek

1926

BM EA 66342

Greek

1926

BM EA 66346

Coptic

1926

Greek

1926

Greek

1926

Greek

1926

Greek

1926

Greek

1926

BM EA 58639

Coptic

1926

BM EA 58640

Coptic

1926

BM EA 58641

Coptic

1926

BM EA 58642

Coptic

1926

BM EA 58644

Coptic

1926

BM EA 58645

Coptic

1926

BM EA 58652

Coptic

1926

BM EA 66276

Coptic

1926

BM EA 66283

Coptic

1926

BM EA 66309

Coptic

1926

a pot under 1100 R? […] 1000

BM EA 66310

Coptic

1926

Osireion 26

BM EA 66314

Coptic

1926

BM EA 66315

Coptic

1926

BM EA 66322

Coptic

1926

Osireion Abydos 26 N of W trench

BM EA 66334

Coptic

1926

Abydos ‘25 Cem. 600

Coptic

1926

BM EA 66353

Coptic

1926

Osireion 26

BM EA 66370 + 66363 + 66331 + 66336

Coptic

1926

Osireion 26

BM EA 66292 + 66305

BM EA 66348

Gr. 1

Gr. 4

BM EA 66349 BM EA 66362

Gr. 2

BM EA 66366 BM EA 66369

BM EA 66350

Gr. 3

Copt. 1

Bibliography

Osireion

Abydos ‘25 Redîm 1000

BM ME 1926,0728.210

Arab. 4

Arabic

1926

Vorderstrasse, this volume

BM ME 1926,0728.211

Arab. 2

Arabic

1926

Vorderstrasse, this volume

BM ME 1926,0728.222

Arab. 5

Arabic

1926

Vorderstrasse, this volume

BM ME 1926,0728.224

Arab. 6

Arabic

1926

Vorderstrasse, this volume

253

A. ALMÁSY-MARTIN

254 Inventory number O.BM Abydos BM EA 66291

Excavation note written on the object

Arabic

1926

BM EA 58914

Demotic

1927

BM EA 58915

Demotic

1927

BM EA 58916

Demotic

1927

BM EA 58917

Demotic

1927

BM EA 58919

Demotic

1927

BM EA 58920

Demotic

1927

BM EA 58921 + 58929

Demotic

1927

BM EA 58922

Demotic

1927

BM EA 58923

Demotic

1927

BM EA 58924

Demotic

1927

BM EA 58925

Demotic

1927

BM EA 58926

Demotic

1927

BM EA 58927 + 58918

Demotic

1927

Ab.’14

Coptic

1927

D top Abydos ‘13’

BM EA 58930

Demotic

1927

BM EA 58931

Demotic

1927

BM EA 69582

Demotic

1985

BM EA 69583

Demotic

1985

BM EA 69584

Demotic

1985

BM EA 58928

Arab. 3

Language Acquisition date

Copt. 2

BM EA 71317

Demotic

1988

BM EA 71318

Demotic

1988

BM EA 71319

Demotic

1988

BM EA 71320

Demotic

1988

BM EA 71321

Demotic

1988

BM EA 71322

Demotic

1988

BM EA 71323

Demotic

1988

BM EA 71324

Demotic

1988

BM EA 71325

Demotic

1988

BM EA 71326

Demotic

1988

BM EA 71327

Demotic

1988

BM EA 71328

Demotic

1988

BM EA 71329

Demotic

1988

BM EA 71330

Demotic

1988

BM EA 71331

Demotic

1988

BM EA 71332

Demotic

1988

BM EA 71333

Demotic

1988

BM EA 71335

Demotic

1988

BM EA 71336

Demotic

1988

BM EA 71337

Demotic

1988

BM EA 71338

Demotic

1988

Bibliography Vorderstrasse, this volume

Ab.’5

Osireion ‘26’

Ab. ‘11

223

DEMOTIC, GREEK AND COPTIC OSTRACA FROM ABYDOS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM

Index Personal names Demotic Ἰy˗m˗ḥtp (son of Wrš) O.BM Abydos Dem. 17.1 Ἰy˗m˗ḥtp (father of Bl) O.BM Abydos Dem. 18.4 ˹Ἰy˗m˗ḥtp˺ (father of Ḏd˗˹ḥr˺) O.BM Abydos Dem. 17.4 Ἰmn˗ḥtp O.BM Abydos Dem. 18.1 Ἰnp˗ỉw O.BM Abydos Dem. 26, side A, 6 and side B, 2 Ἰs.t˗m˗ḥb O.BM Abydos Dem. 2.1 WꜢḥ˗ỉb˗pꜢ˗Rꜥ O.BM Abydos Dem. 14.3 Wp˗wꜢ.wt˗ỉw O.BM Abydos Dem. 26, side A, 1, 2, 4. Wrš (father of Ἰy˗m˗ḥtp) O.BM Abydos Dem. 17.1 Wrš (son of ˹PꜢ˗dỉ˺˗BꜢst.t) O.BM Abydos Dem. 18.1 Bl (son of Ἰy˗m˗ḥtp) O.BM Abydos Dem. 18.4 PꜢ˗wr˗tỉw (father of Pa˗rt) O.BM Abydos Dem. 5.2 PꜢ˗wr˗tỉw (son of PꜢ˗dỉ˗˹Ἰnp˺) O.BM Abydos Dem. 17.2 ˹PꜢ˗ḥtr˺ O.BM Abydos Dem. 14.5 PꜢ˗šr˗Wsỉr O.BM Abydos Dem. 25.1, 4. PꜢ˗˹šr˺˗Wsỉr (father of SmꜢ˗tꜢ.wy) O.BM Abydos Dem. 19.2 PꜢ˗šr˗Twtw (father of Ns˗Ἰmn) O.BM Abydos Dem. 21.1 PꜢ-šr-Ḏḥwtỉ O.BM Abydos Dem. 3.1a PꜢ˗dỉ˗Ἰmn˗˹.˺ O.BM Abydos Dem. 16.1 PꜢ˗dỉ˗Ἰn˗ḥr (son of ˹Ḥtr˺?) O.BM Abydos Dem. 6.5 PꜢ˗dỉ˗˹Ἰnp˺ (father of PꜢ˗wr˗tỉw) O.BM Abydos Dem. 17.2 PꜢ˗dỉ˗Ἰs.t O.BM Abydos Dem. 11.4 ˹PꜢ˗dỉ˗Wsỉr˺ O.BM Abydos Dem. 26, side A, 2 ˹PꜢ˗dỉ˺˗BꜢst.t (father of Wrš ) O.BM Abydos Dem. 18.1 PꜢ˗dỉ˗Mnt (?) O.BM Abydos Dem. 3.2 PꜢ˗dỉ˗Mnt (son of Ḫnsw˗ỉ.ỉr˗dỉ˗s) O.BM Abydos Dem. 19.1 PꜢ˗dỉ˗Ḥr˗pꜢ˗ẖrd (son of Twtw) O.BM Abydos Dem. 8.5 Pa˗Wsỉr (?) O.BM Abydos Dem. 26. side B, 2 Pa˗Ἰmn O.BM Abydos Dem. 2.13 Pa˗rhw (father of Ḥr˗sꜢ˗Ἰs.t) O.BM Abydos Dem. 11.3 Pa˗rt O.BM Abydos Dem. 4.2 Pa˗rt (son of PꜢ˗wr˗tỉw) O.BM Abydos Dem. 5.2 Pa˗dỉ.t˗[…]˗Mỉn O.BM Abydos Dem. 6.2 Ns˗Ἰmn (son of PꜢ˗šr˗Twtw) O.BM Abydos Dem. 21.1 Hry˗Ἰnp O.BM Abydos Dem. 2.5 ˹Ḥr˺ (son of Šꜥ˗ḫpr) O.BM Abydos Dem. 14.2 Ḥr˗bs O.BM Abydos Dem. 3.4 Ḥr˗pa ˗˹ẖrd˺ (?) (son of Twtw) O.BM Abydos Dem. 6.4 Ḥr˗mꜢꜥ˗ḫrw O.BM Abydos Dem. 7.1 Ḥr˗sꜢ˗Ἰs.t (son of Pa˗rhw) O.BM Abydos Dem. 11.3 Ḥr˗sꜢ˗[Ἰs.t… O.BM Abydos Dem. 15.3 Ḥr˗sỉ˗Ἰs.t (father of Twtw) O.BM Abydos Dem. 2.3 ˹Ḥtr˺ (?) (father of PꜢ˗dỉ˗Ἰn˗ḥr) O.BM Abydos Dem. 6.5 Ḫnsw˗ỉ.ỉr˗dỉ˗s (father of PꜢ˗dỉ˗Mnt) O.BM Abydos Dem. 19.1 SmꜢ˗tꜢ.wy (son of PꜢ˗˹šr˺˗Wsỉr) O.BM Abydos Dem. 19.2 Sty O.BM Abydos Dem. 2.6 Šꜥ˗ḫpr (father of ˹Ḥr˺) O.BM Abydos Dem. 14.2

255

SꜢ˗šr.t˗Ἰs.t O.BM Abydos Dem. 2.4; O.BM Abydos Dem. 11.5 Ta˗sy O.BM Abydos Dem. 17.1 ˹Tw˺˗Ἰs.t (?) O.BM Abydos Dem. 26. side B, 1 Twtw (father of PꜢ˗dỉ˗Ḥr˗pꜢ˗ẖrd ) O.BM Abydos Dem. 8.5 Twtw (father of Ḥr˗pa ˗˹ẖrd˺  ?) O.BM Abydos Dem. 6.4 Twtw (son of Ḥr˗sỉ˗Ἰs.t) O.BM Abydos Dem. 2.3 Twtw (son of ṮꜢỉ˗ḏ ) O.BM Abydos Dem. 18.2 ṮꜢỉ˗ḏ (father of Twtw) O.BM Abydos Dem. 18.2 Ḏḥwtỉ˗ỉw (father of Ḏḥwtỉ˗mꜢꜥ ) O.BM Abydos Dem. 5.5 Ḏḥwtỉ˗mꜢꜥ (son of Ḏḥwtỉ˗ỉw) O.BM Abydos Dem. 5.4 Ḏḳwr O.BM Abydos Dem. 4.3 Ḏd˗˹ḥr ˺ (son of ˹Ἰy˗m˗ḥtp˺) O.BM Abydos Dem. 17.4 ˹…˗wr˺ O.BM Abydos Dem. 14.5 …]˗Wsỉr O.BM Abydos Dem. 26, side A, 6 ˹…˺˗ m˗ḥꜢ.t O.BM Abydos Dem. 14.4 Greek Aις (Σιμώνος) O.BM Abydos Gr. 1 Λουσία O.BM Abydos Gr. 2.2 Μωησαϊ (αββα) I.BM Abydos Copt. 1.10 Πα〚…〛 O.BM Abydos Gr. 2.1 Σιμώνος (father of Aις) O.BM Abydos Gr. 1.1 Τεπκι O.BM Abydos Gr. 2.3 φη— O.BM Abydos Gr. 3.1 Coptic ⲃⲓⲕⲣⲓ O.BM Abydos Copt. 2.13 ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ O.BM Abydos Copt. 1, side A, 1 [ⲙ]ⲱⲩⲥⲏⲥ O.BM Abydos Copt. 2.9 ⲥⲁⲃⲓⲛⲉ O.BM Abydos Copt. 2.11 ⲧⲉⲕⲥⲓⲁ O.BM Abydos Copt. 2.12 ϩⲣⲁⲕϩⲏⲗ O.BM Abydos Copt. 2.10, 14 ϩⲣⲉⲃⲉⲕⲕⲁ O.BM Abydos Copt. 2.8 Ruler’s name Αὐρηρίου Κομμόδου [Ἀν]τωνίνου Κασαρας τοῦ κυρίου O.BM Abydos Gr. 4.3‒4 Place names ˹W˗pk˺ O.BM Abydos Dem. 22, side B, 3 Titles Demotic ỉrỉ˗ꜥꜢ.w tpỉ sꜢ the door guardians of the first phyle O.BM Abydos Dem. 4.1 ḏrḳ tailor (?) O.BM Abydos Dem. 12.3

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Acknowledgements I would like to thank Cary Martin for his comments on the chapter and for correcting my English as well as the anonymous peer-reviewers for their suggestions. Unless otherwise credited, all images are Courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum.

Bibliography All papyrological abbreviations are cited throughout this volume according to J. Oates et al. Checklist of Greek, Latin, Demotic and Coptic papyri, ostraca and tablets, (last accessed 8 July 2018). Almásy-Martin, A., and R. Duttenhöfer. 2019. Greek tax receipts from Abydos in the British Museum. Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists 56: 79–93. Ayrton, E. R., and W. L. S. Loat. 1911. Pre-dynastic cemetery at El-Mahasna. Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Fund 31. London. Bedier, S. 1995. Die Rolle des Gottes Geb in den ägyptischen Tempelinschriften der griechisch-römischen Zeit. Hildesheimer ägyptologische Beiträge 41. Hildesheim. CDD = Johnson, J. H. (ed.). 2001. The demotic dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. (last accessed 22 Feb. 2019). Chaufray, M.-P. Forthcoming. Demotic and Greek jar labels from Bi’r Samut and Bi’r Abbad (Egyptian Desert). In Proceedings of 13th International Congress for Demotic Studies, Leipzig, 4–8 September 2017, H.-W. FischerElfert and F. Naether (eds). Chauveau, M. 1986. Un compte en démotique archaïque: Le Pap. Claude 1. Enchoria 14: 21–29. ——. 2011. Le saut dans le temps d’un document historique: Des Ptolémées aux Saïtes. In La XXVIe dynastie, continuités et ruptures: Actes du Colloque international organisé les 26 et 27 novembre 2004 à l’Université Charles-de-Gaulle – Lille 3; promenade saïte avec Jean Yoyotte, D. Devauchelle (ed.), 39–45. Paris. Clarysse, W., and D. J. Thompson. 2006. Counting the people in Hellenistic Egypt 2. Cambridge. Devauchelle, D. 1983. Ostraca démotiques de Musée du Louvre I. Bibliothèque d’étude 92.1. Cairo. Dousa, T., F. Gaudard and J. H. Johnson. 2004. P. Berlin 6848, a Roman period temple inventory. In Res severa verum gaudium: Festschrift für Karl-Theodor Zauzich

zum 65. Geburtstag am 8. Juni 2004, F. Hoffmann and H. J. Thissen (eds), 139–222. Leuven. Dunand, F. 1997. La consultation oraculaire en Égypte tardive: L’oracle de Bès à Abydos. In Oracles et prophéties dans l’antiquité: Actes du colloque de Strasbourg, 15–17 juin 1995, J.-G. Heintz (ed.), 65‒84. Travaux du Centre de recherche sur le Proche-Orient et la Grèce antiques 15. Paris. Ebeid, M. 2006. Demotic inscriptions from the galleries of Tuna el-Gebel. Bulletin de l’Institut français d’archéologie orientale 106: 57–74. Gallo, P. 1997. Ostraca demotici e ieratici dall’archivio bilingue di Narmouthis II (nn. 34–99). Quaderni di Medinet Madi 3. Pisa. Gaudard, F. 2012. Birds in the ancient Egypt and Coptic alphabets. In Between heaven and earth: Birds in ancient Egypt, R. Bailleul-LeSuer (ed.), 65–70. Oriental Institute Museum Publications 35. Chicago, IL. Hayes, J. W. 1972. Late Roman pottery: A catalogue of Roman fine wares. Rome. Hoffmann, F., and J. Quack. 2014. Pastophoros. In A good scribe and an exceedingly wise man: Studies in honour of W. J. Tait, A. M. Dodson, J.-J. Johnston and W. Monkhouse (eds), 127‒55. London. Ikram, S. 2007. Animals in the ritual landscape at Abydos: A synopsis. In The archaeology and art of ancient Egypt: Essays in honour of David B. O’Connor, Z. A. Hawass and J. E. Richards (eds), 1: 417‒32. Cairo. Jasnow, R. 1994. The hieratic wooden tablet Varille. In For his ka: Essays offered in memory of Klaus Baer, D. Silverman (ed.), 99–112. Chicago, IL. Jasnow, R., and M.-A. Pouls Wegner. 2006/7. Demotic ostraca from North Abydos. Enchoria 30: 21–52. Kemp, B., and R. S. Merrillees. 1980. Minoan pottery in Second Millenium Egypt. Sonderschrift des Deutsches Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 7. Mainz am Rhein. Kraemer, B. 2011/12. Abydos: ‘By far the finest site in Egypt’. Egypt Exploration Society Newsletter 3: 6‒7. Landvatter, T. 2019. Fluctuating landscapes: Cross-cultural interaction, mortuary practice and ritual at PtolemaicRoman Abydos. In Abydos: The sacred land at the western horizon, I. Regulski (ed.), 153–69. British Museum Publications on Egypt and Sudan 8. Leuven. Lichtheim, M. 1957. Demotic ostraca from Medinet Habu. Oriental Institute Publications 80. Chicago, IL. LSJ = Liddell, H. G. and Scott, R. 1996. A Greek-English lexicon. Oxford. Muhs, B. 2011. Receipts, scribes and collectors in Early Ptolemaic Thebes (O. Taxes 2). Studia Demotica 8. Leuven. O’Connell, E. R. 2019. Greek and Coptic manuscripts from First Millennium AD Egypt (still) in the British Museum. In Proceedings of the 28th International

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Congress of Papyrology, Barcelona, 1–6 August 2016, A. Nodar and S. Torallas (eds), 66–78. Scripta Orientalia 3. Barcelona. Otto, W. 1905–8. Priester und Tempel im hellenistischen Ägypten: Ein Beitrag zur Kulturgeschichte des Hellenismus. Leipzig; Berlin. Peet, T. E. 1914. The cemeteries of Abydos, Part II. 1911– 1912. Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Fund 34. London. Peet, T. E., and W. L. S. Loat. 1913. The cemeteries of Abydos part III. 1912–1913. Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Fund 35. London. Perdrizet, P., and G. Lefebvre 1919. Les graffites grecs du Memnonion d’Abydos. Nancy. Quack, J. 2003. Die spätägyptische Alphabetreihenfolge und das ‘südsemitische’ Alphabet. Lingua Aegyptia 11: 163–84. Ray, J. 2013. Demotic ostraca and other inscriptions from the sacred animal necropolis, North Saqqara. Egypt Exploration Society Texts from Excavations 16. London. Rutherford, I. 2003. Pilgrimage in Greco-Roman Egypt: New perspectives on graffiti from the Memnonion at Abydos. In Ancient perspectives on Egypt, R. Matthews and C. Roemer (eds), 171–89. Encounters with Ancient Egypt. London. Ryholt, K. 2012. Narrative literature from the Tebtunis Temple Library. Carlsberg Papyri 10. Copenhagen. Scalf, F. 2015. Resurrecting an ibis cult: Demotic votive texts from the Oriental Institute Museum of the University of Chicago. In Mélanges offerts à Ola el-Aguizy, F. Haikal (ed.), 361‒88. Bibliothèque d’étude 164. Cairo. Schentuleit, M. 2006. Aus der Buchhaltung des Weinmagazins im Edfu-Tempel: Der demotische P. Carlsberg 409. Carsten Niebuhr Institute Publications 32. Carlsberg Papyri 9. Copenhagen. Smith, M. 2005. Papyrus Harkness (MMA 31.9.7). Oxford. Snape, S. R. 1986. Mortuary assemblages from Abydos. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Liverpool. Sowada, K. N. 2010. Forgotten cemetery F at Abydos and burial practices of the Late Old Kingdom. In Egyptian culture and society: Studies in honour of Naguib Kanawati, A. Woods, A. McFarlane and S. Binder

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(eds), 219‒32. Supplément aux annales du Service des antiquités de l’Égypte 38/2. Cairo. Spiegelberg, W. 1933. Demotic ostraca. In The cenotaph of Seti I at Abydos, H. Frankfort (ed.), 94‒98. Egypt Exploration Society Memoir 39. London. Thompson, H. 1914. Demotic ostraca. In The cemeteries of Abydos, Part II. 1911–1912, T. E. Peet, 124‒25. Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Fund 34. London. Vittmann, G. 1982. Ein demotischer Ehevertrag aus dem 12. Jahr des Ptolemaios VI. Philometor. Enchoria 11: 77‒84. ——. 1998. Der demotische Papyrus Rylands 9. Ägypten und Altes Testament 38. Wiesbaden. ——. 2006/7. P. Brooklyn 35.1462. Enchoria 30: 155‒60. Vleeming, S. P. 1985. Demotic measures of length and surface, chiefly in the Ptolemaic period. In Textes et études de papyrologie grecque, démotique et copte, P. W. Pestman (ed.), 208‒29. Papyrologica LugdunoBatava 23. Leiden. ——. 2001. Some coins of Artaxerxes and other short texts in the demotic script found on various objects and gathered from many publications. Studia Demotica 5. Leuven. ——. 2011. Demotic and Greek-demotic mummy labels and other short texts gathered from many publications (Short Texts II 278–1200). Studia Demotica 9. Leuven. ——. 2015. Demotic graffiti and short texts gathered from many publications. Studia Demotica 12. Leuven. Wångstedt, S. V. 1954. Ausgewählte demotische Ostraka aus der Sammlung des Victoria-Museums zu Uppsala und der Staatlichen Papyrussammlung zu Berlin. Uppsala. ——. 1969. Demotische Ostraka aus ptolemäisch-römischer Zeit. Orientalia Suecana 18: 69‒100. ——. 1976/77. Demotische Ostraka Varia I. Orientalia Suecana 25/26: 5‒41. ——. 1978/79. Demotische Quittungen über Salzsteuer. Orientalia Suecana 27/28: 5‒27. ——. 1980. Demotische Quittungen über Ölsteuer. Orientalia Suecana 29: 5‒26. Wb = Erman, A. and Grapow, H. (eds). Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache im Auftrage der Deutschen Akademien. Leipzig/Berlin, 1926‒1950.

BRITISH MUSEUM ARABIC OSTRACA FROM ABYDOS IN CONTEXT Tasha VORDERSTRASSE

The purpose of this chapter is to publish the Arabic ostraca from the site of Abydos now in the British Museum and examine them in their historical context. While the number of Arabic ostraca found at the site is not large, particularly in comparison to the contemporary Coptic-language material, this contribution argues that it is nonetheless significant. Arabic ostraca are not generally common finds at archaeological sites and therefore the presence of any Arabic-language material from Upper Egypt is important for our understanding of the presence of Arabic-speakers in the early Islamic period (c. 641–969).1 The Abydos ostraca do not come from the initial period of the Islamic conquest, but rather date to the 9th/10th centuries, a time when the number of Arabic-speakers was increasing in Egypt. This chapter will first examine Abydos in the Islamic period and the significance of the evidence from Abydos, before turning to the translation and discussion of the Arabic ostraca.

Assessing the presence of Arabic-speakers in early Islamic Upper Egypt is difficult because the scholarly evidence has often focused on Coptic-speaking Christians in isolation. The sites in the region are traditionally identified as ‘Coptic’ after the Islamic conquest because they are understood to be inhabited by Copticspeaking Christians. As this author has already noted elsewhere, using the term ‘Coptic’ is problematic when describing material from the early Islamic period and often serves as a divide between archaeology of material culture in Egypt commonly identified as ‘Christian’ and lived in by ‘native Coptic Christian Egyptians’, and those identified as ‘Islamic’ and lived in by a ‘foreign

Islamic population’ (Vorderstrasse 2015, 410–14). Recent work on the landscape of Late Antique Egypt, for example, examines secular houses at Kom el-Dikka, Jeme and Tebtunis (Brooks Hedstrom 2017), ignoring contemporary, early Islamic period houses from the site of Fustat (Vorderstrasse 2013, 304–10). Frequently, authors discussing the Late Antique landscape neglect the presence of Muslim Arabic-speakers and treat the material as if that landscape is completely removed from the Islamic government of Egypt. In Upper Egypt evidence for the penetration of Arabic language occurs at an early stage after the Islamic conquest. Considerable Arabic influence appears only in later Coptic texts of the 9th and 10th centuries. Nevertheless, T. S. Richter has demonstrated that Arabic loan words already appear in Coptic texts earlier than the 9th and 10th centuries (e.g., at Thebes), but they are rare and in one instance appear to be an indirect Coptic borrowing of an Arabic word via Greek.2 At the same time, Coptic was the language of choice for documentary texts, and many literary texts were produced in this period as the use of Greek began to disappear quickly by the end of the 8th century. In the 9th century Coptic documentary texts too began to disappear and by the 10th century Arabic was the language of choice. Although its date is unclear, the Apocalypse of PseudoSamuel of Qalamūn, for instance, bemoans the disappearance of Coptic and notes that those who continue to speak it in southern (Upper) Egypt will be mocked. The evidence has been used to argue that Arabicization of the area was slow in both language choice and legal change. Yet some people in Upper Egypt had to be able to write in Arabic, as the presence of Arabic documents in the archive of the pagarch Basilios demonstrates (Papaconstantinou 2007, 273–80, 296–99; 2012, 67, 71).3

1

3

Upper Egypt in the early Islamic period: Evidence from Arabic papyri and ostraca

2

‘Upper Egypt’ is defined here as Sohag Governate and areas further south, and does not include sites in Middle Egypt, such as Bawit. Richter 2001, 87; 2002, 136–37, 151–52, 159–60, 162, 166; 2004, 98–99, 105, 107–9; 2010, 211. For a text that Richter believes most likely comes from Elephantine, but may come from Thebes, see Richter 2012, 364. For later evidence from literary texts, see, e.g., Richter 2015c.

See also Zaborowski 2008; Delattre et al. 2012, 183–84. For legal changes in Upper Egypt see Tillier 2013, 34 and in general Tillier 2017. See also Sijpesteijn 2013, 81–82, 111, who notes the small initial Arab settlement in the countryside that then began to grow into large numbers in the 9th century, and that Arabicization of the local population also occurred at this point.

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Further, there is mention in these documents, also known as the Qurra dossier, of an Arab notary, which indicates that someone who knew Arabic was needed in the local pagarch office at least some of the time (Richter 2010, 212–15; Sijpesteijn 2010, 112).4 Some of the Greek letters in the pagarch’s archive also have Arabic dockets, and Arabic protocols appear both on Greek merismos documents (these documents provide the amount of the taxes that were due from the taxpayer) as well as Coptic declarations (guarantee documents) that had been issued by the villages in the region to the public treasury (Richter 2010, 195–200, 202–5; see also Sijpesteijn 2010, 111–12). Such Arabic protocols also appear on Coptic legal papyri from the Theban region (e.g., P.CLT, see esp. p. 19). Some scholars have dismissed the significance of the presence of Arabic protocols on these official documents, believing that they had nothing to do with the documents that were eventually written on the papyri because they were part of the production of the papyrus (Richter 2010, 208; Cromwell 2018, 8, no. 32). This opinion follows the work of A. Grohmann which, in turn, followed scholars who had studied pre-Islamic Greek protocols and concluded that they related to a Byzantine and subsequent Islamic-period papyrus monopoly controlled by the state (CPR III; Abbott 1938, 20; Grohmann 1952, 33–42; Sijpesteijn 2013, 220).5 Indeed, the separation between the Arabic protocol or Greek/Arabic protocol and the main text is emphasized by M. S. A. Mikhail, who notes the presence of a bilingual Greek/Arabic protocol on a Coptic text and states: ‘This text (and others like it) demonstrate the radical ethnolinguistic and religious division that existed between the rulers and the ruled …’ (2004, 974). But it is probable that the presence of the protocols should be interpreted as it is by M. Mundell Mango (2002, 62), who suggests that the presence of protocols on documents can be explained by Justinian’s Novel 44 of AD 537. This code states that it had to be attached to documents in order to prevent fraud. The presence of Arabic is closely connected to the authentication of the documents as there does not appear to be any mention

of papyrus production in the texts although Grohmann interprets it that way (1952, 36, 38–39, 41). The argument is that the texts were authenticated at a notary’s office after they were written, which explains why the protocols were written on a separate piece of paper pasted onto the document. Therefore, it seems likely that these Arabic and Greek/Arabic protocols served to authenticate Coptic and Greek documents and points to the presence of Arabic notaries in Upper Egypt. Therefore, while the current scholarly point of view has largely focused on the slow pace of Arabicization of the Coptic-speaking population, it seems that the extent of Arabic and its importance may have been somewhat underestimated. Notably, this point of view comes from the Coptic-language legal documents, with one recent study noting that, for the 8th century, ‘les documents juridiques écrits étaient régulièrement écrits en copte et suivaient encore terminologie byzantine. Ils étaient pourtant, selon toute vraisemblance, acceptés par les institutions de l’État, en l’occurrence musulman en charge de la justice’ (Delattre et al. 2012, 184). Despite the scholarly emphasis on Coptic texts from the region, the evidence is clear that there were at least some Arabic-speakers living in Upper Egypt amongst Coptic-speaking Christians, including at Abydos. Evidence of Arabic-speakers in the 8th century derives from villages such Jeme (Liebrenz 2010), and religious environments such as the Monastery of St Mark in Qurnet Marai, where Arabic texts were written on ostraca (Vanthieghem 2016). Arabic ostraca such as those from Abydos have been largely ignored even within the field of Arabic papyrology (Grohmann 1952, 61) despite their significance for the use of the language in early Islamic Egypt. The lack of interest is also explained by the fact that they have not been found in large numbers. Indeed, they were initially believed not to exist at all, although they had been signalled in Arabic literary texts. The study of Arabic ostraca began in 1889, when J. Karabacek published a short overview of Arabic ostraca, but he believed that no actual Arabic ostraca had been found, and he repeated this in 1894 (1889, 63–64; 1894, 9),

4

5

The Basilios archive is usually referred to as either the ‘Qurra dossier’ or the ‘Qurra correspondence’ after the governor of Egypt who sent many of the letters, but in fact includes far more than just documents concerning the governor of Egypt in the early 8th century, Qurra ibn Sharīk (Richter 2010, 212–15). Letters of Qurra are attested in other places, such as at Wadi Sarga, see Sijpesteijn 2010, 110.

See summary of this in Malczycki 2011, especially p. 187. Diethart, Feissel and Gascou (1994) discuss the situation in the Greek papyri, noting that the exact meaning of the protocols remains controversial (esp. pp. 9, 37).

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even after a review of his work had appeared that demonstrated this was not the case (Wilcken 1891, 1650; see also Wilcken 1899, 10, no. 1). C. H. Becker then discussed Arabic ostraca in the Berlin Museum in 1906, but discussed writing on bone separately, not seeing bone ostraca as ostraca (P.Heid.Arab.1). P. Casanova published an Arabic bone ostracon in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo (Casanova 1908, Text no. 2). Arabic ostraca have been published in the most detail by A. Grohmann, who wrote about the issue of Arabic ostraca in general but actually did not publish very many of them. He was aware of c. 100 that existed (CPR III 63–64; Grohmann 1932, 39; Grohmann 1952, 60–61, pls VI–VII; P.Cair.Arab IV 255; Grohmann 1954, 82, 249; Grohmann 1957). Some Arabic ostraca have been published since (see for instance Rémondon 1954; Denoix 1986; Canova 2004), but they remain under-studied.

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presumably means Muslims. He then describes the Arabic graffiti on the wall of Tomb 23, which has a large Arabic bismallah that was written over a Coptic alphabet. Instead of suggesting that perhaps this inscription invoking God is part of the religious landscape, he instead argues that it written over the Coptic script to ‘neutralize’ it (Bucking 2014, 71–72, fig. 4.8). There is of course no reason to assume that this was what the writer was doing. It is common to find Arabic texts in Christian spaces6 and there is no reason to assume that it was anything more than an act of devotion on the part of the writer. Abydos in the early Islamic period

The interpretation of Arabic material can be problematic, however, when it is taken into account at all. Past approaches to graffiti are instructive. At the site of Deir Anba Hadra near Aswan, for instance, there are both Coptic and Arabic graffiti, but these have not been published (Richter 2015a). In other cases, Arabic graffiti are only mentioned and briefly described (Junker 1922, 47, 59; Pirelli with Giunta 2014, 445, fig. 10; Pirelli et al. 2016, 1439–40, fig. 10) or, as at Kellia, only partly read (Vycichl 1994). In particular, Arabic graffiti from monasteries have not been assembled and studied (Papaconstantinou 2012, 69). Even when Arabic graffiti have been studied, the individuals who wrote them are treated as ‘outsiders’ who do not understand what they are writing. On the contrary, it is clear that Arabic-speakers were an integral part of Egyptian society and understood their environment very well. An example of this problem is given by Scott Bucking’s discussion of Arabic graffiti at Tomb 23 at the site of Beni Hasan, which he discusses in the context of Coptic graffiti at the same site. He first argues that the graffito of the figure of Daniel and his name and a cross were defaced in the Islamic period thanks to iconoclastic tendencies on the part of the population, by whom he

Reconstructing Islamic-period Abydos is difficult since there has not been a definitive overview of the archaeological and textual material until the present volume. The Late Antique evidence from Abydos suggests a close interaction between the population and the existing pharaonic ruins, a situation that is not unlike other towns in Upper Egypt such as Jeme, where the population lived in the repurposed temple of Ramses III at Medinet Habu (O’Connell, this volume). The Arabic ostraca from Abydos come from the Egypt Exploration Fund excavations, which started in 1899 and continued until the First World War, before restarting again in 1925–26 (Kemp 1982, 72, 84; Westerfeld, this volume). The following aims to clarify the chronology and character of the settlement in order to contextualize the Arabic-speakers and ostraca at Abydos. Signs of Late Antique settlement, including domestic settlement, churches and monasteries, have been identified across the region (Caulfield 1902, 12–13; Peet 1913, xi; Peet and Loat 1913, 38–39; Peet 1914, 49–53, 96–97; Murray 1925, 24–26; Petrie 1925, 21–24; Abdallah Farag 1983; Grossman 1991; Grossman 1999, 63; Westerfeld 2010, 131–32, 171–74; Damarany and Cahill 2016, 11–14; this volume). Most studies of Abydos have focused on the Coptic-language graffiti at the temple of Seti I and suggested it was part of a nunnery (Crum 1903, 38–43; Timm 1984b, 592–93), but there is no definitive evidence to argue it was, even if nuns left inscriptions (Westerfeld 2017, 187–88, 207–8; Westerfeld, this volume).7 Since domestic architecture

6

7

Arabic graffiti

See at Kellia, for example, where there are frequent references to ‘God’ in the Arabic texts, but only one of these texts has a reference to the Prophet Muhammad and therefore can definitely be said to be Islamic (Vycichl 1994, 315–16, Text no. 92).

Cf. another apparent nunnery in a reused pharaonic temple at the Ramesseum in Western Thebes, which, however, could simply be a church (Lecuyot 2000; Vorderstrasse and Muhs 2015).

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T. VORDERSTRASSE

inside the temple of Seti I dating from Late Antiquity to the early Modern period was cleared away at the beginning of the 20th century in order to restore the temple to its original pharaonic appearance (Westerfeld 2017, 191–92), the exact dating of the early Islamicperiod settlement is unclear. Nevertheless, Piankoff (1958–1960) suggests that the latest dates of settlement at the site are indicated by Coptic inscriptions dating to the 10th century. The c. 10th century terminus for occupation is supported by the evidence from elsewhere in Abydos. Unpublished Coptic graffiti at the Osireion, located just behind the temple of Seti I, are shorter and different in character (Piankoff 1958–1960, 130, 132–33; see also Westerfeld 2017, 211, no. 75). In the Osireion excavation publication, two Coptic stelae were published that were purchased in Abydos in 1901, and also two Coptic ostraca that were apparently found in the excavations. One of the stelae has a date that is probably AD 939.8 In addition, twenty-five Coptic ostraca were found in the Egypt Exploration Society excavations at the site, five of which are said to be from the Osireion (AlmásyMartin, this volume). Almost as many Arabic ostraca were found at the Osireion (see below), and it is unusual to find almost as many Coptic as Arabic ostraca in the same place. Post-10th century settlement at and around Abydos All of this evidence suggests that the settlement in these areas declined at Abydos in the 10th century. In other areas of Abydos, there is substantial evidence for later settlement. German excavations in the royal cemetery at Umm el-Qa‘ab, on the other hand, suggest that there was not only Late Antique settlement, which included ostraca and pottery, but also some indication of later settlement. The excavators reported finding one Fatimid glazed sherd that they dated to the 10th–12th centuries and Islamic glass bracelets dating to the Mamluk period of the 13th–16th centuries, and an 18th-century coin (U. Effland 2006, 139–40, 149; Effland and Effland 2013, 131–39; A. Effland 2014, 204; A. Effland, this volume). This argues for Middle Islamic settlement in the area, but its extent remains

8

Crum 1903, 43; Till 1957; Timm 1984a, 312–13. Crum read AD 939, but Till was not certain about the date. For photographs of both stele, see Martin 2005, 174–75, cat. no. 117, 177, cat. no. 119. The provenance for both pieces is given as Abydos here

unclear. Other later material in the wider Abydos area is a 15th-century Islamic deposit which was found in Garstang’s excavations at Beit Khallaf located 20km to the northwest of Abydos. The deposit included boxes, a brass bowl of the 15th century, chain mail and a pottery painted vase and was found on the surface of a tomb that Garstang identified as that of the Dynasty 3 King Netjerikhet (Garstang 1904). Garstang does not mention this deposit, but it appears in unpublished inventory records in the Victoria and Albert Museum and in the museum’s online database (see https://collections.vam.ac.uk). Coptic stelae are said to be from the nearby Apa Moses Monastery, although they all appeared in the antiquities trade rather than official excavations (Schaten 1993, 402). Indeed, locating the monastery is problematic (Coquin 1986, 8–9; Westerfeld 2010, 171; Westerfeld, this volume). The monastery is mentioned by Abu al-Makarim in the 13th century, who notes that it lies near the town of el-Balayana (Coptic Tpouliane, 11km from Abydos) and it also appears in later Mamluk texts such as al-Maqrizi (Crum 1903, 39, nos 1–2; Timm 1984b, 596–97; Coquin and Martin 1991b; Sadek 2008, 261–62; Westerfeld 2010, 132; Westerfeld, this volume). The monastery already appears in a Coptic stela of Allamon of the 8th century and in an inscription of the 13th century in the White Monastery (Crum 1904: 559–560, Cat. No. A6; Till 1955, 184, Cat. No. 4; Timm 1984b, 596). Various attempts to locate the monastery in the Abydos area continue (Crum 1903, 39, no. 2; Coquin 1986, 8–9; throughout this volume), but no place has been proven to be its location. While it has not received the attention that Abydos has because of the Coptic graffiti, the town of elBalayana, located on the Nile 10.5km from Abydos, seems to have been the most important town in the region in the Islamic period. It is said to have had a ‘heretic’ bishop in the time of the Patriarch Shenoute I (859–881) and continues to be mentioned in the History of the Patriarchs in the 11th and 12th centuries (Timm 1984a, 312–13; Stewart 1991, 333; Sadek 2008, 253–54). In addition to its appearance in literary texts passed down through the manuscript tradition, the town also appears in primary texts, both Coptic and

and it is not made clear that these were purchased. S. Clackson in Martin 2005 noted that the date could also be read as AD 919. The stelae are now in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.

BRITISH MUSEUM ARABIC OSTRACA FROM ABYDOS IN CONTEXT

Arabic. This includes the Coptic grave stela of AD 932, as well as a Coptic grave stela that probably dates to 939 that was purchased at Abydos in 1901 (see above).9 There is also an inscription in the temple of Seti I (Crum 1903, inscription B11/I. Abydos Copt. 27) that mentions el-Balayana and the Patriarch Gabriel (910–921) (Crum 1903, 38, 41–42; Sadek 2008, 254; Westerfeld 2017, 209, 212). An Arabic papyrus concerning timber being delivered to Luxor and dating to AD 945/946 (P.Cair.Arab.V.306) notes that the addressees are from el-Balayana. The place name also appears in a papyrus from a private collection in Cairo that was never published (Grohmann’s notes to P.Cair. Arab. V.306). To the north of el-Balayana was This (or Thinis)/Tin, where there were also Greek- and Copticspeakers in the early 7th century.10 All of this suggests Coptic- and Arabic-speakers in the immediate Abydos area. The find-spots of Arabic ostraca The Abydos Arabic ostraca were acquired by the British Museum from the Egypt Exploration Fund (see below, ‘Arabic ostraca from Abydos’, for a short catalogue). This number includes one that was acquired by the British Museum in 1922 (EA 55406, O.BM Abydos Arab. 1; Fig. 1), but presumably found at some point before the First World War. Almásy-Martin notes that the demotic ostraca acquired at the same time were found in 1911/1912, for example (see Almásy-Martin, this volume). One ostracon was found in 1925 (EA 66291, O.BM Abydos Arab. 3 [Fig. 3]), and is probably from the Osireion;11 three others were found or excavated at the Osireion in 1926 (ME 1926, 0728.211, O.BM Abydos Arab. 2 [Fig. 2]; ME 1926,0728.222, O.BM Abydos Arab. 5 [Fig. 5] and ME 1926,0728.224, O.BM Abydos Arab. 6 [Fig. 6]); and one was acquired in 1926, and probably originates from the same part of the site (ME 1926, 0728.210, O.BM Abydos Arab. 4

9

10

11

Stern 1878, 25–28, no. 9; Crum 1903, 43; Till 1955, 175, no. 1; Till 1957; Timm 1984a, 312–13; Stewart 1991, 333; Sadek 2008, 253–54; Westerfeld 2010, 132. There is the Greek/Coptic archive of Aurelius Pachomius dating to the late 6th/early 7th century. See Wessely 1885; MacCoull 1995, 347–50; O’Connell 2001. See CPR IV.23 Almásy-Martin (in this volume) notes that some ostraca from the 1925–1926 acquisition have a reference to redim (‘debris’) which she thinks refers to the Osireion area.

263

[Fig. 4]). The six ostraca are for the most part not very legible. There are two, however, which have more text that can be reconstructed, one that is the only Arabic– Coptic ostracon of the group (although the numbers are written in Greek) and another which is written only in Arabic. Even though the other texts cannot be read to reconstruct a text, the dating of all the texts appears to be 9th–10th century. The ostraca are important more for what they tell us about the linguistic milieu in the Abydos region in this period than for the texts themselves. Most of the texts where the find-spot can be reconstructed come from the Osireion. In 1925–1926, H. Frankfort reports that they planned to complete their investigation of the Osireion and, not surprisingly, focuses on the pharaonic period and not any evidence of later settlement they may have found (Frankfort 1926). Therefore, we have no information about the possible context of these ostraca. If Petrie found any Arabic ostraca in his excavations, none were reported. There are Arabic ostraca in the Petrie Museum, but none of them have a provenance to Abydos. Indeed, many of them have no provenance at all. There are none in the collection seen by this author, however, that look related to the pieces here. The presence of a small number of Arabic texts should not be considered surprising. Arabic ostraca have not been found in large numbers and are, in any case, rarely published (see discussion above). In Upper Egypt near the Abydos region, Arabic ostraca have been found in the Theban area in small numbers. This includes in Theban tombs, some of which were reused as monasteries and hermitages, as well as at the sites of Jeme/Medinet Habu and Hermonthis/Armant.12 The linguistic milieu of the contemporary Abydos region The question is, therefore, how the presence of the Arabic ostraca in the Abydos region should be interpreted. The linguistic situation in the wider Abydos

12

Mond and Meyers 1934, 80, pl. LXXVIII (the photo of the flint ostracon is very small); Bell 1969, 31; Godlewski 1986, 140, nos 17–19; Kaplony-Heckel 1992, 165, no. 3; Vanthieghem 2016. See also unpublished ostraca at the British Museum EA 43327, 51851, 51852; Columbia University O. Col. inv. 1378, 1220, 2261, 530, 535 955, 966; University of Chicago Oriental Institute MH 205, 1341, 1716. The TT 99 ostracon excavated by Nigel Strudwick is not published but there is a photo on the excavator’s website: .

264

T. VORDERSTRASSE

region is further indicated by the presence of Coptic medical papyri found across the river at Mesheikh as well as a Coptic gravestone from Mesheikh and four from Naga ed-Deir (Roquet 1977; O’Connell 2001). Determining the exact papyri that were found there is problematic, however. One papyrus, a Coptic medical papyrus, was reported to have been purchased at Mesheikh by U. Bouriant by A. Deiber, who first published about the papyrus. He reports that the papyrus had been purchased fifteen years before he wrote about it in 1909, making the year of discovery c. 1894 (Deiber 1914, 117, 119), while É. Chassinat said it was found in 1892–93 along with an alchemical papyrus (Chassinat 1921, 1–2; Richter 2014, 168). The papyrus dates to the 9th/10th century and contains 237 recipes (Richter 2016, 40, 48). Another papyrus, P. Louvre AF 12530, dates to the 9th/10th century, probably prior to the mid-10th century. The second hand, which wrote the majority of the papyrus, is identical to Bodl. Ms.Copt.(P) a.1, which was an alchemical papyrus. Richter (2014, 167–68) suggested that the alchemical papyrus that is referred to by Chassinat was the Louvre papyrus, while the Bodleian papyri were collected by Rev. J. Greville Chester in the 1880s in the Sohag area and purchased by the Bodleian Library. Arabic texts (P.Bodl. Arab. 2 and 1) are written on the other sides of P. Bodl.a1-3 and 2-3 but according to Richter, these texts are not related to the Coptic texts. As discussed by Richter, L. MacCoull thought the Bodleian manuscripts had been brought from Meshaikh based on a suggestion by Chassinat in 1950, who thought that the three papyri were the ones bought by Bouriant, even though this is not possible. Richter argued that P. Louvre AF 12530 might be the papyrus referred to as having been bought by Bouriant, but this is unclear. Nevertheless, it is likely that they come from the same milieu and this could include several other Coptic-language texts that can point to the importance of the Panopolis/ Akhmim area for alchemy. This is attested by earlier magical papyri that are written in Greek, demotic and Old Coptic, as well as the Late Roman alchemist Zosimos. Such studies were continued into the early Islamic period by various Arabic alchemists who lived in Akhmim in the 8th–10th centuries.13

13

14

MacCoull 1988, 101; Richter 2009, 422; Richter 2014, 168; Richter 2015b, 161, no. 11, 163–66, no. 30, 169–73; Richter 2018, 296, 298–99. See also Chassinat 1950, 15. Chassinat 1921, 11; Richter 2016, 40, who incorrectly gives it as Recipe 202. The reproduction of the papyrus on pl. X of Chassinat 1921 is not of a good enough quality to confirm either

In all of these papyri one can see many Arabic loan words that were used for the ingredients and tools, as well as Arabic verbs that were modelled on Arabic originals. This led Richter to suggest that it was actually translated from Arabic texts, although he changed his mind to a somewhat more nuanced view (MacCoull 1988: 102–3; Richter 2009, 422–26; 2014, 175; 2015b, 175–79, 184; 2015c, 228, 230–36). Further, Richter (2018, 309) notes that one of the recipes in the papyrus, no. 203 (lines 205–8), has an Arabic annotation that states: ‘Hinnes knew it’,14 as well as an instance in Bodl. Ms. Copt. (P) a.2, line 69 which has an Arabic word inserted into Coptic words for honey. Nevertheless, some Arabic works we might expect to have emerged out of this multilingual milieu have not yet been identified. There is not an Arabic version of the Life of Moses of Abydos preserved, for example. There is an Arabic version of the Life of one of his disciples, Macrobius, however (Coquin 1991). Macrobius’ Life is preserved in three Arabic manuscripts that date to the early Modern period (Ten Hacken 1999, 118–19). Arabic ostraca from Abydos O.BM Abydos. Arab. 1 (Fig. 1a, b) EA 55406 10.2 × 11.4cm Registered from the Egypt Exploration Society, 1922 Red-brown fabric and slip 10th century15 One side of the ostracon has traces of writing in Arabic, but nothing legible. The other side is more legible and has six lines of text, but little of it can be reconstructed. It appears to be a list of names: ‫فاضل‬ ‫محمد‬ ‫محمد بن فاضل‬ ‫محمد‬ ‫فاضل‬

١ ٢ ٣ ٤ ٥

1. Fāḍil 2. Muhammad

15

the presence of the note or to compare it palaeographically with the ostraca. This dating is based on palaeographical parallels including the Arabic word in Bodl. Ms. Copt. (P) a.2.68-9, which is supposed to be from the region and date to the 10th century.

BRITISH MUSEUM ARABIC OSTRACA FROM ABYDOS IN CONTEXT

265

Fig. 1a, b: O.BM Abydos Arab. 1 (EA 55406).

Side One: List of amounts. Three lines with traces of other two lines:

3. Muhammad bin Fāḍil 4. Muhammad 5. Fāḍil O.BM Abydos Arab. 2 (Fig. 2a, b) ME 1926, 0728.211 7.7 × 5cm Excavated by Egypt Exploration Fund in 1926 in the Osireion Red-brown slip and fabric 9th/10th century This ostracon is inscribed on both sides in Arabic and Coptic using Greek numerals.16 The two hands are different on both sides.

[… ‫الى ]صاحب‬ α . . ‫والی صاحب ا‬ α ‫والی صاحب ميكيل‬ α ‫والی صاحب أبا باطره‬ α ‫والى ]صـ[ـا]حب[ اباصطفن‬ 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

And And And And And

to… to the master of…1 to master of Mikayil 1 to master of Aba Batre 1 to the master of Aba Iṣṭafan 1

Fig. 2a, b: O.BM Abydos Arab. 2 (ME 1926,0728.211).

16

Since Greek was no longer in use, the language must be Coptic not Greek.

١ ٢ ٣ ٤ ٥

T. VORDERSTRASSE

266

Line 1. The word might also be ‫‘( ادی‬he has paid’), which is also attested in texts of this type, see for instance P.Cair. Arab. III. 202–3, 209–10 and P.Ryl. Arab. 2–6, 8, 12), except that the way the letters are written above and below the line does not resemble the way it is written in published photographs of texts such as those that appear in CPR XXI. Line 2. The use of Greek numerals in Coptic and Arabic texts is what was used in this period (see Legendre 2017). The way the α is drawn closely resembles P.Stras.Copt. 67 of the 11th century. Line 3. Aba Baṭre, which is mentioned here, is the name of a street in the city of Medinat al-Fayyum that appears in a papyrus published by Grohmann (P. GrohmannProbleme 18 = PERF670, 812 AD, tax receipt). The name seems to be ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲉ in Coptic. See Hasitzka 2007, 77 (list has some errors). Side Two: τμ ١ ‫ احمد الكرام‬٢ ‫ أيوب‬٣

Marked in black ink on the interior: Abydos 25/Redim 1000 9th/10th century Account Except for the two lines of the text, this cannot be reconstructed ‫ بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم‬١ ‫ الذي له حساب من الاجر‬٢ 1. In the name of God, the merciful, the compassionate … 2. Which he has as an account for wages O.BM Abydos Arab. 4 (Fig. 4) ME 1926,0728.210 14.5 × 8.2cm Acquired in 1926. From the Osireion? There are three lines of text, but they are badly preserved. List of commodities paid to individuals

1. 340 2. Ahmad the vintner 3. Ayyub O.BM Abydos Arab. 3 (Fig. 3) EA 66291 9.7 × 11.3cm Excavated by Egypt Exploration Fund in 1925 Fig. 4: O.BM Abydos Arab. 4 (ME 1926,0728.210).

‫ طاهر بن كامل قيراطين حسن بن علي قيراط‬١ ‫ قيراط ابو ابرهيم قيراط‬٣ 1. Ṭāhir b. Kāmil two qīrāṭs, Ḥasān b. ῾Alī one qīrāṭ 3. one qīrāṭ, Abu Ibrahim, one qīrāṭ O.BM Abydos Arab. 5 (Fig. 5) ME 1926,0728.222 7.5 × 5cm Excavated by the Egypt Exploration Fund in 1926 at the Osireion 9th/10th century Fig. 3: O.BM Abydos Arab. 3 (EA 66291).

Seven lines of text, almost entirely illegible.

BRITISH MUSEUM ARABIC OSTRACA FROM ABYDOS IN CONTEXT

267

O.BM Abydos Arab. 6 (Fig. 6) ME 1926,0728.224 6.5 × 5cm Found in 1926 by the Egypt Exploration Fund in the Osireion Unclear. Acknowledgements The author would like to thank Professor Fred Donner of the University of Chicago and the anonymous reviewer for their suggestions on these texts. All images courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum. Bibliography

Fig. 5: O.BM Abydos Arab. 5 (ME 1926,0728.222).

Fig. 6: O.BM Abydos Arab. 6 (ME 1926,0728.224).

All papyrological abbreviations are cited throughout this volume according to J. Oates et al. Checklist of Greek, Latin, Demotic and Coptic papyri, ostraca and tablets, (last accessed 8 July 2018) and P. M. Sijpesteijn, J. F. Oates, A. Kaplony, E. M. Youssef-Grob and D. Potthast, Checklist of Arabic documents, (last accessed 20 October 2018). Abbott, N. 1938. The Ḳurrah Papyri in the Oriental Institute. Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization 15. Chicago, IL. Abdallah Farag, R. 1983. Excavation at Abydos in 1977: A Byzantine loom factory. Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 39: 51–57. Bell, L. 1969. Return to Dra Abu el-Naga. Expedition 12: 26–37. Brooks Hedstrom, D. 2017. The monastic landscape of Late Antique Egypt: An archaeological reconstruction. Cambridge. Bucking, S. 2014. Now you see it, now you don’t: The dynamics of archaeological and epigraphic landscapes from Coptic Egypt. In Archaeologies of text, technology and ethics, M. Rutz and M. Kersel (eds), 59–79. Philadelphia, PA. Canova, G. 2004. Magia e religione in un ostrakon arabo. Egitto e Vicino Oriente 27: 33–44. Casanova, P. 1908. Note sur des papyrus arabes du Musée égyptien. Annales du service des antiquités de l’Égypte 9: 193–203. Caufield, A. S. G. 1902. Temple of the Kings at Abydos (Seti I). London. Chassinat, É. 1921. Un papyrus medical copte. Mémoires publiés par les membres de l’Institut français d’archéologie orientale du Caire 32. Cairo.

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ABYDOS: AFTERWORD David FRANKFURTER

What makes Abydos so fascinating for the historian of ancient religions is the series of wholesale changes in the religious life of the place it underwent between the Ptolemaic period and the beginnings of Islam. For at least the beginning of the Roman period the region continued to host major ritual processions and cult performances related to Osiris and the proximity of Amente itself, the underworld, up in the hills beyond Wadi Umm el-Qa‘ab. Abuel-Yazid and his co-authors argue that the existence of a cemetery for animal burials, where once had been the route of the major Osiris procession, must indicate a shift in the way people participated in the mythological drama of death and rebirth, from procession to animal proxy. For Effland this same cemetery has suggested deliberate state desecration back in Ptolemaic times, with the result that the starting point of processions to the holy shrines of Umm el-Qa‘ab had to shift (by the early Roman period) from the ancient Osiris temple to the temple of Seti I (Strabo’s ‘Memnonion’) in order to bypass the cemetery. And yet, he argues, devotional processions continued through Late Antiquity, as witnessed by ceramic offering vessels as late as the 5th century (U. Effland 2006; A. Effland 2014, 195–96). But the really new thing in Abydos in the late Ptolemaic period was an oracle of Sarapis, located in the Memnonion, that shifted by the early Roman period to an oracle of Bes. Inscriptions on its walls in demotic Egyptian (Osiris/Sarapis) and Greek (Sarapis and Bes) show a clientele of diverse cultural backgrounds, looking to the oracle for guidance, revelation and healing. The oracle involved incubation in some areas, a practice that would signal a shift in the functional layout and ‘sacrality’ of this temple, and doubtless the selfconceptions of the attending priests as well (Perdrizet and Lefebvre 1919; Dunand 1997; Frankfurter 1998, 169–74; 2005; Renberg 2017, 485–97). And the notoriety of the Bes oracle spawned portable ceremonies for invoking Bes as guardian of the corpse Osiris for oneiromantic guidance, even while Osiris was still remembered in two ritual manuals as ‘he who gives a message in Abydos’ (PGM IV.12; PDM xiv.628; Frankfurter 1997, 122–25). This kind of primary literature, com-

bined with the site of the oracle itself in a temple complex devoted to Osiris, makes clear that the Bes oracle was not a complete religious hybrid but grew out of the cult of Osiris and its mythology (A. Effland 2014, 198–200; 2016, 213–16). The Bes oracle grew in international prestige through the 4th century, even answering written inquiries from afar for Bes’ mantic wisdom, until—we learn from the historian Ammianus Marcellinus—some of these written inquiries came to the attention of the Christian emperor Constantius II, who ordered the oracle closed and its more prominent devotees subjected to inquisition (Amm. Marc. 19.12). Thus not only did cult practices persist in Abydos through to at least 359, but also the ritual activities and devotional cultures at its various shrines had diversified considerably from the era when people came to Abydos to participate in the drama of Osiris. The next we hear of Egyptian religion in Abydos comes from a monastic Vita, the Life of Moses of Abydos, composed probably in the 7th century (allowing at least fifty years from the death of Moses himself c. AD 550). If much of the imagery of heathenism in this text follows Christian typologies of demon-worship, bloody sacrifices and violent extirpation by monks, the text preserves an unusual memory that ‘the temple north of the monastery’ was haunted by ‘an evil demon named Bes’ until Apa Moses and his men exorcized it. This memory, recorded over two centuries after the oracle’s imperial closure, suggests at the very least that the Memnonion continued to hold a general association with Bes, but more likely that some kinds of local religious practices (incubation? offerings?) continued in response to the god’s (or simply spirit’s) popularly perceived presence, and that at some point the monks had to put an end to those practices (Frankfurter 1998; 2017). So what of Apa Moses? For the materials discussed in this volume Apa Moses is really the founder figure, the culture hero, although it is not entirely certain when, where and how he established monasticism in the region. (These questions alone cry out for a fully critical edition of the Vita, based on the tremendous

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work Mark Moussa has done in collating, editing and translating the various fragments in a Catholic University dissertation, followed by Sami Uljas (Moussa 1998; 2003; Uljas 2011). Westerfeld reflects well the tone of the Vita in retrojecting into Moses’ time a Christianization that proceeded through the force and violence of super-hero monks, but also one that bloomed across the landscape as a new religious dominion in Abydos: a religion of space and habitation, not of abstract ideas. And that Christianity was monastic. We learn of Moses’ initial establishment of a convent and a men’s monastery, but where were these original buildings? The Osireion structure outside the Memnonion appears to have been a place of pilgrimage by nuns but not their convent, so Westerfeld has elsewhere argued (Westerfeld 2017), while Damarany and Abdallah in this volume make a strong case for a substantial 6th-century building complex in the area of the modern marketplace. The tradition, and to some extent the epigraphy, suggest that Moses inherited not only the prophetic zeal of Shenoute of Atripe in extirpating heathenism, but also the coenobitic monastic structures favoured by Shenoute. And also, the Osireion epigraphy makes clear, Moses inherited one of the most interesting traditions around Shenoute’s abiding charisma: his control over the Nile flood. While Shenoute’s authority over the annual spate emerges especially in legends in his own Vita (ch. 86–86, 102–5, 122), Apa Moses is acclaimed in graffiti for blessing the flood as it could be experienced in nuce in the Osireion itself, which seems to have functioned in the 6th century as a spring shrine (Piankoff 1958, 131– 33; Roquet 1993; Delattre 2003; Westerfeld 2017). If these two, male and female, monastic establishments of Moses’ creation were really the first occurrences of monks in the area, then it would not be surprising that they came into eventual conflict with folk devotions continuing among the Abydos shrines, as the Vita avers. But what several of the articles in this volume show clearly is that Late Antique Abydos hosted a great range of monastic forms: a small hermitage built into a cave, several hours’ walk into the hills (McCormack and Westerfeld); another larger hermitage built into the monumental structure the Shunet el-Zebib (Adams); and a great number of Ptolemaic tombs turned over to individual monastic dwellings and places of assembly (Gosner and Bestock)—all in the Abydos area. It was as if the very diversity of buildings in the region gave rise to a diversity of monastic styles. This state of things monastic by the 7th century invites two larger theoretical questions: what can we

conclude about the appropriation of buildings and tombs for monastic dwelling? And, related, is there any kind of continuity that we can describe in the evolution of Abydos religion up to the Muslim conquest? If the distant hermitage described by McCormack and Westerfeld makes some sense as a place for monastic dwelling for its relative isolation from agricultural society, the monastic appropriations of the Shunet el-Zebib structure (as Adams describes) and of the tombs themselves (as per Gosner and Bestock) provoke questions: why appropriate these structures? Tombs were spatially organized—convenient for monks and their disciples—but given the funerary iconography and mummy remains, can we infer anything symbolic in their use that could be generalized across the monastic appropriation of tombs? The hagiographical depictions of monks contending with ghosts, demons or heathen materials in tombs are few and speak more to the spiritual resilience of the monk than any ‘abiding sacredness’ (Brakke 2008). So the appropriation of tombs most probably reflected the tombs’ convenience for the anchoritic lifestyle. The Shunet el-Zebib structure, on the other hand, had been the dominant feature in the desert landscape of North Abydos —the sort of monumentality that attracted monks to temple structures in many parts of Egypt. That is, they were not looking for sites of sacrality (especially given that these structures had been denuded of their essential processional objects) but for sites of monumentality, sites that stood out in the region and could express the powerful memory of a founding saint (Boutros and Décobert 2000; Frankfurter 2017, chap. 7). As for continuity, we must be careful about labelling any practice or tradition that reminds us of ancient practices a ‘survival’ or continuity. This is especially the case with modern phenomena: those processions and festivals in Muslim Egypt that strike us as explicable only as the resurgence of practices from pharaonic times. These modern practices inevitably reflect modern sensibilities, including nationalist and archaistic ideologies of restoring an authoritative past (MayeurJaouen 2005, chap. 1; Van der Vliet 2009). But what kinds of things would have continued from pharaonic times through Late Antiquity? Do the concentration and diversification of monastic styles reflect in any way the mortuary mythology and shrines of ancient Abydos? How about simply the appropriation of tombs, as Gosner and Bestock describe? This is doubtful. Without specific evidence like that for the resanctification of the Nile surge—credited to

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Shenoute, to Moses, and to Christ and St Michael at numerous nilometers along the river’s banks—it is difficult to make a case for the continuity of archaic religious practices, especially among a subculture (monks) dedicated in so many ways to a repudiation of such practices. The Bes oracle, for example, did not continue under a Christian aegis but, I have argued, dwindled to a local ‘haunting’ of the Memnonion that might have included popular incubation practices. The 5th/6thcentury ceramic remains that Effland has found in the old shrine zone of Umm el-Qa‘ab may represent a continuity in devotional movement and votive deposits (A. Effland 2014, 195–96; 2016, 204–5); but even then such physical practices and uses of offering materials would have involved very different meanings over the centuries. The argument for a continuity of embodied practice must accept that topographies change and even haunted places assume very different local legends. As vibrant as the last stages of Abydos religion were, they also involved interruptions in cult and practice that must be acknowledged. Popular incubation in the Memnonion temple presumed the end of most priestly cult there, and the archaic processions to Umm el-Qa‘ab seem to have dwindled to nothing by the early Roman period (even pottery remains from the Roman period do not require or imply processions for Osiris). Devotional visitors to the Bes oracle probably—by their inscribed proskynēmata—had little interest in the Osirian origins of Bes’ authority, so in this oracle Osiris was largely ignored. Constantius II’s closure of the Bes oracle was certainly definitive for the scale in which it was operating through the mid-4th century, even if it continued in covert or private forms thereafter. And the legend of Apa Moses’ exorcism of Bes from the temple may well point to a stage in which devotional visits to the monks in the Abydos region were supplanting private devotional visits to the Memnonion. By the time of Islamization, that is, it would be difficult to argue that the local folk practices and devotions that villagers pursued in the area had anything to do with the ancient cult of Osiris.

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