DOI Artikel:
Grenfell, Bernard P.; Hunt, Arthur S.: Egypt Exploration Fund: graeco-roman branch (excavations for papyri in the Fayûm; the position of Lake Moeris)
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11173#0026
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Egypt Exploration Fund.
mummified, there were naturally none of the portraits which have been
found in some Fayiun cemeteries.
The ancient town at Harit, which we soon proved by documents found there
to be the ancient Theadelphia, was somewhat smaller than Kasr el Banat,
but the houses were larger and better built and much better preserved. In
some cases the lower story was complete and the ceilings, which were com-
posed of bricks laid upon thick reeds, resting on logs of palm, were
standing, though more commonly, as might be expected, the roofs had
fallen in. These houses were for the most part filled with a mixture of
sand and fine dust and ashes, and in spite of their excellent state of
preservation, were singularly barren in respect of papyri, and not at all
rich in anticas of any sort. In one of them, however, we found a plough
with all the ropes complete, in another a small inscription in situ, dated in
the reign of Trajan, showing that the room in question was the dining-
hall of the local weavers. The south-west side of the site, where the
houses were filled with rubbish, had been much dug by sebahhin, and
yielded little in the way of papyri. Two parts, however, proved very
fruitful. Oue of these consisted of a group of houses near the local
temple, which like that of Kasr el Banat stood a little away from the town
on the west, but being smaller had been quite cleared out. The papyri and
coins found in these houses were all late Ptolemaic or very early Boman,
while the pottery was identical with that found in class (2) of the tombs,
and thus confirmed the results with regard to the dating of pottery which
we had already obtained. A wooden shield cased with leather was also
found.
The other productive portion of the site vras a rubbish heap on the
highest part of the mounds at the north-east corner. Being coated with
sand to a depth of one to t wo metres, it had fortunately been left untouched
by the sebakhin. Here a surprisingly large number of papyri, practically all
of the second century a.d., were found either in the afsh of the rubbish, or
at the bottom in the rooms of a much-ruined building. Possibly this was
where the local archives were deposited. Ostraca were also common,
besides pots and miscellaneous anticas similar to those from Kasr el Banat.
As there, nothing later than the fourth century was discovered.
Lastly, two other towns some distance back in the desert were explored
with a view to their identification, the remains in each case being far too
scanty to warrant a hope of considerable finds. One of these, called Wadfa,
five miles north-west of Harit, almost in a direct line with Kasr Kurun,
was shown by some papyri and ostraca (chiefly first century a.d.) to be the
ancient Philoteris. At the other, Kasr Kurun, about nine miles from Kasr
Egypt Exploration Fund.
mummified, there were naturally none of the portraits which have been
found in some Fayiun cemeteries.
The ancient town at Harit, which we soon proved by documents found there
to be the ancient Theadelphia, was somewhat smaller than Kasr el Banat,
but the houses were larger and better built and much better preserved. In
some cases the lower story was complete and the ceilings, which were com-
posed of bricks laid upon thick reeds, resting on logs of palm, were
standing, though more commonly, as might be expected, the roofs had
fallen in. These houses were for the most part filled with a mixture of
sand and fine dust and ashes, and in spite of their excellent state of
preservation, were singularly barren in respect of papyri, and not at all
rich in anticas of any sort. In one of them, however, we found a plough
with all the ropes complete, in another a small inscription in situ, dated in
the reign of Trajan, showing that the room in question was the dining-
hall of the local weavers. The south-west side of the site, where the
houses were filled with rubbish, had been much dug by sebahhin, and
yielded little in the way of papyri. Two parts, however, proved very
fruitful. Oue of these consisted of a group of houses near the local
temple, which like that of Kasr el Banat stood a little away from the town
on the west, but being smaller had been quite cleared out. The papyri and
coins found in these houses were all late Ptolemaic or very early Boman,
while the pottery was identical with that found in class (2) of the tombs,
and thus confirmed the results with regard to the dating of pottery which
we had already obtained. A wooden shield cased with leather was also
found.
The other productive portion of the site vras a rubbish heap on the
highest part of the mounds at the north-east corner. Being coated with
sand to a depth of one to t wo metres, it had fortunately been left untouched
by the sebakhin. Here a surprisingly large number of papyri, practically all
of the second century a.d., were found either in the afsh of the rubbish, or
at the bottom in the rooms of a much-ruined building. Possibly this was
where the local archives were deposited. Ostraca were also common,
besides pots and miscellaneous anticas similar to those from Kasr el Banat.
As there, nothing later than the fourth century was discovered.
Lastly, two other towns some distance back in the desert were explored
with a view to their identification, the remains in each case being far too
scanty to warrant a hope of considerable finds. One of these, called Wadfa,
five miles north-west of Harit, almost in a direct line with Kasr Kurun,
was shown by some papyri and ostraca (chiefly first century a.d.) to be the
ancient Philoteris. At the other, Kasr Kurun, about nine miles from Kasr