DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6638#0024
PHACUSA, GOSHEN, EAMSES.
It was Prof. Brugsch who, in his earlier geo-
graphical writings,1 first identified the nome of
Sopt or Soptakhem with that which Pliny and
Ptolemy, as well as the coins, call the nome of
Arabia. All the more recently discovered texts
have tended to confirm this identification; and
although I differ from Professor Brugsch on
several points, it is upon the previous works
of this eminent Egyptologist that the results at
which I have arrived are chiefly based.
We will first consider what the hieroglyphic
lists engraved on the walls of the temples of
Edfoo Denderah and Philae record about the
nome of Arabia, the twentieth in the list of
Lower Egypt. In those lists we shall find all
the names which occur on the naos.
The nome itself is called /\Jl^» or }~A.2 It
is doubtful whether it must not be read Sopt
Akhem, the crouching hawk being a phonetic
sign, and not only ideographic. The name of
EIITAKflM,3 which is found on certain coins of
the time of Hadrian, would rather point to the
second reading. Sopt Akhem figures appa-
rently in connection with Asia; for in two
texts of Denderah,4 the king says to the
goddess Hathor: " I bring thee Sopt Akhem
containing its magazines filled with all the
good things of Asia."
The capital of the nome, i.e. the religious
capital—forwe mustnot forget that the lists have
1 Cf. Geogr. vol. i. passim; Zeitschr. fur Aeg. Spr., 1881,
p. 15, Geogr. Dictionary.
2 J. de Rouge, Inscr. d'Edfou, pi. 148. The second
printed character does not correspond exactly to the
original ; the hawk should have two feathers on its head.
3 J. de Rouge, Monnaies des Nomes de l'Egypte, p. 41.
4 Duemichen, Geogr. Inschr. i. pi. 72; iv. pi. 126.
chiefly a religious character—was Fa Sopt
1 ' [\|\, ®6 '"j"' ^ ;0 or as we have it here
(pi. iii. 4), cr^> ft JL,^- This name occurs in
the inscription of Piankhi7 as the residence of
one of the princes who reigned over Lower
Egypt. It is also mentioned in the Assyrian
inscription of Assurbanipal,8 under the name of
Pi Saptu or Sap to, as the residence of another
of these minor kings.
The god who gives his name to the nome is
also, as on the shrine, " Sopt, the lord of the
East9 who smites the Asiatics." 1
The sanctuary is called either the abode of the
,2 in which is the vene-
sycamore,
rated tree, or the Amenkheperu (the hiding-place)
'.3 There is also another name
which we have not found on the naos, j ^ ^
" the temple of the victorious," which corresponds
to the title [Neb Makheru~] which is given
to the god (pi. iv. 3).
Comparing the data of the lists with the
inscriptions on the shrine, and with the facts
there mentioned, we cannot doubt that the
sanctuary which Nectanebo built or repaired,
and in which he erected the naos, was Amen-
kheperu, the hiding-place of the god. It is
equally certain that this shrine actually stood
5 Duemichen, Geogr. Inschr. i. 99, 26 ; ii. 29, 4.
6 Ibid., i. pi. 77.
1 E. de Rouge, 1. 115.
8 Oppert, Mem. sur les Rapports de l'Egypte et Je
PAssyrie, p. 81 et 90.
9 Duem. Geogr. Inschr. i. pi. 87 ; iv. pi. 51.
1 Rouge, Edfou, pi. 148.
2 Rouge, 1. 1.
3 Duem. Geogr. Inschr. i. 99, 26; ii. 29, 4; iii. 25.
4 Ibid., i. 99, 26.
It was Prof. Brugsch who, in his earlier geo-
graphical writings,1 first identified the nome of
Sopt or Soptakhem with that which Pliny and
Ptolemy, as well as the coins, call the nome of
Arabia. All the more recently discovered texts
have tended to confirm this identification; and
although I differ from Professor Brugsch on
several points, it is upon the previous works
of this eminent Egyptologist that the results at
which I have arrived are chiefly based.
We will first consider what the hieroglyphic
lists engraved on the walls of the temples of
Edfoo Denderah and Philae record about the
nome of Arabia, the twentieth in the list of
Lower Egypt. In those lists we shall find all
the names which occur on the naos.
The nome itself is called /\Jl^» or }~A.2 It
is doubtful whether it must not be read Sopt
Akhem, the crouching hawk being a phonetic
sign, and not only ideographic. The name of
EIITAKflM,3 which is found on certain coins of
the time of Hadrian, would rather point to the
second reading. Sopt Akhem figures appa-
rently in connection with Asia; for in two
texts of Denderah,4 the king says to the
goddess Hathor: " I bring thee Sopt Akhem
containing its magazines filled with all the
good things of Asia."
The capital of the nome, i.e. the religious
capital—forwe mustnot forget that the lists have
1 Cf. Geogr. vol. i. passim; Zeitschr. fur Aeg. Spr., 1881,
p. 15, Geogr. Dictionary.
2 J. de Rouge, Inscr. d'Edfou, pi. 148. The second
printed character does not correspond exactly to the
original ; the hawk should have two feathers on its head.
3 J. de Rouge, Monnaies des Nomes de l'Egypte, p. 41.
4 Duemichen, Geogr. Inschr. i. pi. 72; iv. pi. 126.
chiefly a religious character—was Fa Sopt
1 ' [\|\, ®6 '"j"' ^ ;0 or as we have it here
(pi. iii. 4), cr^> ft JL,^- This name occurs in
the inscription of Piankhi7 as the residence of
one of the princes who reigned over Lower
Egypt. It is also mentioned in the Assyrian
inscription of Assurbanipal,8 under the name of
Pi Saptu or Sap to, as the residence of another
of these minor kings.
The god who gives his name to the nome is
also, as on the shrine, " Sopt, the lord of the
East9 who smites the Asiatics." 1
The sanctuary is called either the abode of the
,2 in which is the vene-
sycamore,
rated tree, or the Amenkheperu (the hiding-place)
'.3 There is also another name
which we have not found on the naos, j ^ ^
" the temple of the victorious," which corresponds
to the title [Neb Makheru~] which is given
to the god (pi. iv. 3).
Comparing the data of the lists with the
inscriptions on the shrine, and with the facts
there mentioned, we cannot doubt that the
sanctuary which Nectanebo built or repaired,
and in which he erected the naos, was Amen-
kheperu, the hiding-place of the god. It is
equally certain that this shrine actually stood
5 Duemichen, Geogr. Inschr. i. 99, 26 ; ii. 29, 4.
6 Ibid., i. pi. 77.
1 E. de Rouge, 1. 115.
8 Oppert, Mem. sur les Rapports de l'Egypte et Je
PAssyrie, p. 81 et 90.
9 Duem. Geogr. Inschr. i. pi. 87 ; iv. pi. 51.
1 Rouge, Edfou, pi. 148.
2 Rouge, 1. 1.
3 Duem. Geogr. Inschr. i. 99, 26; ii. 29, 4; iii. 25.
4 Ibid., i. 99, 26.