DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6641#0067
TUKH El
plugged, although the sand had often drifted into and half-
filled the chamber.
North cemetery.—We cleared a few tombs, all of type (4),
but found nothing noteworthy except some fragments of
inscription.
Miscellanea from the Tell.—A piece of orpiment with
sulphur, two pieces of amethyst, green microcline felspar,1
blue paste for amulets ; bronze cat-headed Bast holding segis ;
large bronze fish-hook. Of porcelain amulets (which are so
common in town remains from Saite to Ptolemaic times) only
three or four fragmentary specimens of Sekhet, one perfect
Isis suckling Horus, and one Bes. I believe these are all
the identifiable amulets or fragments that I saw from the 1st
to the 31st March (1887), and during two days' collecting
18th and 19th May.
The limestone baths west of the hall of Rameses III.2
have long since been destroyed. Dr. Grant in 1878 noted
them as 15 feet above the alabaster blocks of the pavement.
One was oval, the other rectangular, 12 feet 5 inches X 8
feet 7 inches, the sides being 14 inches thick.
In May (1887) when I revisited the place with Count
D'Hulst, I found that the sabbakhin, in digging at the base
of the inner side of the northern half of the outer rampart,
had loosened the sandy rubbish 15 feet above them: and
this, in falling, laid bare a number of beehive-shaped con-
structions of unbaked clay about 2 feet high and the same
in diameter. The sides were thin, and at the top was a
large circular hole. They rested each on a base formed of two
or three small slabs of limestone or bricks, and perhaps the
hole at the top had been covered by a brick; but this having
slipped off, the interior was filled with sand from the ram-
part. Inside, upon the floor, was a thin layer of charcoal,
with traces of burnt bones, and the interior was sometimes
reddened by fire. In one case the fire had been prematurely
extinguished, and charred grass stems could be discerned.
Two rows of them were visible at different heights, and the
rows were at least double horizontally, the beehives being
buried in the bank, one behind the other. Many were
destroyed by the fall, but some remained intact, while others
probably lay deeper in the bank.
It seemed as if bricks or stones had been laid flat, some
brushwood put upon them, and an animal, or a portion of one,
laid upon the brushwood, the whole then being domed over
with clay: after which a piece of burning material was
dropped through the opening at the top and the fire left to
take its course or to go out, while the aperture was closed by
a brick. I cannot guess the object of such a ceremony.
I have been told both by visitors and by natives that there
had existed a great heap of burnt bones at the K end of the
outer rampart. It was removed some years ago by a Euro-
pean for some agricultural or manufacturing purpose and the
site, consisting of massive crude brick walls and chambers,
1 These minerals were kindly identified for me by Mr.
Fletcher, keeper of the Department of Mineralogy in the
British Museum.
» S.B.A. Trans. VII., p. 187.
QARAMUS. 53
has been much dug into. I heard also of limestone remains
being found. A quantity of the burnt bones remain, and
although they are reduced to the merest fragments, the well-
known anatomists Dr. Garson and Mr. 0. Thomas have
identified some of the best preserved as probably of calf, and
lamb or kid. "Why are they burnt, if they are not the
remains of Jewish sacrifices t
The most probable site for the temple of Onias,
if it stood here at all, is on the top of the mound
just south of this point. From this spot the
whole city is commanded, and one of the two
main streets in the suburb led directly towards it.
Josephus, in one passage, compares the Jewish
temple to a tower (Trupyos), and probably it would
form a kind of Acropolis, as at Jerusalem. But if
this is the site, the temple must have been rebuilt
in Roman times, for the structure, with its column
bases and pavement of limestone, is built of small
Roman brick, 5 X 10 inches, and has every
appearance of late date. Notwithstanding the
Greek letters on the glazed tiles, the whole
evidence of the antiquities, in my opinion, is
against a Ptolemaic, or even early Roman occu-
pation of the city, and while it is certain that
Jews3 formed a very important part of its popula-
tion for some time under the empire, I believe
that the temple of Onias must be sought for not
here, but in one of the neighbouring Tells.
TUKH EL QARAMUS.
Tukh (el Qaramus) u^Hll is the name of a
village 12 J miles N.E. from Tell Basta and 4 miles S.
from Hurbet. Half a mile S.S.W. is the small mound
called Tell Tukh. Unfortunately very little sebakh is dug
there, consequently antiquities were extremely scarce.
The plan in PI. ix., made from a rough tape-and-compass
survey, shows an enclosure measuring about 500 X 400 yards,
and cut in two by a cross bank. Besides this, at the distance
of a few hundred yards N.W., is a broad strip of rubbish
marking the site of a Boman village.
3 Hebrew inscriptions may well have existe 1 on the site,
cf. E. Brugsch. Eec. de Trav. VOT. p. 6.
plugged, although the sand had often drifted into and half-
filled the chamber.
North cemetery.—We cleared a few tombs, all of type (4),
but found nothing noteworthy except some fragments of
inscription.
Miscellanea from the Tell.—A piece of orpiment with
sulphur, two pieces of amethyst, green microcline felspar,1
blue paste for amulets ; bronze cat-headed Bast holding segis ;
large bronze fish-hook. Of porcelain amulets (which are so
common in town remains from Saite to Ptolemaic times) only
three or four fragmentary specimens of Sekhet, one perfect
Isis suckling Horus, and one Bes. I believe these are all
the identifiable amulets or fragments that I saw from the 1st
to the 31st March (1887), and during two days' collecting
18th and 19th May.
The limestone baths west of the hall of Rameses III.2
have long since been destroyed. Dr. Grant in 1878 noted
them as 15 feet above the alabaster blocks of the pavement.
One was oval, the other rectangular, 12 feet 5 inches X 8
feet 7 inches, the sides being 14 inches thick.
In May (1887) when I revisited the place with Count
D'Hulst, I found that the sabbakhin, in digging at the base
of the inner side of the northern half of the outer rampart,
had loosened the sandy rubbish 15 feet above them: and
this, in falling, laid bare a number of beehive-shaped con-
structions of unbaked clay about 2 feet high and the same
in diameter. The sides were thin, and at the top was a
large circular hole. They rested each on a base formed of two
or three small slabs of limestone or bricks, and perhaps the
hole at the top had been covered by a brick; but this having
slipped off, the interior was filled with sand from the ram-
part. Inside, upon the floor, was a thin layer of charcoal,
with traces of burnt bones, and the interior was sometimes
reddened by fire. In one case the fire had been prematurely
extinguished, and charred grass stems could be discerned.
Two rows of them were visible at different heights, and the
rows were at least double horizontally, the beehives being
buried in the bank, one behind the other. Many were
destroyed by the fall, but some remained intact, while others
probably lay deeper in the bank.
It seemed as if bricks or stones had been laid flat, some
brushwood put upon them, and an animal, or a portion of one,
laid upon the brushwood, the whole then being domed over
with clay: after which a piece of burning material was
dropped through the opening at the top and the fire left to
take its course or to go out, while the aperture was closed by
a brick. I cannot guess the object of such a ceremony.
I have been told both by visitors and by natives that there
had existed a great heap of burnt bones at the K end of the
outer rampart. It was removed some years ago by a Euro-
pean for some agricultural or manufacturing purpose and the
site, consisting of massive crude brick walls and chambers,
1 These minerals were kindly identified for me by Mr.
Fletcher, keeper of the Department of Mineralogy in the
British Museum.
» S.B.A. Trans. VII., p. 187.
QARAMUS. 53
has been much dug into. I heard also of limestone remains
being found. A quantity of the burnt bones remain, and
although they are reduced to the merest fragments, the well-
known anatomists Dr. Garson and Mr. 0. Thomas have
identified some of the best preserved as probably of calf, and
lamb or kid. "Why are they burnt, if they are not the
remains of Jewish sacrifices t
The most probable site for the temple of Onias,
if it stood here at all, is on the top of the mound
just south of this point. From this spot the
whole city is commanded, and one of the two
main streets in the suburb led directly towards it.
Josephus, in one passage, compares the Jewish
temple to a tower (Trupyos), and probably it would
form a kind of Acropolis, as at Jerusalem. But if
this is the site, the temple must have been rebuilt
in Roman times, for the structure, with its column
bases and pavement of limestone, is built of small
Roman brick, 5 X 10 inches, and has every
appearance of late date. Notwithstanding the
Greek letters on the glazed tiles, the whole
evidence of the antiquities, in my opinion, is
against a Ptolemaic, or even early Roman occu-
pation of the city, and while it is certain that
Jews3 formed a very important part of its popula-
tion for some time under the empire, I believe
that the temple of Onias must be sought for not
here, but in one of the neighbouring Tells.
TUKH EL QARAMUS.
Tukh (el Qaramus) u^Hll is the name of a
village 12 J miles N.E. from Tell Basta and 4 miles S.
from Hurbet. Half a mile S.S.W. is the small mound
called Tell Tukh. Unfortunately very little sebakh is dug
there, consequently antiquities were extremely scarce.
The plan in PI. ix., made from a rough tape-and-compass
survey, shows an enclosure measuring about 500 X 400 yards,
and cut in two by a cross bank. Besides this, at the distance
of a few hundred yards N.W., is a broad strip of rubbish
marking the site of a Boman village.
3 Hebrew inscriptions may well have existe 1 on the site,
cf. E. Brugsch. Eec. de Trav. VOT. p. 6.