DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6638#0011
SAFT EL
HENNEH.
Towards the close of December, 1884, while
exploring the sides of a canal which branches
off at Zagazig and joins the canal of Ismailieh,
I came to a large village called Saft el Henneh.
The country all around is peculiarly fruitful.
The luxuriant fields bear witness to the fertility
of the soil; while the villages, which are among
the richest in Lower Egypt, are governed by
sheikhs who generally are men of large fortunes.
At the first glance, one sees that Saft el
Henneh stands on the site of an ancient city
of considerable extent. Close to the canal, a
large space is covered with mounds of decayed
bricks and broken pottery, indicating a Roman
settlement, where the direction of the streets is
still discernible. This space is bounded on the
south side by the remains of a wall built of
large, crude bricks, and about 36 feet in width.
The area of the old city does not end there.
Farther to the east, beyond a brackish pond, is
a high mound of ancient date, now used as a
cemetery. The whole village is constructed
on the ruins of old houses, many of which are
still to be seen on the south side. It is pro-
bable that some years ago, the mounds covered
a much larger space of ground than now; but
as in the case of all these old Egyptian cities,
the mounds have been worked for sebakh, and
thus have disappeared by degrees.
Walking through the streets of the village,
one sees, built into the walls of the houses,
fragments of hard stone, diorite, porphyry, red
or black granite. Sometimes much larger pieces
are used for foundations. The mosque, which
is now the school, is supported by Greek
columns of grey marble, some with their capitals.
Another large fragment serves for the threshold
of what is called the old synagogue, where the
traditional well of Moses is shown. Among
this multitude of fragments I found only two
that were inscribed. One, an angular thick slab
of red granite, with sculptures on both sides;
now used as a corner-stone at the end of a
street. This monument is of a very fine style,
bearing the name of the first king of the
thirtieth dynasty, Nekhthorheb, Nectanebo I.
(pi. viii. Cl and 0 2). Another is the top of a
tablet of black granite, bearing the name of
Ptolemy Philadelphos (pi. viii. r>) ; but it is
unfortunately in a most deplorable state, being
half sunk in a pond outside the village, where
for years, if not for centuries, it has been used
by the fellaheen women as a board on which
to wash their linen.
The most interesting place at Saft el Henneh
is a declivity which, starting from the large
brick wall, slopes down towards the fields. It
is partly occupied by a garden and a field of
henneh. When I went there first, I saw at a
distance of about a hundred and twenty yards
from the wall, a large hollow half full of water,
in which lay several blocks of basalt, and a
block of black granite inscribed with hiero-
glyphs. I soon perceived that this block formed
part of the monument to which must once have
belonged the two large fragments deposited
near the door of the Bulak Museum. These
monuments have been studied by Prof. Brugsch,
who read upon them the name of the nome of
Arabia. The stone which still lay on the spot
was a useful addition to the very imperfect
knowledge we had of that important district;
the more so as I saw in the inscription a geo-
graphical name which does not occur in the
Bulak fragments. It was therefore desirable
to attempt excavations at Saft, but it could
not be done before the spring, when the water
would have sufficiently subsided.
B
HENNEH.
Towards the close of December, 1884, while
exploring the sides of a canal which branches
off at Zagazig and joins the canal of Ismailieh,
I came to a large village called Saft el Henneh.
The country all around is peculiarly fruitful.
The luxuriant fields bear witness to the fertility
of the soil; while the villages, which are among
the richest in Lower Egypt, are governed by
sheikhs who generally are men of large fortunes.
At the first glance, one sees that Saft el
Henneh stands on the site of an ancient city
of considerable extent. Close to the canal, a
large space is covered with mounds of decayed
bricks and broken pottery, indicating a Roman
settlement, where the direction of the streets is
still discernible. This space is bounded on the
south side by the remains of a wall built of
large, crude bricks, and about 36 feet in width.
The area of the old city does not end there.
Farther to the east, beyond a brackish pond, is
a high mound of ancient date, now used as a
cemetery. The whole village is constructed
on the ruins of old houses, many of which are
still to be seen on the south side. It is pro-
bable that some years ago, the mounds covered
a much larger space of ground than now; but
as in the case of all these old Egyptian cities,
the mounds have been worked for sebakh, and
thus have disappeared by degrees.
Walking through the streets of the village,
one sees, built into the walls of the houses,
fragments of hard stone, diorite, porphyry, red
or black granite. Sometimes much larger pieces
are used for foundations. The mosque, which
is now the school, is supported by Greek
columns of grey marble, some with their capitals.
Another large fragment serves for the threshold
of what is called the old synagogue, where the
traditional well of Moses is shown. Among
this multitude of fragments I found only two
that were inscribed. One, an angular thick slab
of red granite, with sculptures on both sides;
now used as a corner-stone at the end of a
street. This monument is of a very fine style,
bearing the name of the first king of the
thirtieth dynasty, Nekhthorheb, Nectanebo I.
(pi. viii. Cl and 0 2). Another is the top of a
tablet of black granite, bearing the name of
Ptolemy Philadelphos (pi. viii. r>) ; but it is
unfortunately in a most deplorable state, being
half sunk in a pond outside the village, where
for years, if not for centuries, it has been used
by the fellaheen women as a board on which
to wash their linen.
The most interesting place at Saft el Henneh
is a declivity which, starting from the large
brick wall, slopes down towards the fields. It
is partly occupied by a garden and a field of
henneh. When I went there first, I saw at a
distance of about a hundred and twenty yards
from the wall, a large hollow half full of water,
in which lay several blocks of basalt, and a
block of black granite inscribed with hiero-
glyphs. I soon perceived that this block formed
part of the monument to which must once have
belonged the two large fragments deposited
near the door of the Bulak Museum. These
monuments have been studied by Prof. Brugsch,
who read upon them the name of the nome of
Arabia. The stone which still lay on the spot
was a useful addition to the very imperfect
knowledge we had of that important district;
the more so as I saw in the inscription a geo-
graphical name which does not occur in the
Bulak fragments. It was therefore desirable
to attempt excavations at Saft, but it could
not be done before the spring, when the water
would have sufficiently subsided.
B