DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6638#0014
4 SAFT EL
I have mentioned and described elsewhere 1
the gilt pillar bearing the name of Nekhthorheb
which I discovered at Pithom. I can adduce
other instances in which I came across the name
of this king. In a small village called Taioila,
north of Tell el Kebir, the people told me that
in one of the houses there was a stone block
which was said to be inscribed. I dug in the
soil at the place which was pointed out to me,
and I soon found a large block of red granite,
broken at both ends. It was 12 ft. 2 in. long,
3 ft. 3 in. wide, and 20 in. thick. It was
originally twice as thick, for on the narrow side
there is a vertical inscription, and portions of the
characters with the side line of a cartouche which
belonged to another inscription running parallel
to the first. The inscription in large hieroglyphs
very deeply cut is the beginning of the name
of Nekhthorheb (pi. ix. sr.). This stone formed
pai't of a pillar originally belonging to some large
edifice. It had been sawn in two, and one of the
halves had been brought there, I imagine, to
make an oil-press. Two square holes had been
carved in the stone for planting wooden posts,
and between them there was a small furrow in
the form of a quadrangle, with a gullet for the
flowing out of the liquid. How came this
block to a place where it is quite isolated, and
where there are no traces of ruins ? I think it
must have come from a tell called Tell el
Ahmar, about four miles higher up than Tawila
on the side of the same canal. I there saw an
old settlement, and a capital of basalt.
I will but mention Behbeit el Hagar, near
Mansura, the colossal ruins of which have
often been described. It was probably the
birthplace of Nekhthorheb, who there founded
a temple which was enlarged by Ptolemy Phil-
adelphos. There also the name of Eameses II.
is found. His cartouche is inscribed on the
base of a column close to the house of the
sheikh el beled.
1 " The Store City of Pithom," p. 12.
HENNEH.
Near the station of Abu Kebir, N.E. of
Zagazig, is the locality called Horbeit, generally
considered as the site of the old Pharbaethus.
I visited the extensive area covered with the
ruins of the ancient city; and in the village
itself, in a small courtyard between two houses,
I saw three enormous granite blocks, such as
are seldom met with in Egypt. They are
fragments of a ceiling ; one of them is sunk
in the soil, making an acute angle with the
ground ; and the part which is buried must evi-
dently go down to a great depth, so as to support
the enormous weight of that which is above
the soil, and which is some 24 feet in length. I
should not wonder if the whole block were
twice that length. We thus gain some idea
of the proportions of the temple. Here also
Nekhthorheb is the author of these gigantic
monuments, and here again I saw the name of
Rameses II. on a cornice built into a wall.
At Saft el Henneh, if we observe chrono-
logical order, we find Rameses II., then the two
Nectanebos, and then Ptolemy Philadelphos.
It is not extraordinary that the kings of the
thirtieth dynasty should have attached special
importance to the eastern part of the Delta, and
have multiplied great structures in that part of
the country; for I cannot help thinking that
these Egyptian temples, surrounded by thick
walls built sometimes of bricks and sometimes
of granite, and communicating with the outside
world through but one door, or two, were capable
of being employed for purposes of defence, and
of being turned to the same uses as the Temple
of Jerusalem, or the fortified convents of the
Middle Ages. A small garrison well provided
with food could easily hold out for some time
in an Egyptian temple, and undoubtedly it was
the place in which the people of the city de-
posited their valuables in times of war or
insurrection. The Nectanebos were constantly
exposed to invasions from the east. They had
again and again to fight the armies of the
Persians; therefore they built these temples
I have mentioned and described elsewhere 1
the gilt pillar bearing the name of Nekhthorheb
which I discovered at Pithom. I can adduce
other instances in which I came across the name
of this king. In a small village called Taioila,
north of Tell el Kebir, the people told me that
in one of the houses there was a stone block
which was said to be inscribed. I dug in the
soil at the place which was pointed out to me,
and I soon found a large block of red granite,
broken at both ends. It was 12 ft. 2 in. long,
3 ft. 3 in. wide, and 20 in. thick. It was
originally twice as thick, for on the narrow side
there is a vertical inscription, and portions of the
characters with the side line of a cartouche which
belonged to another inscription running parallel
to the first. The inscription in large hieroglyphs
very deeply cut is the beginning of the name
of Nekhthorheb (pi. ix. sr.). This stone formed
pai't of a pillar originally belonging to some large
edifice. It had been sawn in two, and one of the
halves had been brought there, I imagine, to
make an oil-press. Two square holes had been
carved in the stone for planting wooden posts,
and between them there was a small furrow in
the form of a quadrangle, with a gullet for the
flowing out of the liquid. How came this
block to a place where it is quite isolated, and
where there are no traces of ruins ? I think it
must have come from a tell called Tell el
Ahmar, about four miles higher up than Tawila
on the side of the same canal. I there saw an
old settlement, and a capital of basalt.
I will but mention Behbeit el Hagar, near
Mansura, the colossal ruins of which have
often been described. It was probably the
birthplace of Nekhthorheb, who there founded
a temple which was enlarged by Ptolemy Phil-
adelphos. There also the name of Eameses II.
is found. His cartouche is inscribed on the
base of a column close to the house of the
sheikh el beled.
1 " The Store City of Pithom," p. 12.
HENNEH.
Near the station of Abu Kebir, N.E. of
Zagazig, is the locality called Horbeit, generally
considered as the site of the old Pharbaethus.
I visited the extensive area covered with the
ruins of the ancient city; and in the village
itself, in a small courtyard between two houses,
I saw three enormous granite blocks, such as
are seldom met with in Egypt. They are
fragments of a ceiling ; one of them is sunk
in the soil, making an acute angle with the
ground ; and the part which is buried must evi-
dently go down to a great depth, so as to support
the enormous weight of that which is above
the soil, and which is some 24 feet in length. I
should not wonder if the whole block were
twice that length. We thus gain some idea
of the proportions of the temple. Here also
Nekhthorheb is the author of these gigantic
monuments, and here again I saw the name of
Rameses II. on a cornice built into a wall.
At Saft el Henneh, if we observe chrono-
logical order, we find Rameses II., then the two
Nectanebos, and then Ptolemy Philadelphos.
It is not extraordinary that the kings of the
thirtieth dynasty should have attached special
importance to the eastern part of the Delta, and
have multiplied great structures in that part of
the country; for I cannot help thinking that
these Egyptian temples, surrounded by thick
walls built sometimes of bricks and sometimes
of granite, and communicating with the outside
world through but one door, or two, were capable
of being employed for purposes of defence, and
of being turned to the same uses as the Temple
of Jerusalem, or the fortified convents of the
Middle Ages. A small garrison well provided
with food could easily hold out for some time
in an Egyptian temple, and undoubtedly it was
the place in which the people of the city de-
posited their valuables in times of war or
insurrection. The Nectanebos were constantly
exposed to invasions from the east. They had
again and again to fight the armies of the
Persians; therefore they built these temples