DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14391#0015
THE STOEE-CITY OF PITHOM
AND
THE EOUTE OF THE EXODUS.
TELL EL MASKHUTAH.
On the south side of the sweet water canal which
runs from Cairo to Suez through the Wadi
Tumilat, about twelve miles from Ismailiah, are
the ruins of European houses now abandoned,
but where a few years ago was a flourishing
village. This was one of the chief settlements
of the engineers and workmen who dug the
Ismailiah canal, and there was at that time a
railway station at this point. The Arabic name
of the place is Tell el Mashhutah, "the mound of
the statue." The French have called it Ramses.
None of these names are ancient. The Arabic
Tell el Mashhutah is derived from a monolithic
group in red granite, representing a king sitting
between two gods. This monolith has been
described by the French engineers who surveyed
Egypt at the end of the last century. The place
was then called Abou Eachab or Abou Keycheyd.
We know, from the valuable memoir of the
engineer Le Pere, that " these ruins bore all the
characteristics of an Egyptian city," among
them being a very remarkable monument, of
which he speaks as follows •} " It consists of a
monolith of granite, cut in the form of an arm-
chair, on which are seated three Egyptian
1 " Description de l'Egypte," Ed. Panckoucke, vol. xi.
p. 295.
figures, apparently belonging' to the priestly
order, as one may judge from their costume
and the caps they wear. The monument is still
standing upright, and the figures are turned
towards the east. They were buried up to the
waist; but having dug down to the feet, we have
been able to see the whole of them and to
measure them. The back of the arm-chair is
entirely covered with hieroglyphics, which have
the appearance of a regular and complete picture.
Among the ruins are many blocks of sandstone
and granite inscribed with hieroglyphics, and all
such remains as mark the sites of destroyed cities
in Lower Egypt."
Since the above description was written the
aspect of the place has changed, the numerous
blocks of which the Frenchman speaks have been
removed, or covered by the sand ; and till a few
years ago, the site of the old city was indicated
only by a hardly discernible mound, or rather an
undulation of the ground on the top of which
stood the monolith, the size and execution of
which showed that it must have belonged to a
temple of some importance.
The inscriptions have been published3 and
deciphered. They show that the three figures
represent Barneses II. between two solar gods, Ra
2 "Wilkinson, " Materia Hieroglyphica," App. 4. Prisse,
Mon. de l'Egypte, PI. XIX.
AND
THE EOUTE OF THE EXODUS.
TELL EL MASKHUTAH.
On the south side of the sweet water canal which
runs from Cairo to Suez through the Wadi
Tumilat, about twelve miles from Ismailiah, are
the ruins of European houses now abandoned,
but where a few years ago was a flourishing
village. This was one of the chief settlements
of the engineers and workmen who dug the
Ismailiah canal, and there was at that time a
railway station at this point. The Arabic name
of the place is Tell el Mashhutah, "the mound of
the statue." The French have called it Ramses.
None of these names are ancient. The Arabic
Tell el Mashhutah is derived from a monolithic
group in red granite, representing a king sitting
between two gods. This monolith has been
described by the French engineers who surveyed
Egypt at the end of the last century. The place
was then called Abou Eachab or Abou Keycheyd.
We know, from the valuable memoir of the
engineer Le Pere, that " these ruins bore all the
characteristics of an Egyptian city," among
them being a very remarkable monument, of
which he speaks as follows •} " It consists of a
monolith of granite, cut in the form of an arm-
chair, on which are seated three Egyptian
1 " Description de l'Egypte," Ed. Panckoucke, vol. xi.
p. 295.
figures, apparently belonging' to the priestly
order, as one may judge from their costume
and the caps they wear. The monument is still
standing upright, and the figures are turned
towards the east. They were buried up to the
waist; but having dug down to the feet, we have
been able to see the whole of them and to
measure them. The back of the arm-chair is
entirely covered with hieroglyphics, which have
the appearance of a regular and complete picture.
Among the ruins are many blocks of sandstone
and granite inscribed with hieroglyphics, and all
such remains as mark the sites of destroyed cities
in Lower Egypt."
Since the above description was written the
aspect of the place has changed, the numerous
blocks of which the Frenchman speaks have been
removed, or covered by the sand ; and till a few
years ago, the site of the old city was indicated
only by a hardly discernible mound, or rather an
undulation of the ground on the top of which
stood the monolith, the size and execution of
which showed that it must have belonged to a
temple of some importance.
The inscriptions have been published3 and
deciphered. They show that the three figures
represent Barneses II. between two solar gods, Ra
2 "Wilkinson, " Materia Hieroglyphica," App. 4. Prisse,
Mon. de l'Egypte, PI. XIX.