DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14391#0026
2
STORE-CITY OF PITHOM AND
THE ROUTE OP THE EXODUS.
climate like Egypt it is not necessary to burn
the bricks : they are made of Nile mud, and dried
in the sun. Straw is mixed with them to give
them coherence." 1
These are the walls of a great number of rect-
angular chambers of various sizes, none of which
had any communication with each other. In the
first we reached,2 at about two yards from the
surface, we found pieces of a very fine statue,
in black granite, representing a sitting king, but
without the urasus. It had been thrown from
the top, and had been broken into quite small
pieces, showing that it must have fallen from
a good height. The head only and the upper part
of the bust had not suffered much ; and these
have been removed to the Museum of Boolak.
Lower still were bricks thrown without order,
sand, earth, and limestone chips. It is evident
that the intention had been to fill up the chamber
to a certain height after the top had fallen
in. About four yards from the soil the walls
stand on natural sand, showing that it is the
base of the building. At the height of two yards
from the bottom there are regular holes at corre-
sponding distances on each side, where timber
beams had been driven in. About one yard higher
there is a recess in the wall at the same level in
all the chambers which I excavated to that
depth. The wall above had been covered with
a kind of stucco, or white plaster. I excavated
to the bottom of chambers 1 and 2 ; but seeing
that they had been intentionally filled up, it
seemed useless to go on emptying them, so I
confined the work to digging deep enough to
trace the direction of the walls, without attempt-
ing to go to the bottom.
What was the object of those chambers ? I
believe them to have been built for no other pur-
pose than that of storehouses, or granaries, into
which the Pharaohs gathered the provisions
necessary for armies about to cross the desert, or
1 Villiers Stuart, " Egypt after the War," p. 81.
2 No. 1 of the Map. Cf. Plate II.
even for caravans and travellers which were on
the road to Syria. It is also very likely that the
Ptolemies used them as warehouses in the trade
with Africa, which took place through the Hero-
opolitan Gulf. We know in fact, from the great
tablet, that Pithom was one of the places to which
the African vassals brought their tribute. For
a border-fort, which was also a store-place, means
of defence were necessary, and therefore it was
surrounded by the very thick walls, part of which
are yet preserved. These facts explain the slight
difference which we find between the Septuagint
and the Hebrew text in speaking of Eaamses
and Pithom. The Hebrew calls them -H^DD,
which, according to Gesenius, means ' store-
houses,' while the Septuagint translate 7r6Xei5
oxvpds, ' fortified cities.' Both expressions are
equally true. Heroopolis at the entrance of the
Gulf, the place from which fleets sailed to the
Red Sea, must have been a strong place with a
garrison. Such certainly was the case under
the Romans, who called it the ' Camp of Ero.'
I laid bare the upper part of the walls of
several of these store-chambers, which I do not
doubt extended over the greater part of the space
surrounded by the enclosure. In order to make
an exact plan, it would be necessary to dig the
whole surface to a depth of three feet. Wher-
ever shafts were sunk, I came across brick walls
more or less decayed, and belonging to different
ages. It would be impossible now to reconstruct
the plan of these chambers in the eastern part,
where the enclosure has disappeared. This part,
being nearest the canal, was evidently encroached
upon at an early period by the houses of the
inhabitants, and the old constructions have
suffered. There the excavator finds a compact
mass of bricks of all ages, in which it is hopeless
to trace any kind of plan ; but the part near the
temple is in a much better condition.
The chambers had no communication with
each other; the access to them was only from
the top. It is possible that the recess which
exists in the wall was employed for an awning,
STORE-CITY OF PITHOM AND
THE ROUTE OP THE EXODUS.
climate like Egypt it is not necessary to burn
the bricks : they are made of Nile mud, and dried
in the sun. Straw is mixed with them to give
them coherence." 1
These are the walls of a great number of rect-
angular chambers of various sizes, none of which
had any communication with each other. In the
first we reached,2 at about two yards from the
surface, we found pieces of a very fine statue,
in black granite, representing a sitting king, but
without the urasus. It had been thrown from
the top, and had been broken into quite small
pieces, showing that it must have fallen from
a good height. The head only and the upper part
of the bust had not suffered much ; and these
have been removed to the Museum of Boolak.
Lower still were bricks thrown without order,
sand, earth, and limestone chips. It is evident
that the intention had been to fill up the chamber
to a certain height after the top had fallen
in. About four yards from the soil the walls
stand on natural sand, showing that it is the
base of the building. At the height of two yards
from the bottom there are regular holes at corre-
sponding distances on each side, where timber
beams had been driven in. About one yard higher
there is a recess in the wall at the same level in
all the chambers which I excavated to that
depth. The wall above had been covered with
a kind of stucco, or white plaster. I excavated
to the bottom of chambers 1 and 2 ; but seeing
that they had been intentionally filled up, it
seemed useless to go on emptying them, so I
confined the work to digging deep enough to
trace the direction of the walls, without attempt-
ing to go to the bottom.
What was the object of those chambers ? I
believe them to have been built for no other pur-
pose than that of storehouses, or granaries, into
which the Pharaohs gathered the provisions
necessary for armies about to cross the desert, or
1 Villiers Stuart, " Egypt after the War," p. 81.
2 No. 1 of the Map. Cf. Plate II.
even for caravans and travellers which were on
the road to Syria. It is also very likely that the
Ptolemies used them as warehouses in the trade
with Africa, which took place through the Hero-
opolitan Gulf. We know in fact, from the great
tablet, that Pithom was one of the places to which
the African vassals brought their tribute. For
a border-fort, which was also a store-place, means
of defence were necessary, and therefore it was
surrounded by the very thick walls, part of which
are yet preserved. These facts explain the slight
difference which we find between the Septuagint
and the Hebrew text in speaking of Eaamses
and Pithom. The Hebrew calls them -H^DD,
which, according to Gesenius, means ' store-
houses,' while the Septuagint translate 7r6Xei5
oxvpds, ' fortified cities.' Both expressions are
equally true. Heroopolis at the entrance of the
Gulf, the place from which fleets sailed to the
Red Sea, must have been a strong place with a
garrison. Such certainly was the case under
the Romans, who called it the ' Camp of Ero.'
I laid bare the upper part of the walls of
several of these store-chambers, which I do not
doubt extended over the greater part of the space
surrounded by the enclosure. In order to make
an exact plan, it would be necessary to dig the
whole surface to a depth of three feet. Wher-
ever shafts were sunk, I came across brick walls
more or less decayed, and belonging to different
ages. It would be impossible now to reconstruct
the plan of these chambers in the eastern part,
where the enclosure has disappeared. This part,
being nearest the canal, was evidently encroached
upon at an early period by the houses of the
inhabitants, and the old constructions have
suffered. There the excavator finds a compact
mass of bricks of all ages, in which it is hopeless
to trace any kind of plan ; but the part near the
temple is in a much better condition.
The chambers had no communication with
each other; the access to them was only from
the top. It is possible that the recess which
exists in the wall was employed for an awning,