DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6641#0020
6 TELL EL Y
is now a modern burial-place. The mound of the
ancient city must have had different levels, which
are now difficult to recognize; in some parts it
has been dug down to the original sand; while
in others there are remains of walls which may
be fifty feet high. The eastern part seems to
have been higher than the western; and in
the north-eastern corner the nature of the soil
is quite different. Instead of decayed bricks
interspersed with remains of pottery, it consists
of enormous heaps of chips of limestone. A few
monuments still remain on the spot, and will be
noticed later on.
The only excavations hitherto made are due
to Brugsch-Bey, who gave some account of his
work, and stated his opinion on the name of Tell
el Yahoodieh in an interesting paper lately pub-
lished under the title of " On et Onion."1 When
Brugsch-Bey came to Tell el Yahoodieh for the
first time in 1870, his attention had been directed
to the place by some very fine enamelled tiles
and inlaid ornaments which he had purchased
from a dealer at Shibeen el Kanater. He began
by excavating a small mound in the longer axis
of the city, towards the western side of the Tell.
It was about twenty-four or thirty feet high, and
near it the Arabs had found fragments of columns
and pillars, and traces of an alabaster, pave-
ment. Having cleared as much as remained of
the pavement, Brugsch there found a consider-
able number of enamelled and porcelain tiles;
but the building itself was so much ruined, that
it was impossible to reconstruct the plan. He
brought back from this mound 3600 disks of
various sizes, and a great number of tiles more
1 " Kecueil de travaux relatifs a la philologie et a 1'archeo-
logie (■gyptienne et assj-rienne," vol. viii., p. 1.
AHOODIEH.
or less broken, bearing either flower ornaments,
or birds, animals, and portraits of Asiatic or
negro prisoners; besides fragments of hiero-
glyphic inscriptions, giving the names and titles
of Barneses III.; also the base of an alabaster
column similarly inscribed. All these fragments
are now in the museum of Boolak.
Before Brugsch began his excavations, Mr.
Eaton and Mr. Greville Chester had explored
the Tell: the fine collection now at the British
Museum, the principal monuments of which have
been elaborately described by Prof. Hayter Lewis
in the paper above referred to, is due to Mr.
Chester's exertions. As Mr. Lewis rightly ob-
serves, this work strikingly reminds us of Persian
art, both modern and antique. In Persia it seems
to have been made on a larger scale than in
Egypt. At present, except the chamber of
Rameses III., which was not very large, a door-
way in a pyramid, and a few specimens coming
from tombs, Egypt has given us no large monu-
ments made in enamelled material; there is
nothing such as the large sculptures discovered at
Susa by Mons. Dieulafoy.
There is a curious fact about the disks which
have been found in such a large number; some
of them are inscribed on the back with Greek
letters A, E, A, X, while others bear Egyptian
signs. The Greek letters show that strangers
were at some time employed in the work. The
greatest part of the building was however
thoroughly Egyptian in style, as may be judged
from the remains of columns still in situ. The
enamel ornaments, though unusual, cannot be
considered as a foreign import, as something
similar has already been found in one of the
pyramids of Sakkarah. It is not likely that later
is now a modern burial-place. The mound of the
ancient city must have had different levels, which
are now difficult to recognize; in some parts it
has been dug down to the original sand; while
in others there are remains of walls which may
be fifty feet high. The eastern part seems to
have been higher than the western; and in
the north-eastern corner the nature of the soil
is quite different. Instead of decayed bricks
interspersed with remains of pottery, it consists
of enormous heaps of chips of limestone. A few
monuments still remain on the spot, and will be
noticed later on.
The only excavations hitherto made are due
to Brugsch-Bey, who gave some account of his
work, and stated his opinion on the name of Tell
el Yahoodieh in an interesting paper lately pub-
lished under the title of " On et Onion."1 When
Brugsch-Bey came to Tell el Yahoodieh for the
first time in 1870, his attention had been directed
to the place by some very fine enamelled tiles
and inlaid ornaments which he had purchased
from a dealer at Shibeen el Kanater. He began
by excavating a small mound in the longer axis
of the city, towards the western side of the Tell.
It was about twenty-four or thirty feet high, and
near it the Arabs had found fragments of columns
and pillars, and traces of an alabaster, pave-
ment. Having cleared as much as remained of
the pavement, Brugsch there found a consider-
able number of enamelled and porcelain tiles;
but the building itself was so much ruined, that
it was impossible to reconstruct the plan. He
brought back from this mound 3600 disks of
various sizes, and a great number of tiles more
1 " Kecueil de travaux relatifs a la philologie et a 1'archeo-
logie (■gyptienne et assj-rienne," vol. viii., p. 1.
AHOODIEH.
or less broken, bearing either flower ornaments,
or birds, animals, and portraits of Asiatic or
negro prisoners; besides fragments of hiero-
glyphic inscriptions, giving the names and titles
of Barneses III.; also the base of an alabaster
column similarly inscribed. All these fragments
are now in the museum of Boolak.
Before Brugsch began his excavations, Mr.
Eaton and Mr. Greville Chester had explored
the Tell: the fine collection now at the British
Museum, the principal monuments of which have
been elaborately described by Prof. Hayter Lewis
in the paper above referred to, is due to Mr.
Chester's exertions. As Mr. Lewis rightly ob-
serves, this work strikingly reminds us of Persian
art, both modern and antique. In Persia it seems
to have been made on a larger scale than in
Egypt. At present, except the chamber of
Rameses III., which was not very large, a door-
way in a pyramid, and a few specimens coming
from tombs, Egypt has given us no large monu-
ments made in enamelled material; there is
nothing such as the large sculptures discovered at
Susa by Mons. Dieulafoy.
There is a curious fact about the disks which
have been found in such a large number; some
of them are inscribed on the back with Greek
letters A, E, A, X, while others bear Egyptian
signs. The Greek letters show that strangers
were at some time employed in the work. The
greatest part of the building was however
thoroughly Egyptian in style, as may be judged
from the remains of columns still in situ. The
enamel ornaments, though unusual, cannot be
considered as a foreign import, as something
similar has already been found in one of the
pyramids of Sakkarah. It is not likely that later