DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6641#0034
20 TELL EL
the place chosen was called Leontopolis of the
Heliopolitan name, or the fort of Bubastis agria.
Brugsch-Bey thinks that the name of Leontopolis
is justified at Tell el Yahoodieh by the fact that
he saw there fragments of statues of Bast
which had been brought from the temple of Mut
at Thebes. Those fragments had disappeared
when I made my excavations, and nothing which
I saw indicated a sanctuary dedicated to Bast.
I am inclined to think that in the letters
Josephus has mixed together and applied to one
settlement circumstances which refer to several
Jewish establishments. North of the Heliopolitan
Nome was the Nome of Bubastis, i.e. the Nome
of the lioness-headed or cat-headed goddess.
In that Nome were several cities dedicated to
Bubastis, and in one of them, the present Belbeis,
was' worshipped the goddess Sekhet, whose name
has been translated in Greek, Bubastis agria.1
This city might very well be considered as a
Leontopolis, of which there were several in
Lower Egypt. Moreover, about six miles south
of Belbeis there is another Tell el Yahoodieh,
which bears the appearance of a ruined Roman
settlement, covered by the sand. The tradition
of a Jewish colony has in fact survived in various
parts of that district. I might also quote the
argument to which Josephus refers twice ; namely,
the passage in Isaiah (xix. 18):—
"In that day there shall be five cities in the
land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan,
and swear, to the Lord of hosts; one shall be
called, The City of Destruction. In that day there
shall be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the
1 The country Bubastis, or Bubastis the huntress. Vid.
lower, Belbeis.
land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof
to the Lord."
The passage states clearly that there was
more than one settlement, and it mentions that
one shall be called The City of Destruction. The
margin of the revised version gives the following
note on the word destruction : or, according to
another reading, " the sun." The Vulgate gives
civitas solis; the Septuagint a word which might
be an Egyptian name, iroXis acreSe*; the Coptic, as
usual, follows the Septuagint, ^KAKiqe^eK.
The Hebrew is Pin'"1 "^V ; while many authorities,
among which the Chaldasan and Saadiah, read
D'TTlTj city of the sun. If this last reading be
adopted, it is interesting to notice that it would
correspond to the name we found mentioned in
the Great Harris papyrus, and which I have
identified with Tell el Yahoodieh, n 01 f ft 0
I i I I a 111©
the house of Ba, the sun, north of On.
I believe we have the later name of Tell el
: Yahoodieh in two Roman official documents,
namely, the Itinerary of Antoninus and the Notitia
Dignitatum. I mentioned above that, in front of
the eastern part of the enclosure, just in advance
of the two artificial hills, which may have been part
of a fortification, and which are separated by a
gateway, there are remains of a Roman city,
regularly built, where two main streets are
distinctly traceable. It has all the appearance
of a city where the houses were simultane-
ously built, and which might have been the
abode of a military colony. It was suggested
to me by Mr. Griffith that it might be the Scence
Veteranorum of the Itinerary. Taking into
account the positions of the other stations, I
believe this identification coincides well with
the data of the document, allowing always for
the place chosen was called Leontopolis of the
Heliopolitan name, or the fort of Bubastis agria.
Brugsch-Bey thinks that the name of Leontopolis
is justified at Tell el Yahoodieh by the fact that
he saw there fragments of statues of Bast
which had been brought from the temple of Mut
at Thebes. Those fragments had disappeared
when I made my excavations, and nothing which
I saw indicated a sanctuary dedicated to Bast.
I am inclined to think that in the letters
Josephus has mixed together and applied to one
settlement circumstances which refer to several
Jewish establishments. North of the Heliopolitan
Nome was the Nome of Bubastis, i.e. the Nome
of the lioness-headed or cat-headed goddess.
In that Nome were several cities dedicated to
Bubastis, and in one of them, the present Belbeis,
was' worshipped the goddess Sekhet, whose name
has been translated in Greek, Bubastis agria.1
This city might very well be considered as a
Leontopolis, of which there were several in
Lower Egypt. Moreover, about six miles south
of Belbeis there is another Tell el Yahoodieh,
which bears the appearance of a ruined Roman
settlement, covered by the sand. The tradition
of a Jewish colony has in fact survived in various
parts of that district. I might also quote the
argument to which Josephus refers twice ; namely,
the passage in Isaiah (xix. 18):—
"In that day there shall be five cities in the
land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan,
and swear, to the Lord of hosts; one shall be
called, The City of Destruction. In that day there
shall be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the
1 The country Bubastis, or Bubastis the huntress. Vid.
lower, Belbeis.
land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof
to the Lord."
The passage states clearly that there was
more than one settlement, and it mentions that
one shall be called The City of Destruction. The
margin of the revised version gives the following
note on the word destruction : or, according to
another reading, " the sun." The Vulgate gives
civitas solis; the Septuagint a word which might
be an Egyptian name, iroXis acreSe*; the Coptic, as
usual, follows the Septuagint, ^KAKiqe^eK.
The Hebrew is Pin'"1 "^V ; while many authorities,
among which the Chaldasan and Saadiah, read
D'TTlTj city of the sun. If this last reading be
adopted, it is interesting to notice that it would
correspond to the name we found mentioned in
the Great Harris papyrus, and which I have
identified with Tell el Yahoodieh, n 01 f ft 0
I i I I a 111©
the house of Ba, the sun, north of On.
I believe we have the later name of Tell el
: Yahoodieh in two Roman official documents,
namely, the Itinerary of Antoninus and the Notitia
Dignitatum. I mentioned above that, in front of
the eastern part of the enclosure, just in advance
of the two artificial hills, which may have been part
of a fortification, and which are separated by a
gateway, there are remains of a Roman city,
regularly built, where two main streets are
distinctly traceable. It has all the appearance
of a city where the houses were simultane-
ously built, and which might have been the
abode of a military colony. It was suggested
to me by Mr. Griffith that it might be the Scence
Veteranorum of the Itinerary. Taking into
account the positions of the other stations, I
believe this identification coincides well with
the data of the document, allowing always for