DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6641#0036
BELBEIS, SAMANOOD, ABUSIR,
TUKH EL KARMUS.
BELBEIS.
In the appendix to my memoir on Goshen,11
pointed out how important it would be to identify the
city ofJ%*^J§© or 7J%^4>jj
which is mentioned in the Great Harris papyrus,
as being in the region called the water of Ea ; as
also in the inscription of Menephtah, recording
the attack of the Mediterranean nations against
Egypt. Brugsch supposes this city to be Belbeis.
It was the desire to contribute, if possible, to the
solution of this question which induced me to
explore the place, which is entirely built on a
mound consisting of the debris of ancient houses,
extending beyond the present city towards the
Ismailieh canal. No monument of any import-
ance had been discovered there until now; but
in going all over the city, and entering many
houses, I succeeded in seeing a great number
of fragments of hard stone with inscriptions, from
which I derived some information, and some of
which are reproduced, plate II. a, b, c. They are
very fragmentary. I also found the cartouche
of Barneses II., but only on a single stone. All
the others are of Nekhthorheb, who there built
a temple with a sculptured sanctuary.2 The
1 "Goshen," pp. 19 and 26.
2 I saw there also, used as a manger, a stone nearly
identical with the fragment of Saft el Henneh, standing as
corner-stone ("Goshen," pi. VIII.). Another manger in
limestone, of Roman work, ended on the side in a lion's head.
broken doorposts (plate II. a) show that it was
dedicated to the great Selchet who resides at
Bubastis. I found also a mention of HorhiJcen (b)
who is the second god of the Bubastite nome ; and
a divinity (c) who is said to reside in ^ ^ jjjjjj^
sehhetnuter, the hohj field, which is known as being
the territory (the ^^^) °f the Bubastite nome.
These scanty remains indicate that Belbeis
belonged to the nome of Bubastis, and that the
local worship was that of the gods of that nome.
There was probably an earlier edifice in the
time of Barneses II. ; but it may have been of
small importance, and after him there is no trace
of anything before the reign of Nekhthorheb.
These circumstances confirm the identification
l AAA/W\
AAAA/NA AAAAA/\
i /VWW\
of Brugsch. JJ^^^t^J
Bailos in the water of Ra, was dedicated to Bast,
and its temple received donations from Barneses
III.; but the account which the inscription of
Menephtah gives of the place is particularly
interesting. It is said (1. 8) that the country was
not cultivated, but left as pasture for cattle, because
of the strangers. It was abandoned since the time
of the ancestors. In fact, no king seems to have
built there between Barneses II. and Nekhthorheb,
In my former memoir I had identified the country
around Belbeis with the land of Goshen ; and it
is curious to find this passage, stating that the
](j^=MlI^^! left
region was
-A
TUKH EL KARMUS.
BELBEIS.
In the appendix to my memoir on Goshen,11
pointed out how important it would be to identify the
city ofJ%*^J§© or 7J%^4>jj
which is mentioned in the Great Harris papyrus,
as being in the region called the water of Ea ; as
also in the inscription of Menephtah, recording
the attack of the Mediterranean nations against
Egypt. Brugsch supposes this city to be Belbeis.
It was the desire to contribute, if possible, to the
solution of this question which induced me to
explore the place, which is entirely built on a
mound consisting of the debris of ancient houses,
extending beyond the present city towards the
Ismailieh canal. No monument of any import-
ance had been discovered there until now; but
in going all over the city, and entering many
houses, I succeeded in seeing a great number
of fragments of hard stone with inscriptions, from
which I derived some information, and some of
which are reproduced, plate II. a, b, c. They are
very fragmentary. I also found the cartouche
of Barneses II., but only on a single stone. All
the others are of Nekhthorheb, who there built
a temple with a sculptured sanctuary.2 The
1 "Goshen," pp. 19 and 26.
2 I saw there also, used as a manger, a stone nearly
identical with the fragment of Saft el Henneh, standing as
corner-stone ("Goshen," pi. VIII.). Another manger in
limestone, of Roman work, ended on the side in a lion's head.
broken doorposts (plate II. a) show that it was
dedicated to the great Selchet who resides at
Bubastis. I found also a mention of HorhiJcen (b)
who is the second god of the Bubastite nome ; and
a divinity (c) who is said to reside in ^ ^ jjjjjj^
sehhetnuter, the hohj field, which is known as being
the territory (the ^^^) °f the Bubastite nome.
These scanty remains indicate that Belbeis
belonged to the nome of Bubastis, and that the
local worship was that of the gods of that nome.
There was probably an earlier edifice in the
time of Barneses II. ; but it may have been of
small importance, and after him there is no trace
of anything before the reign of Nekhthorheb.
These circumstances confirm the identification
l AAA/W\
AAAA/NA AAAAA/\
i /VWW\
of Brugsch. JJ^^^t^J
Bailos in the water of Ra, was dedicated to Bast,
and its temple received donations from Barneses
III.; but the account which the inscription of
Menephtah gives of the place is particularly
interesting. It is said (1. 8) that the country was
not cultivated, but left as pasture for cattle, because
of the strangers. It was abandoned since the time
of the ancestors. In fact, no king seems to have
built there between Barneses II. and Nekhthorheb,
In my former memoir I had identified the country
around Belbeis with the land of Goshen ; and it
is curious to find this passage, stating that the
](j^=MlI^^! left
region was
-A