DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6641#0037
BELBEIS-
as marsh of cattle, as pasture land, and not inhabited
since the days of old; showing that it was no
part of an organized province, and could be taken
or given away to the first occupier.
It is possible that Belbeis is mentioned in
Josephus. As I said before, I believe there is
some confusion in the geographical indications
given by the Jewish author about the site chosen
by Onias. Josephus speaks of the so-called
fort of Bubastis agria, the country Bubastis or
Bubastis the huntress. This name is clearly the
Greek translation of Sehhet, usually written 4 •
but which occurs at Bubastis under the form
fl® [jUD Q(^> the country goddess, the goddess
of the fields or also the huntress; as the word
i, the field man, is the common name of
■»
the hunter. Belbeis may have been one of the
Jewish settlements on the Eastern border.
The traditions of the locality point to several
Jewish cities. About six miles south of Belbeis,
close to the village of Rhetah, on the eastern side
of the Ismailieh canal, is a large Roman settle-
ment generally covered with sand, but which
during three or four months of the year is
actively worked by the fellaheen for sebakh. » This
place, like the large mound near Shibeen el Kanater,
is called Tell el Yahoodieh, or Beled el Yahoodieh.
If we refer to the Itinerary of Antoninus, we see
it mentioned after Scenas veteranorwn as Vicus
Judceorum.1 The Roman document indicates a
distance of twelve Roman miles from Scenas
veteranorum to Vico Judseorum, and of twelve
miles also from Vico JudsBorum to Thou. I have
given elsewhere2 the reasons which make me
think that the only site which may be assigned to
1 Linant, "Memoires sur les principaux travaux," p. 144.
2 "Store City of Pithom," iii. ed., Appendix T.
SAMANOOD. 23
Thou is the extensive field of ruins called now
Shugafieh, south of Tell el Kebir. In that case,
the distance from Scenas veteranorum to Vicus
Judseorum should be two miles too short, and the
other at least eight; but that agrees well with the
rate of error usually found in the measures given
by the Itinerary. Possibly Vicus Judseoruni of the
Itinerary is the same as Gastra Judceorum of the
Notitia dignitatum, where a cohors of Epirotes
was stationed ; but I should apply the last name
either to the fortified part of Onion, as distinct
from the colony of veterans, or to a place like
Belbeis, which stood on a high hill, and is likely
to have been fortified. If this was so, it is natural
to recognize in Belbeis the dxvpctifia, the fort of
Bubastis agria, of Sekhet, mentioned by Josephus.
Belbeis is not far from Saft el Henneh, where
I had previously excavated, and where I went in
the hope that the fellaheen might perchance have
found some monument. The son of the sheikh
gave me a fragment of a standing statue, of the
time of the Saites (plate II. d.) with few remains
of text giving the name of Saft: the house of the
sycamore. It is stated in the inscription that the
personage for whom this monument was executed
had something to do with the temple of the goddess
of Amem, the place discovered by Mr. Petrie to be
Nebesheh.
SAMANOOD.
Samanood, in Egyptian Thebnuter, in Coptic
SSejuutOYT, is the site of the city called by the
Greeks Sebennytos. It is a city of some import-
ance, situate about twelve miles S.W. of Man-
soorah, and is famous for its pottery. It is a
curious instance of the cbanges through which
as marsh of cattle, as pasture land, and not inhabited
since the days of old; showing that it was no
part of an organized province, and could be taken
or given away to the first occupier.
It is possible that Belbeis is mentioned in
Josephus. As I said before, I believe there is
some confusion in the geographical indications
given by the Jewish author about the site chosen
by Onias. Josephus speaks of the so-called
fort of Bubastis agria, the country Bubastis or
Bubastis the huntress. This name is clearly the
Greek translation of Sehhet, usually written 4 •
but which occurs at Bubastis under the form
fl® [jUD Q(^> the country goddess, the goddess
of the fields or also the huntress; as the word
i, the field man, is the common name of
■»
the hunter. Belbeis may have been one of the
Jewish settlements on the Eastern border.
The traditions of the locality point to several
Jewish cities. About six miles south of Belbeis,
close to the village of Rhetah, on the eastern side
of the Ismailieh canal, is a large Roman settle-
ment generally covered with sand, but which
during three or four months of the year is
actively worked by the fellaheen for sebakh. » This
place, like the large mound near Shibeen el Kanater,
is called Tell el Yahoodieh, or Beled el Yahoodieh.
If we refer to the Itinerary of Antoninus, we see
it mentioned after Scenas veteranorwn as Vicus
Judceorum.1 The Roman document indicates a
distance of twelve Roman miles from Scenas
veteranorum to Vico Judseorum, and of twelve
miles also from Vico JudsBorum to Thou. I have
given elsewhere2 the reasons which make me
think that the only site which may be assigned to
1 Linant, "Memoires sur les principaux travaux," p. 144.
2 "Store City of Pithom," iii. ed., Appendix T.
SAMANOOD. 23
Thou is the extensive field of ruins called now
Shugafieh, south of Tell el Kebir. In that case,
the distance from Scenas veteranorum to Vicus
Judseorum should be two miles too short, and the
other at least eight; but that agrees well with the
rate of error usually found in the measures given
by the Itinerary. Possibly Vicus Judseoruni of the
Itinerary is the same as Gastra Judceorum of the
Notitia dignitatum, where a cohors of Epirotes
was stationed ; but I should apply the last name
either to the fortified part of Onion, as distinct
from the colony of veterans, or to a place like
Belbeis, which stood on a high hill, and is likely
to have been fortified. If this was so, it is natural
to recognize in Belbeis the dxvpctifia, the fort of
Bubastis agria, of Sekhet, mentioned by Josephus.
Belbeis is not far from Saft el Henneh, where
I had previously excavated, and where I went in
the hope that the fellaheen might perchance have
found some monument. The son of the sheikh
gave me a fragment of a standing statue, of the
time of the Saites (plate II. d.) with few remains
of text giving the name of Saft: the house of the
sycamore. It is stated in the inscription that the
personage for whom this monument was executed
had something to do with the temple of the goddess
of Amem, the place discovered by Mr. Petrie to be
Nebesheh.
SAMANOOD.
Samanood, in Egyptian Thebnuter, in Coptic
SSejuutOYT, is the site of the city called by the
Greeks Sebennytos. It is a city of some import-
ance, situate about twelve miles S.W. of Man-
soorah, and is famous for its pottery. It is a
curious instance of the cbanges through which