DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6641#0041
traces in Egypt.1 Though practically indepen-
dent, Ptolemy seems to have been anxious to
show that Egypt was still part of the Macedonian
empire, and that the empire had a single head;
for it was not till several years after the death of
Alexander II., when the line of the great king
was quite extinct, that he assumed the title of
king of Egypt.
Besides these fragments of Alexander, there
are Ptolemaic inscriptions. One (plate VI. b.) is
part of a hymn to the rising sun, without the
name of any king, but in good Ptolemaic charac-
ters. Another (e) is very small; it is engraved
with the name and the head of Ptolemy Phila-
delphos, he who covered the temple of Heb with
his inscriptions. The text seems to refer to the
donation of a piece of land made by the king to
the temple, in order to enlarge the sacred domain.
As far as I know, there is only one monument
in the museums of Europe which is known with
certainty to come from Samanood.3 It is a fine
torso in black granite, now deposited in Paris in
the Cabinet des Medailles. It bears the name of
Nectanebo II. It was used as a doorpost in a
house at Samanood, and carried away by a
French general, at the end of the last century.3 A
Greek papyrus at Leyden contains a record of a
dream which Nectanebo II. had at Memphis, after
which he commissioned a man called Petesios to
adorn the temple of Sebennytos, a task which that
official conscientiously fulfilled.
Sebennytos is famous as having been the birth-
place of the historian Manetho.
1 " Leps. Denkm.," iv. 1. Brugsch, " Zeitsclir." 1871, p. 1.
2 Millin, "Mon. inedits," i. p. 383. "Descr. de l'Egypt
kat." v. pi. 69, 7 et 8.
3 Since the above was written the statue of Aakanusch
has been removed to the Boolak Museum.
31k. 27
ABUSIR.
A few miles south-west of Samanood, on the
same branch of the Nile, is the picturesquely
situated city of Abusir. It is nearly as large as
Samanood, and is also built on an ancient Tell
overlooking the river. At a short distance to
the westward is another large mound, which may
have been the necropolis, where I saw a few
blocks of hard stone without inscription. At
some former time there must undoubtedly have
been some important buildings at this place, to
judge by the considerable number of millstones
cut from shafts of red granite columns, which are
met with in the streets of the city, most of which
are now disused.
My attention was directed to this place by the
fact that Mr. Petrie there discovered a block
bearing the name of Darius, which is to be
brought to the British Museum, but which we
have not yet succeeded in removing. It stands
in front of the sheikh's house, a large and
stately building on the bank of the river. It
is a square block of red granite of about three
feet in each direction. On one side is a hole,
probably for a press of some kind; on the
other side is a sculpture, not very deeply cut,
which is reproduced on Plate VII. a. It repre-
sents a sitting goddess, having above her left
hand the emblems of life, stability, and purity,
which she promises to give to Darius. The
vertical column in front of her reads:—lord of
the two lands, Darius thou reignest over the two
lands, thou directest (them) like Ea . . . Over the
head of the goddess is her name, which reads
does not to my knowledge occur on any other
monument. It may have belonged to a local
e 2
dent, Ptolemy seems to have been anxious to
show that Egypt was still part of the Macedonian
empire, and that the empire had a single head;
for it was not till several years after the death of
Alexander II., when the line of the great king
was quite extinct, that he assumed the title of
king of Egypt.
Besides these fragments of Alexander, there
are Ptolemaic inscriptions. One (plate VI. b.) is
part of a hymn to the rising sun, without the
name of any king, but in good Ptolemaic charac-
ters. Another (e) is very small; it is engraved
with the name and the head of Ptolemy Phila-
delphos, he who covered the temple of Heb with
his inscriptions. The text seems to refer to the
donation of a piece of land made by the king to
the temple, in order to enlarge the sacred domain.
As far as I know, there is only one monument
in the museums of Europe which is known with
certainty to come from Samanood.3 It is a fine
torso in black granite, now deposited in Paris in
the Cabinet des Medailles. It bears the name of
Nectanebo II. It was used as a doorpost in a
house at Samanood, and carried away by a
French general, at the end of the last century.3 A
Greek papyrus at Leyden contains a record of a
dream which Nectanebo II. had at Memphis, after
which he commissioned a man called Petesios to
adorn the temple of Sebennytos, a task which that
official conscientiously fulfilled.
Sebennytos is famous as having been the birth-
place of the historian Manetho.
1 " Leps. Denkm.," iv. 1. Brugsch, " Zeitsclir." 1871, p. 1.
2 Millin, "Mon. inedits," i. p. 383. "Descr. de l'Egypt
kat." v. pi. 69, 7 et 8.
3 Since the above was written the statue of Aakanusch
has been removed to the Boolak Museum.
31k. 27
ABUSIR.
A few miles south-west of Samanood, on the
same branch of the Nile, is the picturesquely
situated city of Abusir. It is nearly as large as
Samanood, and is also built on an ancient Tell
overlooking the river. At a short distance to
the westward is another large mound, which may
have been the necropolis, where I saw a few
blocks of hard stone without inscription. At
some former time there must undoubtedly have
been some important buildings at this place, to
judge by the considerable number of millstones
cut from shafts of red granite columns, which are
met with in the streets of the city, most of which
are now disused.
My attention was directed to this place by the
fact that Mr. Petrie there discovered a block
bearing the name of Darius, which is to be
brought to the British Museum, but which we
have not yet succeeded in removing. It stands
in front of the sheikh's house, a large and
stately building on the bank of the river. It
is a square block of red granite of about three
feet in each direction. On one side is a hole,
probably for a press of some kind; on the
other side is a sculpture, not very deeply cut,
which is reproduced on Plate VII. a. It repre-
sents a sitting goddess, having above her left
hand the emblems of life, stability, and purity,
which she promises to give to Darius. The
vertical column in front of her reads:—lord of
the two lands, Darius thou reignest over the two
lands, thou directest (them) like Ea . . . Over the
head of the goddess is her name, which reads
does not to my knowledge occur on any other
monument. It may have belonged to a local
e 2