DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6641#0052
TELL EL YAHUDIYEH.
Tell el Yahudiyeh,1 " The mound of the
Jewess," (about two miles south-east of Shibin
el Qanatir on the railway from Cairo to Zagaziq,
and about fourteen miles from Cairo) stands on
the south-west end of a sand jezireh2 about one
mile from the edge of the desert.
The principal archaeological features of the
place are contained in: (1) JEt Tell el Kebir
" the great Tell," which consists of the remains
of the ancient town and fortifications. The
town was protected by a ditch and lofty bank
of sand, and on the east (if not on all sides)
these were doubled. Inside the fortifications
besides ordinary town debris, are the remains of
graves of the middle kingdom and some stone
relics of an important building, probably a temple,
which was adorned by Barneses II. and his
successors with large statues, and to which
Rameses III. added a beautiful little pavilion ? of
which the porcelain and alabaster decorations
have given such a special interest to the place.
The enclosure3 is actually five-sided, but forms
approximately a square of 1000 feet. It has been
deeply excavated by the sabbdkhm or manure-
diggers, but lofty pillars of solid debris remain
1 See Note A.
2 See map PI. ix. and Note B.
3 See rough plan in PI. ix.
here and there, indicating the elevation which the
city reached in Roman times. The rubbish slopes
up on all sides to the fortifications, but in the
central part little remains beyond heaps of pottery
from which the dust has been sifted, half conceal-
ing the granite monuments of the temple. The
felldhin have even in 'some places laid bare the
soft stone that closely underlies the sandy surface:
on the other hand, further west, down the slant
of the jezireh, they have almost reached water
level without passing below the Ramesside
stratum.
2. On the jezireh east of the enclosure is a
stretch of shallow ruins called Et Tell es sugcriyer,
" the smaller Tell." This was once a Roman
(-Jewish ?) suburb, laid out in an orderly manner
with streets crossing at right angles. Of the two
main thoroughfares one led direct to the east
gateway of the enclosure, the other was in the line
of an important building of the same date which
stood on the top of the eastern rampart, and was
perhaps the citadel of the Roman garrison.
Of the remaining space a large part was filled
with interments of the middle kingdom, Saite, and
other periods, but the decomposed rock which
underlies them has attracted the sabbakhin and
thus most of the graves have been removed.
3. On the extreme edge of the desert, opposite
Tell el Yahudiyeh,1 " The mound of the
Jewess," (about two miles south-east of Shibin
el Qanatir on the railway from Cairo to Zagaziq,
and about fourteen miles from Cairo) stands on
the south-west end of a sand jezireh2 about one
mile from the edge of the desert.
The principal archaeological features of the
place are contained in: (1) JEt Tell el Kebir
" the great Tell," which consists of the remains
of the ancient town and fortifications. The
town was protected by a ditch and lofty bank
of sand, and on the east (if not on all sides)
these were doubled. Inside the fortifications
besides ordinary town debris, are the remains of
graves of the middle kingdom and some stone
relics of an important building, probably a temple,
which was adorned by Barneses II. and his
successors with large statues, and to which
Rameses III. added a beautiful little pavilion ? of
which the porcelain and alabaster decorations
have given such a special interest to the place.
The enclosure3 is actually five-sided, but forms
approximately a square of 1000 feet. It has been
deeply excavated by the sabbdkhm or manure-
diggers, but lofty pillars of solid debris remain
1 See Note A.
2 See map PI. ix. and Note B.
3 See rough plan in PI. ix.
here and there, indicating the elevation which the
city reached in Roman times. The rubbish slopes
up on all sides to the fortifications, but in the
central part little remains beyond heaps of pottery
from which the dust has been sifted, half conceal-
ing the granite monuments of the temple. The
felldhin have even in 'some places laid bare the
soft stone that closely underlies the sandy surface:
on the other hand, further west, down the slant
of the jezireh, they have almost reached water
level without passing below the Ramesside
stratum.
2. On the jezireh east of the enclosure is a
stretch of shallow ruins called Et Tell es sugcriyer,
" the smaller Tell." This was once a Roman
(-Jewish ?) suburb, laid out in an orderly manner
with streets crossing at right angles. Of the two
main thoroughfares one led direct to the east
gateway of the enclosure, the other was in the line
of an important building of the same date which
stood on the top of the eastern rampart, and was
perhaps the citadel of the Roman garrison.
Of the remaining space a large part was filled
with interments of the middle kingdom, Saite, and
other periods, but the decomposed rock which
underlies them has attracted the sabbakhin and
thus most of the graves have been removed.
3. On the extreme edge of the desert, opposite