DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6641#0072
NOTES.
Note A.
Long known as Tell el Yahudeh or T. e. YaMd, although
correctly spelt in the French map. Yahiidiyeh is interpreted
as in the text by the natives of the place, one of whom tried to
account for the name by saying that an old Jewess used to
live upon it. A conceivable meaning, suggested, I think, by
Mr. R. S. Poole, would be the " Mound of Judasa," hence
" of the Jewish people, Jewry 1"
The true Tell el Yaliud " mound of the Jews/' is about
twelve miles away, three miles south-west of Belbes, on the
south side of the Ismailiyeh Canal, and opposite the village
of El Geteh. Owing to its situation on the edge of the
desert, the excavated pits of the sabbdkMn become entirely
filled with sand, and have to be reopened every year. Some
fresh workings showed only Eoman remains, and no definite
antiquities beyond a few illegible coins were to be seen or
heard of. The sibakh is carried across the canal by ferry-
boats.
Note B.
The word jezireh (plural jezdir) will be frequently met
with in the memoir, and needs explanation.
ijij>. in Arabic, means nothing more or less than an
island, properly speaking surrounded by water, and this is
practically the only meaning given in even the most complete
dictionaries. In Egypt the word jezireh has a special appli-
cation to the islands of sand which crop up here and there
above the alluvium, both at the edge of the desert and else-
where, even in the central districts of the Delta. It thus
enters into the formation of many place-names.
"When a workman digging in the neighbourhood of a jezireh
has passed through the alluvium into sand, he will sometimes
say, " the jezireh is visible," instead of " the sand is visible,"
showing that he recognizes the increase of the alluvial
deposit. Similarly sand met with in digging near the edge
of the desert jebel is called jebel.
Mr. Petrie1 has noted the combined effect of denudation of
the sand and accumulation of alluvium in reducing the real
and relative height of the sand islands. Most of them are
only from a few inches to a few feet high, and it cannot be
very long before they will be swallowed up if the soil con-
tinues to rise at the rate of four inches in a century.
While upon this point I will state a further matter of
importance for the geography and archaeology of the Delta.
It seems that :—
(a) In the earliest times, before canals were invented, the
would-be settlers were absolutely forced to secure their
habitations from the yearly floods by making them on the
sand islands or on the edge of the desert.
(b) Later, as the artificial canal system came into use, and
means were employed for irrigation and drainage, the danger
of settling upon the alluvium was reduced, and the advantage
of being in the middle of the fields became greater. Once
built, the mud-brick village or town rose steadily on its own
rubbish; but still, cceteris paribus, the sand island was
naturally preferred.
(c) At the present day numbers of 'Ezab (f hamlets,'
sing. 'Ezbeh) and villages are being planted upon the alluvium,
and in many cases they are perfectly safe. Thus the jezireh
has almost entirely lost its importance.
So far I have given no instances ; unfortunately there is
one great difficulty in the way of illustrating these state-
ments :—In the case of early cities it is seldom possible to
reach the subsoil of the foundation. The explorer may take
advantage of the deepest sibdkh-'pit and dig many more feet
into the rubbish, but, before any sign of the base appears,
water is reached, and all further research in that direction
has to be abandoned. Beginning with the easiest, I will first
consider the case of—
Founding on the alluvium.—In modern times very frequent
in the Delta and seldom attended with bad results except in
marshy, ill-drained districts. The dwellings are raised on a
slight artificial mound. Sites of ancient towns, old forts or
walls, canal-banks or their bases, and small waste patches are
chosen in preference to a jezireh for the convenience of being
in the midst of the crops and pastures, and near running
water.
However, the 'Ezbeh of Muhammad en Xebesheh (who died
in 1888), having been twice founded in the open fields, but
each time invaded by floods, was finally removed to a safe
situation on the edge of a jezireh.
In ancient times the only instance known to me is that of
Kaueratis, founded in the 7th century B.C. The whole of
the excavated portion2 lies on hard alluvial mud; and this
portion includes the temples of Apollo, Hera, the Dioscuri, <
and Aphrodite, and may well be the most ancient quarter.
Pits dug elsewhere passed through rubbish into water, but
there was nowhere any indication of a sand basis. The
cemetery, too, was an artificial heap of soil. The sand-
islands in the neighbourhood are all west and south-west
of Naucratis.
Foundation on a jezireh.—Excluding shallow desert sites
like Defeneh and Qantarah, which may be easily fathomed,
1 Nebesheh § 2-3.
2 Naucratis I. PI. XL.
Note A.
Long known as Tell el Yahudeh or T. e. YaMd, although
correctly spelt in the French map. Yahiidiyeh is interpreted
as in the text by the natives of the place, one of whom tried to
account for the name by saying that an old Jewess used to
live upon it. A conceivable meaning, suggested, I think, by
Mr. R. S. Poole, would be the " Mound of Judasa," hence
" of the Jewish people, Jewry 1"
The true Tell el Yaliud " mound of the Jews/' is about
twelve miles away, three miles south-west of Belbes, on the
south side of the Ismailiyeh Canal, and opposite the village
of El Geteh. Owing to its situation on the edge of the
desert, the excavated pits of the sabbdkMn become entirely
filled with sand, and have to be reopened every year. Some
fresh workings showed only Eoman remains, and no definite
antiquities beyond a few illegible coins were to be seen or
heard of. The sibakh is carried across the canal by ferry-
boats.
Note B.
The word jezireh (plural jezdir) will be frequently met
with in the memoir, and needs explanation.
ijij>. in Arabic, means nothing more or less than an
island, properly speaking surrounded by water, and this is
practically the only meaning given in even the most complete
dictionaries. In Egypt the word jezireh has a special appli-
cation to the islands of sand which crop up here and there
above the alluvium, both at the edge of the desert and else-
where, even in the central districts of the Delta. It thus
enters into the formation of many place-names.
"When a workman digging in the neighbourhood of a jezireh
has passed through the alluvium into sand, he will sometimes
say, " the jezireh is visible," instead of " the sand is visible,"
showing that he recognizes the increase of the alluvial
deposit. Similarly sand met with in digging near the edge
of the desert jebel is called jebel.
Mr. Petrie1 has noted the combined effect of denudation of
the sand and accumulation of alluvium in reducing the real
and relative height of the sand islands. Most of them are
only from a few inches to a few feet high, and it cannot be
very long before they will be swallowed up if the soil con-
tinues to rise at the rate of four inches in a century.
While upon this point I will state a further matter of
importance for the geography and archaeology of the Delta.
It seems that :—
(a) In the earliest times, before canals were invented, the
would-be settlers were absolutely forced to secure their
habitations from the yearly floods by making them on the
sand islands or on the edge of the desert.
(b) Later, as the artificial canal system came into use, and
means were employed for irrigation and drainage, the danger
of settling upon the alluvium was reduced, and the advantage
of being in the middle of the fields became greater. Once
built, the mud-brick village or town rose steadily on its own
rubbish; but still, cceteris paribus, the sand island was
naturally preferred.
(c) At the present day numbers of 'Ezab (f hamlets,'
sing. 'Ezbeh) and villages are being planted upon the alluvium,
and in many cases they are perfectly safe. Thus the jezireh
has almost entirely lost its importance.
So far I have given no instances ; unfortunately there is
one great difficulty in the way of illustrating these state-
ments :—In the case of early cities it is seldom possible to
reach the subsoil of the foundation. The explorer may take
advantage of the deepest sibdkh-'pit and dig many more feet
into the rubbish, but, before any sign of the base appears,
water is reached, and all further research in that direction
has to be abandoned. Beginning with the easiest, I will first
consider the case of—
Founding on the alluvium.—In modern times very frequent
in the Delta and seldom attended with bad results except in
marshy, ill-drained districts. The dwellings are raised on a
slight artificial mound. Sites of ancient towns, old forts or
walls, canal-banks or their bases, and small waste patches are
chosen in preference to a jezireh for the convenience of being
in the midst of the crops and pastures, and near running
water.
However, the 'Ezbeh of Muhammad en Xebesheh (who died
in 1888), having been twice founded in the open fields, but
each time invaded by floods, was finally removed to a safe
situation on the edge of a jezireh.
In ancient times the only instance known to me is that of
Kaueratis, founded in the 7th century B.C. The whole of
the excavated portion2 lies on hard alluvial mud; and this
portion includes the temples of Apollo, Hera, the Dioscuri, <
and Aphrodite, and may well be the most ancient quarter.
Pits dug elsewhere passed through rubbish into water, but
there was nowhere any indication of a sand basis. The
cemetery, too, was an artificial heap of soil. The sand-
islands in the neighbourhood are all west and south-west
of Naucratis.
Foundation on a jezireh.—Excluding shallow desert sites
like Defeneh and Qantarah, which may be easily fathomed,
1 Nebesheh § 2-3.
2 Naucratis I. PI. XL.