DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6640#0076
62
BUBASTIS.
dition o£ the empire under the Bubastites. It
is clear that it was only in a time of peace
and prosperity that such gorgeous liberalities
could be made to the temples.
Reverting to the horizontal inscription, it is
remarkable through several new words and
some unknown signs, which make the loss of
the greatest part of the text the more to be
regretted. L. 5 mentions the tributes of two
of the oases, El Khargeh and Dakhel.3 This
tribute consists of several kinds of wine.4 L. 3
there is a chronological indication, where un-
fortunately we have lost an important datum,
the name of the month : from the first year, the
7th of . . ., to the 4?th year, the 2bth of Mesori,
ivhich makes 3 years, 3 month*, and 16 days . . .
Whatever name of the month is taken to fill up
the gap, it does not correspond exactly to this
number of months and days.
We end here the description of the antiquities
and of the texts discovered at Bubastis. As
we have shown, they extend from the fourth
dynasty to the Romans. Twenty-five kings are
mentioned, from Cheops to Ptolemy Bpiphanes,
one of them, Ian-Ra, being quite unknown
before. It is possible that other royal names may
be discovered on the small objects found by the
3 Brugsch, Keise nach der grossen Oase, pp. GO, 69.
* Brugsch, 1. 1, p. 79.
fellaheen digging for " sebakh." There are
some, for instance, in Mr. Hilton Price's col-
lection, which comes chiefly from Tell Basta.
In my last visit to the place I purchased from
a fellah a small porcelain tablet, which I gave
to the museum of Ghizeh, and which bears on
one side
11=Q]
the
good god, the lord of Egypt, Darius, everlasting,
and on the other ^.^S. Mahes, the very
brave, the lord of (Bast). Large scarabs of
Amenophis III., even the so-called marriage
scarabs of the king, are not rare. They come
from the tombs which are under the Roman
houses, and are often met with by the fellaheen.
The discovery of these tombs was originally
the purpose which attracted me to Bubastis, but
I very soon gave them up for the great temple,
which has been excavated so thoroughly during
more than two winters, that in my opinion any
further excavation there would be entirely
devoid of result. I do not think there is any
more work to be done in the great sanctuary of
Bast, which proved to be one of the richest
places of Lower Egypt, only to be compared
with Tanis. It is a striking example of the
archaeological treasures which lie buried in the
Delta, and which only wait for the pick and
spade of the scientific explorer.
BUBASTIS.
dition o£ the empire under the Bubastites. It
is clear that it was only in a time of peace
and prosperity that such gorgeous liberalities
could be made to the temples.
Reverting to the horizontal inscription, it is
remarkable through several new words and
some unknown signs, which make the loss of
the greatest part of the text the more to be
regretted. L. 5 mentions the tributes of two
of the oases, El Khargeh and Dakhel.3 This
tribute consists of several kinds of wine.4 L. 3
there is a chronological indication, where un-
fortunately we have lost an important datum,
the name of the month : from the first year, the
7th of . . ., to the 4?th year, the 2bth of Mesori,
ivhich makes 3 years, 3 month*, and 16 days . . .
Whatever name of the month is taken to fill up
the gap, it does not correspond exactly to this
number of months and days.
We end here the description of the antiquities
and of the texts discovered at Bubastis. As
we have shown, they extend from the fourth
dynasty to the Romans. Twenty-five kings are
mentioned, from Cheops to Ptolemy Bpiphanes,
one of them, Ian-Ra, being quite unknown
before. It is possible that other royal names may
be discovered on the small objects found by the
3 Brugsch, Keise nach der grossen Oase, pp. GO, 69.
* Brugsch, 1. 1, p. 79.
fellaheen digging for " sebakh." There are
some, for instance, in Mr. Hilton Price's col-
lection, which comes chiefly from Tell Basta.
In my last visit to the place I purchased from
a fellah a small porcelain tablet, which I gave
to the museum of Ghizeh, and which bears on
one side
11=Q]
the
good god, the lord of Egypt, Darius, everlasting,
and on the other ^.^S. Mahes, the very
brave, the lord of (Bast). Large scarabs of
Amenophis III., even the so-called marriage
scarabs of the king, are not rare. They come
from the tombs which are under the Roman
houses, and are often met with by the fellaheen.
The discovery of these tombs was originally
the purpose which attracted me to Bubastis, but
I very soon gave them up for the great temple,
which has been excavated so thoroughly during
more than two winters, that in my opinion any
further excavation there would be entirely
devoid of result. I do not think there is any
more work to be done in the great sanctuary of
Bast, which proved to be one of the richest
places of Lower Egypt, only to be compared
with Tanis. It is a striking example of the
archaeological treasures which lie buried in the
Delta, and which only wait for the pick and
spade of the scientific explorer.