DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4031#0028
MENDES.
The two mounds situate near the present
station of Simbillaouin, and separated by a
small village, bear the collective name of Tmei
el Amdid. Nevertheless, these two mounds
mark the sites of two different cities. The
southern mound, distinguished by the more
markedly Soman characteristics of appearance,
was called Temi, ^i', in the Middle Ages, and
is now called Tell Ibn es Saldm. It is the
ruins of the ancient city of Thmuis. The
northern mound has a decidedly Pharaonic
character. It was known as El Mondid, iWdJUJI,
in the Middle Ages, afterwards as Tell Boba,
and is the site of the ancient Mendes. These
two important cities stood close to each other;
and although they may have co-existed in the
time of Herodotus, Mendes was the first, the
oldest; it was the capital of the nome, and
gave its name to the province. Later on, under
the Romans, we find that Thmuis is pre-
eminent, while Mendes has fallen into the
shade.
In the first place, lot us consider the infor-
mation to be derived from classical sources
with regard to these two cities. Herodotus 1
mentions the Mendesian mouth of the Nile as
not originating at the apex of the Delta, but
from the Sebennytic branch. He also speaks
of the Mendesian nome, and of the local cult of
the city, and says that this nome, together
with several others in Lower Egypt, was
allotted to those whom he calls the Calasirians,
who constituted a division of the military caste.
1 Lib. ii., 17, 42, 43, 1(16.
Among the nomes belonging to this military
caste, he also mentions that of Thmuis,
&fioviTr)<;; but this is evidently a mistake, and
the solitary mention of any such nome. In
his enumeration, Herodotus has given us the
same nome twice over under different names.
Strabo 2 twice refers to the city and nome of
Mendes as being in the vicinity of the city and
nome of Leontopolis. Ptolemy, the geographer,
gives us the position of the nome of Mendes,
to which he assigns Thmuis as the capital.3
Already in his time this last city had superseded
the ancient capital; and, judging from the
extent of its ruins, it must have been a city as
large as Mendes. Thmuis is mentioned by
Josephus4 as one of the places where Titus
encamped on his march against Palestine.
The Roman general used the Mendesian branch
of the Nile for the transport of his troops. Its
navigation would seem to have afforded an easy
access to the sea even for a large fleet, since it
was at this mouth of the river that Nectanebo,
the last native king of Egypt, fought his
desperate battle against the Persian troops of
Pharnabazus, under the command of the
Athenian general Iphicrates. This battle sealed
the fate of Egypt, for from that time onwards
the prophecy of Ezekiel was fulfilled, and no
native ruler evermore reigned in the land.
The prosperity of Thmuis is indicated by
2 P. 802, 812.
;i MevSiycrtos vojxos xat (jltjtpottoXls ©/aoi/i's. PtoL, p. 124.
4 'AvairXei Sta tov NetAou Kara rov ~Mev8rjcri.ov vofjioy ^XP1
7roAeoK ©/zoijews. Bell. Jud., 1. iv., chap. 42, ed. Froben,
The two mounds situate near the present
station of Simbillaouin, and separated by a
small village, bear the collective name of Tmei
el Amdid. Nevertheless, these two mounds
mark the sites of two different cities. The
southern mound, distinguished by the more
markedly Soman characteristics of appearance,
was called Temi, ^i', in the Middle Ages, and
is now called Tell Ibn es Saldm. It is the
ruins of the ancient city of Thmuis. The
northern mound has a decidedly Pharaonic
character. It was known as El Mondid, iWdJUJI,
in the Middle Ages, afterwards as Tell Boba,
and is the site of the ancient Mendes. These
two important cities stood close to each other;
and although they may have co-existed in the
time of Herodotus, Mendes was the first, the
oldest; it was the capital of the nome, and
gave its name to the province. Later on, under
the Romans, we find that Thmuis is pre-
eminent, while Mendes has fallen into the
shade.
In the first place, lot us consider the infor-
mation to be derived from classical sources
with regard to these two cities. Herodotus 1
mentions the Mendesian mouth of the Nile as
not originating at the apex of the Delta, but
from the Sebennytic branch. He also speaks
of the Mendesian nome, and of the local cult of
the city, and says that this nome, together
with several others in Lower Egypt, was
allotted to those whom he calls the Calasirians,
who constituted a division of the military caste.
1 Lib. ii., 17, 42, 43, 1(16.
Among the nomes belonging to this military
caste, he also mentions that of Thmuis,
&fioviTr)<;; but this is evidently a mistake, and
the solitary mention of any such nome. In
his enumeration, Herodotus has given us the
same nome twice over under different names.
Strabo 2 twice refers to the city and nome of
Mendes as being in the vicinity of the city and
nome of Leontopolis. Ptolemy, the geographer,
gives us the position of the nome of Mendes,
to which he assigns Thmuis as the capital.3
Already in his time this last city had superseded
the ancient capital; and, judging from the
extent of its ruins, it must have been a city as
large as Mendes. Thmuis is mentioned by
Josephus4 as one of the places where Titus
encamped on his march against Palestine.
The Roman general used the Mendesian branch
of the Nile for the transport of his troops. Its
navigation would seem to have afforded an easy
access to the sea even for a large fleet, since it
was at this mouth of the river that Nectanebo,
the last native king of Egypt, fought his
desperate battle against the Persian troops of
Pharnabazus, under the command of the
Athenian general Iphicrates. This battle sealed
the fate of Egypt, for from that time onwards
the prophecy of Ezekiel was fulfilled, and no
native ruler evermore reigned in the land.
The prosperity of Thmuis is indicated by
2 P. 802, 812.
;i MevSiycrtos vojxos xat (jltjtpottoXls ©/aoi/i's. PtoL, p. 124.
4 'AvairXei Sta tov NetAou Kara rov ~Mev8rjcri.ov vofjioy ^XP1
7roAeoK ©/zoijews. Bell. Jud., 1. iv., chap. 42, ed. Froben,