Naville, Edouard; Tylor, J. J. [Hrsg.]; Griffith, Francis Ll. [Hrsg.]: Ahnas el Medineh: (Heracleopolis Magna) ; with chapters on Mendes, the nome of Thoth, and Leontopolis; [beigefügtes Werk]: The tomb of Paheri : at el Kab / by J. J. Tylor and F. L. Griffith (London, 1894)

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LEONTOPOLIS.

One of the most beautiful parts of the Delta
is the region south of the city of Mit Ghamr
on the right side of the Damietta branch of the
Nile. There, the lofty date-palms, the mag-
nificent sycamore trees overshadowing the
villages, the splendid gardens where peach and
almond-trees are in full blossom in the month
of March—all these natural beauties attract
the eye of the traveller and bear witness to
the rich fertility of the soil of Egypt. In the
midst of this fine country, about six miles from
Mit Ghamr, rise extensive mounds known as
Tell Mokdam, and covering an area of several
hundred acres. Tn spite of the constant
digging for sebakh, they have not yet been
reduced as much as many others. Patches
which have never been touched tower to a
height of more than sixty feet, and the whole
mound is a labyrinth of hills and valleys
through which it is difficult to find one's way.

Tell Mokdam has been known for many
years. Excavations were made there in Ma-
riette's time, and the fellaheen digging for
sebakh had come across an old cemetery among
the houses. Two inscribed coffins of late
epoch were found. One of them, a very large
one in black granite, is still on the spot. The
natives also discovered the base of a statue in
black granite, which is now in the Ghizeh
Museum, where it was brought last year by
Count d'Hulst, at the expense of the Fund.

The coffin gives several geographical names,1
but we are uncertain as to the Egyptian nome

1 Mariette, Mem., pi. lxiii.

to which they belonged. The place seems to

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have been called 0 tk © Aahhennu, and to

have had as divinities Osiris under the form of
a lion, called Arihes, and Amon. The fact of
the lion's being worshipped there gives proba-
bility to the view expressed by several writers
to the effect that we must consider it as being
the site of the Leontopolis of Strabo, the more
so since the Oxford list of bishoprics gives
Saharagt as the Arabic equivalent of the Coptic
names ^eorfTion, T^iourtTuurf.2 The present
village of Saharagt el Koubra, on the Damietta
branch of the Nile, about twelve miles from
Benha, is close to Tell Mokdam. Tt is from
Saharagt that the Tell is best reached, coming
from the south. We do not know with
certainty to which nome this city must be
attributed. Tt does not seem to have been the
capital of an Egyptian province, though it was
certainly a provincial capital in the time of the
Antonines, since there are nome coins with the
name of Leontopolis.3 They bear either a lion
or a man holding a lion in his hand. I agree
with M. J. de Rouge that Leontopolis probably
formed part of the nome of Athribis, now
Benha.

It is to this city that we must apply the
information found in Aelianus, as to the worship
of lions in Egypt. He says that " in Egypt
lions are worshipped, and there is a city which
derives its name from that animal . . . the lions
have temples and numerous habitations . . .

2 J. de Rouge, Geogr., p. 155.

3 Tochon, I.e., p. 169; J. de Rouge, Monnaiex, p. 47.

E 2