DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4143#0010
NORTHERN HALF OF MIDDLE PLATFORM.
at last absolutely cleared. The time spent on the
clearance will give some idea of the amount of
rubbish which lay heaped upon the spot.
In 1893, before our work was begun, the Terrace
which runs along the Upper Court was covered with
ruins of Coptic buildings. The Middle Platform had
been filled up level by pulling down and breaking
up the walls of the Pharaonic temple, and the remains
of the convent extended on this higher level over
the Middle Colonnade and the upper part of the
Causeway. Beyond, the rubbish rose in high mounds,
the top layers consisting of the debris thrown there
by Mariette when he excavated the southern side of
the temple. With the exception of two capitals,
the whole of the Northern Colonnade was entirely
hidden in the debris, and no one could tell its
length, nor where and how it ended. The corner of
the retaining wall of the Upper Terrace was visible,
and a few of the square pillars along that wall.
In the corner towards the Anubis Shrine, M. Maunier,
the French consular agent, had excavated two mummy-
pits and discovered several coffins. This was about
the year 1854, and in 1893 the refuse of his excavation
was still to be seen. Mariette, following in his foot-
steps, penetrated into the Hypostyle Hall, the vestibule
of the Anubis Shrine, which was full of mummies of a
late epoch. These he removed, leaving behind the
rough stone coffins which had contained them. He
did not, however, clear out the Hypostyle Hall; he
left it full of earth, and as rubbish had fallen from
the adjacent mounds, it was barely possible to creep
into it beneath the architraves. Mariette also dis-
covered the westernmost columns of the Northern
Colonnade, and the entrance to the first chamber
behind them. This appears in the plan made by his
architect, M. Brune.
The materials of which these high mounds were
composed were of various kinds. At the top were
the debris from Mariette's excavations : further down
was rubbish, being waste matter and ashes from the
Coptic convent. At this level we collected ostraca
and inscribed pieces of limestone, most of which had
been through fire. Beneath the convent itself were
blocks and fragments of stone from walls broken
down by the Copts in order to fill up the Platform
and raise the level for the continuation of their own
buildings. A great deal of loose rubbish must have
fallen from the cliffs before the Copts came. It
covered burials, of which we found many dating as
far back as the Saite period. Finally, there were
enormous heaps of limestone chips from the moun-
tain, unmixed, and apparently untouched. Doubtless
they were contemporary with the construction of the
temple; this part of the temple having been built last
of all, and never finished. In the Northern Colonnade
the architrave was not carried further than the eighth
column ; it remained roofless ; no paintings nor sculp-
tures adorned the chambers prepared for them. In
the Hypostyle Hall, the vestibule of the Anubis Shrine,
a dedicatory inscription on one of the columns was
left off before the cartouche of the queen was finished.
Evidently, the completion of the building had been pre-
vented by the death of the queen or some other political
event; the result was that the heaps of chips produced
by the levelling of the ground for the pavement and
from the cutting down of the rock where the wall was
to be built against it, were left where they lay.
Strange to say, no one took the trouble to remove
them. This part of the temple, therefore, has never
been so fully displayed as at the present time.
In the course of the excavations we found that the
rubbish mounds had been used for a burial-ground, as
indeed was the case with the whole of the temple, in
which many mummy-pits had been dug, chiefly for
the priests of Mentu. On the top were Coptic
mummies. The bodies were wrapped in linen, with
thick exterior bandages, but without amulets or orna-
ments. Several wooden labels inscribsd in Coptic
or Greek proved the late date of these burials. A
few wore of a richer class.1 On the outer wrapping
in front was sewn a painted cloth, reaching to be-
low the waist, with a mask for the head. On the
mask was moulded a wreath of flowers. These
mummies are doubtless Christian. To one of them
a Coptic label was attached by a piece of string.
The hands, also painted, hold an ear of corn and a
glass containing red liquid, i.e. wine. These two
symbols I take to be those of the Eucharist; but
here, as in the paintings in the catacombs at Koine,
there is a mixture of Pagan symbols with the
Christian. Below the waist is painted the boat of
Sokaris, with a figure of Anubis on either side.
Underneath the Coptic burials were some Pharaonic
interments, many being in rude mummy-shaped
coffins, with painted heads. Most of them seem to
1 See Archaeological Report, 1894-5, pi. ii.
at last absolutely cleared. The time spent on the
clearance will give some idea of the amount of
rubbish which lay heaped upon the spot.
In 1893, before our work was begun, the Terrace
which runs along the Upper Court was covered with
ruins of Coptic buildings. The Middle Platform had
been filled up level by pulling down and breaking
up the walls of the Pharaonic temple, and the remains
of the convent extended on this higher level over
the Middle Colonnade and the upper part of the
Causeway. Beyond, the rubbish rose in high mounds,
the top layers consisting of the debris thrown there
by Mariette when he excavated the southern side of
the temple. With the exception of two capitals,
the whole of the Northern Colonnade was entirely
hidden in the debris, and no one could tell its
length, nor where and how it ended. The corner of
the retaining wall of the Upper Terrace was visible,
and a few of the square pillars along that wall.
In the corner towards the Anubis Shrine, M. Maunier,
the French consular agent, had excavated two mummy-
pits and discovered several coffins. This was about
the year 1854, and in 1893 the refuse of his excavation
was still to be seen. Mariette, following in his foot-
steps, penetrated into the Hypostyle Hall, the vestibule
of the Anubis Shrine, which was full of mummies of a
late epoch. These he removed, leaving behind the
rough stone coffins which had contained them. He
did not, however, clear out the Hypostyle Hall; he
left it full of earth, and as rubbish had fallen from
the adjacent mounds, it was barely possible to creep
into it beneath the architraves. Mariette also dis-
covered the westernmost columns of the Northern
Colonnade, and the entrance to the first chamber
behind them. This appears in the plan made by his
architect, M. Brune.
The materials of which these high mounds were
composed were of various kinds. At the top were
the debris from Mariette's excavations : further down
was rubbish, being waste matter and ashes from the
Coptic convent. At this level we collected ostraca
and inscribed pieces of limestone, most of which had
been through fire. Beneath the convent itself were
blocks and fragments of stone from walls broken
down by the Copts in order to fill up the Platform
and raise the level for the continuation of their own
buildings. A great deal of loose rubbish must have
fallen from the cliffs before the Copts came. It
covered burials, of which we found many dating as
far back as the Saite period. Finally, there were
enormous heaps of limestone chips from the moun-
tain, unmixed, and apparently untouched. Doubtless
they were contemporary with the construction of the
temple; this part of the temple having been built last
of all, and never finished. In the Northern Colonnade
the architrave was not carried further than the eighth
column ; it remained roofless ; no paintings nor sculp-
tures adorned the chambers prepared for them. In
the Hypostyle Hall, the vestibule of the Anubis Shrine,
a dedicatory inscription on one of the columns was
left off before the cartouche of the queen was finished.
Evidently, the completion of the building had been pre-
vented by the death of the queen or some other political
event; the result was that the heaps of chips produced
by the levelling of the ground for the pavement and
from the cutting down of the rock where the wall was
to be built against it, were left where they lay.
Strange to say, no one took the trouble to remove
them. This part of the temple, therefore, has never
been so fully displayed as at the present time.
In the course of the excavations we found that the
rubbish mounds had been used for a burial-ground, as
indeed was the case with the whole of the temple, in
which many mummy-pits had been dug, chiefly for
the priests of Mentu. On the top were Coptic
mummies. The bodies were wrapped in linen, with
thick exterior bandages, but without amulets or orna-
ments. Several wooden labels inscribsd in Coptic
or Greek proved the late date of these burials. A
few wore of a richer class.1 On the outer wrapping
in front was sewn a painted cloth, reaching to be-
low the waist, with a mask for the head. On the
mask was moulded a wreath of flowers. These
mummies are doubtless Christian. To one of them
a Coptic label was attached by a piece of string.
The hands, also painted, hold an ear of corn and a
glass containing red liquid, i.e. wine. These two
symbols I take to be those of the Eucharist; but
here, as in the paintings in the catacombs at Koine,
there is a mixture of Pagan symbols with the
Christian. Below the waist is painted the boat of
Sokaris, with a figure of Anubis on either side.
Underneath the Coptic burials were some Pharaonic
interments, many being in rude mummy-shaped
coffins, with painted heads. Most of them seem to
1 See Archaeological Report, 1894-5, pi. ii.