DOI article:
Myśliwiec, Karol: Tell Atrib 1994
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.26424#0045
with bared pubic regions as well as images of Harpokrates
occurring in great abundance and iconographic variety, and almost
always combining Greek and Egyptian elements, finally the phallic
character of male figurines whether dressed in Greek robes or in
typically Old Egyptian ones (e.g. Bes), testify to an assimilation of
Hellenic and Pharaonic fertility cults for the purpose of the
common people who must have differed ethnically from the
population of Alexandria. There were apparently more Hellenized
Egyptians in this region living alongside the Greeks to whom
Egyptian tradition was not totally foreign.
It cannot be excluded that the local workshops also
produced elaborate faience vessels for the needs of the Dionysiac
cult. Numerous pieces including workshop discards with supports
under the base were uncovered during the present campaign,
particularly in layers from the turn of the 3^ century B.C. The
same layers contained fragments of monumental stone architecture,
e.g. a large fragment of a granite column lying in the southeastern
corner of square FFF. These fragments presumably found
themselves in the workshop district as material for the production
of vessels and small basins used primarily in the nearby baths.
The southern part of the explored area (square FFF)
provided the most surprising finds. Under an exceptionally thick
mixed layer, reaching over 1.5 m below ground level, mudbrick
walls were discovered, preserved in the lowermost courses. At this
level the coins were all of Ptolemy II to IV. In the bottom part of
the layer two large pottery deposits were discovered. One contained
an assemblage which unquestionably served bathing purposes:
small vessels used to draw water, bottles for olive oil, ointments
or unguents, a container with a strainer included. Miniature
amphoras repeating shapes known from Tell Atrib in much larger
size were found in the deposit; obviously they must have served as
models for the amphoras produced in local workshops. Next to the
deposit there was a two-handled pot found standing, characterized
43
occurring in great abundance and iconographic variety, and almost
always combining Greek and Egyptian elements, finally the phallic
character of male figurines whether dressed in Greek robes or in
typically Old Egyptian ones (e.g. Bes), testify to an assimilation of
Hellenic and Pharaonic fertility cults for the purpose of the
common people who must have differed ethnically from the
population of Alexandria. There were apparently more Hellenized
Egyptians in this region living alongside the Greeks to whom
Egyptian tradition was not totally foreign.
It cannot be excluded that the local workshops also
produced elaborate faience vessels for the needs of the Dionysiac
cult. Numerous pieces including workshop discards with supports
under the base were uncovered during the present campaign,
particularly in layers from the turn of the 3^ century B.C. The
same layers contained fragments of monumental stone architecture,
e.g. a large fragment of a granite column lying in the southeastern
corner of square FFF. These fragments presumably found
themselves in the workshop district as material for the production
of vessels and small basins used primarily in the nearby baths.
The southern part of the explored area (square FFF)
provided the most surprising finds. Under an exceptionally thick
mixed layer, reaching over 1.5 m below ground level, mudbrick
walls were discovered, preserved in the lowermost courses. At this
level the coins were all of Ptolemy II to IV. In the bottom part of
the layer two large pottery deposits were discovered. One contained
an assemblage which unquestionably served bathing purposes:
small vessels used to draw water, bottles for olive oil, ointments
or unguents, a container with a strainer included. Miniature
amphoras repeating shapes known from Tell Atrib in much larger
size were found in the deposit; obviously they must have served as
models for the amphoras produced in local workshops. Next to the
deposit there was a two-handled pot found standing, characterized
43