DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.410#0014
TANIS.
CHAPTER I.
SAN BEFORE THE EMPIEE.
4. The earliest knowledge of San that we at
present have, is in the well-known statement in
the Book of Numbers (xiii. 22), that Hebron was
built seven years later than Zoan. This coupling
of it with a Palestinian city shows that the build-
ing must refer to a settlement by Shemites, and
not by Egyptians ; and, considering the age of
Hebron, it probably refers to the settlement before
the eleventh dynasty. At the time of its settlement
it was a saddle-shaped sandy island or "gezireh"
in the midst of the delta mud; it lay beside the
river, and the sea may then have reached up to it.
The highest parts were on each side of the
present temple, north and south of it, and rose
some thirty or forty feet above the plain; this
being the highest islet for many miles around.
In the hollow between these dunes was a sandy
plain, in which the temple of the twelfth dy-
nasty stood, and which was probably the site of
the earliest settlement. The temple of the first
town being a sacred site, later temples would
occupy it again, and as they spread in size and
magnificence, they most likely obliterated the
traces of the primitive town. Hence we can
hardly expect to find much of any town before
the twelfth dynasty, by which time the temple
was of considerable size.
5. Among the ruins of the temple of San are,
however, two blocks bearing inscriptions of Merira-
Pepi; one known since the time of Burton (Plan
113, inscription No. 2), while the other I observed
this year (Plan, 96, inscr. No. 1). It does not
seem to be quite certain that these belong to the
well-known Pepi of the sixth dynasty, as it is
possible another king in the eighth dynasty may
have adopted the throne name, and employed the
variant of the personal name which is here used ;
since there was another king Pepi-Sneb in that
later period. But this is, on the whole, unlikely,
and we may accept these blocks as having
belonged to a building of Pepi, in the sixth
dynasty. The titles also are the same as in
the lower line of the horizontal inscription in
the pyramid of Pepi. This, however, does not
at all prove that there was a building of that
age at San; and two circumstances render it
more probable that these blocks (which have
been reworked in later times) were brought down
from ruins rather than from a quarry in Upper
Egypt, and that their first use was before, and
not after, their long journey to the coast. In
the first place, Pepi is here called " son of
Hathor, the lady of Ant," the modern Dendera.
Now this variant is not at all usual ; it nowhere
occurs in the pyramid of Pepi (at Memphis,
between Dendera and San), and the only instance
of it that I can localize is an alabaster lid (see
plate xii., fig. 1) which Prof. Sayce obtained at
Keneh, just opposite the town named on it. This
renders it more likely that this inscription
belonged to Dendera or its neighbourhood, than
to the far-distant San. Another point is that
the quality of the granite is peculiar; it is very
hard and unalterable, with green nuclei in it, and
there is scarcely any other block of the same
quality. If there had been a temple here, built
by Pepi, the granite would probably be alike
throughout, and there would be many pieces of
the same nature, though re-used. Hence it seems
that, until some more decisive proof of Pepi's
work here can be obtained, it is most likely that
the ruthless appropriator of obelisks and statues,
Ramessu II., did not object to having a few
convenient blocks looted from a ruined temple
at Dendera, of which the founder had been then
dead one or two thousand years.
6. The first piece of work as yet known to
belong to San is the red granite colossus of
Amenemhat I., the first king of the twelfth
dynasty (Plan, 103). This is broken in three
pieces, the head (pi. xiii. 1), chest, and throne.
The granite is of a dull brick-red, and somewhat
badly weathered on the feet, though the head
is perfect. On the back Amenemhat is named
CHAPTER I.
SAN BEFORE THE EMPIEE.
4. The earliest knowledge of San that we at
present have, is in the well-known statement in
the Book of Numbers (xiii. 22), that Hebron was
built seven years later than Zoan. This coupling
of it with a Palestinian city shows that the build-
ing must refer to a settlement by Shemites, and
not by Egyptians ; and, considering the age of
Hebron, it probably refers to the settlement before
the eleventh dynasty. At the time of its settlement
it was a saddle-shaped sandy island or "gezireh"
in the midst of the delta mud; it lay beside the
river, and the sea may then have reached up to it.
The highest parts were on each side of the
present temple, north and south of it, and rose
some thirty or forty feet above the plain; this
being the highest islet for many miles around.
In the hollow between these dunes was a sandy
plain, in which the temple of the twelfth dy-
nasty stood, and which was probably the site of
the earliest settlement. The temple of the first
town being a sacred site, later temples would
occupy it again, and as they spread in size and
magnificence, they most likely obliterated the
traces of the primitive town. Hence we can
hardly expect to find much of any town before
the twelfth dynasty, by which time the temple
was of considerable size.
5. Among the ruins of the temple of San are,
however, two blocks bearing inscriptions of Merira-
Pepi; one known since the time of Burton (Plan
113, inscription No. 2), while the other I observed
this year (Plan, 96, inscr. No. 1). It does not
seem to be quite certain that these belong to the
well-known Pepi of the sixth dynasty, as it is
possible another king in the eighth dynasty may
have adopted the throne name, and employed the
variant of the personal name which is here used ;
since there was another king Pepi-Sneb in that
later period. But this is, on the whole, unlikely,
and we may accept these blocks as having
belonged to a building of Pepi, in the sixth
dynasty. The titles also are the same as in
the lower line of the horizontal inscription in
the pyramid of Pepi. This, however, does not
at all prove that there was a building of that
age at San; and two circumstances render it
more probable that these blocks (which have
been reworked in later times) were brought down
from ruins rather than from a quarry in Upper
Egypt, and that their first use was before, and
not after, their long journey to the coast. In
the first place, Pepi is here called " son of
Hathor, the lady of Ant," the modern Dendera.
Now this variant is not at all usual ; it nowhere
occurs in the pyramid of Pepi (at Memphis,
between Dendera and San), and the only instance
of it that I can localize is an alabaster lid (see
plate xii., fig. 1) which Prof. Sayce obtained at
Keneh, just opposite the town named on it. This
renders it more likely that this inscription
belonged to Dendera or its neighbourhood, than
to the far-distant San. Another point is that
the quality of the granite is peculiar; it is very
hard and unalterable, with green nuclei in it, and
there is scarcely any other block of the same
quality. If there had been a temple here, built
by Pepi, the granite would probably be alike
throughout, and there would be many pieces of
the same nature, though re-used. Hence it seems
that, until some more decisive proof of Pepi's
work here can be obtained, it is most likely that
the ruthless appropriator of obelisks and statues,
Ramessu II., did not object to having a few
convenient blocks looted from a ruined temple
at Dendera, of which the founder had been then
dead one or two thousand years.
6. The first piece of work as yet known to
belong to San is the red granite colossus of
Amenemhat I., the first king of the twelfth
dynasty (Plan, 103). This is broken in three
pieces, the head (pi. xiii. 1), chest, and throne.
The granite is of a dull brick-red, and somewhat
badly weathered on the feet, though the head
is perfect. On the back Amenemhat is named