DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.410#0045
CHAP. III.—GREEK AND ROMAN TANIS, AND DISTRIBUTION OF FINDS.
35
was made in the north end of'the mound on which
my house was built, on the southern side of the
road approaching the temple. A set of bronze
weights was found there 5, 2, and 1 Teat; also
an agate ring; a blue porcelain Tahuti; a blue
glass bead ; and a scarab (pi. xii. 9). It is very
rare to get a set of weights all in one place. This
lot is in the British Museum.
44. Of the Eoman period there is a large
number of houses, but in general the objects are
not so good as in the Ptolemaic houses. The
earliest Eoman houses appear to be the group in the
temple area (Plan, h); but these produced nothing
except a coin of Agrippina the younger struck at
Alexandria, and with that a figure of Bes in blue
pottery, and a piece of a blue cup. These are
useful as dated specimens of this ware.
Another site of early Roman age is on the west
mounds, between the high Ptolemaic mound on
which my house stands and the river. In the
south-west mounds some digging brought to
light a very fine terra-cotta of Europa on the
bull: the head is lost, but the pose and swing of
the work is of the best. (This is now at Bulak).
Along with this was found the breasts of a figure
of Bes, of fine work, in blue porcelain; a head of
Ptah, with the scarab on the top in terra-cotta ; an
undraped female figure in terra-cotta; a cup, 2| in.
diameter, of thin bronze; small figures of a
hawk and of Horus in bronze, part of a ring,
and a large brass Alexandrian imperial coin; a
scarab inscribed " Shu, son of Ra" (pi. xii. 52);
and two small beads of polished rock crystal and
carnelian. A large quantity of pottery was also
found here, which remains to be brought. (Find 64.)
The great find of mid-Roman period, the house
of Bak-akhuiu, we will leave aside at present, with
the next house to that, as they require a fuller
notice than in a mere list.
On the top of the high mound on the southern
side of the gap east of the temple are many
Roman houses. In one of these a large quantity
of pottery was found, and with it some small
objects now in the British Museum. The best
thing here was the upper part (2f ins. high) of a
marble statuette of Venus (Frontispiece, 6); below
the waist it was broken anciently, and within late
years the Arabs in digging had broken off the
head, one arm, and the other hand; but the style
of the work makes even the remaining fragment
of value. The attitude has been with the head
leaning to one side, the right arm raised high,
and the left bent upward from the elbow, the
hands holding the locks of hair, which fell down
and touched the shoulders; the grace of the atti-
tude, the delicate fullness of the contours, the
folds of the skin, owing to the body being bent to
one side, and the finish of the whole work, show
it to have been of the best Grseco-Roman style.
With it were found the following objects in bone,—
a turned disc (for inlaying in a box ?), a turned
cylinder (from a piece of furniture ?), and a hair-pin
with a head carved at the end; also a disc of turned
wood; in glass, a piece of the bottom of a bowl with a
ring foot to it, ornamented with a ground-out scroll
on the inside; and a small dump of pale purple
glass, stamped with a device now indistinguish-
able. In glazed pottery was found a curious pen-
dant (2^ in. long) of Bast; on the upper part of it
the lion's head of Bast, on the stem a standing
figure of Bast in relief, and at the bottom the
aegis of Bast; also a disc of green pottery, with
three small holes in the edge for stitching on ; a
single and a quadruple sacred eye; and a draughts-
man. In bronze, three Ptolemaic and early
Roman coins. This find (No. 22) is interesting
as showing contemporaneous objects.
At Tell Atrib (Athribis, Benha) there still
remains a large mound of refuse thrown away
during the second century a.d., though a vast
amount has been removed from this site. In this
mound I found several objects near together, and
from indications I dated it as about the time of Corn-
modus. This dating is confirmed by my finding
afterwards, at San, pottery exactly similar (both
red and glazed), in a house (Bakakhuiu's), which
is quite independently dated in the end of the
f 2
35
was made in the north end of'the mound on which
my house was built, on the southern side of the
road approaching the temple. A set of bronze
weights was found there 5, 2, and 1 Teat; also
an agate ring; a blue porcelain Tahuti; a blue
glass bead ; and a scarab (pi. xii. 9). It is very
rare to get a set of weights all in one place. This
lot is in the British Museum.
44. Of the Eoman period there is a large
number of houses, but in general the objects are
not so good as in the Ptolemaic houses. The
earliest Eoman houses appear to be the group in the
temple area (Plan, h); but these produced nothing
except a coin of Agrippina the younger struck at
Alexandria, and with that a figure of Bes in blue
pottery, and a piece of a blue cup. These are
useful as dated specimens of this ware.
Another site of early Roman age is on the west
mounds, between the high Ptolemaic mound on
which my house stands and the river. In the
south-west mounds some digging brought to
light a very fine terra-cotta of Europa on the
bull: the head is lost, but the pose and swing of
the work is of the best. (This is now at Bulak).
Along with this was found the breasts of a figure
of Bes, of fine work, in blue porcelain; a head of
Ptah, with the scarab on the top in terra-cotta ; an
undraped female figure in terra-cotta; a cup, 2| in.
diameter, of thin bronze; small figures of a
hawk and of Horus in bronze, part of a ring,
and a large brass Alexandrian imperial coin; a
scarab inscribed " Shu, son of Ra" (pi. xii. 52);
and two small beads of polished rock crystal and
carnelian. A large quantity of pottery was also
found here, which remains to be brought. (Find 64.)
The great find of mid-Roman period, the house
of Bak-akhuiu, we will leave aside at present, with
the next house to that, as they require a fuller
notice than in a mere list.
On the top of the high mound on the southern
side of the gap east of the temple are many
Roman houses. In one of these a large quantity
of pottery was found, and with it some small
objects now in the British Museum. The best
thing here was the upper part (2f ins. high) of a
marble statuette of Venus (Frontispiece, 6); below
the waist it was broken anciently, and within late
years the Arabs in digging had broken off the
head, one arm, and the other hand; but the style
of the work makes even the remaining fragment
of value. The attitude has been with the head
leaning to one side, the right arm raised high,
and the left bent upward from the elbow, the
hands holding the locks of hair, which fell down
and touched the shoulders; the grace of the atti-
tude, the delicate fullness of the contours, the
folds of the skin, owing to the body being bent to
one side, and the finish of the whole work, show
it to have been of the best Grseco-Roman style.
With it were found the following objects in bone,—
a turned disc (for inlaying in a box ?), a turned
cylinder (from a piece of furniture ?), and a hair-pin
with a head carved at the end; also a disc of turned
wood; in glass, a piece of the bottom of a bowl with a
ring foot to it, ornamented with a ground-out scroll
on the inside; and a small dump of pale purple
glass, stamped with a device now indistinguish-
able. In glazed pottery was found a curious pen-
dant (2^ in. long) of Bast; on the upper part of it
the lion's head of Bast, on the stem a standing
figure of Bast in relief, and at the bottom the
aegis of Bast; also a disc of green pottery, with
three small holes in the edge for stitching on ; a
single and a quadruple sacred eye; and a draughts-
man. In bronze, three Ptolemaic and early
Roman coins. This find (No. 22) is interesting
as showing contemporaneous objects.
At Tell Atrib (Athribis, Benha) there still
remains a large mound of refuse thrown away
during the second century a.d., though a vast
amount has been removed from this site. In this
mound I found several objects near together, and
from indications I dated it as about the time of Corn-
modus. This dating is confirmed by my finding
afterwards, at San, pottery exactly similar (both
red and glazed), in a house (Bakakhuiu's), which
is quite independently dated in the end of the
f 2