DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.619#0103
94
KAUKRATIS.
it. That Tell Kadi is not an ancient site, and
therefore cannot represent Leontonpolis, which
may perhaps he found at a large enclosure N.E.
of this, called Tell Hekleh. And that no other
mound except Ed Dahariyeh exists around that
district to represent Nikiou.]
CHAPTER XII.
KOM AFRIN.
114. From the mounds of Naukratis may be
seen, six or seven miles away to the W.S.W., a
long ridge of a mound against the horizon, with
a cut at the S. end of it, leaving a projection like
the tooth of a saw. This mound is variously called
Tell Afrin, or Kom Afrin. It is marked, but not
named, on the War Office map, between the
welis of Sheikh Osman and Sidi Khayrallah. It
is within sight of the Libyan desert, on the
western boundary of the Delta. The whole site
is about a mile long, by half a mile wide; and
the most important part of it, the main town,
occupies the southern half of this area. It has
been fortified with a great wall of unbaked bricks,
which has, like a great part of the town, been
dug away by the Arabs for earth. The gap seen
from a distance is the space which was occupied
by the great wall on the southern side, and the
projection, like a saw tooth, is the bank of sand
and dust which was heaped against the wall, and
is now left with its upright face bare. The centre
of the town was occupied by a citadel, which
stood on an artificial mound of sand; the retaining
walls have all been cut away, and the sand now
forms a shapeless mass amid the ruins, strewn on
the top with chips of limestone. The greatest
depth of the excavations is about forty feet below
the top, and the greater part of an area about a
third of a mile each way has been removed.
Towards the south-east side there stood a large
temple, with a long avenue leading to it. This
has all been dug over by the Arabs, to extract the
fine limestone pavement of the temple and avenue;
and some years ago sphinxes were found at the
beginning of the avenue, and carried away on
carts by a pasha. On the north-east side are two
inclosures, walled in, beyond the great walls of
the town.
I was told that very few bronzes are found here;
but many statuettes of pottery and of limestone,
and fine scarabs. These indicated a town of the
twenty-sixth dynasty; and while at Naukratis
I obtained antiquities found at Kom Afrin which
confirmed this supposition.
115. First a limestone kneeling figure, with
inscriptions on the front and back, and on the
base. This I bought in Cairo; but afterwards
heard from an Arab, who knew it, that it came
from Kom Afrin. The inscriptions are given on
pi. xxxvi. 1 A. B. C. They show that the man
represented was a " Prince of Sais," called
Psamtik-sneb, and mention his being connected
with the rebuilding of the temple of Neit, which
had been overthrown. This title of "Prince of
Sais," Ha-em-Sa, is of interest; it occurs also on
a kneeling figure of dark basalt which I saw in
Egypt this year; and the connection is evident
between this and the title of the High Priest of
Sais, " the Prince of Princes," Ha-H.au, which
we find on the fine scarab, No. 188, on pi.
xxxviii. We see that in the twenty-sixth dynasty
there was a great aristocracy in the capital, Sais,
probably hereditary; and that the chief of this
aristocracy was the high priest. We may well
believe that this was the relic of an oligarchy
which ruled there during the troubles preceding
the twenty-sixth dynasty; a body so powerful
that they could not be removed, but had to be
left to natural decay, like the Roman senate.
Another object from Kom Afrin is the tablet to
Sekhet (pi. xxxvi. 2), and the interest of this is
from its naming her the " Lady of Amu." Now,
Amu was the capital of the Lybian nome, and
anything throwing light on its position is of value.
Whether Amu was at this great city of Kom
Afrin, or at the lesser site of Tell Hisn, seven
KAUKRATIS.
it. That Tell Kadi is not an ancient site, and
therefore cannot represent Leontonpolis, which
may perhaps he found at a large enclosure N.E.
of this, called Tell Hekleh. And that no other
mound except Ed Dahariyeh exists around that
district to represent Nikiou.]
CHAPTER XII.
KOM AFRIN.
114. From the mounds of Naukratis may be
seen, six or seven miles away to the W.S.W., a
long ridge of a mound against the horizon, with
a cut at the S. end of it, leaving a projection like
the tooth of a saw. This mound is variously called
Tell Afrin, or Kom Afrin. It is marked, but not
named, on the War Office map, between the
welis of Sheikh Osman and Sidi Khayrallah. It
is within sight of the Libyan desert, on the
western boundary of the Delta. The whole site
is about a mile long, by half a mile wide; and
the most important part of it, the main town,
occupies the southern half of this area. It has
been fortified with a great wall of unbaked bricks,
which has, like a great part of the town, been
dug away by the Arabs for earth. The gap seen
from a distance is the space which was occupied
by the great wall on the southern side, and the
projection, like a saw tooth, is the bank of sand
and dust which was heaped against the wall, and
is now left with its upright face bare. The centre
of the town was occupied by a citadel, which
stood on an artificial mound of sand; the retaining
walls have all been cut away, and the sand now
forms a shapeless mass amid the ruins, strewn on
the top with chips of limestone. The greatest
depth of the excavations is about forty feet below
the top, and the greater part of an area about a
third of a mile each way has been removed.
Towards the south-east side there stood a large
temple, with a long avenue leading to it. This
has all been dug over by the Arabs, to extract the
fine limestone pavement of the temple and avenue;
and some years ago sphinxes were found at the
beginning of the avenue, and carried away on
carts by a pasha. On the north-east side are two
inclosures, walled in, beyond the great walls of
the town.
I was told that very few bronzes are found here;
but many statuettes of pottery and of limestone,
and fine scarabs. These indicated a town of the
twenty-sixth dynasty; and while at Naukratis
I obtained antiquities found at Kom Afrin which
confirmed this supposition.
115. First a limestone kneeling figure, with
inscriptions on the front and back, and on the
base. This I bought in Cairo; but afterwards
heard from an Arab, who knew it, that it came
from Kom Afrin. The inscriptions are given on
pi. xxxvi. 1 A. B. C. They show that the man
represented was a " Prince of Sais," called
Psamtik-sneb, and mention his being connected
with the rebuilding of the temple of Neit, which
had been overthrown. This title of "Prince of
Sais," Ha-em-Sa, is of interest; it occurs also on
a kneeling figure of dark basalt which I saw in
Egypt this year; and the connection is evident
between this and the title of the High Priest of
Sais, " the Prince of Princes," Ha-H.au, which
we find on the fine scarab, No. 188, on pi.
xxxviii. We see that in the twenty-sixth dynasty
there was a great aristocracy in the capital, Sais,
probably hereditary; and that the chief of this
aristocracy was the high priest. We may well
believe that this was the relic of an oligarchy
which ruled there during the troubles preceding
the twenty-sixth dynasty; a body so powerful
that they could not be removed, but had to be
left to natural decay, like the Roman senate.
Another object from Kom Afrin is the tablet to
Sekhet (pi. xxxvi. 2), and the interest of this is
from its naming her the " Lady of Amu." Now,
Amu was the capital of the Lybian nome, and
anything throwing light on its position is of value.
Whether Amu was at this great city of Kom
Afrin, or at the lesser site of Tell Hisn, seven