DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4391#0022
KOPTOS.
*•!
I
the plans were completed I did not fully realise its
nature. The foundations of buildings which we left
unmoved were generally searched by undermining, to
see if sculptured blocks were employed in them ; and
in this way we found some of the finest work, that of
the scenes of Amenemhat I and Usertesen I (PL. IX),
placed face down at the bottom of the later founda-
tions.
This rearrangement of Ptolemaic times is of much
interest, as hitherto we have known nothing of what
became of the older remains of the great sites, such as
Dendera, Esneh, and Edfu, which are to all present
appearance purely Ptolemaic. The Dendera of Khufu
lies probably in pits beneath the sand-bed of the
foundations of the great temple of the Ptolemies and
Romans : and the sculptures of the magnificent work
of the Xllth dynasty might be looked for on the
under sides of the lowest foundations of Edfu.
The limits of the Ptolemaic platform of pavement
were fully built up to on the north : and there
I found the foundation deposits beneath the high
wall-courses on the pavement. But on the south I
could not find any deposits at the corners, perhaps
because the buildings did not extend over the pave-
ment to the limits. At the back of the temple an
open unpaved space was left in the temenos ; and
from that a gateway led out to the north, so much
decayed that I could not trace its exact limits between
the mud filling of it and the mud bricks of the wall.
At the south-east corner also the brickwork could not
be traced continuously to the south side, and hence
there was probably a small gate there. The difficulty
of making certain whether a cutting is made in wall
or washed mud, is considerable when the soil is moist,
the depth such that wide clearances at one time are
out of the question, and the bricks so pressed and
contorted that scarcely any trace of structure can be
seen in the wall.
Over the whole space to the east of the Tahutmes
temple lay a confused mass of shifted blocks and
fallen architraves of the Ptolemaic and Roman periods.
The pieces were too much broken, and too seldom
connected in character, for any restoration of the
structure to be possible. , From a fragment of a
Hathor head it appears that there were columns of
that type, about two-thirds the size of those at
Dendera. The sizes of the architraves were 41 inches
(2 cubits) square, and also 52 and 53 inches (2^
cubits) square. They were sculptured with inscrip-
tions, of which the most continuous portions are
copied on Pl. XXVI. Fragments of columns at the
front shew a diameter of 90 inches ; others in the
middle shew 68 inches. It is evident, therefore, that
the Ptolemaic temple extended to the east, and had
its most important parts quite off the site of the
earlier sanctuary.
31. In the front we gain some indication of its
arrangements. A long stone basement remains on the
west, divided by three flights of stone steps. These
were all contemporary, as they stand equally related
in position to the one stone wall. And it seems not
too much to suppose that they led to three separate
shrines in the temple, like the double entrance of
Ombos. The different gods of the well-known triad
of Koptos—Min, Isis, and Horus—in later times,
might be connected with these three entrances. And
as on the northern staircase the group of Ramessu
with Isis and Hathor was found—as the tablet of the
bark of Isis lay on the same northern side, about
east of the Usertesen jamb—as the sculptures on the
curtain wall between the columns north of the northern
steps shew only Isis—and as the inscription on the
pylon before that (PL. XXII) names the temple of
Isis—it seems fairly certain that the northern stairway
led to the Isis shrine. Of the other two stairways
there is not much evidence of their purpose. But as
there is shewn on a tablet of Roman age (XXII, 2) a
shrine of Min as the great object of the place, it is
more likely that the great steps in the main axis of
the whole place belong to Min, and the lesser steps to
Horus. Before the temple were two series of pylons,
those of Isis and those of Min. The only one bearing
sculpture was the innermost pylon of Isis, which had
a long inscription on the east wall of the gate-keeper's
recess (PL. XXII, 1) ; on the north wall of the same
recess is a scene of Min with the king behind him,
and the queen, Nebhat, Sekhet, and Nut before him :
and on the wall between the recess and the Isis steps
are figures offering, a king and a Nile figure. Lying
by this pylon was a fragment of the Greek dedica-
tion (PL XXII, 2) :
TLTEP BASlA[En2 IITOAEMAIOT . . . .]
nPOITTAO[N.......]
The only other case in which a propylon is named in
a dedication is at Dendera, under Augustus (Letronne,
Kec. Ins., p. 81, pl. V, F ; Mariettc, Dendera, p. 32) ;
and this inscription is very probably of Ptolemy XIII.
Of the other pylons only the foundations or lower
parts of the walls remain. The great entrance pylon
was cleared down to the basal clay at its corners, in
search of deposits. The course joints were at o, 18,
*•!
I
the plans were completed I did not fully realise its
nature. The foundations of buildings which we left
unmoved were generally searched by undermining, to
see if sculptured blocks were employed in them ; and
in this way we found some of the finest work, that of
the scenes of Amenemhat I and Usertesen I (PL. IX),
placed face down at the bottom of the later founda-
tions.
This rearrangement of Ptolemaic times is of much
interest, as hitherto we have known nothing of what
became of the older remains of the great sites, such as
Dendera, Esneh, and Edfu, which are to all present
appearance purely Ptolemaic. The Dendera of Khufu
lies probably in pits beneath the sand-bed of the
foundations of the great temple of the Ptolemies and
Romans : and the sculptures of the magnificent work
of the Xllth dynasty might be looked for on the
under sides of the lowest foundations of Edfu.
The limits of the Ptolemaic platform of pavement
were fully built up to on the north : and there
I found the foundation deposits beneath the high
wall-courses on the pavement. But on the south I
could not find any deposits at the corners, perhaps
because the buildings did not extend over the pave-
ment to the limits. At the back of the temple an
open unpaved space was left in the temenos ; and
from that a gateway led out to the north, so much
decayed that I could not trace its exact limits between
the mud filling of it and the mud bricks of the wall.
At the south-east corner also the brickwork could not
be traced continuously to the south side, and hence
there was probably a small gate there. The difficulty
of making certain whether a cutting is made in wall
or washed mud, is considerable when the soil is moist,
the depth such that wide clearances at one time are
out of the question, and the bricks so pressed and
contorted that scarcely any trace of structure can be
seen in the wall.
Over the whole space to the east of the Tahutmes
temple lay a confused mass of shifted blocks and
fallen architraves of the Ptolemaic and Roman periods.
The pieces were too much broken, and too seldom
connected in character, for any restoration of the
structure to be possible. , From a fragment of a
Hathor head it appears that there were columns of
that type, about two-thirds the size of those at
Dendera. The sizes of the architraves were 41 inches
(2 cubits) square, and also 52 and 53 inches (2^
cubits) square. They were sculptured with inscrip-
tions, of which the most continuous portions are
copied on Pl. XXVI. Fragments of columns at the
front shew a diameter of 90 inches ; others in the
middle shew 68 inches. It is evident, therefore, that
the Ptolemaic temple extended to the east, and had
its most important parts quite off the site of the
earlier sanctuary.
31. In the front we gain some indication of its
arrangements. A long stone basement remains on the
west, divided by three flights of stone steps. These
were all contemporary, as they stand equally related
in position to the one stone wall. And it seems not
too much to suppose that they led to three separate
shrines in the temple, like the double entrance of
Ombos. The different gods of the well-known triad
of Koptos—Min, Isis, and Horus—in later times,
might be connected with these three entrances. And
as on the northern staircase the group of Ramessu
with Isis and Hathor was found—as the tablet of the
bark of Isis lay on the same northern side, about
east of the Usertesen jamb—as the sculptures on the
curtain wall between the columns north of the northern
steps shew only Isis—and as the inscription on the
pylon before that (PL. XXII) names the temple of
Isis—it seems fairly certain that the northern stairway
led to the Isis shrine. Of the other two stairways
there is not much evidence of their purpose. But as
there is shewn on a tablet of Roman age (XXII, 2) a
shrine of Min as the great object of the place, it is
more likely that the great steps in the main axis of
the whole place belong to Min, and the lesser steps to
Horus. Before the temple were two series of pylons,
those of Isis and those of Min. The only one bearing
sculpture was the innermost pylon of Isis, which had
a long inscription on the east wall of the gate-keeper's
recess (PL. XXII, 1) ; on the north wall of the same
recess is a scene of Min with the king behind him,
and the queen, Nebhat, Sekhet, and Nut before him :
and on the wall between the recess and the Isis steps
are figures offering, a king and a Nile figure. Lying
by this pylon was a fragment of the Greek dedica-
tion (PL XXII, 2) :
TLTEP BASlA[En2 IITOAEMAIOT . . . .]
nPOITTAO[N.......]
The only other case in which a propylon is named in
a dedication is at Dendera, under Augustus (Letronne,
Kec. Ins., p. 81, pl. V, F ; Mariettc, Dendera, p. 32) ;
and this inscription is very probably of Ptolemy XIII.
Of the other pylons only the foundations or lower
parts of the walls remain. The great entrance pylon
was cleared down to the basal clay at its corners, in
search of deposits. The course joints were at o, 18,