DOI Heft:
Nr. 1-2
DOI Artikel:Sayce, A. H.: Gleanings from the land of Egypt, [1]
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12258#0074
GLEAN1NGS FROM THE LAND OF EGYPT
63
of décoration, if they ever possessed any, lias disappeared from them. I found however,
that the surface of the rock, at the entrances to them, is covered with Greek graffiti. Here
are two, which déclare pretty plainly how it was that they came to be written.
(1) aoykioc iÏatao ctpatq[noc] " Lucius Magas, the son of Straton,
Anû coyhnhc raïrûN tc nip... voyaging from Assuan to Pir..., (was)
aho xihqkog EAAceic qae driven here bythe weather, the 3rd year of
LÏ tibepioy KAi[c]Aroc t[oy] ay[tokpatopoc] Tiberius César the Emperor. " (A. D. 17.)
" I Artemon,the son of Artemidoros,
(2) apte mon APTEMIASPOY ^ ^ ^ ^ ^g ^ ^
hkq eic TON TOHON aho cyhniic m&) ^ driven fcy (bad)
KATAOAEÎiN yho XEIMÛNOC eaac0eic ^ ^ 3^ of (Augustus))
l aa kaicapoc 000 ic ^ ^ qf ^ » (A< JJ. 7.)
We gather from thèse texts that, at the beginning of the Christian era, the Nile
flowed immediately under the cliffs in which the tombs are situated, and that travellers
who were delayed, in their voyage down the river, by anorth wind, amusedthemselves,
during their enforced inactivity, by writing their names on the rocks. Among the other
Greek graffiti which 1 copied, I may quote the following :
(1) ackaiii1iaahc (2) iiaxoymig (3) antioxoc (4) ekpa*a
AMMQNIOY mv60y MOCTOY 0eoy (sic) hepzothc
EHirONOY HKfl kpatoyc qae
eymaiic aho (unfinished)
In the last the spelling ekpa*a for éypaya should be noticed.
By the side of the largest of the Greek tombs is a neatly-engraved inscription of six
Unes, but at such a height that, even with the aid of a glass, I was able to decipher only
a few letters. As, however, the words ahon botpion occur in the second line, it is plain
that the inscription must belongto the Christian epoch. On some of the adjoining rocks
are Coptic graffiti.
Passing the mouth of a small ravine to the north of the Greek tombs and the village
of Negadiyeh, I climbed up the inner side of a precipitous shoulder of the clilï, which I have
before described as projecting into the Nile and enclosing the cultivated land on the
north. The face of the elifï here is full of tombs. Tombs of (apparently) the Greek period
are eut in the rock, while the graves of the poorer classes are made in the débris below.
Close under the summit of the clifï is a line of four ancient tombs, one of which faces
south-east, While the others face west and look down upon the great mound of Girgeh.
Unfortunately thèse ancient tombs bave been disgracefully destroyed by récent quarry-
ing, and comparatively little of them now remains. What is left, however, consists of
thosc small, delicately-sculptured and lightly-coloured bas-reliefs, representing the
scènes of ordinary life, with which the tombs of Gizeh and Saqqàrah have made us
familiar. But the style of art seems more archaic than that of the tombs of Gizeh. In the
last tomb to the north (No. IV), is a représentation of bread-making. The bread is kneaded
with the hands, not with the feet, as Herodotos (II, 3G) absurdly says was the Egyptian
63
of décoration, if they ever possessed any, lias disappeared from them. I found however,
that the surface of the rock, at the entrances to them, is covered with Greek graffiti. Here
are two, which déclare pretty plainly how it was that they came to be written.
(1) aoykioc iÏatao ctpatq[noc] " Lucius Magas, the son of Straton,
Anû coyhnhc raïrûN tc nip... voyaging from Assuan to Pir..., (was)
aho xihqkog EAAceic qae driven here bythe weather, the 3rd year of
LÏ tibepioy KAi[c]Aroc t[oy] ay[tokpatopoc] Tiberius César the Emperor. " (A. D. 17.)
" I Artemon,the son of Artemidoros,
(2) apte mon APTEMIASPOY ^ ^ ^ ^ ^g ^ ^
hkq eic TON TOHON aho cyhniic m&) ^ driven fcy (bad)
KATAOAEÎiN yho XEIMÛNOC eaac0eic ^ ^ 3^ of (Augustus))
l aa kaicapoc 000 ic ^ ^ qf ^ » (A< JJ. 7.)
We gather from thèse texts that, at the beginning of the Christian era, the Nile
flowed immediately under the cliffs in which the tombs are situated, and that travellers
who were delayed, in their voyage down the river, by anorth wind, amusedthemselves,
during their enforced inactivity, by writing their names on the rocks. Among the other
Greek graffiti which 1 copied, I may quote the following :
(1) ackaiii1iaahc (2) iiaxoymig (3) antioxoc (4) ekpa*a
AMMQNIOY mv60y MOCTOY 0eoy (sic) hepzothc
EHirONOY HKfl kpatoyc qae
eymaiic aho (unfinished)
In the last the spelling ekpa*a for éypaya should be noticed.
By the side of the largest of the Greek tombs is a neatly-engraved inscription of six
Unes, but at such a height that, even with the aid of a glass, I was able to decipher only
a few letters. As, however, the words ahon botpion occur in the second line, it is plain
that the inscription must belongto the Christian epoch. On some of the adjoining rocks
are Coptic graffiti.
Passing the mouth of a small ravine to the north of the Greek tombs and the village
of Negadiyeh, I climbed up the inner side of a precipitous shoulder of the clilï, which I have
before described as projecting into the Nile and enclosing the cultivated land on the
north. The face of the elifï here is full of tombs. Tombs of (apparently) the Greek period
are eut in the rock, while the graves of the poorer classes are made in the débris below.
Close under the summit of the clifï is a line of four ancient tombs, one of which faces
south-east, While the others face west and look down upon the great mound of Girgeh.
Unfortunately thèse ancient tombs bave been disgracefully destroyed by récent quarry-
ing, and comparatively little of them now remains. What is left, however, consists of
thosc small, delicately-sculptured and lightly-coloured bas-reliefs, representing the
scènes of ordinary life, with which the tombs of Gizeh and Saqqàrah have made us
familiar. But the style of art seems more archaic than that of the tombs of Gizeh. In the
last tomb to the north (No. IV), is a représentation of bread-making. The bread is kneaded
with the hands, not with the feet, as Herodotos (II, 3G) absurdly says was the Egyptian