Elephantine: The Ancient Town : Official Guidebook of the German Institute of Archaeology Cairo

41 Pages·1998·33.901 MB·English

ELEPHANTINE
The Ancient Town
Official Guidebook
of the German Institute of Archaeology
Cairo
Table of Contents
Foreword 5
A Brief History of 9
Ancient Elephantine
SuggestedT our of 19
the Ancient Town
Mup illustrating the Vantage Points (VP)
along the tour
The Museum
Publications about the excavation
-
Plates L 8
@G erman lrstitute of Archaeology Cairo
1998
English translation by Marianne Eaton-Krauss
Printed in Egypt by Ibrahim El-Daly, Max Group
FOREWORD
The grand stone temples and funerary monuments of Egypt with their rich
decoration and wealth of inscriptions long stoöd at the center of
archaeological fieldwork because they were believed to exemplify pharaonic
civilization. The excavation of contemporaneous towns and settlements
seemed almost superfluous. Flowever, during the last decades of the
Twentieth Century, Egyptologists increasingly became aware that temples
and tombs represent only one aspect of the reality of ancient Egypt - and,
moreover, a highly selective and idealized aspect. Nevertheless, expeditions
directed toward research on ancient Egyptian towns and settlements remain
comparatively few down to the present.
The current excavations on Elephantine were from the first oriented toward
comprehension of the complex totality of an ancient Egyptian town - its
temple precincts and administrative buildings, residential and industrial
quarters - over the entire period of its historical development. Elephantine
proved ideal for achieving this goal for several reasons. In the first place,
occupation of the site extended from later prehistoric times down until the
early Islamic Period to cover the entire span of ancient Egyptian history.
Equally important was the fact that the area occupied by the most significant
parts of the ancient town had not been built over in modern times. Thirdly,
the site was not so large as to present logistical problems for its thorough
archaeological exploration. But despite its modest size, Elephantine was
quite important as the southern border town of Egypt during much of
pharaonic history and as the predecessor of the modern town of Aswan.
Finally, because the town was built on an island, it stood on high ground
from its inception. Thus even the deepest and most ancient levels were not
threatened by the general rise in the water-table that menaces other sites
throughout Egypt.
The excavations that began in 7969 and took place annually in campaigns
lasting from three to six months, have been conducted by the German
Institute of Archaeology, in close cooperation with the Swiss Institute for
Architectural and Archaeological Research. The fieldwork is not finished,
but sufficient progress has been made so that the greater part of the ancient
town can be made accessiblet o the general public.
The opening of the site is an appropriate occasion to thank the Egyptian
authorities responsible for antiquities who approved the project and its
Translator's note: Dates below are given in the form "Before the
goals, and who provided invaluable support through all the years of its
Common Era" (BCE) and "Common Era" (CE). existence. Numerous collaborators - scholars. technicians. and students
alike, who often participated in the excavations over several campaigns - The site museum was designed by Achim Krekeler. It was constructed and
also deserve recognition. The following persons in particular should be the interior outfitted by Al-Habashi General Contracting, Cairo. The primary
mentioned here by name: both long-standing directors of the Swiss Institute, responsibility for the selection and installation of the objects was borne by
Gerhard Haeny and Horst laritz; the field and project directors Günter Ingrid Nebe and Gabi Essmann, while the descriptions below were prepared
Dreyer, Achim Krekeler, Wolfgang Mayer, Cornelius von Pilgrim, Stephan by Cornelius von Pilgrim. Finally, Anton and Regula Pestalozzi are to be
Seidlmayer, and Martin Zierrnann; the architects Uwe Minuth, Walter thanked for underwriting the model depicting the ancient town during the
Niederberger, Karl Schöppner, and Wolf-Dieter Thonhofer; the stone Ptolemaic/Roman Period.
conservators Markus Blödt, Egon Kaiser, and Günter Weinreuter; the
draftsman Wolf-Günther Legde; Reis Kamil sadiq and Reis Amir Kamil who
WernerK aiser
represent the Egyptian workforce they supervised.
It was the intention from the very first not just to publish the results of tl-re Directoro f excaaations
excavations in scholarly monographs, but also to undertake restoration and
partial rebuilding at the site in order to provide interested visitors with the
most vivid impression of the ancient town possible. This goal could not have
been realized without the sponsorship of various individual projects
provided by the German government, by public foundations, and by private
donors. The following merit a special word of thanks:
- the Foreign Ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany which under-
wrote the conservation of Heqa-ib's sanctuary, the construction of a site
museum, and the preparation of the excavated area for visits by the gener-
al public as a pilot project of German-Egyptian cooperation;
- the Ministry for Research and Technology which financed a comprehen-
sive, basic study of conservation technology for ancient Egyptian limestone
that was indispensible for the re-erection of the Twelfth Dynasty Satet
Temple;
- the Commerzbank Foundation for a decisive contribution toward the re-
building of the Satet Temple of Dynasty XVI[;
- the Ernst von Siemens Foundation for reconstituting the Satet Temple of
Dynasty XI;
- the Franz and Eva Rutzen Foundation for the restoration of the colonnade
commissioned by King Amasis (Dynasty XXVI) at the Satet Temple of Dy-
nasty XVI[;
- the Gerda Henkel Foundation for sponsoring the exploration of Temple J;
- the Theodor Wiegand Society for the creation of a lapidarium and for pro-
viding the cases and the lighting for the site museum;
- the companies Bosch, Daimler-Benz, IBM, and Lorenz for donating and
maintaining heavy construction equipment.
A BRIEFH ISTORY OF ANCIENT ELEPHANTINE
The ancient town of Elephantine is represented nowadays by a mound with
a maximum height of 12 m. The ruins cover almost the entire southern tip of
the island that lies opposite Aswan (Figs. 1- ). The present state of the
mound is the result of a long process. In the earliest phase of pharaonic
history that began about 3000 BCE, the southern part of the island consisted
essentially of a series of granite ridges. Only two large ridges projected
above the waters of the Nile each summer during the period of the annual
inundation.
The ancient town developed at first on the ridge to the east (Fig. 1). The
oldest prehistoric settlement identified to date on this "east isle" belongs to
the Naqada II Period or about 3500 BCE. Here the sanctuary of the antilope
goddess Satet, who was known during the historic period as "Mistress of
Elephantine," can be traced back at least to the subsequent Naqada III
Period (ca. 3200 BCE). It is not clear whether the inhabitants of this early
settlement were primarily Egyptianized Nubians, whose culture stretched at
that time northwards above the First Cataract, or if the oldest Elephantine
town was already an advance outpost of Egypt proper. Regardless, the
importance of the settlement may well have lain in its function as a center
for trade with the south, for Elephantine is situated at the northern end of
the cataract region which was very difficult to navigate. In historic times,
Elephantine was called Abu, a word that meant "ivoty" as well as
"elephant." The town's name suggests the importance of ivory among the
commodities that early Egypt was interested in obtaining by trade from the
south. Even at this remote period, the prime landing spot was probably the
bay, then protected by cliffs, at the north end of the east isle where
nowadays the ferry from Aswan and the sailing boats of the villagers dock.
With the formation of the unified Egyptian state at the latest (ca. 3000 BCE),
the town acquired additional importance as the southernmost border town
and as the source for rare hard stones quarried in the neighborhood. Aswan
granite was especially prized; it was shipped downstream for use
throughout Egypt. It is likely that the towered fortress on the highest ground
of the east isle near the riverbank (Fig. L) was built in the course of the First
Dynasty (ca.3000/2950-2800 BCE). As far as can be determined, the force
that manned it was not made up from the local population, but composed of
Egyptians instead. A little later the remaining settlement area was encircled
by a brick wall that enclosed the entire southern part of the east isle (Fig. 1).
Open ground inside the wall was apparently reserved from the first for an
anticipated increase in population that resulted from the dissolution of
smaller settlements in the neighborhood and/or from an additional influx
from the north. By the early Second Dynasty (ca.2800-2650 BCE), the rest of
the east isle was included within fortifications, thereby establishing the "il-
maximum extent of the town for the entire Old Kingdom - i.e. for the next
(
600-700 years (Fig. 1). The walls of the First Dynasty fortress began to
disappear beneath the town where settlement became increasingly dense.
\,
The town in its entirety assumed the character of a fortified installation. This tii
role is confirrned by the inclusion of the hieroglyph for "fortification" in l ) i\/iivl
writings of the town's name down into the Middle Kingdom.
Administrative buildings, residential quarters, and various workshops have \,)i(?
been identified in the Old Kingdom town on the basis of their distinctive
1)i
plans and finds made in their ruins. Toward the end of Dynasty III, a large lt)
complex whose most distinctive feature was a small stepped pyramid (Fig.
1) was built on the "west isle." Similar structures are documented from the
same period at other major centers in Upper and Middle Egypt. Like the
fortification of Dynasty I, this complex was certainly a project of the central
authority. Its function may well have been connected with the acquisition
and distribution of goods. The pyramid would seem to represent the fictive
presence of the king and may have been associated with the cult of the
ruler's statue. The idea for such a complex was, however, of short duration, ,fr,
for by the later Fourth Dynasty (ca. 2600-2450 BCE) workshops had " 1,.
$
encroached on the area, and from Dynasty V (ca. 2450-2300 BCE), the
expanding cemetery of the town covered it (Fig. 1).
In the course of the Old Kingdom, the temple of the town's goddess Satet
mt
was repeatedly renovated on its original site, but the basic form was retained
in its essentials: a modest mudbrick building fronted by a courtyard (Fig. 5).
Numerous votive gifts, from royal and non-royal donors alike, are preserved
from this period. Noteworthy among them is a granite naos commissioned
by Pepy I for the statue of the goddess. It stood in the renovated precinct of
the early Sixth Dynasty (ca. 2300-2150 BCE). Inscriptions on one of the
boulders that flank the sanctuary document visits by other kings of Dynasty 1:4000
VI to Elephantine and to the temple where Khnum, the ram-headed god of
the cataract region, also seems to have been revered alongside Satet Fig 1: Elephantine. Early Dynastic Periocl, Olcl Kingclorl, ancl Filst Intelmecliate periocl
beginning in this period. (ca. 3000- 2050 BCE)
1 SatetT cn-rple 6 Pylerricl
The dissolution of the Egyptian state in the First Intermediate Period (ca.
2 Fortress 7 Cctnc'tely
2150-2040 BCE) apparently resulted in increased importance for Elephantine
within Upper Egypt. The kinglets who resided in Thebes during the early 3 Extension of the tcrwn to the northeast t3 Royal comltlex
Eleventh Dynasty repeatedly renewed Satet's temple. For the first time, 4 Govelnor''s pnlace M Muselrrl area
worked stone was used in some quantity (Fig. 5). About 2025 BCE, 5 Darn V Mocleln village
Monthuhotep II, who reunited Egypt to become the first ruler of the Middle
Kingdom, ordered the complete rebuilding of the sanctuary. He also added
10
11
a complex for the celebration of the festival to mark the onset of the
inundation (Fig. 5) which the Egyptians believed originated at Elephantine.
Toward the end of the old Kingdom, the growth of the settlement area
beyold the old fortifications was facilitated by filling in the depression
beiween the east and west isles. With the strengthening of central authority
o
under Monthuhotep II and during the early Twelfth Dynasty (ca.1990-1785
BCE), this p.q."ti increased in intensity (Fig. 2). Sesostris I pushed flb
southwards from Elephantine to the Second Cataract and incorporated o
sa
Lower Nubia into the Egyptian state'
Because of this southward expansion, Elephantine ceased for to serve as a
border town during the next centuries, but simultaneously it became even
more important as an administrative and trading center for commerce from
beyond ihe First Cataract. Sesostris I ordered the replacement of the Satet
Temple that Monthuhotep II had commissioned scarcely a centuly earlier.
Sesoitris I's plan called for a richly decorated structure made of stone, and,
nearby, a festival courtyard to enable the town's population to celebrate the
onset of the inundation (Figs. 5 and 11). Probably at this time, the cataract
god Khnum acquired his own temple on higher ground in the town center.
In the course of Dynasty XI, a sanctuary of a different kind came into being a
bit northwest of ihe Satet Temple. It owed its origin to the worship of a
governor of Elephantine named Heqa-ib. He had apparently- so proved his
üorth in the difficult period at the end of the Old Kingdom that he came tp
be worshipped as a local saint after his death. His cult chapel, modest at
first, was renewed in Dynasty XI and then again at the beginning of Dynasty
XIi (Fig. 2). For some time thereafter, the governors of the town erected their
own -emorial chapels alongside Heqa-ib's, to complement their rockcut
tombs on Qubbet el-Hawa. Numerous other officials dedicated stelae and
statues in Heqa-ib's sanctuary, too.
The Egyptian state disintegrated for a second time at the end of the Middle
KingdäÄ. The second Intermediate Period (ca. 1650-1550 BCE) saw the
1:4 000
retuin of Egypt's southern border to Elephantine for a time, until the kings
of the early Eighteenth Dynasty (ca. 1550-1300 BCE) undertook the
reconquest of Nubia, pushing south beyond the Fourth Cataract. For
Elephäntine, a period of prosperity began. It was probably at this time that Fig. 2: Elephantine. Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period (ca. 2050 - 1550 BCE)
the town began to expand again to take in an indeterminate amount of 1 Satet Temple 6 Ruined pyramid
territory to the north that now extends under the modern village u"q l\: 2 Festival courtyard 7 Cemetery
island's museum (Fig. 3). Hatshepsut and Thutmosis III (ca. 7490-7440B CE) 3 Sanctuaryo f Heqa-ib M Museum area
commissioned new änd larger temples for both Khnum and Satet. The cult 4 Khnum Temple (presumed location) V Modern village
of the ram god, who was worshipped throughout EgyPt,overtook that of 5 Residential quarter
satet at Elephantine in Dynasty xvlll, and in Dynasties XIX and XX
(1300-1080 ecr), hit temple at the site was expanded even further.
12
IJ
Amenhotep III (ca. 1400-1365 BCE) erected a way station for the divine
barques on the processional way between the harbor and the temples of the
town, apparently in connnection with renovation of the installations for the
festival of the inundation.
The ttimples and the economic institutions associated with them occupied
almost a third of the preserved area of the New Kingdom town (Fig. 3). It is
probably no coi{rcidence that Syene, as the modern town of Aswan was then
known, is first mentioned in Egyptian texts of this period, suggesting that
the site on the mainland had begun to assume importance alongside
Elephantine. On the island, there may have been a concurrent development
that saw the construction of some country estates to the north of the town. A
way station which Ramses II built outside the town to the northwest could
be indicative of this trend.
With the beginning of the Third Intermediate Period (ca. 1080-710 BCE)
Nubia became independent. That development and frequent outbreaks of
intemal conflict within Egypt led to Elephantine's resumption of heightened
military importance. The rulers of this period and the kings that followed as
Dynasty XXV (ca. 710-664 BCE) are documented at Elephantine only by
stelae. By contrast, the rulers of Dynasty XXVI resumed work on the town's
temples. Khnum's precinct acquired an elaborately laid-out Nilometer at the
riverbank (Fig. 3). Shortly before the Persian conquest put an end to the
dynasty, King Amasis added a colonnade in front of Satet's temple.
Egypt in its entirety experienced foreign rule for the first time during the
Persian occupation of 525-404 BCE. The invaders employed Aramaic-Jewish
colonists, who had already lived on Elephantine before the Persian conquest,
as mercenaries among the troops stationed on the island. This suggests that
the force was intended to police the indigenous Egyptian population, as well
as to protect Egypt against the threat from the south. The rebuilding of the
Khnum Temple in Dynasty XXX left hardly any remains of the fahweh
temple that served the colony, but a series of important papyri documenting
the community was recovered from nearby houses.
1:4000
The last indigenous dynasty, the thirtieth, witnessed the beginning of
another prosperous era for Elephantine that persisted under the Ptolemies Fig 3: Elephantine. New Kingdom and Late period (ca. 7550 - 332BCE)
and, from 30 BCE, under Roman rule. Nectanebo I (380-362 BCE) added to 1 Satet Temple 7 Residential quarrer (Dynasry )OV)O(I)
the Khnum Temple of the New Kingdom. Nectanebo II (360-340 BCE) 2 Festival courtyard: tree pits 8 Residential quarter (Dynasty )Oft'II)
planned a large, new precinct of which the temple proper and a small 3 lx/ay station for the god's barque 9 Deep well
forecourt were completed during his reign. The Ptolemies (305-30 BCE) - 4 Khnum Temple M Museum area
Ptolemy VI and VIII in particular - continued the project which was finally
5 Nilometer V Modern village
completed under Augustus with a large terrace on the riverbank (Fig. ). 6 Residential quarter (Dynasry XVIII)
Work on a new Satet Temple was undertaken by Ptolemy VI. The plan,
which foresaw a considerably smaller temple than Khnum's, nevertheless
14
15
"'" f' ' r.'r .r r.rr,rrt'. rt tlrt' Nile and a Nilometer( Figs.a -5).p art of the
r ..r.r. rl,'rr.'^ lr,rtl_alreadbye ens urrenderedto tnä rn""- Temple,t o
I ..' \ r .r.,,r I 'rrr.r,Prll accf or sacredra ms.
I,, li,'111.1ri1rr1r t'ss aw considerablee xpansion_otfh e sacredp recincta long the (t)
t' \rl. b1'tuTgebno th tempret erracesändt o the north adjoin'i"ei lr" Nilometer
t. ol thc satet Temple. A monumental staircase, ru, ui"o ur'ili with a Nile
I sarrctuarya t the town's harbor. Two more templese xistedi nside the sacred r,! I \ L'',
grounfls, but it has. not been possible to d-etermine where they stood i ''-'t "1"1i,'' -l:. a
I originally. Dur-ing this period, the divine precinct with its administrative It - --I 1.l.'.'\' //
i ?:d "::"9,*ic dependenciest ook up almost half the area of the ancient town
I (Fig' a). Houses belonging to the contemporaneous residential quarter of
I Dynasty XXX have been preserved. Thäy comprise-a ä""ru block of
two-storey structures,.B ecauseo f the generuf d".rndir,g of ttre only a few
isolated cellars of elaborate constructi"onr emain to attest to th"eit" h, ouses built $rK
during the subsequentp tolemaic-Romanp eriod.
. ''
The evolution of Elephantine to.a temple town seemst o have red during the '..' elt ' {_t
Graeco-Roman periöd to the increaÄing concentration of commerce and $zE'
administration on the mainland. with ihe trrumph of Christianity in the \
early Fourth Century,-S yene/Aswan eclipsed Elephantine-o""" for an.
The island town simultaneously lost its rä1" u, a färtress. wn"., i"n" at he earry
Fifth Century a cohort of the Eastern Roman Empire -u, ,tutiorred on the Ni ,ru/
island to strengthen the border against maraudingä"""rt.,o.^uäs, the troops rl\
occupied-the large courtyard of ihe Khnum temlle and transformed it into
a fortified camp.
The dismantling of Elephantine's several temples to obtain building material
had already begun by-this time. scarcelym ore than the foundationso f even
rne. ra.rge..mamt emples survived in situ, while the smaller installations
entirely disappeared. Arabic sources of the early tuidäie Äles report the
existenceo f a monastery and two churches on the island. The remains of a ',1/ii.
small church of the early Sixth Century survived in the courtyard of
Khnum's temple. some buirding elementsi ro* u lurgu ;;riii;u if somewhat
later date were found in the miäst of the settleme"tirgg"rür,j *,ut it once .l:4 000
stood there. with the.increasing Islamization of Egyptlini, lu""t, chrirtiu^
oupsepchctpatule.esrrmerme ienodn ss ttcE claleeeravpcesehelaslyd lno ta otfti n e{eerrx3 t,ihs s math nciosa t1thto1.e.rn,/ Tb {ath abrierieat end eoenntto etpthr rmo elorsin neFägro v ue"wr"dtjie,,t 1lbe,i u"np.it rhiect s.Eei rn;dt."tteiluuymr "vi"s.ueuw pshreeo nb abtthhlyee t2Ii l c'Npfchlomlrttl-tttlitertrt ctl-cY.n tl()lplt oresletsettnrilurctratecsc/cll{ ol<tn>ecue tilo)relr)i ocl (J32 RC89F KC- heJntrnncclr tlc-erer y'rl- 'crtfrtilrrrrtp l lCse"Ftci)recl ral.ns
10 Nilorlleter
J l)ce1l well
+\üeystltticlnfbr.tlrcgtlc|.sll..u.clltellllesiclcntialqtrat.ter.(I)ynxstyXXX)
5 'l'crrllllc X (pt'esr'rurccl l<>c"ttkn) 12 lnclustriel ltrea
M Nlttscttttt :tt-elt
(r Slrtet Tcrlrplc
V lvloclcln villa'ge
7 Nilotncte-r
T6 17
SUGGESTEDT OUR OF THE ANCIENT TOWN
'Ihe
tour proposed here (seet he map, Fig. 12) covers a distance of about 1.3 km
irnd includes 28 vantage points (VP). Three of them lie outside the boundaries
of the ancient town: the older Kalabsha temple (VP 15) and the Ajuala gateway
(VP 16), to the south, and the Roman staircase (VP 28), to the north.
The Satet Temple of the Ptolemaic and Roman Periods (VP 1)
Visitors who enter the environs of the ancient town through the entrance on
the southwest side of the Museum Garden find themselves in the forecourt
of the last temple built on Elephantine for the goddess Satet. Erected during
the Ptolemaic Period (ca. 150 BCE), it shared the fate of its predecessors
whlch were broken up for their stone beginning in the early Middle Ages.
ln 7906, when archaeologists first began to explore Elephantine, all that
remained in situ were some of this last temple's foundations. They were as
rnuch as 3.5 m deep and had crypts built into them. One consequence of the
plundering of the site was the exposure of the deepest levels of the
fclundations. These proved to be constructed almost entirely of blocks from
carlier structures. Architectural elements deriving from a temple dating to
the Eighteenth Dynasty and another of Dynasty XII were laid bare. The
quantity of these blocks suggested that it might be possible to recover a
substantial proportion of the older structures.
With this in mind, the remains of the Ptolemaic foundations in the entire
area were carefully dismantled between 1969 and1973.The blocks recovered
were sorted and stored. Then excavations were begun below the level of the
I'tolemaic foundations. They revealed the earlier history of the shrine with
srrrprising clarity, back to its prehistoric beginnings about 3200-3100 BCE
(Fig.5 ).
'l'he
overview that the excavations provide of the development of an ancient
ligyptian temple site through three millennia is unparalleled elsewhere in
the Nile Valley down to the present. To reconstruct this unique sequence,
the temple of the Sixth Dynasty (VP 3) was rebuilt in its original location,
rrtilizing the structural elements recovered. The temple of the Eighteenth
l)ynasty (VP 2) was reerected above the Sixth Dynasty temple on a platform
nrade of concrete. The structures of the Middle Kingdom, which occupied
thc site between the Sixth and Eighteenth Dynasties, originally stood at the
same level as the latter. For this reason, they had to be be rebuilt elsewhere,
rrr.rtsideth e actual temple precinct (VP 22-26 on our tour).
t9