Egypt
This slab is one of five known examples which may have once been a screen wall in a temple though the location of that temple is vague. The slab was found reused in Alexandria and appears to be one of the British Museum's earliest Egyptian objects entered in its collection as a gift of King George III in 1766, (EA22).
When I saw the slab in the "Eternal Egypt" exhibition at the Royal British Columbia Museum it was a most gorgeous object and the wall must have been a remarkable site in which ever temple it once stood. On the more damaged side is a crude inscription in Greek relating to a restoration in the Roman period.(1a)
Three of these slabs are inscribed for the first king of the 30th dynasty King Nectanebo I and two are inscribed for earlier kings of the 26th dynasty including the first king of the dynasty Psamtik I and Psamtik II.(2) On the British Museum's slab the decoration of the more damaged side includes an offering scene with the king kneeling before a god and to the right another standing god belonging to another part of an offering scene the completion of the scene belonging on an adjoining block.
The cornices on both sides have been attacked with a chisel the cornice on the better preserved side shows a row of frontal facing falcons, the feet of which still are present. On the more damaged side there is little sign of the cornice except that the slab in Vienna(213), dedicated to Psamtik II shows a row of erect cobras (3). The Vienna slab cornice goes around one end of the stone indicating this slab was the beginning or end of the wall with no further elements at that end.
The inscriptions of the blocks indicate the wall might have been erected at Sais in the delta, ancient Heliopolis. The Vienna stone differs from the later Nectanebo slab in that King Psamtik is shown in a much more prostrate position with both legs showing and side view of both feet while the British museum's slab shows King Nectanebo with only one leg and more than one toe.
At least part of the monument was present at the beginning of Egypt's 26th dynasty and in good enough condition 300 years later for Nectanebo I to have his name inscribed on some of the slabs. The wall may have become badly damaged in the earthquake of 27 BC which destroyed the remains of the mortuary temple of Amenhotep III or in the 365 AD earthquake(4) which destroyed much of Alexandria after which the rough largely illegible(1b),heretic inscription on the British Museum slab may have been hacked into the top of the slab during the reuse of the block.
When the drilled holes were added to the blocks is not known but may well indicate a further reuse after the Roman period? Since the block was found at Alexandria it may indicate the stone was taken to that city after the 365 AD earthquake to be reused in the rebuilding of Alexandria and thus eventually found there?
Perhaps someday more of the stone slabs in the wall will turn up and tell us more about what happened to the wall in between Psamtik II and Nectanebo I and hopefully why and when the beautiful wall was dismantled and used as filler in a later construction?
1(a,b). Many thanks to Elizabeth R. O'Connell Assistant Keeper (curator) Roman and late Antique Egypt at the British Museum for her help in the interpretation of the text.
2. Eternal Egypt: Masterworks of Ancient Art From The British Museum, Edna R. Russmann, 2001, #134 pgs. 244-247
3. Global Egyptian Museum
4. Timelines: Earthquakes
Photo Courtesy of Michael Harding
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Egypt
The Destruction of a Temple Monument
This slab is one of five known examples which may have once been a screen wall in a temple though the location of that temple is vague. The slab was found reused in Alexandria and appears to be one of the British Museum's earliest Egyptian objects entered in its collection as a gift of King George III in 1766, (EA22).
When I saw the slab in the "Eternal Egypt" exhibition at the Royal British Columbia Museum it was a most gorgeous object and the wall must have been a remarkable site in which ever temple it once stood. On the more damaged side is a crude inscription in Greek relating to a restoration in the Roman period.(1a)
Three of these slabs are inscribed for the first king of the 30th dynasty King Nectanebo I and two are inscribed for earlier kings of the 26th dynasty including the first king of the dynasty Psamtik I and Psamtik II.(2) On the British Museum's slab the decoration of the more damaged side includes an offering scene with the king kneeling before a god and to the right another standing god belonging to another part of an offering scene the completion of the scene belonging on an adjoining block.
The cornices on both sides have been attacked with a chisel the cornice on the better preserved side shows a row of frontal facing falcons, the feet of which still are present. On the more damaged side there is little sign of the cornice except that the slab in Vienna(213), dedicated to Psamtik II shows a row of erect cobras (3). The Vienna slab cornice goes around one end of the stone indicating this slab was the beginning or end of the wall with no further elements at that end.
The inscriptions of the blocks indicate the wall might have been erected at Sais in the delta, ancient Heliopolis. The Vienna stone differs from the later Nectanebo slab in that King Psamtik is shown in a much more prostrate position with both legs showing and side view of both feet while the British museum's slab shows King Nectanebo with only one leg and more than one toe.
At least part of the monument was present at the beginning of Egypt's 26th dynasty and in good enough condition 300 years later for Nectanebo I to have his name inscribed on some of the slabs. The wall may have become badly damaged in the earthquake of 27 BC which destroyed the remains of the mortuary temple of Amenhotep III or in the 365 AD earthquake(4) which destroyed much of Alexandria after which the rough largely illegible(1b),heretic inscription on the British Museum slab may have been hacked into the top of the slab during the reuse of the block.
When the drilled holes were added to the blocks is not known but may well indicate a further reuse after the Roman period? Since the block was found at Alexandria it may indicate the stone was taken to that city after the 365 AD earthquake to be reused in the rebuilding of Alexandria and thus eventually found there?
Perhaps someday more of the stone slabs in the wall will turn up and tell us more about what happened to the wall in between Psamtik II and Nectanebo I and hopefully why and when the beautiful wall was dismantled and used as filler in a later construction?
1(a,b). Many thanks to Elizabeth R. O'Connell Assistant Keeper (curator) Roman and late Antique Egypt at the British Museum for her help in the interpretation of the text.
2. Eternal Egypt: Masterworks of Ancient Art From The British Museum, Edna R. Russmann, 2001, #134 pgs. 244-247
3. Global Egyptian Museum
4. Timelines: Earthquakes
Photo Courtesy of Michael Harding
- Hieroglyph-inscribed Lintel Discovered At Amara West
Amara West, British Museum blog (Mary Shepperson) With photos. House E13.6 at Amara West is a linear domestic house in the centre of the town. In its late phase, the house was entered from a narrow lane through two small rooms, leading to a large central...
- Syria Unearths 2,300-year-old Pharaonic Engraving
AFP Syrian archaeologists have unearthed a hieroglyph close to Damascus which dates back to the pharaonic period around 1,300 years BC, the official SANA news agency reported on Saturday. "The antiquities department has discovered a hieroglyph on the...
- Ancient Egyptian Flood Prevention At Karnak Temple
http://www.dailystaregypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=6798"Remains of an ancient Egyptian wall used to prevent the leakage of the Nile flood waters from spreading over the Karnak temple in Luxor were discovered on Thursday at the temple's eastern side,...
- Eternal Egypt
Eternal Egypt: Masterworks of Ancient Art from the British Museum Edna R. Russmann American Federation of Arts 2004 ISBN: 1-885444-19-2 The book is an accompaniment to the British Museum's travelling exhibition of North America from March...
- Interior Of The Sarcophagus Of Nectanebo Ii
This is the left side interior looking towards the foot of the sarcophagus of Nectanebo II which was later drilled to be a ritual bath at the Attarin Mosque in Alexandria. The sarcophagus came to the British Museum as a gift of King George III who...