• Elephantine

Elephantine

Jadwiga Iwaszczuk
June 29, 2018
Tags: Elephantine rock inscription festival of Anuket
city
temples
1st Upper Egyptian nome
Ȝbw
24º05´N
32º56´E

Elephantine, the an island on the Nile, lays is situated in the region of the First Cataract, at its northern entrance, between modern Aswan city on the east bank and the necropolis Qubbet el-Hawa on the west bank. The excavation area is located on the south part of the island. The highest point of the landscape is the temple of Khnum.

The cult complex was located in the southern part of Elephantine Island. Its history dates back to the Predynastic times and its existence continued through all periods of Egyptian history.[1] In this area, two temples of Khnum and Satet were erected during the reign of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III. They were placed within a very short distance from each other and connected by water installation that runs from the temple of Khnum to the temple of Satet.[2] The cult complex was separated from the urban district by the street only and not by the temenos walls.

It appears that in the times of the New Kingdom, and probably even in the Middle Kingdom, the most important temple in the complex, although perhaps not the oldest one, was the temple of Khnum. The temple of Satet was not mentioned in sources, only the temple of all Elephantine gods, Satet, Anuket and Khnum, is known from the door jamb of Senwosret I found in Cairo.[3] The inscription on the door jamb does not contain any mention of the temple of Satet alone, although remains of it were found on the island.[4] In the temple of Khnum, Amenhotep II erected a stela where he described the beautifying of the temple of Khnum, Satet and Anuket which was built by his father, Thutmose III.[5] There is no doubt that this stela concerns the building activity in the temple of Khnum, however, Amenhotep II calls it the temple of the whole Elephantine Triad. The same picture emerges from the Famine Stela and the temple of Khnum is shown as the only temple on the island and as a place where other gods stay, among others Satet and Anuket.[6]

Other arguments for the importance of Khnum as part of the Triad, and not paired with Satet alone, are the festivals attested in the region, while the feast of Satet was never suggested. The best known feast of the region was the festival of Anuket.[7] In the Middle Kingdom this festival was mentioned in a graffito.[8] The festival of Khnum and Anuket celebrated on the last day of the 3rd month of prt-season is mentioned[9] in the inscription of Humen, most probably living during the reign of Thutmose III,[10] on the rock of Hassawanarti. The graffito bearing the name of Usersatet, the official of Amenhotep II, referred to this feast in a similar way.[11] On the stela of Amenhotep II, the importance of that feast is emphasised as it is the only one listed by name.[12] In a very incomplete festival calendar of Thutmose III, a big group of  local feasts was quoted, among them the festival of Khnum during wpt rnpt, the festival of Khnum, Anuket [...] with the date of the 2nd month of ȝḫ.t-season, day 18, the festival of Satet and Anuket ten days later, the festival of Anuket at the end of the 3rd month of ȝḫ.t-season and festival of Khnum at the end of the 4th month of ȝḫ.t-season.[13] On another fragment, feasts of Amun are enumerated.[14] At the main gate to the temple of Satet, on the pillars flanking the entrance, Thutmose III ordered to depict festival offerings (wdn ḥbjt) for Amun and Khnum and not for Satet.[15] The representation of the festival of Anuket on the occasion of the New Year, decorating the south outer wall of the temple dedicated to Satet, is also significant.[16] The only festival of Satet can be seen depicted on the west outer wall of the temple,[17] the festival shown there seems to be a local, not processional feast and the name of the festival is not preserved.[18]

Later history and the architectural features of the temple of Khnum, legible from the New Kingdom onward, show that this was the temple of Khnum which was the most prominent one on the island. The temple of Satet played the role of a secondary temple in the sacred landscape of the island, being always smaller and not enlarged by subsequent rulers in contrast to the temple of Khnum. It is possible that the temple of Satet was in fact dedicated to both goddesses: Satet and Anuket as their names appear on the architraves of the temple.[19]

The sacral activity at Elephantine was not limited only to the temenos area but can be also observed through inscriptions left by officials and clergy on the rocks of the island. A big concentration of such inscriptions, dated mostly to the New Kingdom, was noticed by S. Seidlmeyer on the west slope of the area called Hassawanarti, which was an island once, and now constitutes part of Elephantine on its east side.[20] It is a peninsula located on the north of the temple of Satet. None of Hassawanarti inscriptions can be surely dated to the reign of Hatshepsut, some can be dated to the times of Thutmose III, among others the one of Humen.[21] The presence of the graffiti on the rocks of Hassawanarti is, however, significant, any construction from the New Kingdom is attested in the vicinity. On the other hand, inscriptions in the region were incised for a specific purpose, most often grouped in the areas that served as places of observation of processional feasts.[22] Horst Jaritz was the first one to notice that this place is aligned with the Roman monumental staircase and he suggested the existence of another bark station on its axis.[23] The excavations conducted there did not reveal anything from the times of the New Kingdom,[24] although the inscriptions documented on the rocks of Hassawanarti are dated mostly to this period.[25] In the vicinity of the monumental staircase, however, fragments of the New Kingdom blocks were found, described by Martin Bommas as coming from the New Kingdom temple of Khnum.[26]

The economic area of the cult complex of Elephantine in the times of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III is rather little known. The constructions of economic character are known only from the area around the temple of Khnum. On the south of this temple a group of two houses with two round granaries have been discovered so far.[27] The scarcity of such buildings was caused by the destruction of the area during the enlargement of the temenos in the Late Period.[28] The houses were located outside of the temple enclosure and very close to the south wall of its courtyard. Their erection involved destruction of an older construction, and then the north side of the houses was damaged during the enlargement of the temple.[29] They were built of mudbricks made of chaff and quartzite,[30] with the walls 1 brick wide. C. von Pilgrim distinguished at last two units, each with a court and 3-4 rooms[31] and supposed that they could serve as priest houses.[32] The space occupied by the two houses and granaries is defined as wḏȝ in the inscription preserved on the sealings of Thutmose III found in the area of granaries.[33] Whether the buildings were constructed there as early as the reign of Hatshepsut, remains unsolved.

On the north of the temenos wall of the Khnum temple the remains of the town architecture from the early 18th dynasty were discovered[34] and among them house H 55 dated most probably to the reign of Hatshepsut. Inside the house fragments of unfired pottery and pieces of faience beads were found,[35] which can indicate, according to Cornelius von Pilgrim, that the house functioned as a workshop.[36] A handle stamped with the name of the queen also comes from the debris of the house.

Remains of huts were discovered on the north of the temple of Satet. They most probably served as shelters during the time of construction.[37] Except for that, no other constructions of economic character were found around the temple of Satet.

 

Notes:

View of the area in old photographs:

Region of the First Cataract - the collection in the Archive of the Griffith Institute, Oxford

Footnotes

  1. ^ Elephantine. The Ancient Town, Cairo 1998, 19-55 .
  2. ^ Kaiser, Werner, Grossmann, Peter, Jaritz, Horst, Stadelmann, Rainer, Haeny, Gerhard, Bidoli, Dino, Stadt und Tempel von Elephantine. Dritter Grabungsbericht, Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 28.2, 1973, Fig(s). 1; Niederberger, Walter, Elephantine XX: Der Chnumtempel Nektanebos II.: Architektur und baugeschichtliche Einordnung, Archäologische Veröffentlichungen 96, Mainz am Rhein 1999, 68ff.; F. Arnold in Seidlmayer, Stephan Johannes, Arnold, Felix, von Pilgrim, Cornelius, Bommas, Martin, Kozak, Alexandra, Laskowska-Kusztal, Ewa, Kopp, Peter, Raue, Dietrich, Budka, Julia, Gresky, Julia, Schulz, Michael, Report on the 37th season of excavation and restoration on the island of Elephantine, 2008, 9; ASAE 84; Elephantine. The Ancient Town, Cairo 1998, Fig(s). 11.
  3. ^ Daressy, Georges, Inscriptions hiéroglyphiques trouvées dans Le Caire, Annales du Service des antiquités de l'Égypte IV, 1903, 102 [left, column 4].
  4. ^ Habachi, Labib, Building Activities of Sesostris I in the Area to the South of Thebes, Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 31.1, 1975, 27-31, Pl(s). 12-14; W. Kaiser in Kaiser, Werner, Haeny, Gerhard, Dreyer, Günter, Jaritz, Horst, Müller, Christa, Grimm, Günter, Stadt und Tempel von Elephantine. Fünfter Grabungsbericht, Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 31.1, 1975, 49-50.
  5. ^ Lepsius, Carl Richard, Denkmäler aus Aegypten und Aethiopien III, Genève 1972, Pl(s). 65a; 795: Kuentz, Charles, Deux Stèles d'Aménophis II (Stèles d'Amada et d'Élephantine), Bibliothèque d'Etude 10, Le Caire 1925, 15; Sethe, Kurt, Urkunden der 18. Dynastie. Historisch-biographische Urkunden, Leipzig 1906, 1294.13, 15; 120: Grallert, Silke, Bauen – Stiften – Weihen. Ägyptische Bau- und Restaurierungsinschriften von den Anfängen bis zur 30. Dynastie. Text, Abhandlungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo. Ägyptologische Reihe 18/1, Berlin 2001, 190; 97: Bommas, Martin, Der Tempel des Chnum der 18. Dyn. auf Elephantine, PhD thesis, Universität Heidelberg, Heidelberg 2000, 256.
  6. ^ Barguet, Paul, La stèle de la famine, à Séhel, Bibliothèque d'Etude XXIV, Le Caire 1953, 19-23.
  7. ^ Seidlmayer, Stephan, Landschaft und Religion - Die Region von Aswân, Archäologischer Anzeiger 2006/1, 2006, 228-231.
  8. ^ Barsanti, Alexandre, Bouriant, Urbain, Legrain, Georges, Jéquier, Gustave, de Morgan, Jacques, Catalogue des monuments et inscriptions de l’Égypte antique I: De la frontière de Nubie à Kom Ombos, Vienne 1894, no. 76; Habachi, Labib, Graffito of the Chamberlain and Controller of Works Antef at Sehēl, Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 39, 1953, 50-59, Fig(s). 1; Gasse, Annie, Rondot, Vincent, Les inscriptions de Séhel, Mémoires publiés par les membres de l'Institut français d'archéologie orientale 126, Le Caire 2007, 462 [SEH 152].
  9. ^ Habachi, Labib, An Inscription at Aswān Referring to Six Obelisks, Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 36, 1950, 14-15, Pl(s). III.
  10. ^ Habachi, Labib, An Inscription at Aswān Referring to Six Obelisks, Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 36, 1950, 17.
  11. ^ Habachi, Labib, The Graffiti and Work of the Viceroy of Kush in the Region of Aswan, Kush: Journal of the Sudan Antiquities Service V, 1957, 20-21, Fig(s). 5 [inscr. 10].
  12. ^ Kuentz, Charles, Deux Stèles d'Aménophis II (Stèles d'Amada et d'Élephantine), Bibliothèque d'Etude 10, Le Caire 1925, 22-23; Bommas, Martin, Der Tempel des Chnum der 18. Dyn. auf Elephantine, PhD thesis, Universität Heidelberg, Heidelberg 2000, 258.
  13. ^ Lepsius, Carl Richard, Denkmäler aus Aegypten und Aethiopien III, Genève 1972, Pl(s). 43f.
  14. ^ Lepsius, Carl Richard, Denkmäler aus Aegypten und Aethiopien III, Genève 1972, Pl(s). 43c.
  15. ^ Pillar 1a, d: Wells, R.A., Sothis and the Satet Temple on Elephantine: a Direct Connection, Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur 12, 1985, 283, Fig(s). 12; Kaiser, Werner, Jaritz, Horst, Haeny, Gerhard, Grossmann, Peter, Stadt und Tempel von Elephantine. Erster Grabungsbericht, Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 26, 1970, Pl(s). 42a-b.
  16. ^ Kaiser, Werner, Grossmann, Peter, Dreyer, Günter, Seidlmayer, Stephan, Mayer, Wolfgang, Stadt und Tempel von Elephantine. Achter Grabungsbericht, Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 36, 1980, 258 [94].
  17. ^ Jaritz, Horst, Kaiser, Werner, Dreyer, Günter, Ziermann, Martin, Krekeler, Achim, Schläger, Till, Stadt und Tempel von Elephantine. 13./14. Grabungsbericht, Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 43, 1986, Pl(s). 9; Seidlmayer, Stephan, Landschaft und Religion - Die Region von Aswân, Archäologischer Anzeiger 2006/1, 2006, 226-228.
  18. ^ Jaritz, Horst, Kaiser, Werner, Dreyer, Günter, Ziermann, Martin, Krekeler, Achim, Schläger, Till, Stadt und Tempel von Elephantine. 13./14. Grabungsbericht, Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 43, 1986, Pl(s). 9.
  19. ^ For Satet, the north row of architraves, see: Grallert, Silke, Bauen – Stiften – Weihen. Ägyptische Bau- und Restaurierungsinschriften von den Anfängen bis zur 30. Dynastie. Text, Abhandlungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo. Ägyptologische Reihe 18/1, Berlin 2001, 188-189 [T3/Wf014]; for Anuket, the south row of architraves, see: Jaritz, Horst, Kaiser, Werner, Dreyer, Günter, Avila, Robert, Laskowska-Kusztal, Ewa, Seidlmayer, Stephan, Ziermann, Martin, Stadt und Tempel von Elephantine. Elfter/Zwölfter Grabungsbericht, Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 40, 1984, Pl(s). 62b.
  20. ^ Seidlmayer, Stephan Johannes, New Rock Inscriptions on Elephantine Island, in: Hawass, Zahi, Pinch-Brock, Lyla, Egyptology at the Dawn of the Twenty-first Century. Proceedings of the Eighth International Congress of Egyptologists Cairo, 2000. Volume 1. Archaeology, Cairo, New York 2003, 441-443; Seidlmayer, Stephan, New Rock Inscriptions at Elephantine, Egyptian Archaeology. The Bulletin of the Egypt Exploration Society 14, 1999, 41-43.
  21. ^ Seidlmayer, Stephan Johannes, New Rock Inscriptions on Elephantine Island, in: Hawass, Zahi, Pinch-Brock, Lyla, Egyptology at the Dawn of the Twenty-first Century. Proceedings of the Eighth International Congress of Egyptologists Cairo, 2000. Volume 1. Archaeology, Cairo, New York 2003, 442; Habachi, Labib, An Inscription at Aswān Referring to Six Obelisks, Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 36, 1950, 13-18.
  22. ^ Seidlmayer, Stephan, New Rock Inscriptions at Elephantine, Egyptian Archaeology. The Bulletin of the Egypt Exploration Society 14, 1999, 42.
  23. ^ Jaritz, Horst, Nilkultstätten auf Elephantine, in: Schoske, Sylvia, Akten des Vierten Internationalen Ägyptologen Kongresses München 1985. Band 2. Archäologie - Feldforschung - Prähistorie, Hamburg 1988, 201-202, Fig(s). 1.
  24. ^ H. Jaritz in 656: Stadt und Tempel von Elephantine. Elfter/Zwölfter Grabungsbericht - - - Kaiser, Werner, Dreyer, Günter, Seidlmayer, Stephan, Jaritz, Horst, Laskowska-Kusztal, Ewa, Ziermann, Martin, Avila, Robert; H. Jaritz in Jaritz, Horst, Kaiser, Werner, Dreyer, Günter, Ziermann, Martin, Krekeler, Achim, Schläger, Till, Stadt und Tempel von Elephantine. 13./14. Grabungsbericht, Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 43, 1986, 103-107.
  25. ^ Seidlmayer, Stephan Johannes, New Rock Inscriptions on Elephantine Island, in: Hawass, Zahi, Pinch-Brock, Lyla, Egyptology at the Dawn of the Twenty-first Century. Proceedings of the Eighth International Congress of Egyptologists Cairo, 2000. Volume 1. Archaeology, Cairo, New York 2003, 441.
  26. ^ Dreyer, Günter, Raue, Dietrich, von Pilgrim, Cornelius, Fischer-Elfert, Hans-Werner, Heitz, Christian, Klammt, Anne, Krutzsch, Miriam, Schönenberger, Simone, Ubertini, Christian, Stadt und Tempel von Elephantine. 28./29./30. Grabungsbericht, Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 58, 2002, 206 [n. 158].
  27. ^ Niederberger, Walter, Seiler, Anne, Arnold, Felix, Kaiser, Werner, von Pilgrim, Cornelius, Jaritz, Horst, Kopp, Peter, Stalder, Laurent, Bommas, Martin, Ziermann, Martin, Pätznick, Jean-Pierre, Raue, Dietrich, Hikade, Thomas, Hoffmann, Friedhelm, Schaten, Sofia, von Pilgrim, Beatrice, Rzeuska, Teodozja, Stadt und Tempel von Elephantine. 25./26./27. Grabungsbericht, Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 55, 1999, 118ff.; von Pilgrim, Cornelius, Elephantine XVIII. Untersuchungen in der Stadt des Mittleren Reiches und der ersten Zwischenzeit, Archäologische Veröffentlichungen 91, Mainz am Rhein 1996, 68-72, Pl(s). 37b, Fig(s). 16, 17a, 18a-b, 19.
  28. ^ C. von Pilgrim in Seidlmayer, Stephan, Kaiser, Werner, Dreyer, Günter, Jaritz, Horst, Ziermann, Martin, von Pilgrim, Cornelius, Krekeler, Achim, Lindemann, Jan, Stadt und Tempel von Elephantine. 15./16. Grabungsbericht, Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 44, 1988, 169.
  29. ^ von Pilgrim, Cornelius, Elephantine XVIII. Untersuchungen in der Stadt des Mittleren Reiches und der ersten Zwischenzeit, Archäologische Veröffentlichungen 91, Mainz am Rhein 1996, 68.
  30. ^ Seidlmayer, Stephan, Kaiser, Werner, Dreyer, Günter, Jaritz, Horst, Ziermann, Martin, von Pilgrim, Cornelius, Krekeler, Achim, Lindemann, Jan, Stadt und Tempel von Elephantine. 15./16. Grabungsbericht, Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 44, 1988, 169.
  31. ^ von Pilgrim, Cornelius, Elephantine XVIII. Untersuchungen in der Stadt des Mittleren Reiches und der ersten Zwischenzeit, Archäologische Veröffentlichungen 91, Mainz am Rhein 1996, 68, Fig(s). 16.
  32. ^ C. von. Pilgrim in Seidlmayer, Stephan, Kaiser, Werner, Dreyer, Günter, Jaritz, Horst, Ziermann, Martin, von Pilgrim, Cornelius, Krekeler, Achim, Lindemann, Jan, Stadt und Tempel von Elephantine. 15./16. Grabungsbericht, Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 44, 1988, 169.
  33. ^ C. von Pilgrim in Seidlmayer, Stephan, Kaiser, Werner, Dreyer, Günter, Jaritz, Horst, Ziermann, Martin, von Pilgrim, Cornelius, Krekeler, Achim, Lindemann, Jan, Stadt und Tempel von Elephantine. 15./16. Grabungsbericht, Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 44, 1988, 169; von Pilgrim, Cornelius, Elephantine XVIII. Untersuchungen in der Stadt des Mittleren Reiches und der ersten Zwischenzeit, Archäologische Veröffentlichungen 91, Mainz am Rhein 1996, 71-72, Pl(s). 37b, Fig(s). 17a, 18a-b, 19; Bommas, Martin, Der Tempel des Chnum der 18. Dyn. auf Elephantine, PhD thesis, Universität Heidelberg, Heidelberg 2000, 239, Fig(s). 31.
  34. ^ C. von Pilgrim in Jaritz, Horst, Kaiser, Werner, Niederberger, Walter, von Pilgrim, Cornelius, Andraschko, Frank, Aston, David A., Nebe, Ingrid, Krekeler, Achim, Pigur, Maja, Stadt und Tempel von Elephantine. 17./18. Grabungsbericht, Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 46, 1990, 198.
  35. ^ C. von Pilgrim in Niederberger, Walter, Seiler, Anne, Arnold, Felix, Kaiser, Werner, von Pilgrim, Cornelius, Jaritz, Horst, Kopp, Peter, Stalder, Laurent, Bommas, Martin, Ziermann, Martin, Pätznick, Jean-Pierre, Raue, Dietrich, Hikade, Thomas, Hoffmann, Friedhelm, Schaten, Sofia, von Pilgrim, Beatrice, Rzeuska, Teodozja, Stadt und Tempel von Elephantine. 25./26./27. Grabungsbericht, Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 55, 1999, 119-120.
  36. ^ C. von Pilgrim in Niederberger, Walter, Seiler, Anne, Arnold, Felix, Kaiser, Werner, von Pilgrim, Cornelius, Jaritz, Horst, Kopp, Peter, Stalder, Laurent, Bommas, Martin, Ziermann, Martin, Pätznick, Jean-Pierre, Raue, Dietrich, Hikade, Thomas, Hoffmann, Friedhelm, Schaten, Sofia, von Pilgrim, Beatrice, Rzeuska, Teodozja, Stadt und Tempel von Elephantine. 25./26./27. Grabungsbericht, Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 55, 1999, 120.
  37. ^ Jaritz, Horst, Kaiser, Werner, Dreyer, Günter, Ziermann, Martin, Krekeler, Achim, Schläger, Till, Stadt und Tempel von Elephantine. 13./14. Grabungsbericht, Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 43, 1986, 82, Fig(s). 2.

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