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‫ﺟﻤﻌﻴـــﺔ اﻵﺛـــﺎر ﺑﺎﻹﺳﻜﻨﺪرﻳـــﺔ‬
SOCIÉTÉ ARCHÉOLOGIQUE D’ALEXANDRIE
1893 - 2003
110 ans
BULLETIN
No. 47
ALEXANDRIE
2003
The Archaeological Society
of Alexandria
1893 - 2003
110 Years
Contents
Preface _____________________________________________________ 7
List of Illustrations ____________________________________________ 9
Bangnall, Roger S., Dioskourides: Three Rolls ______________________11
Rodziewicz, M., Philoxenité - Pilgrimage Harbor of Abu Mina ____________27
Rodziewicz, E., On Alexandrian School of Ivory Carvings in
Late Antiquity ______________________________________ 47
Murphy, Gladys Frantz, The Reinstitution of Courts in Early
Islamic Egypt ______________________________________ 71
Bonacasa, N., Aspects and New Problems of Late Alexandrian
Sculpture _________________________________________ 85
Grossmann, P., Zu dem angeblichen befestigten Kloster über
der Südmauer von al-Kâb _______________________________________113
BSAA No. 47
Fig. 7
Hypothetical reconstruction of ivory relief from house H at
street R4 in Alexandria. Drawn by M. Rodziewicz.
On Alexandrian School of Ivory Carving
BSAA No. 47
Fig. 8
Relief on tubular bone from Rhacotis (Graeco-Roman
Museum). Drawn by M. Rodziewicz.
BSAA No. 47
Fig. 9
Ivory pyxis from Berlin ( Staatliche Museen). Drawn by M.
Rodziewicz.
BSAA No. 47
Fig. 10
Ivory plaque from Cenchreai (Isthmia Museum). Drawn by M.
Rodziewicz.
BSAA No. 47
in Late Antiquity
Elzbieta Rodziewicz
The Alexandrian soil-bound conditions of finding well
preserved ivory objects (which are more fragile than those made of
bone) in regular or casual excavations carried out in the city, are
rather modest. Plentiful of bone reliefs (and daily use objects) and
at the same time luck of visible ivory artifacts in the Graeco-Roman
Museum at Alexandria, as well as other collections formed in, and
around the city (Benachi Museum in Athens, Gustav Mustachi
collection in London etc.) developed skepticism among historians
of ancient art., and disbelieve in correctness of old attributions to
Alexandria some top quality ivory reliefs from Mediterranean
countries(1). The fundamental work on bone and ivory carvings of J.
Strzygowski “Hellenistische und Koptische Kunst in Alexandria”
published a hundred years ago (Bulletin de la Société
Archéologique d’ Alexandrie No 5, 1902) initiated an intense
research on the subject. Yet, for the luck of ivories with
unquestionably Alexandrian provenance, objects found elsewhere
and attributed by many scholars to Alexandrian school had often
(1) R. D. Barnett, Ancient Ivories in the Middle East, London 1982 p. 69: “ At
Alexandria there is little evidence of a particularly thriving market in
ivory”; B.J. Beckwith, Coptic Sculpture 300-1300, London 1963 p. 8: “ If
Alexandria contributed at all to the artistic heritage of which
Constantinople, after the sack of Rome in 410 and 455, was to become the
principal guardian, it is arguable that her role as a metropolis of creative
Christian art. had been played out long before the fifth century”.
Throughout the last century we could observe development of two radically
different opinions on the existence of ivory school in late Roman and
Byzantine Alexandria.
been criticized, and shifted to another production centers in Syria,
Palestine or Constantinople(2). Actually the best ivory reliefs of Late
Roman and Byzantine periods preserved around the world, such as
consular diptychs, pyxides, book-covers, chests, caskets, large
thrones adorned with carved ivories etc. were found mostly outside
of Egypt, but many scholars suspected among them products of
Alexandrian workshops. Luckily, the intensive archaeological
research of the last few decades in Alexandria, allowed us to gather
more evidence on existing in Late Roman and Byzantine periods the
unquestionably ivories ateliers, thanks to the unearthed wasters,
workshop material, half-products, and also finished pieces of highest
quality, carved not only in bone, but also in ivory(3) .
The oldest from Kom el Dikka excavation ivory figure of
(2) K. Weitzmann, Loca Sancta, DOP 28, 1974, p. 31 ff and 46 ff.; K. Wessel,
Koptische Kunst. Die Spätantike in Ägypten, Recklinghausen 1963; ibid. La
cattedra di Massimiano e la sua scuola, in: Corsi di cultura sull’arte
ravennate e bizantina 1958, p. 111 ff.; ibid. Hellenismus in
Frühbyzantinischen Alexandrien, , Alessandria e il mondo ellenisticoromano. Studi in onore A. Adriani 2, Roma 1984 pp. 396-399; E.B. Smith,
The Alexandrian Origin of the Chair of Maximianus , AJA 21, 1917, p. 228
sq.; K. Elderkin, An Alexandrian Carved Casket of the Fourth Century,
AJA 30, 1926, p sq.; Ch. R. Morey, The Early Christian Ivories of the
Eastern Empire, Oaks Papers I, 1941, p. 41 sq.; J. Kolwitz, Alexandrinische
Elfenbeine in: Christentum am Nil, Villa Hügel 1963, pp. 277 sq. ;W. V.
Volbach, Elfenbeinarbeiten der Spätantike und des Frühen Mittelalters,
Mainz/Rhein 1976
(3) E. Rodziewicz, Late Antique Ivory and Bone Plaquettes in the National
Museum in Warsaw, Bulletin du Musée National de Varsovie, Vol.VII,
1966, 2, pp. 33-37; id. Reliefs figurés en os des fouilles à Kom el-Dikka,
ET. X, Varsovie 1978, pp. 318-336; Remarks on Chryselephantine Statue
from Alexandria in: Roma e l’Egitto Nell’Antichità Classica., Roma 1992
pp. 317-328; id. Archaeological Evidence of Bone and Ivory Carvings in
Alexandria in: BCH, Suppl.33, Athens 1998 pp. 135-158; id. Bone and
Ivory Carvings in Early Christian Alexandria in: Alexandrie médiévale 3,
IFAO, Le Caire ( in print).
BSAA No. 47
high artistic quality has been unearthed in trench M XVI,1
(MXVII) in late 1960s, at the so called theatre street(4). It represents a
standing female figure, clad in richly draped peplos delicately carved
in high relief, on a very thick ivory plaque. Although unearthed in the
late 6th early 7th cent. archaeological context, it was obviously sculpted
much earlier, and according to its iconographical and stylistic
properties can be dated to late Hellenistic – early Roman period(5).
Among numerous bone and ivory pieces such as partly
worked, unfinished objects, workshop material, off-cuts and chunks
of unworked ivory found recently in Alexandria, the most precious
ivory relief has been found in the area of ancient Caesareum
(winter 2002) datable to late 4th – 5th century AD. It is comparable
to the best ivory reliefs from the whole Mediterranean of the late
Roman and Byzantine periods(6). It represents a young male figure
clad in chlamys and tight tunica There is fragmentally preserved
horse standing at his left side, and allegorical figure flying over his
head. Although the relief was found badly fractured and
incomplete, it was clear from the very beginning that it constitutes
a part of probably larger frieze with apparently historical scene,
comparable to the famous one from Ephesus(7).
(4) M. Rodziewicz, Stratigraphie du sondage M XVI,1 dans la partie Sud de
Kôm el-Dikka, ET. III, 1969 pp.133-145; id. Les habitations romaines
tardives d’Alexandrie, Alexandrie III, Varsovie 1984, figs 2 a-b, 6.
(5) E. Rodziewicz, Reliefs figurés en os des fouilles à Kôm el-Dikka, ET X,
1978 p. 317-336, fig. 1; Remarks on Chryzelephantine Statue from
Alexandria op. cit. fig. 10; id. Archaeological Evidence of Bone and Ivory
Carvings in Alexandria op. cit. fig. 39.
(6) E. Rodziewicz, Bone and Ivory Carvings in Early Christian Alexandria, op. cit.
(7) E. Lessing and W. Oberleitner, Ephesos, Weltstadt der Antike, ViennaHeidelberg 1978 Pl. 9; F. Eichler, Ephesos, Grabungsbericht 1968, Jahrbuch
der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1969, pp. 12 ff; H.
Wetters, Ephesos, Vorläufiger Grabunsbericht, 1969; ibid. 1970, p.16, n.67,
Pl. VII a-c; P.G. Dawid, Restaurierungsarbeiten von 1965-1970,
The figure of chlamydatus with horse found in Alexandrian
Caesareum , belongs to the class of highest quality late Romanearly Byzantine reliefs known hitherto. Chronologically parallel to
this piece is another ivory relief from Alexandria, excavated in late
1980s at the street R4, house H, room 3, Kom el Dikka(8). This
place is located north of more completely preserved houses A – D,
where also numerous bone, and few ivory reliefs of late
Roman/Byzantine period have been unearthed(9). This very
interesting ivory relief from house H, represents a thick applique
with arched edge over a young male’s bust. Unfortunately the
facial features are split off(10). Its valuable contribution to the long
lasting discussion on Alexandrian ivory carvings was not
underlined in mentioned publication. The dispute on the subject
was obviously not followed by the author(11). Relief was described
in a very short way, and insufficient. Its important place in largely
discussed problem on Alexandrian school of ivory carvings in late
Roman and Byzantine period was not picked up, although the
object gives us valuable archaeological evidence to the local
production, and helps to fill an apparent vacuum in a chain of
(8)
(9)
(10)
(11)
Österreichische Jahreshefte 50 (1972-75, Beiblatt, pp. 542-550; R.D.
Barnett, Ancient Ivories in the Middle East, London 1982, Pl. 72.
J. Jablonowska-Taracha, Bone Objects from Polish Excavations at Kom el
Dikka, Alexandria (1988-1990), Archeologia LI, 2000, p. 57, Pl. XII.2
M. Rodziewicz, Les habitations romaines tardives d’Alexandrie. Alexandrie
III, Varsovie 1984, p. 149, fig. 169, p. 173, figs. 198-199, pp. 244-245, figs.
267-268; E. Rodziewicz, Bone Carvings Discovered at Kom el-Dikka,
Alexandria in 1967, ET.III, 1966, pp. 147-152; id. Relief figurés en os des
fouilles de Kom el-Dikka op.cit.; id. Remarks on Chryselephantine Statue
from Alexandria,, op.cit.; On Stylistical and Technical Components of the
Roman Coloured Bone Appliques from Egypt, Alessandria e il Mondo
Hellenistico-Romano, Roma 1995, pp. 405-411 Tav. LXXV; id.
Archaeological Evidence of Bone and Ivory Carvings in Alexandria, BCH,
suppl. 33, p. 135-158.
Jablonowska-Taracha op.cit. p. 59, pl. XII.2
Jablonowska-Taracha op.cit. p.57.
BSAA No. 47
archaeological evidence supporting the production of high quality
ivory reliefs in the city.
The author of the above mentioned publication writes: “As
regards the type, however, it undoubtedly derives from the
funerary portraits in Late Roman sculpture and is reminiscent of
some portrait stelae found in Oxyrhynchos, dated to the late 3rd
and 4th centuries A. D.”(12). It is presented as one of many other
second-rate objects, although its value is much exceeding all the
other pieces presented in this article. Even its shape deserves a
special consideration because it also may suggests Alexandrian
school. Undertaken efforts to define original form of applique, its
eventual frame, and setting in unpreserved background, would
facilitate the identification of iconography and style, and locate it
in one of many categories of reliefs known from that time.
Judging from the published photo, the ivory may present a
fragment of an upper (arched part) of a longer applique with
straight cut bottom, and straight side edges. Indirect parallels can
be detected in the ivory appliques decorating a wooden chest
found in Meroitic burial of Northern Nubia,influenced by
Alexandrian atelier(13). F. Poulsen has seen in them reflection of
(12) Jablonowska-Taracha op.cit. p. 57. This so important relief is presented
without basic knowledge on comparable material within this same category.
(13) C.L. Woolley-D.Randall-Maciver, Karanog, the Romano-Nubian Cemetery,
Philadelphia 1910, pls. 21, 22, 24, 25; W.B. Emery, Egypt in Nubia, London
1965, pl. XXI; S. Wenig, Africa in Antiquity II, The Catalogue. Brooklyn
1978, p.104 ff. Fig. 80; L. Török. Late Antique Nubia, Budapest 1988, p.98
ff; pl. 38-39; N. B. Millet, Gebel Adda Expedition. Preliminary Report 19631964, JARCE 3, 1964, p. 7-13, Pl. IV/9,10; E. Seguenny, L’ influence de
l’Égypte Greco-Romaine sur la religion Meroitique: Temoignage des objects
d’art. mineur, Nubische Studien, Mainz am Rhein 1986, pp. 171-177; E.
Rodziewicz, On Stylistical and Technical Components of the Roman
Coloured Bone Appliques from Egypt op. cit. p. 408 ff.
rich Alexandrian architectural decorative motifs(14). Similarly
shaped ivory inlays can be observed on early Christian caskets
from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo(15). Although the plaquettes
from mentioned above wooden chests and caskets are flat, incised
and painted (not sculpted in relief) their form seem to be
analogous. Figures sculpted, or engraved on such plaquettes, were
very often framed with carved and painted architectural elements,
such as columns (also cut in ivory or bone) at both sides,
supporting an arch above, suggesting a rich interior, or edifice in
the background. Thus the plaque from the house H at street R4,
could have been one of the first ivory piece which served as a
prototype of the architectural type of decorative appliques, known
from the wooden late Antique chests in Nubia. Usually figural
representations shown in architectural environs are sculpted on
rectangular plaques. However, because of the poor state of
preservation we can not exclude a circular form of relief with
male bust found at Kom el Dikka. For this may speak its
rounded/arched top, suggesting small medallion similar to those
from catacombs in Rome with representations of Christ and
Apostle Peter, both dated to 4th century AD(16). On one of them is
represented Christ with halo and Egyptian ankh type cross. Yet,
both representations are rendered in linear manner, and belong to
a very specific category of Alexandrian appliques, coloured with
wax paste of red, black and blue/green colours(17). However on the
(14) F. Poulsen, Gab es eine alexandrienische Kunst ?, Collections of the Ny
Carlsberg Glyptothek 2, 1938, pp. 52 ff.
(15) J. Strzygowski, Koptische Kunst, CGC, Cairo-Vienna 1904, pp. 172 ff; The
Walters Art. Gallery. Early Christian and Byzantine Art., Baltimore 1947, p.
53, no. 181.
(16) W.V. Volbach, Elfenbeinarbeiten der Spätantike und des Frühen
Mittelalters, Mainz/Rhein, Taf. 100. 209-210.
(17) E.Rodziewicz, On Stylistical and Technical Components of the Roman
Coloured Bone Appliques from Egypt, op.cit. p. 405 ff. Tav. LXXV; id. Late
BSAA No. 47
famous so called Brescia casket also dated to the 4th century AD,
we have series of small medallions with busts of Christ and
Apostles carved in relief(18). Their form refers to Ptolemaic
medallions depicting rulers, and also to their later representations
carved on invented in Alexandria (of early Roman period)
decorative ivory and bone game counters, cut in form of discs
with relief busts on one side(19).
Judging from the fragmentally preserved edge of the relief
from house H at street R 4, it seems that it was not applied to the
flat background, but rather put into a socket, cut out according to
relief outline. Taking into account the typical for this kind of
objects proportions and their dimensions, it could have been a
rectangular plaque with rounded top, on which was enough space
to carve a seated person. If it was a rounded medallion there could
have been only space for a bust. Yet, the first suggestion of
elongated plaque seems to be more feasible. Preserved on the
plaque a youthful, beardless face with high voluminous hairdo
Antique Ivory and Bone Plaquettes in the National Museum in Warsaw,
Bulletin du Mesée National de Varsovie VII, 1966 No.2 pp. 33-37, fig.3.
(18) J. Beckwith, Early Christian and Byzantine Art., London 1970, p. 20, fig.
36; W.F. Volbach, Elfenbeinarbeiten der Spätantike und des Frühen
Mittelalters, Mainz/Rhein 1976, Taf.57.
(19) M. Rostovtsef, Interprétation des tessères en os, RA 5, 1905, pp. 110-124;
H. Riad, Une collection de terrères au musée gréco-romain d’ Alexandrie,
Mélanges K. Michalowski, Warsaw 1966, pp.157-166; E. AlföldiRosenbaum, The Finger-Calculus in Antiquity and in the Middle Ages.
Studies on Roman Game Counters I. Frühmittelalterliche Studies 5, 1971,
1-9; id. Ruler Portraits on Roman Game Counters from Alexandria.
Studies on Roman Game Counters III op. cit. pp. 29-38; id. Alexandriaca.
Studies on Roman Game Counters IV, Chiron 6, 1976, p. 237 ff; id.
Chiron 3, 1973, pp. 123 ff.; L. Marangou, Ptolemäische Fingerring aus
Bein, AM 86, 1971, pp. 165-171; id. Bone Carvings from Egypt.
Tübingen 1976, pl. 71; Ev. Breccia, Monuments de L’Égypte GrécoRomaine I, Bergamo 1926, Tav. LXIV, 4.
covering the ears, is typical in the 4th century for representations of
young teaching Jesus, which is suggested by the pointing gesture of
his right hand fingers. There are numerous such representation
attributed to Alexandria, but we would concentrate only on few
examples of indisputably Alexandrian origin. Within the frame of
existing early Christian iconography of proven Alexandrian
provenience, the enthroned young Jesus is widely known from the
wall painting in Wescher’s tomb (Kom el Shuggafa necropolis)(20).
He appears there as universal sovereign and also miracle maker(21).
Young, beardless Jesus carved in relief on a bone cylinder,
exhibited in Room 1 of Graeco-Roman Museum at Alexandria seems
to be the best parallel to piece from house H at street R 4(22). The
object from Museum (Inv. No. 13296) was found in Rhacotis at the
end of 19th century (1890-1895) and since then constantly exhibited in
room I (vitrine No. 5). Its unique value is slightly diminished by the
poor state of preservation. It was found broken into three pieces, now
joined, but there is missing an important part of sculpted surface at the
top, and a whole lower part of tubular bone, which denies the
calculation of its whole high, which at present measures 9,5 cm.,
while the width is 3 – 4 cm. Large cylindrical bone, ovoid in section,
has carefully removed marrow inside, while the whole outer surface is
(20) A. Adriani, Repertorio d’arte dell’Egitto greco-romano, Serie C, I-II,
Palermo 1963-1966, p. 184 ff, No. 128, Tav. 103, 348-350, Tav. 104, 351;
G.B. De Rossi, Bull.Arch.Christ. II, 1864, p. 88; J.-Y. Empereur,
Alexandrie, Hier et demain, Gallimard 2001, p. 54.
(21) A. Grabar, Christian Iconography. A Study of its Origin. Bollingen Series
XXXV.10, New York 1968, fig. 109.
(22) G. Botti, Catalogue des monuments exposés au Gréco-Romain d’ Alexandrie,
1900, Salle I, No 2025, pp. 69 ff.: “os et ivoires provenant des collines à tessons
d’ Alexandrie”. I wish to thank Mr. Ahmed Abd El- Fattah, the Director
General of the Graeco-Roman Museum in Alexandria, who facilitated my work
on bone relief Inv. No. 13296, and Dr. Merwat Seif El-Din for all her valuable
information, and help during my study in the Graeco-Roman Museum.
BSAA No. 47
covered with high, strongly polished relief. Most protruding fragments
of sculpted surface are worn out, by extensive usage in antiquity. It
could have served as a stand, container, handle etc. The importance of
this object lies first of all in its iconography and style.
In the center of multifigural scene on bone cylinder from
Graeco-Roman Museum in Alexandria, there is presented frontally
in high relief a young seated man, clad in chiton and himation, with
his right hand at his chest in the same gesture as on the relief from
house H at street R 4. Similar composition appears on numerous
ivory plaques and pyxides found elsewhere, therefore we suspect
that the scene was copied on tubular bone from ivory object(23).
Ivory plaques dated to 4th century AD, with seated young man
(Christ or Philosopher ?) and typical for Alexandrian school of
bone and ivory carvings architectural elements in the background,
were also found in Corinth (Cenchreai)(24). They were undoubtedly
produced in Alexandria, since nearly identically carved columns
and arches can be observed on the bone plaquette of highest artistic
quality representing Satyr playing flute, with facial features of
Ptolemy XII Auletes, excavated recently in Alexandria, Inv. No.DI
96.3256.5.7 (110).
The whole composition of multifigural relief from the
Museum in Alexandria is centered toward the figure sitting above
the five frontally depicted steps, beside which stands a basket with
round shaped loafs of bread. There are eight draped figures shown
aside in two ranks, on both sides of seated person. To the right and
left of steps are located two figures in half kneeling position, one in
left, the other in his right profile. One has his head depicted frontally,
(23) Volbach, Elfenbeinarbeiten der Spätantike op.cit. nos. 65, 125, 132, 133,
148, 161, 165, 166, 176.
(24) N. Papahatzis, Ancient Corinth, Athens 1984, figs. 38-39.
the other in his left profile. On the same level there are rendered two
more persons (behind the kneeling ones) with the proportions of
sitting figures. They both hold in their hands ovoid object probably
bread. The central figure above the steps is shown in very similar
manner to Jesus on Alexandrian wall painting from Kom el Shugafa
Wescher’s hypogeum(25). But there the whole scene is presented on
one level, while sitting Jesus shown on the bone cylinder is
surrounded by four figures located in the upper row, with their legs
covered by persons of lower raw. They are all depicted frontally, yet,
they are composed in Hellenistic manner. Their heads are bent
slightly to the sides, and their facial features are treated individually,
and quite variously. Details (now partly damaged) were carved very
professionally in high relief, by very skilled hand. It is a quick, but
high quality work of an experienced carver, who produced probably
the same scene both in ivory and also in much cheapper bone,
therefore the objects in bone were not finished to the degree
observed in ivory pieces, such as the bust from House H, at street
R4, peplos figure from trench M XVI at Kom el Dikka, and
chlamydatus with horse from Caesareum. All figures around Jesus
are crowded, covering each other to various degree, forming realistic
assemblage without free background. Free space appears only
between the heads of the upper row of figures up to the ring-rim of
sculpted object. Unfortunately we can not identify the figure located
on the tube at the back side of seated Jesus. Only small part of right
hand is preserved, while rest of the figure is broken out.
Sketchily carved, but very vividly assembled group of nine
figures clad in Greek way, was sculpted in late Hellenistic/early
Roman illusionistic style, like many other late Roman bone
carvings and paintings from Alexandria(26). Yet, there is depicted
(25) Adriani, Repertorio op.cit.; G.B. De Rossi op.cit.
(26) Especially the relief with dancing Satyr ( piper), excavated in western part
of ancient Basilea in 1996. See: E. Rodziewicz, Bone and Ivory Carvings in
BSAA No. 47
clearly a Christian scene of Jesus-teacher with his disciples, or
enthroned universal-sovereign, like in Wescher’s tomb(27). The
scene may be also associated with miraculous multiplication of
bread, since the basket with bread is also present in front of a
seated person, at the lower part of steps. Assemblage of such a
group, turned toward the central figure, may repeat one of the local
scenes with disciples gathered around their teacher in meeting
place, or public lecture hall, similar to those uncovered at the late
Roman bath, south of the theatre at Kom el Dikka, in early
1980s(28). Depiction of steps in front of seated Jesus on relief from
Rhacotis, repeats exactly the steps, and even their total number in
the meeting hall No. 2 at the ancient theatre street in Alexandria(29).
Three rows of stone seats are located along three walls of
auditorium, while additional row of smaller steps is built on the
axis of the hall, and they are leading upwards to the central, most
honorable seat in front of the entrance. It is exactly the situation
which we can see on the bone relief from Rhacotis. This may
Early Christian Alexandria, IFAO, Alexandrie médiévale III (being
printed). Comp also late Roman and early Byzantine Alexandrian wall
paintings, especially the one with water-wheel (saquiya) excavated in
Western necropolis – Wardian in 1960. See M. Rodziewicz, On
Alexandrian Landscape Paintings, Roma E L’Egitto Nell’Antichità
Classica, . Atti del I Congresso Internationale Italo-Egiziano, Roma 1992,
pp.329-337, figs. 4-5.
(27) Adriani, Repertorio op.cit ; De Rossi op.cit. ; J.-Y.Empereus op.cit.
(28) M. Rodziewicz, Excavations at Kom el-Dikka in 1980-1981. Sector AW West of the Roman Bath, BSAA No 44, Alexandria 1991, pp. 73-75, 91-98,
fig. 5, p. 83, 98; E. Rodziewicz, Late Roman Auditoria in Alexandria in the
Light of Ivory Carvings, BSAA No. 45, Alexandria 1993, pp.269-279, pl.
XLVIII- LI.
(29) M. Rodziewicz, Excavations at Kom el-Dikka in 1980-81 op.cit., fig. 5; E.
Rodziewicz, Late Roman Auditoria in Alexandria op. cit. Pl. XLIX. Comp
also other apses with short central steps leading up: A. Terry, The Opus
Sectile in the Eufrasius Cathedral at Poreč, DOP 40, 1986, pp. 147-164,
figs. 26-27.
suggest that the relief was based, and composed on the situation
observed in the city, by artist with the local life experience, or
copied from the other relief or even painting.
Representation of Jesus as a teacher (philisopher),
surrounded by his disciples was common in late Antiquity – early
Byzantine period. One of them appears on the highest quality
ivory pyxis from Staatliche Museen in Berlin (Kaiser Friedrich
Museum)(30). This particular pyxis is considered by experts as one
of the most beautiful among early Christian pyxides from the
whole Mediterranean. Here Jesus is seated on elaborated throne
with high back, and footstool. He is placed below the arch
supported by two pillars. Surrounding him Apostles are located
also in two rows, from which two frontal persons, on both sides of
throne are positioned on a low stools. Figures in the second row
are standing on both sides of enthroned Jesus. Yet, both rows of
depicted persons are standing on the same level. Although the
general arrangement of the scene is similar to the piece from
Graeco-Roman Museum, the architectural environment is
modeled on another place, such as a peristile of a private house.
Depiction of Jesus with an arch above his head appears as a
parallel to relief with Jesus from house H at the street R4 in
Alexandria. On the other side of pyxis from Berlin, there is carved
scene of sacrifice of Abraham(31). In the background of the scene
is shown an old type of altar, well known from Alexandrian
necropoles of Ptolemaic and Roman periods(32). The Altar is
(30) J. Natanson, Early Christian Ivories, London 1953, pl. 28; Volbach,
Elfenbeinarbeiten der Spätantike op.cit. No. 161. P. 104, Taf. 82
(31) Natanson, Early Christian Ivories op. cit. pl. 28; Volbach, Elfenbeinarbeiten
op.cit. Taf. 82.
(32) A. Adriani, Annuario del Museo Greco-Romano 1935-1939, Alexandrie
1940, p. 89, 120, 123, fig. 57, pl. XLV,7.
BSAA No. 47
located on a high podium with 12 steps. These steps were
considered by K. Weitzmann as very crucial for attribution the
pyxis from Berlin to Palestinian atelier(33). Strzygowski thought of
Syrian school (Antiochia) which according to him, could have had
a great influence on Alexandrian ivory and bone carvers(34). This
theory he tried to support by a fragment of bone relief with
representation of nearly identically carved figure of Abraham with
Issak, bought hundred years ago in Alexandria, which said to be
obtained by sebbahin diggers on one of the city “Koms”
(Strzygowski, Hellenistishe Kunst p. 9). Because there were not in
Alexandria of that time ivory object comparable to pyxis from
Berlin, but only its resemblance in bone, Strzygowski was
convinced that Alexandrian carvers could only repeat in cheap
material patterns from outside. Yet other scholars such as
K.Wessel saw in pyxis from Berlin an Alexandrian product, we
agree with him, and support with presented above material(35).
There is also a question on the origin of Lesbian Kymation which
is framing the upper zone of figural frieze of Berlin pyxis. It is
very rare among ivory pyxides known hitherto, but in the
collection of ivory and bone carvings from Alexandrian
excavations, the bone stripes with Lesbian Kymations carved
identically are common. Such Kymation as a framing band
(33) K. Weitzmann, Loca Sancta and the Representational Art. of Palestine,
DOP 28, 1974, p. 31, 34 ff.
(34) J. Strzygowski, Hellenistische und Koptische Kunst in Alexandria op.cit. p.
9 ff., fig. 4; J. Natanson, Early Christian Ivories, London 1953. Natanson
ascribes the pyxis from Berlin as a piece of highest quality art. of East
Mediterranean, dated to about 400 C.E. He writes: “ The carver obviously
copied the Sacrifice of Abraham from some image which he could not
entirely understand, and therefore the pile of wood and the altar built by
Abraham have became an elaborated building” p. 29.
(35) K. Wessel, Die Grosse Berliner Pyxix, RA Crist. 1960, [[.265 ff.; id.
Hellenismus in Frühbyzantinischen Alexandrien op.cit.
between bunch of grapes and theatrical mask is carved on bone
figural applique found in late 1960s at Kom el Dikka ( Inv.No.
SM 1015/67, E.Rodziewicz Reliefs figurés op.cit. fig. 4-5)
Having to our disposal ivory reliefs recently obtained in
Alexandria, old antiquarian pieces bought in Alexandria (now in
many collections around the world) and a carved bone tube from
Rhacotis (Graeco-Roman Museum) where the composition of the
whole scene, stylistic and iconographical elements such as typical
Alexandrian altar are locally proven, we are convinced that the
highest quality pyxis from Berlin – one of the most representative
pieces of early Christian art., is of Alexandrian origin. Tubular
bone from Graeco-Roman Museum in Alexandria, carved on all
external surfaces with multifigural scene, extending repertoire of
iconographical components related directly to both scenes on ivory
pyxis from Berlin. On the existence in Egypt highly specialized
workshops producing pyxides from Ptolemaic period onwards, for
the local marked, and probably for the export, scholars speculated
since a long time(36). For the early Christian period situation
seemed to be more complicated, but still such experts as W.F.
Volbach try to prove that Alexandrian ateliers produced high
quality pyxides during the Late Antiquity(37). With all material from
recent excavations in, and around Alexandria, we have no more
doubts about it(38). Discussed above reliefs substantiate highly
sophisticated ivory and bone objects, created by Alexandrian artists
(36) L. Marangou, Bone Carvings from Egypt, op. cit. p.76; A. Cutler, Five
Lessons in the Late Roman Ivory, JRA, 5, 1993, p. 178.
(37) W.F. Volbach, Zur Lokalizierung frühchristlicher Pyxiden, in: Festschrift
Gerke, 1962, pp. 81 ff.
(38) See E.Rodziewicz, Bone and Ivory Carvings in Early Christian Alexandria,
Alexandrie médiévale, op.cit; J.-Y. Empereur, Alexandria Rediscovered,
London l998, p. 61; J. Engemann, Elfenbeinfunde aus Abu Mena/Ägypten,
Jahrbuch für Antike und Christentum, 30, 1987, pp.132-186, Taf. 16-26.
BSAA No. 47
of Late Antiquity, which were available not only on the local
market, but also abroad. Written record saying that Cyril, Patriarch
of Alexandria sent an ivory chair as a gift to the Patriarch of
Constantinople about 432-433, proves that the ivory industry in
Alexandria of that time was at its hight(39).
Rodziewicz.
(39) J. Beckwith, Coptic Sculpture 300 – 1300, London 1963, p. 11.
G. Frantz - Murphy
71
The Reinstitution of Courts in Early Islamic Egypt(1)
Gladys Frantz - Murphy
Regis University, Dover
Greek, Coptic, and Arabic papyri from Egypt attest to the
reinstitution of courts in the beginning of the second century hijra.
They also attest to the peaceful coexistence of Islam and
Christianity. Christians chose to have legal documents that vitally
affected their families’ interests recorded in Arabic, despite the fact
that they were free to have them recorded in Coptic. That they did
so attests to their dsire to gain access to the Islamic courts as well
as to their confidence in those courts. That Christians chose to gain
access to Islamic courts attests that those courts met the needs of
the Christian community.
The first body of evidence presented is the legal procedure
attested in arbitration documents dating from prior of the Islamic
conquest of Egypt into the mid-fourth century hijra. These
arbitration documents are written in Greek, Coptic and Arabic.
I. Procedure
Arabic document attest that the forms of admissible evidence
in Islamic courts can be broken down into testimony, sworn
testimony, and documents. The papyrus document itself could be
used as evidence. Hujja is well attested in the papyri to mean, a
“document”, “proof”, “allegation”, and “evidence”. Examples of
documentary attestations follow. A settlement published by
(1) An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Middle East Studies
Association in Boston in 1990, and published as “Settlement of Property
Disputes in Provincial Egypt: The Reinstitution of Courts in the Early
Islamic Period”, al-Masiq 6 (1993): 95 - 105.
72
The Reinstitution of Courts in Early Islamic Egypt
Grohmann and executed at Ushmūn in 412/1022 (P. Cairo. Arab.
II(2), 138, 16) records an agreement for the division of inherited
property. The document is stated to have been “written as evidence”
<= ?ً @A <BC‫ آ‬for the two legatees and is signed by two witnesses.
Meaning “allegation”, hujja is attested in a document dated
382/922 originating from Tutūn, a village in the southwestern Fayyūm
(P. Berlin. Arab. I, 14, 14)(3). The settlement is for the accidental death
of a horse. A third party pays the owner, while the parties responsible
for the death of the horse then agree to repay the third party according
to the terms set out in the document. The text states(4).
?FGHI=‫ ا‬KL‫ ه‬NO PQ‫ وو‬NST UV WGXY ?@ZY [\G]^ _CZ` a‫و‬
They will not contend between themselves by means an
“allegation” ?bb@A (hujja) for anything other than that which is
named and described in this document ?FGH‫( و‬wathīqa).
The document is signed by witnesses.
Hujja is attested to mean the document itself in another
document published by Grohmann written in 284/897(5) at Ushmūn
(P. Cairo. Arab. II, 121, 5 - 6). In the document the seller renounces
her rights in property and states that,
?@A a‫ و‬... U\= hiS` a‫ل و‬I‫ـ[ـ‬f a]‫ و‬... U\= cG=
(2) For Arabic papyrological abbreviations see
http//scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/papyrus/texts/clist_arabic.html.
For Greek papyrological abbreviations see
http//scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/papyrus/texts/clist.html.
(3) Counting the third line of the insert above the left side, along with the
bismillahi as line 1; the lines are not indicated in the published edition.
(4) WGXY is edited as WّGX` in the published edition.
(5) the numbers in the date of this document are inadvertently transposed to
248/897 in Frantz-Murphy, “Settelement”, p. 96.
G. Frantz - Murphy
73
She has no word, ‫ل‬Ibf (qawl)” ... no oath hGbS` (yamīn) in her
favor ... and no document ?@A (hujja) ...
i. e., giving her rights or claims in the property. The document
is signed by witnesses.
Hujja meaning “proof” is attested in a document recording
the emancipation of a slave dated 304/912 originating from Nubia
(P. Berlin. Arab II, 7).
... ‫ب‬UCs=‫ا ا‬L‫ ه‬NO USY ... p`t` NO ?@A ‫ن‬IsG= ... ‫ب‬UCs=‫ا ا‬L‫ ه‬... p= qBC‫وآ‬
I have had this document (kitāb) written for you ... To be proof
in your hands ... of what is in this document (kitāb).
The document is signed by witnesses.
In the early second century hijra documents continued to be
written in Coptic as well as in Greek. The Greek and Coptic
settlement documents attest the same forms of evidence as the
Arabic documents. The family archive from Jeme published by
schiller(6) records a family dispute over title to shares in inherited
residential property. The archive includes settlement documents
ending disputes which had embroiled three generations. According
to these papyri evidence had been presented in the course of the
proceedings in the same three forms as those attested in the Arabic
documents -- testimony, sworn testimony, and documents.
Coptic papyri attest the same forms of admissible evidence
as do the Greek. On Coptic papyrus from Edfu published by
Schiller in fact attests all three forms in the same document(7).
(6) A. A. Schiller, “A Family from Jeme”, Study in onore di Vincenzo ArangioRuiz, vol. IV (Naples, 1952): 329 - 375.
(7) A. A. Schiller, “The Budge Papyrus”, Journal of the American Research
Center in Egypt 7 (1968): 79 - 118, p. 83 lines 18, 19, and 22.
74
... you may have need of two witnesses to tell your business
to them before you die ... so that I may find them for their
testimony ... we receives a deed ...
Acceptable evidence in Byzantine Greek documents
includes the same three forms: An archive from Idfū, in which
some papyri are written in Greek and some in Coptic, records
arbitration proceedings which began in 622 C.E. continuing for a
quarter of a century, until 647 C.E.(8) One of the Greek documents
in that archives (SB VI, 8987) dated 622 records a deed that is
referred to in those Coptic proceedings. A final settlement to this
dispute (SB VI, 8988) dated 647 is also written in Greek. It is
noteworthy that this dispute had begun in the time of the Persian
invasion. The dispute and the litigation continued through the
Arab conquest. During the entire quarter century of invasion and
conquest, the parties involved continued their dispute. They were
apparently unaffected by the invasion and conquest, traveling
back and forth between Idfū nd Ushmūn in their attempts to
secure documentary proof of their ownership of the property in
dispute. The dispute was finally settled by the claimant
renouncing his claims and executing a deed of settlement written
in Greek (SB VI, 8988).
Going back further in time, in an archive of pre-Islamic
Greek document from Syēnē (Aswan) dating from the late sixth
century C.E., 574 - 594, family members submit to arbitration to
end a dispute over shares in inherited property(9). In these
documents evidence is given by reference to documents, by
testimony, and sworn testimony.
(8) Idem.
(9) (P. Lond. V and P. Münch. I).
G. Frantz - Murphy
75
An even earlier Greek document from Aphroditō dating
from between 527 and 565 records the arbitrated settlement of a
property dispute (P. Mich. XIII, 659). No one could produce a
document. Twenty-five years had elapsed and the witnesses
could not be produced, and so evidence was finally taken by
sworn testimony.
In summary, based on documentary attestation the three types
of evidence accepted in settlements remained the same in these
documents dating from pre-Islamic times, the early sixth century
C.E., into the mid-eleventh century C.E./5th hijri.
However, with regard to the witnessing clauses of the
documents, a significant difference distinguished Arabic practice
from the two pre-Islamic traditions.
II. Reinstitution of Courts
Although the Qur’ān (2:282) prescribes documentary
evidence,
... KIBC‫آ‬UO NSV ‫ أ‬N=‫ إ‬h`tY [Ci`‫ا‬t ‫ا إذا‬IiV‫ ءا‬h`L=‫ ا‬U\`‫ أ‬U`
O you who believe, if you borrow money one from another
for a stated term, then write it ...
early Islamic legal practice preferred oral to written
testimony, which is also sanctioned by the Qur’ān in the next verse
(2:283).
... ?IBFV h‫ه‬WO UBU‫وا آ‬t@ [=‫ و‬WT N]^ [Ci‫وإن آ‬
But if you are on a trip and do not find a writer, then a pledge
may be taken ...
76
Nonetheless, in the event of a dispute, rather than producing a
witnessed document, the witnesses who had signed the document
would be asked to testify orally.
Arabic document, as documents in the two other linguistic
traditions, were signed by witnesses. But, unlike the Coptic and
Greek documents, the Arabic documents were not signed by the
parties to the transactions. The parties to Arabic transactions never
signed. Professional witnesses signed testifying to their agreement.
In the event of a dispute, the witnesses, and not the document, were
the primary form of evidence. The document was regarded only as
a means of reminding the witnesses of the particulars of the
agreement. And in fact, a document dated 230/8465 records a
witness being called to give such oral testimony as to what was in a
document he had signed (P. Khalili. Arab. I, 12).
‫ادى‬tbXB=‫ ا‬GSbT‫ ا‬hbY ZbT‫ ا‬hbY ‫ب‬IbFG= ‫ب‬UbC‫ آ‬NbO ‫ت‬t\b [GAW=‫ ا‬hSAW=‫[ ا ا‬Y
?b=UA ‫ر‬Ubi`‫ د‬hG <G]^ ZT‫ ا‬hY ‫ب‬IFG= ‫ادى ان‬tXB=‫ ا‬GST‫ ا‬hY ZT‫ ا‬N=IV ‫ون‬W‫ ه‬N]^
hGUV‫ و‬hGHH ?iT ‫ة‬tF=‫ ذى ا‬NO Nt\‫< ا‬G]^ ‫ل‬IFG=
In the name of God the merciful and compassionate. I bore
witness in a document (kitāb) for Yaºqūb ibn ºIshāq ibn ºismaºīl
al-Baghdādī against Hārūn the freedman of ºIshāq al-Baghdādī that
Yaºqūb ibn ºIshāq was owed by him ninety dinars, now due to
Yaºqūb from him. He called me to witness in dhū al-qaºda, in the
year two hundred and thirty.
Coptic documents were signed by the parties to the
transaction, if they could write, or someone signed their own name
stating that they did so because the party in question could not
write. Coptic document were also signed by one or more of the
arbitrators named in the body of the document, as well as by other
witnesses. But, as in the instance in the document from Bala’izah
G. Frantz - Murphy
77
referred to above, a document was preferred to sworn testimony as
evidence.
Greek documents were similarly signed by the parties to the
transaction, or, in the event of illiteracy, someone signed on their
behalf. And Greek documents were also signed by multiple
witnesses. Therefore, while evidentiary procedure was the same in
each of the three legal traditions, only the Arabic tradition preferred
oral over written testimony. Another difference was that the parties
to the contract did not sign the document in the Arabic legal
tradition.
Knowing the Arabic preference for oral testimony, the
appearance of a subtle but systematic change in the witnessing clause
of Coptic document attested beginning in 112/730 - 731 signals the
reinstitution of courts in Islamic Egypt after their disappearance in the
Byzantine period(10). The subtle grammatical change altered the
seller’s testimony to the validity of the document from a statement that
“he agreed to the sale”, making the witness’s testimony a future
condition that, “when asked, he will testify that he agreed”.
While Islamists would be aware that early Arabic customary
practice and Islamic jurisprudence valued oral testimony over
written evidence, Till, working from the Coptic and Greek, but not
the Arabic evidence, had wondered what could have been behind
this systematic grammatical change in the Coptic formulary. Might
it have been that this subtle change brought those documents within
the purview of Muslim evidentiary preference? Christians were free
to continue to have their documents written in Coptic. Some Coptic
documents dating from 112/730 and 123/740 state that the
(10) W. C. Till, “Die koptische Stipulationsklausel”, Orientalia, n. s., 19 (1950):
81 - 87.
78
document is “written in the Egyptian language at the request of the
seller”(11). These documents attest that Christians had had a choice.
In fact, some documents continued to be written in the Coptic
through the second / eighth century.
Given that the documents themselves provide irrefutable
evidence that the Christian community had its own system of
justice that was recognized by the Muslim administrators, why did
Christians opt to have their documents written in Arabic, a
language which they did not understand, as some documents
expressly state, and signed by registered Muslim witnesses, as they
did?(12) In these contracts the parties involved are Christian, by
their names, while the witnesses have Muslim names(13). Why did
the Coptic speaking Christian population opt for document written
in Arabic and signed by Muslim witnesses?
To answer these questions we must first ask another. What
happened in the event that an arbitrated settlement written in Coptic
or in Greek failed? The Budge papyrus(14) provides incontrovertible
evidence that Byzantine and Coptic arbitration repeatedly failed.
The dispute recorded in the documents in that archive, written in
Coptic and in Greek, went on for over twenty-five years spanning
the Byzantine and early Islamic period. Why was this the case?
(11) W. C. Till, Die koptischen Ostraka der Papyrussamlung der oesterreichischen
Nationalbibliothek (Vienna, 1960), No. 12 dated 8 December 733, and No.
13, dated November 733.
(12) E. Tynan, Histoire de l’organisation judiciaire en pays de l’Islam (Leiden,
1960; second edition), pp. 236 - 252; G. Frantz-Murphy, “A comparison of
the Arabic and earlier Egyptian contract formularies, Part I: The Arabic
contracts from Egypt (3rd / 9th - 5th / 11th centuries)”, Journal of Near
Eastern Studies 40, iii (1981): 223.
(13) G. Frantz-Murphy, “ A comparison ... Part I), 203 - 255 and 355 - 356.
(14) See above n. 8.
G. Frantz - Murphy
79
In comparing Arabic formulary for the sale of property with
the earlier Egyptian contract formularies, we find that a warranty
clause was a constitutive element of both the Arabic and Byzantine
Greek formularies, but not of the intervening Coptic(15). According
to the parallel Arabic and Greek warranty, the seller was obligated
to clear/clean claims brought by all third parties, i.e., to warrant the
buyer’s clear title.
But the fossilized Byzantine warranty had ceased to work in
the last century and a half of Byzantine rule. As Schiller(16) argues,
there were no longer courts to enforce the warranty’s provisions.
Strengthening the Byzantine warranty by pledges and fines of even
four to six times the purchase price, as well as by sacred oaths,
could not render the warranty efficacious failing any means of legal
enforcement.
The later documents written in Coptic do not include a
warranty. Rather, they contain a promise by the seller “Not to lay
claim”. If a third party laid claim, he, the third party, would be
liable to a fine and “estrangement from the Christian oath”. The
document, not the seller, provided security. However, neither did
the Coptic promise not to lay claim prevent third party claims, even
though strengthened by the threat of fine escalated to as mush as
twenty-four times the purchase price, and threat of “estrangement
from the Christian oath”. Failing a court to enforce a warranty, the
Coptic documents omitted the clause. More seriously, the Coptic
document left no room for valid claims. The warranty clause had
(15) G. Frantz-Murphy, “A comparison of the Arabic and earlier Egyptian
contract formularies, Part II: Terminology in the Arabic warranty and the
idiom of clearing / cleaning”, Journal of Near eastern Studies 44, ii (1985):
99 - 114.
(16) A. A. Schiller, “The courts are no more”, Studi in Onori di Edoardo
Volterra, Volume I (Naples, 1952), 469 - 502.
80
been dropped for over two centuries in the Coptic documents
because there was no authority to enforce its terms. However, upon
reinstitution of courts in the Islamic period, the warranty clause
was reinstated and is regularly attested in the Arabic documents(17).
In his article Schiller argues that courts had disappeared from
Egypt long before the Arab conquest(18). In fact, courts had
disappeared before the reign of Justinian. And relying solely on
Coptic and Greek evidence, Schiller came to the erroneous
conclusion that there were still no courts in Islamic Egypt in the
second century hijra/eighth C.E.
Arabic documents indicate that if not courts, then judicial
officials were, in fact, designated and empowered by the Muslim
administration within less than a century of the Arab conquest. In
two documents from dated 91/709 (P. Heid. Arab. I, 10, 7 - 10 and
11, 3 - 7), the governor of Egypt Qurrā ibn Sharīk instructs the
district official to establish the evidence and to render and
effectively enforce a decision in a legal dispute which had been
brought to the attention of the governor.
‫ن‬ISbb‫ ا‬AUbbQ ‫ء‬Ubb`W‫ زآ‬Nbb=‫ إ‬p`Wbb hbbY ‫ة‬Wbbf hbbV [GAWbb=‫ ا‬hSAWbb=‫[ ا ا‬bbY
UbB‫ ا‬Nb]^ hb`‫ا د‬Wbi`‫ د‬W^ ?GiSH <= ‫ أن‬NWB ‫ ا‬K‫د‬Ii hY ciZ` ‫¡ن‬O .........
pb=‫ ذ‬Nb]^ ‫م‬Ubf‫ وا‬UbFA NbWB ‫ ا‬UbV ‫ن‬Ub‫ن آ‬UbO <bFA N]^ <B]¢‫ر< و‬I‫ آ‬hV []Q
hbS]¥ a‫< و‬b= <W¦CbO bA hV <= ‫ن‬U‫ آ‬USO <BAUQ hGY‫< و‬iGY ¤SUO ?iGB=‫ا‬
... ‫ك‬tB^
[]Q for []T read (P. Heid. Arab. I, 10, 1 - 10)
In the name of God the Beneficent the Compassionate.
(17) G. Frantz-Murphy, “A comparison ... Part II”, 99 - 114.
(18) Schiller, “Courts”, 469 - 502.
G. Frantz - Murphy
81
From Qurrah ibn Sharīkh to Zakarīyaº governor (sāhib)(19) of
Ushmūn ... Verily Yuhannis ibn Shanūdah told me that he has
eighteen dinars, loans against Anbā Sālim from his district (kūra),
and they are his by right. If what he tells me is right, establish the
evidence (iqāma) to the effect, and resole this between him and
his associate (sāhib). Recover what was his by right for him. Do
not wrong your servant (ºabd).
Just as the governor of Egypt empowered Christian officials
at that early date, district officials must have appointed village
officials at a lower level. Arabic narrative sources provide evidence
that they did so eight years after the date of this correspondence(20).
Al-Kindī (d. 359/872 - 3) provides oblique reference to what may
have been the Islamization of the personnel staffing provincial
courts at the end of the first Islamic century. Between 99 - 102 /
717 - 720 Coptic village officials (meizoteroi) were ordered to be
replaced by Muslims(21).
qb`‫از‬IَV qb^ِ¬‫ و‬.‫ى‬W\=‫ ا‬¤OU hY ?BF^ hY ‫ة‬tGB^ IY‫ أ‬W©V ‫ أه‬N]^ ‫ن‬U‫وآ‬
[\G]^ ‫ن‬IS]S=‫ ا‬SCT‫ وا‬،‫َر‬Isُ =‫ ا‬h^ ¯BF=‫ا‬
When Abū ºUbayed Allāh ibn ºUqbah ibn nāfiº al-Fahrī was
over the people of Egypt, he dismissed the Coptic village officials
in the districts and appointed Muslims over them.
This change in personnel from Christians to Muslims, which
(19) For sāhib as “governor”, see N. Abbott, The Kurrah Papyri from Aphrodito
in the Oriental Institute (Chicago, 1938), I, note to line 3.
(20) Tyan, Histoire, 124; Muhammad ibn Yūsūf al-Kindī, Kitāb al-umarāº wa
Kitāb al-qudāt, ed., R. Guest (Leiden, 1912), under the entry for 133
mentions that an ill qādī appointed his notary to act for him
(21) Al-Kindī, Muhammad ibn Yūsūf, wulāt misr, Hussein Nassār, ed., (Cairo,
1959), p. 90 corrects the Guest ed. p. 69.
82
took place at approximately the same time as the change in the
Coptic stipulation clause, leads to the conclusion that this
coincidence was not coincidental.
Since Arabic customary practice and Islamic jurisprudence
valued oral testimony over written evidence, and since Muslims
were now available as judges to whom the population could bring
their legal disputes, the change in the Coptic stipulation clause
brought those documents and the evidence that they recorded into
the purview of Islamic courts. Islamic courts, unlike Coptic, had the
power of enforcement. In fact, among the Coptic Jeme documents,
two disputes (nos. 25 and 47) dated 120 - 121 / 737 - 738, i.e., after
the change in the stipulation clause, were referred by the litigants to
the Islamic courts, “the representative of our lord the illustrious amir
( µιρ )(22). The amīr is also the judicial official in the document
cited above (P. Heid. Arab. I, X and XI) who instructed the district
official to establish the evidence and to render a legal decision.
III. Familial Nature of Litigation
Contracts between Christians dating from fourth / tenth
century Egypt for the sale of residential property written in Arabic
state that the document was,
?GS@=UY U\= WO‫? و‬GYW=UY U\G]^ ‫ى‬Wf ...
... read to her in Arabic and explained to her in the “foreign”
language.
In these contacts the parties to the contracts have Coptic
names while the witnesses have Muslim names(23). This lead to the
conclusion that the Arabic contracts served the needs of the non(22) Schiller, “A Family Archive ... ”.
(23) G. Frantz-Murphy, “ A comparison ... Part I), 223.
G. Frantz - Murphy
83
Muslim population.
Christians chose to arrange transfer of their property by
contract in Arabic bringing their property transactions within the
purview of Islamic courts. Doing so was in their interest. Islamic
courts served their needs. Acceptance of Muslim courts would not
have been difficult since, they shared evidentiary procedure, and
constitutive formulary, as well as idioms with the preceeding
Coptic and Greek courts on the evidence of the contract formulary
of the two earlier linguistic traditions(24). Islamic courts were called
upon to resolve disputes which profoundly affected the litigants’
families and community.
The family living arrangements described in the Arabic
settlement documents are the same as those recorded in earlier
Coptic and Greek contracts and settlement documents - rights in
joint tenancy in residences, shares in kitchen, the right to occupy an
alcove under a staircase, joint use of a dining room or balcony,
shares of multiple related owners in the same property. The legal
contingencies which these contracts and property settlements had to
take into consideration were community and interfamilial relations,
not abstract property rights(25). That Christians entrusted their
familial relationships to Islamic courts testifies to the Christian
community’s confidence in those courts.
According to Islamic jurisprudence, being a Muslim was prerequisite for being a witness. From narrative sources we learn that
(24) G. Frantz-Murphy, “ A comparison ... Part I), and “Part II”, and “Part III:
The idiom of Satisfaction”, JNES 47, ii (1988): 105 - 112; “Part IV:
Quittance”, JNES 47, iii (1988): 269 - 280; “Part V: Formulaic Elements
and Conclusions”, JNES 48, I (1989): 97 - 107.
(25) G. Frantz-Murphy, “ A comparison ... Part I), 223.
84
an effort was made to enforce this qualifications(26). Some of the
witnesses who did sign the Arabic documents referred to may in
fact have been recent converts, or from families of recent converts
to Islam. There are witnesses with Muslim patronymics and Coptic
first names, witnesses who signed in Coptic, and several who had
only a rudimentary ability to write their name in Arabic. Some
singed with the equivalent of an “x” (27).
In conclusion, the Christian population of Egypt had had no
judicial system with the authority to render and enforce decisions
since before the sixth century C.E. In the second/eight century the
majority population, of their own accord, opted to have their legal
document recorded in Arabic. By doing so they gained access to
Islamic courts. Those courts were staffed by what must have been a
small minority of Arabic - speaking Muslim officials. Christians
chose to make use of a newly instituted and apparently effective
judicial system. That judicial system, in matters of property law,
was virtually the same as the earlier system with which the
Christian population was familiar. And in the event that a contract
were violated, the duly witnessed document could be taken to an
Islamic court, where a judicial decision could be both rendered and
enforced by Muslim officials administering Islamic law.
(26) E. Tyan, “Le notarit ?”, 19 - 22; Tyan, Histoire, 242 - 244 for references to
the periodic review, as early as the third / ninth century, of the
trustworthiness of professional witnesses.
(27) P. Chic. Arab. Part I, p. 205.
BSAA No. 47
Aspects and New Problems of Late Alexandrian
Sculpture
Nicola Bonacasa
This short communication, for volume 47 of the Bulletin of
the glorious Archaeological Society of Alexandria, in the 110th
year of its foundation, is but a small thing, but is intended to be a
fragment of memory and, above all, an act of homage to the City,
the Society and the Scholars. To Alexandria, as is known, I am now
tied by almost half a century of friendship and research, from 1955
to the present day.
I will deal rapidly with the analysis of two unusual
Alexandrian sculptures, undoubtedly of significant value, and yet,
intrinsically very different in nature and meaning; and at the same
time, I will refer to a group of heads from Africa which are kept in
Syracuse. The sculptures are all in nummolithic limestone, which is
typical of the Lybian-Egyptian falaise, which is often used for
works that appear only on first inspection to be of relatively low
quality, but in fact use innovative techniques and stylistic fashions,
and stimulate the scholar’s attention.
I) The charming monolithic head of an old man, in greyish
limestone, from the necropolis at Gabbari(1). is kept in Storeroom 1
(1) Overall height of the head m 0.34; to the face m 0.22. Broken at the neck,
damaged at the nose, mouth, eyebrows, ears and right cheek; it presents
diffused abrasions of varying intensity, especially on the forehead, chin and
mouth. Th. Schreiber, Die Nekropole von Kôm esch-Scukâfa (Exp. E. von
Sieglin, Ausgr. in Alexandria, I), Leipzig 1908, p. 255, mentions finding, in
the years 1898-1899, in two tombs at Gabbari, the remains of statues made
of nummolithic limestone, including a head with “rounded helmet” of
distinctive character, which is discussed here. But the first to mention the =
Aspects and New Problems of Late Alexandrian Sculpture
of the Graeco-Roman Museum at Alexandria, under Inv. no. 3336.
The head is slightly turned up to the right; and has the realism of
the face of an old man, in the guise of a robust, fatigued and
pathetic mask, possibly of a peasant (fig. 11, 12): a strong beaked
nose, ears bent in fanlike fashion, deep eye sockets in a triangular
shape, irregularly cut eyes (the right one is larger) looking afar,
rather flaccid and wrinkled cheeks, grooves on the nose, under the
cheekbones and the mouth, which is dynamic and opened enough
to reveal the teeth. The intensive treatment of these details
emphasises their chromatic element. The head has a round-shaped
hat, worn high on the brow and very tight on the cranium, with a
slightly rolled up brim, markedly pulled down on the right side and
pointed over the occipital bone. The hair is divided in locks,
escaping from under the hat, roughly modelled at the height of the
temples and on the back of the neck; the fact that they do not
appear on the forehead, as one would expect since the hat is raised,
suggests that the man is balding.
Despite the coarseness of the material and the extremely
bad present condition of the surfaces, the head is a lively example
of the genre of the realistic portrait, and perhaps, in particular, of
such a genre subject; however, nothing can be said about the body,
the only real element that could guarantee the significance of the
personage. We should say straight away that there is an
=
discovery of the tombs at Gabbari was H. Thiersch, Zwei Gräber der
römischem Kaiserzeit in Gabbari (Alexandria), in BSAAl 3, 1900, p. 24.
See, A. Adriani, Repertorio d’arte dell’Egitto greco-romano, Series C, I-II,
Palermo 1963-66, pp. 149-151, nn. 97-98, tavv. 73-75.
For the recent excavations in the Gabbari necropolis, cf. M. Sabottka,
Ausgrabungen in der West-Nekropole Alexandrias (Gabbari), in Das
römisch-byzantinische Ägypten (AegTrev 3), Mayence 1983, pp. 195-203;
J.-Y. Empereur – M.-D. Nenna (eds.), Nécropolis (Collected Papers), Cairo
IFAO 2001, pp. 1 ff., 25 ff., 43 ff., 161 ff., 209 ff.
BSAA No. 47
identification problem concerning the typology, which however
does not affect the quality and style of the sculpture.
Giuseppe Botti writes that the head bears a “helmet” and
that it is of “the Ptolemaic epoch”; Theodor Schreiber argues with
determination that it has a “round cap” and belongs to Alexandrian
realist production; Adolphe J. Reinach sees in it the “helmeted”
head a Macedonian warrior; Evaristo Breccia presents it as the
realistic portrait of an old man, covered with a “felt cap tight on the
head”, but then adds that it is “evidently the portrait of a
(Macedonian ?) warrior”(2).
Now, from what we of monumental examples, in the
Hellenistic period, Macedonian characters usually wore three types of
head-dress: a) the typical kausia, seen in paintings, on coins and
terracottas(3); b) the wide-brimmed petasus, of which two parallels will
(2) G. Botti, Catalogue des monuments exposés au Musée Gréco-Romain
d’Alexandrie, Alexandrie 1901, p. 525; Th. Schreiber, Die Nekropole von
Kôm esch-Scukâfa, cit., p. 255, fig. 192; A. J. Reinach, Les Galates dans
l’art alexandrin (Monuments et Mémoires publ. par l’Académie des
Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, XVIII), Paris 1910, pp. 37-115, especially p.
107, note 1, fig. 35; E. Breccia, Alexandrea ad Aegyptum (French ed.),
Bergamo 1914, p. 197, n,. 23.
(3) M. Andronicos, Vergina. The Royal Tombs and the Ancient City, Athens
1984, pp. 102-103, figg. 58-59; pp. 112-113, figg. 68-69; N. Bonacasa, Un
ritrattino di bronzo dorato nel Museo Greco-Romano di Alessandria
d’Egitto, in StMisc 30, 1996, pp. 149-156, with bibl.; A. Adriani, Annuaire
du Musée Gréco-Romain 1935-1939, Alexandrie 1940, pp. 78-79, tav.
XXXII, fig. 2; Id., Annuaire du Musée Gréco-Romain 1949-1950,
Alexandrie 1952, pp. 36-37, tav. XVII, fig. 3 left and tav. XVIII, fig. 6; F.
Dunand, Musée du Louvre. Catalogue des terres cuites grecques et romaines
d’Egypte, Paris 1990, pp. 212-213, nn. 571-577, with plates; J. Fischer,
Griechisch-Römische Terrakotten aus Ägypten, Tübingen 1994, pp. 160-166,
tav. 17, 196-201; 18, 204-222; C. Saatsoglou-Paliadeli, L’abbigliamento
degli antichi macedoni, in Alessandro Magno. Storia e Mito (Catalogo della
Mostra, Roma), Milano 1995, pp. 112-115, with plates.
=
suffice, the mosaic of Pella, with the “lion hunt” of Alexander and
Ephestion, and the young Hermes at the scene of the rape at Vergina,
in the tomb of Persephone(4); c) the round helmet with the short brim
on the forehead, as seen on the sarcophagus of Sidon, or of
Abdalonimus(5), which is effectively a helmet, but of a totally different
type. In short, we believe that the hypothesis that the head-dress of
head 3336 is a helmet, even if we use analogies, which are generic and
forced-upon, has no strength or even minimum credible support.
On the contrary, we are convinced that the head-dress in
question, in very thick felt - as correctly pointed out by Breccia - is
possibly that of a genre figure, and one that is hardly capable of
protecting the head of a “Macedonian warrior”. And here we differ
from almost all the authoritative scholars who have dealt with this
Alexandrian sculpture, and we are partly in agreement with Breccia.
Furthermore, there is no doubt that the felt is lifted backwards
over the head under examination and has rolled-up edges over the
forehead and temples, more so on the right, to the extent that it weighs
on the ear and bends it, and adheres extraordinarily to the head, very
unlike a solid metal helmet, even a light rounded one.
=
Very different is the pileum, worn by the Dioscuri in Alexandrian
terracottas: P. Perdrizet, Les terres cuites grecques et romaines d’Egypte de
la Collection Fouquet, Nancy-Paris-Strasbourg 1921, pp. 100-102, nn. 250252, 254-255; or rather the tall hood, often curved and pointed, of some
grotesque terracottas: E. Breccia, Terracotte figurate greche e greco-egizie
del Museo di Alessandria, II, Bergamo 1934, tavv. LXXXV, 442; LXXXVI,
449; XCVIII, 547-556; XCIX, 557-564.
(4) P. Moreno, Alessandro e gli artisti del suo tempo, in Alessandro Magno. Storia
e Mito, cit., pp. 119-120, 221-222, with plates; M. Andronicos, Vergina. The
Royal Tombs and the Ancient City, cit., p. 86 ss., especially p. 94, fig. 53.
(5) F. Matz, in EAA VII, 1966, pp. 9-10, s.v. “Sarcofago”; R. Ginouvès (ed.),
Macedonia. From Philip II to the Roman Conquest, Athens 1993, pp. 58-59,
fig. 51; D. Pandermalis (ed.), Alexandros kai Anatol Katalogos tis
Ekthesis), Thessaloniki 1997, pp. 27-28 (B.1), figg. 3-4.
BSAA No. 47
It was in BSSAl 45, 1993, dedicated to the memory of our
friend Daoud Abdou Daoud, that, being interested in some small
chalk heads from the Graeco-Roman Museum, I identified in their
rough felt hats, of conical shape, a detail that is typical of genre
figures, tradesmen and vendors(6). In addition, the sculpture in
question, because of the felt hat, reminds us immediately of the
well-known sylloge of N. Himmelmann(7): from the amusing
Boeotian jug of the potter Gamedes at the Louvre, mid- 6th cent.
BC, to the amphora from Nola in Berlin F 4052, with the young
Shepherd with the double flute, to the large and careless “Basque”
hat of the old Fisherman at the Museo dei Conservatori, to the rigid
beret of the highly restored statuette of the Fisherman n. 1765, at
the British Museum in London(8). Moreover, these shapes of headdress are paralleled by certain figurines of different meaning and
style, but also by genre subjects, this time in smaller size and made
in terracotta and bronze(9).
(6) N. Bonacasa, Modelli o ritratti miniaturistici di gesso nel Museo GrecoRomano di Alessandria, in BSAAl 45, 1993, pp. 45-54, especially pp. 47
(4), 50-51.
(7) N. Himmelmann, Über Hirten-Genre in der antiker Kunst, Opladen 1980,
pp. 55, 67, 85, tavv. 2-3, 14-15a, 21.
(8) H. Stuart Jones, The Sculptures of the Palazzo dei Conservatori, Oxford
1926, p. 144, n. 27, tav. 50; A. H. Smith, A Catalogue of Sculture in the
Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities. British Museum, III, London
1904, p. 113, n. 1765 (formerly in the Towneley Collection); H. P.
Laubscher, Fischer und Landleute, Mainz a. R. 1982, pp. 7, 10, 18 ff. (note
72), 44 (and note 163), 51-52 (note 200), 53, 58 ff., 89, 103, tavv. 8-9 (1);
N. Himmelmann, Hirten-Genre, cit., p. 85, tav. 21; E. Bayer, Fischerbilder
in der Hellenistischen Plastik, Bonn 1983, pp. 60 ff., 258 (G 29).
(9) E. Bayer, Fischerbilder, cit., bronze statuettes from Egypt: pp. 102 ff., 264
(KP 46, figg. 14-16), 112 ff., 265 (KP 48, fig. 20), 123 ff., 268 (KP 58, figg.
21-22) and terracottas pp. 170, 275 (KP 80, fig. 31), pp. 167 ff., 276 (KP 84,
fig. 30); N. Himmelmann, Alexandria und der Realismus in der
griechischen Kunst, Tübingen 1983, tav. 43,b. A similar hat is also worn
by certain types of young people, tradesmen, vendors and “grotesque” =
Therefore, we believe all this amounts to undisputed
evidence in support of the typology to which the limestone
Alexandrian head belongs - we have to lament the loss of the rest
of the body.
Antiquarian investigations put aside, it is clear that our
present communication, as far as possible, aims to throw some new
light on the category of the subject of genre, and also to reconsider a
type of production which uses poor materials, such as limestone, but
which is often of high artistic level in Graeco-Roman Egypt(10).
Well, this Alexandrian head, even if late Ptolemaic and slightly prior
to the mid 1st cent. BC and probably falling between 80 and 50 BC,
belongs to this respected tradition of Alexandrian production.
=
characters: N. Himmelmann, Alexandria, cit., tavv. 4,a-b; 5,a-b; p. 14, 33,b;
J. Fischer, Griechisch-Römische Terrakotten aus Ägypten, cit., pp. 211-213,
220, 239, 241, tavv. 37, 390; 38, 394; 42, 414; 48, 488, 496; L. Török,
Hellenistic and Roman Terracottas from Egypt, Roma 1995, p. 151 (n.227),
tav. CXXII; H. Philipp, Terrakotten aus Ägypten. Staatliche Museen
Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Ägypten Museum Berlin, Berlin 1972, pp. 20-21,
n. 9, tav. 6; F. Dunand, Musée du Louvre. Catalogue des terres cuites
grecques et romaines d’Egypte, cit., p. 274, n. 824.
For general reference, cf. N. Bonacasa, Socialità e arte nel soggetto di
genere ellenistico, in Alessandria e il mondo ellenistico-romano (Studi in
onore di A. Adriani), I, Roma 1983, pp. 125-130; Id., Realismo, naturalismo
e verismo nella scultura alessandrina, in Akten des XIII. Internationalen
Kongresses für Klassische Archäologie – Berlin 1988, Mainz a. R. 1990,
pp. 137-143; Id., A proposito di sei terrecotte del Fayyum nel Museo
Archeologico dell’Università di Zurigo, in Archeologia e Papiri nel Fayyum
(Atti Conv. Inter., Siracusa 24-25 May 1996), Siracusa 1997, pp. 85-101,
with plates.
(10) We bring to mind the statues of poets and wise men, and of characters from
the Dyonisiac world, from the Serapeum at Memphis, an expression of the
Alexandrian baroque of the late 2nd cent. BC, and the well- known funerary
group known as that of Berenix II and her daughter, from the mid-3rd cent.
BC, at the Museum of Alexandria. Ch. Picard – J. Ph. Lauer, Les statues
ptolemaïque du Sérapeum de Memphis, Paris 1955; A. Adriani, Repertorio
d’arte dell’Egitto greco-romano, Serie A, I Palermo 1961, pp. 32-33 (n.
38), tavv. 32-34.
BSAA No. 47
The sculpture we are examining is comparable in style and
chronology to a strong and incisive portrait from Delos (A 2912)(11),
from the House of the Diadumenos (figs. 13, 14), more or less
contemporary, and to two slightly later republican portraits kept at
the Roman National Museum(12), the first more than the second
(fig. 14), with a pained but conventional expression; as well as a fine
portrait of an old man from Ostia, dated to the second half of the 1st
cent. BC(13). The head from Alexandria belongs to a skilled
workshop which was comparable to the equally skilful one that
produced the famous limestone portrait-heads in the “P. Orsi”
Regional Archaeological Museum in Syracuse: the head of a mature
man (Inv. 749)(14) is by no means as expressive as this one, but the
expression and the details of the face are equally effective (fig. 15).
This further parallel favours most probably an Egyptian origin for
the whole group of the limestone portraits kept in Syracuse(15).
II) The reference to the important limestone heads of
Syracuse brings us to discuss shortly the charming portrait of a
priestess (fig. 16), presented in the volume Alexandrina 2 (ed. J-Y.
Empereur), Cairo - IFAO, 2002 (pp. 139-147), by my expert friend
(11) K. Mikalowsky, Les portraits hellénistiques et romains (Délos XIII), Paris
1932, pp. 11-14, tavv. X-XI; B. Schweitzer, Die Bildniskunst der Römischen
Republik, Leipzig 1948, pp. 72, 144, n. and fig. 71.
(12) B. M. Felletti Maj, Museo Nazionale Romano. I ritratti, p. 40, n. and fig. 54,
pp. 41-42, n. and fig. 58.
(13) R. Calza, I ritratti, I (Scavi di Ostia, V), Roma 1964, pp. 33-34, n. 35, tav. XX.
(14) N. Bonacasa, Ritratti greci e romani della Sicilia, Palermo 1964, pp. 24-25,
n. 25, tav. XI, 1-2.
(15) G. Libertini, Guida del R. Museo Archeologico di Siracusa, Roma 1929, p.
118; G. V. Gentili, Ritratti repubblicani in calcare nel Museo Nazionale di
Siracusa, in SicGymn N. S. V, 2 1952, p. 192 ff.; N. Bonacasa, Ritratti
greci e romani della Sicilia, cit., pp. 22-26, 33-34, nn. 22-27, 35-36, tavv.
IX, 2-3 - XII, 1-2, XVI, with previous bibl.; Id., L’Ellenismo e la tradizione
ellenistica, in Sikanie, Milano 1985, p. 310; F. Coarelli – M. Torelli, Sicilia.
Guide archeologiche Laterza, Toma-Bari 1984, p. 240.
Merwatte Seif El- Din, “Un portrait de prêtresse trouvé à
Alexandrie”. The methodology in that study is perfect, the parallels
are useful, and the bibliography up-to-date.
However, the considerable category of Hellenistic and late
Hellenistic sculptures in limestone, to which the priestess of
Alexandria belongs, does not score any points, because the
parallels concern marbles and the archetype of the Alexandrian
bust of the old priestess cannot be confirmed based just on the clay
statuettes of Athribis(16), which were used in that study; instead it is
rather the opposite, if only we had at least one way of
reconstructing the presumably marble prototype. The argument is
much wider, since it should include the statues, all Roman copies,
of old nurses and old priestesses(17), and the iconography of nurses
(16) Cfr. H. Szymanska, Terres cuites d’Athribis représentant des veilles femmes, in
Materialy Archeologiczne XXVII, 2 1997, p. 36 ; Ead., The Dionysian Thiasos
at Athribis in the early 3rd Cent. B.C, in L’Egitto in Italia dall’Antichità al
Medioevo (Atti III Congresso Inter. Italo-Egiziano, Roma-CNR – Pompei, 1319 November 1995), Roma 1998, pp. 673-678; M. Seif el Din, Un portrait de
prêtresse trouvé à Alexandrie, in Alexandrina 2 (ed. J-Y. Empereur), Cairo IFAO, 2002, pp. 139-147, especially pp. 141-142, notes 13-14, 15-16.
(17) Cf. A. Giuliano, Il commercio dei sarcofagi attici, Roma 1962, p. 86 (III, k),
p. 87 (IV); N. Bonacasa, Un “soggetto di genere” nelle favisse del
Capitolium di Sabratha, in LibyaAnt XV-XVI, 1978-79, pp. 89-94 (with
bibl.); N. Himmelmann, Hirten-Genre, cit., p. 124 ff., tav. 56 ff.; P. Zanker,
Die Trunkene Alte. Das Lachen der Verhönten, Frankfurt a. M. 1989, pp. 15
ff., 43-48, 50 ff.; S. Pfisterer-Haas, Darstellungen alter Frauen in der
Griechischen Kunst, Frankfurt a. M. 1989, pp. 6-15, 36 ff., 78 ff., 101-105,
121-124, 144; Ead., Ältere Frauen auf attischen Grabdenkmäler, in MDAIA
105, 1990, pp. 179-196; H. Wrede, Matronen im Kult des Dionysos. Zur
hellenistischen Genreplastik, in MDAIR 98, 1991, pp. 164-188; N.
Himmelmann, Realistische Themen in der Griechische Kunst der
archaischen und klassischen Zeit (JdI, 28. Erg.heft), Berlin 1994, pp. 10 ff.,
23 ff., 40 ff., 89 ff.; A. Kossatz-Deissmann, Figurenvase in Gestalt einer
trunkenen Alten (Nachrichten aus dem Martin-von Wagner Museum), AA
1995, pp. 527-536; R. Amedick, Unwürdig Greisinnen, in MDAIR 103,
1995, pp. 141-170; S. Rogge, Die attischen Sarkophage, I. Achill und
Hippolytos (Die Antiken Sarkophagreliefs, 9, 1, 1), Berlin 1995.
BSAA No. 47
and old women attending rituals on several sarcophagi, including
those with Hippolytus and Phaedra.
Meanwhile, because of its style and chronology, we would
like to point out the head of a Libyan or Egyptian priest (fig. 17 18)(18), which, with the head of the aged crowned poet, is one of the
most representative of the eight limestone portraits in Syracuse.
The head is bald except for the temples and behind the ears, and is
covered by a cloth at the back. The details of the face are strongly
marked, with sharp cheekbones, full lips and snub nose. The
strongly focused look and the mouth, suspended in a half-open
expression, give the mask a distinctive feeling of pathos. We feel
that these elements together allow us to attribute the portrait to the
cultual milieu of Egypt.
Apart from the special cloth of the head, positioned
somewhat similarly and constituting a recurring parallel, above all
the most notable shared features are the severe figurative style and
the encoded structure, particularly for the head of Syracuse, which
far surpasses the old priestess of Alexandria both in style and
attitude, and which belongs without doubt to the category of the
genre subjects. But we must insist that the conceptual background
is identical, the strength of characterisation is very similar, and the
artistic milieu and the cultural climate that produced them are also
the same, i.e. late Alexandrian style. Moreover, it would not be out
of place to recall a realist tendency both in the portraits of the latest
Republican period on the one hand(19), and the late Alexandrian
(18) N. Bonacasa, Ritratti greci e romani della Sicilia, cit., pp. 25-26, n. 27, tav.
XII, 1-2. For the aged crowned poet, p. 22, n. 22, tav. IX, 2-3.
(19) B. Schweitzer, Die Bildniskunst der Römischen Republik, cit., pp. 60 ff.,
114 ff., 128 ff.; J. D.Breckenridge, Origins of Roman Republican
Portraiture (ANRW I, 4), Berlin 1973, pp. 826-854.
portraits in Egyptian style on the other(20), which are very similar
and characterised by a rude and often arrogant expression. As to
precedents and mutual influences, the masterly paper by A.
Adriani(21) is still valid.
Because they are mostly unknown, we have taken this
opportunity to mention the eight heads and portraits, of so-called
African provenance, kept in the “Paolo Orsi” Regional
Archaeological Museum in Syracuse, which were perhaps brought
by ship as ballast and were amongst the first collections acquired
by the Museum when it was first created. Our friend Concetta
Ciurcina, Director of the Museum in Syracuse, is very kindly
carrying out a challenging investigation into the provenance of the
eight limestone heads in Syracuse, of which we look forward to
reading the results.
I should confess that for a long time I was sure that the
group of sculptures in question came from Cyrenaica. But now that,
every year since 1996, I have been visiting museums and
archaeological areas in the region, I have come to the conclusion
that the heads in Syracuse might have come from Egypt, rather than
Cyrenaica. This review of the Syracusan group has a further aim,
since for some time now, also through the pages of the Bulletin of
the Society(22), I have become interested in the relations between
(20) B. von Bothmer, Egyptian Antecedents of Roman Republican Verism, in
Ritratto ufficiale e ritratto privato (II Conferenza Inter. sul Ritratto Romano
– CNR 1984), Roma 1988, pp. 47-65.
(21) A. Adriani, Ritratti dell’Egitto greco-romano, in MDAIR 77, 1970, pp. 72109.
(22) N. Bonacasa, Echi alessandrini nella scultura ellenistica della Sicilia, in La
Sicilia antica nei rapporti con l’Egitto (Atti Convegno Internazionale –
Siracusa, 17-18 September 1999), Syracuse 2001, pp. 67-80; Id., Egypt and
Sicily in the Hellenistic Period, in BSAAl 46, 2001, pp. 113-126.
BSAA No. 47
Sicily and Egypt during the Hellenistic period. This time, it is clear
that the relation is of a more contingent nature, possibly linked to
trade, and, unfortunately, hardly retraceable even from the
antiquarian point of view, if the heads indeed reached Syracuse on
a ship serving as ballast.
Either way, I felt it useful to disclose this complex of such
charming sculptures. And I believe that our friend M. Seif el-Din
will be able to draw undoubted benefit from the parallel with the
highly expressive portrait of the Libyan or Egyptian priest in
Syracuse.
BSAA No. 47
Fig. 11
Head of an old man Alexandria Inv. no. 3336
BSAA No. 47
Fig. 12
The head of Alexandria
BSAA No. 47
Fig. 13
Portrait from Delos
BSAA No. 47
Fig. 14
Republican portrait in the Roman National Museum
BSAA No. 47
Fig. 15
Portrait head in the Regional Archaeological Museum in Syracuse
BSAA No. 47
Fig. 16
Portrait of a priestess from Alexandria
BSAA No. 47
Fig. 17
the head of a Libyan or Egyptian in Syracuse
BSAA No. 47
113
Zu dem angeblichen befestigten Kloster über der
Südmauer von al-Kâb
Peter Grossmann
Als im Jahre 1946 unter der Leitung von J. C APART
die Freilegung eines kastellartigen Gebäudes über dem
nahe am Fluβ gelegenen westlichen Ende der südlichen
temenos-Mauer des Tempelbezirks von al-Kâb, dem
hellenistisch-kaiserzeitlichen
Eileithyiaspolis,
so
weit
fortgeschritten waren, daâ die Gebäudestrukturen genauer
erkennbar
waren,
wurden
auch
einige
christliche
Gegenstände(1) sowie ein ansehnlicher Hort von fast 3000
spätantiken Münzen gefunden(2). Letztere hatte man nach dem
Urteil von J. BINGEN um 375 n.Chr. vergraben(3). Sie geben
damit einen Hinweis auf den Zeitpunkt, wann der Platz
verlassen wurde. Er ist darnach nicht wieder bewohnt worden(4).
(1) J. CAPART, Fouilles en Égypte «El Kab» impressions et souvenirs
(Bruxelles 1946) 166ff. Abb. S. 170, sowie ders., Troisième rapport
sommaire sur les fouilles de la Fondation Egyptologique Reine Élisabeth
(novembre 1945 à février 1946), ASAE 46, 1946, 337-355, wieder
abgedruckt in: Fondation Egyptologique Reine Élisabeth: Fouilles de ElKab – Documents III (Bruxelles 1954) 73-78.
(2) J. BINGEN, Les trouvailles monétaires, in: Fondation Egyptologique Reine
Élisabeth: Fouilles de El-Kab – Documents III (Bruxelles 1954) 103-105,
bes. 103 trésor n° 2 (T2); s. auch CL. VANDERSLEYEN, Les fouilles belges
d’Elkab (Haute Égypte), Rev.des archéologues et historien d’art de Louvain
4, 1971, 25-38, bes. 31 Anm. 28.
(3) BINGEN a.O. 105.
(4) Berichte über neuere Grabungen am Ort bieten H. DE MEULENAERE et al.,
Elkab 1966-1969, Chr.d’Ég. 45, 1970, 19-75; sowie C. VANDERSLEYEN,
Les fouilles belges d’El Kab (Haute Egypte), Rev.des archéologues et
historiens d’art de Louvain 4, 1971, 25-38; weitere Lit. bis auf 1973 nennt
S. TIMM, Das christlich-koptische ägypten in arabischer Zeit, vol. III
(Wiesbaden 1985) 1209; s. auch die von J. LECLANT regelmäβig in den
Orientalia mitgeteilten Fundberichte.
114 Zu dem angeblichen befestigten Kloster über der Südmauer von al-Kâb
Was der Grund zur Aufgabe des Platzes war, bleibt
hypothetisch (5).
Auf Grund dieser nicht unbeträchtlich in die christliche Zeit
hineinragenden Funde hat man das kastellartige Bauwerk, dessen
fortifikatorischer Charakter durchaus schon früher erkannt worden
war(6), als ein befestigtes Kloster für christliche Mönche
ALEXANDRE BADAWY,
der
neben
der
angesehen(7).
Baubeschreibung die architektonische Aufnahme erstellte(8),
glaubte unter den inneren Einbauten sogar eine Kirche
identifizieren zu können(9). Und zwar handelt es sich um das
(5) Da ein entsprechender, etwa zur selben Zeit vergrabener Schatz auch in der
Siedlung gefunden wurde, BINGEN a.O. 104f., kann der Platz nicht
planmäβig aufgegeben, sondern dürfte eher, durch äuβere Bedrohung
bedingt, fluchtartig verlassen worden sein, wofür eigentlich nur überfälle
der häufiger das Reichsgebiet heimsuchenden Blemmyer in Frage kommen,
doch zu dem betreffenden Zeitpunkt bisher keine weiteren Nachrichten
bekannt geworden sind; ebenso BINGEN a.O. 105.
(6) A.H. SAYCE–SOMERS CLARKE, Report on certain excavations made at El
Kab during the years 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, ASAE 6, 1906, 239-272 fig.
2; SOMERS CLARKE, El-Kâb and the great wall, JEA 7, 1921, 54-79 Taf. 910; im Text wird der Bau des Kastells freilich nie erwähnt.
(7) VANDERSLEYEN a.O. (wie Anm. 4) 31 Anm. 26, schwankt zwischen den
Bezeichnungen «fort» ou «couvent».
(8) A. BADAWY, Fouilles d’el Kab (1945-1946). Notes architecturales, ASAE
46, 1947, 357-371 Abb. 32 (im folgenden wird, wenn nicht anders
angegeben, immer hieraus zitiert), wieder abgedruckt und mit weiteren
Anm. versehen, in: Fondation Egyptologique Reine Élisabeth: Fouilles de
El-Kab – Documents III (Bruxelles 1954) 79-82 Abb. S. 81, bei der es sich
allerdings nur um den hochkopierten Plan aus CAPART, «El Kab»
impressions et souvenirs , s.o. (wie Anm. 1) Abb. S. 170, handelt, wobei
dann auch die Beschriftung nicht besser lesbar geworden ist; sowie zuletzt
FR. DEPUYDT, Elkab IV fasc.1, Archaeological-topographical surveying of
Elkab and surroundings (Bruxelles 1989) Abb. 12 Nr. 15; und S.
HENDRICKS–D. HUYGE, ebenda fasc.2, Inventaire des sites archéologiques
(Bruxelles 1989) 10 Nr. 15 Taf. 2.
(9) Er berief sich dazu, ebenda 362, auf Beispiele wie der ‘AÄrâ’kirche auf
dem Ğabal a-$ayr bei Minyâ, zuletzt P. GROSSMANN, Neue
BSAA No. 47
115
Gebäude, das durch einen mit flankierenden Pilastern versehenen
Eingang(10) in seiner Bedeutung hervorgehoben war. Zudem waren
auf beiden Seiten des Eingangs steinerne Sitzbänke angeordnet. Im
Innern befand sich zunächst ein querorientierter, mit vier starken
Säulen ausgestatteter, von BADAWY als «vestibule» bezeichneter
Mittelsaal, wie er als dreischiffiger Naos (allerdings nicht in derart
gedrungenen Proportionen) im christlichen Kirchenbau durchweg
belegt ist(11), und an den auf der Ostseite eine etwas breiter
ausgelegte Dreiraumgruppe anschloâ. Der in der Achse des
Säulensaales befindliche mittlere Raum dieser Dreiraumgruppe ist
deutlich in der Längsachse betont und in seiner Grundriâgestalt als
Apsidensaal(12) ausgebildet. Das Niveau war gegenüber dem
frühchristliche =
Funde aus Ägypten. Actes du XIe congrès international d’Archéologie
chrétienne, Lyon 21-28 settembre 1986 II. (Città del Vaticano 1989) 18431908, bes. 1868 Abb. 10, und der inzwischen abgeräumten, und damit nicht
mehr existierenden Jungfrauenkapelle im Dayr al-Magma‘ bei Naqâda,
DERS., Mittelalterliche Langhauskuppelkirchen und verwandte Typen in
Oberägypten (Glückstadt 1982) 109f. Abb. 45; s. auch SOMERS CLARKE,
Christian Antiquities in the Nile Valley (Oxford 1912) 139f. Taf. 40, zur
Lage, ebenda Taf. 39.
(10) BADAWY a.O. (wie Anm. 8) 359. 363 Abb. 31.
(11) Beispiele derartiger kirchlicher Vierstützensäle hatten sich vor allem in Nubien
erhalten, s. P. GROSSMANN, Typologische Probleme der nubischen
Vierstützenbauten, in: Coptic Studies. Acts of the third International Congress
of Coptic Studies, Warsaw, 20-25 August 1984 (Warszawa 1990) 151-159.
(12) Diese Gestalt ist freilich nicht eindeutig, da A. BADAWY in beiden von ihm
gezeichneten Plänen unterschiedliche Versionen bietet. In seinem originalen
Bericht, ASAE 46, 357ff. Abb. 32, zeichnet er einen rechteckigen
Raumgrundriâ, bei dem lediglich das Tonnengewِlbe am ِstlichen Ende in
eine halbkuppelartige Wölbung ausläuft. Der Plan, der in der
Hauptveröffentlichung, Documents III Abb. S. 81, und bei CAPART, «El
Kab» impressions et souvenirs (s.o. Anm. 1) Abb. S. 170, zum Abdruck
kam, zeigt dagegen einen eindeutigen Apsidenraum, dessen Apsis sogar
geringfügig breiter als der vordere rechteckige vordere Teil des Raumes ist.
Den Seitenwänden wurden nachträglich flache (0,50 m breite)
Mauerschalen vorgelegt, BADAWY a.O. (wie Anm. 8) 364f., die vermutlich
ein ursprünglich nicht vorhandenes Tonnengewِlbe trugen. Vielleicht wurde
=
Säulensaal etwas erhöht. Zur überwindung des Höhenunterschieds
hatte man der Tür eine kleine Rampe vorgelegt, die nach
pharaonischer Manier mit schräg ansteigenden Wangenmauern
versehen war(13). Die beiden zu den Seiten dieses Apsidenraumes
befindlichen Nebenräume sind weder aus diesem noch aus dem
Säulensaal zu betreten, sondern haben ihre Zugänge von auâen, und
zwar jeweils an den Querseiten im Norden und Süden.
In der gesamten frühchristlichen Architektur nicht nur
Ägyptens gibt es keinen einzigen Kirchenbau, der mit dem
beschriebenen Grundriâ irgendwie vergleichbar wäre, selbst wenn
man zugute hält, daâ in dieser Frühzeit noch keine einheitlichen
übereinkünfte für die Ausbildung und Proportionierung von
Kirchengebäuden bestanden hätten. Auâerdem ist es unberechtigt,
in dieser Frühzeit überall nach Kirchen zu suchen, denn keineswegs
ist davon ausgehen, daâ Ägypten zu diesem Zeitpunkt schon
gröβtenteils christianisiert gewesen wäre. Die östliche
Dreiraumgruppe ist als Sanktuarium für die Durchführung der
Liturgie sogar gänzlich ungeeignet, da keine Verbindungen
zwischen dem mittleren Apsidenraum und den Nebenräumen
bestehen. Auch für die Rampe am Eingang des Apsidenraumes gibt
es in der christlichen Architektur keine Beispiele. Völlig abwegig ist
es ferner, in dem Säulensaal mit seinen gedrungenen Proportionen
und den dicht aufeinanderfolgenden Säulen einen für den
Aufenthaltsbereich des Laienvolkes bestimmten, gewissermaâen
dreischiffigen Naos zu erkennen. Ein einziges Säulenpaar wäre
günstiger gewesen. Mit viel gröβerem Recht handelt es sich bei
diesem Bau daher um ein militärisches Fahnenheiligtum oder eine
für den Kaiserkult bestimmte Kapelle, wie sie zu den principia der
erst in dieser Phase die Apsis eingezogen.
(13) Beispiele nennt D. ARNOLD, Lexikon der ägyptischen Baukunst (Zürich
1994) 265f. s.v. Treppe, Treppenrampe.
BSAA No. 47
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römischen Militärlager gehörten. Daβ in dem Schatzfund mehrere
Münzen das Bild mehrerer christlicher Kaiser trugen, sollte dabei
nicht irritieren. Es dauerte noch einige Zeit, bis Theodosius I (379395) seine Gesetze gegen die Ausübung heidnischer Kulte erlieβ.
Darüber hinaus entspricht der Bau auch in seiner
Gesamtheit in keiner Weise der eines ägyptischen Klosters,
sondern trägt alle Anzeichen einer spätrömischen Kastells(14). Für
kleinere militärische Einheiten waren seit Diocletian vor allem an
der strata Diocletiana, an der syrischen Grenze aber auch anderswo
quadratische Festungsbauten mit nur einem einzigen Tor und
rechteckig vorspringenden Ecktürmen, sogenannten tetrapyrgoi
gebräuchlich(16).
Die
oder
lateinisch
quadriburgia(15),
Treppenaufgänge sind entweder im Innern der Ecktürme
(14) s. bereits ZIGNANI, in: U. ABDAL-WARETH–P. ZIGNANI, Nag al-Hagar. A
fortress with a palace of the Late Roman Empire, BIFAO 92, 1992, 185-210
passim, der keinen Zweifel an der militärischen Bedeutung des Kastells von
Eileithyiaspolis hatte; ebenda Anm. 33 wird bedauert, daβ der Bau “has
only received a preliminary study”, was mit der vorliegenden Studie
natürlich nicht erfüllt werden kann. Mit ihr beabsichtigen wir nur, einige
Irrtümer der Interpretation des Befundes richtig zu stellen.
(15) Zur Bezeichnung s. SH. GREGORY, Roman military architecture on the
eastern frontier from AD 200 - 600. I (Amsterdam 1995) I 9 Nr. 1.3.8.
(16) Beispiele nennen J. LANDER, Roman stone fortifications, Variation and
change from the first century A.D. to the fourth (Oxford 1984) 181ff.; und
GREGORY a.O. I 128 Abb. 6,1-3; 175ff. II 199ff. mit den dazugehِrigen
Grundrissen in Bd. III Abb. E3-8, E10-11, E16, E21, E27; einige Beispiele
nennt auch S.TH. PARKER, Romans and Saracens: A history of the Arab
frontier (Los Angeles 1986) passim mit allerlei Plänen, wobei sich die aus
älteren Publikationen entnommenen Grundrisse von seinen eigenen mit
einem schmierenden Kugelschreiber gezeichneten Skizzen wohltuend
unterscheiden; zu allen auch M. REDDÉ, Dioclétian et les fortifications
militaires de l’antiquité tardive. Quelques considérations de méthode, in:
Antiquité Tardive 3, 1995, 91-124, bes. 100ff.; über den etwas jüngeren, aus
der Zeit Constantius’ II (337-361) stammenden tetrapyrgos von En Boqeq
am Toten Meer gibt es sogar eine sehr ausführliche Publikation von M.
GICHON, En Boqeq, Ausgrabungen in einer Oase am Toten Meer I (Mainz
1993) 47ff. mit zahlreichen Abb. u. Plänen.
untergebracht oder den seitlichen Wänden vorgelegt. In unserem
Kastell von Eileithyiaspolis wurde offenbar beides miteinander
kombiniert. So haben sich in den Querseitenwänden an zwei
Stellen die zunächst entlang der Kurtinen geführten unteren
Anfänger für die Aufgänge zu den Türmen erhalten.
Möglicherweise waren es sogar drei(17), während für den vierten
Turm in der Nordostecke die betreffende Stelle allem Anschein
nach später verändert wurde. Die darüber hinaus an beiden
Querseiten enthaltenen breiten und tiefen inneren Mauervorlagen
sind analog zu anderen Kastellbauten als Träger der
Treppenaufgänge zu deuten(18). Sicher handelte es sich dabei um
einläufige, nur in einer Richtung ansteigende Treppenaufgänge, da
sonst die Mauerhِhe zu gering anzusetzen wäre. Sie führten nur zu
zwei Ecken des Kastells, was jedoch wegen der Kürze der
Mauerzüge vernachlässigt werden konnte. Auch in der nicht weit
entfernt bei Na‘ al-îaar gelegenen diocletianischen Festung
Praesentia hat es für die Türme und die dazwischen gelegenen
Kurtinen getrennte Aufgänge gegeben, die jedoch hier wegen der
bedeutend gröβeren Ausdehnung dieses Lagers erheblich weiter
auseinander lagen(19). Sogar die Länge dieser Treppenaufgänge und
die Anzahl der sie tragenden Stützvorlagen stimmt überein, woraus
zu schlieâen ist, daâ die Mauern von annähernd übereinstimmender
Höhe waren. Allerdings ist wegen der erforderlichen Mauerhöhe,
(17) A. BADAWY ergänzt in seiner Rekonstruktion, ASAE 46, 363f. Abb. 32, nur
zwei Treppenläufe, die jeweils zu den Türmen in der Nordwest- bzw.
Südostecke führen. Vermutlich waren andere Treppenanfänge nicht zu
sehen. Wir möchten jedoch dafür plädieren, daβ auch die übrigen Türme
ihre Aufgänge hatten, zumal entsprechende Nischen für derartige
Treppenanfänge auch an den gegenüberliegenden Enden der seitlichen
Kurtinen enthalten sind.
(18) Vgl. die Treppenaufgänge in der diocletianischen Festung von Praesentia,
WARETH–ZIGNANI a.O. (wie Anm. 14) 192 Abb. 2, mit in den Maβen genau
übereinstimmenden Pfeilervorlagen an den Kurtinen.
(19) Wareth–Zignani a.O. (wie Anm. 14) 192f. Abb. 2.
BSAA No. 47
119
abweichend von der Auffassung von P. ZIGNANI, auch hier davon
auszugehen, daβ es sich um einläufige, nur in einer Richtung
ansteigende Treppenaufgänge gehandelt haben muβ, wie das auch
sonst die Regel ist(20). Das gilt um so mehr, als während der
Grabung in Praesentia ein mehrere Stufen umfassender Stufenstein
gefunden wurde, aus dem sich eine Steigung von 23,6° erschlieβen
läβt, die bei doppelseitiger Treppenführung nur eine Höhe von rund
3,4 m erlaubte, was für eine militärische Festung als erheblich zu
niedrig zu gelten hat. Bei einläufiger Treppenführung würde
wenigstens das Doppelte an Höhe erreicht werden können. Andere
Festungen haben ganz andere Mauerhöhen wie z.B. die
Wüstenfestung von ad-Dayr in der Oasis Maior (Kharga), deren
Kurtine rund 12,50 m über den Boden hinaufragt(21).
Charakteristisch für die militärischen Festungen der
diocletianischen Zeit in Ägypten sind darüber hinaus die schmalen,
mehrfach geknickten, diagonal in den Ecken durch das Mauerwerk
nach auâen geführten Turmausgänge(22), die sich jeweils am – aus
dem Innern gesehen – rechten Mauerfuβ der Türme ins Freie
öffneten. Sie finden sich in praktisch gleichartiger Ausführung
auch bei den Ecktürmen des genannten Lagers von Praesentia(23), in
baulich klarerer Führung in dem groâen Zweilegionenlager polis
castron von Luq§ur (24) und – genau genommen – auch in dem
(20) Als pars pro toto sei hier die diocletianische Festung von Babylon-Alt
Kairo genannt, s. GROSSMANN et al., Zweiter Bericht über die britischdeutschen Grabungen in der römischen Festung von Babylon–Alt-Kairo, AA
1998/1, 173-207, bes. 173ff. Abb. 1.
(21) s. W. DE BOCK, Materiaux pour servir à l'archéologie de l'Égypte
chrétienne (St. Petersbourg 1901) 1-5 Abb. 4; R. NAUMANN, Bauwerke der
Oase Khargeh, in: MDAIK 8, 1939, 1-16, bes. 2f. Abb. 1. Taf. 2b.
(22) BADAWY a.O. (wie Anm. 8: ASAE 46, 1946) 360f. Abb. 30.
(23) WARETH–ZIGNANI a.O. (wie Anm. 14) 192 Taf. 22.
(24) M. EL-SAGHIR–J.-CL. GOLVIN et al., Le camp romain de Louqsor (MIFAO
83, 1986) 7f. Plan 1. 4. 8. 11.
Diocletianslager von Babylon-Alt Kairo. In dem letzteren Beispiel
sind sie allerdings nicht als schmale Korridore durch das
Mauermassiv geführt, sondern wegen der Gröβe dieser Türme mit
den Zugängen in die jeweils unteren Turmgeschosse verbunden, so
daβ an der rechten Turmseite nur eine Tür einzulassen war(25). Die
derzeitigen in dem Bau von Eileithyiaspolis bestehenden
Unregelmäβigkeiten in der Führung dieser Ausgänge ist durch eine
zwischenzeitlich
durchgeführte
äuβere
Verstärkung
der
(26)
Mauerschale bedingt , bei welcher Gelegenheit mِglicherweise
auch einige dieser Ausgänge aufgegeben wurden.
Der Sinn dieser Nebenausgänge ist nicht ohne weiteres
ersichtlich(27). Als versteckte Öffnungen für heimliche Ausfälle, als
welche kleine Nebenausgänge im Mauerverlauf früher gerne
bezeichnet wurden, ergeben sie jedenfalls keinen Sinn, denn dazu
sind sie viel zu schmal, um eine für einen Ausfall angemessene
Zahl von Verteidigern in kurzer Zeit herauszulassen. Alle in der
antiken
Militärgeschichte
genannten
Ausfälle
sind
überraschungsangriffe der Belagerten gegen die Belagerer und
deren Geschütze, die – um erfolgreich zu sein – mit gröβter
Schnelligkeit durchzuführen waren und daher üblicherweise von
den Haupttoren aus erfolgten(28), wohin man sich nach Abschluβ
(25) P. GROSSMANN et al., Zur römischen Festung von Babylon – Alt-Kairo, AA
1994, 271-287, bes. 297ff. Abb. 9; sowie dies. a.O. (wie Anm. 20) 176ff.
Abb. 1.
(26) BADAWY a.O. (wie Anm. 8: ASAE 46, 1946) 363f.
(27) Sie sind mit wenigen Ausnahmen, s. GREGORY a.O. (wie Anm. 15) I 138,
bisher nur in ägypten nachgewiesen.
(28) Beispiele u.a. bei Caesar, bell.Gall. VII 73; Livius, ab urbe condita libri XXIII
16,12; 37,5; 44,4; XXV 11,4; XXVI 44,3; XXXIV 20,7; 26,3; 28,9; Josephus,
bell. Jud. V 7,3; Amm. Marcellinus, rer.gest. XIX 6,4. Immerhin erwähnt
letzterer, ebenda XIX 6, 7-10, einen heimlichen Ausfall bei Nacht durch eine
Hinterpforte (posticum). Die Rückkehr erfolgte jedoch selbstverständlich durch
die Haupttore. Nach Josephus a.O. III 7,14; V 12,1, wurden die Nebenpforten
als heimliche Ausgänge bei Versorgungsschwierigkeiten benutzt.
BSAA No. 47
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der Aktion und bevor sich die Feinde zu sammeln und zu formieren
vermochten auch schnell wieder zurückziehen konnte. Die
Eckausgänge können daher nur für die Entsendung von heimlichen
Boten bestimmt gewesen sein, wobei von den Türmen aus man
observierte, auf welcher Seite im Belagerungsfall am besten durch
die feindlichen Reihen zu gelangen war. Darüber hinaus boten
diese Kleintore allen, die sich trotz eines Belagerungszustandes
auâerhalb der Ummauerung aufhielten und durch einen feindlichen
Angriff überrascht wurden, die Möglichkeit zu einem schnellen
Rückzug ins befestigte Innere des Kastells. Was in der Tat alles
auch im Falle einer Belagerung auβerhalb der Mauern
untergenommen werden konnte, wie z.B. das Weiden von Pferden
und anderen Tieren sowie Pflege von Gemüsepflanzungen ist in
mehreren Quellen belegt(29). Die Gefahr, daβ diese Pforten auch
von den Feinden zum Eindringen in das Kastell benutzt werden
könnten, erscheint dagegen als unerheblich, zumal diese sehr engen
Gänge auch ziemlich leicht zu verteidigen waren(30).
Die Mannschaftsunterkünfte sind in den Räumen zu suchen,
die die principia auf den Seiten umgeben. Am geeignetsten für
diesen Zweck erscheinen die sechs Räume sِ tlich im Rücken der
principia, an deren Enden in Norden und Süden je ein Treppenhaus
untergebracht war(31), die beide zu einem oder zwei
Obergeschossen führten. Ein oberer Gang zur Erschlieâung der
Einzelzimmer dürfte über dem schmalen Korridor zwischen dem
Unterkunftsbau und den principia angelegt worden sein. In jedem
(29) s. inter alia Aeneias, ypomnema 7; Philon, mech.synt. VII, IV 61;
Prokopios, bell.Pers. II 26; Agathias, hist. IV 17, 5f.
(30) Ob man derartige Nebenpforten bei Gefahr zugemauert hat, erscheint
fraglich.
(31) Möglicherweise waren es ursprünglich sogar sieben Räume, von denen der
erste im Süden später zu einem Treppenhaus umgebaut wurde.
Raum gab es Platz für vier Bettstellen. Bei zwei Geschossen lassen
sich damit 48 Mann, also eine halbe centuria, wie sie mit 80 Mann
einschlieβlich der dazugehِrigen Offiziere seit der diocletianischen
Heeresreform gerechnet wird(32), und etwas zusätzliches Personal
für Dienstleistungen und andere Sonderfunktionen, unterbringen.
Die etwas gröβeren Räume zu den Seiten der principia
dürften als Waffenlager bzw. für die Aufbewahrung von
Verpflegungsvorräten bestimmt gewesen sein. Offizierswohnungen
sind nicht zu identifizieren. Allenfalls mag in den freilich als jünger
erscheinenden Räumen links des Eingangs die Kommandantur
erkannt werden.
Wie sonst die Gebäude auf der Westseite der principia
angesehen haben, ist nicht deutlich. Sicher ist nur, daβ sich hier
der Haupteingang befand, und daβ weiter im Innern ein zweites
Tor enthalten war. A. BADAWY hat sich hier an Ergänzungen
versucht(33), doch erscheint seine Lösung als reichlich
phantasievoll. Sie ist wenigstens nicht zwingend aus dem
Befundplan abzuleiten. In Analogie zu den übrigen
diocletianischen Festungen in Ägypten, möchten wir hier lieber
für einen vollständigen Torhof unmittelbar hinter dem Auβentor
plädieren(34), zumal die von A. BADAWY angenommenen breiten
seitlichen Durchgänge(35) der Verteidigungsfähigkeit dieses
Bereichs nicht entgegen kommen, sondern einschränken. Hier
sollten sich wie in Babylon-Alt Kairo und Luq§ur nur normale
(32) W. TREADGOLD, Byzantium and Its Army 284-1081 (Stanford 1995) 87ff.
(33) BADAWY a.O. (wie Anm. 8: ASAE 46, 1946) Abb. 32.
(34) s. die Beispiele in Babylon-Alt Kairo, GROSSMANN et al. a.O. (wie Anm.
20) 176ff. Abb. 1; Luq§ur, EL-SAGHIR–GOLVIN et al. a.O. (wie Anm. 24)
6f. Taf. 1. 4. 8. 11. 20; und Praesentia, WARETH–ZIGNANI a.O. (wie Anm.
14) 191 Abb. 3.
(35) Badawy a.O. (wie Anm. 8: ASAE 46, 1946) 358f. Abb. 32.
BSAA No. 47
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Türen befunden haben. In einem Hof, der an einem
verschlossenen Tor endet und nur kleine, ebenfalls verschlieβbare
Seitentüren aufweist, sind die Angreifer hingegen gefangen und
voll dem Beschuβ von oben ausgesetzt(36), ein Vorteil, den man
anderenfalls aus der Hand gegeben haben würde(37).
Ganz deutlich ist darüber hinaus die ^‫ـ‬bereinstimmung in der
Führung der schmalen äuβeren Turmausgänge in den Ecken des
Kastells mit denen der Festung Praesentia bei Na‘ al-îaar (38).
Auch hier nehmen sie zunächst einen schräg durch das
Mauermassiv geführten Verlauf und enden in einer auf der rechten
Seite eines jeden Eckturmes untergebrachten Pforte.
In zeitlicher Hinsicht besteht kaum ein Zweifel, daβ es sich
bei dem Kastell von Eileithyiaspolis um einen Bau aus
(36) REDDÉ, der in seinem Artikel, a.O. (wie Anm. 16) 106 Anm. 67-68, meinen
Aufsatz in AA 1994, 271-287, bes. 279ff. zitiert und glaubt, mir
widersprechen zu müssen, hat sich offenbar nur die Pläne angeguckt. An
der angegebenen Stelle steht nichts darüber, daβ ich mir den inneren Torhof
als Turm vorstelle. Auch spreche ich nicht von einem für ägypten eigenen
Festungsbautypus der Tetrarchenzeit, «un programm architectural propre à
l’Égypte tétrarchique», wie REDDÉ übersetzt, sondern stelle nur fest, daβ
“im römischen Festungsbau auâerhalb ägyptens ein derartiger Torhof nur
sporadisch anzutreffen ist”, andererseits sucht man bei dem als
Gegenbeispiel auβerhalb ägyptens angeführten Lager von Lejjun an der
strata Diocletiana mit ähnlichen Ausführungselementen nach einem
inneren Torhof und Nebenausgängen an den Türmen vergebens.
(37) s. die Erläuterungen zu Babylon-Alt Kairo bei GROSSMANN et al., a.O. (wie
Anm. 20) 176ff. Abb. 1; eine ähnliche Lösung wurde kürzlich bei der
Rekonstruktion des römischen, auf 325 datierten Kastells von Yverdon
(Schweiz) erwogen, s. R. KASSER et al., Das römische Kastell «castrum
eburodunense» – Yverdon-les-Bains, Helvetia archaeologica 33, 2002, 6681, bes. 77f. Abb. 8.
(38) WARETH–ZIGNANI a.O. (wie Anm. 14) 192 Abb. 3 Taf. 22. Es ist zu
überlegen, ob nicht auch der nördliche Turm des Westtores analog zu dem
Beispielen in Babylon-Alt Kairo und Luqsur ebenfalls mit einem
zusätzlichen Nebenausgang versehen war.
tetrarchischer Zeit handelt(39). Die bauliche übereinstimmung dieses
Kastells mit anderen Festungsbauten der Zeit ist nicht zu
übersehen. Das bezieht sich nicht nur auf die Führung der unteren
Turmausgänge, die mit denen des Kastell von Praesentia bei Na‘
al-îaar genau übereinstimmt, sondern auch die Pfeilervorlagen
für die Treppenaufgänge an den Kurtinen entsprechen in den
Maβen ebenfalls sehr genau denen von Praesentia.
Der Sinn der Truppenstationierung in Eileithyiaspolis mag
in dem Schutz für die Steinbrüche von al-Kâb erkannt werden.
Doch ist auch schon früher die Notwendigkeit empfunden worden,
eine militärische Besatzung in das Gebiet zu verlegen, wie aus
einer Inschrift aus dem Jahre 149 n.Chr. hervorgeht, auf die J.
LESQUIER aufmerksam gemacht hat(40). Ruinen oder andersartige
archäologische Reste eines derartigen der hohen Kaiserzeit
entstammenden älteren Militärpostens in dem Gebiet sind
allerdings bisher nicht bekannt worden. Um 375 n.Chr. wurde auch
das tetrarchische Lager aufgegeben.
(39) ebenso ZIGNANI in: WARETH–ZIGNANI a.O. (wie Anm. 14) 205.
(40) J. LESQUIER, L’armée romain d’Égypte d’Auguste à Dioclétien (MIFAO 41,
1918) 411.
BSAA No. 47
Fig. 19
Al-Kâb
125

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