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Kenneth A. Kitchen, who has the most intimate knowledge of Ramesside inscriptions, has repeatedly drawn pictures and accounts of the major cities of Ramesses II, including, of course, Per-Ramesses. Into these imaginative reconstructions, as Kitchen modestly calls them, a most valuable amount of information drawn from the texts has been absorbed which has not lost its value over time, despite the long standing research of the Austrian Archaeological Institute and the Pelizus-Museum Hildesheim in the region of Per-Ramesses in the last decades. We hope with this account, which is based both on surveys in the field and excavation results, to present some source of inspiration as a tribute to a great scholar for whom we have the highest admiration and to whom we owe so much. We need not repeat the long history of the search for Avaris and Per-Ramesses, since the identification with Tell el-Dabaa and Qantr is now common knowledge in Egyptology. What remains to be done is to reveal more and more of the details of the topography of this once important residence of one of the greatest pharaohs of Egypt. On the surface practically nothing can be seen of the former splendour of this city. From the point of view of an archaeologist however, one can reveal the remains of a very fragmented picture and try to understand and interpret the scanty remains. 2 The Primeval Landscape
Located east of the easternmost Nile branch, the Waters of Rea, a navigable river channel flowing into the Mediterranean, the site of the later Per-Ramesses was situated at the beginning of the land
The authors wish to acknowledge the assistance of Nikky Math for producing the illustrations, David Aston for reading the manuscript and Edgar Pusch for providing us with information on his research at Qantir.
* A. H. Gardiner, The Delta Residence of the Ramessides, JEA 5 (98), 2738, 79200, 2427; A. H. Gardiner, Tanis and Pi-Raamesse: A Retractation, JEA 9 (933), 228; M. Hamza, Excavations of the Department of Antiquities at Qantr (Faqus District), ASAE 30 (930), 368; W. C. Hayes, Glazed Tiles from a Palace of Ramesses II at Kantir (MMA Papers 3; New York, 937); P. Montet, Le drame dAvaris (Paris, 94); L. Habachi, KhataanaQantr: Importance, ASAE 52 (954), 443562; L. Habachi, Tell el-Dabaa, I: Tell el-Dabaa and Qantr: The Site and its Connection with Avaris and Pi-Ramesse. Aus dem Nachla herausgegeben von E. M. Engel unter der Mitarbeit von P. Janosi und C. Mlinar, Redaktion E. Czerny (DGAW 23 = UZK 2; Vienna, 200), 6595; J. van Seters, The Hyksos: A New Investigation (New Haven, 966); M. Bietak, Tell el-Dabaa, II: Der Fundort im Rahmen einer archologisch-geographischen Untersuchung ber das gyptische Ostdelta, (DGAW 4 = UZK ; Vienna, 975), 2332; M. Bietak, Avaris and Pi-Ramesse, Archaeological Exploration in the Eastern Nile Delta: Ninth Mortimer Wheeler Archaeological Lecture (Oxford, 979), 283; M. Bietak, Ramessesstadt, L V (984), 2846; E. Pusch, H. Becker and J. Fassbinder, Wohnen und Leben oder: weitere Schritte zu einem Stadtplan der Ramsesstadt, &L 9 (999), 56.
23
route along the northern Sinai to Palestine (fig. ). As such, the site was most favourably positioned for controlling traffic routes abroad.2 At the same time it oversaw the entrance into the eastern Nile Delta as the Horus road had to pass through a land bridge between the easternmost Nile branch and the natural Bahr el-Baqar drainage system which issued into huge overflow lakes and swamps protecting the approaches to the Delta. In the second millennium bc the northern coast of Egypt had a more southerly position and the site of later Per-Ramesses was still near the effects of the tides.3 This had the advantage that the channel was still navigable during the dry season in late spring and early summer, when the Nile was at its lowest. This is a prerogative for a seagoing harbour in a deltaic landscape. The landscape of Per-Ramesses as it is now observable to the modern viewer is very different to the primeval landscape (fig. 2).4 Nowadays completely flat,5 it was then a system of turtlebacksgezirasand eroded depressions in between them. Those extensive turtlebacks consisting of fine yellowish-whitish sand, easily recognizable during excavations, are the remains of older, partly early Holocene river sediments. They were not flooded during the inundation and are therefore ideal places for permanent settlement activity. The maximum flood levels during the Ramesside period were about 5 m above the modern sea level.6 In between those geziras in the lower parts of the Delta the Nile flood transported and deposited its mud and brought fertility to the whole area. These parts could only partly be used, mostly for agricultural purposes.
2 3
For the topography of the eastern Nile Delta, see Bietak, Tell el-Dabaa II, 472.
Brackwater fish such as dorados were found in the osteological material of Tell el-Dabaa, see J. Boessneck and A. von den Driesch, Tell el-Dabaa, VII: Tiere und Historische Umwelt im Nordost-Delta im 2. Jahrtausend v. Chr. anhand von Knochenfunden der Ausgrabungen 19751986 (DGAW = UZK 0; Vienna, 992), 423.
4 Bietak, Tell el-Dabaa II, 490; K. Butzer, Studien zum vor- und frhgeschichtlichen Landschaftswandel in der Sahara, III; Die Naturlandschaft gyptens whrend der Vorgeschichte und der Dynastischen Zeit (AAWLM Math-Nat 959/2; Mainz, 959); K. Butzer, Delta, L I (975), cols. 04352.
The intensive agricultural use of the land and the sebakh-activity has destroyed most of the tells in the Nile Delta. At the end of the nineteenth century Griffith (F. Ll. Griffith, The Antiquities of Tell el Yahudyeh, and Miscellaneous Work in Lower Egypt (MEEF 7; London, 890), 567) was able to walk on top of the tell between Khataana/Tell el-Dabaa and Qantr which is a distance of 2 km. In 2007 only a small part of this tell, north of the village of Tell el-Dabaa, is still visible.
5 6
24
River
Inundation Area Fig. 2. Primeval Landscape of Avaris/Per-Ramesses (adapted from Dorner, &L 9, map ).
Most of those topographic features are no longer visible due to agricultural levelling and modern irrigation engineering. The main components of the ancient topography, the Nile channels, the lakes and the artificial channels which cut through the ancient settlement and the turtlebacks were, however, made visible by the study of the sedimentation ridges caused by active Nile branches, and the depressions according to the contour maps of the Survey of Egypt7 and by investigating the nature of the sediments by
7
25
Personal surface exploration. Bietak, Tell el-Dabaa II, 8. E. Pusch, Vorbericht ber die Abschlukampagne am Grabungsplatz Q IV 997, &L 9 (999), Abb. 2.
26
D. A. Aston, Qantir/Piramesse-Nord Pottery Report 988, GM 3 (989), 732; D. A. Aston and E. Pusch, The Pottery from the Royal Horse Stud and its Stratigraphy: The Pelizus-Museum Excavation at Qantir/Per-Ramesses, Sector Q IV, &L 9 (999), 534.
6 7 8
I. Hein and P. Jnosi, Tell el-Dabaa, XI: Areal A/V: Siedlungsrelikte der Spten Hyksoszeit (DGAW 25 = UZK 2; Vienna, 2004), 878, Plan 2A.
27
Per-Ramesses, the splendid residence of Ramesses II, was not a sudden creation but had a pre-history connected to its very favourable topographic position, linking Egypt and the Near East (see above ). Avaris was a town of Near Easterners from the late Twelfth Dynasty onwards. It seems to have had a special status, and may have served the Egyptian crown particularly for trade expeditions to the Near East. Under such auspices it is understandable that Canaanite cults had been introduced to this place at that time, especially the cult of the northern Syrian storm god Baaal Zephon, as illustrated on a local cylinder seal (fig. 3).22 This god was identified with the Egyptian weather god Seth who became, with his Asiatic attributes, the Lord of Avaris and more than 400 years later the Father of the fathers of the Nineteenth Dynasty, a feature which probably originated from this place.23 In order to understand this continuity one has also to assess the local continuity of the town and its development as a residential town, which started with Nehesy, a ruler of the Fourteenth Dynasty, the first king with the epithet Beloved of Seth, the Lord of Avaris.24 In the Hyksos Period Avaris became one of the biggest towns in the Near East and Egypt. It was according to the Kamose Stela a harbour town25 and the enormous quantities of imported pottery, especially the amphorae from Canaan and jugs from Cyprus are a proof of its first rate importance as a trading centre. After the conquest of Avaris by Ahmose the town was first abandoned, except for the precinct of the temple of Seth where an unbroken activity till the Amarna Period can be observed.26 This temple seems never to have been abandoned. Along the banks of the Nile south of its bifurcation, at the village of aEzbet Helmy, enormous silo installations and a large magazine of the early Eighteenth Dynasty were erected.27
9 20 2 22
Investigations J. Dorner, unpublished. M. Bietak, Ein altgyptische Weingarten in einem Tempelbezirk, AAW 22 (985), 26778, esp. 27 (fig. 7). Habachi, Tell el-Dabaa I, 378.
E. Porada, The Cylinder Seal from Tell el-Dabaa, AJA 88 (984), 4858; M. Bietak, Zur Herkunft des Seth von Auaris, &L (990), 23; C. Uehlinger, Leviathan und die Schiffe in Ps 04, 256, Biblische Notizen 7/4 (990), 493526.
23 24
Bietak, &L .
J. von Beckerath, Untersuchungen zur politischen Geschichte der Zweiten Zwischenzeit in gypten (F 23; Glckstadt, 965), 825; M. Bietak, Zum Knigreich des aA-zH-Ra NeHesi, SAK (984), 5978.
25 L. Habachi, The Second Stela of Kamose and his Struggle against the Hyksos Ruler and his Capital (ADAIK 8; Glckstadt, 972), 37. 26 27
M. Bietak, J. Dorner and P. Janosi, Ausgrabungen in dem Palastbezirk von Avaris, Vorbericht Tell el-Dabaa/aEzbet Helmi 9932000, &L (200), 5967.
28
Fig. 3. Cylinder seal depicting Seth/Baaal Zephon from the Thirteenth Dynasty found in area F/I.
Among the constructions was also a small palatial building with an assembly hall.28 Kerma household pottery29 and flint arrow-tips of Kerma type30 document the presence of Nubian soldiers, particularly archers. Soon afterwards, still in the early Eighteenth Dynasty, the site was used as a camp and a burial place for soldiers.3 Osteological evidence again shows a substantial Nubian population component among them. Some burials seem to be the result of brutal executions.32 The pottery production with its specific blend of Middle Bronze Age and Egyptian typology continued nearly unbroken into the time of the Tuthmosides, which indicates that the population of the Hyksos Period was still around, perhaps to some extent also used for military service.33 The same could be said of the scarab production and the weapon typology of the New Kingdom, which is, however, less specific for the site.34 This fact, together with the uninterrupted activity in the temple of Seth, explains the continuity of Canaanite cults on the site of former Avaris into the time of the New Kingdom. In the early Tuthmoside Period, most probably during the joint reign of Hatshepsut and Tuthmosis III, a palatial compound of 3 acres was constructed on top of the cemeteries and the former Hyksos citadel.35 The palaces were built on high platforms, the biggest measured 60 87 m. Two of the palaces were furnished with Minoan wall paintings with Minoan court symbols, suggesting a close connection with the court of Knossos at that time.36 The sheer size of the biggest palace and the palatial precinct makes the residence of a member of the royal family, if not the king himself, likely. Of particular interest is building L beside the main palace G which lasted until the reign of Amenhotep II and gives the impression of highlevel administration at this place.37 The evidence suggests that this was a major military stronghold, and the presence of the huge palatial compound raises the question as to whether this was the military and
28 29
I. Hein, Kerma in Auaris, in C.-B. Arnst, I. Hafemann and A. Lohwasser (eds), Begegnungen: Antike Kulturen im Niltal. Festgabe fr E. Endesfelder, K.-H. Priese, W.F. Reineke u. S. Wenig (Leipzig, 200), 9922.
30 A. Tillmann, Die Steinartefakte, in M. Bietak and I. Hein (eds), Pharaonen und Fremde: Dynastien im Dunkel, Sonderausstellung des Historischen Museums der Stadt Wien in Zusammenarbeit mit dem gyptologischen Institut der Universitt Wien und dem sterreichischen Archologischen Institut Kairo, Rathaus Wien, Volkshalle, 8. Sept.23. Oktober 1994 (Vienna, 994), 257 (no. 3489). 3 32 33
Bietak, Dorner and Janosi, &L , 6774. Bietak, Dorner and Janosi, &L , 6973.
M. Bietak, Where Did the Hyksos Come from and Where Did They Go?, in W. V. Davies (ed.) The Second Intermediate Period (13th17th Dynasties): Current Research, Future Prospects (Leuven, in preparation).
34 35
Bietak, Dorner and Janosi, &L , 740; M. Bietak, The Tuthmoside Stronghold Peru-nefer, EA 26 (2005), 37; M. Bietak, Neue Palste aus der 8. Dynastie, in P. Jnosi (ed.) Structure and Significance, Bau und Bedeutung (Festschrift fr Dieter Arnold) (Vienna, 2005), 367; M. Bietak, Egypt and the Aegean: Cultural Convergence in a Thutmoside Palace at Avaris, in C. H. Roehrig, R. Dreyfus and C. A. Keller (eds), Hatshepsut: Exhibition catalogue of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, 2006), 3543; M. Bietak and I. Forstner-Mller, Ausgrabungen im Palastbezirk von Avaris, Vorbericht Tell El-Dabaa/aEzbet Helmi Frhjahr 2003, &L 3 (2003), 3950; M. Bietak and I. Forstner-Mller, Ausgrabung eines Palastbezirkes der Tuthmosidenzeit bei aEzbet Helmi/Tell el-Dabaa, Vorbericht fr Herbst 2004 und Frhjahr 2005, &L 5 (2005), 6500.
36 37
M. Bietak, N. Marinatos and C. Palyvou, Taureador Scenes in Avaris and Knossos (Vienna, 2007). Bietak and Forstner-Mller, &L 3, 3950; Bietak and Forstner-Mller, &L 5, 6500.
29
J. K. Hoffmeier and K. A. Kitchen, Reshep and Astarte in North Sinai: A Recently Discovered Stela from Tell el-Borg, &L 7 (2007), 2736.
40 4 42 43 44 45
Aston, &L , 94. Bietak, AAW 22, 276 (fig.2). Bietak, Dorner and Janosi, &L , 0; Aston, &L , 678. Bietak, AAW 22, 26778; Bietak, 990, 23. Bietak, Dorner and Janosi, &L , 0, fig. 53. See the faience vessel with the cartouches of Horemheb, Bietak, Tell el-Dabaa II, 45; Habachi, Tell el-Dabaa I, 255, Tf. 49A.
46 E. Pusch, Metallverarbeitende Werksttten der frhen Ramessidenzeit in Qantr/Pi-Ramesse/Nord - Ein Zwischenbericht, &L (990), 068. 47 48 49 50
Bietak, AAW 25, 26778; Bietak, &L , 23. J. K. Hoffmeier, personal communication. L. Habachi, Sethos Is Devotion to Seth and Avaris, ZS 00 (974), 00; Bietak, &L , .
A. H. Gardiner, The Ancient Military Road between Egypt and Palestine, JEA 6 (920), 996; The Epigraphic Survey, Reliefs and inscriptions at Karnak IV, The Battle Reliefs of King Sety I (OIP; Chicago, 986).
30
We may assume that the former site of Avaris remained in its function as a military, and most likely naval, base as in the Eighteenth Dynasty. 4 The Temples of Per-Ramesses
His Majesty has built himself a Residence whose name is Great of Victories. It lies between Syria and Egypt, full of food and provisions. It follows the model of Upper-Egyptian Thebes, its duration like that of Memphis. The Sun arises in its horizon, and (even) sets within it.5
Despite this definition, Ramesses II showed with the system of temples in his new capital that he wished to create a different religious world than in Thebes. Per-Ramesses was not intended to be a replica of the southern capital, as was attempted in the Twenty-first and Twenty-second Dynasties at Tanis, but was endowed with a religious concept in accord with the personality of the king. An antagonism to Thebes might be recognised, as the temple of Amun was not the centre of religious life. Ramesses II focused on
P. Anastasi II, , 2, P. Anastasi IV, 6, 2: translation K. A. Kitchen, Pharaoh Triumphant: The Life and Times of Ramesses II, King of Egypt (Warminster, 982), 9.
5
3
52 H. Kees, Das Alte gypten (Berlin, 955), 05; W. Helck, Zur Verwaltung gyptens im Mittleren und Neuen Reich (Pd 3; Leiden, 958), 978. 53 54
P. Montet, Les nouvelles fouilles de Tanis, 19291932 (Paris, 933), pl. ix.
Bietak, Tell el-Dabaa II, n. 878; E. P. Uphill, The Temples of Per-Ramesses (Warminster, 984), 2062; recently H. Sourouzian, Seth fils de Nout et Seth dAvaris dans la statuaire royale ramesside, in E. Czerny, I. Hein, H. Hunger, D. Melman, and A. Schwab (eds), Timelines: Studies in Honour of Manfred Bietak (OLA 49; Leuven, 2006), , 3354.
55 56
Following Dorners convincing argumentation, Zur Lage des Palastes und des Haupttempels der Ramsesstadt, in M. Bietak (ed.), Haus und Palast im Alten gypten (DGAW 4 = UZK 4; Vienna, 996); Dorner, &L 9, 80.
57 58 59 60 6
P. Anastasi II, IV. KRI II, 22633; E. Edel, Der Vertrag zwischen Ramese II. von gypten und Hattusili III von Hatti (Berlin, 997). Dorner, in M. Bietak (ed.), Haus und Palast im Alten gypten; Dorner, &L 9, 80. Hamza, ASAE 30, 42.
Pusch, GM 2; Pusch, &L ; Pusch in A. Eggebrecht (ed.), Pelizus-Museum Hildesheim Die gyptische Sammlung (Zaberns Bildbnde zur Archologie 2; Mainz, 993).
62 63 64 65 66
Dorner, &L 9, 80. Uphill, The Temples of Per-Ramesses, 43 (T79/80), 55 (Q2), 94, 2067. Uphill, The Temples of Per-Ramesses, 2. Uphill, The Temples of Per-Ramesses, 206, pl. 2; J.-J. Clre, Nouveaux documents relatifs au culte des colosses de Ramss II dans le Delta, Kmi (950), 2446.
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Fig. 5. Main Palace at Per-Ramesses (adapted from Dorner, &L 9, map 2).
Ancient Egyptian towns were structured by their temples and by the processional roads connecting them. This may also have been the case with Per-Ramesses. Sources of the Ramesside Period (P. Anastasi II, , 45 and P. Anastasi IV, 6, 45) give us some information on the topographic position of some temples of Per-Ramesses, but there is ambiguity if the directions in which the temples are mentioned are 33
aligned to the palace (bxn) or if they give positions within the town:
Its West is the house of Amun, its South the house of Seth, Astarte its East, Wadjet its North.
Those temples seem to be defined by the cardinal points and one might expect that they were situated near the edges of the town and were therefore used to define its borders and limits. From those four temples only one can be considered to have been identified with certainty: the temple of Seth on the western edge of Tell el-Dabaa near the centre of former Avaris (fig. 6).67 Its enclosure wall was partly excavated by Naville and afterwards used as quarry. The Austrian Institute revealed the rest in test areas. It has a trapezoidal precinct of about 350 250 m, which must have topographical determinants. It is surely no coincidence that the northern external wall of the Seth temple is parallel to the northern enclosure wall of the fortress of Horemheb. The south wall, of more than 20 cubits thick, is precisely oriented eastwest, as is the temple, which was largely destroyed by agriculture and stone robbers. Remains of a pylon and the foundations of a colossal statue were found by geophysical surveying.68 A smaller enclosure wall of the Eighteenth Dynasty was found beneath. The temple was surrounded, both inside and outside the enclosure, by a grove of trees whose pits were still found in a regular pattern. Inside were also vineyards.69
67 68 69
Habachi, ZS 00, 00; Uphill, The Temples of Per-Ramesses, 202, 238; Bietak, &L , 04. Forstner-Mller and Mller, &L 6 (2007), fig.. Bietak, &L , 2.
34
35
R. Stadelmann, Vierhundertjahres Stele, L VI, 043; Bietak &L , frontispiece. Montet, Les nouvelles fouilles de Tanis, 19291932, 207. R. Stadelmann, Syrisch-palstinensische Gottheiten in gypten (Leiden, 967).
On a seal cylinder Bietak, &L , 5, fig. 5. For another proof that Baaal is identified with Seth from the Middle Kingdom onwards, see O. Goldwasser, Canaanites Reading Hieroglyphs. Horus is Hathor? - The Invention of the Alphabet in Sinai, A&L 6 (2007), 260.
74 75 76
PM VII, 352, J. Pritchard, The Ancient Near East in Pictures (Princeton, 954), fig. 37; KRI I, 25. Louvre AO fig. 3.76, see M. Yon, Ras Shamra-Ougarit, VI: Arts et Industries de la Pierre (Paris, 99), 2846, no. .
M. Bietak, Kat. Nr. 393, Inschriftenstein des Haremhab, in M. Bietak and I. Hein (eds), Pharaonen und Fremde, Dynastien im Dunkeln (Vienna, 994) 2823, nr. 393; Bietak, &L , 2, fig. 2.
77 78
S. Adam, Recent Discoveries in the Eastern Delta (Dec. 950May 955), ASAE 55 (958), 3824; Bietak, Tell el-Dabaa II, pl. 435A.
79 80 8 82
Adam, ASAE 55, 320. Dorner, &L 9, 80. E. Pusch, personal communication. The reconstruction in Dorner, &L 9, fig.2 shows the temple at a slightly different angle.
36
37
Indeed a lintel showing a scene of smiting enemies by Ramesses was found 400 m downstream within a precinct with enclosure wall by E. van den Brink (Dorner, &L 9, 8), but nobody knows what kind of function this building had. For a temple defining the size of Per-Ramesses it is too small in any case.
85 86 87 88
Already K. A. Kitchen, Pharaoh Triumphant, 23 (fig. 42). KRI II, 226; Edel, Der Vertrag zwischen Ramese II. von gypten und Hattusili III von Hatti, 7. Sourouzian, in E. Czerny et.al (eds), Timelines: Studies in Honour of Manfred Bietak; Uphill, The Temples of Per-Ramesses, 90. Pusch, in Petschel and von Falck (eds.), Pharao siegt immer, 240 (fig. ).
38
Fig. 9. Hypothetical Temple of Millions of Years (after Pusch, in Petschel and von Falck (eds.), Pharao siegt immer, 240 (fig. ).
perhaps a second one, into which some installations were built. Then follows a portico with two rows of columns, a vestibule with two rows of columns, a central hall with six columns, flanked east and west by two square rooms with four columns each. To the south is a room which appears to be a vestibule, at the rear of which a square room with four columns, flanked by side rooms, may be reconstructed or, alternatively, a broad room, oriented eastwest with two rows of columns. If a temple, it is probably aligned in relation to a major temple or ceremonial road, as main temples have an east-west orientation. Otherwise the temple would be oriented towards the south, to the river F2. We suggest that it could be a House of Millions of Years of Ramesses, subsidiary to the main system of processional roads. A House of Millions of Years of Ramesses in the House of Rea is mentioned in a title.89 Such a temple of a significant size could be expected in such a position, but no definite proof can be offered at the moment.
89
39
The position of the major palace of Per-Ramesses can be assessed by several finds. In the south of Qantr New Kingdom sherds were found within the mound at aEzbet Yasergi.93 This mound, which is today used as the local cemetery, is covered on its west by the village of aEzbet Yasergi and was most probably once the core of an artificial platform, held together by walls the remains of which were found by the Pelizus-Museum Hildesheim.94 The wall was constructed with its outer (plastered and whitewashed) face to the south. At the edge of the village, west of the cemetery, a huge plinth of red granite of considerable size is still half in situ.95 It sank with the removal of sand for nearby building projects. The architecture of the palace is completely gone. Southeast of the cemetery, a brickwork construction with regular spurs into the sand, which could still be seen until 968, can only be connected to the palace (fig. 0).96 It seems to have been a platform,
Pusch, in Petschel and von Falck (eds.), Pharao siegt immer, 24. Pusch, in Petschel and von Falck (eds.), Pharao siegt immer, 2623.
92 B. Bruyre, Rapport sur les fouilles de Deir el-Medineh 1929 (FIFAO; Cairo, 930), 22; J. Yoyotte, Religion de lEgypte Ancienne 969970 et 97097, Annuaire EPHE SSR 79 (97/72), 72. 93 94 95 96
Dorner, &L 9, 789. Dorner, &L 9, 789. The position of the wall has not been published. Bietak, Tell el-Dabaa II, pl. xlii.a. Bietak, Tell el-Daba II, pls xxxvi.a, xxxvii.
40
Fig. . Faience Tiles from Qantr (after Habachi, Tell el-Dabaa I, pls 5A, 52A, 52DF).
which carried part of the palace on a lower level than the high sands of the cemetery area. This feature has unfortunately been removed and nothing now remains. As the area south of the cemetery between aEzbet Yasergi and aEzbet Silmy is now empty of archaeological features,97 we may expect an extensive garden and most likely a lake fed by a channel to the south of the palace.98 Mahmud Hamza failed to reveal any architectural features at the periphery of the palace but was able to identify the site as a palace by the discovery of numerous faience tiles with the protocols of kings, especially of Ramesses II. The repeated finds of magnificent tiles of Seti I, Ramesses II and other Ramessides with inlays of calcite against the blue faence, originally sold to different museums,99 stimulated the excavations of the Antiquities Service under Mahmud Hamza (fig. ).00 Changes of reigns seemed to have brought about changes in the tiles with the royal protocol. On such occasions the old tiles may have been buried in the sand mound.0 The tiles were picked up by the local population and were sold to antiquities dealers, who sold them to museums. Mahmud Hamza reported the discovery of a factory for such tiles, which seemed to have been attached to the south of the palace. Of particular importance is the collection in the Metropolitan Museum New York, whose curator W. C. Hayes succeeded in reconstructing throne podiums, steps, windows of appearances, including faience
97 98
Concerning the channel, cf. E. Pusch Vorbericht ber die Abschlukampagne am Grabungsplatz Q IV 997, &L 9 (999), 2 (fig. 2, at the left edge).
99 C. Boureux, Muse du Louvre, Departement des Antiquits Egyptiennes, Guide-catalogue sommaire (Paris, 932), II; Hayes, Glazed Tiles from a Palace of Ramesses II; H. W. Mller, Werke altgyptischer und koptischer Kunst: Die Sammlung Wilhelm Esch, Duisburg (Mnchen, 959); H. W. Mller, Die gyptische Sammlung des Bayerischen Staates (Mnchen, 966); H. W. Mller, Bemerkungen zu den Kacheln mit Inschriften aus Qantr und zu den Rekonstruktionen gekachelter Palasttore, MDAIK 37 (98), 33957. 00 0
4
The social hierarchy of the urban settlement of Per-Ramesses has been revealed in an exemplary fashion by the geophysical survey of the Pelizus-Museum Hildesheim which will present its findings and evaluation in the near future. Their survey plots published thus far reveal a system of houses with streets,5 which are influenced in their orientation by the river courses and channels which transverse the town (fig. 2). Whereas in some parts the system of plots is regular with an element of planning, in the eastern part of the town we already see an organic town developing with winding streets.6 There are also free
02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0
Hayes, Glazed Tiles from a Palace of Ramesses II; W. C. Hayes, The Scepter of Egypt (Cambridge ma, 959), II, 3349. Boureux, Muse du Louvre, Departement des Antiquits Egyptiennes, Guide-catalogue sommaire, II. Habachi, Tell el-Dabaa I, 22950, pls 57. Dorner, &L 9, plan 2. M. Gitton, Le Palais de Karnak, BIFAO 74 (974), 697. A. H. Gardiner, Late Egyptian Stories (BAe I; Brussels, 932), 859. R. Stadelmann, Tempelpalste und Erscheinungsfenster in den thebanischen Totentempeln, MDAIK 29 (973), 2242. Pusch, &L 9, 2 (fig. 2, below left). Pusch, &L 9, 2 (fig. 2, below left).
E. Pusch and S. Jakob, Der Zipfel des diplomatischen Archivs Ramses II, &L 3 (2003), 4353; Pusch, in Petschel and von Falck (eds.), Pharao siegt immer, 25960.
2 E. Pusch, H. Becker and J. Fassbinder, Wohnen und Leben oder: Weitere Schritte zu einem Stadtplan der Ramsesstadt, &L 9 (999), 667 (figs 34, lower right). 3 4 5 6
Pusch, in S. Petschel and M. von Falck (eds), Pharao siegt immer, Krieg und Frieden im Alten gypten, 242. Pusch, &L 9, 233. Pusch, Becker and Fassbinder, &L 9, 2, 489, 647. Pusch, Becker and Fassbinder, &L 9, 645.
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Fig. 2. Geophysical map of an Elite Living Quarter in Per-Ramesses (after Pusch, &L 9, Abb. 2).
places of large size within the town and some few buildings differ in their orientation considerably from the general orientation. There is also social hierarchy visible. The more substantial house plots, representing the upper class, can be expected in the part of the town which is west and southwest of the palace, especially along the banks of the river, whereas the smaller houses are to be found in the south-eastern part of the town.7 The types of houses seem to be the same as those we have in Tell el-Amarna. A suburban area with small houses and narrow streets was also found at aEzbet Machali south of channel F2.8 When digging the el-Samaana canal (now known as el-Didamn canal), just west of the royal palace, blocks were found from over 25 doorways of at least four royal princes and high officials such as Royal Scribe and Steward of the House of Million Years of Ramesses II, Royal Deputy of Every Foreign Land, First Charioteer of the Great Stable of Usermaaarea-setepenrea, Treasurer of the King of Upper Egypt, three Favourites of the Good God, Fan-bearer to the Right of the King, Chief of the wab-Priests of Sakhmet, Steward of the House of Ramesses-Meriamun, Kings Messenger to Every Foreign Country and Royal Scribe, Chief of Works in Every Monument, Overseer of the Cattle, Chamberlain of the Lord of the Two Lands, Royal Butler and Kings Herald, finally Kings Chief Herald, Chief Commander of the Army, and most likely also the house of the Vizier Paser (fig. 3). There can be no doubt that the highest
7 8
Pusch, Becker and Fassbinder, &L 9, 645. Forstner-Mller and Mller &L 6, fig. .
43
Fig. 3. Door-lintel of the House of the Vizier Paser (after Habachi, Tell el-Dabaa I, pl. 8A).
ranks that needed daily access to the palace lived from the Qantr Bridge southwards and west of aEzbet Yasergi. The faades of their houses seemed to have lined up at the area where the channel was excavated and their gardens opened up backwards with a wonderful view overlooking the river. One has to ask why the palace of the king did not open up towards the river. The demand to be beside the main temple and to have a processional road from there to another sacred building at the riverbank, probably the house of Amun, made the direct access to the river impossible. But, as the palace was on a high platform, one could overlook the river landscape anyway. 7 Administrative, Industrial and Military Installations
Administrative quarters should be expected in the neighbourhood of the palace. Edgar Pusch identified a building in the south of aEzbet Silmy as an administrative building, possibly even a foreign office (fig. 4) because of its similarities with an architectural representation of an office in a tomb.9 This large building does indeed look like a major administrative office. South of it is a huge courtyard with a central square building with four column bases. It is set against a separation wall, which splits the court into a northern and a southern half. North of this administrative quarter the Hildesheim expedition has excavated stables for around 500 horses from the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Dynasty (area Q IV) (fig. 5).20 They were accommodated within four units with a big hall for garaging chariots. These royal horse stables were situated along channel K2, which seems to have played a role in grooming and feeding the horses. Installations for training charioteers and quarters for metallurgical installations of a large scale for producing weapons were
9 20
Pusch, GM 2; Pusch, in Eggebrecht (ed.), Pelizus-Museum Hildesheim Die gyptische Sammlung; Pusch, &L 9; A. Herold, Streitwagentechnologie in der Ramses-Stadt: Bronze an Pferd und Wagen (FR 2; Mainz, 999); Von Pferdestllen und Wagenteilen: Neuigkeiten ber Pferd und Wagen aus der Delta-Residenz Ramses II, Achse, Rad und Wagen 9 (200), 47; A. Herold, Streitwagentechnologie in der Ramses-Stadt: Knufe, Knpfe und Scheiben aus Stein (FR 3; Mainz, 2006).
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found south of the big palace, west of the stables at area Q I. The industrial quarter for arms production dates from the late Eighteenth to the early Nineteenth Dynasty.2 The charioteer-installations on top of the former date from the early Nineteenth Dynasty to the middle of the reign of Ramesses II.22 Remains of glass production were found and investigated by the mission of the Pelizus-Museum Hildesheim in areas Q I, near the faience tile production of Mahmud Hamza, and at Q IV. The sites indicate that industry activities for metallurgy and glass production were concentrated south of the palatial area and the town in order that the prevailing northern winds would carry away the smoke clouds from the kilns. Despite the fact that the terrain was widely levelled, surface pottery revealed that the enormous fortress of Horemheb seems to have been used until the Ramesside Period, most probably in its original military function. Remains of a huge limestone wall may originate from a temple of the Ramesside Period ( 4 above). There were surely more military installations at Per-Ramesses, but only excavation may determine the function of precincts which seem not to be living areas.
2 22
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Fig. 5. Royal Horse Stud in area Q IV (after E. Pusch, Tausret und Sethos II. in der Ramses-Stadt, &L 9 (999), abb. 6).
The Harbours
Harbours in a river delta are not normally found on the coast itself, but nor are they a significant distance from the coast, since ships, especially in a period of drought, need marine tides to reach and to leave the harbour safely ( above). Per-Ramesses was without doubt a harbour town for seagoing ships. It was a base for the Egyptian navy for its deployment in the Near East. It was The marshalling place of thy chariotry. The mustering place of thy army, the mooring place of thy ships troops.23 This harbour had tradition. It was also already a major harbour of Egypt during the Hyksos Period. Kamose on his second stela reports hundreds of ships filled with the commodities of the Near East.24 It seems that there was continuity from the Hyksos Period to the first half of the Eighteenth Dynasty to the Ramesside Period. If the military base with the huge palace compound of the Tuthmoside Period at the west of Avaris at aEzbet Helmy was Peru-nefer,25 then the continuity of the combination of harbour function, the military base
23 24 25
P. Anastasi III, 7, 56; translation R. Caminos, Late Egyptian Miscellanies (London, 954), 0. Habachi,The Second Stela of Kamose, 37, ll. 35. Bietak, EA, 26.
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Per-Ramesses, which was settled throughout the Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties and, to some extent, afterwards, must have accumulated an enormous number of tombs. However, one can only conclude from small samples where those cemeteries had been situated. In the area of the former fortress of Horemheb, at aEzbet Helmy, excavations have revealed a cemetery of the time of Ramesses II. Tombs of this cemetery were already noticed when the predecessor of the Didamn canal had been dredged.30 Finally, during excavations of the Austrian Institute at aEzbet Helmy, a part of a cemetery was found there. A large part was systematically excavated in 2005.3 More than 80 tombs were found (fig. 6), mainly simple pit burials, some buried in slipper coffins,32 two contained scarabs with the name of Ramesses II. The general orientation was eastwest, some however northsouth. Most bodies were buried in a supine position, although some were deposited on their stomachs because they were bundled up in a reed mat and it happened that the front or the back of the body were not recognisable at the time of interment. Remains of slipper coffins, perhaps part of the same cemetery, were found in secondary contexts in area F/I, several hundred metres towards the east.33 Agricultural levelling largely denuded this part of the landscape. Most of the tombs were scraped away by motor ploughs and the coffin fragments were all that remained on a denuded surface.
Bruyre, Rapport sur les fouilles de Deir el-Medineh 1929, 22; Yoyotte, Annuaire EPHE SSR 79, 72. Bietak, Tell el-Dabaa II, 878. Pap. Anastasi III, 2, 62, 9. E. Pusch, personal communication. Maspero, ZS 23, 2. Bietak and Forstner-Mller, &L 5, 958 (figs 279). Bietak and Forstner Mller, &L 5, 97; Dorner, &L 9, 83, and another one found 2007. Dorner, &L 9, n. 53.
47
48
Bietak, Tell el-Daba II, 456; Dorner, &L 9, 82. Dorner, &L 9, 82. Habachi, Tell el-Dabaa I, 378. See also Habachi, Tell el-Dabaa I, 254. Pusch, GM 2; A. Herold, Ein Kindergrab im kniglichen Marstall, &L 9 (999), 8500; Pusch, &L 9, 30. P. Anastasi III, 2.3.9; P. Harris I, 8.27. W. Spiegelberg, Bemerkungen zu den historischen Amphoreninschriften des Ramesseums, ZS 58 (923), 26, 30. Bietak, AAW 22, 278. Hein and Jnosi, Tell el-Daba XI, 878, Plan 2A. See also Dorner, &L 9, 82. Dorner, &L 9, 8. Unfortunately there has not been any prospection in the north.
F. Ll. Griffith, Gemaiyemi, in W. M. F. Petrie, Tanis II: Nebeshe (Am) and Defenneh (Tahpanes) (MEEF 4; London, 888), 45.
46 47
Habachi, ASAE 52, 482. Habachi, ASAE 52, 47980; Habachi, Tell el-Daba I, 38, 867 Kat. Nr. 52, pl. 8A.
49
Habachi, Tell el-Daba I, 47. Dorner, &L 9, 8. Habachi, Tell el-Daba I, 47, Kat.Nr. 52, pl. 49A. Habachi, ASAE 52, 488. Hamza, ASAE 30, 435.
50