The Urban Landscape of Bakchias: A Town of the Fayyūm from the Ptolemaic-Roman Period to Late Antiquity

The Urban Landscape of Bakchias: A Town of the Fayyūm from the Ptolemaic-Roman Period to Late Antiquity summarises the results of field research conducted on the archaeological site of Bakchias, located in the north-eastern part of the Fayyūm region. Historical, historico-religious and papyrological studies are also presented. The book provides a clear and comprehensive overview of the rise and fall of the kome of Bakchias. The settlement was a thriving centre from at least the 26th dynasty up until the ninth or tenth centuries CE, although with differing levels of economic prosperity and urban development. Equal weight is given not only to the archaeological and topographical aspects but also to the historical and the religious, whilst never forgetting the relationship between the urban settlement and other villages of the Arsinoite nomos, which is famously a peculiar exception in Egyptian geography. Table of Contents Preface Introduction Chapter I: Bakchias: Its rediscovery, its cults ( P. Buzi ) Chapter II: The genesis and urban development of Bakchias ( E. Giorgi ) Chapter III: The sacred areas of the town ( E. Giorgi ) Chapter IV: The Northern District ( E. Giorgi ) Chapter V: The buildings along the canal and the South Kom ( E. Giorgi ) Chapter VI: Bakchias in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages ( P. Buzi ) Bibliography Captions Plates The Urban Landscape of Bakchias: A Town of the Fayyūm from the Ptolemaic-Roman Period to Late Antiquity summarises the results of field research conducted on the archaeological site of Bakchias, located in the north-eastern part of the Fayyūm region. Historical, historico-religious and papyrological studies are also presented. The book provides a clear and comprehensive overview of the rise and fall of the kome of Bakchias. The settlement was a thriving centre from at least the 26th dynasty up until the ninth or tenth centuries CE, although with differing levels of economic prosperity and urban development. Equal weight is given not only to the archaeological and topographical aspects but also to the historical and the religious, whilst never forgetting the relationship between the urban settlement and other villages of the Arsinoite nomos, which is famously a peculiar exception in Egyptian geography. Cover 1 Title Page 3 Copyright page 4 Introduction Bakchias and its geographical context 11 List of Figures 7 Paola Buzi 13 Reshaping Bakchias 13 Bakchias: Its rediscovery, its cults 15 Chapter I 15 The rediscovery of an ancient Ptolemaic-Roman village... which turned out to have had a much longer life than previously supposed 15 After Grenfell, Hunt and Hogarth 17 The multiple names of Bakchias 19 The changes in the environment in the twentieth century and the lost necropoleis of Bakchias 22 A subject still to be still explored: the administrative relation between Bakchias and some neighboring komai 23 The cults of Bakchias in the Ptolemaic-Roman period...and before 23 Enrico Giorgi 29 The Urban Landscape of Bakchias 29 Chapter II 31 The genesis and urban development of Bakchias 31 The pre-Ptolemaic village 31 Figure 1. The Fayyum with some of the main villages (Rossetti 2018 from Google Map). 32 Figure 2. Plan of Bakchias with base Google Map (Rossetti 2018). 32 Figure 3. Bakchias plan with the locations of the excavation seasons (Rossetti 2018). 33 The Ptolemaic Town 33 Figure 4. Bakchias plan with some of the edifices testified by papyri (Rossetti 2018). 34 Figure 5. The Fayyūm with the expansion of the lake during the Middle Kingdom of Egypt, when the first reclamation of the region took place (Morini 2007b). 35 Figure 6. The Fayyūm in the Ptolemaic Period, when the second reclamation of the region took place (Morini 2007b). 35 Figure 7. Bakchias plan during the early Ptolemaic period (Rossetti 2017). 36 Figure 8. Views of the North Kom with the main sacred area in the middle. 37 Figure 10. Bakchias plan during the Late Ptolemaic period (Rossetti 2017). 38 Figure 9. Bakchias plan during the Ptolemaic period (Rossetti 2017). 38 Figure 11. Bakchias plan during the Roman period (Rossetti 2017). 41 The Roman Age Town 41 The abandonment of the North Kom and the development of the South Kom 44 Figure 12. Views of the South Kom. 45 Figure 13. A disused mill in the archaeological area. 45 The Modern Era 46 Figure 14. Stellite image taken in 1968, within the framework of American Corona project (Buzi et al. 2011). 47 Chapter III 48 Figure 1. General plan of the two temple areas. 48 The central sacred area 48 The sacred areas of the town 48 Figure 2. Plan of the area of the kiln. 49 Figure 3. View of the kiln. 49 Temple B 49 The oldest phases 49 Figure 4. The area with of the Amphora near the kiln. 50 Figure 5. The Amphora imported from Tyre, that can be dated to the seventh-sixth centuries BC. 50 Temple A 50 Figure 6. View of the Temple A, on the right, and of Temple B in the background. 51 Figure 7. View of the area of the Temple B from south. 52 Figure 10. View of the Temple A from east. 53 Figure 9. Temple B: floor plan. 53 Figure 11. Temple A: floor plan. 54 Figure 12. Temple A: a view of kiosk BSE 314, seen from the east, with the temple complex in the background. 55 Figure 13. View of the entrance to the Temple A, raised with stones in Roman times, with what remains of the propylon (BSE 385). 55 Figure 15. The headless statue of a kneeling male figure with the inscription erased. 56 Figure 16. The base for a sphinx or lion that still bears part of the paws and a Demotic inscription. 57 Temple C 57 Figure 17. Temple C: floor plan with the Temple A on the left. 58 Figure 18. Temple C: the sancta sanctum in sandstone blocks, where traces of structures are still visible. 59 Figure 19. Temple C: the pylon seen from the north-west. 59 Temple D 60 The eastern sacred area 60 Figure 20. Temple D: floor plan. 61 Figure 21. Temple D: the area outside the temple seen from the south-west. Clerical accommodation in the foreground (BSE 330) with storage rooms behind (BSE 404 – BSE 405). 62 Temple E 62 Figure 22. Temple E: floor plan. 63 Chapter IV 65 The Northern District 65 The house of the priestess of Isis and the surrounding city block 65 The northern gate and adjacent buildings 65 Figure 1. General plan of the northern district. 66 Figure 2. The ceiling made of wooden beams and rush matting. 67 Figure 3. The flask decorated with erotic depictions. 68 Figure 4. A view of the southern end of the block where the house of the priestess of Isis is located. 69 Figure 5. A view of the southern end of the block with rooms A and B (BNO 360). 69 Figure 6. The wooden fence built after the houses were abandoned. 70 Figure 7. The wooden fences. 70 Figure 8. A view of room C. 71 Figure 9. A view of room D. 71 Figure 10. A view of the inner corner of the room D. 72 Figure 11. The ritual store of ceramics and animal bones. 73 The rubbish dump 73 Figure 12. Egyptian amphora with inscription containing a date (the fifth year of the reign of a Ptolemaic sovereign) followed by other letters that have recently been interpreted as two names, perhaps a certain Etearcus and definitely an Alexander. 74 The houses furthest east 74 Chapter V 75 Figure 1. A section of the general plan including the baths and kiln. 75 The Roman baths 75 The buildings along the canal and the South Kom 75 Figure 2. A section of the general plan including the baths and granary. 76 Figure 3. The plan of the baths. 77 Figure 4. The plan of the baths during the reigns of Augustus and Hadrian. 78 Figure 5. A view of room C, with one of the most well-preserved floors. 79 Figure 6. A view of room H, with remains of the floors. 80 Figure 7. A view of room G, with remains of the mosaic. 80 Figure 8. The tank fout of its original position. 81 Figure 9. A possible reconstruction of the baths during Hadrian’s reign. 81 Figure 10. A view of hypocaust L. 82 Figure 11. A view of hypocaust E. 83 The craftsmen’s district 83 Figure 12. The tank D, on the left, with the channel on the right. 84 Figure 13. A plan of the craftsmen’s district with kiln G. 84 Figure 14. A view of tanks B and A in the craftsmen’s district. 85 Figure 15. The kiln during excavation work. 85 The granary and storerooms 86 Figure 16. A view of the public granary. 87 The South Kom 87 Paola Buzi 89 The Last Bakchias 89 Bakchias in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages 91 Chapter VI 91 Christian Bakchias: archaeological and documentary evidence before the 2006 excavation campaign 91 The churches of Bakchias 92 The discovery of the Eastern Church 92 Figure 1. Planimetric representation the Estern church. 93 Figure 2. The Estern church seen from east. 93 Figure 3. The floor composed of a first level of stretcher bond mud-brick acted as a bed for a second level that was the actual floor, made of small limestone slabs. 95 Figure 4. The silo located south-west of the church, made out of yellowish-white limestone slabs cut in irregular shapes, barely held together by a small amount of lime mortar. 96 The Western Church 96 Towards the discovery of a second church 96 Figure 5. Planimetric representation of the Western church. 97 Figure 6. Hypothetical reconstruction of the Western Church. 97 Figure 7. One of the mud-brick pedestals that belonged to the late phase of the building’s use and were found in both room D (the apse) and room B (the pastophorium). 99 Figure 8. The large, complex building located below the Western Church, whose floors and interior walls had been coated in hydraulic lime and that was used as a workshop that handled liquids. 100 Chronological and stylistic considerations 101 Figure 10. An example of a Corinthian-inspired capital with a large kalathos at the top, wrapped in four stylised acanthus leaves. 102 Figure 9. Two examples of a Corinthian-inspired capital with closed, smooth leaves (Bakchias’ first type). 102 Figure 11. A capital – which is very similar to those that can be ascribed to the first type found in Bakchias – used as the base of a column in the church of Dayr al Hammām, near Hawārah. 103 Concluding reflections regarding the Christian phase of Bakchias 104 Figure 12. Stone materials that were probably taken from Temple C and used to make the foundations of the columns in the Western Church. 105 Bibliographical references 107 Plates 114 Plate 1. Plan of Bakchias. 114 Plate 2. Plan of the Central Area of Bakchias. 115 Plate 3. Plan of the Northern Area of Bakchias. 116 Plate 4. Plan of the Eastern Area of Bakchias. 117 Plate 5. Plan of the Western Area of Bakchias. 118 Plate 6. Plan of the Southern Area of Bakchias. 119 Back cover 120 Fayyum,archaeology,urban settlements The Urban Landscape of Bakchias: A Town of the Fayyum from the Ptolemaic-Roman Period to Late Antiquity' summarises the results of field research conducted on the archaeological site of Bakchias, located in the north-eastern part of the Fayyum region. Historical, historico-religious and papyrological studies are also presented. The book provides a clear and comprehensive overview of the rise and fall of the kome of Bakchias. The settlement was a thriving centre from at least the 26th dynasty up until the ninth or tenth centuries CE, although with differing levels of economic prosperity and urban development. Equal weight is given not only to the archaeological and topographical aspects but also to the historical and the religious, whilst never forgetting the relationship between the urban settlement and other villages of the Arsinoite nomos, which is famously a peculiar exception in Egyptian geography