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ARTEFACT IDENTIFIERS

Artefact ID697
TM IDTM 34142
Findspot (DEChriM ID)15   (al-Baǧawāt)
ClassTextual
MaterialPlaster
Writing mediumDipinto
Text contentSubliterary
LanguageGreek
Description

I.Oasis p. 68-69 no. 10; SB XX 14856; SEG XXXVIII 1706: Dipinto of a soldier from Hermonthis.

In a small chapel decorated with three arches all decorated with large cruces ansatae painted red, the remains of one of them are seen, acc. to Fakhry, over the entrance and another one is in the middle of the rise of the south arch. The walls of this chapel (interior and exterior) are coated with plaster of poor quality.

On the right side of an opening, five lines of text painted in red, of which very few remains other than a name, Psenesis (?), and his legion, of Hermonthis. Other soldiers from the same legio left their name in the area, see Abraham of I.Oasis p. 60, no. 2 in Dūš or Plenis of I.Oasis p. 34, no. 40 in Šams al-Dīn.

Above the opening, drawings painted in red accompany the inscription. There, the deceased is represented on a funerary bed, with, on his left side, a bird and a crux ansata; and on his right side, a doum palm and a weighing scale above which is written ΖΥΚΟΝ (l. ζυγόν). In the Chapel of Peace, the allegory of Justice (ΔΙΚΑΙΟΣΥΝΗ) holds a similar weighing scale in her right hand.

Selection criteriaChristian symbols/gestures/isopsephy, Archaeological context associated with Christian markers
Date from350
Date to499
Dating criteria

Style of decoration, parallel texts, archaeological context

Absolute/relative dateRelative date
Archaeological context

South wall of chapel no. 159, built after chapel no. 160 of type 4 whose facade was remade when 159 was built.

Vaulted ceiling; wall coated with a poor quality plaster; arches decorated with large cruces ansatae painted in red (Fakhry 1951: 151).

Accession number

Al-Baǧawāt, in situ (Chapel no. 159 / Roquet, Ghica no. 20.01)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Editio princeps

• Wagner, Guy. 1987. Les oasis dʼÉgypte à lʼépoque grecque, romaine et byzantine dʼaprès les documents grecs. Le Caire: Ifao, 68-69, no. 10.

Additional bibliography

• Fakhry, Ahmed. 1951. The Necropolis of El-Bagawat in Kharga Oasis. Cairo: Government press, no. 159 and pl. XLIII.

• Pleket, H.W. and Stroud, R.S. 1988. “SEG 38-1697-1725. Khargeh Oasis (Bagawat). Inscriptions, graffiti, funerary stelai.” In Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum, Current editors: A. T. E. N. Chaniotis Corsten Stavrianopolou Papazarkadas. Consulted online (2021).

Authors
Valérie Schram, 2021
Suggested citation
Valérie Schram, 2021, "Artefact ID 697", 4CARE database - Fourth-Century Christian Archaeological Record of Egypt, https://4care-skos.mf.no/artefacts/697
External links
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