Issue No. 593
Heritage
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4 - 10 July 2002 Issue No. 593 Heritage |
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The story of Behbeit Al-Hagar
THE VILLAGE today known as Behbeit Al-Hagar is in the central Delta near Samannud (ancient Sebennytos), the capital of the 12th Nome of Lower Egypt. This was the birthplace of the 30th-dynasty Pharaohs who ruled shortly before the Greek conquest of Egypt, and who were reputed to be devotees of the goddess Isis. It seems likely that the main temple dates from this period, although there is evidence of an earlier construction by the last Pharaohs of the Saite dynasty three centuries earlier.
Inscriptions on a statue of Harsiesis, vizier of Nectanebo II, indicate that major work was carried out at the site to create "a watery link" (i.e. a canal) between Behbeit and the neighbouring Busirite Nome. This suggests that the temple may have been planned for a festival of offerings to Osiris to guarantee the Pharaoh's successful rule. The Arabic name, Behbeit, derives from Per-hebite (t) or "Domain of the Festive Goddess", and it has been associated with the Iseion and the ruins in Busiris described by Herodotus and other classical writers.
This was one of the most important temples in the region, and its ruins are impressive. Sphinxes raised by Nectanebo II once led to the temple entrance, the façade of which gave Osiris preeminence. On it the Pharaoh makes offerings to three aspects of the god, with Isis sitting behind him on the left, and on the right Harsiesis (Horus son of Osiris) follows Osiris. The temple seems to have been built entirely of granite, but limestone may also have been used in its construction, and later usurped.
The ruins cover an area of some 80 by 55 metres and are set within an enclosure wall measuring 362 by 210 metres; two sides of these can still be distinguished.
The massive structure collapsed completely, either through quarrying activities or after an earthquake, and its plan has not been fully recovered. All that is visible is a disorderly mass of relief blocks -- decorated with very fine work by Nectanebo I and II as well as Ptolemy II Philadelphus and Ptolemy III Euergetes -- and some architectural elements.
Especially interesting are reliefs on the façade of the sanctuary of Isis that relate to kingship. Each of Ptolemy II's cartouches is associated with another dedicated to Isis the Great, the divine mother. The Pharaoh is introduced to Isis by Horus of Behdet, the goddess Nekhbet ,and others. Isis grants to the Pharaoh inheritance of the throne of Egypt, and, on the upper register, guarantees domination over foreign countries.
At the entrance to the sacred temple of Isis is a huge lintel decorated with the winged sun disc. The dedication on the façade of the south wall describes the goddess as the "image of Atun", and a hymn to Isis, extremely fragmentary but the earliest so far known, praises her with jubilation, while worshippers bow in praise of the goddess. In the southwest chapel, one of several, Isis once again takes central place, described as "shining like Re, the [divine] falcon illuminating..."
Ptolemy II, 284-246 BCE, completed the most important part of the temple, although it is as yet unclear whether he actually modified the architecture or only had the existing walls decorated and inscribed. Ptolemy III, 246-222 BC, probably enlarged the sanctuary by adding a columned hall and façade. By the reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletian the temple had fallen in ruin.
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