Faras

Faras in hieroglyphics

Ibschek
Jbšk

Phrs (Pharas)
in Meroitic script

Location of Faras in Nubia (top left)

Location of Faras in Sudan

General map of the Wadi Halfa Salient area

Faras (also Pachoras , alternative spelling : Pharas ) is the name of an ancient Nubian city. The ancient Egyptian name Ibschek refers to the area of Faras and the Hathorfelsen. The place Faras was in Lower Nubia , a little north of the second Nile cataract , in today's Sudan ( Wadi Halfa Salient ) flooded by Lake Nubia , near the border with Egypt .

history

In the Egyptian Middle Kingdom there was an Egyptian border fortress here , which perhaps bore the name Ineq-tawy ( Who unites the two countries ). However, a safe assignment has not yet been made. In the New Kingdom a temple of Hathor and a temple of Tutankhamun were built. In Meroitic times the place was called Phrs and was the capital of Akin Province. Graves and a palatial building have survived from this period.

After the collapse of the Meroitic Empire, the town became the capital of Nobatia , whose rulers were buried in Ballana not far from Faras . When the kingdom of Nobatia adopted Christianity as the state religion in 543, a short time later Nobatia was conquered by the kingdom of Makuria and the capital moved to Dongola .

In Faras, which was now called Pachoras, an eparch (governor) resided . It was also the official seat of a bishop who was under the jurisdiction of the Monophysite, Coptic Patriarchate in Egypt . The city experienced an upswing. Numerous palaces and churches were built. The 13th and 14th centuries were the period of decline. An Arab citadel was built. In the 19th century the place was only a village with the name Faras-in-Diffi. The place has sunk into the Nasser Reservoir since the mid-1960s .

exploration

Archaeological excavations took place from 1908-1909 from the University of Pennsylvania. 1909–1912 the necropolises were examined by an expedition from Oxford . In 1961, a Polish mission led by Kazimierz Michałowski began digging in Faras as part of the UNESCO rescue operation. This found a medieval cathedral with over 200 inscriptions and more than 120 well-preserved wall paintings .

Cityscape

The city was surrounded by a fortress wall built in the Kushite period . Its two entrances, the West Gate and the River Gate, were uncovered by FL Griffith in the 1920s. They had rectangular porches with entrances on one side. The walls consisted of hewn sandstone blocks, which were walled up with unevenly high layer joints and relatively vertical butt joints. These porches with angled access roads were characteristic of fortified settlements in Nubia that were founded in Christian times, from the 6th century: Ikhmindi , Sabagura , Kalabsha and Sheik Daud. Their masonry was also slightly beveled, but pulled up from rubble stones much more carelessly.

Faras owned several churches, the ruins of which were excavated, some in poor condition. In addition to the cathedral , these were the Mastabakirche , the church of the north monastery (also known as the church on the citadel ), the Great Church , which was found completely destroyed , the church on the south slope and the church at the river gate ( Rivergate Church ).

cathedral

→ Main article: Faras Cathedral

The cathedral was excavated between 1961 and 1964. There are three construction phases, which in turn can be associated with the activities of three bishops. They are Aetios (around 620), Paulos (around 700) and Petros (around 1100). The first building from the first half of the 7th century was about 24.5 × 14.5 meters and had three naves. There were numerous architectural jewelry made of stone. This church was expanded in 707 and enlarged to 24.5 × 24 meters. Side chapels were built. The building received granite pillars. Shortly before 1100 the building was changed again. The granite pillars were replaced by brick pillars. Many wall paintings originate from this construction phase. Since then, at the latest, the cathedral has been consecrated to Our Lady ( Maria Pachoras ). The church was abandoned in the 14th century. The paintings in the cathedral represent the largest collection of medieval Christian paintings from Nubia . They are related in style to Byzantine paintings and mostly date to the 10th and 11th centuries. They are exhibited today in the National Museum in Khartoum and in the Muzeum Narodowe in Warsaw .

Sample images for the art from Faras

Christian capital from Faras (London, British Museum)
Fresco in Faras Cathedral showing the birth of Jesus Christ
Image of Saint Anne, Mother of God, Warsaw, National Museum 234.058

literature

Hans Bonnet: Faras. In: Lexicon of Egyptian Religious History. 3rd unchanged edition. Nikol, Hamburg 2000, ISBN 3-937872-08-6 , pp. 181f.
Kazimierz Michałowski : Faras. The cathedral from the desert sand. Benziger , Einsiedeln et al. 1967.
Wilfried Seipel (Ed.): Faras. The cathedral from the desert sand. Kunsthistorisches Museum et al., Vienna et al. 2002, ISBN 3-85497-042-0 (exhibition catalog).

Web links

Commons : Faras - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

^ ^A ^b Rainer Hannig : Large Concise Dictionary Egyptian-German. (2800-950 BC). von Zabern, Mainz 2006, ISBN 3-8053-1771-9 , p. 1110.
^ Rainer Hannig: Large Concise Dictionary Egyptian-German. (2800-950 BC). Mainz 2006, p. 1114.
^ Friedrich Wilhelm Deichmann , Peter Grossmann : Nubische Forschungen (= Archaeological Research. Volume 17, German Archaeological Institute). Gebr. Mann, Berlin 1988, ISBN 3-7861-1512-5 , pp. 102, 172-178.

22.2 31.466666666667Coordinates: 22 ° 12 ′ 0 ″ N , 31 ° 28 ′ 0 ″ E

[H1110-1] A ^b Rainer Hannig : Large Concise Dictionary Egyptian-German. (2800-950 BC). von Zabern, Mainz 2006, ISBN 3-8053-1771-9 , p. 1110.

[2] Rainer Hannig: Large Concise Dictionary Egyptian-German. (2800-950 BC). Mainz 2006, p. 1114.

[3] Friedrich Wilhelm Deichmann , Peter Grossmann : Nubische Forschungen (= Archaeological Research. Volume 17, German Archaeological Institute). Gebr. Mann, Berlin 1988, ISBN 3-7861-1512-5 , pp. 102, 172-178.