Bakchias
Bakchias was an ancient settlement in Fayum ( Egypt ), the heyday of which was in the Greco-Roman era . The ruins are now known as Kom Umm el-Atl and form a hill about 400 by 300 meters in circumference.
exploration
The first excavations took place around 1896, the main interest being the papyri . But a temple was also found. More recent excavations at the universities of Bologna and Lecce concentrate primarily on the architectural remains, some of which are well preserved .
Although there have been and continue to be numerous excavations on site, the general character of the settlement is not yet apparent. Usually only individual houses were excavated, which indicate that the place was not built according to a uniform plan. The good preservation conditions for organic materials resulted in numerous everyday objects. The remains of the necropolis were found around 2.5 kilometers east of the settlement .
Temple of Soknobkonneus
The center of the village was a temple dedicated to the Soknobkonneus . This temple was built of adobe bricks in the Egyptian style in Ptolemaic times . Only certain components, such as the main entrances and some floors, were made of stone. The main entrance faces east. The walls are massive, some over 2 meters thick. The building consists of a first courtyard, a second, smaller courtyard and the Holy of Holies. Smaller rooms are grouped around it. There was a gate in front of the temple. This area was built over by an extension in Roman times. A somewhat smaller temple, with an entrance facing south, stands north of this.
literature
- Paola Davoli: L'archeologia urbana nel Fayyum di eta ellenistica e romana. Generoso Procaccini, Naples 1998, pp. 117-137.
- C. Framceschello, C. Tasinari: Bakchias X (2002), Esempis di Archittetura monumentale di eta ellenistica: i portali del tempio A. In: Fayum Studies. Vol. 2, 2006, pp. 95-115.
Web links
Coordinates: 29 ° 32 ′ 30 ″ N , 31 ° 0 ′ 30 ″ E