Sayala

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sayala , Ṣaiyāla; was an ancient settlement area on both sides of the Nile in what is now southern Egypt . The oldest finds were in graves from the 4th millennium BC. Made, which belonged to a larger settlement of the A group . Several cemeteries and housing developments are dated to the C group and Roman times to the 4th century AD. The subsequently expanded and fortified village with two church buildings was abandoned by the Christian population from the 6th century onwards in the 12th century. The last excavations near the river took place in 1965, shortly before the area sank in the rising Lake Nasser .

location

Sayala was in Lower Nubia , north of Abu Simbel , about 130 kilometers south of Aswan between the 1st and 2nd Nile cataracts . Wadi Allaqi , which flows into the Nile Valley a few kilometers north, was an important trading route to the Red Sea in ancient times . The Christian settlement extended with a water level of the Nile of 120 meters above sea level directly from the western bank of the Nile up a steep slope to the sandy desert plain beginning about 20 meters higher. 2.2 kilometers to the south was the modern Nubian hamlet Nag 'el-Scheima (Nag' esch-Shēma), after which the Christian excavation site is also named. Several villages in a 15-kilometer section of the Nile Valley belonged to the Sayala district. The various cemeteries, used over a period of several millennia, were laid out on both sides of the Nile at some distance from the fertile shore zone in the sandy hinterland. In the north of the Sayala district, the area around the medieval Christian settlement of Ikhmindi joined.

Research history

Sayala was first archaeologically examined by Cecil Mallaby Firth in 1910/11 and mentioned in his report in 1927. Ugo Monneret de Villard carried out excavations in Lower Nubia in the early 1930s on behalf of the Egyptian Antiquities Authority and with the support of the Italian Foreign Ministry. In the 1960s, a team from the Austrian Academy of Sciences , which initially included Karl Kromer , Manfred Bietak , Reinhold Engelmayer and Peter Gschaider, investigated the Sayala area as part of the UNESCO rescue plan. The fifth excavation campaign, in which Johann Jungwirth also took part, took place in 1965 under the direction of Manfred Bietak. The finds from Christian times were edited by Mario Schwarz between 1980 and 1986 and published in 1987. From 1998 to 2001 he led a research project to study the rock art of Sayala.

history

A group

Drawing of the Sayala club .
Grave field 137, grave 1. About 500 meters south of Sayala. Drawing in Cecil Mallaby Firth, 1927, p. 208.

The oldest rock temple was in Sayala , a sanctuary in a rock cave from the time of the A group, which in Nubia dates back to about 3700-3250 BC. Is dated. The Egyptian cave temples ( Speos ) have their roots here. The settlement area of ​​the A group comprised an area around the 1st cataract from about 10 kilometers north of Aswan to Sayala in the south. The graves found in the cemeteries of the two centers of power of the A-group era Sayala and Qustul had roughly rectangular or oval pits in which the deceased was placed in a crouched position on a mat. A stone slab served as an upper closure for the grave room. A grave with unusually rich gifts was uncovered at cemetery A 137 , which contained gilded maces (symbols of dignity) imported from Egypt , including the so-called Sayala club , and in which the ruler of a small empire was probably buried. The grave finds document the trade with the Egyptian Naqada culture of the II c – III b phase.

C group

The earliest dwellings of the C group (Ballana phase) from the end of the Old Kingdom apparently had a center post or walls made of vertical stakes that rested on foundation stones dug into the ground. From around 1600 BC From it, villages with a fortress character developed. The two surviving settlement areas of the early C group in Sayala and Aniba were surrounded by oval walls, within which different functional areas could be identified. In one settlement area, the entrance on the east side led via an open area to a demarcated living area in the north, in which four round huts with a floor area of ​​four to five square meters were set up. The foundation walls consisted of reading stones walled with clay , which were covered with mats or animal skins like a tent. Similar dwellings stood in the area outside the enclosure. Fireplaces were found both in the living area and within the southern perimeter wall. The western free third probably served as a stand for cattle.

On the western side of the Nile in the desert sand behind the northernmost houses of the Christian village lay simple graves from the late C-group period. They were recognizable on the surface by a ring of rubble stones and were in a bad state of preservation, as a large part of the stones had been reused for building houses.

A special type of grave that occurred in Nubia in Sayala, Aniba and in places in Wadi Allaqi is known as pan graves and assigned to a culture of the same name (English Pan Grave Culture ). Carriers of this culture were dark-skinned nomads of the eastern desert , who were called Medjaiu by the Egyptians . From the New Kingdom onwards, they were hired as mercenaries in Egypt and performed surveillance tasks. In the shallow graves, marked on the surface by a stone circle, the dead lay in a crouched position on the right-hand side with their heads facing north and facing west or with their heads facing east and facing south. The one-meter circular shafts with a tube-like end are reminiscent of a frying pan with a handle.

Meroitic time

The Egyptian rule expanded under Ptolemy VI. (ruled 180–145 BC) to the 2nd cataract. In the 1st century BC The area was in Meroitic hands, the Egyptian border was on the island of Philae south of Aswan when 25/24 BC. BC the Roman prefect Publius Petronius led a campaign against the Meroitic Empire. The border area south of Philae was called Dodekaschoinos ("twelve mile country"). In the south it reached as far as Hiera Sycaminos in Wadi Maharraka, just a little north of Sayala. (In Christian times the term dodekaschoinos was extended to the entire area between the 1st and 2nd cataracts.)

In the 1st century AD, the Meroitic Lower Nubia reached the highest population density. The sedentary inhabitants intensified agriculture, which until the 4th century to the economic basis was, by irrigation with Goepel bucket wheels (Sakiyas). Intensive trade with Egypt and to the south also ensured prosperity.

A building complex in Sayala is dated to the end of the 3rd century, the half-open rooms of which are known as “wine bars”. Stone benches were lined up along the walls, in the middle there were partly stone tables. The small adjoining rooms were pantries or possibly served as brothels. In the post-Meroite period the settled population had generally shrunk, Sayala remained one of the largest settlements. The amphorae found in a total of 19 wine taverns had a ribbed decoration and were imported from Egypt together with their contents, next to them was a handmade ceramic called Eastern Desert Ware (EDW), which together with twisted clay vessels from the 4th to 6th centuries from the Nile was widespread up to the Red Sea and is associated with the nomadic people of the Blemmyes . Like a building with the same function in Qasr Ibrim , the Sayala wine bars are among the most famous places where wine imported from Egypt was consumed in Nubia during the X-group period following the Meroitic period (4th to 6th centuries).

In several campaigns in the early 1960s, Manfred Bietak uncovered three cemeteries on the east bank from the 3rd and 4th centuries AD and examined crevice graves on the rocky slope on the west side in the north of the Christian village. During the last excavation, the remains of 218 human skeletons were recovered from cemetery C / III (east bank), which in late autumn 1965 was already on an island due to the steadily rising water, and from cemetery N (west bank). The cemetery had the shape of an oval hill (tumulus) , in which the burial chambers were not oriented towards one cardinal point. These were piled up from rubble stones and partially covered with a larger stone slab. Then the grave was covered with sand and small stones. The burial chambers of the other two cemeteries on the east bank, C / I and C / II, were bricked in a similar way on the ground and then covered. Apart from pot shards, relatively few grave goods were found. Examinations of the skeletons revealed that many of the deceased must have perished in a violent manner from stab wounds or the skulls being broken. Presumably in the three Meroitic cemeteries on the east bank the fallen in the fight against the Egyptians were buried in the simplest possible way.

Christian settlement

The oldest buildings in the Christian settlement are in the 6th / 7th centuries. Dated century. The residential buildings were mostly built next to each other, the bronze oil lamps, make-up boxes and imported ceramics found in them indicate a relatively high standard of living. The surrounding wall, built in the 9th century, could be traced to the river bank. From there it stretched about 50 meters up the slope, forming a rectangle over 80 meters on the bank and about 65 meters long at the top. The fortification might have become necessary to protect themselves from Arabs who began to exploit the ancient gold mines in Wadi Allaqi again around 870 and posed a threat to the residents.

The central settlement H within the walls also experienced numerous changes in the 9th century. Older house remains were removed and built over with a denser house structure. An alley led vertically up the hill from the Nile to the church and opened up the houses on both sides of the hill. The buildings consisted of quarry stone walls and were covered with the usual Nubian barrel vaults made of dry bricks . The bricks consisted of Nile mud in the unit size 32 × 16 × 8 centimeters. Up to four usage horizons in the living spaces indicate a long period of settlement. The floors of the last layer had risen so high that the rooms, which had now become low, could only be used as cattle sheds.

In the middle on the upper long side of the surrounding wall was Church I, about 100 meters southwest outside the settlement was another church in an open field. South of this church J a Christian cemetery with 13 graves was uncovered. One of the tombstones bore a Coptic inscription, which is dated to the 9th century.

100 meters north of Church I was Cemetery K, which contained 90 graves and 128 burials. The oldest grave goods found were late Meroite drinking bowls from the 5th century, which corresponded to those of the Weinschenken district. Crosses indicate an occupancy in Christian times. Remnants from the 5th century north of the cemetery may have come from a gold panning operation. This would explain the Arabic name of the modern settlement Nag 'el-Sheima , which could be derived from shima or shēma . The plural form shiyam was used to describe the gemstone mines in ancient times.

Church I.

From the 9th century onwards, Church I was included with its west wall in the surrounding wall. The building was probably erected before the middle of the 8th century above the settlement H so close to the edge of the rock plateau that the area had to be filled up for the eastern part. The three -nave pillar basilica had four yokes in each nave high wall and to the east a semi-circular apse with two side apse side rooms. These were accessible from the side aisles through doors on the outer walls and were originally probably connected to each other behind the apse along the straight east wall via a narrow corridor. This part later fell through a rock break. The middle and southern side room on the west wall was open to the prayer room ( Naos ), in the north-western room a staircase led to the roof. All three ships were covered with barrel vaults . The choir (in the Coptic church Haikal ) in front of the apse was separated from the prayer room of the community by a wall (ḥiǧāb) standing 70 centimeters high .

The outer walls consisted of rubble stones almost everywhere up to the vault support, the pillars partly and the vaults entirely of adobe bricks. The format of 37 × 20 × 8 centimeters corresponded to the last construction phase before the major renovation of the residential buildings in the H. The inner walls were covered with a thin layer of clay plaster, on which several layers of paintings were applied. Dating is possible by comparing the styles of the layers of paint: The oldest frescoes resemble the oldest layer in the narthex of the cathedral of Faras (beginning of the 8th century) and are somewhat similar to the paintings in the central church in Abdallah Nirqi (on the west bank of the Nile , 3.5 kilometers east of Abu Simbel ) from the second half of the 8th century.

Around 1000 AD the stairwell was rebuilt and the walls were painted over in some places in the nave. In 1964/65 the Austrian archaeologists recovered several fragments of the paintings. After the restoration, one scene shows the Archangel Michael spreading his wings over a few men who are dark-skinned except for one and beardless except for one. The style corresponds to paintings in the north aisle of Faras Cathedral from the 11th century and a picture of Bishop Marianos there in the southern adjoining apse, which was created around 1007. Another restored scene shows a ship being rowed by angels. Behind these are dark-skinned men with a nimbus . The ship has striped sails and fenders hanging from the hull .

Only a fragment of a large mural in the narthex has survived, showing a light-skinned saint in a frontal position. In his left hand he is carrying a book with an ornate cover. Comparisons of styles with Faras and Abdallah Nirqi also result in a date of around 1000 AD for this picture.

The end of the settlement in the 12th century was probably brought about by force. Liturgical implements seem to have been hastily hidden. Some of the damage in the church may have resulted from fighting, for example the head of a saint pictured was knocked out of the wall.

Church J

The three-aisled pillar basilica with five bays each on the two central nave walls, which was located outside the walled city, is believed to date from the 9th century. The building measured 12.5 × 9.5 meters. The chancel was rectangular, the east wall straight, there was no passage behind the apse. The side rooms in the west and the usual access to the roof were also missing. The remains of a pulpit were found in the central nave . The outer walls were made of quarry stone, the arcade walls and the Nubian barrel vaults made of adobe bricks. In the rubble lay a sandstone lintel with semi-plastic crosses, a stone basin and a lion's head. The ḥiǧāb (choir screen) consisted of the small traces Judging from wood.

hermitage

To the south of the village, at site E between the modern villages of Nag 'Bentikol and Umm Schik, a building is known as a hermitage . It consisted of four small, adjoining chambers in which the same utensils were found: storage pots with leftover food, cooking utensils, graters and fire pits. In three rooms one side of the wall had collapsed, in the fourth the collapsed stone wall was preserved in the context of the floor. It could be seen that this room, and consequently the others, had no entrance door. There was only a hatch on the floor and a small window opening high up in the wall. Obviously anchorites had walled themselves in as inclusions . Different heights of the clay screed show that monks lived in the chambers several times over a certain period of time. Due to their shape, the clay pots made with the turntable are assigned to a type that is dated before 750 AD. In Egypt, according to archaeological research, no cells are known in which monks were walled up, Sayala is the only proven location in Nubia.

literature

  • Hans Barnard, AN Dooley, KF Faull: New Data on the Eastern Desert Ware from Sayala (Lower Nubia) in the “Kunsthistorisches Museum”, Vienna. In: Egypt and Levante / Egypt and the Levant, Vol. 15, 2005, pp. 49-64
  • Fathi Afifi Bedawi: The Roman grave fields of Sayala - Nubia (= memoranda of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, philosophical-historical class, vol. 126). Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1976, ISBN 3-7001-0163-5 .
  • Manfred Bietak : Excavations in Sayala-Nubia 1961–1965. Monuments of the C group and the Pan-Grave Culture (= memoranda of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, philosophical-historical class, vol. 92). Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1966, ISBN 3-7001-1171-1 .
  • Manfred Bietak, Reinhold Engelmayer: An early dynastic Abri settlement with rock art from Sayala - Nubia. (= Memoranda of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Philosophical-Historical Class, Vol. 82). Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1963.
  • Manfred Bietak, Mario Schwarz: Nagʿ el-Scheima. A fortified Christian settlement and other Christian monuments in Sayala - Nubia. 1. The Austrian excavations 1963 - 1965 (= reports of the Austrian National Committee of the UNESCO Action for the Rescue of Nubian Antiquities. Vol. 8; Memoranda of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Philosophical-Historical Class, Vol. 191). Vienna 1987, ISBN 3-7001-2655-7 .
  • Reinhold Engelmayer: The rock engravings in the Sayala-Nubia district. 1. The ship representations (= memoranda of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, philosophical-historical class, vol. 90). Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1965, ISBN 3-7001-1466-4 .
  • Cecil Mallaby Firth : The Archaeological Survey of Nubia. Report for 1910-1911. Government Press, Cairo 1927 ( at Internet Archive )
  • Karl Kromer : Römische Weinstuben in Sayala <Unternubia> (= memoranda of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, philosophical-historical class. Vol. 95). Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1967.
  • Karl Kromer: The Austrian excavations in Egyptian Nubia. Natural History Museum Vienna, September 1962
  • Helmut Satzinger : Rock inscriptions from the area of ​​Sayâla (Egyptian Nubia). (PDF; 453 kB) In: E. Czerny, I. Hein, H. Hunger u. a. (Ed.): Timelines. Studies in Honor of Manfred Bietak. (Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta, 149). Vol. 3, Leuven / Paris / Dudley 2006, pp. 139–147
  • Mario Schwarz: On the upcoming publication of the Christian monuments of Nag 'esch-Shêma (Sayâla) in Lower Nubia. In: Martin Krause (Ed.): Nubian Studies. Conference files of the 5th International Conference of the International Society for Nubian Studies Heidelberg, 22. – 25. September 1982. von Zabern, Mainz 1986, pp. 385-389.
  • Mario Schwarz: Nag 'el-Scheima. A fortified Christian settlement and other Christian monuments in Sayala Nubia. Part II: The excavation results from the point of view of more recent research (= reports of the Austrian National Committee of the UNESCO Action for the Rescue of Nubian Antiquities. Vol. 9; Memoranda of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Philosophical-Historical Class. Vol. 255). Vienna 1998.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Robert S. Bianchi: Daily Life of the Nubians. Greenwood, Santa Barbara (CA) 2004, pp. 137, 227
  2. ^ David N. Edwards: The Nubian Past. An Archeology of Sudan. Routledge, London 2004, p. 72
  3. ^ Robert S. Bianchi: Daily Life of the Nubians. Greenwood, Santa Barbara (CA) 2004, p. 55
  4. ↑ Martin Fitzenreiter: The courtyard as space - aspects of secular architecture in ancient Sudan. In: Arcus 3, 1996, pp. 37-46 (PDF; 1.9 MB)
  5. ^ Manfred Bietak: The Pan Grave Culture. ( Memento of the original from October 24, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Nubia Museum @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.numibia.net
  6. ^ Joachim Willeitner: Nubia. Ancient monuments between Aswan and Khartoum. Hirmer, Munich 1997, p. 34
  7. ^ Torgny Säve-Söderbergh (Ed.): The Scandinavian Joint Expedition to Sudanese Nubia. Late Nubian Cemetaries. Vol. 6, Solna (Sweden) 1981, p. 2
  8. ^ David N. Edwards: The Nubian Past. An Archeology of Sudan. Routledge, London 2004, p. 209
  9. ^ Thomas AJ McGinn: The Economy of Prostitution in the Roman World: A Study of Social History & the Brothel. University of Michigan Press, 2004, p. 231 ( Online at University of Michigan Press ; PDF; 108 kB)
  10. ^ H. Barnard: The Macroscopic Description of Eastern Desert Ware and is Comparison with Associated Pottery. (PDF; 1.1 MB) In: Ders .: Eastern Desert Ware: Traces of the Inhabitants of the Eastern Deserts in Egypt and Sudan During the 4th – 6th Centuries CE. Archaeopress, Oxford 2008, pp. 19-40
  11. ↑ Derek A. Welsby : The Medieval Kingdoms of Nubia. Pagans, Christians and Muslims along the Middle Nile. The British Museum Press, London 2002, p. 111
  12. ↑ Manfred Bietak, Johann Jungwirth: The Austrian excavations in Egyptian Nubia in autumn 1965. Natural History Museum Vienna, November 1966 (PDF; 5.0 MB)
  13. ↑ Mario Schwarz: On the upcoming publication of the Christian monuments of Nag 'esch-Schêma (Sayâla) in Lower Nubia, plan p. 387
  14. ↑ a b Mario Schwarz: On the forthcoming publication of the Christian monuments of Nag 'esch-Schêma (Sayâla) in Lower Nubia, p. 386
  15. ↑ a b Mario Schwarz: On the forthcoming publication of the Christian monuments of Nag 'esch-Shêma (Sayâla) in Lower Nubia, p. 389
  16. ^ Peter Grossmann: Christian architecture in Egypt. (= Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section One: The Near and Middle East. Vol. 62). Brill, Leiden 2002, ISBN 90-04-12128-5 , p. 258.
  17. ↑ Mario Schwarz: On the forthcoming publication of the Christian monuments of Nag 'esch-Schêma (Sayâla) in Lower Nubia, pp. 385-390