Some Aspects on Material Culture in Roman Village Site at Theban Area

Some Aspects on Material Culture in Roman Village Site at Theban Area So HASEGAWA* This paper aims to clarify the development of material culture, focusing on the cultural context of the Roman-Byzantine period. The village site at Deir al-Shalwit, seemingly known as Tricomia, was formed around the temple precinct and flourished during the first to third centuries bordering on the area of Jeme and Thebes Diospolis to the north. However archaeological evidence shows that its religious affiliation with the Armant region to the south were influenced by the Montu-Buchis cult, which overshadow ritual aspect of the finds. The analysis of the pottery assemblage imply another feature of daily life, in which a latent inclination to the Mediterranean mode is quite apparent indicated by the repeated imitation of vessel form, shaping, surface treatment and decoration techniques, though actual scarcity of the influx of red glossy ware blurs this tendency. On the other hand, even at the religious breaking with the rise of Christianity, the pre-formed class-structure of the pottery assemblage was maintained through a consistent influence from the Mediterranean world. But some ritual groups might have disappeared leading to a transformation in the type-structure level occurred, as is represented in the water jug. It is at this point that Qullas with Coptic decoration became dominant, which flew to the Early Islamic period. Keywords: Roman village, Deir al-Shalwit, Montu-Buchis, Mediterranean Influence, Qullas Introduction The progress made in research during the 1980's and 90's at such sites as Kom al-Dikka (Alexandria), al-Fustat (including Istabl 'Antar), Ashmunain (Hermopolis), al-Tud (Tupheum), Aswan (Syene) amongst others has encouraged us to study the transformation of daily life in late antiquity. These exacavations bespeak the remnants of Coptic-Byzantine elements that remained through the early Islamic period (Hasegawa, 2000 62-63 ). This paper aims to examine the Roman and Byzantine cultural context inferred from the latter part * Visiting Associate Professor, Waseda University Vol. XLIII 2008 107 of late antiquity, taking an area adjacent to Thebes, when Alexandria was still positioned as a major center. The period includes the epoch when distant trades were activated jointing the Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean when Egypt was involved in the economic network, and historical topics when the convertion to Christianity was established. Here the development of material culture at the upper Egyptian Roman village site is reviewed based on an analysis of the archaeological materials. The area is located between Luxor and Armant at present Qena Province. On the eastern bank, there had been the city called Thebes Diospolis centering the area between Karnak and Luxor temple, 1 while on the opposite side, the temple precincts at Temple Sety I, Ramesseum, Jeme (Madinat Habu), Armant, and others formed a local village landscape. In this paper, archaeological materials at Thebes-Armant area are used to present a comprehensive view, and the evidence obtained by an investigation carried out by Waseda University at Deir al-Shalwit in the 1970's are analyzed in the detailed discussion, as this investigation is a rare case in which even fragmental pieces obtained from the temple precinct were analyzed at both Roman and Byzantine periods2 (Waseda University 1992 and 2005). I. Shadow of Local Religious Affiliation (Fig.l) Archaeological remain of the temple precinct at Deir al-Shalwit consisted of brick structures had developed since the first half of the 1st century AD as is indicated by the inscriptions on the walls. It also included plentiful coins from the reign ofTrajan (reign: 98-117 A.D.) and Hadrian (reign: 117-138 A.D.), until probably the end of the 3rd century as is suggested by the total assemblage of the finds. Though only the lower part of the wall and floor remain, the buildings had some rooms and storage pits. Many of the 30 pieces of ostraca in Demotic. and Greek (interpreted by Richard Jasnow and Paul Heilporn) excavated at Deir al Shalwit recorded the poll tax and water channel tax as well as receipts for wheat, cut straw and other items. In the ostraca pieces, the name of Tricomia is indicated for this temple precinct. These payments were the common amount ( 16 drachma) without receiving any discount (10 drachma) as in the large cities like Thebes Diolipolis;3 even the villages of Madinat Habu at the most adjacent place were on the same scale as villages distributing between Aswan and Armant. 4 Personal names on those ostraca included the names of Montu and Buchis, such as Pa-Mnt., Pa-Mnt-igs, PJ-sr-Mnt, PJ-ti-Mnt, -pJy-B!J, reflecting the local religious affiliation under the Lower Toparchia of Armant Region. The assemblage of the finds including some ritual instruments such as bronze 108 ORIENT Some Aspects on Material Culture in Roman Village Site at Theban Area cymbals and candlestick (Fig. I: 5,6) shows the religious aspects of this temple precinct, which finally disappeared with the rise of Christianity. The most representative find among them is a limestone bull statue with the hair reaching to the shoulders and with the Uraeus at the head, military badges on the shoulders and a sun disk on the back (Fig.l :3), brings to mind an image of God Montu in the Louvre Museum5 (Fig.! : I) . In addition, the burial of a total 32 cattle (Fig. I :4) in some cases laying the bodies were laid to one side with the head turned upward or the placement of a large sized brick on the head6 also suggests the influence of Buchis cult at the desert edge of Armant (Fig.l :2), the divine bull of Montu, which had prospered since the 30th dynasty and declined after the reign ofDiocletian (reign: 284-305) (Mond and Mayers 1934). Here, we may assume that the southernmost area bordering Jeme had a local center named Tricomia at the edge of the desert (Fig.l :7), which suggests its religious affiliation with the Montu-Buchis cult in the Armant area (Mond and Mayers 1940). II. Latent Inclination to Mediterranean Mode (Fig.2) The pottery assemblage of Deir al-Shalwit enables us to compare the detailed information of the temple precincts of Temple Sety I and al-Tud at the area. The clay variations were divided into five classes; so that three Egyptian products (I-III) and two imported wares (IV-V). 7 The most active phase of the temple precinct during the first half of the 2nd century hits the period when Alexandria was the conduit of Mediterranean influence, and a Red Sea-Indian Ocean trade network through Memphis-Coptos-Qusayr prevailed (Fig.2:4). The emphasis so far been so far placed on the impact of the distribution of Mediterranean products in historical studies, such as Arretine wares found at Aricamedu in India (Wheeler 1946). However, actually, as a result of classifying several thousands of rim fragments, the imported ware counted just one piece. The ware was a small goblet with a ring base, having a fine cream body (Clay V) and brilliant red slip with a gross, which is considered to be Eastern Sigillata A produced in Palestine during the 1st century A.D.8 (Fig.2: 1,2) Early African Red Slip Ware bowls (Clay IV) were also not found at this site. As Greene mentions from the case of Ostia, African amphora became dominant at the beginning of the 2nd century, while Italian and Western products were in decline (Greene 1986, p.l5) (Fig.2:3). Even amid the Roman network of the pt century, the evidence shows that only a limited amount of daily wares were imported from the Mediterranean world including the North African area. This scarcity at the Upper Egyptian Roman village is remarkable when compared with the Vol. XLIII 2008 109 abundance found at the coastal sites of Alexandria and Qusayr (Kadous 1988 and Whitcomb and Jhonson 1979, 1982). On the other hand, however, a careful analysis of the pottery assemblage shows that there is tendency towards the Mediterranean mode over the local production which is quite prominent in the forming and decoration work done. General forms oftablewares (Clay I-III) originate from Hellenistic tablewares or Roman Terra Sigillata wares, and in those simple forms, the rims and bases are well imitated with smoothing and cutting techniques (Fig.2:7). Among these, the group of Clay III group having hard texture incorporating Caoline compound shows intimate assimilation with its proto-types, representing the original barbotine motif by painted decoration (Fig.2:5,6), feather roulette decoration on the body (Fig.2:8,9), and bright red slip coating with polished gross (again Fig.2:5,6). Even after no longer being influenced by the Sigillata wares, technological information on the ceramic industry overflowed into the region with the immense importation of African Reds Slip Wares from the 4-5th centuries. The production centers at North Africa were once placed under the control of Vandal, which regained this position after the reign of Justinian. Egyptian local product as Clay III centering in the Aswan area continuously accepted its influence as as are seen in thick rim forms, dark brownish slip coatings, fine feather roulettes and stamped decorations on the base, involving local productions along the Nile and the desert edge (Clay I and II). Here, we tentatively conclude that apart from the scarcity of the actual quantity of imports in the Upper Egyptian villages, the ceramic industry and the tendency to consume its products were subject to Mediterranean influences. On the other hand, ritual wares such as various types of miniature cups (Fig.2:10-14) and as pot stands (Fig.2:15-16) went decline.

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