Volume I of the Swedish Expedition to Gebel el-Silsila - the Greek inscriptions

Finally, after many years of analyses and continuous documentation, we are incredibly proud to present the first volume of our monographic series called The Swedish Expedition to Gebel el-Silsila . The first publication focuses on the Greek inscriptions on the East bank:

For the first time, this book presents the complete collection of Greek inscriptions of Gebel el-Silsila East – Ancient Egypt’s largest and most important sandstone quarry, including lists of names and professions of individuals involved in the quarry expeditions. The inscriptions are described, illustrated and analysed and placed within their archaeological context based on careful documentation in situ with up-to-date methodology. The work makes substantial contributions in the form of novel and improved readings and interpretations of known texts and of the new publication of texts discovered through the fieldwork. It is the first volume of three dealing with Graeco-Roman inscriptions on the east bank, with the following two volumes to cover the demotic texts and quarry marks respectively.

Based on the generous support from the Libraries of the Joint Faculties of Humanities and Theology, we have been able to publish this first volume in open access, available for free download. 

The preface reads:

The starting point for the comprehensive study of Graeco-Roman epigraphy at Gebel el-Silsila was a spontaneous visit in 2007 as part of a larger research journey, when the authors were astounded by the enormous amount of engraved symbolic quarry marks and their textual context. It became evident that the previous canon of Graeco-Roman graffiti, published by W. Spiegelberg and F. Preisgke in 1915 (Graff. Silsile), was in need of revision in order to present a complete corpus. Also, R. A. Caminos’ collated material and any hypotheses based thereon remained unpublished and unavailable for the public. For this, J. Ward and M. Nilsson made a series of field surveys in the following years and, at the time of the Egyptian revolution (2011), they had accumulated more than 3000 quarry marks and nearly 800 Greek and demotic textual graffiti. Following new regulations in 2012, they were granted the concession to lead a new epigraphic expedition. The first field season took place in September 2012, where they were joined by A. Almásy as demotist, Shihat Mohammadin as driver/cook/helper of all kinds and Mr. Ashraf as the assigned inspector. The documentation continued during the following three years in the field, followed by post-processing in the office. The current monograph is the first volume of three dealing with Graeco-Roman epigraphy on the east bank of Gebel el-Silsila. The following two volumes will cover the demotic texts and quarry marks respectively. Demotic texts and quarry marks will be included within the current volume as contextual documents, but will not receive special commentary, which is reserved for their respective publications.

The authors would like to thank the Permanent Committee and the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Dr. Mostafa Waziri and Dr. Khaled El-Anani, for granting the concession to work at Gebel el-Silsila. Special gratitude needs to be offered to Dr. Abdel Moniem, General Director of Aswan and Nubia, who put at the disposal of the expedition his generosity, understanding, and efficiency. His official director Mr. Mostafa Bedawi, and all the inspectors, especially Ashraf Mohamed, Mohamed Ibrahim and Mohamed Mohsen, have been nothing but supportive and helpful and are considered part of the ‘Silsila family’. This is true also for the entire Silsila team and our respective families! We owe special gratitude to Prof. Willy Clarysse, Dr. Michael Zellmann-Rohrer and Mr. Cary Martin for their valuable comments, advice and proof reading, without which this volume would not have been completed.

Of course, none of this work would have been possible without financial patrons, for which acknowledgement and thankfulness is due to Vetenskapsrådet (#2015-00291; #2015-00291), Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (P19-0860), Crafoordska Stiftelsen (20140509; 20160607), Gerda Henkel Stiftung (AZ 58-V-15), Vitterhetsakademin (Enboms stiftelse), Magnus Bergvalls stiftelse, Lars Hiertas Minne, HelgeAx:son Johnsons stiftelse, Birgit & Gad Rausings Stiftelse, Gunvor ochJosef Anérs Stiftelse, and Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences. 

Table of Contents

PREFACE

ABBREVIATIONS

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
Gebel el-Silsila – the site
Brief historical outline
Research history
Main objectives
Methodology
Sigla
CHAPTER 2: THE MATERIAL
Introduction
Paleographic commentary
Onomastic and prosopographic commentary
Dates, professions, and religious functions
General commentary on the chronology
Abbreviations
Singular alphabetic letters
Monograms and ligatures
The quandary of literacy
The graffiti dialogue
CHAPTER 3: THE NORTHERN QUARRIES
Introduction
Quarry 11 (Q11)
Corpus
Quarry 13 (Q13)
The inscriptions
Corpus
Quarry 14 (Q14)
The inscriptions
Corpus
Quarry 19 (Q19)
The inscriptions
Corpus
Rock Art Site 11 (RAS11)
Corpus
CHAPTER 4: Q24 – TIBERIUS’ STABLES
Introduction
Tiberius’ Stables and its administration building
The epigraphy
Quarry face ‘E’
Corpus
Quarry face ‘TS’
Corpus
CHAPTER 5: Q34 - THE MAIN QUARRY
Introduction
Archaeological overview
The Epigraphy
Contents of texts
Dedicators
Name variants and scribes
Dates, professions, and religious functions
Corpus
CHAPTER 6: THE SOUTHERN QUARRIES
Introduction
Quarry 35 (Q35 – ‘the Situla Quarry’)
Corpus
Quarry 37 (Q37 – ‘the Naos Quarry’)
The epigraphy
Corpus
Quarry 40 (Q40 and ‘commemoration road’)
Corpus

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

APPENDICES

INDICES

Example images (copyright Brill & the Gebel el-Silsila Project - do not share without permit):