Friday, June 23, 2023

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 Also, R. A. Caminos’ collated material and any hypotheses based thereon remained unpublished and unavailable for the public.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):









                



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