Evolution of rituals, beliefs and religious-funerary practices in Oxyrhynchus. From the XXVIth Dynasty to the Christian-Byzantine period

The Archaeological Site of Oxyrhynchus (El-Bahnasa), the ancient city of Per Medyed is located 190 km south of Cairo.
The Archaeological Mission of the University of Barcelona has the concession since 1992, a complex place where we can find burials from Saite Period to Christian-Byzantine times, including the Persian and Ptolemaic-Roman World (664 BC- 7th century).
Both the Saite tombs as well as the Persian and Roman tombs are built with white limestones blocks (the blocks are bigger in the Saite and Persian Period), with one or more funerary chambers, offering chambers and rituals chambers. In some cases they still have the vaulted ceilings or the ceiling built with  large and flat white stones.
Inside the Saite graves we found mummified individuals, sarcophagi of an excellent quality, many of them with inscriptions that give us valuable information about the people buried in the tombs: names, political and religious positions, and family (many of the tombs were family-owned), as well as many grave goods: ushebtis, canopic jars, clay pots, sculptures of bronze, amulets, scarabs, etc. Inside the Persian tombs we discovered a mummified individual in each tomb, with no sarcophagi but with cartonnage, many faience beads belonging to a funeral mesh covering the body and a few funerary objects: ushebtis. During the season of 2021 we found a tomb (54) untouched with all the grave goods; and finally the Greco-Roman funerary chambers have many mummified individuals with bandages with a, typical of this period, and in many cases we have found on the diamond design bandages papyri with inscriptions in Greek and mudbricks with Egyptian reliefs. Some of the mummies are even covered with cartonnages both on the face and on part of the body, with two kind of decorations: Egyptian Iconography with gods, animals and people with offerings, and Roman decoration with small tufts and faces with realistic features. 14 of the mummified individuals had golden tongues inside their mouths.
The Christian-Byzanine Period is documented by the existence of a Funerary House with paintings with religious themes and crypts, a funerary complex: a church, some rooms associated with the church and individual tombs and crypts with many individuals, and a great religious building that it was built on the ancient Serapeum. Under this building there is a big crypt with texts and paintings with religious topics subjects.
While the archaeological works are important, so indeed are the anthropological studies of all the mummified individuals and epigraphic analysis because this work allows us to advance in our knowledge of the inhabitants of this important city.
We must continue with the consolidation and restoration of the tombs and the objects that we find inside them because it is fundamental to preserve the Archaeological Heritage of Egypt.
The role of Archaeology is without a doubt, to bring the past to life, and the study and publication of everything found is the best recognition that we can give.

Period

From the Saita period (664 BC) to the Christian-Byzantine period (7th century AD), when the Muslim invasion of Egypt took place, including, of course, the Persian and Ptolemaic-Roman periods.

Institution

University of Barcelona-IPOA (Institute of Ancient Near East).

Web and social networks

http://www.ub.edu/museuvirtual/visita-virtual-oxirrinc/index.php
https://twitter.com/IPOAUB
https://www.facebook.com/groups/oxirrinco

https://www.instagram.com/oxyrhynchusproject/

www.oxirrinc.com

Principal Investigators

Dr. Ignasi-Xavier Adiego Lajara
Dr. Maite Mascort Roca
Dr. Esther Pons Mellado

Location

The Oxyrhynchus site (El-Bahnasa, Egypt) is located 190 km. south of Cairo

LOCATION

RESULTS

Among the most relevant finds, the following should be highlighted, not only because of their significance, but also because many are unique in Oxyrhynchus, and even in Egypt:

  • Unique finding, not only in Oxyrhynchus, but also in Egypt, which took place between the campaigns of 2012-2015. It is an offering of 50,000 oxyrhynchus fishes. This fish is the symbol of the city, and the form in which the goddess of the place, Toeris, is represented.
  • A large number of funerary constructions from the Saite and Persian period, a total of 21 (Saite: 1, 6, 13, 14, 16, 16, 37, 53, 54; Persian: 38, 41, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 50, 59, 60, 61, 62), which present some common aspects, but at the same time different ones that show changes during this long period of time (664-330 B.C.).
  • All these tombs are built with large white limestone blocks joined with lime mortar, but in the case of the tombs of the Saite period this mortar has a pinkish color, while, in the case of the graves of the Persian period, this mortar tends to have a more grayish tone.
  • The individuals found in the different chambers are always mummified and wrapped in bandages. In the case of the tombs of the Saite period, always inside white limestone sarcophagi, in many cases epigraphic that provide us with important information about the person buried there: name, affiliation, positions held in life, etc., and in the same way they are usually accompanied by abundant grave goods as canopic vases, epigraphic or anepigraphic, in general of a great quality, ushebtis, also epigraphic or anepigraphic, bronze sculptures, most of them of the god Osiris, ceramic vessels, scarabs, amulets of very diverse material: lapis lazuli, carnelian, faience, hematite, gold, etc., and different themes.
  • The architectural study of these structures and of everything recovered in their interior, allows us to assure that generally they are tombs of familiar character, and that they belonged to the political-religious elite of the old city of Per-Medyed.
    In the 2021 campaign, two individual Saite tombs were found, one of them completely untouched (the first time in Oxyrhynchus) with a stone sarcophagus, and a complete grave goods accompanying the deceased.
  • In the case of Persian tombs, these are always individual and the individuals found inside are not accompanied by grave goods, but they do have on several occasions polychrome cartons and numerous beads and beads belonging to the funeral mesh that covered the deceased.
  • From the Ptolemaic-Roman Period, a large number of tombs have been found, also built with limestone blocks, although smaller than in the previous stages. Inside, numerous mummified individuals have been unearthed covered with helmet-masks or with polychrome cartonnages decorated with pharaonic themes: divinities, animals, etc., and even inscriptions in Greek, or with tunic-like decoration with button sandals, indicating a clear syncretism between Egyptian and Ptolemaic-Roman culture. Many of these individuals carry between the bandages slime seals with an Egyptian themed print: Anubis, Sobek, etc., or with hieroglyphic signs, and in some cases, they are accompanied by papyrus with magical texts. 14 of them had a golden tongue in their mouths.
  • Regarding the Christian-Byzantine period, it is worth mentioning a Great Basilica with five naves and an underground crypt whose walls are covered with a pictorial decoration of Christian themes and numerous inscriptions in Coptic, several crypts built of mudbrick with a large number of burials, individual well tombs, also of mudbrick, and the discovery in 2022 of two jars next to two tombs containing a frog inside, a symbol of resurrection and new life.

Outside the Upper Necropolis is an underground temple dedicated to the god Osiris, Osireion, one of three in Egypt, inside which a large stone statue of Osiris and numerous objects belonging to the cult of this divinity have been found.

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