by Jay E. Silverstein & Robert J. Littman
December 27, 2022
Abstract:
(Taylor & Francis Online) A stratum at Tell Timai shows extensive evidence of violent destruction dating to the early 2nd century B.C. Burning, rapid abandonment of objects in a house, destruction of a kiln complex, weaponry, and unburied bodies spread over a wide area in North Tell Timai indicate the city of Thmouis was subject to an episode of warfare. The destruction at Thmouis parallels an account of the destruction of another Nile Delta city, Lycopolis, in the nome of Busiris, during The Great Revolt described on the Rosetta Stone (196 B.C.). Another stela from Memphis also refers to the Ptolemaic campaign in the region. The evidence from Tell Timai provides the first archaeological correlate of destruction during the Great Revolt in the Nile Delta.
Introduction:
Read more and see maps and other visually interesting exhibits here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/1 ... okieSet=1The city of Mendes (Tell el Rub'a) was an important religious and political center continuously from at least the Old Kingdom to the Roman period. As the capital of Nome XVI of Lower Egypt, it held sway over a vast province between two branches of the Nile, stretching from the east-central Delta to the Mediterranean coast (Figure 1 in linked article). Considering its power and importance, it is not surprising that it became a center of resistance to the Persian occupation (525–404 B.C.). The 28th Dynasty (404–398 B.C.) threw off the Persians and reestablished native Egyptian rule. The 29th and 30th Dynasties saw the rise of Mendes and Sebennytos as capitals of Egypt, a rule that ended with the Persian reconquest of Egypt by Artaxerxes III in 343 B.C. During the period from 404–343 B.C., the Mendesian nome was the most powerful region in Egypt. Alexander the Great defeated the Persians and conquered Egypt in 332 B.C. After Alexander’s death in 323 B.C., his successors carved up his empire and initiated the Hellenistic Age, with Ptolemy I Soter claiming Egypt as his realm. The capital of Egypt then shifted to Memphis and finally, for the rest of antiquity, to Alexandria.