Religion and Burial at the Ptolemaic-Roman Red Sea Emporium of Berenike, Egypt

Abstract

Partial excavation of five or possibly six religious edifices at the PtolemaicRoman (third century BC-sixth century AD) Red Sea emporium of Berenike, Egypt, chronicles many aspects of the sacred, especially in the middle and late Roman periods. We know far less about Ptolemaic and early Roman era religious life at the port. Epigraphic remains and artifacts of a devotional nature also provide insights into the spiritual lives of those residing in or passing through the city. Egyptian, classical GrecoRoman and Hellenistic hybrid deities predominated with evidence of Christian, Palmyrene, South Arabian, and Zoroastrian religious activities as well. There may also be some data on the religious practices of indigenous desert dwellers, the Blemmyes, the Trog(l)odites/Trogodytes, the Ichthyophagi, and people from Nubia and, perhaps, Meroë. We know far less about the burial practices of Berenike's inhabitants. Aside from a few makeshift interments and disarticulated remains, only a small portion of a cemetery at the edge of the site has been excavated and many hundreds of tombs, mostly robbed, have been examined southwest and west of the city. Both necropoleis are late Roman in date; the one adjacent to the city preserves different modes of burial depending, most likely, on the economic circumstances, ages, or ethnic identities of the deceased entombed there. Paradoxically, though there is ample documentation for peoples from South Asia and the African Kingdom of Axum residing at or regularly passing through Berenike, little or no recognizable evidence of their religious proclivities or burial customs has been recorded.Résumé Excavation partielle de cinq ou peut-être six édifices religieux à la ptolémaïque-romain (IIIe siècle av JC-sixième siècle de notre ère) Mer Rouge emporium de Berenike relate de nombreux aspects du sacré en particulier dans le milieu et romaine tardive. Nous savons beaucoup moins sur ptolémaïque et au début de la vie religieuse de l'époque romaine au port. Épigraphique restes et les artefacts de nature religieuse donnent aussi une idée sur la vie spirituelle de ceux qui résident ou de passage à travers la ville. Divinités hybrides classiques gréco-romaine et hellénistique égyptiens ont prédominé avec preuve de Christian, Palmyre, l'Arabie du Sud et des

Interactions and Pastoralism Along the Southern and Southeastern Frontiers of the Meroitic State, Sudan

“…More generally, the history of the Meroitic expansion into the Western Butana should be conceived of as an essentially political phenomenon’. The timing of the southwards Meroitic expansion from the end of the last millennium BC coincides with the expansion of Indian Ocean trade from Myos Hormos and Berenike (where numerous Indian textile remains have been found) in Egypt, down the Red Sea and across to India via the port of Adulis (Sidebotham 2011, 2014). Also at Berenike, Sidebotham (2014) has found a number of miniature stone offering-tables (religious), whose nearest parallels are with Nubia and Meroe.…”

“…The timing of the southwards Meroitic expansion from the end of the last millennium BC coincides with the expansion of Indian Ocean trade from Myos Hormos and Berenike (where numerous Indian textile remains have been found) in Egypt, down the Red Sea and across to India via the port of Adulis (Sidebotham 2011, 2014). Also at Berenike, Sidebotham (2014) has found a number of miniature stone offering-tables (religious), whose nearest parallels are with Nubia and Meroe. Meanwhile, the Periplus Maris Erythraei ( Circumnavigation of the Erythraean Sea ), a commercial shipping guide to the Red Sea— Indian Ocean trading network written in the mid first century AD by an unknown Greek merchant trader based in Egypt with first-hand experience, records contemporary imports to the southern port of Adulis, including textiles (Huntingford 1980).…”

From features to fingerprints: A general diagnostic framework for anthropogenic geomorphology

“…Entombments in ancient times have included caves and underground burials with different designs relating to the wealth and status of the deceased (Cuezva et al, 2016). As societies evolve, so have burial practices, from ground and cave burials to more elaborate constructions (Sidebotham, 2014; Tomczyk et al, 2011). In many cultural contexts these funerary structures represent massive investments in reconfiguring the natural landscape, and their sheer size makes them relatively resistant to natural weathering and degradation (Guthrie, 2015).…”

Archaeological fieldwork in Berenike in 2014 and 2015: from Hellenistic rock-cut installations to abandoned temple ruins

“…One may also wonder whether all sailing ships were treated in the western part of the bay where the Project has excavated or whether it were just the small South Arabian craft, should the ethnographic parallel be carried further still. These smaller vessels may well have serviced the brisk local trade in South Arabian commodities in the 2nd and 3rd century as attested by an abundance in Berenike of the South Arabian Organic ware, of Hadramauti royal graffiti on select sherds, the Mesopotamian so-called torpedo jars, black vesicular basalt from Yemen and the tantalizing bronze figurines and stone altars from the Late Temple in the harbor (see Sidebotham 2014;Sidebotham et al 2015: 306ff. and Fig.…”