studies in Ancient Art

and Civilization

15
Universitas Iagellonica

DE antiquorum artibus
et civilisatione
studia varia

Pars XV

Edidit
Evdoxia Papuci-Władyka

Cracoviae MMXI
 Jagiellonian University

Studies
in ancient art
and Civilization

15

Edited by
Ewdoksia Papuci-Władyka

Krakow 2011
Editorial Board
Krzysztof M. Ciałowicz
Janusz A. Ostrowski
Ewdoksia Papuci-Władyka
Joachim Śliwa

TECHNICAL EDITORS AND EDITING

Agata Dobosz
Marta Korczyńska-Zdąbłarz
Justyna Wójcik

TRANSLATIONS AND LANGUAGE CORRECTIONS

Authors and Katarzyna Farell, Agnieszka Fulińska, Ian Jenkins, Magdalena Wrana

Cover Design
Szymon Szweda

Layout
Marta Korczyńska-Zdąbłarz

On the cover
Fragment of the Roman sarcophagus with a figure of the Good Shepherd, 4th century AD.
Jagiellonian University Institute of Archaeology, inv. 406, marble, 24 x 19cm.
Photo Jakub Śliwa.

Photo of Professor Janusz A. Ostrowski on page 7 by Urszula Socha

© coPYRIGHT BY
INSTYTUT ARCHEOLOGII UNIWERSYTETU JAGIELLOŃSKIEGO & AUTHORS
KRAKoW 2011

Publication financed from funds of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education
and statutory funds of the Jagiellonian University Faculty of History

KSIĘGARNIA AKADEMICKA
ul. św. Anny 6, 31-008 Kraków
tel./fax: (12) 43 127 43
e-mail: [email protected]

Zamówienia przez księgarnię internetową / AVAILABLE FROM:

www.akademicka.pl

issn 0083-4300
The 15th volume of Studies in Ancient Art and Civilization
is dedicated
to Professor Janusz A. Ostrowski on his 70th birthday
 In 2011 professor Janusz A. Ostrowski turned seventy, and also celebrated
the 45th anniversary of his academic work, therefore his colleagues and
friends, together with the editorial board of this series decided to dedicate
to him the 15th volume.
Professor Ostrowski is an outstanding scholar in ancient art as well as
excellent academic teacher and lecturer. His life, education and professional
career is connected with Krakow, where he graduated in Mediterranean
Archaeology at the Jagiellonian University, under the supervision
of professor Maria L. Bernhard, and then, without breaking the contact
with the University began the work at the Department of Ancient Art
of the National Museum in Krakow. In 1975 he obtained his doctoral degree,
and in 1978 received a post in the Institute of Archaeology of the Jagiellonian
University. In 1986 he obtained the habilitation, in 1992 the title of assistant
professor, and in 2000 full professorship. He held important offices in our
Institute: in the years 1987-1990 he was its deputy director, in the years
1990-1996 director for two terms, and in the years 1998-2004 chair of
the Classical Archaeology Department.
Professor Ostrowski’s research was always focused on Roman art.
He studied pagan and early Christian sarcophagi, ancient personifications
and their role in political propaganda (Les personifications des provinces
dans l’art romain, 1990; Personifications of Rivers in Greek and Roman
Art, 1991). He was also member of the publishing team of the new edition
of St. K. Potocki’s O sztuce u dawnych czyli Winckelmann Polski (1992),
and author of Słownik artystów starożytności (1994). In 1999 his important
monographic study Starożytny Rzym. Polityka i sztuka was published,
and in 2005 the book Między Bosforem a Eufratem. Azja Mniejsza od śmierci
Aleksandra Wielkiego do najazdu Turków Seldżuckich.
The other important focus of professor Ostrowski’s research is history
of Mediterranean archaeology and collections of antiquities in Poland.
He published a number of articles on this subject, and co-authored
the book Egipt, Grecja, Italia… Zabytki starożytne z dawnej kolekcji Gabinetu
Archeologicznego Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego (ed. J. Śliwa, 2007).
Professor JANUSZ A. OSTROWSKI
 Professor Ostrowski’s field experience includes participation in
excavations at such sites as Alexandria and Tell Atrib (Egypt), Nea Paphos
(Cyprus) and in the Strumeshnitsa valley (Bulgaria). He also conducted
research abroad (in Great Britain, Italy, Turkey); some of the study periods
were facilitated by the Lanckoroński Foundation scholarships.
During his career as academic lecturer and teacher professor Ostrowski
supervised a several doctoral dissertations, as well as numerous MA and
BA theses.
The professor’s activity is not limited to the Jagiellonian University,
and he has held a number of important positions. He used to be
the director of the Krakow Czartoryski Museum (1994-1999), a member and
the vice-president of the Scientific Committee on Ancient Culture
of the Polish Academy of Sciences, and also member of the Museum
Council in Krakow, Committee on Archaeology of the Krakow branch
of the Polish Academy of Sciences; currently he is member of the Commission
on Classical Philology of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences
in Krakow.
Professor Ostrowski received many prizes of the National Education
Minister and of the Rector of the Jagiellonian University, he was also awarded
the Gold Cross of Merit, medal of the National Education Commission, and
Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.

Krzysztof M. Ciałowicz
Ewdoksia Papuci-Władyka
Joachim Śliwa
 Contents

Krzysztof M. Ciałowicz
Fantastic creatures and cobras from Tell el-Farkha..............................11
Joanna Dębowska-Ludwin
Early Egyptian tomb security – middle class burials
from Tell el-Farkha................................................................................29
Maciej Pawlikowski and Joanna Dębowska-Ludwin
Bone material and mineralogical processes of its destruction
at the site of Tell el-Farkha....................................................................37
Magdalena Maria Nowak
Results of the preliminary analysis of Lower Egyptian
settlement discovered on the Central Kom in Tell el-Farkha................49
Mariusz A. Jucha
Tell Abu el-Halyat. The new Naqada III – Old Kingdom (?) site
in the northeastern Nile Delta..............................................................65
Marcin Czarnowicz
Knobbed bowls from Naqada II and III contexts in Egypt...................77
Joachim Śliwa
Pharaoh triumphing over an enemy.
Remarks on a scene from Aksha...........................................................91
Tomasz Podgórski
A brief excursus on some royal portraits
from the Temple of Thotmes III at Deir el-Bahari ..............................101
Krzysztof Jakubiak
Some remarks on the camel on Sasanian seals...................................107
Agata Dobosz
What did the burning torch appearing on Rhodian
amphora stamps symbolise?................................................................117
Wojciech Machowski
Graves beneath barrows on Ancient
necropoleis in the North-Pontic area...................................................127
Edyta Marzec
The domed-mouth unguentaria from Cyprus......................................151
Agnieszka Fulińska
The missing link? Iconography and literary legend
of Alexander the Great.......................................................................159
Wojciech Sowa
Old Persian Yanā takabarā and Macedonian Kαυσία.......................175
Marta Korczyńska-Zdąbłarz
Lasa ed iconografia delle figure femminili alate
su alcuni monumenti etruschi.............................................................185
Kamil Kopij
Pietas in the propaganda of Sextus Pompey.......................................203
Dorota Gorzelany
Devicta Brittania. Fragment of a Roman sword
scabbard in Krakow............................................................................219
Katarzyna Lach
Roman coins from Berenike (Seasons 1994-2000)............................229
Agnieszka Ochał-Czarnowicz
The cult of heroes reflected on mosaic pavements.............................235
Marta Kania
Discovery and manipulations. Some comments
about archaeology, politics and the right to the cultural
heritage in Peru in the centenary of the ‘Scientific Discovery’
of Machupicchu..................................................................................247
Grażyna Wrona
Polish scientific magazines on Classical philology,
archaeology and prehistory in the period 1918-1939.........................263
Leszek Zinkow
The ‘Egyptian House’, Hans Makart and Cleopatra
from Krakow.......................................................................................275
Editorial Note............................................................................................286
 Studies in Ancient Art and Civilization 15
Kraków 2011

Katarzyna Lach
Kraków

ROMAN COINS FROM BERENIKE1

(SEASONS 1994-2000)

Abstract: The Graeco-Roman Red Sea port of Berenike has been

a place of archaeological excavations since 1994. The studies have proved
that it had been a centre of commercial contact between the Roman Empire
and Persian Gulf, Arabia, Sri Lanka and India. Coin finds from the site can,
in a way, reflect these contacts, even though the trade had supposedly been
conducted by barter.
Keywords: Berenike in Egypt; Roman coins from Berenike; Roman
Egypt; Alexandrian Coinage; Roman Berenike; coin finds; Roman trade

Background

Ptolemy II Philadelphus founded the Red Sea port of Berenike in

c. 275 BC and named it after his mother (Plin. NH 6.33.168). Berenike
lies c. 825km south of Suez, south of Ras (Cape) Banas, and about 260km
east of Aswan. The site was discovered in 1818 by G. B. Belzoni
(Meredith 1957, 56). From 1994 until 2001 excavations were conducted
by an American-Dutch team under the aegis of the University of Delaware,
Leiden University and the University of California at Los Angeles.
Archaeological and literary evidence indicates that the emporium was
occupied until sometime before the middle of the 6th century AD (Sidebotham
and Wendrich 1998a, 86). The main trade routes connected Berenike with
the Mediterranean basin, south Arabia, coastal sub-Saharan Africa and south

1
I would like to thank Prof. Steven E. Sidebotham from the University of Delaware
for allowing me to use the materials presented in this paper.
230 K. Lach

Asia. Imported goods, both for commercial and personal use by residents
of the port, included a wide array of botanical products (Cappers 2006) and
manufactured goods (Sidebotham and Wendrich 1995; Sidebotham and
Wendrich 1996; Sidebotham and Wendrich 1998a; Sidebotham and Wendrich
1998b; Sidebotham and Wendrich 1999; Sidebotham and Wendrich 2000;
Sidebotham and Wendrich 2001-2002; Sidebotham and Wendrich 2007).
During the Ptolemaic period there had been limited commercial relations
between Egypt and southern Arabia and south Asia. Much of this contact
was likely by sea via Berenike; most Ptolemaic activity at Berenike in this
period involved procuring elephants for use by the military.
The volume of this trade grew dramatically in the early Roman period and
the nature and variety of products involved in this commerce also increased
(Yehya 1993, 55-56; Sidebotham and Wendrich 1995; Sidebotham and
Wendrich 1996; Sidebotham and Wendrich 1998a; Sidebotham and Wendrich
1998b; Sidebotham and Wendrich 1999; Sidebotham and Wendrich 2000;
Sidebotham and Wendrich 2001-2002; Sidebotham and Wendrich 2007).
Evidence of at least 12 written languages, the faunal corpus and ceramic
evidence suggests the presence at Berenike of people from a wide variety
of ethnic backgrounds including Egyptians, Greeks, people from throughout
the Mediterranean basin in the Roman era, Palmyrenes, others from the Near
East, south Asia and perhaps from southern Arabia. There is also evidence
of the presence of a desert dwelling population at the port, which seems to
have increased dramatically in late Roman times. Whether these latter people
can be identified as Blemmyes is uncertain (Sidebotham and Wendrich 2001-
2002, 27-29; Barnard 2008, 18).

Coins

The 1994-2000 excavations documented more than 500 coins. The poor
state of preservation of almost half of the coins due to the highly saline nature
of the soil precludes their identification. In the majority of cases these coins
were found in excavated contexts, though a fair number were surface finds.
The table (Fig. 1) indicates that a high percentage of the identifiable coins
is Roman, prior to the Diocletianic reform of AD 296. Until that date only
coins minted in Alexandria could circulate in Egypt. Therefore, tetradrachms,
as well as oboloi and their fractions dominate the pre-296 AD corpus of coins.
The lack of coins minted outside Egypt from the first three centuries AD
may be somewhat surprising, since Berenike had been an ‘international’
port through which regular issue Roman coins (especially aurei and denarii)
Roman coins from Berenike... 231

1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999/2000 Total

Ptolemaic 1 5 - 1 1 5 13 (2%)
1st century AD 4 18 2 6 1 9 40 (8%)
1st/2nd century AD 14 2 3 1 20 (4%)
1st/2nd/3rd century AD 1 64 12 4 5 5 91 (17%)
3rd/4th century AD 1 (?) 2 1 2 6 (1%)
4th century AD 20 3 14 11 8 21 78 (15%)
4th/5th century AD 3 17 3 5 6 1 35 (7%)
unidentified/other 21 11 24 22 68 99 245 (46%)
TOTAL 65 120 57 52 90 143

Fig. 1. Dating of the coins found in Berenike during the excavations of 1994-2000

would have passed en route to southern Arabia and India. Such valuable
regular Roman issue gold and silver coins likely passed through the port
under tight security.
Excavations recorded only two non-Roman coins: one Axumite issue
of King Aphilas (c. 270/290-before 330 AD)2, and a silver coin of
Rudrasena III (AD 348-390) from the dynasty of Khsatrapas of Western
India3. Such a small corpus of imported coins suggests that the long-distance
trade via Berenike comprised more barter than purchase (Young 2001, 85;
Sidebotham and Wendrich 2007, 202).
Augustus introduced some changes in the Ptolemaic organization
of the Egyptian province to maximize the use of sea route, changes in trade
and military/political contacts appeared as well as. He founded a military
camp in Coptos, deployed soldiers to repair cisterns on the route leading
to Myos Hormos and Berenike, and established a strategos in charge
of collecting the taxes from ports. Military supervision of the roads leading
from Coptos along the coast, and maybe also on the Red Sea were the
responsibility of the Praefectus Montis Berenicides, at least in the 1st and 2nd
centuries AD. Berenike’s first period of prosperity spanned the 1st and into
the 2nd centuries AD; the majority of the identifiable coins from Berenike
come from this period, especially between the reigns of Augustus (27 BC-
AD 14) and the Flavian emperors (AD 69-96) (Sidebotham et al. 2008, 171).
Throughout most of the Roman Empire the 3rd century AD witnessed
unstable economic conditions. This resulted in a steep decline in commerce
2
BE09 4615-C-114.
3
BE00 5649-C-115.
232 K. Lach

Constantinople
Alexandria

Nicomedia
Aquileia
Antioch

Cyzicus
House of Constantius
1
(324-346 AD)
Helena (?) 1
Constantius II
2 1
(337-361 AD)
Gratian
1
(367-383 AD)
Theodosius I
1
(379-395 AD)
Arcadius
1 1
(383-408 AD)
Valentinian II
1
(375-392 AD)
Second half-late 4th century AD 2 1

Fig. 2. Provenance and dating of the coins from after the AD 296 reform

passing through the port. The increase of prices due to inflation and
devaluation of money, as well as the decline of population and loss of
agricultural production caused the town’s economic slowdown and stagnation
of the port, which lasted for about one and a half centuries. Almost complete
lack of coins dating from the turn of 3rd/4th century AD corresponds
to the results of excavations on the site corroborating the crisis conditions
prevailing in the port at that time (Sidebotham and Wendrich 2000, 415).
After Diocletian’s reform in AD 296 coins with mint marks, especially
from the eastern part of the empire, appear in Berenike4. Apart from
Alexandrian mint, coins struck at Antioch, Constantinople, Cyzicus and
Nicomedia also appear; few identifiable western mints occur (Aquileia)
(Fig. 2). Unfortunately, the small corpus of mint marks prevents more than
cursory analysis of Berenike’s contacts with other parts of the empire based
on numismatic evidence alone.

4
Season 1994 – three coins bore mint mark; season 1995 – four coins bore mint mark;
season 1996 – two coins bore mint mark; season 1997 – two coins bore mint mark; season
1988 – none of the coins preserved mint marks; season 1999/2000 – two coins bore mint
mark.
Roman coins from Berenike... 233

The political stabilization of the empire by the mid-4th century AD

gave Berenike a new lease on life. Archaeological evidence complements
the numismatic for this period lasting until the late 4th century AD indicating
that this was an era of great prosperity at the emporium.
The port was inhabited until about first half of the 6th century AD
(Sidebotham and Wendrich 1998b, 453), although the latest coins found
in Berenike date not later than the 5th century AD. Likely 4th and early
5th century AD issues continued to circulate at Berenike throughout
the remainder of the 5th and into the 6th century AD. The city’s significance
must have decreased due to the decline of international trade, until its
complete abandonment by the residents.
Berenike with Myos Hormos were two most important harbours
of the Red Sea, the destination of trade routes of Eastern Desert leading from
Coptos and Apollinopolis Magna. During the Early Roman Empire Berenike
is believed to have been the pre-eminent port, as it took less time to sail
to Berenike then to Myos Hormos, even if it’s longer land distance to Coptos.
This was due, in part, to prevailing wind patterns in the Red Sea. North
of about 20° North latitude winds are mostly northerly, and it was difficult
to sail against them for many ancient ships (Young 2001, 44). The amount
of coins found during the first seven seasons did not necessarily reflect
the commercial importance of Berenike. As mentioned previously, this may
be due to the trade being conducted by barter. Further studies are essential
for understanding Berenike’s trade and international contacts5.

References

Barnard H. 2008. Eastern Desert Ware. Traces of the inhabitants

of the eastern deserts in Egypt and Sudan during the 4th-6th
centuries CE. Leiden.
Cappers R. T. J. 2006. Roman Footprints at Berenike. Archaeobotanical
evidence of subsistence and trade in the eastern desert of Egypt.
Los Angeles.
Meredith D. 1957. Berenice Troglodytica. JEA 43, 56-70.

5
In 2009 excavations were resumed by the University of Delaware and the Polish Center
of Mediterranean Archaeology, Warsaw University.
234 K. Lach

Sidebotham S. E. and Wendrich W. Z. (eds) 1995. Berenike 1994.

Preliminary report of the 1994 excavations at Berenike (Egyptian Red
Sea coast) and the survey of the Eastern Desert. Leiden.
Sidebotham S. E. and Wendrich W. Z. (eds) 1996. Berenike 1995.
Preliminary report of the 1995 excavations at Berenike (Egyptian Red
Sea coast) and the survey of the Eastern Desert. Leiden.
Sidebotham S. E. and Wendrich W. Z. 1998a. Berenike. Archaeological
fieldwork at a Ptolemaic-Roman port on the Red Sea coast of Egypt:
1994-1998. Sahara 10, 85-96.
Sidebotham S. E. and Wendrich W. Z. (eds) 1998b. Berenike 1996.
Report of the 1996 excavations at Berenike (Egyptian Red Sea coast)
and the survey of the Eastern Desert. Leiden.
Sidebotham S. E. and Wendrich W. Z. (eds) 1999. Berenike 1997. Report
of the 1997 excavations at Berenike and the survey of the Egyptian
Eastern Desert, including excavations at Shenshef. Leiden.
Sidebotham S. E. and Wendrich W. Z. (eds) 2000. Berenike 1998. Report
of the 1998 excavations at Berenike and the survey of the Egyptian
Eastern Desert, including excavations in Wadi Kalalat. Leiden.
Sidebotham S. E. and Wendrich W. Z. 2001-2002. Berenike.
Archaeological fieldwork at a Ptolemaic-Roman port on the Red Sea
coast of Egypt 1999-2001. Sahara 13, 23-50.
Sidebotham S. E. and Wendrich W. Z. (eds) 2007. Berenike 1999/2000.
Report on the excavations at Berenike, including excavations in Wadi
Kalalat and Siket, and the survey of the Mons Smaragdus Region.
Los Angeles.
Sidebotham S. E., Hense M. and Nouwens H. M. 2008. The Red Land.
The illustrated archaeology of Egypt’s Eastern Desert. Cairo,
New York.
Yehya L. A.W. 1993. Trade relations. In S. Doshi (ed.), India and Egypt.
Influences and interactions, 53-58. Oxford.
Young G. K. 2001. Rome’s Eastern Trade. International commerce
and imperial policy, 31 BC-AD 305. New York.

Katarzyna Lach
c/o Institute of Archaeology
Jagiellonian University
[email protected]
 Editorial Note

Since volume 14 of the Studies in Ancient Art And Civilization, published

in 2010, the design of our periodical has slightly changed, and we also started
to use the so-called Harvard referencing (or parenthetical) system, all due
to the fact that SAAC was listed in the reference index of reviewed journals
of the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education.
With the 2011 issue we also introduced the following abbreviations,
apart from the ones used in American Journal of Archaeology and Lexikon
der Egyptologie:

PAM – Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean, Warsaw

RechACrac SN – Recherches Archéologiques. Serie Nouvelle, Krakow

SAAC – Studies in Ancient Art and Civilization, Krakow

Guidelines for prospective authors can be found on our webpage:

http://www.farkha.nazwa.pl/saac/