Mendes Djedet | |
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  Mendes Location in Egypt | |
| Coordinates:30°57′30″N31°30′57″E / 30.95833°N 31.51583°E /30.95833; 31.51583 | |
| Country |  Egypt |
| Governorate | Dakahlia Governorate |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
Mendes (Ancient Greek:Μένδης,gen.:Μένδητος), theGreek name of theancient Egyptian city ofDjedet, also known in ancient Egypt asPer-Banebdjedet ("The Domain of the Ram Lord ofDjedet") andAnpet, is known today asTell El-Ruba (Arabic:تل الربع).
Thecity is located in the easternNile delta (30°57′30″N31°30′57″E / 30.95833°N 31.51583°E /30.95833; 31.51583) and was thecapital of the 16thLower Egyptiannome ofKha, until it was replaced byThmuis in Greco-Roman Egypt. The two cities are only several hundred meters apart. During the29th Dynasty, Mendes was also the capital ofAncient Egypt, lying on the Mendesian branch of theNile (now silted up), about 35 km east ofal-Mansurah.
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| Djedet (ḏd.t) inhieroglyphs | ||||
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In ancient times, Mendes was a famous city that attracted the notice of most ancient geographers and historians, includingHerodotus (ii. 42, 46. 166),Diodorus (i. 84),Strabo (xvii. p. 802),Mela (i. 9 § 9),Pliny the Elder (v. 10. s. 12),Ptolemy (iv. 5. § 51), andStephanus of Byzantium (s. v.). The city was the capital of theMendesian nome, situated at the point where the Mendesian arm of the Nile (Μενδήσιον στόμα,Scylax, p. 43; Ptol. iv, 5. § 10;Mendesium ostium, Pliny, Mela,ll. cc.) flows into the lake ofTanis. Archaeological evidence attests to the existence of thetown at least as far back as theNaqada II period (4th millennium BCE). Under the firstPharaohs, Mendes quickly became a strong seat ofprovincial government and remained so throughout theAncient Egyptian period. InClassical times, the nome it governed was one of the nomes assigned to that division of the native army which was called theCalasires, and the city was celebrated for the manufacture of aperfume designated as the Mendesiumunguentum. (Plin. xiii. 1. s. 2.) Mendes, however, declined early, and disappears in the first century AD; since both Ptolemy (l. c.) andP. Aelius Aristides (iii. p. 160) mentionThmuis as the only town of note in the Mendesian nome. From its position at the junction of the river and the lake, it was probably encroached upon by their waters, after thecanals fell into neglect under theMacedonian kings, and when they were repaired byAugustus (Sueton.Aug. 18, 63) Thmuis had attracted itstrade and population.
The chiefdeities of Mendes were theram deityBanebdjedet (lit.Ba of the Lord of Djedet), who was theBa ofOsiris, and hisconsort, the fish goddessHatmehit. With their childHar-pa-khered ("Horus the Child"), they formed the triad of Mendes.
Theram deity of Mendes was described byHerodotus in hisHistories[1] as being represented with the head andfleece of agoat: "...whereas anyone with a sanctuary of Mendes or who comes from the province of Mendes, will have nothing to do with (sacrificing) goats, but usessheep as his sacrificial animals... They say that Heracles' overriding desire was to seeZeus, but Zeus was refusing to let him do so. Eventually, as a result of Heracles' pleading, Zeus came up with a plan. He skinned a ram and cut off his head, then he held the head in front of himself, wore the fleece, and showed himself to Heracles like that. That is why the Egyptian statues of Zeus have a ram's head, is why rams are sacred to the Thebans, and they do not use them as sacrificial animals. However there is just one day of the year—the day of thefestival of Zeus—when they chop up a single ram, skin it, dress the statue of Zeus in the way mentioned, and then bring the statue of Heracles up close to the statue of Zeus. Then everyone around thesanctuary mourns the death of the ram and finally they bury it in a sacred tomb."
Demonologists inearly modern times often imaginedSatan as manifesting himself as a goat orsatyr, because goats had a reputation for lustful behavior and were used in the iconography of pre-Christian gods likePan and the goat of Mendes. The occultistEliphas Levi in hisDogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie (1855) drew an image of the fictitious medieval idolBaphomet that conflated it with the goat of Mendes and the imagery of the Satanic satyr. The image of thesatyr-like Baphomet and its supposed connection with Mendes has since been repeated by various occultists, conspiracy theorists, andneopagans.[2]
The site is today the largest survivingtell in the Nile delta, and consists of both Tell El-Ruba (the site of the main temple enclosure) andTell El-Timai (the settlement site of Thmuis to the south). Overall, Mendes is about 3 km long from north to south and averages about 900m east-to-west. AnOld Kingdomnecropolis is estimated to contain over 9,000interments. Several campaigns of 20th-century excavations have been led byNorth American institutions, includingNew York University and theUniversity of Toronto, as well as aPennsylvania State University team led byDonald Redford. Under the direction of Redford, the current excavations are concentrating on a number of areas in and around the main temple.
Work on theNew Kingdom processional-style temple has recently uncovered foundation deposits ofMerenptah below the secondpylon. It is thought that four separate pylons or gates existed. Evidence has suggested that their construction dates from at least theMiddle Kingdom, asfoundation deposits were uncovered. The original structures were buried, added to, or incorporated into later ones over time by later rulers.
A cemetery of sacred rams was discovered in the northwest corner of Tell El-Ruba. Monuments bearing the names ofRamesses II, Merneptah, andRamesses III were also found. A temple attested by its foundation deposits was built byAmasis II. The tomb ofNepherites I, which Donald Redford concluded was destroyed by thePersians,[3] was discovered by a joint team from theUniversity of Washington and the University of Toronto in 1992–1993.
On the edge of thetemple mound, asondage supervised byMatthew J. Adams has revealed uninterruptedstratification from the Middle Kingdom down to theFirst Dynasty. Coring results suggest that future excavations in that sondage should expect to take the stratification down into the Buto-Maadi Period. The material excavated so far is already the longest uninterrupted stratification for all of the Nile Delta, and possibly for all of Egypt.[4]
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857).Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
| Preceded by | Capital of Egypt 399 – 380 BC | Succeeded by |
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