95 



THE EXCAVATIONS AT PITHOM. 



jM. Naville's excavations at Tell El-Maskhutah, which he identified 

 with the Biblical Pithom, are referred to in a letter from Mr. Stanley 

 Lane Poole, to the Athcnamm last year, from which the following quo- 

 tations are made : It appears that a small corner of the present exca- 

 vation had already yielded a sculptured group, representing Ramses II. 

 between two gods, and four other sculptures, all of which had been 

 removed to Ismailia. " These M. Naville noticed were dedicated to the god 

 Turn, the setting sun, and that Eameses II. was described as the friend 

 of Turn. The conclusion was, that they must have come from one of the 

 several cities which bore the sacred or temple name of Pe-tum, and 

 M. Naville conjectured that the Petum in question, associated as it was with 

 Ramses II., might turn out to be none other than the treasure-city of Pithom 

 which the children of Israel "built for Pharaoh" (Exodus i. 11). This 

 finally decided him to begin his exploration at Tell El-Maskhutah, whence 

 these monuments dedicated to Tum had been brought. He found the site 

 marked out by extensive but not lofty mounds, and at the corner where the 

 previous diggings had been made a red granite group representing Ramses 

 11. between two gods (the fellow-group to that at Ismailia) was still standing 

 ■in situ, and some unworked blocks of stone lay near by. 



" This was all that had been done when Al. Naville began his work of 

 excavation in the beginning of February, 1883. When I visited the spot 

 M. Naville had been at work for six weeks, and had carried the excavations 

 almost as far as he meant to go. He had employed about a hundred men 

 daily, and had cleared away 18,000 cubic metres of soil. He had laid bare 

 the entire enclosure, and excavated a great part of the interior chambers and 

 the whole of the remains of the temple. He had identified this walled city 

 Avith Pithom, the strong city of Exodus, and had established its Greek and 

 Roman name. He had ascertained that the builder of the city was Ramses 

 II., traced its existence through several kings of the twenty-second dynasty 

 to Ptolemaic and Roman times, and arrived at other important historical and 

 geographical conclusions. No more triumphant success in the first trial of 

 our exploration society could have been desired, and ]\I. Naville may well be 

 congratulated on having added to his distinction as an Egyptologist the 

 laurels of a discoverer of the first rank. His method of work, his deductions, 

 and his brilliant conjectures, which afterwards proved uniformly correct, 

 evince the rai'est of gifts — the instinct for discovery. 



" The excavationsare only a few hundred yards from the railway and canal. 

 Standing on the high mounds on the south side of the canal, a comprehensive 

 view is obtained of the whole position. Immediately in front we see a 

 cluster of mounds and brick Avails, clearly of the Roman period. These 

 represent the Roman toAvn of Hero or Heroiipolis, which adjoined the 

 fortified camp. Beyond the town, looking southwards, is a slight valley, and 

 on the other side of this is the square enclosure where the monuments were 

 found which identified this enclosure Avith the Biblical Pithom and with the 

 Greek fortress and Roman camp of Hero. At the south-east corner of the 

 enclosure are the minaret and other vestiges of the ruined and (save by one 

 Greek) abandoned Arab village of Tel El-Maskhutah, and not far from the 

 south-Avest corner is a deserted building formerly used by the engineers of 

 the freshAvater canal. Near the corner Avhere the mosque stands, the dry 

 bed of the old Pharaonic canal is seen, as it curves round towards the line 



