What secrets does the Fayum oasis keep: a labyrinth for crocodiles, portraits of mummies on sarcophagi, etc

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

A huge lake in the middle of the Libyan desert, named after one of the pharaohs, was decorated with two huge pyramids; the largest labyrinth of antiquity was located on the shore. Herodotus and his followers, who visited the Fayum oasis, wrote about this. And now - and the lake has become much smaller, and the pyramids have disappeared, leaving almost no chance to learn at least something about them, and the labyrinth has not yet been found even by the most persistent enthusiasts. There are only mummies left - and the amazing beauty of Fayum portraits.

Lake Merida - the creation of human hands?

The oasis El-Fayyum is much more generous with the riddles than with the material support of theories and versions. This amazing place, where in the middle of the desert waterfalls rustle and gardens bear fruit, was once considered one of the wonders of the world. One could endlessly fantasize about how the ancient Egyptians lived here, what surrounded their homes and what traditions life was filled with four thousand years ago; In the history of the oasis, there are more questions than answers.

El Fayyum is located several tens of kilometers southwest of Cairo. The Nile also flows not far - to the east of this green island. The Great River and the Fayum lands, more precisely, Lake Karun, are connected by a canal. The lake is salty and small - in any case, once its area exceeded the current one by at least six times, and it itself was a fresh reservoir and played an important role in the life of the Egyptians. Herodotus claimed that this huge lake was created by the pharaohs. This legend has been in circulation for a long time, especially since the scope and volume of work on irrigation and drainage really amazed the imagination. To insure themselves against the vagaries of the Nile, which either overflowed too widely and caused floods, or, on the contrary, left untouched arable land, the Egyptians created a channel between the river and the lake located in the oasis. More precisely, they took advantage of the natural watercourse that had existed since ancient times - by deepening and expanding it. The lake was first mentioned in ancient Egyptian sources around 3000 BC, while the canal was built no later than the XXIV century. BC.

The canal and lake provided drainage from the west coast of the Nile, and were also a constant source of fresh water - a relative rarity for oases that tend to be fed from underground rivers. The canal, which later became known as the Yusuf Canal, was equipped with several dams, representing an impressive hydraulic structure. Throughout the history of Ancient Egypt, this waterway was repeatedly restored, and the level of work could well give Greek historians the impression that the pharaohs were able to build Lake Merida too - to dig a giant pit and send the waters of the Nile into it.

The name of the lake was associated with its mythical creator, a certain king named Meris, whose existence is not confirmed. But the word has to do with the ancient Egyptian "mer-ur", that is, "great water." By the way, the finds made in modern times by archaeologists speak against the version of the artificial origin of this huge reservoir: Lake Merida preserved the remains of prehistoric animals that became extinct millions of years ago. One thing is indisputable - a huge oasis was once one of the most important centers of the ancient Egyptian state, and therefore, on its territory they not only gathered crops, but also built palaces, temples and other religious buildings, the location and appearance of which Egyptologists later tried to reproduce with varying success.

What happened to the pyramids and labyrinth of Crocodilopolis?

Herodotus, and behind him Diodorus of Siculus, reflect in detail in their records what he saw in the Fayum oasis: according to these historians, majestic pyramids towered above the water, and huge statues of pharaohs flaunted next to them. Nothing of the kind can be seen now - only the ruins on the shore of the lake. If the pyramids existed, then they could really become the tomb of the representatives of the royal dynasty - in this case, their traces may still have to be discovered.

Even more interesting were the reports about the labyrinth, the oldest - if it really existed. This semi-mythical structure, according to Herodotus, was erected to serve Sebek, the crocodile god. No wonder one of the cities that once grew up on the shores of Lake Merida received the name Crocodilopolis from the Greeks - an animal was worshiped there, with which, as a symbolic "master" of the Nile, the well-being of all Egypt was associated; crocodiles were presented as the personification of the power of this river.

If at one time this structure, consisting of three thousand rooms, existed, as the ancient travelers told, then later the labyrinth was completely destroyed - most likely, even before the onset of a new era. Oasis El-Fayyum, as already mentioned, leaves quite a lot of space for the imagination - the level of its exploration remains rather low. But starting from the 19th century, special artifacts from the past began to be found here - a phenomenon that received the name of this oasis and glorified it himself.

Fayum portraits

The portraits with which the Egyptians covered the mummified remains of their loved ones were called Fayum, despite the fact that their distribution is not limited to this region - similar paintings were found in other places, including Saqqara and Thebes. In total, about 900 such works were found - images of the deceased from full face, while the face is slightly turned. Portraits were a replacement for the traditional mask worn over the head of a mummy. Fayum portraits began to be created from the 1st century AD, and by the 3rd century this technique began to recede into the past and was soon forgotten.

A significant number of portraits were found in the Hawara necropolis, located near El-Fayyum. The Egyptologist whose name is associated with the discovery of these images is William Flinders Petrie, famous for finding the stele of Merneptah with the first mention of Israel in history. Since the paintings of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome were almost completely lost, Fayum portraits became not only excellent examples of the art of ancient times, but also a visual display of the traditions and fashion of that time. Apparently, it was the privilege of the rich to equip a loved one in the afterlife in this way.: of all the mummies found by Petrie in the oasis and nearby, only 1-2 percent are equipped with portraits. The people depicted in the paintings have a pronounced resemblance to the Hellenes, this is not surprising - by the time such portraits began to be created in Fayyoum, the oasis was already popular among visitors - of Greek and Roman origin.

The portraits are perfectly preserved, which is explained by the dry climate of Egypt and the technique of their production. To paint the picture, encaustics were used - a special technique in which strokes of different densities were applied with melted paints. Artists used gold leaf - the thinnest sheets were used to decorate the background or elements of clothing and hairstyles. Fayum portraits were made on a wooden base, including oak, pine, spruce and cypress wood brought from overseas. Beginning in the 2nd century, they began to use tempera, a paint that included the yolk of a chicken egg. Sometimes it was possible to find the burials of several members of the same family, as, for example, in the "tomb of Alina", a woman buried with her husband and daughters in the necropolis of Hawara. At the same time, some of the mummies were "decorated" with portraits, some with traditional burial masks. But despite the opportunity to look into the eyes of those who found a completely different historical period and during their lifetime saw a completely different Egypt around them, these portraits do not carry information about the history of the Fayum oasis.

And here is what thousands of crocodile mummies meant: The city of reptiles Crocodilopolis.