Triakontaschoinos

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Dodecaschoenus
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Map of the Lower Nile valley; the Triakontaschoinos is the area between the first cataract (1) and the second (2)

The Triakontaschoinos (

Second Cataracts of the Nile, which formed a buffer zone between Egypt and later Rome on the one hand and Meroë on the other hand. The northern part of this area, stretching from the First Cataract south to Maharraqa, was known as the Dodekaschoinos or Dodecaschoenus (Δωδεκάσχοινος, "Land of the Twelve Schoinoi"). In the Ptolemaic and Roman
periods the Dodekaschoinos was often annexed to Egypt or controlled from it, and the rest of the Triakontaschoinos sometimes was as well.

In 275 or 274 BC,

Second Cataracts of the Nile, which also included the valuable gold mines of the Eastern Desert, was annexed to Egypt and became later known as Triakontaschoinos.[2]

Already under Ptolemy II, the northern portion of the new province, between the First Cataract and modern

Talmis (Kalabsha), as well as the enlargement, or wholesale reconstruction, of a temple dedicated to Arensnuphis at Philae. These buildings were not only statements of royal power, but, in their effort to assimilate local Nubian deities into the Egyptian pantheon, also served to consolidate Ptolemaic rule. As part of this policy, the Ptolemies also granted special privileges and exemptions to the Egyptians of Philae and Elephantine.[4]

Ptolemaic control over Lower Nubia collapsed c. 205 BC, as a result of the revolt of

Chaonnophris and his Kushite allies, and Ptolemaic rule was re-established over Upper Egypt and Lower Nubia.[5] Like the Ptolemies, during this period, the Kushite kings Arqamani and Adikhalamani completed the building projects begun by Ptolemy IV, and celebrated their restoration of Kushite rule by inscriptions, the foundation of the Temple of Debod, and the adoption of elaborate titularies. The same period also saw the increased Egyptianization of the Nubian pantheon under the influence of the priests of Philae, and the adoption of Greek artistic motifs, including nude figures, and of the Greco-Egyptian metric system alongside the traditional Nubian one.[6]

Ptolemy V personally travelled to Philae in 185 BC, with Queen

stela in the temple of Mandulis at Philae, it appears that the native, non-Egyptian population ("Aethiopians", i.e., Nubians) was placed under the authority of a native governor, and was obliged to provide the temple (and by extension probably all temples in the region) with provisions.[9]

The lack of Ptolemaic inscriptions or other evidence of Ptolemaic control has led modern scholars to conclude that by the reign of

Ptolemy IX Lathyros (r. 116–109 and 88–81 BC), if not already around the middle of the 2nd century BC, most of the Triakontaschoinos, south of Debod, had been lost to the Ptolemies.[10]

Under Roman rule emperor

Nubian priestly dynasties such as the Wayekiye, who acted as conduits of increasing Kushite influence in the area.[12] When its gold mines declined, the Romans abandoned the Dodekaschoinos in AD 298 under Diocletian.[13] The Kushite king Yesebokheamani took control of the region and its defence against the Blemmyes, even visiting the temple at Philae as a pilgrim.[14]

By the fifth century AD, in line with the fall of the kingdom of Meroe and the upcoming of Nobatia, the terms Triakontaschoinos and Dodekaschoinos are no longer in use.[15]

References

  1. ^ Török 2009, pp. 384–385.
  2. ^ Török 2009, pp. 384, 385–386.
  3. ^ Török 2009, pp. 386–388.
  4. ^ Török 2009, pp. 388–389.
  5. ^ Török 2009, pp. 391–393.
  6. ^ Török 2009, pp. 393–400.
  7. ^ Török 2009, pp. 400–404.
  8. ^ Török 2009, pp. 404–405.
  9. ^ Török 2009, pp. 406–408.
  10. ^ Török 2009, pp. 411, 433.
  11. ^ Török 2009, p. 401.
  12. ^ Török 1997, p. 472.
  13. ISBN 978-1-78346-381-7
    ; p.67.
  14. ^ & Török 2009, p. 472.
  15. ^ Török 2009, p. 516.

Bibliography

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