The ostraca of Deir el-Bachit and the case of the "Anatolios-Zacharias"-Archive

Basic data for this talk

Information about the event

Abstract

The corpus of ostraca from Deir el-Bachit – up to now much more than 2000 pieces – derive from two main areas. One group was discovered in the monastery’s centre on the hilltop of Dra Abu el- Naga, while the second group was found in its subsidiary installations within the New Kingdom double tombs, named K 93/11-12. The edition of these texts will be realized not in conventional paper format, but by means of a custom-designed online platform. This full-text, searchable database will contain not only images of the ostraca, metadata, the coptic text and its translation with notes, but also a detailed grammatical and semantic analysis. Besides the reconstruction of an almost close view into the everyday life of the monastery, a central question influenced this project from its inception: What was the original name of this monastery now known as "Deir el-Bachit"? In other words, the aim was to transfer the archaeological remains into a historical context. One group of at least 13 texts is particularly relevant to this last-mentioned question. These „Anatolios-Zacharias“ ostraca are named for the persons figured in their texts: Anatolios (alone or with Pisrael, in few cases with others) and Apa Zacharias (alone or with Apa Markos). The significance of these texts, however, extends indeed far beyond the original name of the monastery. They allow us not only to ask for the monastery’s relationship with its neighbors in Western Thebes. Furthermore they remind us to focus also on the history of research of this archaeological site. We have to take into consideration that the site was already visited and/or partly „investigated“ in the past. Therefore material remains belonging to Deir el-Bachit – with or without indication of provenance – may already have been found their way into museum collections. This seems partly to be the case with the „Anatolios-Zacharias“-ostraca. Presently, at least 18 further „Anatolios-Zacharias“ documents lie in various collections. These contain either no indication of provenance, and, therefore, could be identified theoretically with Deir el-Bachit, or they are connected to Djeme. Perhaps, these last-mentioned texts besides other indications evidence contact between the monastery and Djeme.

Speakers from the University of Münster

Hodak, Suzana

Professorship of Coptology