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1
THE DOMESTIC PYLON IN THE LIGHT OF GREEK PAPYRI
1
Youssri Abdelwahed and Eltayeb Abbas
Minia University
Abstract
This paper attempts to reconstruct the internal arrangement and functions of the
domestic pylon in the light of Greek papyri uncovered from Egypt. It first deals
with representations of domestic pylons in the Pharaonic period to visualise the
structure. It then considers domestic entranceways attested in Greek papyri and
finally addresses the architectural layout and use of the domestic pylon. In 1973
Pierre Chantraine addressed the origin of the Greek term pylon.
2
In 1983
Geneviève Husson published her Oikia where she alphabetically collected the
vocabulary of domestic architecture of Egypt, including the pylon, attested in
papyri from the Ptolemaic to the Byzantine period.
3
In 2001 Richard Alston
mentioned the domestic pylon in passing in his considerations of social life and
ritual activities in Roman Egypt.
4
None of these scholars has dealt in depth with
the architectural layout and use of the domestic pylon.
Representations of domestic pylons in the Pharaonic period
Unfortunately, there is no surviving example of a domestic pylon in Egypt,
indicating that the structure was probably built out of mud-brick. The absence of
archaeological parallels makes it hard to form a clear picture of the physical
appearance of the structure and, as we shall see, the papyri offer only limited
evidence for this. However, Pharaonic representations of what seem to be
domestic pylons help to visualise the pylon mentioned in papyri of the Graeco-
Roman period, given the remarkable continuity of native techniques used in
domestic architecture.
5
This section therefore reflects the physical appearance
1
For citation of papyri and inscriptions, we adhere to the Checklist of Editions of Greek, Latin,
Demotic and Coptic Papyri, Ostraca and Tablets, which is available at:
http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/papyrus/texts/clist.html.
2
Chantraine, 1973, 659-64.
3
Husson, 1983.
4
Alston, 2001, 60-1.
5
Husson, 1981, 519-26.
2
of the domestic pylon on the basis of representations of similar domestic
structures in the Pharaonic period.
The ancient Egyptians used the word bx nt to refer to the pylon.
6
It is derived
etymologically from a verbal stem, which means „be vigilant‟.
7
Bx nt refers to
the whole structure and is sometimes followed by the determinative for a pylon,
consisting of two towers and a central doorway in between. In other cases,
however, it is followed by a single tower or without a determinative.
8
From the
Eighteenth Dynasty until the Roman period, the word sbA is sometimes used to
designate the pylon.
9
The term sbA is first used during the Fifth Dynasty to
mean a normal „doorway‟,
10
and often refers to „the doors of houses as well as
temples‟.
11
%b A also occurred in demotic, and survived into Coptic to mean
„door‟.
12
The central gate of the pylon was called mAht ,
13
while the balcony
above it was called mArw (the viewing place) or sSd-n-Xo (the window of
appearance).
14
„Pylon‟ is the English for the Greek (monumental
gateway),
15
which is used in Egyptian religious contexts to designate the
double-towered gateway of traditional temples.
16
Most classical authors used
the word „propylon‟ to designate the two-towered entrance of Egyptian
temples.
17
Diodorus was the first and perhaps the sole classical writer to use
the word „pylon‟ in his references to the Egyptian monuments.
18
6
Faulkner, 1962. 326-7.
7
Sethe, 1933, 903.
8
Erman, and Grapow, 1926, 471.
9
Shubert, 1981, 137-8; Blackman, 1915, 4.
10
Spencer, 1984, 207.
11
Wilson, 1997, 815-6.
12
Erichsen, 1954, 419; Crum, 1930, 321b.
13
On the orthography of the word m#ht : Wilson, 1997, 405.
14
Junker, 1912, 58-9.On other uses of the word m# rw: Wilson, 1997, 404-5.
15
Jaros-Deckert, 1982. 1202.
16
Hellmann, 1992, 353.
17
Hdt. 2.121; Strabo 17.1.28; Plut.De Is.et Os. 32.8-10;
18
Diod.Sic. 1.47.2.
3
Figure 1.The pylon of the temple of Horus at Edfu.
The earliest prototype of the pylon is a series of temple gateways, which date
back to the Middle Kingdom and are built out of mud-brick, except for the
frames of the doorways, which are made of stone.
19
This tradition was
maintained in mortuary temples of the Nineteenth Dynasty (1307-1196 BC) built
on the west bank of Thebes.
20
The entrance to the Chapel of King Sankhkare
Montuhotep III (1998-1991 BC) at Qurna is often referred to as the „earliest
known pylon‟.
21
The earliest appearance of the term b Xn t is found in Ineni‟s
statement, inscribed in his tomb at Thebes (TT 81), concerning his supervision
of the construction of the fourth and fifth pylons of the Temple of Karnak under
Tuthmosis I (1504-1492 BC). The „superintendent of the royal buildings‟ records
that:
I have supervised the great monuments which he (Tuthmosis I) made at
Karnak. A noble hall with columns was erected; great pylons (b x nt w) in
fine Tura limestone were erected on either side of it (the hall).
22
The use of monumental pylons as the facade-entranceways to traditional
temples continued from the Pharaonic, down to the Roman period.
23
We now turn to the appearance of the domestic pylon. Although the physical
appearance of the domestic pylon cannot be ascertained, we would argue that
the domestic pylon had similar physical features to the entrance-pylon of
19
Badawy, 1968, 177-8.
20
Spencer, 1984, 193.
21
Nims, 1965, 70.
22
Shubert 1981, 136-7.
23
Abdelwahed, 2012, chapter two.
4
Egyptian temples (figure 1). The first indication for this is the Tomb of the High
Priest Meryra at Tell el-Amarna. In the tomb, the front view of the royal palace
of King Akhenaten is represented on the upper half of the east wall as a series
of elevations of successive, superimposed sections (figure 2). The lowest level
shows the facade of the palace, which has a two-towered pylon as its main
entrance with a broken lintel doorway, flanked by two side entrances, probably
for the servants. The second level represents the actual front of the palace with
the Window of Appearance, which is flanked by a colonnade on each side.
Above the facade there is the interior part of the palace, which still preserves
the triple division. In the middle lies the Hall of Appearance, serving as the royal
banquet hall and being flanked by a corridor. Finally, the upper level contains
storerooms and apparently the bedroom, which appears to have a ventilator.
24
The appearance of the domestic pylon can be visualised on the basis of the
pylon of this royal palace and other wealthy houses, because the pylon is used
in religious, funerary, and domestic architecture alike, perhaps due to its
distinctive form and symbolism.
25
Figure 2. The two-towered pylon of the royal palace as shown in the Tomb of Meryra at Tell El-
Amarna.
26
24
Smith, 1968, 209, 235.
25
E.g. the tomb of Ankh-hor, a wealthy chief administrator in the estates of the Gods Wives of
Amun under Psamtik II and Apries of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, at El-Assasif necropolis on the
Western Bank of Thebes (TT 414) has a huge mud-brick pylon as its facade-entranceway.
26
Davies, 1903, pl. xxvi
5
The representation of the estates of Aten at el-Amarna, which are depicted on
the eastern side of the northern wall in the Tomb of Meryra, shows a domestic
structure which is often interpreted as a palace (figure 3).
27
In the drawing the
whole structure is preceded by a water-tank with steps, probably used for
irrigation. The palace is entered through a double-towered pylon, which is
flanked by two small entrances, again possibly for the servants. This pylon
entrance leads to the main structure, which is symmetrically arranged with
further pylon-gateways at both ends. These have a central doorway and two
small side-entrances on the facade of its towers. The interior of the central
structure has lines of trees and a series of storerooms, eight on each side. At
the back, the two end spaces have turning stairs, leading to the roof of the
storerooms. Along the front and back there is a portico. On both sides of the
central structure there is a flight of steps, leading up to a platform. Thus
multiple pylon gateways were used to access the interior of this domestic,
possibly palatial, space.
Figure 3. The double-towered pylon of a palace depicted in the Tomb of Meryra at Tell El-
Amarna.
28
27
Davies, 1903, 40-1.
28
Davies, 1903, pl. xxvii
6
Based on the representation of an Egyptian villa in the Tomb of Sennefer (TT
96) (figure 4), Georges Perrot and Charles Chipiez showed that the villa is
entered through a domestic pylon, the top of which is decorated with a cavetto
cornice like the pylon of traditional Egyptian temples (figure 5).
29
A hieroglyphic
inscription is carved on the lintel of the doorway, possibly recording the name
and title of the owner. Like those of the palaces at el-Amarna, the pylon-
entrance is flanked by two side-entrances, possibly used by the servants. The
villa overlooked the Nile and was approached from a harbour with steps. The
pylon gave access to the interior of the villa, which contained a garden, trees,
flowers, and the main dwelling-structure.
Taking these various instances of non-religious pylons into account, we would
argue that the domestic pylon of the papyri looked like the domestic pylons
portrayed in tombs of the Pharaonic period, which themselves resemble the
pylons of Pharaonic temple architecture. Such a similarity in forms between
domestic, funerary and temple architecture is not unlikely, given that
architectural forms and motifs can easily transfer between domestic, religious,
and funerary architecture. The broken-lintel doorway is a case in point. It is
used, for example, in the pronaos of the Ptolemaic temple at Deir el-Medina,
30
and also appears in funerary architecture at Alexandria, occurring in Fort Saleh
Tomb 1. Architecturally, the tomb consists of a rock-cut stairway, giving access
to an open court, from which rooms cut with loculi extend on a north-south axis.
At the north end of the complex there is a painted room with a burial niche. The
facade of the burial chamber combines traditional and Greek motifs, where a
Greek kline is flanked by columns with Egyptian composite capitals. The inner
faces of the columns are attached to an Egyptian broken-lintel doorway.
31
29
Perrot, and Chipiez, 1882, 482.
30
Bagnall, and Rathbone, 2004. 199-200.
31
Venit, 2002, 93.
7
Figure 4. Representation of an Egyptian villa in the Tomb of Sennefer (TT 96).
32
Figure 5. Reconstruction of an Egyptian villa in the Tomb of Sennefer (TT 96).
33
32
Perrot and Chipiez, 1882, 457, fig. 258
33
Perrot and Chipiez, 1882, 483, fig. 267
8
Entranceways in Greek papyri
The word pylon occurs in Greek papyri from the Ptolemaic to the Byzantine
period.
34
The earliest surviving attestation of the Greek term pylon occurs in
P.Lon. VII.1974 of 254 BC, while the latest surviving occurrence is in SB
VI.8988 of AD 647. It is associated with different forms of architecture; it is used
to designate the main entrance to granaries, temples, theatres, gymnasia, and,
most notably, houses. It seems that the physical appearance and use of the
pylon depended largely upon the context in which the term is used. Since the
temple pylon has been sufficiently covered in the previous section, and given
that there is no information about the pylon associated with granaries,
35
we will
only focus on the appearance and architectural layout of pylons associated with
theatres and gymnasia.
In a second century AD papyrus from the Fayum, the monumental gateway of a
theatre is described as „a double-valve pylon‟,
36
thus forming the entrance to
one of the most important structures of entertainment in Roman Egypt. Since it
is associated with a distinctively classical style structure and given the presence
of archaeological parallels of such theatrical gateways, we would suggest that
this pylon took the shape of a Greek propylon rather than an Egyptian pylon.
One can compare this gateway with the propylon of the theatre at Antinoopolis,
which consisted of a monumental gateway with three entrances, where the
middle entrance is double in height and three times wider than the two lateral
ones (figure 6). Thus the architecture of the Greek propylon did resemble that of
triumphal arches like the one at Antinoopolis (figure 7).
37
34
P.Münch. XI.19-20. The papyrus dates to the reign of Maurice.
35
P.Mich. V.226. deals with the rent of the granary of the temple of Kronos/ Sobek at Tebtunis to
the deceased granary guard Thenapynchis and her living son Apynchis, son of Harmiysis, and
his wife Thaesis. According to the papyrus, the granary contains “a tower (πύργος) and another
tower (πύργος) adjacent to it and a gateway ()”.
36
BGU IV.1024.9-10.
37
Kühn, 1913, 63-4.
9
Figure 6. The propylon of the theatre at Antinoopolis in 1799.
38
Figure 7. The Triumphal Arch at Antinoopolis in 1799.
39
The pylon is also mentioned as the entrance to gymnasia. In AD 283 a papyrus
mentions two joiners, who were responsible for joining the wooden beams of a
colonnade at Oxyrhynchus, asking Aurelius Apollonius, a holder of numerous
municipal offices, for the payment of four talents, four thousand drachmas for
their labour in the construction of a street, which ran „from the principal gateway
(pylon) of the gymnasium as far south as the Hierakion Lane‟.
40
The pylon also
occurs in connection with the gymnasium at Alexandria: „Take notice at
Alexandria before the principal gateway (pylon) of the gymnasium‟.
41
According
to Jean Delorme, the gymnasium at Alexandria took a classical appearance and
38
McKenzie, 2007, 158, fig. 265
39
McKenzie, 2007, 157, fig. 263a
40
P.Oxy. I.55.9.
41
P.Flor. III.382.15-16.
10
had two entrances; a principal gateway that gave access to a secondary one.
42
The pylon of the gymnasium at Alexandria can be compared with the propylon of
the gymnasium at Cyrene (figure 8). The appearance of domestic pylons
differed from the appearance of the pylons associated with theatres and
gymnasia, when the latter clearly had a Classical Greek appearance. The
Greek propylon refers to the front gateway, which precedes the enclosure wall of
sanctuaries, like propylon A of the Serapeion C at Delos and the Inner
Propylaea at Eleusis.
43
It also designates a separate structure within the
temple‟s precinct, where it is approached by a stairway, like the propylaea on
the Acropolis of Athens. The physical appearance of the Greek propylon can be
seen in the gymnasia at Epidaurus, Olympia, and Cyrene. The latter was
associated with the Ptolemaic ruler cult, and was remodelled as a Caesareion
dedicated to Augustus (figure 8).
44
The pylons of theatres and gymnasia
therefore had different forms to the pylons of traditional Egyptian temples and
palaces, and, in the authors‟ view, domestic pylons.
Figure 8.The propylon of the gymnasium at Cyrene.
45
42
Delorme, 1960, 358.
43
Hellmann, 1992,350-3.
44
On those at Epidaurus and Olympia, see Lauter, 1986, 202-3. On that at Cyrene, see Ward-
Perkins et al., 1958, 137-94.
45
Burkhalter, 1992, 308, fig. 5
11
Other domestic entranceways
Having explored the appearance of the pylons of such public structures as
theatres and gymnasia, let us now consider other domestic entranceways. The
domestic pylon must be distinguished from other physical and spatial elements
connected with houses, including , and . The
occurrence of all these terms in papyri suggest that they differ from each other
in architectural sense. In papyri and classical literature on Egypt is the
normal word for „doorway‟, including the front door of the house.
46
In a petition
of AD 110-112, Heraclas son of Pausirion accused Apollos son of Heraclides,
both from Oxyrhynchus, of attacking his wife, Taamois, while she was standing
„before the front door‟ of the house.
47
However, there were different ways of
referring to the front door. One is the , i.e. the traversing or
passing door.
48
The is mentioned in two petitions from Tebtunis,
where a number of villagers complained about a gang of intruders who „crushed
the front door‟ of their houses.
49
Another word for the front door is
, i.e. the exterior or outer door,
50
which is also mentioned in a papyrus from
Oxyrhynchus, testifying to a lease of a workshop with its front door.
51
The third
phrase used to designate the front door is .
52
Whether followed by
or not, the or can refer to the main entrance.
53
Unfortunately, not much information is given by papyri about the design and
function of the and . However, both were undoubtedly
associated with the house frontage, as their combined names imply. The
was probably a „vestibule‟, which preceded the main entrance to the
house. It could also mean the entrance to the aule.
54
A papyrus of AD 586
testifies that Aurelia Tapia has sold half a house to Flavius Kriakos at Syene
(Aswan). The house consisted of „an outer vestibule, a pylon, a terrace, a court,
and a baking-oven (
46
P.Oxy. XXXVI.2758.10; Hdt. 2.48; Plut.De Is. etOs. 7. See also Husson, 1983, 93-107.
47
P.Oxy. XXXVI.2758.10: pro\ th=j qu/raj.
48
Husson, 1983, 98-99.
49
P.Tebt. I.45.21-22; P.Tebt. I.47.13-14: .
50
Husson, 1983, 99. In P.Oxy. VI.903.20, it occurs as .
51
P.Oxy. XVI.1966.14-15. AD 505.
52
P.Tebt. III.795.7: .
53
Husson, 1983, 99-100.
54
Husson, 1983, 237-8.
12
)‟.
55
Yet in a papyrus from Oxyrhynchus a of a landlord‟s house is
exceptionally mentioned to have a small room within it.
56
In religious contexts,
however, the could also mean the space in front of the main entrance
of a temple.
57
Thus a Greek metrical inscription on the pylon of the temple of
Isis and Serapis at Qysis (Qasr Douch) records a collection of money by the
high priest of Isis on behalf of the reconstruction of the temple, including „the
which was built up within the enclosure wall‟.
58
The propylon, on the other hand, has several meanings in connection with
different forms of architecture. It was probably used in connection with domestic
architecture to mean a „porch‟ of the entrance. In that case, it was an essential
part of the house, that is, it could not be rented or sold separately.
59
It may have
projected from the facade of the house and preceded the pylon, as its combined
name implies.
60
It is also mentioned in connection with a temple at Busiris, yet
the papyrus does not indicate anything about its appearance or function,
although it is likely that it simply refers to a monumental gateway.
61
A papyrus of AD 79 certifies the mortgage of a house by Dionysius, son of
Phanias in favour of Didymus, son of Sarapion. The house was located in the
Quarter of Hermaeus near the Serapeion at Oxyrhynchus, and consisted of a
„two-storied tower and propylon and passage and court and a vaulted chamber
( )‟.
62
The
occurrence of the tower (purgos) and the propylon in this papyrus indicates that
the two structures were architecturally distinguished from each other. The
purgos is a distinctive structure that is frequently mentioned in papyri.
63
In
Greek military architecture, it refers to a defensive tower as well as a place of
habitation for soldiers.
64
In contrast, the purgos in Egyptian domestic contexts
55
P.Münch. 11.19-20. The papyrus dates to the reign of Maurice.
56
P.Oxy. XVI.2044.16: () () () () .
57
Hellmann, 1992, 348-9.
58
SEG XXXVIII.1796 = SEG LIV.1738 = Bernand, 1969, 471-5, no. 118: ()()
E.
59
P.Oxy. II.243.15.
60
Husson, 1983, 238.
61
P.Oxy. XX.2272.5-6, 10.
62
P.Oxy. II.243.15-16.
63
Husson, 1983, 248-51.
64
Hellmann, 1992, 361-4.
13
designates a distinctive form of tower used for certain purposes, including
storage of agricultural products,
65
and habitation (cf. figures 9, 10, and 11).
66
A
papyrus of AD 79 mentions „a two-storied tower-house in which there are a
propylon, an exedra, an aithrion and a vaulted room‟.
67
Multi-storeyed tower-
houses were known since the Pharaonic period.
68
Models of houses in the form
of towers (figures 9-10) and excavations at Karanis (figure 11) confirm that
tower-houses continued to be common in Roman Egypt.
69
Figure 9 (left). Model of a house, Graeco-Roman period, British Museum, No. 2462.
70
Figure 10 (right). Model of a house, Graeco-Roman period, Cairo Museum.
71
Figure 11. Multi-storeyed houses at Karanis.
72
The oikiadipurgia was a distinctive house-type related in some cases to families
of considerable wealth.
73
Unfortunately, nothing is known about the physical
appearance of this house-type, and little of its internal arrangement. However,
65
P.Mich. V.226.20-21. Preisigke, 1919, 424-32; Nowicka, 1972, 53-62.
66
Hdt. 2.95; P.Tebt.I.47.15-16.
67
P.Oxy. II.243.15-17.
68
Davies, 1929, 236-9.
69
Engelbach, in ASAE 31, 129-31; Gazda, 1983, 19.
70
Davies, 1929, 250, fig. 14
71
Engelbach, 1931, 129, fig. 3
72
Gazda, 1983, 19, fig. 30
73
P.Oxy. XIV.1703.
14
on the basis of ancient Egyptian representations, which show large houses with
two slanting towers attached to the frontage (figure 12),
74
Alston has suggested
a reconstruction of its physical appearance.
75
Figure 12. Reconstruction of a Pharaonic image of a large house with two slanting towers
attached to the frontage.
76
The frontage of the oikiadipurgia was probably flanked by two towers, which
were mainly used for habitation.
77
According to Alston, the construction of two
huge towers was perhaps meant to create a more imposing frontage. As
elsewhere in the Roman Empire, there was an architectural emphasis on the
house frontage in Roman Egypt. Impressive house frontages had the potential
not only to „assert the status of the occupants of the house in the public space
of the street‟, but also to „demarcate the boundary between public and private‟.
78
The use of the house frontage for communicating social statuses and identities
is known also in the Pharaonic period, when representations of houses in tombs
show that some wealthy Egyptians used to inscribe their names and titles in
prominent positions on or by the main doorway of their houses.
79
A good
example is the house of the chief builder Hatiay (T34.1 & 4) at el-Amarna, which
is notable for its complete and brightly painted door lintel that carries his name
and positions (now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo).
80
Such major architectural
and externally visible features as the pylon and dipurgia served to identify the
house in the Roman period, as had the names of neighbours in sale and lease
contracts.
81
A variety of other entranceways and house facades were known in
Graeco-Roman Egypt; those associated with the larger houses of wealthier
74
For illustrations of a two-towered pylon in an ancient Egyptian house, see Davies, 1929, pl.
xxxii.
75
Alston, 2001, 62.
76
Alston, 1997,31, fig. 2
77
Nowicka, 1973, 175-8.
78
Alston, 1997, 30-7.
79
Perrot and Chipiez, 1882, 457.
80
Frankfort and Pendlebury, 1933.
81
P.Mich. V.294.
15
families tend to take monumental forms in order to assert status. Such
entranceways can be architecturally distinguished from the domestic pylon,
which has other distinctive architectural features that will be discussed below.
The architectural layout of the domestic pylon
Having explored the general appearance of the domestic pylon with regards to
its likely similarity to the pylons of Egyptian temples, and discussed the other
forms of domestic entranceways, let us now turn to the architectural layout of
the domestic pylon. The domestic pylon appears in papyri as an architectural
unit.
82
The first problem that should be raised is the location of the pylon in
relation to the house. P.Oxy.XXIII.2406 seems to provide the answer. The
papyrus depicts the internal arrangement of the aithrion-house, which is
frequently attested in urban and rural contexts (figure 13).
83
According to Eric
Turner, the papyrus dates to the second century AD and shows the ground plan
of a house. The architectural layout of the house, in Turner‟s view, consists of a
single entrance door (on the left), giving access to three successive courtyards,
rather than rooms. The first of them was called (), the second as
and the third was left undesignated. In the second courtyard there is a door
named () leading down to a cellar.
84
Since has never been
attested in papyri to mean a courtyard, Turner‟s interpretation of the pylon as a
court is untenable.
85
Herwig Maehler has therefore argued that the house
consists of a tower-like gateway (pylon), giving access to a central courtyard
open to the sky in the form of an aithrion, rather than an atrium. In the middle of
the atreion there is a structure named obolisk(os) and a flight of steps leading
up to the upper storeys and a door leading down to a cellar. Finally, the central
courtyard leads directly to an unnamed court or yard, probably an aule.
86
82
Luckhard, 1914, 55-6; Husson, 1983, 243-6.
83
P.Oxy. XXIII.2406. This papyrus only contains a drawing of the ground plan of a house.
84
Turner, 1957, 142-5.
85
Husson, 1983, 243-6.
86
Maehler, 1983. 136. Cf. the plan of House 3 at Ismant el-Kharab, which consists of an
entrance hall, which leads to two successive courts, acting respectively as an aithrion and an
aule (Hope, 1988, 160-78; Gardner and Lieu, 1996, 146-69; Knudstad, and Frey, 1999, 189-
214.
16
Figure 13. The ground plan of the house drawn in P.Oxy.XXIII.2406, the second century AD.
87
As for the size of the house, Turner noticed that the „measurements given on
the plan, if they are measurements, cannot be reconciled with each other or
interpreted in absolute terms as dimensions of the house‟.
88
For example, d = 4
under () could be applied to the distance between its parallel walls, b = 2
under () could be applied to the distance between the two horizontal
limits, and d = 4 upside down under could be taken to be the same unit
and applied to the distance from the wall to the exit door leading to the
undesignated court. However, it is not a unit that will fit the figure eg/ = 5⅓ of
the horizontal measurements of the undesignated room, or the two g‟s (one in
the () and one by the exit door from the Although the Egyptian
cubit (52.5 cm) was still in use in the Roman period as a unit of measurement
for Egyptian traditional buildings,
89
the figures are not meant to be measured
against the Egyptian cubit, or even against the Roman cubit (44.4 cm),
particularly when compared to house measurements in other papyri.
90
Despite
the incompatibility of measurements and the inadequacy of the plan, which is
clear from the absence of room divisions, the plan throws light on the internal
organisation of domestic space in Roman Egypt. The pylon is the first
architectural structure in the house. Since the word () is never used to
87
Parsons, 2007,18
88
P.Oxy. XXIII.2406.
89
Arnold, 1999, 229.
90
Cf. P.Lond. I.50.7 where a house measures 21 × 13 cubits and its aule measures 4 × 13
cubits.
17
designate the front door of the house,
91
it follows that it is written on a court-
shaped space in order to show that it was not a simple doorway, but a huge
tower-gateway, which had an extension in depth. The pylon itself then had an
entrance-door (thura).
92
This position recalls the already discussed pylon of
Egyptian-style temples and the two-towered gateway of houses and palaces
which appear on representations of Pharaonic tombs.
93
P.Oxy. XXIII.2406
therefore confirms that the pylon formed its facade-entrance.
References to pylons in papyri, related in particular to the rent, sale, or
confiscation of domestic properties, provide various hints as to their possible
appearance. The pylon could be a freestanding
94
or an attached structure (
).
95
Like other architectural elements of the house,
the pylon could be refurbished, as occurred at the house of Diotimos in third-
century BC Philadelphia,
96
or repaired, if damaged.
97
Papyri also confirm that
the domestic pylon could be rented,
98
confiscated,
99
or even sold, whether
whole or in part.
100
In one papyrus only the triclinium chamber within the pylon
was sold.
101
It seems that there is no pattern as for the orientation of the pylon.
The orientation of the pylon simply followed that of the main house, the
directions of which must have been dictated by its location in relation to the
street and other houses. According to surviving papyri, the pylon could be
oriented east ([] ),
102
west ( ),
103
or north
( ).
104
Although there is no surviving papyrus in which the pylon is
oriented towards the south, it is likely that pylons were oriented to the south as
91
Husson, 1983, 243-46.
92
P.Princ. III.153.5-6.
93
Dombart, 1933. 87-98; Shubert, 1981, 135-64; Jaros-Deckert, 1982. 1202-5; Graefe, 1983,
55-75.
94
P.Lond. III.1023.19. This is inferred from the papyrus where the pylon is not attached to any
other building.
95
P.Lond. V.1722.18-19.
96
P.Cair.Zen. IV.59764, verso, 27.
97
PSI V.546, recto, 13-14.
98
Stud.Pal. XX.53.19-20.
99
BGU VI.1222.23.
100
P.Mich. V.295.4.
101
P.Mich. V.295.4.
102
P.Lond. III.978.8, 10, 13.
103
SB VI.9586.14.
104
P.Lond. V.1724.25.
18
well.
105
The domestic pylon appears in papyri as a multi-storeyed structure.
106
P.Oxy. III.495 refers to the presence of „an exedra and a room in the upper (sc.
storey) of the pylon‟.
107
A papyrus of AD 96 confirms that a domestic pylon
consisted of at least two storeys with different rooms, some of which served as
living suites.
108
Papyri seem to suggest that bath-houses such as the house of [---] Severus at
Oxyrhynchus lacked such pylons.
109
The same holds true of the oikiadipurgia
(two-towered house) and the oikiatripurgia (three-towered house). Papyri
indicate that domestic pylons were associated with gate-houses and aithrion
houses.
110
The high cost of constructing multi-storeyed pylons suggests that
pylon-gateways were closely associated with wealthy houses such as the family
of Soeris mentioned below.
111
The occupants perhaps used the pylon to create
an imposing frontage and probably to assert their social status and position
within their local community.
The pylon could also be associated with communal structures.
112
Thus in AD
240 the estate centre of Sphex in the Fayum contained a number of workshops,
rooms, and a pylon in which there is a porter‟s lodge used by Saprion.
113
It is
unclear whether this structure had the same architectural form as the gate-
houses. There is no other attestation of a pylon in a rural estate context in
Roman Egypt. However, one might compare tower-houses illustrated in late
Roman mosaics and the fortified farms in north Africa such as the castellum at
Nador, which an inscription carved over the entrance identifies as the estate of
M. Cincius Hilarianus. The facade of its entrance is characterised by the
presence of an impressive central arched gate, which is framed by two
105
BGU VI.1222.23.
106
BGUVI.1222.23: .
107
P.Oxy. III.495.8: .
108
P.Oxy. I.104.25-26: .
109
P.Oxy. XVII.2145.
110
P.Oxy.XXIII.2406;
111
P.Oxy. I.104.25-26.
112
P.Mich. XI.620.i.9-10.
113
P.Mich. XI.620.9 from Theadelphia: .
19
monumental rectangular towers.
114
This simply means that the pylons of rural
estates did resemble those of other houses.
The use of the domestic pylon
Having considered the architectural layout of the domestic pylon, let us now turn
to its use. Like other types of the above mentioned entranceways, the domestic
pylon shaped the house frontage, making it a potential arena for harassment,
normally caused by settlers. Thus in 221 BC one person complained that
Antigonus, a Persian of the Epigone and a settler in Berenikis Thesmophoru in
the Arsinoite, „hit him before the pylon of the house ( []
)‟.
115
Similarly, in AD 126-132 Akous son of Herakleos from Tebtunis
petitions the strategos and complains about a gang of intruders, who „made a
bold attack upon my house in the village … in the gateway (
[...] )‟.
116
Papyri indicate that the ground floor of the pylon contained a number of rooms,
some of which served as living-suites for the house owners.
117
P.Oxy. I.104,
written in AD 96, is a will of Soeris in which she bequeaths her house to her
son, Areotes. Her husband has the right to live in it, with a yearly payment of
forty-eight drachmas until the husband has received three hundred drachmas,
which is the amount she had borrowed from him. If the father dies, the son has
to pay the sum to his sister, Tnepheros. Soeris allocated „one room on the
ground floor in the pylon‟ as the dwelling-place of her daughter, Tnepheros, if
she becomes separated from her husband.
118
Storehouses were also located in the ground floor of the pylon (
),
119
in which were stored various items and
supplies, including wine jars.
120
Although storehouses are not confirmed on the
ground floor of the pylon of the house of Soeris, there is no reason for assuming
114
Anselmino et al., 1989, 46-52, fig. 13.
115
P.Enteux 74.3-4.
116
P.Tebt. II.331.7-9.
117
P.Oxy. I.104.25-26.
118
P.Oxy.I.104.25-6: . See also Lindsay, 1963, 206.
119
PSI VIII.913.3-5.
120
P.Princ. III.153.5-6.
20
that storehouses were absent from the pylons that had dwelling areas on the
ground floors. Presumably there were different rooms and spaces located on
the ground floor of pylons, as was the case on the upper floors, and some of
these could be used as storehouses or living suites, or perhaps for both ends.
There was a tax levied on the pylon in the Ptolemaic period, perhaps because
of its possible commercial uses. Thus in a papyrus of 239 BC Sokrates
acknowledged that Therous daughter of Nektathumis, an Arsinoite, with her
guardian Herakleides son of Apollonios, „has paid to the Crown at the Bank of
Python at Krokodilonpolis the tax on a house and a pylon and a bath-room‟.
121
Furthermore, the domestic pylon mentioned in a papyrus of AD 189-190 from
Philadelphia had a „vaulted chamber‟ ( ), which was possibly used for
storage,
122
as were the located of the main house.
123
Being located at the house frontage, certain rooms within the pylon were
appropriate spaces for hosting social events and thus for communicating the
family‟s social status through the furnishings of its rooms. A papyrus of AD 333
from Hermopolis Magna confirms an andron in the first floor of the pylon.
124
As
late as AD 647 a symposion is located in an upper storey of a domestic pylon of
a house located in Oxyrhynchus.
125
Similarly, at Tebtunis in the first century AD,
Thasos, daughter of Konnos, sold to Paches, son of Peteeus, „a dining room
with three couches (sc. located) in the pylon, in which there are a storehouse
and a silo ( )‟.
126
Given the common
l–r shift in Greek papyri uncovered from Egypt, the meaning of the word
should not be puzzling.
127
It is almost certain that occurs in Egyptian
domestic contexts to designate the .
128
In contrast with Roman houses
elsewhere, as at Pompeii and Ephesus, where triclinia were located deep within
121
P.Tebt. III.1.814.30-5.
122
BGUVII.1575.9.
123
P.Lond. III.978.8, 10, 12, 13-14. This house has four cellars in which there are vaulted
chambers.
124
P.Lond. III.978.13.
125
SB VI.8988.57-8: .
126
P.Mich. V.295.4.
127
The word also occurs in a second-century BC inscription from Delos (Inscr. Délos 444
B 107: ).
128
The word is absent from the monographs of Husson and Hellmann.
21
the house,
129
in Roman Egypt triclinia were normally located near the house
frontage, although they could also be located in courts.
130
The construction of
triclinia in houses in Egypt might have been a Graeco-Roman influence;
however, banquets in domestic space are attested since the Pharaonic period.
Simon Ellis stressed the capacity of western Roman triclinia, which were usually
fitted out with fine mosaic floors and wall-paintings, to articulate social relations
and communicate the social status of the owner.
131
In its use as a space for
dining, the domestic pylon therefore provided an arena for ritual activities, which
reinforced the social and cultural identity of the participants.
Symposia are also associated with the upper storey of the pylon, particularly in
the Byzantine period.
132
A papyrus of AD 331 from Hermopolis locates a small
chamber ( ), an oven ([]), and an andron ( ; a male
dining area) in the first floor of the pylon (
).
133
The andron refers to men‟s apartment in a house. It also
designates a banqueting hall, where men meet for feasting or the guests of the
master of the house were received.
134
It is unclear whether men and women
dined together in Roman Egypt. Dinner invitations were normally held by
men;
135
however, some invitations were issued by women.
136
The existence of
an andron, which is infrequently mentioned in late papyri, is insufficient in itself
to suggest that the internal arrangement of houses or pylons reflected any
gender differentiation.
137
The presence of an andron on the second floor of a
pylon also does not indicate that women dined separately.
138
In Greek houses
like those at Olynthos, dinner parties were presumably held in the andron and
were probably limited to males.
139
The andron was sometimes so separated
129
Wallace-Hadrill,1988, 43-97.
130
Husson, 1983, 279-81.
131
Ellis, 1991. 117-134; Ellis 1997, 41-51.
132
P.Lond. V.1724.24-26.AD 578-582; SB VI.8988.57-58 (AD 647).
133
P.Lond. III.978.8, 10, 13.
134
For papyrological attestations of the , see Husson, 1983, 37-40.
135
P.Oxy. XIV.1755.
136
P.Oxy. XII.1579; P.Coll. Youtie I.52 (the second or third century AD).
137
On attestations of the a0ndrw/n in papyri: Husson, 1983, 37-40.
138
P.Flor. III.285.12: .
139
Robinson and Graham,1938, 75-80.
22
that it could be entered without approaching the main house (oikos).
140
In
Roman society, women participated in private dinner parties, and this practice is
taken for granted as a distinctive feature of Roman social life.
141
Dining rooms
were a major feature of Roman houses, and were an important space for the
display of wealth and luxury.
142
In addition to public structures and temples,
143
the domestic pylons in Graeco-Roman Egypt provided dining facilities for a
variety of important social occasions, including the birthday of a son.
144
Given
the location of the pylon at the house frontage, the positioning of the triclinium,
symposion and andron within it may also indicate that the residents wanted to
limit access and maintain the privacy of the internal areas of the house.
The upper floors of the pylon would have other kinds of rooms, which served
numerous functions. A papyrus of AD 181/4 locates „an exedra and a chamber
in the upper (sc. storey) of the pylon (
),
145
which might have been used as parlours or saloons as is the exedra
attested in a private house in Roman Oxyrhynchus.
146
The reference to a silo (a
place for storing grain) in the pylon sold by Thasos, daughter of Konnos, to
Paches, son of Peteeus, at Tebtunis, suggests that it was located in the upper
floor, because an oven has been confirmed in the upper storey of the pylon
elsewhere.
147
While the ground floor of the pylon contained living suites for
house owners, a small bedroom is also confirmed in the second floor of a pylon
( [] ).
148
140
Nevett, L. 1994,98-112; Nevett 1995. For the architecture of Greek houses in general see
Nevett, 2005.
141
Vitr. De arch. 6.4.
142
Clarke,1991.
143
E.g. the first birthday of a daughter in the Serapeion at Oxyrhynchus (P.Oxy.XXXVI.2791); a
dinner invitation issued by the exegetes „in the temple of Demeter‟ (P.Oxy.XII.1485); a feast „in
the Thoereion‟ in relation to a coming-of-age ceremony (P.Oxy. I.110; P.Oxy.XII.1484;
P.Oxy.XXXI.2592; P.Oxy.XXXVI.2791; P.Oxy.LII.3693; PSI XV.1543; SB XVIII.13875); a dinner
party in the birth house (P.Köln I.57.3; P.Oxy.VI.927; P.Oxy.XII.1484); and a banquet „in the
gymnasium‟ in relation to the crowning of a son (as a magistrate?) (P.Oxy. XVII.2147).
144
P.Oxy. IX.1214 (the fifth century AD).
145
P.Oxy. III.495.8-10.
146
P.Oxy. VI.912.12-13. Cf. P.Oxy. VIII.1128.15.
147
P.Lond. III.978.8, 10, 13.
148
SB VI.9586.14.
23
Conclusion
The domestic pylon of the Pharaonic and post-Pharaonic periods appears to
have been influenced by the pylon of traditional Egyptian temples in its physical
appearance. The domestic and religious pylons were huge structures, which
contained multiple storeys and rooms that were approached by an internal
stairway. Both structures served as the facade of, and entrance to, the
construction in which they are embedded. Yet the function of each architectural
form depended on the context in which it was used. The domestic pylon
appears in papyri as a huge, self-contained structure, forming the centrepiece of
the house frontage. It consisted of multiple storeys and contained numerous
rooms. The rooms in the upper storeys served as bedrooms, magazines,
storerooms, silos, andreia, triclinia, and symposia, whereas those in the ground
floor were used as dwelling-places for the house occupants, but also for
storage. Therefore, the rooms in the ground floor mainly served living and
storage purposes, while those located in the upper storeys were allocated for
sleeping, storage, and different social occasions. The rooms in the upper floor
of the pylon were reached by an internal stairway, which connected all the
storeys of the structure. The pylon was used as an indicator of social status as it
was associated with houses of wealthy families.
24
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