Mons Smaragdus inscription
One of the rock-cut temples carved into the cliffs of the Wadi Sikait, at ancient Mons Smaragdus, bears a dedicatory inscription carved into the lintel (SEG 27: 1108).
An emerald miner named Polyphantos begins by specifying the date, which fell during the reign of Gallienus and his father Valerian somewhere between 253 and 268. Thanking various Egyptian and Roman gods, he specifies that this sanctuary is for Berenike, for whom Polyphantos and his fellow workers made a statue and a cup made of two pounds of silver (neither of which remains in the niche!)
The last two sections of the text are seen here, the rest on other lintels. Unfortunately the inscription has suffered horrendous damage in the past century; older transcriptions and drawings make clear that more than half of the text has been destroyed – by the elements, vandalism, or a combination of both – as pieces of stone have fallen from the lintel.
Egypt, Eastern Desert, Wadi Sikait: ca. 260 AD
Mons Smaragdus inscription
One of the rock-cut temples carved into the cliffs of the Wadi Sikait, at ancient Mons Smaragdus, bears a dedicatory inscription carved into the lintel (SEG 27: 1108).
An emerald miner named Polyphantos begins by specifying the date, which fell during the reign of Gallienus and his father Valerian somewhere between 253 and 268. Thanking various Egyptian and Roman gods, he specifies that this sanctuary is for Berenike, for whom Polyphantos and his fellow workers made a statue and a cup made of two pounds of silver (neither of which remains in the niche!)
The last two sections of the text are seen here, the rest on other lintels. Unfortunately the inscription has suffered horrendous damage in the past century; older transcriptions and drawings make clear that more than half of the text has been destroyed – by the elements, vandalism, or a combination of both – as pieces of stone have fallen from the lintel.
Egypt, Eastern Desert, Wadi Sikait: ca. 260 AD