www.touregypt.net It is likely that the typical tourist to Egypt will not, on their first visit, tour the Fayoum region, though for those interested in nature, or fossils, perhaps they should.
However, for the antiquities enthusiast, there is simply too many other, perhaps somewhat more convenient sights to see, and the Fayoum is not particularly well promoted by tour operators. Yet, the Fayoum does offer many important historical monuments. Many of these date from the Graeco-Roman Period, though others are much older, including Medinet Madi, which many consider to be one of the most important temples in the Fayoum.
Situated about 30 kilometers southwest of Medinet el-Fayoum, Medinet Madi, which means "City of the Past", was during the Graeco-Roman Period known as Narmouthis (City of Renenutet). It was first recorded in modern times by Napoleon's expedition to Egypt. Grenfell and Hunt were aware of its existence but did no excavations. Early in the 20th century, Jouguet investigated the site and he was the first to suggest that it consisted of two distinct towns, one measuring forty thousand square meters situated on an eastern kom, and another, some three or four times as large, on a western kom. German archaeologists began work there in 1910, but the war interrupted those efforts and the concession was later taken over by the University of Milan.
During the first season of excavation under the Milan team directed by A. Vogliano, the remains of a temple dedicated to Isis Hermouthis, the Greek version of Renenutet was unearthed. Though later transferred to the Greco-Roman Museum in Alexandria, pilasters incorporated into the temple structure were inscribed with Greek hymns to this goddess. However, one line in one of the hymns also referred to an earlier Middle Kingdom temple on the site dedicated by Amenemhet III.
hat now famous temple was later unearthed in the second excavation campaign. Also uncovered from the sand was a second Ptolemaic temple, back to back with the Middle Kingdom one. However, this series of excavations only lasted for two additional seasons. Afterwards, it was not until 1966, under the direction of Dr. Edda Bresciani that excavations resumed.
Today, the most interesting structure is of course the southern facing Middle Kingdom temple with its Ptolemaic addition, located just over a mound beyond the Italians' old dig house. |