In early 2020, the French Archaeological Mission to the Egyptian Eastern Desert established its camp in the mining district of Ghozza to excavate and study sites in the area. These consisted of gold mines exploited during the Ptolemaic period (and less intensively during the Early Islamic period), a Ptolemaic mining village, and a Roman fort.Footnote 1 The fort of Deir el-Atrash stands in the eponymous wadi, about 10 km north as the crow flies (Fig. 1).Footnote 2
Sites along the caravan road from Kaine (modern Qena) to ‘Abu Sha'ar in the Eastern Desert of Egypt. (Map by A. Rabot/MAFDO.)
The fort is built on the road to the quarries at Mons Porphyrites (Gebel Dokhan), the mountains of which can be seen from the site.Footnote 3 This road started in ancient Kaine, modern Qena,Footnote 4 and continued to the quarries, and then from the 4th c. on to the Late Roman fort of ‘Abu Sha'ar on the Red Sea.Footnote 5 The praesidium of Deir el-Atrash (26°56′06′'N/33°04′59″E) stands on a natural terrace in the middle of the wadi between the stations of Bab el-Mukhenig, about 10 km away to the southwest and Qattar,Footnote 6 30 km to the northeast. This hydreuma (watering station) is close to the Porphyrites mountains, which means it was an important and strategic relay on this road. Despite having been surveyed and described several times, it had never been fully studied or excavated.Footnote 7 The archaeological excavations conducted in this praesidium by the French team are the first that have been carried out on a fort located along this caravan route: only the metallon of Umm BaladFootnote 8 and the Porphyrites quarry sites, located near the road, had previously been excavated.
Considering the presence of material from the second half of the 1st c. CE in the fort and the baths area of Ghozza, a few kilometers south, one may suggest a shift of occupation from the latter to Deir el-Atrash between the late second half of the 1st c. and the early 2nd c. CE.Footnote 9 From this, one could then suggest that the Domitianic road initially linked the Nile to the Porphyrites via Ghozza, and then shifted northward to pass through Deir el-Atrash. This renewal could be explained by two factors that are not necessarily contradictory. Deir el-Atrash was located on the shortest route to the Porphyrites from the Nile Valley, along which the material assemblages point to a foundation date towards the turn of the 1st and 2nd c. CE for several of the main structures (the Porphyrites fort, probably the south well, and the southwest village, along with the opening of the Lykabettus quarries). The increasing scale of work in the Porphyrites quarries and all their surrounding infrastructure required a reorganization of the main road to ensure a better exploitation of the raw material and its transport to the Nile and to the Imperial sites where it was worked, such as the “porphyry portico.”Footnote 10 The Romans may have settled first in Ghozza because they knew the site provided water; they probably launched the construction of the fort and well in the Wadi Atrash when they realized that its position would be better. For now, however, without further excavation work in Deir el-Atrash it is still too early to clearly explain the link between Atrash and Ghozza. In a study of place-names at Umm Balad, H. Cuvigny has recently suggested the attribution of Melan Oros (Μέλαν Ὄροc, “Black [Stone] Mountain”) to the Deir el-Atrash praesidium.
The praesidium of Deir el-Atrash follows a standard layout that has been observed in other desert forts (Fig. 2). Built from rough blocks of dark graywacke taken from the mountains surrounding the wadi, it covers an irregular square of 55 m on each side around a large central pit that is 20 m in diameter and ca. 5 m deep, and is equipped with a well. Well-preserved internal structures and rooms are aligned on all four sides around the central depression. The unusual appearance of the fort is due to the extensive use of mud bricks, except in the curtain wall. This material is used everywhere else, including on all the upper parts of the walls, the vaults of the internal spaces, and the towers of the south-oriented entrance system. Against the praesidium's outer eastern side there is an annex structure, usually called “animal lines,” interpreted as stabling. This structure is 56 m x 42 m and was intended to shelter the animals working in the caravans along the porphyry road and pulling carts, and maybe also the animals used locally at the fort.Footnote 11
Plan of the Deir el-Atrash fort. (Plan by D. Laisney/MAFDO.)
The excavations carried out on the entrance system and the dump located outside, as well as the study of the associated furnishings, show a first, short military occupation dated to the late 1st–early 2nd c. CE, followed by a second one in the late 4th–early 5th c. CE, according to the ceramic evidence.Footnote 12 Between these two periods, given the absence of any kind of material, the fort seems to have been abandoned.Footnote 13 The value of red porphyry and black porphyry, usually employed for luxurious imperial architectural decorations, indicates that the Deir el-Atrash fort was intended to protect, manage, and supply caravans and wagons travelling on the route leading to the Gebel Dokhan quarries.Footnote 14 It has also been suggested that the fort had a military supply role during the Byzantine period (5th–7th c. CE), but this is not yet supported by archaeological evidence.Footnote 15 The archaeological investigation initially aimed to shed light on the organization of this well-preserved military station and to establish as precise a chronology as possible. It also had the aim of complementing our knowledge of the various road networks of the Eastern Desert, and of providing insight into the daily life of the fort's occupants, which would have been punctuated by the passage of the caravans.
This article will focus on the exceptional discovery of a large painting on one of the towers of the entrance system belonging to the first phase of the fort's construction, dated to the late 1st–early 2nd c. CE. (Further research and the results of fieldwork will be published after their verification and completion during future seasons.) Extending across approximately 2.4 m of the surface of the tower and curtain wall, and containing figurative scenes, this painting is a unicum in the sense that until now, across the whole limes, only whitewash and a few red lines have been discovered on the outside of military structures.Footnote 16 The iconographic program is very well preserved and represents a subject rarely found in paintings in Egypt.
The entrance system
The south-facing entrance system to the fort, offset to the east on the façade, was the main focus of the first campaign (Fig. 3). The reason for this was twofold: it was expected that elements linked to the fort's dedication would be found in its foundations and could provide chronological information, and the excellent state of preservation of the 5 m-high mudbrick towers would make it possible to carry out a precise study of the system and its evolution. The presence of a mound of sand and architectural materials in the entrance passage suggested that floor levels were preserved.
Entrance of the Deir el-Atrash fort. View from the south. (© J. Le Bomin/MAFDO.)
The first architectural phase
The original elements of the entrance system are barely visible but are well preserved thanks to the fact that the Early Roman remains were integrated into the Late Roman redevelopment. The 1.73 m-wide entrance passage is flanked by two horseshoe-shaped towers that project outward from the curtain wall made of rough graywacke blocks. The towers are architecturally bonded to the curtain wall (Fig. 4).
Aerial orthophotography of the entrance system of the Deir el-Atrash fort, with a plan of the first phase of the gate. (© G. Pollin/IFAO, J. Le Bomin/MAFDO.)
Only the east tower was excavated, as its later brick lining has fallen down, revealing its original form (Fig. 5). The later lining of the west tower is very well preserved (389.66 masl at its highest point), hiding the earlier one which is only slightly visible in its upper part, at a height of about 4 m. The original east tower, excavated within the later one, is preserved up to about 3 m and has a slope of 6.5° (between 384.7 masl and 387.75 masl).Footnote 17 Only its eastern half remains, as the other half was plundered during the rebuilding. The lower masonry is composed of rough graywacke blocks and rubble, while the upper part is made of fired bricks. The interior of the tower is completely filled with graywacke blocks up to the start of the bricks; a room is located at that level. The remains of a fireplace testify that this room was accessible and therefore suggest it was used as a watchtower.
View of the south part of the fort and the entrance system. View from the east. (© J. Le Bomin/MAFDO.)
The occupation levels of this first phase have not yet been reached. The only such levels identified were located at the foot of the tower (384.78 masl) and correspond to a floor level formed by an accumulation of straw and organic sediment on which two small fireplaces had been installed.
The second architectural phase
A detailed architectural description of this phase will not be given here. Our aim is simply to show that the original entry system was completely integrated into the second one, which is dated to the late 4th–early 5th c. CE.Footnote 18
After a long period of abandonment of at least two centuries, the resumption of occupation of the Deir el-Atrash fort in the late 4th–early 5th c. CE was accompanied by transformations in parts of the building, in particular the entrance system. The entrance was redesigned through the construction — above the previous towers — of two massive, new, quadrangular towers measuring 4.25 m x 3.85 m (north-south x east-west) and 3.60 m x 3.90 m (north-south x east-west) respectively for the western and the eastern one. Far from being dismantled, the original system was totally integrated into the new one.Footnote 19 The later towers were built against the initial ones and the curtain wall, and they were completely filled, to a height of at least 5 m, with architectural rubble (rough graywacke blocks and mud bricks) and artefacts/ecofacts (textiles, faunal remains, ceramics), which can be precisely dated to the late 4th–early 5th c. CE. The upper parts of these towers were also accessible, judging by the presence of a staircase behind the west tower.
Preserving the original towers saved material and time in filling the towers. However, as far as this article is concerned, what is most important is that this process protected the original tower decoration from the desert's intense sunlight and wind-blown sand.
The entrance paintings
Architectural setting
The exteriors of both the original towers and the curtain wall are entirely covered by a 2 cm-thick plaster layer made of clay with a chaff temper, commonly called muna in Egyptian Arabic (Fig. 6). On the curtain wall, this mud-coating is preserved over a length of almost 1 m and a maximum height of 2 m where it meets the tower. The muna is covered with an irregular whitewash, numerous drips of which are still visible. The figurative scene would have been applied last, both on the tower and on the curtain wall.
Detail of the tower with its white plaster, inside the late mudbrick tower. View from the east. (© J. Le Bomin/MAFDO.)
Even though the decor is in an exceptional state of preservation, it should be noted that 40 to 80 cm of the whitewashed surface has disappeared from the lower part of the tower, although it is better preserved on the curtain wall. In addition, filling the brick tower with waste materials caused some deterioration, as evidenced by numerous chips across the painted surface. The entire plastered area is no more than 3 m wide and 2.40 m long, that is, it has a maximum surface area of 7.20 m2 (Figs. 7 and 8).
Orthorectified photo of the paintings on the tower and the curtain wall. (© G. Pollin/IFAO.)
Orthorectified drawing of the paintings on the tower and the curtain wall. (© J. Marchand/MAFDO.)
Iconographic description – main program
The figurative scene does not cover the entire plastered surface. A whitewash covers most of the wall and contrasts with the painted motifs, which are arranged differently on the tower and the curtain wall. The polychrome patterns have slightly faded colors, including a range of warm colors (from brownish orange to red) and a few touches of dark blue, green, and black.
Two phases of decoration can be identified on the wall: the first has a distinctive iconographic style and bright colors, while the second is a coarser or graffiti style with silhouettes drawn with black charcoal.
The first phase of polychrome decoration is the most significant and the most developed. The scene is divided into two registers by a thick red band that extends over the entire length of the preserved surface. The band is underlined by two red lines between which red geometric patterns, comprising alternate vertical and horizontal dashes, are painted. This motif is at eye level, about 1.60 m above the level of the two fireplaces that were observed during the excavation. The figurative motifs have flat red areas highlighted with a thick black line. Some details are highlighted with black, brownish, or reddish strokes.
In the upper register, in the middle of the tower, a rider (Figs. 9a and 9b) is represented on a prancing horse, whose rear hooves stand just above the thick red band; the image is over 43 cm high and 50 cm wide. The horse, whose body is in profile and whose head is seen in three-quarter view, has a buckskin coat with curvilinear detailing all over the neck and right hind leg. Its mane is dark brown, trimmed short, and depicted by short, vertical brushstrokes. Its long, dark brown tail falls downwards. Only the reins of its bridle seem to be represented in black and are visible at the animal's muzzle. They are held in the rider's left hand. The whole image, the colors of which are slightly faded, is only partially preserved and certain details are no longer visible. The man is also seen in three-quarter view; his face has almost completely disappeared, but the surviving forehead and short black hair show that it was turned toward the passerby. He wears a special outfit. A reddish-checkered cloak, thrown over his shoulders and falling backward onto the horse's rump, is fastened with a large round flat fibula on his left shoulder. He also wears a garment that is not clearly identifiable, held in place by a red belt decorated with a pattern of diagonal lines. His left foot extends below the horse's belly, but it is impossible to say whether he is wearing boots. His outfit is neither military, since he wears no armor, nor Egyptian, since he is wearing trousers. Above the rider, there is a long dark green snake with spotted scales. The snake is 44 cm long and is slightly undulating, with eyes and jaws open as it comes from the left. A straight, slightly oblique line, totally erased and only visible under special light (Fig. 9a, created with LAB color in Adobe Photoshop), which is difficult to discern and interpret, seems to run from the rider's right thigh to the snake.
(a) Picture of the horseman and the snake, made using LAB color in Adobe Photoshop. (© G. Pollin/IFAO.) (b) Drawing of the horseman and the snake. (© J. Marchand/MAFDO.)
The other scene in the upper register is on the curtain wall, where it meets the tower: this scene measures about 1.17 m long by 0.27 m high. It represents a caravan of at least four dromedaries (Figs. 8 and 10) depicted on the red register band. As the right part of the whitewashed muna is missing, one cannot assess whether or not the caravan is complete. At left, two of the camels are attached with lead ropes and are led to the right by a man on foot holding the rope in his raised right hand. The two other camels are also attached by lead ropes. The three animals farthest to the right are calm, but the one on the left seems more restive and excited: it is throwing its head up and pulling on its lead rope. They are all painted in brown and outlined in black. Their coats are enhanced with yellow stripes. The good state of conservation of this part of the painting allows us to see the detail of the dromedaries’ long lashes, which are drawn in black, as are the hairs of their ears and tails. The animals are saddled but not loaded; each is equipped with a red carpet on its back, the fringes of which are carefully drawn. The man driving them walks ahead but is turning his head back, probably towards the agitated dromedary. He is wearing a short-sleeved yellow tunic with brown clavi. He may also be holding a stick behind his shoulder blades, his hands resting on its ends, with his right hand holding the lead rope.
Detail of the caravan seen under transformed light. (© G. Pollin/IFAO.)
The lower register consists of a vegetal pattern painted mainly on the curtain wall, with a bit lapping onto the tower, right under the red band dividing the registers. It is a vine trellis (Figs. 8 and 11) represented by a red line that rises up from ground level at the edge of the tower and continues eastward in swooping undulations. To the right, it extends beyond the preserved part of the painting. At the junction of the tower and the curtain wall, the vine stock grows up and develops on each side of the stake to which it is attached at regular intervals. Wavy tendrils escape at several points. A green grape leaf is painted under the first undulation, attached to a twig. Grapes are depicted schematically as black dots encircled by a larger red circle. At the level of the second undulation, the twigs abruptly stop, while the vine arbor continues.Footnote 20
Detail of the vine leaf pattern seen under transformed light. (© G. Pollin/IFAO.)
A different vegetal pattern is depicted on the rounded part of the tower. Its state of preservation is very poor, and light greenish zones among the red and black motifs can barely be made out (Fig. 8).
Finally, a dipinto with the name Valerius, written in Greek and painted in black, could belong to this phase of decoration. It was inscribed at eye level, on the side of the tower, below and to the right of the rider.Footnote 21
The Valerius inscription (A. Bülow-Jacobsen)
The small inscription can be seen on the lowest red line separating the two registers (Fig. 12). The length of the inscription is ca. 3.5 cm. It is written in a good, firm cursive script. It appears to be the signature of the artist who decorated the wall:
Οὐαλέριοϲ ̣[
τοῦτ[ο] ̣[
Valerius NN (painted?) this.
At the end of line 1, the letter that cannot be read is an upright letter that curves slightly to the right at the bottom, perhaps an omega. This is presumably the beginning of a cognomen. At the end of line 2, the letter that cannot be read is a horizontal letter curving slightly upward. We would expect to find ἔγραφε or ἐποίει or the like, but an epsilon seems impossible.Footnote 22 Since the surface is damaged and several lines have almost the same color as the residual impurities, a supplementary photograph in Adobe Photoshop's LAB color is helpful. Most importantly, it shows that what looks like a letter between του and τ in line 2 was not made in ink.
Iconographic description – late additions
In a second phase, the date of which is not known but which was prior to the rebuilding of the entrance system in the Late Roman period, motifs were added to the iconographic program in the remaining empty spaces. Close contemporaneity of these two phases cannot be excluded, even if it cannot yet be proven. A horse was painted on the side of the tower (Figs. 13a and 13b) as well as two dromedaries linked by a rope on the curtain wall, above the last two in the caravan. Here, the dromedaries are again saddled but not loaded. These three silhouettes, which are sketched in charcoal rather than drawn, are poorly preserved. The galloping or rearing horse was incised before being painted a dark red color; there are splashes of color above and below the animal. It has a thick mane and large round eyes; its long body is detailed with curved vertical stripes.
The Greek dipinto with its location on the wall indicated. (© A. Bülow-Jacobsen/MAFDO.)
(a) Detail of the incised and painted horse. (© G. Pollin/IFAO.) (b) Drawing of the incised and painted horse. (© J. Marchand/MAFDO.)
In addition, a few indeterminate and undated graffiti and signs or letters can also be seen here and there at eye level (Fig. 8). Their poor state of preservation combined with the many gaps in the whitewash does not allow us to describe these more precisely. The only element that is clearly visible is a horned altar incised on the curtain wall to the left of the dromedary caravan. The remains of what was probably meant to be another camel are also visible; this dromedary seems to be alone and not in a caravan.
Power over the Eastern Desert and its inhabitants: the strength of the Empire
The fort's supply caravan
On the curtain wall, the painted caravan undoubtedly represents a daily occurrence on this desert road, which was traveled by camels that stopped at strategically sited forts.Footnote 23 The caravan was composed of at least four animals attached to one another. Some have the same carpets with fringes on their backs under the transported goods.Footnote 24 The man on foot leading the last two camels and holding a lead rope in his left hand is a camel driver, an occupation known from written sources.Footnote 25 As he is unarmed, he could be either a dromedarius attached to the auxiliary mounted forces, recruited in the desert provinces of the Roman Empire,Footnote 26 or a factotum dromedarius, employed for instance to supply sites without watering points. Indeed, these camel drivers, who were not necessarily military staff, may have been employed and paid by the army to supply the forts with goods.Footnote 27
A standard-bearer or a Thracian Horseman?
It is worth considering the possible meanings of the horseman and the snake. H. Cuvigny suggests that this could represent what would later be called a draconarius, that is to say, a bearer of the draco military standard, probably taken from the Parthians or the Sarmatians in the late 1st–early 2nd c. CE.Footnote 28 Such an emblema, with a metal head and a fabric body, as is known from archaeological evidence, has a dragon's head with an open jaw displaying its large teeth.Footnote 29 The rider at Deir el-Atrash may be such a standard-bearer, especially when the position of the snake or dragon above the rider is considered. The representation of the snake's head, with its open mouth and teeth, and the undulations of its body echo the head and the soft, fabric body of the draco standard. Despite the damage to the painting, the straight, slightly slanted dark line could be interpreted as the shaft of the draco: it starts from the man's thigh and goes up to the damaged area under the snake. The rider's arm is missing, so we do not know exactly how his right hand held it. In addition, what appears to be the end of a separate, vertical shaft is clearly visible in real light under the horse's belly, but we have no evidence with which to identify this element. The representation of such a figure, marked by the impressive aspect of the snake, could be explained by the idea that this was a symbol protecting the fort and its inhabitants. However, protection is not the primary function of the standard-bearer, so we will suggest another, albeit debatable, interpretation of the rider.
The association of the rider and the snake also led us to the figure of the heros equitans or, as he is often called, the Thracian Horseman.Footnote 30 This protective genius was one of the most revered deities in the regional pantheon of the Balkan Peninsula during Greco-Roman antiquity and particularly in the Roman province of Thracia, where he is found on votive and funerary stelae as well as on monumental reliefs.Footnote 31 His representation, closely inspired by Greek iconography,Footnote 32 underwent a significant development and spread throughout the Empire,Footnote 33 especially during the Imperial period. Sometimes called “Heron” in dedications,Footnote 34 this genius was frequently syncretized with Greco-Roman deities (such as Apollo or Asclepios),Footnote 35 which led to so much figurative diversity that a catalogue of several volumes was devoted to the Thracian Horseman from 1938 onward.Footnote 36
Several attempts to classify the Thracian horseman figure have been proposed and debated, though these are not presented here, and his iconography has been the subject of an abundant literature.Footnote 37 The snake is one of the most common elements in his depiction: as it was a chthonic symbol and deity,Footnote 38 it gives the horseman the apotropaic status of an important and primary god in local religion. When holding a cup, the hero is making offerings to such animals.Footnote 39 He is usually unarmedFootnote 40 and raises his right hand, with three fingers held up: this gesture, taken from the deity Sabazios, has recently been called the benedictio Latina. Footnote 41
Heron and the other Egyptianized heroes equitantes
These elements lead us to see the Deir el-Atrash horseman as a hero equitans.Footnote 42 Represented on horseback, the body in profile, the head and the torso in three-quarter view, and associated only with a snake depicted above, the rider looks like the one sculpted on the Theadelphia stele, identified as Heron. There, a “flying” snake is depicted behind a horseman who is making an offering to the snake.Footnote 43
In Egypt, the appearance of the Thracian rider/Heron is associated with the settling of Thracian troops in Egypt under the Lagids.Footnote 44 Before that, the iconography of the horseman hero never really occurs in the Egyptian repertoire, especially if one considers the image of Horus on horseback, about to stab a crocodile with his spear, as different. In this last representation, the Horus rider symbolizes the victory of good over evil. This motif is inherited from that of Horus on a crocodile, which is well known from a series of pharaonic stelae.Footnote 45
Heron was a provincial god of little fame within the Roman world, but he was, curiously enough, well known and worshipped in Egypt, especially in the Fayyum (Fig. 14).Footnote 46 Evidence of his popularity includes numerous ex-votosFootnote 47 and the fact that many people bore his name during the Early Roman Empire.Footnote 48 His iconography varies from one representation to another,Footnote 49 showing him holding a cup, on horseback, or on foot. He is traditionally represented as either an armored man (with lorica squamata, a gorgoneion on his breastplate, a cape, and black boots) or with bare legs, a tunic, and weapons (lance and sword).Footnote 50 In the case of Deir el-Atrash, the representation is not precise enough and is too damaged to allow us to see the details of his costume. No weapon is visible. Can we see the tip of a spear under the horse's belly as an almost indistinguishable vertical black line? This remains uncertain, because its inclination would not correspond to the position of the rider's arm. Nevertheless, the curved detailing on the horse's body shows some resemblance to representations of the scale armor of cataphract horses. These special, heavily armored riders appear on the Column of Trajan,Footnote 51 and a graffito represents another one in Dura Europos, where cataphract armor for both the rider and the horse has been found by archaeologists.Footnote 52 This interpretation remains fragile here though, given the fact that the horse's head is not protected. These curved elements, both on the horse and on the dromedaries, could just be the painter's idiosyncratic representations of their hair.
Horseman identified as Heron painted on Theadelphia's temple façade wall (after Breccia Reference Breccia1926, Tav. LIX.)
Heron had an acolyte named Lycurgus,Footnote 53 who is also attested in Egyptian iconography and epigraphy from the 1st c. CE on. The Thracian king Lycurgus, driven mad by Dionysus according to certain traditions, is represented as a prisoner of the tendrils of a vine.Footnote 54 The vine pattern of the lower register of the painting may be an echo of this episode or the much-awaited supply of wine (as confirmed by the many wine Roman amphorae discovered in the forts of the Eastern Desert).Footnote 55 The two heroes may be represented together, as is often the case on wooden panels of the Early Imperial period.Footnote 56
Heron, the propylaios of the armies
All of these elements suggest it is possible to identify the horseman of Atrash as Heron, even if no dedication is present. Another argument in favor of this identification is the fact that the hero equitans was also a propylaios (“who is in front of the door”), a genius whose main function was to protect gates.Footnote 57 Heron was also very much associated with the army and was often said to be god of the garrisons:Footnote 58 his image and its worship were undoubtedly supported and spread by soldiers.Footnote 59 A representation of Heron on the outer wall of the fort better suits the idea of a guardian figure, even if we cannot exclude the possibility that actual worship of the hero happened indoors.Footnote 60 Indeed, if this image had been painted inside the fort, it would have had the role of protecting the fort's inhabitants. Since it is on the exterior, Heron here functioned as part of the desert pantheon, which included Pan, protector of the road.Footnote 61 This raises the question of the meaning of the desert pantheon in this kind of military context.
It is well known that the Roman army included contingents of soldiers of various origins, including Thracian and Dacian men. It could be concluded that our rider (Heron) belonged to one of these ethnicities, considering the general iconography of the image and the trousers the rider appears to be wearing. Thracian mercenaries are attested in Alexandria from the late 3rd c. BCE onFootnote 62 and were implanted as cleruchs in the Fayyum,Footnote 63 something which probably played a role in deeply anchoring Heron in the area. During the Roman period, in the last quarter of the 2nd c. CE, the ala Herculiana, which was made up of Thracians, was stationed in Thebes and Coptos.Footnote 64 Dacian soldiers were also involved in the Eastern Desert, especially at Mons Claudianus,Footnote 65 as evidenced by a centurion's name in the cohors I Aelia Dacorum.Footnote 66 At least five auxiliary groups are known: the ala Apriana, the cohors I Flavia Cilicum equitata (in the Mons Claudianus), the ala Vocontiorum(?) (at Krokodilo), the cohors II Ituraeorum equitata (at Umm Balad), and the cohors I Augusta Praetoria Lusitanorum equitata (in Lower Nubia).Footnote 67 Later in the 2nd c. CE, the presence of military detachments, especially the ala I Thracum Mauretana in 134 and the cohors II Thracum equitata in 167,Footnote 68 logically explains the iconography chosen for the coins struck in the Theban region.Footnote 69 Could the iconographic theme of the Deir el-Atrash Thracian horseman be linked to these auxiliary groups? We will not venture so far as to make this connection, as the figure was common throughout the Early Roman Empire. Obviously, it was not painted specifically for these Dacian or Thracian soldiers, but its widespread presence in the military contingents explains the popularity of such protectors in Egypt and their presence in the Eastern Desert.Footnote 70 Therefore, Deir el-Atrash's paintings might represent a Thracian/Dacian version of Heron or a “Thracian” horseman whose representation was influenced by Heron.Footnote 71
In any case, the Deir el-Atrash horseman clearly belongs to the numerous representations of riders, and especially Thracian ones, that became more popular from Trajan's reign on. The iconography of the “Thracian” or “Dacian” rider or soldier is not completely standardized, and is partly dependent on the medium (carved, molded or painted), but some elements are usually present. The similarities between Heron and Lycurgus are striking: both are depicted on wooden panels wearing the Roman army's military outfit. Their clothing is the same as that worn by the Roman soldiers on the Tropaeum Traiani at Adamklissi (present-day Romania), which represents the victory of Trajan's soldiers over the barbarians and Dacians, as well as the Germans and Sarmatians, who were allies of the Dacians.Footnote 72
Related imagery also appears on coinage produced to commemorate Trajan's victories in the Danube area.Footnote 73 A series of coins with Heron holding a cup out toward a snake coiled in a tree was struck under Trajan. Later, under Hadrian and Antonius Pius, the rider appears on some coins of the Diospolite nome with a snake held in his right hand.Footnote 74
Roman pictorial representations in the Eastern Desert of Egypt
Paintings inside praesidia
The painted iconographic program on the outer parts of Deir el-Atrash and at its main entrance gate is an exceptional find. Nevertheless, paintings have also been discovered inside other Roman military forts. In most cases they have suffered from the ravages of time but, in a few exceptional cases, several phases of redecoration or architectural modifications have led to the preservation of earlier paintings. For instance, in the southern Empire, we can mention the paintings at DidymoiFootnote 75 and Mons Claudianus's insula Fort.W.I,Footnote 76 as well as the human figures of Castellum Dimmidi in the Ouled Naïl Mountains (ancient Numidia),Footnote 77 which brighten up the interiors of these fortifications. In the western part of the limes, in Germania, at least 25 examples are attested, including the mythological program in the private apartments of the centurion at Echzell, probably painted under Commodus.Footnote 78
However, what sets the Deir el-Atrah paintings apart is their location outside the enclosure as well as their exceptional conservation. So far, only whitewashed curtain walls have been uncovered elsewhere, but this find suggests that other forts could also have had elaborate programs not only on their main gates but also along the main entrance's façade. It is unlikely that Deir el-Atrash is a unicum.
Soldier-craftsmen
In the Deir el-Atrash military context, one of the questions raised by the paintings is who created them. Was this a specialist belonging to the legionary contingent or an itinerant craftsman? This issue is all the more important since the paintings appear to be signed by a certain Valerius. The army had a large number of technical staff and professionals involved in military engineering, many of them documented in texts,Footnote 79 including the pictor (“painter”)Footnote 80 and the tector (“stucco maker”).Footnote 81 These workers were in charge of general wall coverings (plasters, muna, etc.) as well as decoration.
Based on observations made by specialists about the awkwardness of the execution of decorations in the Roman military world, it has been proposed that the soldiers themselves were in charge of decorating walls (with paintings) and floors (with mosaics) in private and public spaces. It appears that in some cases, in private spaces, more sophisticated decor may have been the result of a private commission awarded to itinerant specialists or civilian workshops. Notably, this is what has been suggested for the Echzell paintings.Footnote 82 However, these assumptions remain risky insofar as few paintings are preserved and they are rarely signed.
Taking this into account, what hypotheses can we put forward in the case of Deir el-Atrash? The painting on the front gate was in a public space and therefore, according to Schmidt Heidenreich's hypothesis, it would have been made by the pictor in charge of decoration. Admittedly, the horse is slightly impastoed and the caravan's execution is quite simple, even if its many details bring the scene to life: the long lashes, the fringes of the carpets on the animals’ backs, the hairs of their coats marked with yellow strokes, etc. As suggested in a previous study, it is reasonable to assume that the pictor was a soldier who was posted there, in the same way as Ariston, the baker at Mons Claudianus who signed a painting there.Footnote 83 Given the scarcity of artists’ signatures in the Roman world,Footnote 84 it is surprising to find two of them, those of Valerius and Ariston, in the Roman forts of the Eastern Desert. It was usually the collective work of the army that was praised, while individual works remained anonymous.Footnote 85
The role of the horseman of Atrash
Like the painting at Mons Claudianus, Deir el-Atrash's painting is exceptional: Roman decorative schemes have been identified all along the Nile Valley and in the Oases, but most of these are in templesFootnote 86 or private houses.Footnote 87 At Deir el-Atrash, one wonders who these paintings were intended for. The fortress was only visible to its inhabitants, the soldiers of the garrisons, and people in the caravans, as well as workers, specialists, and professionals on their way to the Porphyrites quarries,Footnote 88 and the desert's inhabitants.Footnote 89 Besides, it is worth noting that the painting was only fully visible to viewers facing the gate; except for the later horseman drawn in silhouette with charcoal, nothing was painted on the side of the tower. The whole painting could only be seen from the south. Although high enough to be visible at a distance (about 2.40 m above ground level, with the figures painted above 1.6 m, i.e., above eye level), the painting is too detailed to be seen and understood from far away.
In her study of the room painting at Mons Claudianus, and with the help of several ostraca, H. Cuvigny has suggested that this room may have been especially arranged and decorated for the visit of the prefect of Egypt, Sulpicius Similis, during a tour in the Eastern Desert to inaugurate some wells in 108/109 CE.Footnote 90 The context of an official visit could explain some of the particularities of the Deir el-Atrash painting as well. Its hasty and awkward manner, as well as the many colored drops on the white background, could have resulted from the urgency of the situation, if the order had been given not very long in advance. As the prefect was supposed to stay for a while at the Porphyrites, he may have just passed through Deir el-Atrash without stopping for long; therefore, this exterior decoration had to create a quick impression. It pays tribute to the Imperial presence in the Eastern Desert, which allowed caravans to circulate in safety, while the propylaios figures (probably one on each side) protected the main gate, shielding the fort from the insecure surrounding environment and from local attacks. The camp offered shelter and protection to the soldiers and displayed Rome's power at the edges of the barbarian lands. Far from diminishing the aesthetics of military infrastructure, door decorations give them an imposing appearance. Thus, the main gates of forts are often decorated with capitals, paintings, and stuccoes, which magnify their impact.Footnote 91
Conclusion
The discovery of the painting of Deir el-Atrash is a unique opportunity to glimpse the care that was taken to decorate the exterior of a Roman fort in the Eastern Desert. As we have seen, its preservation was made possible by the Late Roman reoccupation and the new architectural layout of the entrance system. It may come as a surprise that the painting survived for almost two centuries in the open air, but, although it is very faded, the colors remain. However we interpret the first attested painting of a horseman in the Eastern Desert (as a standard bearer or a hero equitans such as Heron), the iconographic program of the entrance marks the presence and domination of the Roman Empire over its Egyptian border. In clear contrast to the inhospitable environment, the bright colors of the decoration reinforced the importance of the praesidium, which was surrounded by greyish mountains and a yellowish wadi.
One of the questions that can be asked is whether Valerius's work is a unique case or not. With the discovery of the paintings at Atrash and Mons Claudianus, two creations that were close in time and space in the Eastern Desert, one wonders if we are looking at a regular Roman practice of occasion-specific decoration. Indeed, judging by the material found at Mons Claudianus, it seems that the infrastructure around the quarry was decorated and inscribed especially for the visit of a representative of the Empire, namely Sulpicius Similis, the prefect of Egypt. Wooden arches and ephemeral structures draped in fabrics were set up during such events and parades. Do these paintings also fit into the framework of decorations made for special events or official visits?
The fact remains that what we interpret as a decorative commission carried out by Valerius fits the general iconographic context of the 2nd c. CE. Unquestionably, the dromedaries offered an image of the everyday passage of caravans along the porphyry road, caravans which stopped at Deir el-Atrash for supply and protection. The horseman, with his somewhat military aspect and foreign origin, visually evoked Rome's strong desire for power even in its remotest territories and its will to control the environment. The Empire also assured the fort's inhabitants of protection through the figure of the mythological rider.
Several hypotheses can be put forward regarding the choice of the corresponding figure on the western tower of the gate. First, this could be Lycurgus, who was already known in the Eastern Desert as another hero as well as Heron's acolyte. In this iconographic scheme, Heron would be on the right (the eastern tower), while Lycurgus would be on the left (the western tower); this composition is found on wooden panels.Footnote 92 Second, this could be another representation of Heron. His figure appears twice in the doorway leading to the main chapel of the Temple of Pnepheros at Theadelphia; he appears standing on one side and on horseback on the other (Fig. 14).Footnote 93 Placing the two figures in parallel on the towers would have created a framed protection of the gate and a special visual effect with its symmetry.Footnote 94 This brings us to V. Rondot's hypothesis concerning an Arab origin for Lycurgus and maybe also for Heron.Footnote 95 Because of the presence of the dromedary in several documents,Footnote 96 this French Egyptologist suggests that the later rider could be an interpretatio of a god of the Arabs. In this case, are we dealing with a connection between the camel caravan, the camel driver, and the hero on horseback of Deir el-Atrash?Footnote 97 Although we are aware of this hypothesis, for the moment we are not able to answer this question.
Acknowledgments
The French Archaeological Mission to the Eastern Desert of Egypt (MAFDO), directed by T. Faucher (CNRS, IREMAT), is sponsored by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAEE) and IFAO, and kindly authorized by the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities. MAFDO is also supported by the ERC Desert Networks project (ERC-2017-STG, Proposal number 759078), directed by B. Redon (CNRS, HiSoMA): https://desertnetworks.hypotheses.org/. We express our deep gratitude to these institutions for their unwavering support. J. Marchand (ceramics and small finds) is in charge of the study of Deir el-Atrash, with the collaboration of J. Le Bomin (archaeology), M. Crépy (geomorphology), H. Cuvigny and A. Bülow-Jacobsen (papyrology), D. Laisney (topography), G. Pollin (photography), and A. Rabot (GIS). For more about the archaeological mission and recent activities see: https://desorient.hypotheses.org/. The authors wish to warmly thank the people who participated in the writing of this article through their observations and discussions, as well as all of the members of the French Archaeological Mission to the Eastern Desert of Egypt (MAFDO): A. Bülow-Jacobsen, H. Cuvigny, T. Faucher, B. Redon, D. Laisney, G. Pollin, A. Rabot, B. Badin, M.-Fr. Boussac, and V. Rondot.
