by Linus Henrichs
The Antinoite road runs from west to east as one of two main roads in the city of Hermopolis. It divided the city into a northern part, which was called the ‘citadel’, and a southern part, the ‘polis’. It was about 1 kilometre long and at least 7 metres wide. In the centre, together with the walkway of Hermes, the other main street, it forms a crossroads and the symbolic centre of the city. It takes its name from the neighbouring town of Antinoupolis, with which it connected Hermopolis.
It is often identified with the road mentioned in the papyrus P. Vindob. gr. 12565, a cost estimate for repair work. Numerous buildings are described and the costs and materials that would have to be used to restore them are listed. On the basis of this text, archaeologists such as Günther Roeder or Donald Bailey attempted to identify remains in Hermopolis Magna with the buildings mentioned, such as the Komasterion, the starting point of religious ceremonies, the Temple of Hadrian, or the Temple of Serapis, and in this way to reconstruct the ancient city centre.
However, there is also criticism of such an approach, as the papyrus, which forms the basis for all modern reconstructions of the ancient cityscape, does not mention the city of Hermopolis at any point. Critics consider it more likely that the street described is a place in Alexandria, as some of the buildings mentioned have not yet been found in Hermopolis.
Bibliography:
- J. Spencer – D. M. Bailey, British Museum Expeditions to Middle Egypt. Excavations at el-Ashmunein IV. Hermopolis Magna: Buildings of the Roman Period (London 1991)
- M. Drew–Bear, De la Porte du Soleil a la Porte de la Lune a Hermooupolis Magna, in: B. Palme (ed.): Akten des 23. Internationalen Papyrologenkongresses. Wien 22. – 28. Juli 2001 (Wien 2001)
- J. Gascou, La σημασία P. Oxy. XXXIV 2719 et le paysage urbain d’Alexandrie, CdE 87, 2012, 308–318
- W. Hoepfner, Hermopolis Magna und das Heiligtum des Ptolemaios III. Eine Nachlese (Konstanz 2020)
- L. Medini, Hermopolis gréco-romaine ou les limites de l’archéologie d’une ville disparue. RAMAGE 2012, 12
- G. Roeder, Hermopolis 1929–1939. Ausgrabungen der Deutschen Hermopolis–Expedition in Hermopolis, Ober–Ägypten (Hildesheim 1959)