A mosaic from Thmuis, Egypt, created by the Hellenistic artist Sophilos (signature) in about 200 BC, now in the Greco-Roman Museum in Alexandria, Egypt; the woman depicted is the Ptolemaic QueenBerenike II (who ruled jointly with her husband Ptolemy III) as the personification of Alexandria, with her crown showing a ship's prow, while she sports an anchor-shaped brooch for her robes, symbols of the Ptolemaic Empire's naval prowess and successes in the Mediterranean Sea.[1]
During the Ptolemaic period, Thmuis succeeded Djedet as the capital of Lower Egypt's 16th nome of Kha (Herodotus (II, 166)). The two cities are only several hundred meters apart. Ptolemy also states that the city was the capital of the Mendesian nome. From the Ptolemaic-Roman period are preserved the foundations of a temple.[2]
Excavations uncovered deposits from a Hellenistic-era mud-brick building that was destroyed after 204 BC, as indicated by a coin cache of 13 bronze coins from the reigns of Ptolemy II, Ptolemy III, and Ptolemy IV. Evidence of burning on floors and vessels indicates that the building was destroyed in a fire.[3] A second phase of the building continued in use after the destruction, before being destroyed by fire in the 1st century BC.[3]
Excavations at the site also uncovered a midden containing remains of more than 70 ceramic bread molds. They were found adjacent to a large circular bread oven built into a mud-brick platform. They belong to an Egyptian type used since the Second Intermediate Period.[3]
↑Fletcher, Joann (2008). Cleopatra the Great: The Woman Behind the Legend. New York: Harper. ISBN978-0-06-058558-7, image plates and captions between pp. 246-247.
↑James E. Bennettː A Ptolemaic-Roman Temple Foundation at Tell Timai, inː Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 105 issue 2, December 2019, pp. 217-225
Baines & Malek "Cultural Atlas of Ancient Egypt", 2000. ISBN0-8160-4036-2
M.I. Bakr & H. Brandl, "Various Sites in the Eastern Nile Delta: Thmuis", in: M.I. Bakr and H. Brandl, with F. Kalloniatis (eds.), Egyptian Antiquities from the Eastern Nile Delta. Museums in the Nile Delta, vol. 2. Cairo/Berlin 2014, pp.79, 294-301. ISBN9783000453182.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain:Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Thmuis". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.