Phernouphis

Phernouphis
P3-r3-nfr
	Shown within Nile Delta Phernouphis (Egypt)
Alternative name	Barnūfa ; Tell Billa ; Tell Tebilla
Coordinates	31°3′27.9″N 31°34′53.7″E

Phernouphis (Ancient Greek: Φερνουφις) was a town of Ancient Egypt, in the Mendesian nome. It was capital of the eponymous Phernouphite toparchy. It was located at the site of Barnufa, which was a hod or irrigation basin located 3.5 km (2.2 mi) southwest of Dekernes, within the territory of Tanah, but the site has since been covered up by modern construction.[1]

Name

rʾ nfr(t)[2][3]
in hieroglyphs

Era: Ptolemaic dynasty
(305–30 BC)

The name originally was P3-r3-nfr or "the beautiful mouth"[1][4] and represents a continuation of the original name of the nearby Tell Tebilla which, as "Ro-Nefer", had been the original nome capital. The site Barnufa preserves this ancient name. It is possible that, after the meaning of the old Egyptian name was no longer apparent to Arabic-speaking locals, it was reinterpreted as referring to the plant Pluchea dioscoridis, or barnūf in Arabic.[1]

History

Phernouphis is attested in Greek sources from the 3rd century BC to the 4th AD.[4] By the Roman period, as sedimentation led to the old site of Tell Tebilla no longer being on the coast, the settlement had shifted to the site of Barnufa. (This was a similar process to the shift from Mendes to Thmuis as the nome capital.) During this period, Tell Tebilla was used as a quarry for construction materials.[1]

References

Blouin, Katherine (2014). Triangular Landscapes: Environment, Society, and the State in the Nile Delta Under Roman Rule. Oxford University Press. p. 109–111. ISBN 978-0199688722. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
Newberry, Percy E. (1899). Crum, Walter E. (ed.). The Amherst papyri: being an account of the Egyptian papyri in the collection of Lord Amherst of Hackney. London: Quaritch. p. 45. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
Brugsch, Heinrich (1879). Dictionnaire géographique de l'ancienne Egypte: contenant par ordre alphabétique la nomenclature comparée des noms propres géographiques qui se rencontrent sur les monuments et dans les papyrus. J. C. Hinrichs. p. 1017.
Verreth, H. (1998). "A Tax List from the Mendesios of the Time of Augustus". Egyptian Religion: The Last Thousand Years : Studies Dedicated to the Memory of Jan Quaegebeur. Peeters. pp. 466–467. ISBN 90-429-0669-3. Retrieved 17 July 2020.

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[Blouin-1] Blouin, Katherine (2014). Triangular Landscapes: Environment, Society, and the State in the Nile Delta Under Roman Rule. Oxford University Press. p. 109–111. ISBN 978-0199688722. Retrieved 17 July 2020.

[2] Newberry, Percy E. (1899). Crum, Walter E. (ed.). The Amherst papyri: being an account of the Egyptian papyri in the collection of Lord Amherst of Hackney. London: Quaritch. p. 45. Retrieved 30 January 2021.

[Brugsch1017-3] Brugsch, Heinrich (1879). Dictionnaire géographique de l'ancienne Egypte: contenant par ordre alphabétique la nomenclature comparée des noms propres géographiques qui se rencontrent sur les monuments et dans les papyrus. J. C. Hinrichs. p. 1017.

[Verreth-4] Verreth, H. (1998). "A Tax List from the Mendesios of the Time of Augustus". Egyptian Religion: The Last Thousand Years : Studies Dedicated to the Memory of Jan Quaegebeur. Peeters. pp. 466–467. ISBN 90-429-0669-3. Retrieved 17 July 2020.