Persians in Egypt. Artisans from the tomb of Petosiris

“The carinated silver bowls of the Tukh el-Qaramus treasure found in the eastern part of the Delta present a remarkable example of Persian influence on luxury tableware in Egypt. Dated between the middle of the 4th and 3th century BCE, these pieces establish the use of Persian forms in Egyptian metalwork. This influence is also clearly attested by a scene from the late fourth-century tomb of Petosiris at Hermopolis Magna, which shows Egyptian craftsmen making Achaemenid-style rhytons.

Such metal-working scenes are attested primarily in the Theban tombs of the New Kingdom. The forms of the pieces of jewelry which are crafted by Egyptians from the 4th century [BCE], however, are often typically Achaemenid / Persian.” [Damien Agut-Labordère]

The tomb was built for Petosiris Ankhefkhonsu, a high priest of Thoth at Hermopolis, and for his family, shortly after Alexander the Great’s conquest of Egypt, late 4th – early 3rd century BCE. It stands at Tuna el-Gebel, the southern necropolis of the Graeco-Roman metropolis of Hermopolis Magna. [M. Venit]
The tomb consists of a hall consecrate to the memory of Petosiris and a square chapel with four pillars.

“Decision to include images of rhyta, a phiale and an Achaemenid bowl in his tomb’s decorations was a deliberate one, calculated to communicate his status and identity.” [Henry Colburn]