The vibrant world of antiquity from the time of ‘Quo vadis’
An international team of researchers led by prof. UWr Marta Osypińska, under a grant from a consortium of the University of Wrocław and the Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology of the UW, undertook research again last season at a unique site in Egypt, a first- and second-century pet cemetery in Berenike.
After a three-year hiatus due to kovid restrictions and the need to obtain funding for a new project – the research on the ‘Non-People of Berenike’ has started again, and with great momentum. Excavations were carried out from early December to mid-February this year. The delay in reporting the results of our scientists’ research is due to the agreement with the Egyptian authorities, who reserve a certain period of time (about three months, but sometimes longer) for the announcement of any sensational findings in the world media. This time has now passed so we can report on the research.
Berenike, located on the Red Sea in Egypt, was an ancient port in decline after its initial success in importing elephants from the south and rebuilt by Emperor Tiberius shortly after the empire’s annexation of Egypt. – The emporium became an intercontinental ‘hub’ for the empire, through which exclusive goods from India, Asia, Arabia, East Africa flowed. – says our researcher prof. Marta Osypińska. – The area was also home to the only emerald mine in Sikait and mines of Nubian gold. During the monsoon season, Berenike was home not only to regional merchants but also to the Roman elite coordinating trade with Asia.
Despite the lack of direct evidence, archaeologists have suspected for years that a military unit was also stationed at Berenike. – It is very likely that these were soldiers of the Third Legion of Cyrenaica, who were famous, for example, for stopping the expansion of Meroe in Nubia and pacifying the uprising in Jerusalem in 70. All this was in the realm of scientific hypothesis, until last season and the surprising discoveries above the animal cemetery from the 1st and 2nd centuries – says prof. Marta Osypińska.
The cemetery is a scientifically unique site discovered by Marta Osypińska in 2012 and successively studied since then.
The pet cemetery at Berenike was established at the time when the Roman elite arrived in the harbour – in the early first century – and functioned until their departure at the end of the second century. – After several years of research, we know that in the area of the western suburb, animal family members were buried on a large dune in a manner analogous to humans – the scientist reports. – These were mainly cats but also dogs and monkeys.
Until last season, archaeologists recorded a total of around half a thousand burials (including monkeys) in a small area. – It took us several years to identify the species, because all the buried primates died very young. It was only by documenting the skulls using the 3D method that we were able to precisely identify the Berenike monkeys as two species of macaque – the king macaque and the cap macaque. Both live on the Indian subcontinent.
Until now, scholars had not guessed that the Romans imported live non-utilitarian animals – i.e. those for companionship – across the ocean. The logistical challenge of such an undertaking even today seems impressive.
Last season, Marta Osypińska’s team began research in a new location, slightly north of the area explored so far. From day one, the discoveries at this site proved to be as unexpected as they were fascinating. – We believe we have come across a site where non-human members of an elite family or social group were buried for several decades. Nowhere before have we recorded such an accumulation of animal burials. Within two months, we recorded more than 200 of them in a 5x5m trench!
Interestingly, monkeys, very rare elsewhere, were very abundant at this site. And the fact that their status was ‘special’ and they were treated as ‘almost’ humans is evidenced, according to the researchers, by the different burial method compared to dogs and cats. Only monkey graves have furnishings. These seem to be mostly objects for play: iridescent shells, knobbly things, a cow’s tail but also collars or harnesses. Quite often, monkeys were buried with ‘company’ and their own pets, the researchers believe.
– It is no coincidence that we recorded a piglet in a monkey’s grave, and very often monkeys are accompanied by young cats. In one case, the bodies of a vervet and a cat were arranged in such a way that they embraced each other.
Monkey burials also provide information about the living condition and health of these animals. For the first time in an archaeozoological study, we consulted anthropologists about diseases of our man-eaters. Two young females had lesions on their skulls that are also noted on human remains. They indicate vitamin and element deficiencies, a diet rich in raw fish and, consequently, anaemia or scurvy.
The question arose as to who these exclusive pets belonged to (in addition to the monkeys, miniature dogs were discovered in unprecedented numbers and cats, whose preserved fur also distinguishes them – these are long-haired, white cats not previously seen in ancient Egypt). Artefacts from the cemetery area provide the data.
Between burials, we discovered a huge accumulation of special refuse: ceramics, including exclusives from Italy, the Mediterranean, Africa and India, Roman coins, ostracons and, above all, several surviving papyri – priceless sources of knowledge about the ancient inhabitants of Berenike. The correspondence preserved on the papyri are letters of centurions.
Haosus, Lucinius and Petronius appear in them. – We don’t know if it is the actual ‘arbiter elegantiarum’ known from Sienkiewicz’s novel who asks the centurion Luciniusz, stationed in Berenike, about the prices of various exclusive goods. What we do know is that these were the times of Nero! – says prof. Osypińska.
One of the earliest ape burials from Berenike was very interesting. It was discovered close to the bottom of the pit. A young female rhesus monkey was buried with a metal chain collar. Some sort of slightly oily substance (perhaps flower oils) had been poured on the bottom of the pit. A beautiful, large haliotis shell from the Indian Ocean was again placed near the head. The entire burial was covered with a reed mat, backfilled with dune sand, and a tombstone of large amphora fragments was laid on the surface. The almost humane treatment of the monkeys is also evidenced by traces of treatments that can be seen as medical treatment. One of the macaques had its feet covered in balsam resin. In antiquity it was regarded as a healing and painkilling agent. It was also used in embalming and anointing the bodies of the dead.
The picture that emerges as a result of the discoveries described is fascinating, as rarely in archaeology – full of life. – Sometimes difficult for us to imagine, for how can the commander of an ancient ‘Foreign Legion’ be reconciled at first sight with long-haired cats, miniature dogs and monkeys treated as family members? – the scientists ask themselves. – However, our findings unequivocally show that the military elite surrounded themselves with elite pets and led an exclusive lifestyle – says prof. Osypińska. – Like the message from Karen Blixen ‘the most important thing in life is style’.
So we have wine amphorae from all over the Mediterranean, remnants from a table of quail, pork, garum and beef starring.
And as happens in excavations, on the last day, the archaeologists reached the bottom of two huge cavities that had been drawing in layers for a long time. – It turned out that the first residents of the graveyard of dogs, cats and monkeys were two calves, one only a few months old and the other an almost adult bull. Both were resting on their left sides, with their heads smeared with a solid layer of ochre. The older one had its head additionally covered by a large fragment of an amphora. We think that these are two sacrificial calves – a foundation for an animal cemetery or some sacred object in close proximity, explains our researcher. – We hope that next year’s research will show this, which will again allow us to peek through time into the fascinating and vibrant world of antiquity at the time of Quo vadis, like Nero through an emerald crystal (the only emeralds in Rome came from the Sikait mine – near Berenike).
Already in August, scientists will start the first archaeological research in the Serengeti. – We are fully prepared – dr hab. Marta Osypińska. – We plan to carry out an archaeological survey in the southern part of the park. We will focus on prospecting along the Mbalagete River, and finding and documenting as many archaeological sites as possible.
The researchers want to produce the first good-quality maps of the area based on satellite imagery, GPS and drone strikes. The aim of this first season is also to select sites for future full archaeological surveys in the Serengeti.
You can also read about the research in Tanzania here https://uwr.edu.pl/silne-kobiety-w-kolebce-ludzkosci/
Research at the huge Berenike site (Berenike Project) is carried out as part of a Polish-American project (CAŚ UW – Delaware University).
Our researcher is heading an archaeozoological project within the IA UWr – CAŚ UW scientific consortium. On behalf of CAŚ, the mission leader at Berenike is dr Mariusz Gwiazda.
Project participants „Nie-ludzie w społeczności Berenike. Dane archeozoologiczne w dyskursie dotyczącym tożsamości i wartości w antyku.” NCN–2021/43/B/HS3/02749
Marta Osypińska, University of Wrocław, project manager, archaeozoologist
Piotr Osypiński, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, archaeologist, field director
Iwona Zych, UW Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, specialist in segregated monuments
Katarzyna de Lellis-Danys, ceramologist, National Museum in Warsaw, UW Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology
Szymon Popławski, 3D documentalist, surveyor, architectural specialist, Institute of History of Art, Building Archaeology and Restoration, Vienna University of Technology; Austrian Academy of Sciences, visiting researcher: The Palaces of Avaris and their Semiotics of Space
Mahmoud Samir Hussein, metal conservator, Museum of Egiptian Cyvilisation
Kamila Braulińska, photographer, Faculty of Archaeology, University of Warsaw
Colline Sarsabard, vet-anatomist, VetAgro Sup, Lyon
Steaven Sidenbotham, numismatist, Delaware University
Rodney Ast, epigraphist, papyrologist, Institut für Papyrologie, Universität Heidelberg
Renata Kucharczyk, glass specialist, UW Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology
Complied by Katarzyna Górowicz-Maćkiewicz
