The “Treasures of Soknopaios”

The religious centre of the ancient Egyptian deity Soknopaios was in Soknopaiou Nesos, a town in the Fayum oasis. His temple and the cult area are well preserved and we even have an inventory list dated between the years 177 and 180 CE.

Even though only fragments of two columns are preserved, the remarkable list tells us about the “Treasures of Soknopaios”. The introduction contains the date on which this inventory was created and submitted. Only two words of this dating formula have survived, but since these show that two emperors ruled at the time the text was written, it can be dated to 161–169 or 177–180 AD.

The list follows the introduction. It contains the cult objects that were in the sanctuary. These included gilded or silver-plated wooden shrines of which some were sealed, statues, statuettes and busts of gods and animals, like lions and ibises, made of bronze or silver, and ritual objects such as candlesticks and incense burners, as well as tableware required for the cult – including several so-called Bes vessels. The material and sometimes also the weight is given for all listed items.

Source: https://berlpap.smb.museum/tempelinventar/?lang=en