Per-Wadjet (Ancient Greek: Ἀφροδίτης πόλις or Ἀφροδιτώ; Coptic: ϫⲕⲱⲟⲩ or ⲧϣⲕⲟⲟⲩ or ⲧⲕⲟⲟⲩ) was an Ancient Egyptian town in the 10th Upper Egyptian nome. The ancient town is identical to the modern village of Kom Ishqau. Per-Wadjet has been known from Egyptian sources since the New Kingdom. It was a cult place for Hathor, who was identified with Wadjet here.
The Greeks identified Hathor with Aphrodite and called the town Aphroditopolis or Aphrodito. In Greek and Roman times, the city was sometimes the nome capital. In Kom Ishqau, the papyri of Dioscorus of Aphrodito, who lived there in the 6th century A.D., were found. These papyri are an essential source of life in Byzantine Egypt. A long-lost 2.200-year-old temple with words linked to Ptolemy IV Philopator was accidentally found by the Egyptian archaeological mission in the village during drilling work on a sewage project in early September 2019. Temple stones for installing the sewage pumps, limestone wall remnants and ground floor were also revealed during the excavation. Inscriptions described Hapi, the God of the Nile, presenting offerings of varied animals and birds on the temple’s walls.
Aphrodito
From the information in this archive, conclusions can be drawn about the location in the 6th century. According to this, in Aphrodito and the surrounding area belonging to the place (technically a village), 3,000 men headed households and paid taxes. From this, one can conclude a population of about 15000 people. There were over 30 churches and about 40 monasteries. There were two potteries and an olive oil workshop.
The archive of Dioskorus is also essential for the social history of the early Byzantine Empire. The village seems to have been in constant struggle against large landowners. In the fifth century, a single large landowner owned about 2/3 of the entire arable land near the village.
In the fifth century, the village had gained the right to pay taxes directly to the state and was thus able to bypass the large landowners who repeatedly tried to influence village life. This right was otherwise reserved almost exclusively for these large landowners. In the sixth century, at the time of Dioskoros, various influential large landowners tried to circumvent the special rights of the place and demanded tax payments directly from the site. Theodosius even appeared in town, collecting and keeping the taxes for himself. Dioskorus’ father then went to Constantinople to speak to the imperial court about the case. In the 540s, people of the landowner murdered Sarapammon, the local priest Victor and a certain Heraklios.
Sarapammon was tried, but the verdict was not recorded. As a result, the place came under the personal protection of Empress Theodora. She died in 548, after which the site was again without protection. Dioskorus then travelled to the imperial court and spoke to Justinian I, who ordered an investigation into the landowner Julian, with no apparent action taken against Julian. As late as the 560s, there is evidence documenting Dioskorus’ struggle against wealthy landowners, in this case, Menas, who was working for a certain landowner, Patricia.
