El-Tod (Egyptian: Djerty or Ḏrty, Ancient Greek: Touphion, Latin: Tuphium, Coptic: Thouôt or Tuot) was the site of an ancient Egyptian town and a temple to the Egyptian god Montu. It is located 20 kilometres (12 mi) southwest of Luxor, Egypt, near the settlement of Hermonthis. A modern village now surrounds the site.
Location of El Tod City
Tod, ancient Djerty, and during the Graeco-Roman Period, Tuphium, is a small village built around an ancient mound (Kom) on the eastern bank of the Nile about 20 kilometres south of Luxor, ancient Thebes. It sits just across the Nile opposite Armant (ancient Hermonthis). Jean-Francois Champollion was one of the first investigators of the ancient ruins. He visited what was left of a high crypt that emerged from the temple that remained buried beneath the village.
History of El Tod
The site’s history can be traced to the Old Kingdom period of Egyptian history. A granite pillar of the Fifth dynasty pharaoh, Userkaf, is the oldest object found at El Tod city. It was this same pharaoh who ordered that the temple to Montu be enlarged. Evidence of the Eleventh dynasty building is shown in the discovery of blocks bearing the names of Mentuhotep II and Mentuhotep III. Under Senwosret I, these buildings were replaced with a new temple. Further additions to this temple were made under Ptolemy VIII.
Culture
Aside from Montu, to whom a temple was dedicated, the Egyptian goddess Iunit was of local importance. According to Flinders Petrie, the god of Tuphium was Hemen. As part of the Thebaid, the area also saw the worship of Sebak (Sobek), the Egyptian crocodile god.
Remains
On 7 March, we visited the ruins of the ancient Tuphium, now Taoud, situated on the right bank of the river but in the vicinity of the Arabic chain and very near to Hermonthis, which is on the opposite bank. Here there are two or three little apartments of a temple inhabited by Fellahs or their cattle. In the largest, there are still some bas-reliefs, which informed me that the triad worshipped in the temple consisted of Mandou, the goddess Ritho, and their son Harphré, the same as in the temple of Hermonthis, the capital of the nome (district) to which Tuphium belonged.
— Jean-François Champollion,
Tod Treasure
In 1936, archaeologists discovered in the support structures under the ruined temple building several metallic and lapis lazuli artefacts. Most of the metallic objects were made of silver. They were earmarked for some authorities of unknown origin and epoch, believed to have been of non-Egyptian origin. Nevertheless, the objects’ style resembles artefacts excavated in Knossos, dating to c. 1900–1700 BC. Yet, at Knossos, such objects were made of clay, possibly imitating metal.
The initial discovery of four chests (inscribed with Pharaoh Amenemhat II) made of copper-containing objects was created by F. Bisson de la Roque. Some sources posit that the treasure is of Asiatic origin and that some of it were manufactured in Iran (the latter as claimed by Roger Moorey). Some gold artefacts are also part of the treasure, and they may have originated from Anatolia. A similar conclusion is drawn on the origin of the silverware based on evidence obtained from relative analysis of the metallic constituents.
Objects found as part of the treasure seem to have originated from various parts of the world, indicating trade contacts between the Ancient Egyptians and other early civilizations.
The total weight of all gold items was 6.98 kg, and of the silver items, 8.87 kg. After its discovery, the treasure was divided between the Louvre Museum and the Egyptian Museum.
