Abstract: Sometime between 88 and 80 BCE an otherwise unknown Graeco-Egyptian by the name Isidorus dedicated a set of four poems in Greek in honour of Isis-Hermouthis and co-resident gods at the south temple of Narmouthis (Medinet Madi) in the south-west of the Arsinoite nome (Fayum oasis) in Egypt. The four epigraphic poems were found in situ in 1935 on the entrance pillars of the temple forecourt. Each of the entrance pillars accommodated two poems, one in hexameters and one in elegiac couplets. The arrangement of Isidorus’ dedication in two pairs of one hexametric and one elegiac poem has been reproduced in their numerous editions.
In the first part of this talk I revisit the question of the inner structure of Isidorus' dedication and argue for a different sequence of its constituent poems. In the second part, I examine the generic features of the four poems, usually referred to comprehensively as “hymns”, with special attention to the generic features and the intertextual connections of the elegiac poem (no. IV) in honour of the founder of the temple Amenemhat III whose cult was popular in the Fayum.
The seminar is organized in collaboration with the research group "The Ancient Mediterranean: Archaeology, History, and Society" (Dept. of Archaeology, Conservation and History, University of Oslo).