A Clay Gladius Scabbard from Area 13c in the Ancient Roman Town of Syene

Abstract

Area 13c, located in the town centre of modern Aswan in Upper Egypt, was excavated in 2005 by the Joint Swiss-Egyptian Mission working at Old Aswan. A sequence of houses from the late Ptolemaic period up to the late Roman period was documented at the site. Among the terracotta objects found in one of the houses, a miniaturised clay scabbard has features typical for the gladius scabbards known from military camps of the fi rst and early second centuries from other Roman provinces. Similar terracottas were interpreted as toys, attributes of statues or votive off erings. However, the fi nd context of the object from Syene demonstrates that-together with other clay objects-it belonged to a room decoration or was part of a house altar. Perhaps the object was dedicated as a votive by a soldier, since there are some indications for Roman military presence in this part of Syene.