The Isis Cult in Western Thebes in the Graeco-Roman Period (Part I)

In the second part of the article we first focus on the building history of the Isis temple in Deir Shelwit. On the basis of a new analysis of the so-called logeia-receipts we conclude that these documents do not refer to voluntary contributions to finance the construction of the temple, but are issued in connection with an official tax on priestly offices. The building of a first temple in Deir Shelwit may probably be dated to the end of the 30th dynasty or the Ptolemaic era, while a new sanctuary was constructed under Augustus. Another small Isis chapel, with its own cult servants, is attested in the Ptolemaic period to the north of the temples of Medinet Habu. The emergence of the Isis cult on the Theban West Bank is probably connected with the growing popularity of the cult of her brother Osiris, who according to the local tradition was buried in the “Mound of Djeme”.