The Encomium of an Official

Abstract

The archaeological mission based out of New York University is excavating the site of Amheida, ancient Trimithis, in the Western part of the Dakhla Oasis in the Western desert of Egypt. During the Roman Period the settlement flourished, and at the beginning of the fourth century Trimithis became a πόλις (polis); like a number of other Dakhla settlements it was abandoned around the end of fourth or the beginning of the fifth century. Between 2004 and 2010 the team excavated a fourth-century private residence adorned with frescoes built around 340 and belonging to an upper-class family, that of the landowner and city councilor Serenos.