Digging Diary - Egypt Exploration Society

EGYPTIAN
ARCHAEOLOGY
Digging Diary 2007-2008
Summaries of some of the archaeological work
undertaken in Egypt during the Winter of 200708 and Spring of 2008 appear below. The sites are
arranged geographically from north to south, ending
with the Western Oases.
Field Directors who would like reports on their
work to appear in EA are asked to e-mail a short
summary, with a website address if available, as soon
as possible after the end of each season to: patricia.
[email protected]
PATRICIA SPENCER
Abbreviations: ED Early Dynastic; OK Old Kingdom;
FIP First Inter mediate Per iod; MK Middle
Kingdom; SIP Second Intermediate Period; NK
New Kingdom; TIP Third Intermediate Period; LP
Late Period; GR Graeco-Roman.
Institutes and Research Centres: ARCE American
Research Center in Egypt; AUC American University in Cairo; BM British Museum, London;
CFEETK Franco-Egyptian Centre, Karnak; CNRS
French National Research Centre; CSIC Spanish
National Research Council; DAI German Institute,
Cairo; ENSG/IGN French National School of
Geographical Sciences/National Geographical
Institute; IFAO French Institute, Cairo; Swiss
Inst, Swiss Institute for Architectural Research
and Archaeology, Cairo; NVIC Dutch-Flemish
Institute in Cairo; OI Oriental Institute, University
of Chicago; UCL University College London;
UMR/USR research groups of the CNRS.
SCA Supreme Council for Antiquities.
WINTER 2007-08 (November to March)
Lower Egypt
Abu Sir: The Czech Inst of Egyptology team,
directed by Miroslav Verner with Ladislav Bareš,
Miroslav Bárta and Jaromír Krejčí as deputy field
directors, continued the exploration of the S Abu Sir
cemetery. E of the tomb complex of the vizir Qar
and his family, the team unearthed a badly damaged
late 5th Dyn mastaba of Inpunefer, the Hm-nTr priest
of Neferirkare and Niuserre. Surprisingly the tomb
has an intact original burial chamber. Exploration
was completed of a largely destroyed monument
marked on maps as ‘Lepsius pyramid no. XXIII’.
This is a mid 5th Dyn mastaba which can, on
the basis of a masons’ inscription, be attributed to
Werkaure, the eldest son of a king (Raneferef or
Niuserre). The team also continued examination
and documentation of the late Saite-early Persian
tomb of Menekhibnekau, priest and scribe of
royal documents. Another stage of the systematic
geophysical survey of the Czech archaeological
concession was carried out. As in previous seasons,
reconstruction continued of the damaged masonry
of the mastaba of Ptahshepses, focusing on the outer
wall of the mastaba and the pillars in the courtyard.
http://egyptologie.ff.cuni.cz/
Saqqara: The joint expedition of Leiden Museum
of Antiquities/Leiden Univ, directed by Maarten
Raven and René van Walsem, continued work in
the NK necropolis. The substructure of the tomb
of the royal butler Ptahemwia (temp. Akhenaten)
was explored. It consists of a 9m deep shaft leading
to an antechamber and two different burialcomplexes, one of which has, in a lower chamber,
remains of the original burials, notably decayed
wood of the coffins, several inlays, and a quantity
of NK pottery. All the other rooms had either been
cleared by 19th century robbers or were heavily
contaminated with LP and surface material. To the
E and S of the tomb of Ptahemwia are remains of
limestone Ramesside tomb chapels, all of which
have lost their reliefs and inscriptions. A sondage
under the floor of Ptahemwia’s NW chapel revealed
three more child burials. All the tomb’s relief
fragments were photographed, drawn and studied.
A preliminary exploration was undertaken by the
NVIC in a burial-complex beneath the tomb of
Maya, and accessible via an adjacent LP shaft and
chamber, first cleared in 1991 when ED material
was noticed in the neighbouring complex.This has
the characteristic architecture of the late 2nd Dyn,
with pilasters, corridors in various directions and
hemispherical recesses. A large quantity of pottery
and stone vessels of the period was found in the
debris, which also contained a seal impression of
Khasekhemwy. www.saqqara.nl
El-Sheikh Ibada. The sanctuary of the main church at
Antinoopolis. Photograph: Diletta Minutuli
Upper Egypt
El-Sheikh Ibada: In the S part of the site, the capital
of the N Thebaid (Thebais I) in late antiquity, two
large churches were excavated by a mission led by
Rosario Pintaudi (Ist Papirologico «G.Vitelli», Univ
of Florence). One of them, probably the episcopal
church of the town, has a cruciform ground-plan
dating to the first quarter of the 5th century. It
is richly outfitted with decorative architectural
elements, partly made especially for the church,
and has a sanctuary with an apse and a slightly
larger fore-choir. Both contain a series of columns
applied to the surfaces of their walls.The body of the
church is surrounded by a narrow inner ambulatory
which is typical for Upper Egyptian churches. There
are two differently shaped baptismal fonts and,
underneath, an earlier structure with a large peristyle
and a kind of purification tank in one of its corners.
The second church was only partly excavated. It is an
ordinary three-aisled basilica with the usual return
aisle in the W and an E transverse aisle in front of
the apse, datable to the end of the 6th century.This
church also has a slightly larger fore-choir in front
of the apse. The apse was equipped with engaged
columns along its wall and contained a number of
richly decorated wall niches.
Athr ibis: The joint mission of the Univ of
Tübingen and the Sohag Inspectorate of the SCA,
directed in the field by Rafed el-Sayed, concentrated
Egypt Exploration Society Expeditions
(www.ees.ac.uk)
WINTER/SPRING
Sais: A short winding up season of the EES/Univ
of Durham expedition, led by Penny Wilson,
saw the completion of some pottery recording,
photography of stonework, study of predynastic
pottery and the organisation and listing of
material in the new magazine.A set of 11 display
panels in English and Arabic was created to allow
visitors to read about archaeological work at the
site and its history.They can also be downloaded
at: www.dur.ac.uk/Penelope.Wilson/Sais.html
Delta Survey: The Minufiyeh Archaeological
Survey Project team, led by Joanne Rowland
(Univ of Oxford) continued excavation at
Quesna of the test trench opened in 2007 (see
EA 32, pp.15-17), with five ceramic coffin
burials and one mud-brick burial excavated, all
tentatively dated on ceramic evidence to the
Ptolemaic Period or earlier. One burial contained
a number of mould-made gypsum amulets which
were consolidated in the field. The ceramic
coffins are now being reconstructed. The drill
coring programme on the low land around the
Quesna gezira continued, with hand auger cores
drilled at Minshat Damallu and Kufur Ramla.
Fragments of ceramic/brick in the cores indicate
inspected in the village of el-Faraunniyah where
evidence from associated pottery, indicates that
the site was in use at least from the LP/Ptolemaic
Period to the 5th century AD and beyond. http://
www.rlaha.ox.ac.uk/php/person?person=JR1
Sais. The new EES/Durham University magazine.
Photograph: Penny Wilson
settlement in these areas, although the sherds are
not datable. At Kom el-Ahmar, Minuf, electrical
resistance tomography (ERT) was carried out in
streets on the kom and a (?26th Dyn) naos fragment,
first noted in 2007, was recorded.The ground survey
focused on potential sites along the Nile branches
with stone tools and ceramic sherds (prob. NK-22nd
Dyn) being observed on the ground near Khattatbah
in the W of the province. Limestone blocks were
29
Saqqara: Peter French and Janine Bourriau
(Univ of Cambridge), continued the study of
sherds from the EES excavations at the Anubieion.
Final cataloguing and checking was carried out
for the ED to NK volume and the marl and
mixed clay wares of the LP and Ptolemaic Period
were studied.
Qasr Ibrim:The EES team, led by Pamela Rose
(Univ of Cambridge) undertook a study season
based in Aswan. Work continued cataloguing
artefacts from earlier seasons,including numerous
textiles of the Meroitic and Napatan periods,
and painted plaster fragments from excavations
that took place in 1986 and which were
recently rediscovered in an SCA store in Kom
Ombo. There was also further study of the
archaeobotanical remains, charcoal, wood and
ceramics. A preliminary investigation of material
from the early seasons of excavation at the site
stored in the basement of the Cairo Museum
revealed many undocumented Arabic texts.
EGYPTIAN
on the area of the temple precinct of Repit-Triphis
with a main focus on the temple of Ptolemy XII
(see EA 32 pp.20-24). In the SE part of the site,
two possible locations for constructing a new dig
house were excavated. The general site survey
continued in the rock necropolis W of the site with
photographic recording of the accessible decorated
tombs. The epigraphic work, which focuses on the
study and edition of the inscriptions and scenes
in the temple of Ptolemy XII, was extended to
the demotic graffiti and depinti of the so-called
temple of Asclepius. Considerable effort was spent
on site preparation measures for future restoration
work and conservation treatments mainly in the
temple of Ptolemy XII. The detailed stone plan of
the temple was completed. Study also permitted
a first tentative dating for the later structures, on
the basis of the stratified pottery, to the fourth, and
the fifth to seventh centuries AD. www.uni-tuebingen.
de/aegyptologie
Mersa Gawasis: The Boston Univ and Univ
of Naples ‘Orientale’ team, led by Kathryn Bard
and Rodolfo Fattovich, continued geological
investigations by coring across the wadi below the
man-made caves showing that this was the area of
the ancient harbour, c.700m inland from the present
sea shore. More ship timbers were excavated outside
the cave entrances and large area excavations were
conducted in the ancient beach area (above the
harbour). Strata of numerous hearths were excavated
in the beach area, which was a campsite for seafaring
expeditions. Large storage jars, mainly of Nile C
ware and its variants from Upper Egypt, had been
placed along the ancient shore line. At the back of
the beach area was a wide range of Egyptian pottery,
and sherds of wares from Eritrea and the Aden
region of Yemen. Outside the entrance to Cave 3
a mud-brick platform was excavated, and sherds of
a Canaanite ware were associated with a hearth. A
sherd of a Minoan cup of pre-Palatial Kamares ware
was excavated outside the entrance to Cave 7. Two
stelae were found with dates from two different
expeditions of Amenemhat III (years 23 and 41).An
ostracon is dated to year 8, 2nd month of Shemu, of
Amenemhat IV; the same date as inscribed on Cargo
box 2, excavated in 2006. www. archaeogate.org
Karnak:
1. The CFEETK (CNRS USR 3172/SCA),
directed by Christophe Thiers and Mansour
Boreik,continued archaeological research and
restoration programmes inside the precinct of
Amun-Re, with the contributions of many scholars
and missions. The main excavation was led by
Mansour Boreik in front of the 1st Pylon, in the
N area with the Ptolemaic baths, and in the S area
with the three ramps on the S side of the tribune
and the GR settlement. Continuing the architectural
survey and restoration project in the temple of
Opet, Emmanuel Laroze found many reused NK
blocks, especially of the reign of Tuthmosis III,
with a dedication text to the goddess Ipet. François
Leclère led excavations in the area of the chapel of
Osiris from Coptos to complete the architectural
and epigraphic survey of the temple and to try to
understand better the context of the temple. The
work on the Osirian chapels on the W side of the
path to the temple of Ptah, led by Laurent Coulon
(IFAO) and Catherine Defernez (UMR 8152),
concentrated on study of the ceramics and drawings
of plans and stratigraphic sections. The blocks
of Amenhotep I were studied by Luc Gabolde
(UMR 5140) and Jean-François Carlotti (UMR
8164). A mission led by ENGS/IGN succeeded in
photographing the 134 columns of the Hypostyle
Hall in only one month; the photographs will be
transferred onto a 3D model of the Hall and unrolled
to create one photograph for each column. Other
missions concentrated on study of demotic ostraca
and ceramics found during previous excavations,
especially in the area of the priests’ houses near
the Sacred Lake. Restoration work, led by Agnès
ARCHAEOLOGY
Dra Abu el-Naga. Detail of the text on the 12th
Dynasty coffin found below the courtyard of the tomb of
Djehuty (TT 11).The name of Anubis is written with
a unusual determinative. Photograph: José M Galán
Oboussier, concentrated on limestone blocks and
the restoration of the Ptolemaic coin hoard found
previously in the area of the Ptolemaic bath. www.
cfeetk.cnrs.fr (website under construction)
2. The Brooklyn Museum expedition, directed by
Richard Fazzini, concentrated on the area between
the N enclosure wall and the Mut Temple’s 1st
pylon, which lay outside the Mut Precinct until the
25 Dyn and was known as ‘Opet’. In the forecourt
of Temple A (originally a ‘Temple of Millions of
Years’ for several kings and later a mammisi) the
team continued to define the sequence of walls
along the court’s N and S sides. Between Temple
A’s columned porch and the Mut Temple’s 1st
Pylon work continued on Ptolemaic and Roman
mud-brick structures uncovered in past seasons
whose precise functions are still unclear. An early
phase included a fired brick industrial installation,
possibly for smelting or glass-making. The complete
clearance of the Taharqa Gate, in preparation for
its restoration in coming seasons, revealed a series of
late Ptolemaic/early Roman structures built within
the gateway. Work was also undertaken on the
Ptolemaic and Roman houses W and S of this gate.
Conservation focused on Chapel D (dedicated both
to several goddesses and to the Ptolemaic ancestor
cult, and lying just E of the Taharqa Gate), where
the W walls of the first two rooms were restored.
www.brooklynmuseum.org/features/mut
3.The Karnak Land- and Water-scapes Study, led by
Judith Bunbury (Univ of Cambridge) and Angus
Graham (UCL) working with Kris Strutt (Univ of
Southampton), continued the augering programme
at Karnak and also carried out three ERT profiles
in collaboration with CFEETK, IFAO and the
SCA.Two ERT profiles were carried out at North
Karnak, one of which is 270m long, 15m deep just
N of the Temple of Montu enclosure wall. Along
the whole of this profile high resistance readings
to a depth of 4.5m suggest archaeological deposits,
below these low readings indicate Nile silts. At a
depth of over 10m below the present ground surface
(c.66m a.s.l.) higher readings may indicate sand
deposits.These may be sandbars associated with the
formation of the terrain below the Montu enclosure,
but augering would be necessary to clarify this. A
third profile was located between the Temple of
Khonsu and the court between the 9th and 10th
Pylons. Augering in 2007 at the temple of Opet
revealed that the MK occupation was on sand
deposits. The ERT and an auger along its length
have identified a low-lying area between the Khonsu
temple and the 10th Pylon court, revealing that the
Opet Temple was founded on an island.
Luxor: The OI team, directed by W Raymond
Johnson, continued work at the temple, with
the creation of seven new damp-coursed storage
platforms for fragmentary material recovered in
medieval foundations from the E garden and E
Roman gateway, including three large platforms
for the reassembly and restoration of the sphinxes
of Nectanebo I from the Karnak/Luxor sphinx
avenue. Reassembly began of sixteen sphinxes
from this group and analysis continued of the
Nectanebo II blocks found in the same foundation.
Cleaning continued in the E area in preparation for
30
a blockyard open-air museum funded by the World
Monuments Fund.A prototype section of sandstone
pavement and protective fencing was laid E of the
Temple sanctuary along platforms which support
large blocks from Amenhotep III’s sanctuary walls
in that area, dismantled during modifications to
the temple made during the reign of Diocletian
in the 3rd century AD. In the painted Roman
vestibule, photographer Yarko Kobylecky finished
the complete documentation of the entire S wall
and apse. The cleaning of the frescoes in this area,
including the apse with four Roman emperors,
was finished this season by ARCE and OI with
USAID funding under the direction of Michael
Jones (ARCE) and conservators Luigi Di Caesaris,
Alberto Sucato and Maria Cristina Tomassetti. Onsite discussions were held between ARCE, OI and
the SCA to determine the best way to protect the
cleaned frescoes.A condition survey was undertaken
on two decaying medieval foundations in the
precinct: a church to the west of the Colonnade
Hall, and another to the N of the E Luxor Temple
pylon, both made of reused pharaonic material.
http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/projects/epi/
Western Thebes:
1. An SCA expedition, under the direction of Zahi
Hawass, is working at two sites in the Valley of
the Kings. The first site is the tomb of Seti I
(KV17), where a major project has been started
to clean and restore the 136m ‘K’ tunnel. Cleaning
of the tunnel has revealed many artefacts such as
wooden and faience shabtis and inscribed blocks
from the original wall reliefs of the tomb. So far,
the expedition has been able to clean and restore
more than 50m of the tunnel. The second site is
to the SW of the tomb of Merenptah (KV 8).
The area has never been excavated and a geo-radar
survey was conducted in November 2007 before
excavation began the following month. Many
artefacts have been found where the huts of ancient
workmen once stood and graffiti on the rock give
important information about activities in this area.
Many ostraca were found dated to different periods.
www.guardians.net/hawass/Press%20Releases/secrets_of_
the_valley_of_the_kings.htm
2. In Dra Abu el-Naga the Spanish-Egyptian
mission directed by José M Galán (CSIC) continued
working at the tombs of Djehuty and Hery
(TT 11-12). Inside the shrine of Djehuty’s tomb,
the funerary shaft was excavated and at a depth
of 8m, a large burial chamber full of debris opens
at the SE side and will be excavated next season.
Outside the tomb, below the floor level of Djehuty’s
courtyard, an intact burial of the early 12th Dyn
was discovered inside a small rock recess, with a
coffin pushed sideways, facing E. It was painted
in red, with an inscribed white band running
along the four sides of the coffin and its lid. The
hieroglyphs are polychrome and drawn in a naïf
style (see photograph above). Next to it was a marl
clay globular vase and five arrows. Inside the coffin
there were two bows and three staves on top of the
mummy, which has a painted cartonnage mask.
3: Epigraphic work of the OI, under the direction
of W Raymond Johnson and supervised by Brett
McClain, continued at Medinet Habu in the small
Amun temple of Hatshepsut and Tuthmosis III. A
special focus was the Akoris-period elements of
the ambulatory, including four pillars appropriated
from the God’s Wives’ chapels and reused in the
restoration of the temple, an inscribed doorway, and
an inscribed window blocking. The conservation
team headed by Lotfi Hassan and stonemason Frank
Helmholz consolidated and patched the decayed
exterior foundation stones of the sanctuary, W side,
which suffers from the effects of groundwater salts.
At the collapsing S well of Ramesses III, two more
courses of stone from the E wall of the well, whose
foundation has dissolved because of groundwater
salts, were dismantled and moved. The broken
stone surface was consolidated before and after
EGYPTIAN
removal. Salt-encrusted in situ reliefs within the well,
showing Nile gods bringing up sacred water, were
cleaned and consolidated. Construction of the new
blockyard against the inside S enclosure wall was
completed. A preliminary phase of the work was the
inventorying and documentation on a new database
of all of the miscellaneous fragmentary architectural
and sculpture fragments presently scattered around
the precinct. http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/projects/epi/
4.The team led by Angelo Sesana (Centro Comasco
di Egittologia ‘F Ballerini’, Como) continued work
at the mortuary temple of Amenhotep II.A new
part of the sandstone wall foundations encircling the
innermost courtyard was unearthed in the central
area and many painted blocks of the original temple
structure have come to light. Work in the E area
revealed remains of several parts of the mud-brick
boundary wall and the second pylon. In the same
area are funerary structures dating back to the end of
the SIP; some human skeletons and ceramic pieces
have also been found. Four of the numerous burial
shafts of the TIP were investigated but, like the shafts
excavated in previous seasons, they were robbed in
both ancient and more recent times. These shafts
contain many ceramic shabtis, terracotta vases, and,
in few cases, coffin fragments and connected skeletal
human remains. In two burial shafts, four limestone
canopic vases were found.
Elkab: In the tomb of Sobeknakht, the BM
expedition, led by Vivian Davies, continued the
collation of facsimile drawings of the decoration.
Detailed study was also carried out of secondary
material, including a group of hieratic visitorinscriptions. Prominent among these is one dated
to Year 22 of Ahmose, first king of the 18th Dyn,
written by the scribe Reneny, almost certainly
the future governor Reneny, of Elkab tomb no.7.
Another, of approximately the same date, marks the
visit to the tomb of the scribe of counting of grain of
Nekhbet, Djehutymose. In the neighbouring tomb
of Renseneb, an up-dated record was made of the
important genealogical inscription carved on the
inner doorway, and photography was begun of the
substructure. As a further protective measure wire
mesh was installed on the metal grille that covers
the tomb’s façade. The conservation team, directed
by Lamia el-Hadidy, also carried out an initial
assessment of the conservation and documentation
requirements of the nearby tombs of Bebi and
Senwosret.
Hagr Edfu: The BM team, directed by Vivian
Davies, continued the final documentation of the
Tomb of Sataimau (no.1) and other projects. Work
in Sataimau’s tomb concentrated on the doorway
reveals, which bear remnants of figures showing
the tomb-owner adoring the sun. In Tomb no.2,
clearance was begun of the sand and debris (largely
stones fallen from the ceiling), which cover the floor,
and a record made of fragmentary Christian crosses
painted on the N and S walls. In Tomb no.3 detailed
documentation was started of the secondary motifs
carved on the N wall and there was further study of
the numerous hieratic visitor-inscriptions. Cleaning
concentrated on the ceiling, revealing a long central
feature simulating a plank of wood. Documentation
of the site’s Late Antique remains, led by Elisabeth
O’Connell, made good progress, with much pottery
surveyed and numerous architectural features, made
of mud-brick, planned and incorporated into the
topographical survey of the site. The locations of a
further 71 tombs were added to the archaeological
map of Hagr Edfu, bringing the current total to 235.
A new investigation of the ancient land- and waterscape of the region was begun by Judith Bunbury
and Angus Graham, with an auger-hole sunk in the
cultivation at the nearby site of Kom el-Fahary.The
initial results, indicating extensive migration of the
Nile, have important implications for understanding
both the physical and mythological landscape.
Hierakonpolis:The BM/Univ of British Columbia,
Vancouver expedition continued work. At HK25
ARCHAEOLOGY
and HK29B the team led by Thomas Hikade
uncovered the full extent of a large columned hall
(20m x 8m) with at least five rows of 10 wooden
columns each at HK25, and distinguished two phases
of construction for the palisade wall at HK29B, both
dating to the later Naqada II Period. At HK29A
excavation along the S side of the predynastic
temple, directed by Renée Friedman, revealed
further architectural traces of what is believed to be
the main shrine and remains of an earlier predynastic
house. At HK6, exploration around the royal tomb
23 revealed three new funerary temple structures
and evidence for at least three building phases. Ritual
activity in the 3rd Dyn suggests that these buildings
continued to be respected almost 1,000 years after
they were built. Pits containing the burials of a
baboon, nine dogs and six cats were also discovered.
At HK11C excavations by Masahiro Baba (Univ
of Wales, Cardiff) and by Izumi Takamiya (Kinki
Univ) revealed further information on predynastic
pottery production and its association with beer
production. Preliminary investigation of the location
and movement of the Nile in ancient times was
undertaken by Judith Bunbury and Angus Graham.
Conservation work on the 2nd Dyn enclosure of
Khasekhemwy (the Fort) continued in the interior
and at the NE corner. www.hierakonpolis.org, www.
archaeology.org/interactive/hierakonpolis and http://www.
cnrs.ubc.ca/index.php?id=3486
Nag el-Hagar: A joint team of the Swiss
Inst and the SCA Aswan, directed by Michael
Mackensen (Ludwig Maximilian Univ Munich)
and Mohammed el-Bialy, continued work in the
late Roman fortress. The excavations showed the
unexpectedly severe demolition not only of the
enclosure wall with its different towers but also of
all late Roman and early Byzantine/Coptic layers in
the interior of the fort. Of the defences a V-shaped
ditch, known to be running along the S side of the
enclosure wall, and two intermediate towers of the
E and the S enclosure wall as well as the SE corner
tower, were partly excavated. In the SE sector the
orthogonal street grid was proven. The extent and
function of structures partly excavated could be
determined as two large double barracks of identical
size containing two rows of eight identically sized
rooms. In the area of the headquarters building near
the middle of the E enclosure wall the foundations
of a huge central hall and three adjoining rooms to
the S were uncovered.
Kom Ombo-Aswan: The season of the BM/
Univ of Rome ‘La Sapienza’ Project, led by Maria
Carmela Gatto, was devoted to: continuing the
rescue operation at the Predynastic site at Nag
el-Qarmila (Kubbaniya); continuing the survey,
including the epigraphic survey and the rock
art study, of the W bank at Aswan and Wadi Abu
Subeira; starting a subsurface survey with the
drill core method of the S portion of the W bank
from Qubbet el-Hawa N to Sheikh Mohammed;
and studying part of the archaeological material
recovered in the previous field seasons and now
kept at the Kom Ombo store room. The
main findings of the ongoing survey
are a Pan-Grave cemetery at Sheikh
Mohammed, a Predynastic cemetery at
Nag el-Qarmila, a Late Roman fortress
N of Kubbaniya and an OK mastaba at
Qubbet el-Hawa.
Aswan:
1. The DAI/Technische Univ Berlin
team, led by Philip Speiser, resumed
work in the S sector of the Islamic
necropolis. Mapping of the site was
finished and the study of several funerary
complexes continued. The structure
of their domes was consolidated. www.
dainst.org
2. The joint team of the Swiss Institute
and the SCA Aswan, headed by Cornelius
von Pilgrim and Mohammed el-Bialy,
31
and directed in the field by Wolfgang Müller,
continued work in the ancient town and
cemeteries. Rescue excavations were conducted
in several areas in the town revealing further streets
and houses of medieval Aswan, Roman tombs, and
houses of the Ptolemaic Period. Investigation of
a major building of the 9th century AD, S of the
modern cathedral, was completed. Hundreds of
fragments of decorated temple blocks had been
reused in the walls; most of them came from the
Khnum Temple in Elephantine, with larger blocks
from a hitherto unknown local temple of Nectanebo
II. Two ditches/fossae beneath the building point
to a Roman military structure in the E vicinity.
A reinvestigation of the fortification wall between
Aswan and Shellal revealed a complete rebuilding
in the late Ptolemaic Period, whereas the preceding
wall was apparently built in the late MK/early SIP.
The cleaning of the antiquities area E of the Isis
Temple was started and a plan devised proposing the
removal of the road in order to rejoin the two areas
to create a central archaeological zone in Aswan.
Elephantine: The DAI/Swiss Inst team, led by
Dietrich Raue, Cornelius von Pilgrim and Peter
Kopp, continued work in the OK strata W of
the temple of Satet. A sequence of remarkable
activities of the 5th Dyn, connected with the town
enclosure, was found. Further excavations were
carried out in the SW part of the town enclosure
of the 2nd and 1st millennium BC and in the area
of the temple of Khnum with its Roman and Late
Roman habitations inside the temenos wall. Study of
decoration and architectural fragments from the NK
and GR temple of Khnum, MK, NK and Nubian
pottery, skeletons, pigments, lithic tools, small finds
from the temple of Satet, and rock-inscriptions
was undertaken. Restoration of wooden finds
from the FIP bakery and the geomorphological
survey continued. www.dainst.org (http://www.dainst.
org/index_56_de.html)
Dakhleh Oasis:
1. The Columbia Univ expedition at Amheida,
directed in the field by Paola Davoli (Project
Director, Roger Bagnall) worked N of the 4th
century AD house with wall paintings, where a
building with five rooms was excavated, in its final
phase a service area for the house. In the previous
phase the area was a school building of at least three
large rooms with benches, including the room with
Greek poetic texts excavated earlier; in one of the
new rooms lines from Homer were found. The
remains below the school belong to a bath house in
baked brick. Work at the temple of Thoth focused
on clarifying its layout and the underlying layers in
which many pits had been dug.The c.110 decorated
blocks and fragments found date mainly to the Saite
temple of Thoth and were reused in the Roman
temple. Inscriptions include cartouches of Amasis.
Five complete, sealed pottery coffins containing
unmummified birds were recovered, along with
25 fragments of bronze Osiris statuettes and
pendants and a large deposit of over 40 miniature
Western Thebes. Canopic jars found in the Third Intermediate
Period burial shaft P-C06 during work at the mortuary temple of
Amenhotep II. Photograph: Franco M Giani
EGYPTIAN
vessels. A Roman mud-brick tomb was recorded
and consolidated, and lintels and a steel grille
door installed at the level of the original entrance.
Management of the project moved to New York
Univ as of July 2008. www.nyu.edu/isaw/amheida
2. A Monash Univ team, led by Gillian Bowen,
undertook a short season of survey of the church
at Deir Abu Metta to determine the date of
the building and other types of activity at the
site, especially to locate further burials around
the church. Traces of E-W oriented graves and
some human remains were located; burials located
previously date from the 4th century. The graves
appear to be contemporary with the church and
a substantial building to its W and overlie traces of
earlier structures. Ceramics and glass from the test
excavation date to the late 4th or early 5th century;
coins are of the 4th century. This material has
enabled the date of the church to be established. It
had previously been assigned to the late 6th century
on the basis of the form of the apse which is a
triconch. www.arts.monash.edu.au/archaeology
3.The Monash Univ team directed by Colin Hope
continued excavations at Mut el-Kharab within
the temenos of the temple of Seth and began,
in the SE corner, examination of several large
Ptolemaic Period structures. Due W of the temple
three trenches revealed the extension of small-scale
buildings into which blocks from earlier structures
have been incorporated, and which were themselves
cut through in the 26th Dyn. Part of a pillar (early
12th Dyn?) inscribed for a local administrator
and priest, Saigai, came originally from a temple
dedicated to Igai. The Ramesside stela found in
this vicinity with a prayer to Seth (see EA 27
pp.3-6 for this, and other NK and LP blocks) is
probably a block reused from the same structure.
Elsewhere walls associated with OK ceramics were
found underlying later buildings. www.arts.monash.
edu.au/archaeology
SPRING 2008 (March to May)
Lower Egypt
Taposiris Magna: The SCA expedition, directed
by Zahi Hawass, working in co-operation with the
Dominican mission, undertook its third excavation
season at the temple, 30km W of Alexandria.
Foundation deposits from the temple, dedicated to
the cult of Serapis and Isis, were found, giving the
name of the founder of the temple, Ptolemy IV.The
temple was also used as a burial ground where shafts
with skeletons and funerary equipment including
funerary masks have been discovered.The work also
revealed the area of the sacred lake of the temple
where coins of Cleopatra VII were found.
Tell el-Balamun:The BM excavation, directed by
Jeffrey Spencer, of a small LP temple, begun in 2007,
was completed this season. The stone foundations
of the building had been greatly disturbed during
quarrying operations in the Roman Period, but the
base layer of blocks was intact. Among the ruins of
the upper courses were several re-used blocks from
older monuments, primarily from buildings of
Sheshonq III. Parts of several offering-scenes were
present, together with an inscription mentioning
the god Khonsu and the toponym Sma-en-Behdet,
the original name of the site. The full size of the
building was 21.25m x 18.4m. and it appears
to have been a barque-station built in the 26th
Dyn. www.britishmuseum.org/research/research_projects/
excavation_in_egypt.aspx
Buto:
1. The work of the DAI team, led by Ulrich
Hartung, focused on excavations N of the modern
village. In addition to work on a Saite building
with casemate foundations, further parts of an
administrative building complex of the 1st and
2nd Dyns were excavated. In some trenches two
building phases of earlier structures of the early 1st
Dyn and the time of Narmer were revealed. While
the former consist of several houses with round
ARCHAEOLOGY
Qarara. Fragment of a Coptic textile.
Photograph: Béatrice Huber
silos and huge storage jars sunk into the ground,
the structures of the time of Narmer must have had
another function as they have not, so far, yielded any
evidence for agricultural activities. Excavations also
continued in the NW area of the site where a TIP
elite burial was found last year.The burial chamber
is now completely excavated and the finds have
been cleaned and restored. The owner of the tomb
was probably a local prince who had usurped a red
granite Ramesside sarcophagus lid (see photograph
EA 31, p.28) for his burial. The lower part of the
coffin was cut from a huge architectural block,
perhaps from a building of Pepi I.The tomb owner’s
high status is also indicated by his rich funeral
equipment, including bracelets with the incised
names of Iuput II.Two other (previously unattested)
names are mentioned on inscribed shabtis found
outside the coffin. www.dainst.org/index_52_de.html
2. The Univ of Poitiers team, directed by Pascale
Ballet, continued excavations on the E slope of
the N kom revealing early Ptolemaic building
structures and Roman pottery kilns. Additionally,
some sondages were made on the S kom to check
places of probable industrial activities indicated by
surface finds like slag and wasters. On the so-called
‘English kom’ the team started to re-examine the
Roman bath-house which was partly excavated in
the 1960s by Veronica Seton-Williams on behalf of
the EES. www.dainst.org/index_52_de.html
Upper Egypt
Medinet el-Gurob: The Univ of Liverpool team,
led by Ian Shaw and Claire Malleson, conducted a
short survey season in the area around the main site
at Medinet el-Gurob. A surface survey for ceramics
and other artefacts was carried out in the cultivated
areas adjacent to the site, alongside a GPS survey
of the current field boundaries. The majority of
the ceramic material collected appears, on initial
examination, to derive from the main NK palace
site and the cemetery E of the palace (immediately
next to the cultivation boundary). No clear signs
of ancient settlement remains were detected, but
discussion with local farmers revealed that land
reclamation (post-Aswan dam) has been necessary
to overcome the problem of the salty stagnant pools
that appear N of the ancient dyke (Gisr el-Bahlawan)
any remains that might have been present are likely
to have become buried. The work was funded by
an EES Centenary Award. http://www.liv.ac.uk/sace/
research/projects/gurob.htm
Qarara: The Inst of Egyptology, Univ of Tübingen
team, led by Béatrice Huber, started new research
at the site of Qarara, 10km N of Sharuna. The
preliminary investigation aims to establish the
chronology and topography of the large cemetery
and the settlement, occupied from Ptolemaic to
Byzantine times. Four test pits to the bedrock were
carried out and revealed a more complex situation
than had been assumed. The Coptic cemetery
extends under the settlement of which the structures
are not yet clear. The region between Qarara and
Sharuna was surveyed, revealing two previously
32
unknown, but completely robbed, monasteries.
Sharuna (Kom el-Ahmar):The Inst of Egyptology,
Univ of Tübingen team, led by Béatrice Huber,
continued work in the monastery at Deir elQarabin excavating a new square SE of the church.
A completely wrapped Coptic body was found here,
abandoned by the looters of the cemetery.Work
continued also in the rock necropolis (directed by
Luis Gonzálvez), where a Ptolemaic shaft tomb
was excavated and five anthropomorphic stone
sarcophagi were found with many remains of burial
goods. Restoration work was carried out on an OK
tomb and a Ptolemaic one, to consolidate their wall
paintings and reliefs.
Deir el-Barsha: The team from the Katholieke
Univ Leuven, led by Harco Willems, completed
stabilisation works in the tomb of Ahanakht I.
Excavations around the tomb of Djehutihotep led to
the unexpected discovery of a new OK tomb. Finds
were few but included many Djehutihotep reliefs left
behind by Newberry. On the S Hill, more FIP tombs
were discovered. www.arts.kuleuven.be/bersha/
Shaykh Said: Excavations by the Katholieke
Univ Leuven team, led by Harco Willems, showed
the presence of an industrial site where alabaster
vases and other objects were produced between
the early OK and the TIP. Extensive garbage heaps
showed that there must have been bakeries and
other food producing areas of the reign of Khufu
here.This date is suggested not only by pottery that
can be compared to ceramics from the workmen’s
settlement at Giza but also by seal impressions
mentioning the king.A programme of resistivity tests
and core augerings suggests that a harbour formed
part of the site.This may have been a royal domain.
www.arts.kuleuven.be/bersha/
Tuna el-Gebel: The Univ of Cairo/Univ of
Munich joint mission, directed by Abd el-Halim
Nur el-Din and Dieter Kessler, started the season
with an investigatory programme to restore the two
wooden Roman funerary beds discovered the year
before (tomb 7, E of the tomb of Djedthothefankh).
Material excavated by Sami Gabra was studied inside
the Mallawi Museum and the SCA magazines at elAshmunein. Local SCA inspectors have discovered
remains of a new larger Ptolemaic elite tomb to the
N of the tomb of Djedthothefankh.
Amarna: The Amarna Project of the McDonald
Inst, Univ of Cambridge, directed by Barry Kemp,
continued excavation at the cemetery behind the S
Tombs.Within the limits of the previous excavation
more and better defined burial pits were discovered
at a deeper level. These showed a wider variety in
standard of burial, and included the fragmentary
remains of a painted wooden coffin with face mask.
A total of 38 individuals were identified amongst
the bones, and previous findings on the physical
condition of the population were confirmed by
the anthropology team led by Jerry Rose.The GPS
desert survey of Helen Fenwick took in a section of
the S cliffs and was augmented by 3D scanning of the
Workmen’sVillage and StoneVillage by a team from
the Center of Applied Spatial Technology (Univ of
Arkansas, Fayetteville), who also experimented with
similar recording of artifacts as a first step in creating
a virtual Amarna museum. Gillian Pyke directed a
further survey of the Christian remains associated
with the church in the tomb of Panehsy (see EA 32,
pp.8-10). The study of decorated stonework from
the Kom el-Nana excavations continued (see this
issue, pp. 5-7) and was extended to material (now in
the SCA magazine at el-Ashmunein) from the 1960s
excavation of inspector of antiquities Osiris Gabriel.
Stonework from the excavation at the same time
at el-Mangara was also studied. The experimental
replication of ancient faience (see EA 32, pp.33-35)
continued. www.amarnaproject.com
Thanks to José Galán, Franco M Giani, Peter Grossman,
Béatrice Huber and Penny Wilson for providing
photographs.