EGYPTIAN
El-Kab: The expedition, directed by Vivian Davies (BM), made further progress in the conservation, planning and documentation of tombs in the main necropolis. Cleaning in the tomb-chamber of Senwosret (12th Dyn) revealed new details of the decoration including hieroglyphic inscriptions and workshop scenes. A new drawing was made of the important scene on the W wall showing oxen drawing a catafalque holding an anthropoid coffin of the deceased, preceded by mu-dancers, a scene which formed the model for the similar representation in the nearby tomb of Sobeknakht (16th Dyn). Cleaning continued in the tombs of Renseneb (16th Dyn) and Ahmose-Pennekhbet (18th Dyn). Fragments of an inscribed offering-table from the tomb of the musician Tientis (25th26th Dyn) were reconstituted and the decoration recorded. New detailed plans were prepared of the tombs of Sobeknakht and Bebi (16th Dyn). Hagr Edfu: Another brief study season, directed by Vivian Davies, was undertaken, continuing to check figural decoration in tomb 3 and of inscriptions on the top of the hill. Inspection of monuments in the necropolis revealed a certain amount of damage to the ceilings of some of the tombs, especially HE tomb 2 and the so-called ‘pylon-tomb’, caused by unusually heavy rainfall and the high water table. There was continued documentation of Coptic ostraca from the site, stored in the magazine at Elkab. Hierakonpolis: This season’s activities included excavations in the elite predynastic cemetery at HK 6 and in the predynastic food production area at HK 11C, the survey and recording of rock art and conservation of rock-cut tombs and objects (under the direction of Renée Friedman, BM). At HK 6, two new tombs were discovered, one containing an ivory figurine of a giraffe, possibly originally from a comb. Architectural remains of walls and pillars surrounding various tombs were also investigated. At HK 11C more cooking hearths were revealed, confirming that meat and fish were being prepared here on an industrial scale. This production was probably associated with the funerary cults of the elite rulers buried at HK 6. An inscription of King Niussere, which contains a list of gods including several that are specific to the desert, was discovered during the rock art survey. This inscription was found at the far W side of the site, near the land reclamation area of the Wady Sayyida Project. It is an important record of OK interest in the Western Desert. www.hierakonpolis-online.org Berenike: Joint excavations by the Univ of Delaware and the PCMA, directed by Steven E. Sidebotham and Iwona Zych, documented a late first-century bc/early first-century ad structure of unknown function W of the site with an interior comprising three square podia. Also excavated were Ptolemaic urban defences, a possible cistern and hydraulic tunnels, and early Roman burials, some with grave goods. The harbour contained industrial areas, a shipyard and a late Roman temple. We continued excavations of the early Roman-era animal cemetery (cats, dogs, baboons, vervet monkeys, some wearing iron collars). Excavations in the N part of site recorded a room built of ashlars recycled from the Ptolemaic or early Roman period; its function remains unknown. Excavations in and adjacent to the so-called Serapis Temple unearthed large amounts of fallen masonry, fragments of cedar timbers, marble wall/floor revetment, other wall decorations and about a dozen inscriptions including two in hieroglyphs (one with the cartouche of Amenemhat IV). One anepigraphic stele fragment had images of Isis/Hathor, an unidentified ruler (likely Roman), Harpocrates and Min/Pan. The bulk of the inscriptions and fragments were in Greek and dated first to third
ARCHAEOLOGY
centuries ad. Two of these were quite large: one was dedicated to Isis the Greatest Nurse Goddess in 49 ad, while the other was a dedication of a statue by a secretary of an aromatics warehouse in Berenike to a prominent citizen of the city in 112/113 ad. The project also included excavations in the long-horned cattle cemetery in Wadi Khashab (c. 2000-1500 bc), a detailed survey of the Roman-era beryl/emerald mining settlement at Nugrus and other desert surveys. http://micropublica.com/missions/the-berenikeproject/ ; http://www.centrumarcheologii.uw.edu. pl/index.php?id=253&L=0
Aswan (Kom Ombo): The 11th field season of AKAP (Yale Univ and Univ of Bologna) directed by Maria Gatto and Antonio Curci, ran from 19 Jan to 11 Feb 2015. During this short season, mostly dedicated to finalize the digital data collection of rock art and continue the archaeological survey, a Predynastic settlement was discovered in Wadi el-Tawil, c. 20 km N of Aswan on the West Bank. The site seems to include two areas: one on top of the lowest N spur, with possible granaries; and one on the N side of the valley mouth, with the actual occupation. No cemetery has been found yet, but the area is heavily disturbed by the construction of a house and its garden, and probably it lies somewhere nearby. Surface pottery collections consist mainly of shale wares, Nile black-topped and red-polished and Nubian black-mouthed, dating the site to approximately Naqada ICIIB/C, contemporary to the site found in Nag el-Qarmila, located only few km to the S. Aswan (Syene): The 15th season of work of the joint team of the Swiss Inst and the MSA Aswan, headed by Cornelius von Pilgrim and Nasr Salama, and directed in the field by Wolfgang Müller, continued until Apr 2015. Fieldwork concentrated on concluding investigations in the LP layers of Area 2 in the S-E corner of the fortified town. Salvage excavations were carried out at the S limit of the medieval town where a segment of the medieval fortification was uncovered. The chronology of adjoining layers let us assume that it was constructed during the Ayyubid Period. Two salvage excavations to the N of the Isis temple revealed well-preserved structures of the Early Islamic Period and part of a remarkable building of the Roman Period covered by painted wall plaster. Short-term investigations in an ongoing construction site to the E of the temple of Domitian revealed a destroyed rock-cut tomb of the late MK as well as a further section of foundation made of sandstone blocks. Together with two corresponding sections of foundation discovered in earlier excavations in close vicinity it indicates a large platform of Ptolemaic date at the S-W slope of a rocky outcrop in the town. Aswan (Elephantine): The joint DAI/Swiss Inst team directed by Stephan Seidlmayer, Felix Arnold, Johanna Sigl and Cornelius von Pilgrim continued fieldwork on Elephantine island between Jan and Apr 2015. New excavations in the MK settlement on Elephantine had already started in autumn 2013. The project focuses on everyday life in ancient times and the assessment of the use of modern archaeometrical methods in the archaeology of Egypt. As contamination of find material is a major issue in this case, the execution of excavation work as well as processing of finds had to be completely changed. This issue was addressed during the workshop and lecture series ‘Reality of Life’ in Nov/Dec 2014 in Cairo and Aswan. In the course of the ongoing study of relief blocks deriving from the NK temple of Khnum, evidence for the existence of a previously unknown structure of queen Hatshepsut was discovered. On a newly discovered relief, remains clearly indicate that
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Hatshepsut had been represented as a woman and then replaced by a male king. The building must therefore date to the early part of her reign. The function of the newly identified building is not yet clear. It appears to have combined features of a way station surrounded by pillars with those of a sanctuary, similar to the temple of the 18th Dyn in Medinet Habu. With the permission and support of the MSA an archaeological event day for the pupils of the two schools on Elephantine took place on 18 Mar 2015. The aim was to raise awareness of site’s historical heritage and explore new approaches to the site management of the archaeological area on Elephantine island through contact with the local people. http:// www.dainst.org/project/25953
SPRING - SUMMER 2015 (March to June) Lower Egypt Tell el-Fara’in (Buto): The DAI team continued the investigation of late Predynastic (Naqada IIIB/A) building structures which precede the development of a royal estate during the 1st Dyn. Although no comprehensive picture can be drawn yet, the structures revealed seem to form an interrelated facility connected to agricultural activities. Worth mentioning is an installation consisting of several low parallel walls that were covered by matting. The structure might have served to dry agricultural products such as grain or fruit. As the water table was low this spring, the uppermost level of the underlying settlement of the Lower Egyptian Maadi culture was reached in one of the excavation trenches without the need of pumps. The exposed structures date to Naqada IIIA1 and consist of light rectangular huts arranged side by side. The work of the Univ of Poitiers team, supported by the French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, the IFAO and the Centre of Alexandrian Studies, focused on the urban development of Buto from early Ptolemaic to the beginning of Islamic times. This season the continuation of the pedestrian survey on the S kom and soundings on top of the N kom of Buto yielded new evidence for the different phases of Ptolemaic, Roman and Byzantine occupation. In an area S of the temple enclosure, excavations revealed several kilns that had already become visible on the map of previous geophysical measurements. The kilns are clearly connected to the pottery production from late Ptolemaic until the very beginning of Roman times (late 2nd-/early 1st-century bc to the early 1st century ad.). http://old.dainst.org/en/ project/buto?ft=all
Naukratis (Kom Gaif ): The 4th BM fieldwork season under field director Ross Thomas and deputy director Alexandra Villing concentrated on two areas: the region of the Greek sanctuaries of the Dioskouroi and the Hellenion in the N part of the site, and the silted up remains of the LP riverbank in the W of the site (supervised by Edwin de Vries). Excavations in the N (supervised by Astrid Lindenlauf and Aurelia Masson) revealed figurines in limestone and terracotta and pottery (including inscribed Greek fine wares) alongside burnt animal bones, which represent votive offerings dating from the late 7th to the 6th century bc. They also provided important information on technical details of the earliest phases of (mud-brick) construction and use of this ritual centre. The riverbank revealed late 4th to early 3rd century bc pottery and rubble dumps overlaying mid5th to mid-4th century bc deposits, where the inhabitants had created a bank or crude surface for use. Within the waterlogged deposits wellpreserved wood was found, including a piece of hull plank timber typical for Mediterranean sea-