ARCE/NC ARCHIVES

Archaeologist Seeks Site

Finding a Place to Dig in Egypt

At our October lecture, Dr. Carol Redmount revealed to the ARCE/NC lecture attendees the fascinating process of selecting a site to excavate in Egypt. Carol, who has been working as a field archaeologist since 1971 and digging in Egypt since 1978, has been the Director of the Tell el-Muqdam/Leontopolis Project since 1992. As that excavation in nearly at an end, Dr. Redmount began several years ago, thinking about a new site to dig in Egypt.

Early on, Carol began visiting sites that might have potential, and be available. She had a number of things to consider - both personal and professional - and has been juggling all the various factors simultaneously for the past 3-5 years, in order to come up with a plan that meets all the criteria.

Things that had to be factored into the process and weighed both separately and together are:

Carol's personal research priorities
Site characteristics
Who will benefit and how, from the site chosen? To be considered were Carol herself, the department at UC, the students [both graduate and undergraduate], other archaeological projects at Berkeley, past and future team members, including Carol's husband who is a professional geologist and servers as the teams geoarchaeologist, and, of course, the cultural heritage of Egypt.
What kind of site: Carol's preference is for an urban or town site, with possible added elements such as temples and/or a necropolis. Carol's primary interest and experience is in stratigraphic archaeology, so that toois key to the site chosen. Understanding the development of an Egyptian town requires that there must have been occupation over a fairly longperiod. Town sites are the poorest documented sites in Egypt, thus we know less about how people lived than how they died, since more tombs are preserved than anything else.
What time period: The Bronze Age is Carol's personal preference. Some of her team members have greater interest in the Old Kingdom, or the Third Intermediate Period. Therefore, a site with a wide range of time periods represented will support lots of research projects and Ph.D. topics. Carol noted, however, that in the overall selection process, "when" is not the most critical concern.
Where in Egypt: Where one would like to work and where one can get approval from the Egyptian government to dig, may not be one in the same! Carol has lots of Delta experience and her team members and potential students are all flexible. But what about the expenses the excavation will incur and sources for funding. Is it easier to get some sites funded that others?
Why dig in a particular site; i.e. How important is the site: Carol's personal interests include ancient pottery, urbanization, and interrelationships throughout the eastern Mediterranean world. Thus the site should address those interests as much as possible. A major concern is whether the site is fundable and this is a "high priority" concern. Is there something "sexy" about the site that will attract funds - donations, grants, private sustainable support?
How long will the site support excavation: Short digs of 3-5 years are relatively easy to fund, but Carol is looking for a long-term site. One that will support 10-20 years of excavation. A site that will provide site continuity, and continuity for a funding support base. A further consideration is the logistics of getting people and supplies to and from the site. A long-term excavation allows the project to establish an excavation house, storage facility and lab, so that the logistics of supplying the site can be minimized each year.

Thus, Carol narrowed her preferences to: 1) a large site; 2) with long term excavation potential; 3) and extensive research opportunities.

What is available in Egypt? Egypt has begun restricting who works on some sites. For example, Zahi Hawass would like the Giza Plateau to be restricted mostly to excavation by Egyptians. Some sites are endangered and need immediate attention before the remains are lost forever. What is available in "safe" areas of the country? It isn't a good plan to start work on a long-term project in an area of the country where there is strong potential for future problems.

Thus one must ask, what sites are both endangered and available? Major reclamation projects are making some sites that used to be little known key endangered sites now. The Supreme Council of Antiquities [SCA] has indicated that they want work to concentrate in the Delta, but have not completely stopped all other approvals.

It is imperative to determine how one can work within the rules of the SCA. For example, no material can be taken out of Egypt, so how does one facilitate scientific analysis on the site? One option is to work at a site where there is already material in a collection outside Egypt which will compliment the material at the site in Egypt - such as at the Hearst Museum. Another is to set up a lab in Egypt or use one of the labs that are being set up by missions in various parts of Egypt.

From all of this analysis emerged the following critical criteria to be applied to potential sites:

1. A large site.
2. A site that is endangered, or soon will be.
3. A site with significant settlement history.
4. A site that includes a range of time periods of occupation.
5. A site that will support long-term excavation and research.
6. A site that will support long-term funds development.

With these criteria in mind, Carol began visiting potential sites several years ago. As the SCA is urging work in the Delta, she first looked at about a dozen Delta sites and talked to people in the field regarding their potential, reviewed the literature, and to keep the expenses down, visited other sites while in Egypt working at Tell el-Muqdam. None of the Delta sites fully met her criteria; though not ideal, several were possibilities:

- Kom El Hisn in the Western Delta has third and second millenium remains and occupation. The site was previously excavated by Robert Wenke from the University of Washington, among others. The water table is very high. There are remains of houses and decorated tombs at the site. The village has encroached onto the site. The time periods met Carol's criteria but the site would not sustain a long term funded excavation.
- Kom Firin also in the Western Delta, is a very large site, but is a total "moonscape". There are Greco/Roman remains at the site, including a temple. It has been excavated but as yet Carol has not found out by whom or when. It has a magazine, built for the earlier excavation with a few objects lying near the building. The site is so large that it would be necessary to excavate in lot of small areas on the site - it's too big to do the whole thing. It's in the midst of sand dunes so there would be a LOT of sand to remove. The site is actively being "sabakked" [villagers are "mining" the ancient mud brick to use for fertilizer in their fields]. Ground water is a problem and the settlement is now right to the edge of the site. There are cracks and cuts visible through the stratigraphy showing the site to be primarily 3rd Intermediate Period. There is a necropolis, which has been encroached upon by cultivation. Overall, a possibility, but not ideal.
- Rataba in the Wadi Tumelat in the Eastern Delta, is an area where Carol has worked in the past. The area has been worked for about 100 years. Houses are fast encroaching. There is an electric station at the edge of the site with major feeder lines running directly over the site. An elementary school at the edge of the site means there are lots of kids around all the time. The site, which is badly disturbed has Middle Kingdom through Roman remains, and tombs visible. Lots of excavation has been done there in the past. There isn't enough left there to sustain a long-term project, however.

Then she began looking at sites outside the Delta. First she thought to check the old Hearst sites which were excavated by George Reisner early in the last century - Naga el Deir and El Ahaiwa - and Metamud, north of Thebes, a small area surrounded by villages and with lots of kids. At El Ahaiwah the remnants of Reisner's excavations are visible, but she couldn't find any houses. The site has a lovely view from the top of the tell, but there isn't enough material left to sustain a long-term dig. At Naga ed-Deir it was only possible to view the site from across the river due to security problems. There was no indication of any habitation - just tombs,
and what remains there is badly damaged.

The next site to be evaluated was El Hiba. The site, which is half way between Cairo and El Amarna, is in remarkably good shape. The time is ideal to excavate the site as encroachment is just beginning so it is endangered. It is a safe site, and is large. There was continual habitation over many centuries and there is a temple. Inscriptions visible on the temple have never been recorded. In Deiter Arnold's new book on the temples of Egypt, the temple is defined at "probably Ptolomaic". Baines and Malek, in Atlas of Ancient Egypt, define the site as: ".at town site [ancient Egyptian Tuedjoi] with a much-destroyed temple built by Shoshenq I. It was the northern limit of the Thebaid during the 21st through 25th Dynasties." Some important texts come from the site. Saite/Persian period papyri tell of a
Persian family who lived there. Also the High Priest at Thebes in the 3rd Intermediate Period was from El Hiba.Vast cemeteries with many sarcophagi - now in the Ashmolean Museum in England - have been excavated in
the past. The last excavations at the site were by Robert Wenke in 1980. El Hiba was a combination fort, village, and burial ground. Many structural components are visible, including large mud brick walls with stamped bricks [from Menkheperre, High Priest of Amon]. The site is high and ideally situated, with a lovely view of the river. Surface finds abound and the
back area has many tombs. There may be Paleolithic art on the rocks in the cliffs beyond the tell.

So, El Hiba meets all the criteria Carol established. She advised that Dr. Gaballah Ali Gaballah has agreed to support Carol's application for the site. Of course the commissioners at the SCA must give the final word of approval, but Dr. Gaballah's recommendation holds great sway. Thus, within the next few months, the formal request for El Hiba will go forward to the SCA for approval as DR Redmount's long term excavation site in Egypt. We all join in wishing her success and look forward to hearing more about the site in the future.

NOTE: The U. C. Berkeley team was awarded the concession for El Hiba. If you would lik to help support their work, please click on this link.

Nancy Corbin

For a membership packet either write

ARCE Northern California Chapter
P.O. Box 11352
Berkeley, CA 94712-2352
or email Membership Director, Betty Bussey

Contact Joan Knudsen by email at pakhet@uclink4.berkeley.edu for further information on ARCE/NC events or by mail at P.O. Box 11352, Berkeley, CA., 94704-2352.

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