Tag Archives: New Kingdom

Evidence for Fishing at SAV1E?

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Fieldwork continued mainly in the northern part of SAV1E. DSC_3262We were able to trace already first remains of the eastern wall of Building A which thus definitely continues towards the North.

At this very northern end of our excavation area, just below the surface, a small clay object with two perforations was found today. SAV1E 119 measures 5.8 cm in length and has a height of 2.3 cm. Such objects, resembling axe-heads in clay, have been found in quite large number and in varying sizes at SAV1N, in the northern part of the Pharaonic town of Sai Island. Close parallels from the Egyptian town at Elephantine allow us to interpret them as net weights for fishing (see von Pilgrim 1996). Although this identification remains tentative, it is from our point of view the most likely classification of such objects. However, they might have been used as weights for several purposes (see Giddy 1999 for objects from Memphis/Kom Rabia). SAV1E-119-09

SAV1E 119 is a rather small and thus light example of this type of weighing-down device. But all in all, SAV1E 119 adds to our assessment of the material culture in the Egyptian town on Sai Island – it falls into the category of objects well known from New Kingdom sites in Egypt and probably testifies fishing activity during the 18th Dynasty on Sai.

References:

Giddy 1999 = L. Giddy,The Survey of Memphis II. Kom Rabiaa: the New Kingdom and Post-New Kingdom Objects, EES Excavation Memoir 64, London 1999.

von Pilgrim 1996 = C. von Pilgrim, Elephantine XVIII. Untersuchungen in der Stadt des Mittleren Reiches und des Zweiten Zwischenzeit, AV 91, Mainz am Rhein 1996.

Uncovering More of Building A

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Starting into week 4 of our fieldwork, we made an extension to the east of Square 2 in order to reveal more of the Eastern wall of Building A. Already just a few centimetres below the surface we found collapsed mud bricks, together with a quite large number of pottery. The ceramics are again predominantly of 18th Dynasty date (60 % versus 40 % of Post-New Kingdom material). Like at the beginning of our work at SAV1E, the corpus mainly comprises bread moulds and beer jars.

Because of the sloping ground at this eastern edge of our excavation area, we have to proceed very carefully and thus slowly. But at the end of the day, the extension of the wall is clearly visible – not yet in clear outline or with bricks in place, but as depression filled with broken mud bricks and sandy material.

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Visit to Sesebi

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On our day off (Friday), we managed to realise a trip to Sesebi. Sesebi is like Sai one of the important Egyptian sites of the New Kingdom in Upper Nubia and currently under excavation by the joint expedition of the University of Cambridge and the Austrian Archaeological Institute Cairo, directed by Kate Spence and Pamela Rose.

IMG_0516We very much appreciated the warm welcome by Pamela Rose and her splendid tour through the site! Congratulations to the results of this season, really excellent work! It’s wonderful to exchange so closely with other colleagues and to connect our own research with comparable investigations at other sites.

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Registration of Finds & more

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By the end of week 2, our Filemaker Database for objects from SAV1E comprises 85 pieces. Most of them are reused sherds (e.g. scrapers) and stone tools (e.g. grinding stones and pounders). Each object gets an entry in the database and is illustrated by photos. In a future step we will also make technical drawings of selected pieces.

NB Photo makingThe highlight so far was a tiny piece of fayence: this fragment illustrated here was discovered directly between mud bricks of the eastern wall of Building A. Thanks to parallels, it is clearly coming from a so-called Nun-boSAV1E-085-01iwl, datable to the 18th Dynasty. Such fayence bowls, decorated with floral designs, fish and marsh scenes, are commonly found within the context of New Kingdom temples, but also appear in domestic contexts. Examples for finds of Nun-bowls from settlements are among others Abydos, Kom el-Rabia and also SAV1North, the northern area of the Pharaonic town on Sai Island.

Mud Brick Architecture at SAV1E

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As work progressed in Squares 1 and 2, we can now happily confirm that we have a mud brick structure of considerable size at SAV1E – its North-South extension is more than 15 m and we calculate c. 12 m for its East-West side. Both, size and orientation match perfectly a structure visible on a geophysical survey conducted in 2011.

WORK at the eastern wall

Cleaning the remains of the mud brick wall in Square 1.

As yet, we have unearthed only parts of its eastern and southern wall – although most of the eastern wall is now a negative impression filled with very soft sandy material, there are sections with bricks still in place, giving the width of the wall.

Section of the eastern wall of large mud brick structure at SAV1E. Note the circular depression west of the wall – they also showed up at the geophysical survey’s map and are possibly storage pits?

Section of the eastern wall of large mud brick structure at SAV1E. Note the circular depressions west of the wall – they also showed up at the geophysical survey’s map (and are possibly storage pits?)

Because of the large amount of New Kingdom ceramics associated with the remains, we remain confident that it dates to the 18th Dynasty. Details of the architecture, stratigraphy and possibly functional use will be clarified in the course of upcoming fieldwork!

From House Hold to Drawing Sheets

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From working at several archaeological sites in Egyptian Delta and Nile valley up to the First Nile cataract and acquaintance with various types of ceramics, it can be said that the pottery collection coming from SAV1 North in Sai Island offers a significant opportunity to study a great diversity of both Egyptian and Nubian pottery. These are diverse in fabrics, manufacture techniques and shapes. Such a variety is evidence of a multi-cultural society that has lived on Sai around ca. 1400 BC.

During the first ten days of the 2013 mission, pottery drawings achieved have covered a good amount of these various ceramics mainly including the essential elements of house hold such as storage vessels, dishes, bowls and cooking pots.

Fatma KeshkThe Nubian ceramics, containing a good majority of cooking pots decorated with impressions from rectangular or circular basketry, recall the Nubian pottery found on Elephantine Island during the early New Kingdom in shapes, decorations and handmade techniques. Other vessels like dishes, flower pots and incense burner are typical of Egyptian 18th Dynasty style.

Drawing both Nubian and Egyptian pottery simultaneously allows a worthy chance of comparison. The pursuit of ceramics documentation throughout this season can indeed expose other interesting details that are crucial to the study of the whole pottery corpus in Sai.