Reconstructing Landscapes and Waterscapes in Thebes, Egypt

The aim of the project Theban Harbours and Waterscapes Survey (THAWS) is to (re)construct past land- and waterscapes in the Theban region over the last five Millennia and to understand the extent to which the Ancient Egyptians were able to manipulate the dynamic floodplain. This paper presents the methodology followed in this survey (Electrical Resistivity Tomography; Magnetometry; Topographic survey strategy and control; Geoarchaeological methodology; Ceramic methodology) as well as the principal results of the 2012 survey. The latter was carried out in the neighborhood of various major sites on the Eastern and Western banks: royal cult temples of Ramses II (Ramesseum), Amenhotep III (Kom el-Hettan), Thutmose III and Amenhotep II; harbour of the ceremonial and royal city of Malkata (Birket Habu); Karnak.

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2019

New Kingdom royal cult temples in Thebes (Luxor, Egypt) are all located on the lower desert edge. Kom el-Hettân (Amenhotep III: reign 1391-1353 BCE, 18th Dynasty) is an exception, as it is located in the present Nile floodplain. Its anomalous position has puzzled Egyptologists, as has the termination of its use, which traditionally has been attributed to natural hazards such as flooding or earthquakes. Geoarchaeological analyses of the subsurface shows that Amenhotep III's temple was initially founded on a wadi fan that stood several metres above the contemporary surrounding floodplain landscape. The temple was fronted by a minor branch of the Nile, which connected the temple to the wider region, but the temple itself was relatively safe from the annual flood of the Nile. This geoarchaeological study comprised a coring programme to determine the c. 4000-yr landscape history of the local area. Chronological control was provided by the analysis of ceramic fragments recovered from within the sediments. This study shows that the New Kingdom period was, at least locally, characterised by extremely high sedimentation rates that caused a rapid rise of the floodplain and gradual submergence of the pre-existing high temple grounds. This is, however, not a plausible reason for the destruction of the temple, as frequent inundation did not begin until the temple was already out of use and largely dismantled.

2012

2013

TT 14 and MIDAN.05 must be set in their proper environment and considered in tight connection with it. This area of Dra Abu el-Naga necropolis, likewise many other spots of the Theban region, are known to have suffered from ancient times the devastating effects of occasional flash-floods. These ruinous events arise from the rare but vigorous and sudden rain storms which sometimes strike the desert situated West of the area of the Theban necropolis. The waters collect on the desert highlands and flow into the various natural channels (widian) which pour the floods onto the rocky slopes and the plain of the necropolis 1 . The big wadi known as Khawi el-Alamat 2 , which cuts the hill of Dra Abu el-Naga slightly to the north of TT14 and MIDAN.05 , is the main responsible for the flooding and the damages occurred in many tombs of the area, especially those situated at the base of the hillside. Modern and ancient evidence 3 , as well as archaeological and geological observations 4 agree on the violence and strength that these floods were able to, and still could, express, washing away whatever is in their path and dragging great amounts of mud, limestone chips and debris. The discovery of the passage which connected the two tombs in ancient times ) affected and slightly modified our first evaluation of the deposits which we found inside the rooms of TT 14. The existence of new burial spaces on a higher level than those of TT 14 must of course be taken into serious account. In fact, part of the materials discovered in the funeral chambers of TT 14 were carried by the waves of mud and rubble flooding first into MIDAN.05 and from there down the passageway and into TT 14. The inner rooms of the latter therefore contain what had been intentionally laid there as burial equipment for the original interments, part of the funerary materials of MIDAN.05 as well as items coming from the outside which were washed through the access points to the two tombs. The great strength of the flooding mud waters in this low-lying sector of the necropolis was not, however, the only disturbing and damaging event suffered by the archaeological deposits of the two tombs. As is almost always the case in the Theban necropolis, and in many other Egyptian historical sites as well, in this funerary complex too the human activity has changed, often extensively, the way things had been in the preceding periods. The two original rock-cut tombs have been reused as burials for long time, and that often involved deep changes to their original architectonic layout. In addition to this "internal" disturbance factor, as we may call it, there is clear evidence of the upsetting changes brought about by "external" disturbance elements, namely the recurring plunders, both ancient and modern.

Proceedings of the Tenth International Congress of Egyptologists, University of the Aegean, Rhodes, 22-29 May 2008 (Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 241), ISBN 978-90-429-2550-2. , 2008

A. niWińsKi a Mysterious tomb at deir el-Bahari. revelations of the excavations of the polish-egyptian cliff Mission above the temples of hatshepsut and thutmosis iii .

2016

Rivers, changeable features of earth surface and in the meantime fixed conspicuous elements of any landscape, have been chiefly chosen by human settlements as natural corridors for their expansion, trade and culture. Nile is a paradigmatic example of such a twofold function of water courses, having created with its peculiar regime of discharge suitable conditions for the development of a great civilization which played a central role in the man history. Significant examples of geo-archaeological researches, conducted for more than 20 years along the Nile valley, will be reported and commented, taking into account their representativeness and distribution in time and space.