In 2023, A new Humboldt University project started, the name of the project is The Coptite and Th... more In 2023, A new Humboldt University project started, the name of the project is The Coptite and Theban Eastern Desert Hinterlands survey (CTEDH). The mission took place between the 1st of September and to 30th of September 2023. The project is directed by Dr. Mohamed Osman. Co-director Dr. Rebecca Doehl, a prehistory landscape archaeology specialist, and Mr. Sayed Shoura, a Ph.D. student. This project documents and analyzes the ancient desert landscape within a case study area in the eastern hinterlands of both the Coptite and Theban nomes in Upper Egypt. From another perspective, it also discusses the significant topic of coexistence between different cultural groups (agents) and tries to understand the human interactions within the specific and special landscape of this part of the Eastern Desert. This project intends to explore and reconstruct the evidence of human activity, especially coexistence and mobility within the frame of this poorly uninvestigated part of the Eastern Desert, using the new technology of digital documentation, Remote Sensing, GIS, and spatial analysis. The main feature of this project is the investigation of a specific part of the Eastern Desert, which is mostly an archaeologically “Terra Incognita“. However, this investigation aims to discover and document this area and establish its chronological and spatial significance within the ancient landscape of the Eastern Desert.
The talk presents the results of the excavation work at the Abu Ghurab Sun Temple site. the focus... more The talk presents the results of the excavation work at the Abu Ghurab Sun Temple site. the focus of the discussion is the discovery of different mudbrick structures on several strata and how they relate to the later Stone built Sun Temple.
The talk tries to present a narrative about the construction of the Sun Temple of Niesserre at Ab... more The talk tries to present a narrative about the construction of the Sun Temple of Niesserre at AbuGhurab, and how older deconstructed materials from former buildings were used within the foundations of the stone temple.
Poles on the Nile Conference, Warsaw University, 2022
Massimiliano Nuzzolo and Mohamed Osman
Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures – Polis... more Massimiliano Nuzzolo and Mohamed Osman Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures – Polish Academy of Sciences
Between April 23 and May 30, 2022, the Italian-Polish Archaeological Mission at Sun Temple of Niuserra at Abu Ghurab conducted its eight field-work season in the site. This is the second season after the launch of the “Sun Temples Project” (www.suntemplesproject.org), carried out at the Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures of the Polish Academy of Sciences in cooperation with the University of Naples L’Orientale and under the auspices of the National Science Center of Poland (grant no. UMO- 2019/34/E/HS3/00438). In this lecture, after a brief introduction to the main coordinates of the sun temples matter, we will present the main results of the 2022 field-work season. This includes, among others, important findings such as: 1. New architectural elements pertaining the stone temple of Niuserra and related to its construction technique and phases; 2. New archaeological elements pertaining to the early phases of occupation of the site and related to the construction of a in mudbrick temple earlier than the stone temple of Niuserra; 3. Three intact pottery contexts dated back to the First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom;
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Kultur-, Sozial- und Bildungswissenschaftliche Fakultät | Institut für Archäologie | Archäologie und Kulturgeschichte Nordostafrikas , Vorträge, 2021
The main aim of this documentation process is to:
“Create a comprehensive and dynamic Digital too... more The main aim of this documentation process is to: “Create a comprehensive and dynamic Digital tool (Geo-database) that can be accessible, in order to record and integrate all aspects of archaeological activity in the site dynamically, including both micro and macro scale spatial data”.
The famous trips of Herkhuf during the sixth dynasty have been a big topic of debate between Egyp... more The famous trips of Herkhuf during the sixth dynasty have been a big topic of debate between Egyptologist for several decades. However, despite the different narratives and interpretations, another perspective of Herkhuf stories have been poorly explored. This perspective is related to how the Ancient Egyptians, or the ancient Egyptian officials, perceived the Nubian world. Of course, we can see the side full of action in the autobiography of someone like Wni, nevertheless, it is more interesting to know more about the other peaceful side of the story, the side of coexistence. To understand this side, it is important to connect what we know from the autobiographies and other textual sources about Nubia during the second half of the Old Kingdom and construct what can be called the cognitive map of Nubia in the minds of the Egyptians. Road network and trade centres play an important role to complete the picture. Approaching this topic, it is important to consider the relatively new technology of archaeological spatial analysis, considering and requisitioning all the aspects of the topic within landscape archaeology. Through analysing the ancient landscape of Upper Egyp, Lowe Nubia and Upper Nubia, one can look at the material culture available and get a sense of how Old Kingdom traders and officials illustrated the vast lands south of Egypt in their minds, and how this cognitive map developed through the generations. This talk will discuss the landscape spatial analysis that has been done based on available material culture concerns Upper Egypt trade network with the southern destination during the Old kingdom. Aiming to illustrate part of the cognitive map of Nubia in the minds of Ancient Egyptians.
SÄK "Ägyptologie und Methodik: Potenzial und Prioritäten", 2019
During the last decades, the use of digital tools and methods has widely expanded in Archaeology.... more During the last decades, the use of digital tools and methods has widely expanded in Archaeology. Nowadays it can be considered as being part of the normal workflow of archaeological work, in which it is used in different ways. In this talk, we want to show what such a workflow could look like, beginning with a GIS analysis as a base for the study of the coexistence and mobility of nomadic people and Dynastic Egyptians in the Eastern Desert. As a case study, the journey of Henw from the Nile valley to Marsa Wadi Gawasis, based on the rock inscription from Wadi Hammâmât from the Middle Kingdom, will be presented. Then, relying on the results of these first analyses, the next steps would ask for fieldwork executed to collect further information which again can be used to strengthen the GIS database. Again, this fieldwork would nowadays be conducted using modern technological methods, that are significantly involved in the process of collecting and analyzing the archaeological and material culture data from the Eastern desert, such as SFM for Photogrammetry, RTI for images, and GIS geo-databases and spatial analysis at the end. However, the most important point to be discussed about these modern digital methods would be how to use the produced data, recorded in a comprehensive and progressive methodology, to analyze and understand the information at hand, and to eventually answer the main research questions about coexistence and mobility in a desert landscape.
(2019) Workshop, TERRA INCOGNITA: Archaeological fieldwork in Asyut and Middle Egypt, 2019
Darb el Arba’in is one of the well-known trade routes that once was active in the north eastern A... more Darb el Arba’in is one of the well-known trade routes that once was active in the north eastern African Sahara. It is known, thanks to several modern traveller’s reports, that this route was occupied at least during the modern period. The known camel route used to be described and illustrated on the old maps of Egypt and Sudan to be starting from Asyut (Siut), and end at El-Fasher in Darfur (or vice versa). So far, the Egyptological significance of the route is not solidly confirmed, however, it was always appealing to the Egyptologists to correlate Darb el Arba’in with the ancient Egyptian route that once connected Egypt to the land of Yam. This paper is aiming to investigate the possibilities of considering Asyut as one of the starting points of the desert route once took caravans towards southern destinations such as Yam and later towards Darfur, from the landscape-archaeology point of view. Also will try to correlate the spatial analysis results with the related material culture. This attempt would be possible through the usage of both preliminary and advanced spatial analysis, using old and modern maps, satellite images, traveller’s descriptions, and GIS spatial analysis.
Trans Area Network Africa (TANA) meeting at Aswan, 2018
This project aims at the recognition of changing patterns of coexistence in the Eastern Desert th... more This project aims at the recognition of changing patterns of coexistence in the Eastern Desert through a wide span of time, including prehistoric, dynastic, Greco-Roman, and Islamic periods, covering a timeline between the 4th millennium BC and the first millennium AD. This pattern(s) shall be analyzed through the main factor of human mobility within a confined landscape frame. While a view including all chronological time periods is intended to be covered, this project will focus on two phases with different patterns: One main phase is the Prehistoric/Predynastic period, in which, polycentric, and developing core-periphery patterns of coexistence could be recognized. After the aridization process of the desert areas took place, and consequently the change in the way of life (Culture). On the other hand, another main phase is the Dynastic periods, and later periods, in which, the evidence of established core-periphery patterns between the nomadic cultures and the centralized state can be found.
This research will include field work in the Southern Eastern Desert in a confined stretch between Nile and Red Sea. The aim is to combine archaeological information and landscape information to generate a comprehensive view of the dynamics of coexistence in the landscape frame throughout the different chronological phases. In order to achieve this task, several modern technological applications are required, such as, GIS (Geographic information systems) and modern documentation methods, such as Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) and Structure from Motion (SFM) for photogrammetry and 3D modeling.
Neue Forschungen zur ägyptischen Kultur und Geschichte & Erman‐Tag 2017, 2017
This talk presents the archaeological works carried out by the Middle Kingdom Theban Project (MKT... more This talk presents the archaeological works carried out by the Middle Kingdom Theban Project (MKTP) Mission to Deir el-Bahari– in the last two seasons (2016–2017)1. Fieldwork was undertaken by the archaeological team responsible for TT315, Associate Prof. Antonio Morales (director of the mission), Mohamed Osman (TT315 senior archaeologist), Sebastian Falk (archaeologist), Abd elGhani Tahir (Archaeologist), Raúl Sánchez Casado (object manager), Eman Zidan, Rawda Abd elHadi, and Mohamed Hussein (conservators), Dina Serova (Epigrapher), and rais Ali Farouk (head of workmen). During season 2016, systematic cleaning and archaeological work in the courtyard of Ipi´s tomb revealed a significant amount of mummification bandages and natrun bags, along with some jar fragments, all clustered on the floor in the upper courtyard section. This deposit is part of the collection found by Winlock in 1923, during his excavations for the Metropolitan Museum of New York, which also allowed him to expose and excavate the tomb of Ipi (TT315). This deposit was a substantial part of what was then found in 67 jars, a ceramic set that he discovered in a small shaft leading to a rectangular room at the eastern side of the courtyard. After he removed all the jars and some other mummification equipment, he emptied the contents of the jars and left them on the floor of the courtyard. As part of our investigation in the courtyard, in season 2017 it was decided to re-open and (re-)excavate the embalming shaft in order to check if there were any other archaeological remains of this mummification cachette. After about 40 cm, a thick deposit of textile and bandages was found filling the end of the shaft and blocking the entrance into the room behind it. After removing this layer, it was a surprise for the head archaeologist to find that it was still filled with a remain of 56 intact jars (with the exception of a broken one), which seem to have been re-deposited by Winlock in the cachette after emptying and checking their contents. The talk will not only present the material, but also will aim at discussing the significance of this cachette and its materials within the context of the early Middle Kingdom burial traditions at Thebes.
In 2006 a magnetic survey was conducted in front of B 500, which revealed a series of small templ... more In 2006 a magnetic survey was conducted in front of B 500, which revealed a series of small temples built perpendicular to the temple dromos, like the lines of small chapels flanking the dromos of the Amun Temple at Meroe. During 2014-15 the first of these temples, called B 561, was excavated together with its attached kiosk, called B 560. The temple, being older than the kiosk. Temple B 561, presently about half excavated, appears to have been built in the early 1st century BC; it preserves no royal names. It was constructed largely of fired brick, coated with plaster and brightly painted, although little of its painted decoration has survived. Behind its pylon, which fell forward in a single destructive event, it had three interior chambers. The first had two columns, each carved in high relief with water plants and a repeating Meroitic hieroglyphic inscription. The second had stone doorjambs preserving images of Horus and Thoth pouring jars of water toward the doorway, as if to purify those entering. The third chamber, with doorjambs exhibiting images of a king and queen before various gods, contained a central sanctuary, surrounded by a corridor (later converted to rooms). The sanctuary walls were entirely carved in relief, the focus being a scene of Isis suckling the child Horus, with surrounding monstrous deities, many holding knives. Although in poor condition, these reliefs match precisely those in the contemporary mammisis at Dendera, Edfu, and Philae in Egypt, leaving no doubt that B 561 was also a mammisi, closely inspired by them. After the temple's destruction, probably by an earthquake in the second century AD, it appears to have been long occupied for domestic purposes.
Throughout the history of Egypt, the Qena bend region in general has been an important location w... more Throughout the history of Egypt, the Qena bend region in general has been an important location with economic advantages. This is due to its geographic location at one of the points where the Nile valley is closest to the Red sea, where several Wadi networks running through the region, connecting the settlements in the Nile valley (which in the same time more or less used the Nile as a high way running from north to south) through the desert to the harbors on the Red sea (e.g. Marsa Wadi Gawasis). Moreover, this region was important for accessing raw material sources in the Eastern Desert, which had high economic value throughout history. This geographic advantage, amongst other factors, contributed to the foundation and development of several macrosettlement patterns in the region, which likely had economic functions. Consequently networks of routes between these macrosettlements and beyond have been found to serve interregional and international communications and trade activities. In order to answer the question of where precisely these routes were located across this region, several attempts have been made by scholars using varied methods, such as archaeological survey, and using of GIS analysis to identify which wadi systems were a part of these networks, combining them with the available archaeological and pictographic and textual data. This paper discusses the different perspectives and methods that have been used, how useful they have been, and the associated problems of using these methods?
Ali Abdelhalim Ali (éd.), Dagmar Budde (éd.), MAMMISIS OF EGYPT, Proceedings of the First International Colloquium Held in Cairo 27–28 March 2019, 2023
This paper is aiming to investigate the possibility of considering Asyut as one of the starting p... more This paper is aiming to investigate the possibility of considering Asyut as one of the starting points of the desert route once took caravans towards southern destinations such as Yam and later towards Darfur, from the landscape-archaeology point of view. Also will try to correlate the spatial analysis results with the related material culture. This attempt would be possible through the usage of both preliminary and advanced spatial analysis, using old and modern maps, satellite images, traveller’s descriptions, and GIS spatial analysis.
In 2023, A new Humboldt University project started, the name of the project is The Coptite and Th... more In 2023, A new Humboldt University project started, the name of the project is The Coptite and Theban Eastern Desert Hinterlands survey (CTEDH). The mission took place between the 1st of September and to 30th of September 2023. The project is directed by Dr. Mohamed Osman. Co-director Dr. Rebecca Doehl, a prehistory landscape archaeology specialist, and Mr. Sayed Shoura, a Ph.D. student. This project documents and analyzes the ancient desert landscape within a case study area in the eastern hinterlands of both the Coptite and Theban nomes in Upper Egypt. From another perspective, it also discusses the significant topic of coexistence between different cultural groups (agents) and tries to understand the human interactions within the specific and special landscape of this part of the Eastern Desert. This project intends to explore and reconstruct the evidence of human activity, especially coexistence and mobility within the frame of this poorly uninvestigated part of the Eastern Desert, using the new technology of digital documentation, Remote Sensing, GIS, and spatial analysis. The main feature of this project is the investigation of a specific part of the Eastern Desert, which is mostly an archaeologically “Terra Incognita“. However, this investigation aims to discover and document this area and establish its chronological and spatial significance within the ancient landscape of the Eastern Desert.
The talk presents the results of the excavation work at the Abu Ghurab Sun Temple site. the focus... more The talk presents the results of the excavation work at the Abu Ghurab Sun Temple site. the focus of the discussion is the discovery of different mudbrick structures on several strata and how they relate to the later Stone built Sun Temple.
The talk tries to present a narrative about the construction of the Sun Temple of Niesserre at Ab... more The talk tries to present a narrative about the construction of the Sun Temple of Niesserre at AbuGhurab, and how older deconstructed materials from former buildings were used within the foundations of the stone temple.
Poles on the Nile Conference, Warsaw University, 2022
Massimiliano Nuzzolo and Mohamed Osman
Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures – Polis... more Massimiliano Nuzzolo and Mohamed Osman Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures – Polish Academy of Sciences
Between April 23 and May 30, 2022, the Italian-Polish Archaeological Mission at Sun Temple of Niuserra at Abu Ghurab conducted its eight field-work season in the site. This is the second season after the launch of the “Sun Temples Project” (www.suntemplesproject.org), carried out at the Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures of the Polish Academy of Sciences in cooperation with the University of Naples L’Orientale and under the auspices of the National Science Center of Poland (grant no. UMO- 2019/34/E/HS3/00438). In this lecture, after a brief introduction to the main coordinates of the sun temples matter, we will present the main results of the 2022 field-work season. This includes, among others, important findings such as: 1. New architectural elements pertaining the stone temple of Niuserra and related to its construction technique and phases; 2. New archaeological elements pertaining to the early phases of occupation of the site and related to the construction of a in mudbrick temple earlier than the stone temple of Niuserra; 3. Three intact pottery contexts dated back to the First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom;
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Kultur-, Sozial- und Bildungswissenschaftliche Fakultät | Institut für Archäologie | Archäologie und Kulturgeschichte Nordostafrikas , Vorträge, 2021
The main aim of this documentation process is to:
“Create a comprehensive and dynamic Digital too... more The main aim of this documentation process is to: “Create a comprehensive and dynamic Digital tool (Geo-database) that can be accessible, in order to record and integrate all aspects of archaeological activity in the site dynamically, including both micro and macro scale spatial data”.
The famous trips of Herkhuf during the sixth dynasty have been a big topic of debate between Egyp... more The famous trips of Herkhuf during the sixth dynasty have been a big topic of debate between Egyptologist for several decades. However, despite the different narratives and interpretations, another perspective of Herkhuf stories have been poorly explored. This perspective is related to how the Ancient Egyptians, or the ancient Egyptian officials, perceived the Nubian world. Of course, we can see the side full of action in the autobiography of someone like Wni, nevertheless, it is more interesting to know more about the other peaceful side of the story, the side of coexistence. To understand this side, it is important to connect what we know from the autobiographies and other textual sources about Nubia during the second half of the Old Kingdom and construct what can be called the cognitive map of Nubia in the minds of the Egyptians. Road network and trade centres play an important role to complete the picture. Approaching this topic, it is important to consider the relatively new technology of archaeological spatial analysis, considering and requisitioning all the aspects of the topic within landscape archaeology. Through analysing the ancient landscape of Upper Egyp, Lowe Nubia and Upper Nubia, one can look at the material culture available and get a sense of how Old Kingdom traders and officials illustrated the vast lands south of Egypt in their minds, and how this cognitive map developed through the generations. This talk will discuss the landscape spatial analysis that has been done based on available material culture concerns Upper Egypt trade network with the southern destination during the Old kingdom. Aiming to illustrate part of the cognitive map of Nubia in the minds of Ancient Egyptians.
SÄK "Ägyptologie und Methodik: Potenzial und Prioritäten", 2019
During the last decades, the use of digital tools and methods has widely expanded in Archaeology.... more During the last decades, the use of digital tools and methods has widely expanded in Archaeology. Nowadays it can be considered as being part of the normal workflow of archaeological work, in which it is used in different ways. In this talk, we want to show what such a workflow could look like, beginning with a GIS analysis as a base for the study of the coexistence and mobility of nomadic people and Dynastic Egyptians in the Eastern Desert. As a case study, the journey of Henw from the Nile valley to Marsa Wadi Gawasis, based on the rock inscription from Wadi Hammâmât from the Middle Kingdom, will be presented. Then, relying on the results of these first analyses, the next steps would ask for fieldwork executed to collect further information which again can be used to strengthen the GIS database. Again, this fieldwork would nowadays be conducted using modern technological methods, that are significantly involved in the process of collecting and analyzing the archaeological and material culture data from the Eastern desert, such as SFM for Photogrammetry, RTI for images, and GIS geo-databases and spatial analysis at the end. However, the most important point to be discussed about these modern digital methods would be how to use the produced data, recorded in a comprehensive and progressive methodology, to analyze and understand the information at hand, and to eventually answer the main research questions about coexistence and mobility in a desert landscape.
(2019) Workshop, TERRA INCOGNITA: Archaeological fieldwork in Asyut and Middle Egypt, 2019
Darb el Arba’in is one of the well-known trade routes that once was active in the north eastern A... more Darb el Arba’in is one of the well-known trade routes that once was active in the north eastern African Sahara. It is known, thanks to several modern traveller’s reports, that this route was occupied at least during the modern period. The known camel route used to be described and illustrated on the old maps of Egypt and Sudan to be starting from Asyut (Siut), and end at El-Fasher in Darfur (or vice versa). So far, the Egyptological significance of the route is not solidly confirmed, however, it was always appealing to the Egyptologists to correlate Darb el Arba’in with the ancient Egyptian route that once connected Egypt to the land of Yam. This paper is aiming to investigate the possibilities of considering Asyut as one of the starting points of the desert route once took caravans towards southern destinations such as Yam and later towards Darfur, from the landscape-archaeology point of view. Also will try to correlate the spatial analysis results with the related material culture. This attempt would be possible through the usage of both preliminary and advanced spatial analysis, using old and modern maps, satellite images, traveller’s descriptions, and GIS spatial analysis.
Trans Area Network Africa (TANA) meeting at Aswan, 2018
This project aims at the recognition of changing patterns of coexistence in the Eastern Desert th... more This project aims at the recognition of changing patterns of coexistence in the Eastern Desert through a wide span of time, including prehistoric, dynastic, Greco-Roman, and Islamic periods, covering a timeline between the 4th millennium BC and the first millennium AD. This pattern(s) shall be analyzed through the main factor of human mobility within a confined landscape frame. While a view including all chronological time periods is intended to be covered, this project will focus on two phases with different patterns: One main phase is the Prehistoric/Predynastic period, in which, polycentric, and developing core-periphery patterns of coexistence could be recognized. After the aridization process of the desert areas took place, and consequently the change in the way of life (Culture). On the other hand, another main phase is the Dynastic periods, and later periods, in which, the evidence of established core-periphery patterns between the nomadic cultures and the centralized state can be found.
This research will include field work in the Southern Eastern Desert in a confined stretch between Nile and Red Sea. The aim is to combine archaeological information and landscape information to generate a comprehensive view of the dynamics of coexistence in the landscape frame throughout the different chronological phases. In order to achieve this task, several modern technological applications are required, such as, GIS (Geographic information systems) and modern documentation methods, such as Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) and Structure from Motion (SFM) for photogrammetry and 3D modeling.
Neue Forschungen zur ägyptischen Kultur und Geschichte & Erman‐Tag 2017, 2017
This talk presents the archaeological works carried out by the Middle Kingdom Theban Project (MKT... more This talk presents the archaeological works carried out by the Middle Kingdom Theban Project (MKTP) Mission to Deir el-Bahari– in the last two seasons (2016–2017)1. Fieldwork was undertaken by the archaeological team responsible for TT315, Associate Prof. Antonio Morales (director of the mission), Mohamed Osman (TT315 senior archaeologist), Sebastian Falk (archaeologist), Abd elGhani Tahir (Archaeologist), Raúl Sánchez Casado (object manager), Eman Zidan, Rawda Abd elHadi, and Mohamed Hussein (conservators), Dina Serova (Epigrapher), and rais Ali Farouk (head of workmen). During season 2016, systematic cleaning and archaeological work in the courtyard of Ipi´s tomb revealed a significant amount of mummification bandages and natrun bags, along with some jar fragments, all clustered on the floor in the upper courtyard section. This deposit is part of the collection found by Winlock in 1923, during his excavations for the Metropolitan Museum of New York, which also allowed him to expose and excavate the tomb of Ipi (TT315). This deposit was a substantial part of what was then found in 67 jars, a ceramic set that he discovered in a small shaft leading to a rectangular room at the eastern side of the courtyard. After he removed all the jars and some other mummification equipment, he emptied the contents of the jars and left them on the floor of the courtyard. As part of our investigation in the courtyard, in season 2017 it was decided to re-open and (re-)excavate the embalming shaft in order to check if there were any other archaeological remains of this mummification cachette. After about 40 cm, a thick deposit of textile and bandages was found filling the end of the shaft and blocking the entrance into the room behind it. After removing this layer, it was a surprise for the head archaeologist to find that it was still filled with a remain of 56 intact jars (with the exception of a broken one), which seem to have been re-deposited by Winlock in the cachette after emptying and checking their contents. The talk will not only present the material, but also will aim at discussing the significance of this cachette and its materials within the context of the early Middle Kingdom burial traditions at Thebes.
In 2006 a magnetic survey was conducted in front of B 500, which revealed a series of small templ... more In 2006 a magnetic survey was conducted in front of B 500, which revealed a series of small temples built perpendicular to the temple dromos, like the lines of small chapels flanking the dromos of the Amun Temple at Meroe. During 2014-15 the first of these temples, called B 561, was excavated together with its attached kiosk, called B 560. The temple, being older than the kiosk. Temple B 561, presently about half excavated, appears to have been built in the early 1st century BC; it preserves no royal names. It was constructed largely of fired brick, coated with plaster and brightly painted, although little of its painted decoration has survived. Behind its pylon, which fell forward in a single destructive event, it had three interior chambers. The first had two columns, each carved in high relief with water plants and a repeating Meroitic hieroglyphic inscription. The second had stone doorjambs preserving images of Horus and Thoth pouring jars of water toward the doorway, as if to purify those entering. The third chamber, with doorjambs exhibiting images of a king and queen before various gods, contained a central sanctuary, surrounded by a corridor (later converted to rooms). The sanctuary walls were entirely carved in relief, the focus being a scene of Isis suckling the child Horus, with surrounding monstrous deities, many holding knives. Although in poor condition, these reliefs match precisely those in the contemporary mammisis at Dendera, Edfu, and Philae in Egypt, leaving no doubt that B 561 was also a mammisi, closely inspired by them. After the temple's destruction, probably by an earthquake in the second century AD, it appears to have been long occupied for domestic purposes.
Throughout the history of Egypt, the Qena bend region in general has been an important location w... more Throughout the history of Egypt, the Qena bend region in general has been an important location with economic advantages. This is due to its geographic location at one of the points where the Nile valley is closest to the Red sea, where several Wadi networks running through the region, connecting the settlements in the Nile valley (which in the same time more or less used the Nile as a high way running from north to south) through the desert to the harbors on the Red sea (e.g. Marsa Wadi Gawasis). Moreover, this region was important for accessing raw material sources in the Eastern Desert, which had high economic value throughout history. This geographic advantage, amongst other factors, contributed to the foundation and development of several macrosettlement patterns in the region, which likely had economic functions. Consequently networks of routes between these macrosettlements and beyond have been found to serve interregional and international communications and trade activities. In order to answer the question of where precisely these routes were located across this region, several attempts have been made by scholars using varied methods, such as archaeological survey, and using of GIS analysis to identify which wadi systems were a part of these networks, combining them with the available archaeological and pictographic and textual data. This paper discusses the different perspectives and methods that have been used, how useful they have been, and the associated problems of using these methods?
Ali Abdelhalim Ali (éd.), Dagmar Budde (éd.), MAMMISIS OF EGYPT, Proceedings of the First International Colloquium Held in Cairo 27–28 March 2019, 2023
This paper is aiming to investigate the possibility of considering Asyut as one of the starting p... more This paper is aiming to investigate the possibility of considering Asyut as one of the starting points of the desert route once took caravans towards southern destinations such as Yam and later towards Darfur, from the landscape-archaeology point of view. Also will try to correlate the spatial analysis results with the related material culture. This attempt would be possible through the usage of both preliminary and advanced spatial analysis, using old and modern maps, satellite images, traveller’s descriptions, and GIS spatial analysis.
In L. Hudáková, P. Jánosi, C. Jurman, and U. Siffert, and (eds.), Art-facts and Artefacts. Visualizing the Material World in Middle Kingdom Egypt (London: GHP, 2018), MKS 8, pp. 85-99., 2018
The painted walls of the chamber and sarcophagus of Harhotep (CG 28023, originally in the courtya... more The painted walls of the chamber and sarcophagus of Harhotep (CG 28023, originally in the courtyard of TT 314 at Deir el-Bahari) represent one of the most elegant and colourful instances of mortuary decoration of the Middle Kingdom, certainly when compared to the artistic quality and religious significance of Senwosretankh at Lisht, Siese at Dahshur, and Meru at Thebes. The context and architecture of the mortuary chamber – with its entrance in the courtyard of TT 314 – follows previous patterns observed in late Eleventh Dynasty tombs, although some innovative changes can be observed as well.
The current report presents the archaeological, epigraphic, conservation, geological, and archite... more The current report presents the archaeological, epigraphic, conservation, geological, and architectural works carried out by the Middle Kingdom Theban Project – a project under the auspices of the University of Alcalá Expedition to Deir el-Bahari (Luxor) – in its fourth season (March-April 2018). In this season, the archaeological team expanded its concession, with the incorporation of two new areas in the eastern side of the necropolis of Deir el-Bahari (tombs TT316, MMA519, MMA520, and E1) and the Asasif cemetery (TT103, TT366). The expedition continued with its work in the mortuary complexes of Henenu (TT313) and Ipi (TT315), initiated the study of the tombs at the eastern area, excavated the entrance and main corridor of a new tomb (E1) in this part of the necropolis, and studied the epigraphic and architectural issues in the tombs of Dagi (TT103) and Djari (TT366).
This report presents the archaeological, epigraphic, conservation, geological, architectural, and... more This report presents the archaeological, epigraphic, conservation, geological, architectural, and site management activities carried out by the Middle Kingdom Theban Project – a project under the auspices of the University of Alcalá Expedition to Deir el-Bahari (Luxor) – in its third season (March–April 2017). In this season, the archaeological
team focused on the mortuary complexes of both Henenu (TT 313) and Ipi (TT 315), with interesting findings such as the re-discovery of the mummification deposit for the vizier Ipi, originally located by Herbert Winlock and the Metropolitan Museum of New York in 1922, and the stepped ramp of Henenu. In addition, conservation and restoration activities were conducted in the sarcophagus chamber of Ipi while new works on the geology, architecture, and 3D reconstruction of the tombs were undertaken during the season.
This report presents the archaeological, epigraphic, conservation and site management activities ... more This report presents the archaeological, epigraphic, conservation and site management activities carried out by the Middle Kingdom Theban Project – a project under the auspices of the Freie Universität Berlin Mission to Deir el-Bahari – in the first two seasons (2015–2016). The two initial seasons have provided abundant material for the researchers to investigate the origin, history, and role of the early Middle Kingdom necropolis in the northern hills of Deir el-Bahari, its tombs and elite officials buried there, and shall shed light on the history, society, and religion of the period initiated by Mentuhotep II at Thebes at the end of the Eleventh Dynasty.
Using GIS, satellite images and embedded data with the available archaeological evidence, this bo... more Using GIS, satellite images and embedded data with the available archaeological evidence, this book tries to recognise and reconstruct the trade centres and the trade routes network during the Old and Middle Kingdoms. the book concentrates on the African destinations and how they were connected to Upper Egypt. the book employs multiple geospatial analyses along with behavioural archaeology approaches.
This volume joins together the proceedings of the three workshops held in Prague on December 15, ... more This volume joins together the proceedings of the three workshops held in Prague on December 15, 2017, December 10, 2018, and June 25–26, 2019, within the framework of the research project ( The rise and development of the solar cult and architecture in Third Millennium BC Egypt) launched in 2017 at the Czech Institute of Egyptology – Charles University, Prague, under the auspices of the Czech Science Foundation – Grant Agency of the Czech Republic. The key aim of the project was to contribute to the study of the dynamics of development and featuring of the sun cult in ancient Egypt, as well as of the evolution of some related topics, such as royal ideology and funerary texts. The contributions span all periods of ancient Egyptian history and bring together scholars dealing with diverse geographic areas, from the capital site of Memphis, with its huge necropolis, to the southernmost and liminal area of Elephantine. Previously unpublished data are also presented in the volume, including new research on the Palermo Stone and the royal annals; results of latest archaeological campaigns in Abusir, Dahshur and Heliopolis; and new analyses of the Pyramid Texts and their reappropriation and renegotiation in later phases of Egyptian history.
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Talks by Mohamed Osman
This project documents and analyzes the ancient desert landscape within a case study area in the eastern hinterlands of both the Coptite and Theban nomes in Upper Egypt. From another perspective, it also discusses the significant topic of coexistence between different cultural groups (agents) and tries to understand the human interactions within the specific and special landscape of this part of the Eastern Desert. This project intends to explore and reconstruct the evidence of human activity, especially coexistence and mobility within the frame of this poorly uninvestigated part of the Eastern Desert, using the new technology of digital documentation, Remote Sensing, GIS, and spatial analysis.
The main feature of this project is the investigation of a specific part of the Eastern Desert, which is mostly an archaeologically “Terra Incognita“. However, this investigation aims to discover and document this area and establish its chronological and spatial significance within the ancient landscape of the Eastern Desert.
Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures – Polish Academy of Sciences
Between April 23 and May 30, 2022, the Italian-Polish Archaeological Mission at Sun Temple of Niuserra at Abu Ghurab conducted its eight field-work season in the site. This is the second season after the launch of the “Sun Temples Project” (www.suntemplesproject.org), carried out at the Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures of the Polish Academy of Sciences in cooperation with the University of Naples L’Orientale and under the auspices of the National Science Center of Poland (grant no. UMO- 2019/34/E/HS3/00438).
In this lecture, after a brief introduction to the main coordinates of the sun temples matter, we will present the main results of the 2022 field-work season. This includes, among others, important findings such as:
1. New architectural elements pertaining the stone temple of Niuserra and related to its construction technique and phases;
2. New archaeological elements pertaining to the early phases of occupation of the site and related to the construction of a in mudbrick temple earlier than the stone temple of Niuserra;
3. Three intact pottery contexts dated back to the First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom;
“Create a comprehensive and dynamic Digital tool (Geo-database) that can be accessible, in order to record and integrate all aspects of archaeological activity in the site dynamically, including both micro and macro scale spatial data”.
Through analysing the ancient landscape of Upper Egyp, Lowe Nubia and Upper Nubia, one can look at the material culture available and get a sense of how Old Kingdom traders and officials illustrated the vast lands south of Egypt in their minds, and how this cognitive map developed through the generations.
This talk will discuss the landscape spatial analysis that has been done based on available material culture concerns Upper Egypt trade network with the southern destination during the Old kingdom. Aiming to illustrate part of the cognitive map of Nubia in the minds of Ancient Egyptians.
Keywords:
Cognitive, maps, GIS analysis, LCP, Corridor analysis, landscape archaeology, autobiography, Herkhuf, Aswan, Trade routes, Old Kingdom. Nubia, Kerma, Wawat, Yam, Eastern Desert, Western Desert.
This paper is aiming to investigate the possibilities of considering Asyut as one of the starting points of the desert route once took caravans towards southern destinations such as Yam and later towards Darfur, from the landscape-archaeology point of view. Also will try to correlate the spatial analysis results with the related material culture. This attempt would be possible through the usage of both preliminary and advanced spatial analysis, using old and modern maps, satellite images, traveller’s descriptions, and GIS spatial analysis.
This research will include field work in the Southern Eastern Desert in a confined stretch between Nile and Red Sea. The aim is to combine archaeological information and landscape information to generate a comprehensive view of the dynamics of coexistence in the landscape frame throughout the different chronological phases. In order to achieve this task, several modern technological applications are required, such as, GIS (Geographic information systems) and modern documentation methods, such as Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) and Structure from Motion (SFM) for photogrammetry and 3D modeling.
During season 2016, systematic cleaning and archaeological work in the courtyard of Ipi´s tomb revealed a significant amount of mummification bandages and natrun bags, along with some jar fragments, all clustered on the floor in the upper courtyard section. This deposit is part of the collection found by Winlock in 1923, during his excavations for the Metropolitan Museum of New York, which also allowed him to expose and excavate the tomb of Ipi (TT315). This deposit was a substantial part of what was then found in 67 jars, a ceramic set that he discovered in a small shaft leading to a rectangular room at the eastern side of the courtyard. After he removed all the jars and some other mummification equipment, he emptied the contents of the jars and left them on the floor of the courtyard.
As part of our investigation in the courtyard, in season 2017 it was decided to re-open and (re-)excavate the embalming shaft in order to check if there were any other archaeological remains of this mummification cachette. After about 40 cm, a thick deposit of textile and bandages was found filling the end of the shaft and blocking the entrance into the room behind it. After removing this layer, it was a surprise for the head archaeologist to find that it was still filled with a remain of 56 intact jars (with the exception of a broken one), which seem to have been re-deposited by Winlock in the cachette after emptying and checking their contents.
The talk will not only present the material, but also will aim at discussing the significance of this cachette and its materials within the context of the early Middle Kingdom burial traditions at Thebes.
Temple B 561, presently about half excavated, appears to have been built in the early 1st century BC; it preserves no royal names. It was constructed largely of fired brick, coated with plaster and brightly painted, although little of its painted decoration has survived. Behind its pylon, which fell forward in a single destructive event, it had three interior chambers. The first had two columns, each carved in high relief with water plants and a repeating Meroitic hieroglyphic inscription. The second had stone doorjambs preserving images of Horus and Thoth pouring jars of water toward the doorway, as if to purify those entering. The third chamber, with doorjambs exhibiting images of a king and queen before various gods, contained a central sanctuary, surrounded by a corridor (later converted to rooms). The sanctuary walls were entirely carved in relief, the focus being a scene of Isis suckling the child Horus, with surrounding monstrous deities, many holding knives. Although in poor condition, these reliefs match precisely those in the contemporary mammisis at Dendera, Edfu, and Philae in Egypt, leaving no doubt that B 561 was also a mammisi, closely inspired by them. After the temple's destruction, probably by an earthquake in the second century AD, it appears to have been long occupied for domestic purposes.
In order to answer the question of where precisely these routes were located across this region, several attempts have been made by scholars using varied methods, such as archaeological survey, and using of GIS analysis to identify which wadi systems were a part of these networks, combining them with the available archaeological and pictographic and textual data. This paper discusses the different perspectives and methods that have been used, how useful they have been, and the associated problems of using these methods?
Papers by Mohamed Osman
This project documents and analyzes the ancient desert landscape within a case study area in the eastern hinterlands of both the Coptite and Theban nomes in Upper Egypt. From another perspective, it also discusses the significant topic of coexistence between different cultural groups (agents) and tries to understand the human interactions within the specific and special landscape of this part of the Eastern Desert. This project intends to explore and reconstruct the evidence of human activity, especially coexistence and mobility within the frame of this poorly uninvestigated part of the Eastern Desert, using the new technology of digital documentation, Remote Sensing, GIS, and spatial analysis.
The main feature of this project is the investigation of a specific part of the Eastern Desert, which is mostly an archaeologically “Terra Incognita“. However, this investigation aims to discover and document this area and establish its chronological and spatial significance within the ancient landscape of the Eastern Desert.
Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures – Polish Academy of Sciences
Between April 23 and May 30, 2022, the Italian-Polish Archaeological Mission at Sun Temple of Niuserra at Abu Ghurab conducted its eight field-work season in the site. This is the second season after the launch of the “Sun Temples Project” (www.suntemplesproject.org), carried out at the Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures of the Polish Academy of Sciences in cooperation with the University of Naples L’Orientale and under the auspices of the National Science Center of Poland (grant no. UMO- 2019/34/E/HS3/00438).
In this lecture, after a brief introduction to the main coordinates of the sun temples matter, we will present the main results of the 2022 field-work season. This includes, among others, important findings such as:
1. New architectural elements pertaining the stone temple of Niuserra and related to its construction technique and phases;
2. New archaeological elements pertaining to the early phases of occupation of the site and related to the construction of a in mudbrick temple earlier than the stone temple of Niuserra;
3. Three intact pottery contexts dated back to the First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom;
“Create a comprehensive and dynamic Digital tool (Geo-database) that can be accessible, in order to record and integrate all aspects of archaeological activity in the site dynamically, including both micro and macro scale spatial data”.
Through analysing the ancient landscape of Upper Egyp, Lowe Nubia and Upper Nubia, one can look at the material culture available and get a sense of how Old Kingdom traders and officials illustrated the vast lands south of Egypt in their minds, and how this cognitive map developed through the generations.
This talk will discuss the landscape spatial analysis that has been done based on available material culture concerns Upper Egypt trade network with the southern destination during the Old kingdom. Aiming to illustrate part of the cognitive map of Nubia in the minds of Ancient Egyptians.
Keywords:
Cognitive, maps, GIS analysis, LCP, Corridor analysis, landscape archaeology, autobiography, Herkhuf, Aswan, Trade routes, Old Kingdom. Nubia, Kerma, Wawat, Yam, Eastern Desert, Western Desert.
This paper is aiming to investigate the possibilities of considering Asyut as one of the starting points of the desert route once took caravans towards southern destinations such as Yam and later towards Darfur, from the landscape-archaeology point of view. Also will try to correlate the spatial analysis results with the related material culture. This attempt would be possible through the usage of both preliminary and advanced spatial analysis, using old and modern maps, satellite images, traveller’s descriptions, and GIS spatial analysis.
This research will include field work in the Southern Eastern Desert in a confined stretch between Nile and Red Sea. The aim is to combine archaeological information and landscape information to generate a comprehensive view of the dynamics of coexistence in the landscape frame throughout the different chronological phases. In order to achieve this task, several modern technological applications are required, such as, GIS (Geographic information systems) and modern documentation methods, such as Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) and Structure from Motion (SFM) for photogrammetry and 3D modeling.
During season 2016, systematic cleaning and archaeological work in the courtyard of Ipi´s tomb revealed a significant amount of mummification bandages and natrun bags, along with some jar fragments, all clustered on the floor in the upper courtyard section. This deposit is part of the collection found by Winlock in 1923, during his excavations for the Metropolitan Museum of New York, which also allowed him to expose and excavate the tomb of Ipi (TT315). This deposit was a substantial part of what was then found in 67 jars, a ceramic set that he discovered in a small shaft leading to a rectangular room at the eastern side of the courtyard. After he removed all the jars and some other mummification equipment, he emptied the contents of the jars and left them on the floor of the courtyard.
As part of our investigation in the courtyard, in season 2017 it was decided to re-open and (re-)excavate the embalming shaft in order to check if there were any other archaeological remains of this mummification cachette. After about 40 cm, a thick deposit of textile and bandages was found filling the end of the shaft and blocking the entrance into the room behind it. After removing this layer, it was a surprise for the head archaeologist to find that it was still filled with a remain of 56 intact jars (with the exception of a broken one), which seem to have been re-deposited by Winlock in the cachette after emptying and checking their contents.
The talk will not only present the material, but also will aim at discussing the significance of this cachette and its materials within the context of the early Middle Kingdom burial traditions at Thebes.
Temple B 561, presently about half excavated, appears to have been built in the early 1st century BC; it preserves no royal names. It was constructed largely of fired brick, coated with plaster and brightly painted, although little of its painted decoration has survived. Behind its pylon, which fell forward in a single destructive event, it had three interior chambers. The first had two columns, each carved in high relief with water plants and a repeating Meroitic hieroglyphic inscription. The second had stone doorjambs preserving images of Horus and Thoth pouring jars of water toward the doorway, as if to purify those entering. The third chamber, with doorjambs exhibiting images of a king and queen before various gods, contained a central sanctuary, surrounded by a corridor (later converted to rooms). The sanctuary walls were entirely carved in relief, the focus being a scene of Isis suckling the child Horus, with surrounding monstrous deities, many holding knives. Although in poor condition, these reliefs match precisely those in the contemporary mammisis at Dendera, Edfu, and Philae in Egypt, leaving no doubt that B 561 was also a mammisi, closely inspired by them. After the temple's destruction, probably by an earthquake in the second century AD, it appears to have been long occupied for domestic purposes.
In order to answer the question of where precisely these routes were located across this region, several attempts have been made by scholars using varied methods, such as archaeological survey, and using of GIS analysis to identify which wadi systems were a part of these networks, combining them with the available archaeological and pictographic and textual data. This paper discusses the different perspectives and methods that have been used, how useful they have been, and the associated problems of using these methods?
Expedition to Deir el-Bahari (Luxor) – in its fourth season (March-April 2018). In this season, the archaeological team expanded its concession, with the incorporation of two new areas in the eastern side of the necropolis of Deir el-Bahari (tombs TT316, MMA519, MMA520, and E1) and the Asasif cemetery (TT103, TT366). The expedition continued with its work in the mortuary complexes of Henenu (TT313) and Ipi (TT315), initiated the study of the tombs at the eastern area, excavated the entrance and main corridor of a new tomb (E1) in this part of the necropolis, and studied the epigraphic and architectural issues in the tombs of Dagi (TT103) and Djari (TT366).
team focused on the mortuary complexes of both Henenu (TT 313) and Ipi (TT 315), with interesting findings such as the re-discovery of the mummification deposit for the vizier Ipi, originally located by Herbert Winlock and the Metropolitan Museum of New York in 1922, and the stepped ramp of Henenu. In addition, conservation and restoration activities were conducted in the sarcophagus chamber of Ipi while new works on the geology, architecture, and 3D reconstruction of the tombs were undertaken during the season.
for the researchers to investigate the origin, history, and role of the early Middle Kingdom necropolis in the northern hills of Deir el-Bahari, its tombs and elite officials buried there, and shall shed light on the history, society, and religion of the period initiated by Mentuhotep II at Thebes at the end of the Eleventh Dynasty.