The joint University of Potsdam / SCA Tell Basta Project*, which is supported by the EES as an Amelia Edwards Project, has recently completed its Spring 2011 season. The team was among the first to return to work after the resignation of President Mubarak and here the Head of Mission, Eva Lange, reports on a successful season in the 'New Egypt'.
The Egyptian Museum and fire-damaged National Democratic Party building. Image courtesy of Daniela Rosenow.
The spring 2011 field campaign at the site of Tell Basta, the ancient city of Bubastis, commenced on 3 March. On 1 March, Daniela Rosenow and I arrived in Egypt; the other members of the team followed a few days later. The next day I went to the SCA-office, in order to sign the contract and to collect the necessary papers. Despite the unusual situation in Egypt, things went very smoothly and our Egyptian colleagues were very supportive. In the afternoon of the same day we headed to Zagazig, as one of the first missions to return to the Delta. We spent the following day, 3 March, the opening day of our campaign, on the site, checking the containers and the site itself. Fortunately, no harm had been done. We were welcomed by our Egyptian colleagues and friends at Tell Basta whom we have known for many years now. Needless to say, after the recent events, a happy reunion took place.
As planned, we undertook several tasks during this campaign. Firstly, in the entrance area in front of the temple (Area A), which is currently the focus of our archaeological investigations, a trench was excavated, to help us to answer some chronological questions.
Satellite image of the site showing the location of Area A. Click here for a larger version.
Area A is situated within the sacred area of the temple of Bastet, which is defined by the enclosure wall of the temple. In this area, but outside the temple building itself, we would expect to find the necessary support buildings, such as living quarters of priests, archives (such as the famous “house of life”), workshops, as well as a variety of religious buildings attached to the great temple, such as chapels for minor deities.
Detecting the mud-brick walls
Our excavations in Area A over the last two years have revealed massive walls, belonging to large installations, most probably to compartments of so-called ‘tower-houses’. Our investigations of the pottery and small finds last season showed that those walls on the surface date to within the Ptolemaic Period. These buildings must once have formed the support buildings of the temple and cannot be interpreted as ordinary living quarters. This is clear from the ‘Canopus Decree’, established in the reign of Ptolemy III, of which a copy was discovered within the entrance hall of the temple in 2004, proving that the great temple of Bastet continued to be one of the most important temples of Egypt into the Ptolemaic period. Therefore the temple area would not have been available for non-temple staff at this time.
Excavation of the Ptolemaic buildings in Area A
Our work has raised the question of whether or not the Ptolemaic buildings have predecessors from the earlier, pharaonic period, or in other words, if the Ptolemaic walls were built on top of walls of installations dating to the Late Period and how these buildings were related to each other.
The northern part of grid-sqare Y/4 was chosen for the excavation of a trench (TB 4a Y/4.NS), using, as starting point, the preserved east-west oriented profile of a wall we had already documented in autumn 2010.
View to Y3 and Y4
Surprsingly, under a thick wall of mudbrick, a very distinctive layer of smashed limestone came to light. Obvously it is a constuction layer, used as a foundation for the Ptolemaic buildings. Below the limestone-layer, older walls dating back into the Late Period, came to light as we had expected. Especially remarkable were fragments of two or three Bes-vases which we discovered in the deeper layers of our trench. The season ended on the 4 April before we had reached the end of the Late Period level so we will continue working in this area in the autumn.
The result of the excavation in Y/4 is very important, as it has given us, for the first time, a glimpse of the actual appearance of the Late Period architectural environment of the temple of Bastet. Of course, this is just the beginning. Area A needs much more investigation, but these early results are very promising.
Taking photographs of the trench in Area A Y/4
Apart from excavation other research has been undertaken by several members of the Tell Basta Project. The pottery collected during this season and the last have been documented and studied by Mandy Mamedow. Daniela Rosenow completed the epigraphic work on the reliefs of Nectanbo II in the sanctuary of the temple, and I myself started a database recording the reliefs of Osorkon I in the entrance hall of the temple and documented fragments of a shrine of Osorkon II dedicated to Osiris. Veit Vaelske documented and studied the numerous terracotta figurines,which came to light during our recent exvataions in Area A, and Theresa Steckel completed the documentation of the statue fragments in the temple.
Last but not least, preparation for the arrangment of objects from Tell Basta and the hinterland in the new site museum continued. Together with Mr Hisham Mohammad Abd el-Moaman el- Hefnawi (Deputy Director of the Antiquities of Sharkeya) I chose objects from the local magazine and we developed a concept for the exhibition. The new site museum will be dedicated to the local history of Bubastis as a metropolis of the Eastern Nile Delta. Here, many very interesting and extraordinary objects will be on display soon.
*We are delighted that from the autumn 2011 season onwards the project will be conducted under the auspices of the University of Potsdam, the SCA and also the EES.
All images courtesy of Eva Lange unless otherwise stated.