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Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections SpatialUseoftheTwelfthDynastyHarboratMersa/WadiGawasis fortheSeafaringExpeditionstoPunt KathrynA.Bard BostonUniversity RodolfoFattovich UniversityofNaples“l’Orientale” A$%#% Recent excavations at the Middle Kingdom harbor at Mersa/Wadi Gawasis, on the Red Sea, have uncovered evidence of shrines aligned along the shore as well as harbor facilities farther inland, including eight manmade caves located above an ancient lagoon that extended considerably inland om where the present- day shoreline is located. e harbor was used for the seafaring expeditions to Punt, located somewhere in the southern Red Sea region. Hieroglyphic and hieratic texts on stelae, seal impressions, and ostraca—along with associated pottery—have aided in dating the use of different features at the site to the early and later Twelh Dynasty. nthe1970s,AbdelMonemSayed(UniversityofAlexandria) Gawasisdates.eremayalsohavebeenthreatsonoverland identifiedtheremainsofaMiddleKingdomharbor,known routesacrosstheEasternDesert/Mountainsfromdesertpeoples Iancientlyas Saww (Sayed1977), atMersa/WadiGawasison whowerebelligerentorsimplycapableofrobbingEgyptianexpe - theRedSea,about22kmsouthofthemodernportofSafaga ditions(Manzo2010a:220). (Figure1).SayedfoundTwelhDynastyinscriptionsthereona Althoughthereisasmallamountofevidencedatingtothe shrineofanofficialofSenusretInamedAnkhu,andaninscribed lateOldKingdomandearlyNewKingdom(Perlingieri steleoftheking’svizierIntef-iker(Antefoker).elattertext 2007a:116–117),mostoftheexcavatedfindsatMersa/Wadi describesshipsthatwerebuiltinCoptosforanexpeditionto GawasisdatetotheTwelhDynasty.Aerninefieldseasonsof “Bia-Punt”withover3,700men.Basedontheseandotherfinds excavations,wenowhaveabetterunderstandingoftheuseofthe ofSayed’s,re-investigationofthesitebytheUniversityofNaples harborintheTwelhDynasty(Figure2).Intheeasternsectorof “l’Orientale”(UNO)andBostonUniversity(BU)beganin2001 thesite,smallshrineswereconstructedusinglocalmaterials underthedirectionofKathrynBardandRodolfoFattovich. (coralandconglomeratestone),butthemajorfocusofuseofthe eharborofSawwwaslocatedneartheshortestoverland sitewasinanow-inlandareaalongtheslopesofthewesternfossil routefromtheNileValleyinUpperEgypttotheRedSea,from coralterrace,originallylocatedabovethewatersoftheancient QithroughWadiQenaandthenWadiGasus(Bard,Fattovich, lagoon.Anindustrialareahasalsobeenexcavatedatthebaseof andManzo,forthcoming).Sawwwasthestagingpointandhar - thewesternterraceslope.efollowingsectionswillexplorethe borforpharaonicseafaringexpeditionstoregionsinthesouthern organizationanduseoftheharborintheTwelhDynasty. RedSea(PuntandBia-Punt)toobtainexoticrawmaterials, includingincense,ebony,elephantivory,andgold(seeKitchen T E$%# T## 1993:606).esearoutetoPuntwasanalternativetothe river/landroutes,andwaslessfrequentlyundertakenbecauseof OverlookingtheRedSeaalongtheedgeoftheeasternterrace thecomplexityofthelogisticsrequiredforsuchexpeditionsand atthesitearetheremainsofsixceremonialstructures/shrines theriskynatureoflong-distancevoyagestoandfromthesouth - (Features1,4,6–8,10),mostofwhichhadbeenearlierinvesti - ernRedSea.eriseofthekingdomofKermainthelatethird gatedbySayed.Alsointhisarea,Sayedfoundfragmentsoffive millennium bce (seeBonnet2004:72),anditseventualcontrolof small,round-toppedstelae,twoofwhichcontainedthecar - theUpperNile,wereprobablythemajorreasonsfortheorganiza - touchesofSenusretI.Oneofthesefragmentedstelae,inwhichthe tionofseafaringexpeditionstoPuntintheTwelhDynasty,the toponymBia-Puntismentioned,belongedtoamannamed periodtowhichmostoftheexcavatedmaterialatMersa/Wadi Yameru(Sayed1977:149–150). Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections | http://jaei.library.arizona.edu | Vol. 2:3, 2010 | 1–13 1 K. A. Bard and R. Fattovich | Spatial Use of the Harbor at Mersa/Wadi Gawasis ReinvestigationofthisareabytheUNO/BUteamdidnot revealanyotherevidenceofcampuseoractivitybytheseafaring expeditions:theareawasusedforceremonialactivities,andat thesametimetheshrinesprobablyservedaslandmarksfor returningseafaringexpeditions.reeofthese(Features6–8) consistedonlyofcircular/ovalmoundsofcoralrockscoveredby gravel,withtwosmallinternalchambersdefinedbylarge,dressed blocksofconglomeratestone(BardandFattovich2007:39–43; Fattovich2009:1).Feature4consistedofanovalenclosureof rocks(fossilcoralandconglomerate),insideofwhichisasmall, horseshoe-shapedstonearrangementopeningontheeast,with noconglomerateslabsusedinitsconstruction(Bardand Fattovich2007:41–42).InFeature10,alarger,open,horseshoe- shapedspacewasdefinedwithinagravelmound(Fattovich 2009:1).emostunusualoftheseshrinestructuresisFeature1, whichconsistedofanovalplatformabout9×10×1.2m,with aramponthewestside.Originally,thetopoftheplatformwas coveredwithslabsofconglomerate,andover650 Lambis lambis shellswerecollectedhere(BardandFattovich2007:43–44).e ceramicsassociatedwiththesestructuresdatetotheTwelh Dynasty(BardandFattovich2007:39–44). Allsixshrinesalongtheedgeoftheeasternterracewereori - entedtothesea—prominentmarkersthatcouldbeseenby shipsleavingforandreturningfromPunt.Notonlywerethese shrineslandmarksforships,butthefragmentsofsmall,per - sonalstelaethatSayedfoundheresuggestcommemorativeactiv - itiesassociatedwiththestructures.ehugenumberof Lambis lambis shellsassociatedwiththeplatformofFeature1suggests ceremonialactivities,perhapsofferingstoamarinedeityby sailorswhoparticipatedinthePuntexpeditions(Bardand Figure . Map of Egypt showing location of Mersa/Wadi Gawasis. Fattovich2007:244). Figure . Mersa/Wadi Gawasis site plan. Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections | http://jaei.library.arizona.edu | Vol. 2:3, 2010 | 1–13 2 K. A. Bard and R. Fattovich | Spatial Use of the Harbor at Mersa/Wadi Gawasis T H#!# TheancientharboratMersaGawasiswasanopen,pro - tectedbaywithamaximumareaof560,000m 2 around7,500 yearsagoandadepthofapproximately6–8m(Figure3). Largeshipscouldpassthroughthechannelatthemouthof thebay,whichwas10m(maximum)deepand150mwide (Heinetal.,forthcoming).Afterreachingitsmaximumextent assealevelsroseabovetheirmodernlevels,thebayrapidly closedduetohighsedimentloadsfromtheadjacentwadidur - ingatimeofsignificantlywetterclimaticconditions.Rapid aridizationca. 3000–2000 bce greatlyreducedsedimentsup - plytothelagoon.Slowerinfillingratescombinedwithslowly fallingsealevelstoallowfortheexistenceofastable,shallow lagoonatthesitewhenitwasusedasaharborintheTwelfth Dynasty.Lagoonalwatersreachedthesouthernedgeofthe sitenearthebeach(whichwasusedforexpeditioncamps)and therock-cutcavesandgalleries(whichprobablyhadmultiple functions,butweremainlyusedforstorage).Shipswouldhave moorednearthesouthernsideofthesite,wheretheywerepro - tectedfromthenortherlywindsbythecoralterraceonland. C %# T## W$%# T## T!" IntheareabetweentheshrinesoverlookingtheRedSea shoreandthewesternterrace,alongthechannelleadinginto theharbor,thereisonlyonestructure:themonumentof Ankhu,whichdatestotheearlyTwelfthDynasty.Despitethe Figure . Mersa/Wadi Gawasis paleo-bay. The gray dots repre - constructionofthemodernroadandrailroadthroughthispart sent areas where geological coring was done. Drawing by ofthesite(whichhasalsoleftsignificantevidenceofbulldoz - Christopher Hein. ing),thereisnoevidenceofanyotherancientfeaturesorstruc - turesinthislargearea.Earliersurfacesurveysandatestexcava - AccordingtothetextofIntef-iker,hewasorderedby tioninthisareain2010revealednoculturalremains. SenusretItobuildships(plural,butthenumberisnotgiven)at emonumentofAnkhu,ahighofficialofSenusretI,was thedockyardsofCoptos,to“travel”or“sendthemtoBia-Punt” locatedoverlookingtheWadiGawasisonthesouthernedgeof (Sayed1977:170).Alsomentionedinthistextisthe theterrace,about250minland.eshrineconsistedofthree reporter/heraldAmeni,sonofMentuhotep,whowasonthe upright,inscribedblocksoflimestone,restingontwohorizon - shoreoftheGreatGreen(RedSea),building/reconstructing tallylaidlimestoneanchors.Ontheeasternblock,Ankhu’s theships,togetherwiththegroupoffunctionaries( DADAt ,ofa titlesaregiven,including“ChiefInterior-overseeroftheGreat singlecommission;see Quirke 1990:54)oftheHeadofthe House”(i.e.,palace)ofSenusretI.Alsoonthisblockisthe South(i.e.,thesouthernvizierate)(Sayed1977:170).Along king’sname,followedby“belovedofHathor,MistressofPunt.” withAmeniontheshoreoftheGreatGreenwerethesoldiers Manyoftheinscriptionsonthemiddleblockwereonlypartially (mSa )togetherwiththereporters/heralds( wHmw )and: preserved,butseemtorecordthenumberoftroopsandofficials ontheexpeditionaswellasthedateofitsdeparture:firstmonth 50RetainersoftheLord[=King] ofwinterin(Year?)24ofthisking’sreign.Onthewesternblock 1StewardoftheAssembly( DADAt ) isaninscriptionaboutBia-Puntandthegis/tributebrought 500PersonnelofthecrewoftheLord fromthe“God’sLand”(i.e.,Punt)(Sayed1977:140–178).