Ancient Stone Quarry Landscapes In
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QuarryScapes: quarry stone ancient Mediterranean landscapes in the Eastern QuarryScapes: ancient QuarryScapes:stone quarry landscapes ancient stone in quarrythe Eastern landscapes Mediterranean in the EasternGeological Survey of MediterraneanNorway, Special Publication, 12 Geological Survey of Norway, Special Publication, 12 Geological Survey of Norway, Special Publication, 12 Abu-Jaber et al. (eds.) et al. 12 Abu-Jaber Special Publication, Geological Survey of Norway, Abu-Jaber, N., Bloxam, E.G., Degryse,P. and Heldal, T. (eds.) Geological Survey of Norway, Special Publication, 12 The NGU Special Publication series comprises consecutively numbered volumes containing papers and proceedings from national and international symposia or meetings dealing with Norwegian and international geology, geophysics and geochemistry; excursion guides from such symposia; and in some cases papers of particular value to the international geosciences community, or collections of thematic articles. The language of the Special Publication series is English. Editor: Trond Slagstad ©2009 Norges geologiske undersøkelse Published by Norges geologiske undersøkelse (Geological Survey of Norway) NO-7491 Norway All Rights reserved ISSN: 0801-5961 ISBN: 978-82-7385-138-3 Design and print: Trykkpartner Grytting AS Cover illustration: Situated far out in the Eastern Desert in Egypt, Mons Claudianus is one of the most spectacular quarry landscapes in Egypt. The white tonalite gneiss was called marmor claudianum by the Romans, and in particular it was used for large objects such as columns and bathtubs. Giant columns of the stone can be seen in front of Pantheon in Rome. Photo by Tom Heldal. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NORWAY SPECIAL PUBLICATION n Contents Introduction Abu-Jaber, N., Bloxam, E.G., Degryse, P. and Heldal, T. (eds.) ......................................................................................................... 3 Ancient Egyptian quarries—an illustrated overview James A. Harrell and Per Storemyr ........................................................................................................................................................................ 7 Gypsum quarries in the northern Faiyum quarry landscape, Egypt: a geo-archaeological case study Tom Heldal, Elizabeth G. Bloxam, Patrick Degryse, Per Storemyr and Adel Kelany .......................................................... 51 The quarryscapes of Gerasa (Jarash), Jordan Nizar Abu-Jaber, Ziad al Saad and Nihad Smadi ....................................................................................................................................... 67 Mineral fingerprinting of Egyptian siliceous sandstones and the quarry source of the Colossi of Memnon Robert W.O’B. Knox, Rainer Stadelmann, James A. Harrell, Tom Heldal and Hourig Sourouzian ........................ 77 Granite quarry survey in the Aswan region, Egypt: shedding new light on ancient quarrying Adel Kelany, Mohamed Negem, Adel Tohami and Tom Heldal ......................................................................................................... 87 Preservation and promotion of the Sagalassos quarry and town landscape, Turkey Patrick Degryse, Ebru Torun, Markku Corremans, Tom Heldal, Elizabeth G. Bloxam and Marc Waelkens ......... 99 Whatever else happened to the ancient Egyptian quarries? An essay on their destiny in modern times Per Storemyr ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 105 Constructing a quarry landscape from empirical data. General perspectives and a case study at the Aswan West Bank, Egypt Tom Heldal ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 125 National inventory and database of ancient stone quarry landscapes in Egypt Azza Shawarby, Elshaimaa Fathy, Marwa Sadek, Naguib Amin, Rawda Yousri and Sara Kayser ......................... 155 New directions in identifying the significance of ancient quarry landscapes: four concepts of landscape Elizabeth G. Bloxam ......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 165 1 n GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NORWAY SPECIAL PUBLICATION 2 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NORWAY SPECIAL PUBLICATION n 12 Whatever else happened to the ancient Egyptian quarries? An essay on their destiny in modern times Per Storemyr Geological Survey of Norway, 7491 Trondheim, Norway/CSC Conservation Science Consulting, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland. Present address: Herrligstrasse 15, CH-8048 Zurich, Switzerland. E-mail: [email protected] Through selected case studies, this essay describes the fate of ancient Egyptian stone quarries over the last 50 years. It focusses on the many-sided causes of destruction and neglect of these important archaeological sites in an attempt at raising key conservation issues. Such issues are particularly related to how to deal with modern development, such as urban growth and quarrying, which are expected to remain the largest threat for the ancient quarries also in the future. Introduction and the special geography of the country. scribing the fate of some important an- Much of the deterioration has taken place cient quarries when cities have expanded This essay will examine what has hap- over the last 50 years or so—a period and modern quarrying has occurred. pened to Egyptian stone quarries over the that has brought unprecedented change These case studies have been previously last 50 years. Why is this important? It is to the country. Looking at how ancient presented in a comprehensive report no secret that Egypt’s archaeological heri- quarries have fared in this period may (Storemyr et al. 2007, including prima- tage in general suffers tremendously from aid conservation because this has to tar- ry references, see also bibliography and the adverse effects of modern develop- get the many-sided causes of damage and other sources at the end of this essay), ment as well as from neglect, looting and destruction—causes closely linked with and are reworked here for the purpose of natural decay. This is, of course, not just political, economic and social issues. trying to answer the main question, as an Egyptian phenomenon, but Egypt’s The core part of the essay deals with seen from the perspective of an interest- heritage is particularly vulnerable because selected case studies undertaken within ed outsider: is there any hope for ancient of the huge amount of archaeological sites the QuarryScapes project and aims at de- Egyptian quarries in the future? Storemyr, P. (2009) Whatever else happened to the ancient Egyptian quarries? An essay on their destiny in modern times. In Abu-Jaber, N., Bloxam, E.G., Degryse, P. and Heldal, T. (eds.) QuarryScapes: ancient stone quarry landscapes in the Eastern Mediter- ranean, Geological Survey of Norway Special Publication,12, pp. 105–124. 105 n PER STOREMYR A vibrant country in trouble and Toshka projects, which ultimately Heritage management and aim at turning the Western Desert green ancient quarries In 2000 professor of economics at the across a huge area west of Abu Simbel and American University in Cairo, Galal Amin, beyond. What has all this to do with ancient quar- published the English version of What- The use of the fringes of the Nile Val- ries or, for that matter, any other type of ever Happened to the Egyptians?; a critical ley and even the remote desert is symp- cultural heritage in Egypt? A simple, gen- but entertaining account of the profound tomatic of the current land-use develop- eral answer is that the destiny of cultural changes, not least in social structure, that ment policies. In this partially hyperarid heritage, or its status in terms of condi- have taken place in the country from the climate, the Delta, the narrow stretches tion, legal protection and conservation, 1952 revolution to the present. The book along the Nile River and the environs of reflects the political, economic and social became a bestseller, and in the follow-up a few Western Desert oases are the only development of a country, including the Whatever Else Happened to the Egyptians? places where agriculture could tradition- rapid changes in land use. First, Egypt from 2004, Amin took another bemused ally be undertaken. This special geogra- has a staggering amount of archaeologi- look at the ‘quantitative’ changes in Egyp- phy implies that 99% of the population cal sites—the entire Nile Valley, its desert tian society throughout the same time uses only about 5% of the total land area flanks and many remote desert areas are span—a period in which the population of the country. Driven by population practically a continuous series of archae- grew from some 20 to nearly 80 million. growth, there thus seems to be little else to ological landscapes, which almost every- Amin’s books and many others portraying do than put the desert to use, though crit- where include ancient quarries, some of modern Egyptian society, from novelist ics would maintain that Egyptians may very great lateral extent. This means that Alaa Al-Aswany’s bestseller The Yacobian never be willing to move into the desert there is an almost unavoidable conflict Building