Report of the 40th Season of Excavation and Restoration on the Island of Elephantine* by Peter Kopp, Cornelius von Pilgrim, Felix Arnold, Edyta Kopp, Ewa Laskowska-Kusztal, Dietrich Raue The 40th season of the German Archaeological Institute and the Swiss Institute for Architectural and Archaeological Research on Ancient Egypt at Elephantine was carried out from October 21st, 2010 till December 17th, 2010 and from January 4th, 2011 to April 30th, 2011. The primary focus was like the previous season, the Aswan Museum Project of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, which is supported by the German Archaeological Institute in terms of its design and by the necessary excavations prior to building activity. The secondary focus was continuing the field work at the south-western part of the town enclosure that dates to the 2nd millennium BC (Figs. 1–2). * Participants were P. Kopp, C. von Pilgrim, F. Arnold, L. Borrmann, J. Budka, K. Chandler, R. Colman, J. Drauschke, D. Drozdowski, Chr. Eckmann, P. Eitzinger, C. Graves, T. Gutmann, L. Haupt, M. Hofmann, D. Katzjäger, N. Kertesz, A. Korhonen, E. Laskowska-Kusztal, F. Mangartz, S. Olschok, E. Peintner, W. Peschke, B. von Pilgrim, D. Raue, M.-K. Schröder, St. J. Seidlmayer, A. Schürmann, D. Serova, N. Shalaby and St. Wefers. The Inspectorate of Antiquities was represented by the inspectors for the excavations Amira Mohamed Sadiq (winter 2010), Hala Adel Mohamed and Amal Sarif Tadris (spring 2011), and for the work in the magazines Karima Mohamed Fahmi Mohamed (winter 2010) and Ahmed Awad Allah Selim (spring 2010). To them, as well as to the general director of Aswan, Dr. Mohammed el-Bialy, we would like to express our sincere thanks for their kind support and cooperation. 1 . Fig. 1: Map of Aswan, scale 1:50,000 (from E.G.S.A. sheet NG36B3b) 2 Fig. 2: Elephantine excavations 2010/2011. 1. Area between the old museum and the annex, and northern part of the garden of the museum (Area XXXVI); 2. Temple of Satet (New Kingdom); 3. Area XVIII: Settlement of the Old Kingdom; 4. Area XIV: Town enclosure, south-western part; 5. Area XXXII: Südhügel 3 Additionally, the work on finds from earlier seasons was continued. This included studies of small finds and lithic implements dating to the Old Kingdom, pottery of the Old and New Kingdom and the Late Roman era, as well as residuals of a casting house of the 6th century. Of the Coptic Period a workshop that produced stone basins of granodiorite and milling stones has been examined. The study of architectural fragments of the various Graeco-Roman temples was continued; together with the investigation of the foundation of the New Kingdom Temple of Satet. 1. Excavations in the garden area of the Elephantine Island Museum (Area XXXVI, Figs. 3–9) Due to the extensions planned for the Aswan Museum on Elephantine Island, the German Archaeological Institute continued the excavations of the last season in the areas that might be built over in the future expansion. The work concentrated on the areas in front of the museum and the annex. Minor investigations were undertaken to complete the excavations in the space between these two buildings. Fig. 3: Town enclosure wall of the 2nd Dynasty The oldest archaeological remains in this area of Elephantine comprise the town and the town enclosure wall of the 2nd Dynasty (Fig. 3). This wall is well known from the area of the Satet Temple 4 and the northern town1. It is constructed of three connected walls and follows the contours on top of large granite boulders from near the Satet Temple to the northeast between the old museum and the annex and continues to the area in the vicinity of the old magazine. There, in all probability, it turns to the east and follows the Nile shore to the eastern corner of the early dynastic fortress. In its first phase it consisted of two connected walls and in a second phase, still in the 2nd Dynasty, a third wall was added on the inner side. This resulted in a loss of space in the settlement but was necessary because of the steeply sloping gradient in front of the earlier wall. The town enclosure wall was built on the large granite boulders, which were on a level sufficiently high enough to give protection from the annual Nile inundation. As is found in the northern part of the settlement its height is always more than 94.50 m above sea level. A wall on the outside of the original town wall may well have been reached by the inundation because it had to be built on a lower level in front of the granite boulders. Additionally, a significantly lesser amount of building material was needed. East of the town wall the contemporary 2nd Dynasty settlement is situated. In most areas it was badly preserved due to sebbakhin digging and the construction of the old museum and its extension. Only in one place were the antique settlement layers still extant to a height of 1.50 m. It is here that three main settlement phases of the early to late 2nd Dynasty were preserved (Fig. 4)2. These comprised domestic buildings with perhaps some workshops, but the few finds uncovered do not allow for the specification of the workshop activities. Between the floor layers were numerous beer jars but surprisingly only a small number of clay sealings. Fig. 4: Settlement of 2nd Dynasty east of the old museum 1 M. ZIERMANN, Elephantine XVI: Befestigungsanlagen und Stadtentwicklung in der Frühzeit und im frühen Alten Reich, AV 87, Mainz 1993, p. 100. 2 See for the adjoining area M. ZIERMANN, Elephantine XXVIII: Die Baustrukturen der älteren Stadt (Frühzeit und Altes Reich), AV 108, Mainz 2003, pp. 20 ff. 5 Between the annex and the old museum a structure made up of numerous granite slabs was found (Figs. 3 and 5). It lies in front of the early dynastic town wall and may possibly be the substructure of a causeway leading up to a town gate. During the Early Dynastic Period/Old Kingdom it may well have been a landing place for boats south of the Hassawanarti rocks. From there could be found a route going along a wadi, past a group of granite rocks with an Unas-inscription and after a curve to the south it led to the granite causeway and to the town gate. Because of the altitude difference between the wadi and the settlement it was necessary to build a way up to the gate in the town wall. The highest Nile floods may well have reached 94.50 m above sea level. Parts of the construction are below 94.00 m and therefore this causeway had to be built of granite slabs to protect it against the water of the Nile during the inundation3. After the Old Kingdom the way was no longer in use and the upper courses of its stones were taken away and used as building material. Thus the present height of the remaining slabs no longer corresponds with its original height in the Old Kingdom. Fig. 5: Structure of granite slabs between annex and old museum From the late Old Kingdom onwards the depression in front of the causeway was no longer flooded during the annual inundation. So it was now possible for the inhabitants of Elephantine to use this area all year round and to build permanent dwellings and installations. In the area between the old museum and the annex the oldest activities outside the town wall date to the 1st Intermediate Period4. The rear wall of a house of this period was built in front of the Old Kingdom causeway. Another wall at right angles and aligned to the north divided the area into an open court in the east and a house in the west. 3 The lower parts of the causeway were under 93.63 m above sea level. 4 See also M. BOMMAS, Nordoststadt: Siedlungsbereich der 1. Zwischenzeit und des Mittleren Reiches nordwestlich des Inselmuseums, in: W. KAISER et al., Stadt und Tempel von Elephantine, 21./22. Grabungsbericht, MDAIK 51, 1995, pp. 141 ff. 6 A triangular storage device was integrated into the corner of the house. The lack of a normal door on the floor level made the room safe against mice and other animals. In the court to the east were two simple tombs of very young children (Fig. 6). The older child was about 2 years old, lying on its back with the head to the southwest. Two small faience amulets were found near its neck. The other child was not older than 1 year and lying on its right side with the head pointing to the southeast. A fragment of a faience cylinder bead appears to be the only grave good given. After these burials, the area was filled with up to 10 cm of debris and a simple fireplace was build. Fig. 6: 1st Intermediate Period children’s tombs This season excavations also commenced in the area in front of the museum’s annex. The area was covered with a 3 m layer of building rubble from the construction of the annex. Beneath this was another metre of sebbakhin debris. The general development of the area is similar to that between the annex and the old museum in that the area is also situated in the depression between the two islands. It was also flooded for some weeks each year during the Old Kingdom by the annual inundation. Only a limited use was therefore possible until the 1st Intermediate Period.