Dr. Nadine Moeller, Field Director
INTRODUCTION
The remains of what once had been the provincial
capital of the 2nd Upper Egyptian nome can be found at Tell Edfu, which is one
of the best well-preserved ancient towns in Egypt. The continuous occupation
over several millennia led to the constant build up of settlement layers which
created an artificial mound or a tell of considerable height. Tell Edfu is one
of the rare examples where almost three thousand years of ancient Egyptian
history are still preserved in the stratigraphy of a single site and therefore
provides an enormous potential for increasing our understanding of ancient
urbanism in Egypt, a topic that is still poorly understood since it relies
almost entirely on archaeological data. There are only very few ancient
Egyptian settlement sites currently accessible and even fewer have been
excavated and published. The past excavation seasons (2005-2010) at Tell Edfu
have focused along the eastern part of the tell which yielded evidence for the
early administrative center of the town. So far we excavated a small part of
this area and the first results already proved to be spectacular such as the
large grain silos that are so far unique in the archaeological record in Egypt.
For the first time it has been possible to discover archaeological settlement
remains that complement the abundant textual sources dealing with the complex
system of administration. Not surprisingly it seems that texts and archaeology
do not always tell the same story! At Tell Edfu we have the chance to gather
completely new archaeological data for the study of an important urban center
in southern Egypt and its development during the whole pharaonic period.
Urbanism and settlement studies dealing with ancient Egypt are very rare and
this stands in sharp contrast to other regions in the Near East where the
exploration of tell sites is a common phenomenon. Thus, the Tell Edfu Project
has a significant impact on our knowledge of Egyptian urbanism in general.
2014-2015 Annual Report
2012- 2013 Annual Report
2011-2012 Annual Report
2010-2011 Annual Report
2009-2010 Annual Report
