Bayt Ras Tomb project english (original) (raw)
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Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 2022
On the slopes of Jabal al Yamh (Hatta, Dubai) there is a necropolis with more than seventy tombs, which tell of an occupation of the Hatta valley since prehistoric times. With their varied architecture, these tombs seem to represent styles associated with the Hafit, Umm an-Nar, Wadi Suq, and Iron Age periods. Although they span a long chronology of more than two millennia, they all appear to have similar construction techniques, distribution patterns, and orientation with the hydrological network of the Hatta wadi. Interpretation through GIS allowed us to establish parameters that showed a preference for certain features of the landscape that were always associated with water. Despite the decreasing number of artefacts found, the diversity of the excavated tombs allowed us to identify an architectural evolution in these periods based on particular features of some tombs. On the other hand, from the human remains dated by their biological apatite, we were able to confirm that these tombs were reused over millennia until the twelfth century AD, perhaps indicating the importance of such monuments for the inhabitants of the region even in such relatively recent times.
The Macquarie Theban Tombs Project: 20 years in Dra Abu el Naga
The UNESCO World Heritage List acknowledges the historical significance of the vast region of ancient Thebes, in Upper Egypt c. 700 km south of the modern capital Cairo (fig. 1),1 located on both shores of the Nile and encompassing the large temple complexes of Luxor and Karnak on the east and the most extensive known ancient necropolis on the west bank. As one of many international archaeological missions, a team from Macquarie University led by Boyo Ockinga has been conducting annual fieldwork seasons on the Theban West Bank over a period of over 20 years, since the early 1990s? In this time, the Macquarie team of Egyptologists, various specialists, students and volunteers have excavated and recorded three tomb complexes dated to the New Kingdom and commenced work on a fourth in the northern part of the necropolis, in the area called Dra Abu el Naga North.43 page(s)
French Archaeological Mission of Khor al Jarama Report 2018
This first campaign of the French Archaeological Mission in Khor Jarama, under the authority of the Ministry of Heritage and Culture of Oman and the French Institut des Déserts et des Steppes, took place from the 5 of February to the 11 of March 2018. There were two objects. The first one was to make an aerial and photogrammetric survey of the site of Qarhat al Add located near Aseelah, this in order to better understand the external elements of this site. It was also necessary to carry out this year a first sounding to uncover archaeological artefacts and / or organic materials to study by 14C in order to propose a chronological attribution. The second objective, the main one, was to undertake a new archaeological program around the Khor al Jarama : the first step of this program was the excavation of a necropolis located about 3 km southwest of the Khor. Concerning the first project the aerial shots and the photogrammetry survey helped to better understand this dry-stone building and to discover an important number of others architectural features on the slop testifying about a complex settlement. The sounding allowed to discover no artefact but bone fish at the very bottom of the layer. Unfortunately, the radiocarbon dating didn’t work. Considering the location of this building and these architectural characteristics, we can suppose by comparison that lay here an Hillfort of the Iron age. The excavation of the tomb 1 of Khor al Jarama proved particularly interesting. It has indeed made it possible to unearth a monument with complex architecture. This last one took the form of a large circular structure build by dry stone (about 6.70 meters in diameter to 1,70 m high), and probably originally covered by a corbelling. Only one burial was located in the center of the monument. It contained the deposit of an adult in crouch position on the right side. One more time radiocarbon dating didn’t work. We will sample again next year in aim to try to dating this tomb by bioapatite method. Nevertheless, a few beads have been found in this tomb, some in carnelian with shape giving a chronological position of this tomb probably during the Umm an-Nar or Wadi Suq period (even if an Iron age attribution can’t be excluded). A second burial has also been discovered. It was attached to the monument and not chained with the latter: which clearly indicates that its addition is later. This contained the deposit of a single individual as well in crouch position. This tomb was not looted and the artefacts was more important : beads probably corresponding to a bracelet, piece of coral, a copper pin and two large shells which will have to undergo physico-chemical analyzes next year.
Bárta, M. 2020, Non-royal tombs in Abusir, small
Kings of the Sun. Studies, 2020
The modern interdisciplinary exploration of ancient Egyptian burial sites represents one of the major trends of contemporary archaeological research in Egyptology. Cooperation among representatives of the natural, technical and social sciences is imperative if we are to understand the information collected during the excavation process. The ancient Egyptians believed in an afterlife similar to the life they had lived on earth, and their tombs – in terms of their location, architecture, decoration, inscriptions, and burial equipment – reflected many aspects of their world, including the administration of the state, the social standing of tomb owners and their families, the realities of everyday life, religious ideas, the anthropology of the population of that time, and the state of (and changes in) the environment. Over time, four royal complexes of Fifth-Dynasty kings were built in the Abusir pyramid field during the Old Kingdom. In addition, members of the royal family and the state’s high officials constructed their tombs here. In their shadow, lower-ranking officials, along with their wives and children, would be buried. All of these monuments tell thousands of multifaceted stories, from which we can reconstruct the history of the world’s oldest territorial state. As the Abusir burial ground is so vast, it comes as no surprise that several different non-royal burial sites gradually arose independently of each other in this widespread area over the course of the third millennium BCE. While the factors influencing their position, nature and time of origin varied, key considerations would undoubtedly have been the location of the Old Kingdom’s capital, White Walls, the evolution of the network of settlements, the local cult topography, and the main communications connecting the necropolis with the Nile valley. Although much of the site remains unexplored, current knowledge and archaeological research offer a relatively detailed awareness and description of how it developed in time and space. Each of the burial sites tells, in its own specific way, the story of its time and of the owners of the individual tombs. These monuments reflect the dynamics and transformations of ancient Egyptian society. The following text provides a very limited description of some of these sites, drawing on the enormous wealth of sources known to date .