Gregory Marouard | Yale University (original) (raw)

Books by Gregory Marouard

FIFAO 93, IFAO, 2024

The pharaonic port of Wadi el-Jarf is composed of a set of settlements (storage caves, camps, mar... more The pharaonic port of Wadi el-Jarf is composed of a set of settlements (storage caves, camps, maritime installations) that are spread over a distance of 5 km, from the foothills of the Gebel el -Galala el-Qjbliya to the coast of the Gulf of Suez. This first volume presents the results of the excavations conducted in the coastal part of the site between 2012 and 2021. There, one can still see the remains of a large L-shaped pier, built to provide a shelter for the boats that frequented the harbor, as well as camps- some 200 m from the seashore-that were surely the dwelling places of the workers in charge of the on-site assembling and dismantling of the boats used for expeditions (stored in the caves). The abundant material collected during the excavations includes numerous seal impressions on clay showing the names of Snefru and Khufu, dating the occupation of the site to the two first kings of the 4th Dynasty, and an exceptional deposit in one of the camps of one hundred stone boat anchors, many of them still inscribed with the names of the boats to which they belonged. This gives us a glimpse of the last fleet that made use of the harbor c. 2600 BC.

Book chapters / collaboration to monograph by Gregory Marouard

FIFAO, 2020

https://www.ifao.egnet.net/publications/catalogue/?nif=FIFAO082.pdf&nv=0

Papers by Gregory Marouard

Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts Kairo, 2019

Since 2001, the work of the French mission at Buto, hosted by the German Archaeological Institute... more Since 2001, the work of the French mission at Buto, hosted by the German Archaeological Institute on its archaeological concession, has focused on the latest periods of occupation of this major city of the western Nile Delta. The unifying thread of this multidisciplinary research concerns the nature and the density of the urban fabric and its place in the network of settlements in the Delta from the end of the Late Period, particularly with the arrival of the Greeks and the conquest of Alexander, to the early times of the Islamic Period. Extensive surface surveys were carried out between 2012 and 2015 on kôm A and kôm B, two of the three mounds that mark the current surface of Tell el-Fara‘in. By using a new methodology for spatial analysis on a cumulated surface of 6.2 hectares (about 1/10 of the total area of the site, ca. 66 hectares), these prospections were conducted on regularly spaced strips, 20 m wide, in order to record quantitative data and to systematically map all the ceramic fragments on the surface which correspond to a preselection of 25 well-known and well-dated pottery markers. Those are considered as some of the most reliable forms for five chronological phases from the Late Period (end of the 7th century BC) to the end of the 1st millennium AD. The main objective of this work was to estimate the diachronic evolution of the town’s territory and to model the variations of the urban perimeter for the latest phases of occupation on comprehensive maps.
This work exposed a succession of boundaries for the urban occupation for each of the five main chronological phases selected (Period 1 to 5: Late Period, early Ptolemaic, late Ptolemaic to early Roman transition, late Roman, and Byzantine to early Islamic Periods). A phenomenon of gradual concentration and retraction of the settlement over the entire period studied was particularly highlighted, more significantly visible on the fringes of the kôm A area.
The results of these new operations provide an important addition to the geo-archaeological core drillings and geomagnetic surveys conducted by the German institute’s team, which produced exceptional information for earlier periods of the site’s history.

The Oriental Institute News and Notes, 2020

EDAL · Egyptian & Egyptological Documents, Archives, Libraries, 2017

Recent fieldwork at two major settlement sites in southern Egypt has provided new data concerning... more Recent fieldwork at two major settlement sites in southern Egypt has provided new data concerning their respective foundations and long-term developments during the 3rd millennium BC. The results also shed new light on the relationship between these provincial capitals and the central government based at Memphis. The archaeological fieldwork conducted by the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago, has focused on specific areas of these two settlements that had been founded directly on the natural bedrock constituting newly founded settlement quarters at different stages of their development. At Tell Edfu, the Old Kingdom town gradually expanded northwards and westwards making use of the increasingly flood-free zone, which can be seen by the newly excavated settlement quarter dating to the late 5th Dynasty that was situated less than 20 m to the much later Ptolemaic temple. This initial settlement expansion at Edfu can be linked via numerous clay sealing fragments with the serekh of Djedkare-Isesi to royal expeditions, which were charged with the task to extract raw materials in the Eastern Desert. Edfu’s location at the crossroads of important routes into the Eastern Desert and related mining sites is noteworthy in this respect. The ancient settlement at Dendara has much older roots dating back at least to the late Predynastic period but a substantial amount of urban remains dating to all phases of the Old Kingdom have been discovered to the east of the Hathor temple. In addition, Edfu and Dendara saw major expansions at the end of the 6th Dynasty into the First Intermediate Period, which is particularly interesting since this time frame corresponds to a politically troubled period that led to a fragmented state with multiple power centers. However, from an urban perspective, cities in southern Egypt seem to demonstrate a true resilience in a time of relative expansion.

From Microcosm to Macrocosm. Individual households and cities in Ancient Egypt and Nubia, 2018

Recent fieldwork at the two major settlement sites in southern Egypt have provided new data conce... more Recent fieldwork at the two major settlement sites in southern Egypt have provided new data concerning their respective foundations and long-term developments during the 3rd millennium BC. While both towns gained the status of provincial capitals during the early Old Kingdom, their initial settlement and long-term evolution show some interesting differences but also share many commonalties. Those developments seem to be related to significant changes in the floodplain regime and the course of the Nile river but there are also indications that more general trends, for example a population increase linked to the establishment of a local elite and a dynamic and sustainable regional economy, played a role in the sudden expansion of these sites at the end of the Old Kingdom. The archaeological fieldwork conducted by the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago, has focused on specific areas of these two settlements that had been founded directly on the natural bedrock constituting newly established settlement quarters at different stages of their development. At Tell Edfu, the Old Kingdom town gradually expanded northwards and westwards during the Old Kingdom making use of the increasingly flood-free zone, which can be seen by the newly excavated settlement quarter dating to the late 5th Dynasty that was situated less than 20m to the much later Ptolemaic temple. Further expansion of the town occurred during the very end of the Old Kingdom / early First Intermediate Period (c. 2200 BC), a time that has usually been associated with political and economic crises which might have been triggered by the effects of a short time climate change. By this time, the town had reached its maximum northern and western limits, which remained relatively stable for centuries to come.
The ancient city at Dendara has much older roots dating back at least to the late Predynastic period but it also saw a major expansion to the east of the Roman temple enclosure during the late Old Kingdom/First Intermediate Period transition, which was inhabited until the early Middle Kingdom. The new fieldwork conducted at both sites offers a glimpse of the organisation of the new town quarters in previously unsettled areas. These two examples of growing urban centres at the end of the 3rd millennium BC are especially interesting since this particular time frame corresponds to a politically troubled period that led to a fragmented state with multiple power centres. However, from an urban perspective, cities in southern Egypt seem to demonstrate a true resilience in a time of relative prosperity and expansion.

The recent discovery of 41 clay sealings showing the cartouche of the Hyksos ruler Khyan at Tell ... more The recent discovery of 41 clay sealings showing the cartouche of the Hyksos ruler Khyan at Tell Edfu has opened up a new discussion on the chronology and history of the Second Intermediate Period. This is the first time that such a considerable number of Khyan sealings, which were excavated in a secure archaeological context, have been found in Upper Egypt. This find not only implies economic or diplomatic contacts between the north and the capital of the second Upper Egyptian nome in the south, but also provides a new piece of evidence concerning the beginnings of Second Intermediate Period in Upper Egypt. The aim of this paper is to focus on several issues that have been brought up repeatedly in discussion during the workshop held in Vienna, and which the authors wish to address here in more depth.

in Irene Forstner-Müller – Nadine Moeller (eds.) The Hyksos Ruler Khyan and the Early Second Inte... more in Irene Forstner-Müller – Nadine Moeller (eds.)
The Hyksos Ruler Khyan and the Early Second Intermediate Period in Egypt: Problems and Priorities of Current Research.
Proceedings of the Workshop of the Austrian Archaeological Institute and the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, Vienna, July 4 – 5, 2014

Near Eastern Archaeology , 2017

The archaeology of Pre- and Early Dynastic Egypt has been one of the most active area in Egyptolo... more The archaeology of Pre- and Early Dynastic Egypt has been one of the most active area in Egyptology in the past few decades, but despite the intensification of the fieldwork research in the Nile Delta or Middle Egypt, our knowledge of early Egyptian settlements in Upper Egypt is still limited to several prominent sites, some under excavation since the late nineteenth century. The work undertaken by a team from The Oriental Institute—on the concession of the French Archaeological Institute (IFAO)—in the intramural area of the Hathor and Isis sanctuaries at Dendara has uncovered the earliest archaeological levels discovered to date, with several strata from the Naqada IIC–D and Early Dynastic periods. These discoveries push back the date of a first permanent community at this site by more than five hundred years and add an important point on the map of the predynastic occupation of Upper Egypt, all the more significant since the site became one of the main provincial centers, the capital of the 6th Nome of Upper Egypt, in the following centuries.

FACSIMILE 773.702.9853 MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION 773.702.9513 oi-membership@uchicago.edu MUSEUM INFO... more FACSIMILE 773.702.9853 MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION 773.702.9513 oi-membership@uchicago.edu MUSEUM INFORMATION 773.702.9520 SUQ GIFT AND BOOK SHOP 773.702.9510 ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE 773.702.9514 oi-administration@uchicago.edu MUSEUM GALLERY HOURS Mon: Closed Sun-Tue, Thu-Sat: 10am-5pm Wed: 10am-8pm

Essay for the Library of Seshat - Studies presented to Janet H. Johnson (ed. R. Ritner), 2017

Souvent cité comme l’exemple type du phénomène des fondations et refondations engagé dans la chôr... more Souvent cité comme l’exemple type du phénomène des fondations et refondations engagé dans la chôra égyptienne par les premiers souverains lagides, le site de Philadelphie du Fayoum a été étrangement dénigré depuis plus d’un siècle par les missions archéologiques, pourtant nombreuses à l’heure actuelle dans l’oasis.
Récemment encore, dans un recensement très étoffé des agglomérations gréco-romaines de cette région, Paola Davoli décrivait ainsi les vestiges: “le rovine dell’antica città sono ormai completamente distrutte e pochi sono gli elementi encora giacenti in superficie.” Si l’on considère cependant le site au-delà des limites qui lui étaient connues auparavant et à la lumière des nouvelles images satellites, ce constat ne semble pas correspondre totalement à la réalité des faits.
En effet, l’histoire et l’évolution de cette agglomération semblent avoir été essentiellement recomposes sur la base de la documentation grecque ou démotique qui en provient, l’ensemble du site étant parfois occulté par l’histoire personnelle et l’abondante correspondance de plusieurs de ses illustres résidents, tells Zénon ou Flavius Abinnaeus aux deux extrémités de l’occupation du site. Si l’on tente en revanche de regrouper les données issues du seul terrain archéologique, on constate que la grande majorité des éléments connus proviennent de la mission conduite par le Musée de Berlin durant l’hiver 1908–1909 et que l’unique plan du site repris jusqu’à présent est un relevé schématique très incomplet dressé par L. Borchardt lors d’un court passage en 1924.
Il n’existe donc pas pour cette agglomération un niveau d’observation et d’analyse intermédiaire entre une vision macroscopique et extrêmement fragmentaire — celle du plan de Borchardt — et une vision microscopique et au demeurant souvent anecdotique — celle de la documentation papyrologique. Si de multiples aspects économiques, administratifs ou démographiques de Philadelphie sont bien connus et ont été étudiés
avec soin, il apparaît néanmoins que les hommes et leurs institutions auxquels on fait si souvent référence évoluent aujourd’hui encore dans un cadre urbain qui demeure totalement méconnu. Après un rapide rappel historique de la fondation du site et du déroulement des fouilles anciennes, nous tenterons de rassembler ici de multiples éléments nouveaux rapportés par les images anciennes et récentes du site ou collectés en surface lors d’une visite extensive du site conduite à l’automne 2006; autant d’éléments qui nous permettront de reconsidérer l’extension, l’organisation et même l’évolution urbaine ou la parure monumentale de Philadelphie dont le potentiel archéologique semble loin d’être épuisé.

The lakes along Egypt's northern coast contain a number of ancient sites which were once on dry l... more The lakes along Egypt's northern coast contain a number of ancient sites which were once on dry land but are now islands. Gregory Marouard has been studying satellite images of Kom el-Dahab.

The use of satellite images has seen considerably advancement over the past ten years. However, t... more The use of satellite images has seen considerably advancement
over the past ten years. However, the increasingly
popular utilization of remote sensing tools
demands some caution, because in the past various
cases of hypotheses followed by announcements in
the media about new discoveries have been rather
carelessly promoted. Despite the skepticism that has
occasionally been generated, the use of this method
of detection is highly valuable especially for the preliminary
observations and planning stages of new archaeological
survey and excavation work. In addition to providing high-resolution images of Egypt, online and free of charge, the well-known Google Earth© software offers the possibility to
‘move back in time’ and to obtain different images of
the same site over a period of about ten years. The
comparison of all these images often shows to what
extent the very recent urban and agricultural developments
have affected and frequently obscured the
archaeological remains, but it should not be limited
to the evaluation of the impact of recent destructions
and occasional looting activities.
During some monitoring activity carried out in
the region north of the Dahshur lake, the comparison
and partial enhancement of about twenty satellite
images has led to the discovery of a recurring and important
anomaly probably corresponding to the harbor
of the mortuary complex of Amenemhat III in the
southern Dahshur necropolis (Fig. 1), which might be
the first basin discovered in association with a pyramid
complex for the Middle Kingdom.

FIFAO 93, IFAO, 2024

FIFAO, 2020

https://www.ifao.egnet.net/publications/catalogue/?nif=FIFAO082.pdf&nv=0

Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts Kairo, 2019

The Oriental Institute News and Notes, 2020

EDAL · Egyptian & Egyptological Documents, Archives, Libraries, 2017

From Microcosm to Macrocosm. Individual households and cities in Ancient Egypt and Nubia, 2018

Near Eastern Archaeology , 2017

Essay for the Library of Seshat - Studies presented to Janet H. Johnson (ed. R. Ritner), 2017

La recherche, Jan 1, 2007

Since 2011, a joint team of the Paris-Sorbonne University and the French Institute in Cairo (IFAO... more Since 2011, a joint team of the Paris-Sorbonne University and the French Institute in Cairo (IFAO) has been excavating an exceptionally well-preserved harbor complex from the Early Old Kingdom at Wadi al-Jarf along the Egyptian coast of the Red Sea. Considered now to be the oldest port site in Egypt and the first prototype of this kind, it was used for a short time as a departure point to the Sinai Peninsula for royal expeditions on the way to the regions of Serabit al-Khadim and Wadi Maghara, the principal mining areas for copper and turquoise. According to the finds and epig-raphy, all these installations date back exclusively to the very beginning of Dynasty 4. In 2013 the site received much scientific attention after the discovery of hundreds of fragments of narrative and administrative papyri, some of them name King Khufu and report various operations linked to the construction site of the Great Pyramid at Giza. Since 2013, the installations along the coastline have been under investigation and revealed all the constitutive elements of a harbor, such as an extensive mole underwater, numerous nautical elements, dwelling and storage buildings with evidence of administrative control and even a large workmen's barracks. The site at Wadi al-Jarf seems to naturally extend on the west coast of the Sinai Peninsula and a clear connection now has to be considered with the so-called late Old Kingdom fortress at Tell Ras Budran identified on the shore of the El-Markha plain. Based on the Wadi al-Jarf discoveries, its short-term occupation and the pottery evidence, which create a direct link between the sites, the function and chronology of the fortress needs to be completely reassessed and be regarded as a component and the bridgehead of the same ambitious system established at the very beginning of the Dynasty 4 along the two sides of the Gulf of Suez in order to reach the mining areas securely.

Since 2013, the installations along the coastline have been under investigation and revealed all the constitutive elements of a harbor, such as an extensive mole underwater, numerous nautical elements, dwelling and storage buildings with evidence of administrative control and even a large workmen's barracks. The site at Wadi al-Jarf seems to naturally extend on the west coast of the Sinai Peninsula and a clear connection now has to be considered with the so-called late Old Kingdom fortress at Tell Ras Budran identified on the shore of the El-Markha plain. Based on the Wadi al-Jarf discoveries, its short-term occupation and the pottery evidence, which create a direct link between the sites, the function and chronology of the fortress needs to be completely reassessed and be regarded as a component and the bridgehead of the same ambitious system established at the very beginning of the Dynasty 4 along the two sides of the Gulf of Suez in order to reach the mining areas securely.

Depuis 2011, le site du ouadi al-Jarf a rejoint les sites d'Ayn Soukhna et de Mersa Gawasis parmi... more Depuis 2011, le site du ouadi al-Jarf a rejoint les sites d'Ayn Soukhna et de Mersa Gawasis parmi les installations portuaires d'époque pharaonique connues sur le littoral égyptien de la mer Rouge. Le site est un ensemble intact et multipolaire et il s’agit en l’état actuel des recherches de l’installation portuaire la plus ancienne jamais découverte, datée exclusivement du règne de Chéops et complètement abandonnée avant le règne de Khafra.
Dès les premières visites sur le site en 2008, tous les secteurs présentaient en surface un volume parfois considérable de tessons de grandes jarres de stockage globulaires présentant une fabrique calcaire – marl – très caractéristique et manifestement locale. Dans la Zone 1, aux abords des galeries de stockage G3 à G6 (Fig. 1), la découverte de deux fours de potiers est venue rapidement confirmer l’hypothèse d’une importante production locale de céramiques.

Note de l'auteur
Cet article, dont la première version a été remise et acceptée en Juillet 2012 pour le volume 2 des Studies on Old Kingdom Pottery 2 n'étant toujours pas publiée à cette date (Septembre 2016), nous choisissons ici d'en proposer la version draft afin de mettre cet exemple exceptionnel du Ouadi al-Jarf à disposition de la communauté des archéologues et céramologues travaillant sur l'Ancien Empire égyptien.
Il est important de noter que cet article ne reflète qu'un état des recherches en 2012 - après seulement 2 campagnes sur le site - et que les données archéologiques disponibles sur l'atelier de potiers du Ouadi al-Jarf sont beaucoup plus importantes à présent et très clairement datées du seul règne de Cheops.

The Oriental Institute Annual Report 2017-2018, 2018

OI annual report 2018-2019, 2019

https://oi.uchicago.edu/research/publications/misc/discovering-new-pasts-oi-100

OI Annual Report 2017-2018, 2018

The ancient city of Edfu is situated on the West Bank of the Nile valley, halfway between Aswan a... more The ancient city of Edfu is situated on the West Bank of the Nile valley, halfway between Aswan and Luxor. In ancient times, Edfu was the capital of the 2nd Upper Egyptian nome and it formed an important regional center in the Upper Egypt from the middle of the third millennium BCE until the late Byzantine period.
Since 2014, one of the main research objectives of our archaeological fieldwork at Tell Edfu has been to identify the earliest traces for settlement activity and to investigate the Old Kingdom occu-pation which lies deeply under the actual preserved tell site. In the continuity of previous seasons, we mainly focused this year on the excavation of Zone 2, which is situated to the west of the pylon of the Ptolemaic temple and which contains the earliest settlement remains at Edfu so far dis-covered, dating to the late Fifth Dynasty and the reign of king Djedkare Isesi (ca. 2400-2350 BCE). Another operation was conducted on the top of the tell, on the north side of previously excavated Zone 1. It mainly consisted in cleaning and preparation operations for a new early New Kingdom settlement excavation which will be engaged next fall 2018.

Since 2014, the Oriental Institute has investigated the evolution of the settlement site at Denda... more Since 2014, the Oriental Institute has investigated the evolution of the settlement site at Dendara, particularly for the period between the mid-fourth to the late third millennium BCe, until the early Middle Kingdom (ca. 2000 BCe). Focusing on urban archaeology, this project is welcomed on the eighty year old archaeological concession of the French Archaeological Institute in Cairo (IFAO), which allowed the OI to work on the settlement remains situated inside and outside of the main sanctuary enclosure wall. The cemetery area, located south, is also under investigation by a team of the Macquarie University, Sydney.

The 2016 season at Tell Edfu season primarily focused on the Fifth Dynasty (ca. 2494-2345 bce) in... more The 2016 season at Tell Edfu season primarily focused on the Fifth Dynasty (ca. 2494-2345 bce) in Zone 2 situated to the west of the Ptolemaic temple, which contains the earliest settlement remains at Edfu so far discovered ( ). The season started on October 12, 2016 and finished on November 15, 2016. This year's team members were Nadine Moeller (director), Grégory Marouard (co-director), Valerie Le Provost (Old Kingdom pottery), Aaron de Souza (Nubian pottery), Kathryn Bandy (sealings and small finds), Oren Siegel (enclosure walls), Natasha Ayers (pottery), Emilie Sarrazin (archaeology), and Sasha Rohret (faunal remains). Our inspector for this season was Amal Abdallah.

Dendara (Tentyra, Iunet) is one of the major archaeological sites north of the Theban region and ... more Dendara (Tentyra, Iunet) is one of the major archaeological sites north of the Theban region and the ancient capital of the sixth nome of Upper Egypt, Iqer, the Crocodile nome. The site is located 55 km (34 mi) north of the Luxor area and 5 km (3 mi) south of the modern town of Qena. Situated on the " West Bank " from an ancient Egyptian perspective, Dendara lies south of the river, in a curving bend of the Nile, the only part of the valley where the river runs from the east to the west (fig. 1). Today the site is positioned along the desert fringe of the Nile valley floodplain. It seems quite likely that the river — currently situated 2 km to the north — flowed much closer to the site in ancient times. Well known by its sanctuary complex of the goddess Hathor, which dates back to the late Ptolemaic and early Roman periods (fig. 2), the main temple is one of the most iconic and the best preserved, with the Ptolemaic temple at Edfu-Behedet. Those two sanctuaries, the temple of Hathor at Dendara and the temple of Horus in Edfu, were always considered as sister-sites sharing a close religious connection. The triad of Edfu (Horus, Hathor, Harsomtus/Ihy) was honored in both temples and every year in the month of Epiphi (Season of Shemu), when the Nile waters were at the lowest level, the " Feast of the Beautiful Reunion " was celebrated. The statue of Hathor left its temple and traveled upstream by boat to the south in order to join her consort Horus in Edfu. But this highly spiritual relationship between the two sites can also be found in a more historical and archaeological aspect, with a very similar evolution of both sanctuaries and urban settlements. The new project of the Oriental Institute at Dendara is therefore narrowly interconnected to the ongoing work conducted by Nadine Moeller and Gregory Marouard at Edfu, which focuses on the extensive urban remains founded on the tell, directly next to the Ptolemaic temple. By combining these two complementary urban excavations and two sister sites, the Oriental Institute has a unique opportunity to examine on a deeply comparative level the archaeological data from two provincial capitals with the aim to better characterize the multiple facets of the urban phenomenon in addition to the process and dynamics of the development of the agglomerations of Upper Egypt over more than three thousand years, from their Pre-dynastic origins to the end of the pharaonic times. Originally engaged in 2012 with two preliminary seasons of reconnaissance survey (2012 and 2014), the Oriental Institute (OI) reached an agreement with the French Institute for Oriental Archaeology (IFAO), in order to work on its archaeological concession, investigated since the 1930s. The specific focus of the OI project lies in the study of the very poorly known settlement remains, covering the periods from the origins to the Christian period, as well as the interconnections between the civic and administrative spaces with the religious structures. In addition, as have been investigated in Edfu for a couple of years now, the various phases of enclosure and town walls, which mark the phases of extension and contraction of the site, will be under investigation as well at Dendara.
The Oriental Institute program is a part of a collaborative venture that regroups the projects of major institutions in Egyptology on the concession of the Institut français d'archéologie orientale (IFAO).

The site at Kom ed-Dahab, Menzala Lake, Damietta Inspectorate, is currently an isolated island in... more The site at Kom ed-Dahab, Menzala Lake, Damietta Inspectorate, is currently an isolated island in the proximity of the western shore of Lake Menzala (fig. 1), which has so far never been the object of any archaeological fieldwork or precise mapping. Since 2015, Gregory Marouard has been conducting a joint survey of the Oriental Institute and the EES Delta Survey at Kom ed-Dahab, in the Egyptian Eastern Delta. This 30 hectares site has been revealed by satellite images only in 2011. Completely untouched and only accessible by boat, the Kom ed-Dahab is an ex-nihilo Roman town, widely opened on the Mediterranean sea and one of the Nile branch, which designate here a strategic emporion. Characterized by an hippodamian urban grid and peculiar monuments, this short-lived settlement might be considered as a rare example of Roman colony for Egypt.

In 2015, the archaeological work continued in two areas on the tell, in Zone 2 with Old Kingdom s... more In 2015, the archaeological work continued in two areas on the tell, in Zone 2 with Old Kingdom settlement remains, which is located to the west of the Ptolemaic temple, and in Zone 1, which is the area where we previously discovered a large silo court and an administrative building complex on top of the tell, along the eastern side. We also excavated three trenches in order to investigate several sections of town walls along the southwestern side of the tell. In addition, we also continued the documentation of the decorated stone blocks in the blockyard and the study of objects that are currently stored in the magazine of El-Kab.

The Kom ed-Dahab is one of the northernmost sites in Egypt, located 12 km south of Damietta in th... more The Kom ed-Dahab is one of the northernmost sites in Egypt, located 12 km south of Damietta in the southwestern part of Lake Menzaleh. Already listed by the MoA (N° 050105) and the EES Delta Survey (N° 321), the site has neither been explored nor excavated and it remains a terra incognita in the Eastern Delta before the 2015 OI-EES joint expedition.
It lies on a small island and around the 1920’s, it was still located 5 km from the western shore of the lake. As evidenced by the comparison of Corona satellite photographs from 1968 and recent 2010 images, the Menzaleh lake gradually dries up during the past decades and the Kom ed-Dahab is now located less than 2 km from the shore. Surrounded by shallow water and a thick barrier of reeds, the site can only be reached by boat.

Located outside the current regime of the Nile waters, it is possible that the early Roman site at Kom ed-Dahab was originally located at the mouth of a secondary branch that was connected to the ancient path of the Damietta branch, which corresponds to the Bucolic or Phatmetic branch reported by ancient authors.
The presence of such a harbor site clearly emphasizes that by Roman times, the Menzaleh area was still a widely opened lagoon, easily navigable and accessible from the Mediterranean Sea. The position of the Kom ed-Dahab allowed ships from the Levant, Aegean Islands and Cyprus to enter deeply into the central Delta region. Operating as a stopping point for the unloading of goods, the site was also in connection with the inland waterway network, that the bigger seagoing ships could not navigate, and smaller vessels have to be used in order to reach regional metropolis such as Mendes/Thmouis or Sebennytos. Probably conceived as a colony, this important settlement was therefore an emporion site with a strategic location and a similar function to those occupied by larger sites such as Pelusion or Heraklion situated on the Pelusiac and Canopic branches.

Since the 1930’s, the sanctuary of Hathor at Dendara is one of the major concessions of the Frenc... more Since the 1930’s, the sanctuary of Hathor at Dendara is one of the major concessions of the French Institute (IFAO). For 80 years, successive teams have primarily worked in the intra-mural area and focused on the architectural and textual study of the well-preserved monuments from the Early Roman and Christian periods. But, the diachronic study of the ancient town, mostly located at the eastern part of the site has remained very limited. The resumption of excavations on these extensive settlement vestiges should clarify our understanding of the urban phenomenon in Upper Egypt, especially during the second part of the 3rd millennium BC. Despite extensive excavations conducted by F. Petrie and C. Fisher, the archaeological potential of the necropolis is also very high.
Since 2012 a joint project of the Oriental Institute associated with the IFAO and the Macquarie University, Sydney, has been initiated in order to reassess and re-explore these two sectors of settlement and cemetery.
In December 2014, a short campaign of survey, cleanings and test trenches has been engaged in various parts of the site. Based on the preliminary result of this first campaign, this paper aims to reconstruct some aspects of Dendara during the dynastic periods and to highlight new data about the original phases of the settlement dating from the Early Dynastic and Old Kingdom periods, located less than 20 m from the sanctuaries of Hathor and Isis.

Since 2011, a joint team of Paris La Sorbonne University and the French Institute in Cairo made t... more Since 2011, a joint team of Paris La Sorbonne University and the French Institute in Cairo made the extraordinary discovery of an important harbor complex at Wadi el-Jarf along the Egyptian coast of the Red Sea. Exclusively occupied during the early Old Kingdom (ca. 2600-2550 BC), this site can now be considered as the oldest harbor in the world. It was used as a departure point to the Sinai Peninsula on the way to the regions of Serabit el-Khadim and Wadi Maghara, the principal mining areas for copper and turquoise during the Pharaonic times.
The site is perfectly well-preserved and multipolar. Five kilometers from the seashore a sizeable complex of 30 galleries used as storage facilities has been found, in addition to several camp sites, surveillance installations and potters workshops. On the coastline a large storage building and a partially submerged L-shaped mole extending over 175 yards have been discovered. The use of the entire site as harbor complex has been confirmed by many pieces of boats found in the storage galleries, the discovery of at least 25 limestone anchors under water and almost 100 further anchors stored in a building on the shore.
According to the pottery, all these installations date back to beginning of the Fourth Dynasty. In 2012 several inscriptions on pottery and stone blocks confirmed this early date and in 2013 the site was mediatized after the discovery of several hundreds of fragments of papyrus, the oldest epigraphic documents ever discovered in Egypt. Some of them clearly name King Khufu, the builder of the Great Pyramid at Giza. This lecture will focus on the latest results and discoveries at this site and demonstrate the complex and extensive logistical organization of the Egyptian seafaring expeditions since the middle of the third millennium BC.

Since 2011, a joint team of Paris La Sorbonne University and the French Institute in Cairo made t... more Since 2011, a joint team of Paris La Sorbonne University and the French Institute in Cairo made the extraordinary discovery of an important harbor complex at Wadi el-Jarf along the Egyptian coast of the Red Sea. Exclusively occupied during the Old Kingdom, this site can now be considered as the oldest harbor in the world. It was used as a departure point to the Sinai Peninsula on the way to the regions of Serabit el-Khadim and Wadi Maghara, the principal mining areas for copper and turquoise during the Pharaonic times.
The site is perfectly well-preserved and multipolar. Five kilometers from the seashore a sizeable complex of 30 galleries use as storage facilities has been found, in addition to several camp sites, surveillance installations and potters workshops. On the coastline a large storage building and a partially submerged L-shaped mole extending over 175 yards have been discovered. The use of the entire site as harbor complex has been confirmed by many pieces of boats found in the storage galleries, the discovery of at least 25 limestone anchors under water and almost 100 further anchors stored in a building on the shore.
According to the pottery, all these installations date back to beginning of the Fourth Dynasty. In 2012 several inscriptions on pottery and stone blocks confirmed this early date and in 2013 the site was mediatized after the discovery of several hundreds of fragments of papyrus, the oldest epigraphic documents ever discovered in Egypt. Some of them clearly name King Khufu, the builder of the Great Pyramid at Giza. This lecture will focus on the latest results and discoveries at this site and demonstrate the complex and extensive logistical organization of the Egyptian seafaring expeditions since the middle of the third millennium BC.

In 2011, a team of the University Paris-Sorbonne and the IFAO discovered an important harbor comp... more In 2011, a team of the University Paris-Sorbonne and the IFAO discovered an important harbor complex from the Old Kingdom at Wadi el-Jarf. Located along the Egyptian shore of the Red Sea, this strategic anchorage was used as departure point to the Sinai Peninsula for royal expeditions, which reached by boat the copper mining areas at Serabit el-Khadim and Wadi Maghara.
The site was exclusively occupied during the beginning of the 4th Dynasty and it can now be considered the oldest harbor in the world. Five kilometers from the seashore a complex of 30 galleries use as storage facilities has been found, in addition to several camp sites and potters workshops. On the coastline a large storage building and a submerged L-shaped mole have been discovered. The use of the site as port complex has been validated with the discovery of various pieces of boats and at least 25 anchors under water and almost 100 further anchors stored in the large building on the seashore.
In 2013 the discovery of several dozens of fragments of papyrus, the oldest inscribed papyri ever unearthed in Egypt, confirms the early date of this site and revealed a final closure of this installation at the end of the reign of Khufu.
This lecture will focus on the latest results and discoveries at this site, which demonstrate the complex and extensive logistical organization of the Egyptian seafaring expeditions during Old Kingdom and its close relationship with the large funerary construction sites in the Nile valley.

The small step pyramid at El-Ghonemiya, 5 km South of the ancient settlement of Behdet, is one of... more The small step pyramid at El-Ghonemiya, 5 km South of the ancient settlement of Behdet, is one of the oldest monuments recorded in the Edfu region, Upper Egypt. It belongs to a group of seven such provincial monuments from the early Old Kingdom (end of the 3rd - early 4th Dynasty, ca. 2600 B.C.). These small non-funerary step pyramids were set up in the provinces apparently close to some important towns (provincial capitals or major settlements during the Predynastic Period) and have been used as political and symbolic constructions to support the royal cult of the living pharaoh and/or the sun cult, which was a central premise within the ideology of kingship during the Old Kingdom. The phenomenon of building such pyramids in a provincial setting was short-lived and the manner in which it was geographically articulated appears to be fully congruent with novel policies and administrative divisions being implemented in Upper Egypt by the ‘centralized state’ in Memphis during the same period.

Since 2010, a team from the Tell Edfu Project (The Oriental Institute, University of Chicago) carried out a short survey and extensive cleaning of the archaeological area with the aim of documenting for the first time the superstructure itself including its surrounding landscape. This lecture will present the initial results of these investigations, the conservation activities as well as the long-term site management problems. It will also discuss the historical and political significance of constructing small non-funerary pyramids outside of the royal necropolis and its implications for our knowledge of the Edfu region during this early phase of the Old Kingdom.