REPORT ON THE 2004 FIELDWORK SEASON OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY AT THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE OF EL-HIBEH, BENI-SUEF GOVERNORATE By Carol A. Redmount, Project Director The archaeological site of El-Hibeh lies on the east bank of the Nile River in northern Middle Egypt (Beni Suef Governorate), approximately 165 kilometers south of Cairo and 55 kilometers south of Beni Suef. El-Hibeh is located at a point where there is a break in a line of desert cliffs almost adjacent to the river and where there is a good view of the river to the south. The site itself consists of an ancient Egyptian provincial town comprised of a walled settlement with a limestone temple built by Sheshonq I of Dynasty 21, and surrounding desert cemeteries. Historical and archaeological evidence both indicate that the site was founded very early in the Third Intermediate Period, and our fieldwork increasingly suggests that the greatest extent of occupation at the site also occurred in the Third Intermediate Period. The 2004 field season of the University of California, Berkeley at El-Hibeh took place between July 20 and August 11, 2004. (1) During this field season, we continued our site characterization activities, focusing our work around four major activities:
continued GPS mapping and surface survey and monitoring of the tell mound and surrounding area; salvage excavation of two areas with endangered burials; ceramic study; and geoarchaeological investigations. MAPPING Jon Frey, the Hibeh Project s GPS mapping specialist, continued his GPS mapping work on the tell mound itself and in some of the surrounding desert. He was forced to remap some areas, such as the square enclosure in the desert, because the relevant data had been lost due to computer problems. Jon continued to fill in contour detail on the tell mound itself, as well as extend his work into the desert surrounding the site where the cemeteries are located.
We also continued our surface survey reconnaissance activities, studying the surface formations and visible deposits of the tell and nearby burial areas, collecting surface material culture when and as appropriate (especially pottery), and monitoring overall site conditions. Of particular concern are the development of several sink holes on the tell and the continued intractable problem of the variable and destructive high water table, caused by agricultural irrigation, in the Sheshonq I limestone temple and temenos area. None of the sinkholes are yet large or destructive enough to warrant excavation interventions, but we are monitoring their development. The Sheshonq I temple lies in what is currently the lowest topographic location on the tell mound. Once again the soil in the back areas of the temple, both in the interior and the exterior of the edifice, was dark and damp, and the vegetation had grown back inside the structure and continued its spread over the area of the mudbrick temenos wall lying immediately in back of the limestone temple structure.
SALVAGE EXCAVATIONS The salvage excavation of two burial areas with exposed mummies was conducted by Dr. Robert Yohe, Osteology Director of the Hibeh Project. Both burial areas had been identified as endangered in the 2003 season during surface reconnaissance survey of the site. The first salvage site was a disturbed limestone burial cave, designated Burial Chamber 1 (BC 1), located in the northeastern part of the tell mound about 100 meters inside the north gate.
BC-1 consisted of a small, natural cave in the limestone bedrock, measuring approximately 4 m long by 4 m wide and 1.8 m high. Remnants of a small mudbrick wall were found outside the burial cave, running parallel to the chamber entrance approximately 2 m to its west. The cave itself was culturally modified; chisels were used to flatten the ceiling and the chisel marks are still clearly visible. Prior to excavation, human remains, including mummies, were obvious lying on the surface in the back of the cave; we therefore excavated the back half of the crypt to collect the vandalized mummies, along with any material culture that had been left by the looters.
Two strata were identified: Level 1, which consisted of the soils containing and surrounding the mummies; and Level 2, which consisted of all excavated soils below the disturbed mummies. All soils removed from the cave were sieved. The southeast quarter of this excavation unit was taken to bedrock, which was discovered 1.80 m below the ceiling. The burials had originally been sealed by a multi-layered mud-and-rubble cap that had been breached by the tomb looters. A total of at least five mummies were collected from BC-1, along with numerous loose skeletal remains. All of the mummies had been partially unraveled or broken into pieces as a result of the looting. Preliminary study indicates that the burial cave held the remains of at least 14 individuals five adults, five subadults, and at least one infant and one fetus excavated in 2004, and two adults rescued from attack by wild dogs by emergency rescue activities in
2003. Artifacts recovered from the disturbed burial cave included faience and glass vessel fragments; small pieces of one or more wooden coffins with attached stucco; fragments of a wooden comb; a broken scarab; plain faience beads; a broken stucco mummy mask with painted facial features; diverse fragments of linen cartonnage with bright paints; a few poorly preserved coins, miscellaneous mummy cloth remnants; and bits and pieces of cordage and knotted vegetal material. This material has only been briefly studied to date and is not yet completely inventoried; we hope to complete this work in the 2005 field season. Preliminary analysis of all the finds suggests, however, that the earliest remains date to Ptolemaic times and the latest to the Roman era.
The second area of burial salvage work was a large looter s pit, designated the North Gate Looter s Pit (NGLP), located outside of and a few meters northeast of the north gate. Close examination revealed that the greatest exposure of mummies occurred on the west wall of the pit, with several mummies very obviously exposed in the eroding profile.
The first mummy was removed by excavating horizontally into the side of the pit. It soon became clear, however, that the series of endangered mummies had actually been buried in a single burial pit approximately 1.7 m wide that had been cut into what appears to be a Roman period trash heap located outside the city wall. Within the burial pit, the mummies had been piled one on top of the other. Given this clarification of the context of the eroding mummies, our excavation methodology was changed in order to excavate the
burial pit stratigraphically. An excavation trench measuring 1.5 x 2 m was laid out on the surface of the ground above the eroding burial pit (Excavation Unit 1), and excavation
recommenced, working stratigraphically from top to bottom. All excavated soil was sieved. The burial pit had originally been sealed, and part of this sealing had been preserved intact. Just over the uppermost burial several large pieces of limestone were placed. These limestone blocks probably were scavenged from the Sheshonq I temple, and one was inscribed. Mud bricks were placed above the limestone chunks, and the whole was capped with a layer of packed mud. The mummies were all oriented east/west, with the feet pointing towards the east.
Ten mummies were discovered within NGLP; six were removed during the 2004 season. Due to time constraints and because of their relatively secure position, the remaining four mummies were carefully reburied and concealed for possible future excavation. The six mummies that were excavated were designated NGLP-1 through NGLP-6.
All were well preserved, and each had an outer wrapping of linen bands or red/black cords, with two long pieces counter wrapped to produce a diamond patterning over most of the body. Each mummy also had an unusual facial extension or mask, giving the wrapped face an elongated appearance. Preliminary processing of materials recovered in NGLP was begun in 2004 (e.g., Table 1), and preliminary comparative study suggests that the mummies date to the fourth and fifth centuries C.E. Further study of all the material recovered from NGLP is planned for the 2005 field season.
A considerable amount of ceramic material was gathered during the salvage excavations of BC-1 and NGLP. In addition, all surface pottery was collected from an approximately 20 m x 20 m area in front of BC-1. Further selected surface items were gathered from other areas of the tell. Preliminary study gives a time range of Third Intermediate Period through Late Roman/Coptic times. The pottery includes both presumably locally produced fabrics and imports; preliminary impressions are that the most common import is oasis ware, followed by Greek amphorae. Study of this material is on going. GEOARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS The geoarchaeological research program at El Hibeh is directed by Dr. Maury Morgenstein, the Associate and Science Director of the El Hibeh Project. Geoarchaeological investigations in 2004 focused on surveying and examining the various types of mudbricks found at the site that were accessible without excavation. In particular, the location of mudbricks stamped with the names of the Third Intermediate Period High Priests of Amun Pinudjem and Menkheperre were traced as far as possible on the massive town wall.
Such stamped bricks were traced at intervals along almost the entire stretch of the eastern town wall. On one relatively well preserved stretch of the town wall, located in the southeastern quadrant of the tell, three different mudbrick types could be discerned. The top two types, however, both contained bricks with an identical stamp. Thus it is clear that these two different brick types were contemporary, and it is likely that the third type also dated to the same time period.
In the Sheshonq temple temenos precinct, a small (ca.1 m x 1.5 m) geological probe trench was excavated against the interior of the mudbrick temenos wall in order to study the mudbricks. Only fallen brick detritus was excavated, and work stopped when the probe trench reached what appeared to be intact archaeological deposits. Geological probe trench against Sheshonq Temple temenos wall The geoarchaeology team had two goals in examining selected mudbrick deposits at Hibeh during the 2004 season: 1) to trace the types and locations of stamped bricks wherever they could be found on the site s surface; and 2) to begin developing a site classification system for mudbricks and mudbrick mortar based on source material and composition. Preliminary work has now been undertaken successfully on both goals, and we plan on continuing this work in our next season.
In addition to its work with mudbrick, the geoarchaeology team worked to identify potential geological resources and their source areas for the site, especially for flint, limestone, and marl clays in the desert surrounding the ancient town. Wherever possible, potential raw material sources were correlated with archaeological material found on the site itself. Finally, the geoarchaeology team studied various sediments, especially domestic deposits, visible on the surface of or in exposed sections on the tell mound. In conclusion, the 2004 season of the El Hibeh Project was a successful site study season, focusing on mapping, ceramic analysis, and site characterization work by the geoarchaeological team. Additionally, the palaeo-osteological team successfully undertook the salvage excavation of two exposed and endangered burial areas. (1) Members of the expedition were: Dr. Carol A. Redmount, Director; Dr. Maurice E. Morgenstein, Associate Director and Science Director; Dr. Robert Yohe, Palaeoosteologist; Mr. Jon Frey, GPS mapping specialist and archaeologist; Mrs. Joan Knudsen, Object Registrar; Ms. Jill Gardner, Palaeo-osteologist; Ms. Deanna Heikkinen, Palaeoosteologist; Ms. Celeste Henrickson, geoarchaeologist; Ms. Christin Engstrom, archaeologist and ceramic specialist; Ms. Virginia Emery, archaeologist and mudbrick specialist; and Mr. Emad Ahmed Nooh, Inspector of Beni Suef Taftish. As always we are grateful to Dr. Zahi Hawass and the Supreme Council for Antiquities for permission to work at the site, and to the Beni Suef Taftish, especially Mme Nadia Ashour, Director of the Taftish, and Mr. Atef Helmy, Senior Inspector, for all their help and assistance.