June 5th
SESSION 1
10-10.45h. Keynote lecture: S.E. Sidebotham “Celebrating 30 years of fieldwork at Berenike (Red Sea Coast), Egypt”.
Abstract: 2024 marks the thirtieth anniversary of the beginning of fieldwork at Berenike, a Ptolemaic-Roman (third century BC-sixth century AD) port on Egypt’s Red Sea coast. Our work at the site has involved an international staff from five continents (North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia). Our incredible ‘Ababda Bedouin workforce has made excavations at Berenike both successful and enjoyable. Some of our ‘Ababda colleagues and friends have excavated with us for most or all of those thirty years and now their children and, in a few cases, their grandchildren toil beside us. All of these individuals operating as a team have put Berenike “on the map” in terms of the city’s importance to our understanding many aspects of the “international” commerce that was its raison d’être.
I want to thank fellow co-directors over the years (in chronological order): Willeke Wendrich, Iwona Zych, Mariusz Gwiazda, Rodney Ast and Olaf Kaper. Without your cooperation and expertise, we could not have had such a successful project. I am eternally grateful to the amazing staff of archaeologists and specialists, some of whom have worked at the site for many years now. Your enthusiasm, dedication, and humor, even in the face of our harsh camp conditions, continually amaze me. There are scores of you. Please forgive me for not mentioning each of you by name here.
Of course, it is impossible to do more than recount the highlights of three decades of fieldwork at such a huge site (28-30 hectares) that functioned for such an extended period. That is what I will do in this presentation. I will deal, briefly, with eight major areas of Berenike discussing them – as well as possible – from west to east: the Ptolemaic industrial-hydraulic area, the Early Roman trash dump/animal cemetery, the Shrine of the Palmyrenes, the southwestern harbor, the Isis temple, the Late Roman commercial-residential area (including a major street monument), the Northern Complex, and the church together with the southeastern part of the site. This presentation is, of course, the result of endless hours of toil in the field, and in libraries and laboratories by those who have dedicated so much of their time to making our project the success that it has become. Without all of you, we have no project. Thank you!
10.45-11.10h. I. Zych, M. Gwiazda, M. Woźniak. “Community identities seen from the graves in Roman and post-Roman Berenike on the Red Sea (1st century BCE–6th century CE)”.
Abstract: Community identity and religious propensities are fairly well reflected in burial practices, even when not coupled with epigraphic or inscriptional testimony. Funerary archaeology in the setting of a major commercial hub like Berenike on the Red Sea, with a proven presence of both indigenous peoples (so-called Trogodytes, Ichthyophagoi, Blemmyes and other Eastern Desert tribes) and foreigners—Nubians, Meroites, Greeks and Romans, Egyptians, and also Axumites, Arabs, Indians and travelers from South Asia—and historical evidence for shifting population groups, has the potential for providing data on those who for whatever reason chose to be interred on the spot.
The incidental nature of discoveries of burials in Berenike from the start of the project has led to a situation in which the finds have been reported and summarized but not studied in depth. More so, none of the burials excavated to date could be assigned with any certainty to a specific ethnicity and in many cases the dating remains speculative. A recently published analysis of the early Roman burials and the results of an ongoing study of the late necropolis of Berenike funded from a grant of Poland’s National Science Centre has provided the opportunity to consider the resident population of the town in two different phases: the 1st century BCE/1st century CE and the late 4th through mid-6th centuries CE.
Emerging from this presentation is a snapshot of the communities that buried their dead on the western fringes of the harbor town in the two phases. The paper explores the nature of the evidence, the material culture in particular, seeking to identify the burial practices and through them possibly the identities of the people involved.
11.40 – 12.05h. M. Bajtler, J.K. Rądkowska. “Let me follow your path…paths? – cardo and decumanus in 4th-6th century Berenike”.
Abstract: The last few seasons of excavations in Berenike, in addition to the study of the so-called Temple of Isis, the city’s main cult building, have focused primarily on recognizing as much of the area as possible related to its surroundings and the place of this monumental structure in the city’s urban layout.
Berenike is a city where the exoticism of one of the most important centers of the maritime Spice Route was combined with classical architectural patterns from the Mediterranean and the wealth born of intercontinental trade combined with the ambitions of local Blemmyes rulers to create a fascinating urban layout. The plan of Late Antique Berenike was based on a system of intersecting cardo and decumanus streets connecting three spectacular public buildings. During the talk we will follow the decumanus, from the monumental portico of the temple of Isis, through a tetrastylon dating to the 4th/5th century – one of the latest ever assembled, towards the 4th/5th century Christian church complex to then along cardo to reach the impressive and, despite several years of research, still mysterious religious complex, the so-called Northern Complex. It was on its grounds that, among other things, were discovered: historical in its significance, inscriptions celebrating the names of Blemmyes kings, and a mysterious Horus Shrine.
12.05-12.30h. S. Popławski. “Temple of Isis in Berenike, the building workshop”.
Abstract: The early Roman Temple of Isis inBerenike remains to this day the only monumental shrine of Egyptian gods known from thearea of theEastern Desert. Recent excavations of the remains of this structure have yielded a number of spectacular discoveries. The previously only partially known sanctuary has been uncovered in its entirety, revealing among traditionally Egyptian elements many texts and sculptures testifying to rich inter-regional contacts, including a marble representation of Buddha.
With the above in mind, it appears particularly interesting to look at the construction techniques used to erect the temple. Will the visible features of the building workshop allow us to recognize the builders responsible for this effort? What features of the region’s architecture can we see in its construction, and in the additions made over time?
To answer this, the authorcharacterize the building workshop of the region, and through its prism examine the structures known from the Berenike area. Through comparisons with the techniques used in the erection of the Temple of Isis, we couldbetter understand the origins of the craftsmen who erected the temple and their influence on the architecture of the Eastern Desert. At the same time, the study presented here should become the first attempt to characterize the flow of the building workshops and the changes taking place in the constructiontechniquesof the Red Sea coast of Egypt.
12.30-12.55h. M. Woźniak, S.E. Sidebotham. “Water Management in the Ptolemaic Port/City on the Red Sea Coast; Observations from Berenike of 3rd-2nd Century BC.”
Abstract: In 2018, in the western part of the Berenike site on Egypt’s Red Sea coast, the only known ancient well, functioning in a port city of this region, was discovered so far. However, this well was only one of the elements of an entire water system, not only critical to the survival of the Ptolemaic fortress, but even to the lifestyle of its inhabitants. On the one hand, the complex served to collect, store, and distribute rainwater, while on the other hand it supplied water to the only Greek-type public baths on the entire Red Sea coast.
The discovered water system itself is an extremely interesting object not only for technical reasons (e.g., how water from aquifer was enriched to improve its quality). Its study provides us with surprising information about the functioning of the Hellenistic city and its relationship with the environment. It also reveals the nature of Ptolemaic Berenike, which until the end of the 3rd c. BC was a self-sufficient fortress, superbly organized, well supplied, and populated by newcomers from outside the region cultivating a Hellenistic lifestyle. It was a “sea-facing” city, intensively exploiting its immediate surroundings, and limiting to a “friendly minimum” contact with the surrounding land of the mountains and the mysterious tribes of Trogodytai and Ichtyophagoi inhabiting it.
The fertile water system of Hellenistic Berenike perishes with the collapse it experiences in the early 2nd century BC. However, the city itself does not perish. One of the greatest mysteries of the reborn Berenike of the 2nd-1st century BC is again the system of its water supply. Was there another well in Berenike? Or maybe were the last of the city’s Ptolemaic inhabitants who built the logistical system which paved the way for solutions used by the Romans and brought them to closer contacts with local communities of the surrounding mountains?
Let’s look at a piece of the ancient city’s history from the point of view of one of its most basic resources.
12.55- 13.20h. M.A. Emam, A. Manzo. “Revisiting Mersa/Wadi Gawasis; The Shrine of Ankhw”.
Abstract: The site of Mersa Gawasis is located on the northern bank of the Wadi Gawasis, 20 km south of Safagaa-Egypt. The site was first discovered and investigated by Abdel Monem Sayed (Alexandria University) in 1976 and 1977. The site was identified by him with Saww, the port of the 12th dynasty to the Land of Punt. A crucial monument for the identification of the name of the site and its function is the shrine of Ankhw, which is roughly located in the middle sector of the site, between the coastal area and the inland one. After Abdel Moneim had investigated the shrine, he transferred it to the Alexandria University Museum, and the shrine was reused by the border soldiers as a military watching point in the 1970s, as a deep pit was made in the area where the shrine was located. Then the spot was used as a modern dump area for rubbish in front of the room of the guards of the site.
The 2022 and 2023 field seasons of the Italian Archaeological Expedition at Mersa/Wadi Gawasis of the University of Naples “L’Orientale” and ISMEO (Associazione Internazionale di Studi sul Mediterraneo e l’Oriente) investigated the structure of the shrine and the area around it in order to get more information on the structure where the inscription of Ankhw was originally located and to understand the function of the shrine. Moreover, the preservation of the structure was a main concern in this and the following seasons. The main results of the ongoing investigations of the shrine will be outlined in this contribution.
SESSION 2
15.30-15.55h. R.C.A. Geerts, N. Bartos. “Berenike within East Africa: Early Ceramic Connections across the Eastern Desert and Upper Nile”.
Abstract: The Red Sea port site of Berenike (Egypt) is well-known for its diverse long-distance maritime connections across the western Indian Ocean. There has been comparatively les scholarly emphasis, however, on the local and regional economic networks which linked Berenike inland to the broader Eastern Desert, the Upper Nile, and other areas of East Africa. This is particularly true of the periods prior to late antiquity, when the material signatures of these relationships are fewer and more difficult to grasp. Drawing on ceramic assemblages excavated over the past five field seasons, this paper outlines several key loci across the site which hint at Berenike’s relationships within its more proximate inland environs during the Ptolemaic and Roman Imperial periods. We begin with a brief outline of the chronological evolution of the characteristics (e.g., form, decoration, fabric) of key ceramics prior to the 4th century CE, namely wares manufactured in the Eastern Desert and the Aksumite Kingdom. We argue that the presence of this material in early stratigraphic layers alongside other well-dated indices at Berenike helps in the first instance to refine these important pottery typologies. We then give an overview of where on the site and in what quantities Eastern Desert, Axumite, and other eastern African material has been identified. The shifting depositional trends of this pottery highlight the potential participation of these communities of traders in a variety of social, economic, and religious contexts across Berenike, and at the same time, serve as evidence for the port’s early engagements in the broader region, which only accelerated in late antiquity.
15.55-16.20h. J.M. Oleksiak. “The Cooking Network – Unmasking economy of Eastern Desert”.
Abstract: Aim of this paper is to present the first-ever results of a study on common ware pottery produced during recent excavations in Late Antique structures in the Eastern Desert sites of Berenike and Sikait. Both sites, between the second half of the 4th and the beginning of the 6th century AD, once again rose to great economic significance. Berenike – a Red Sea emporium for long-distance trade and an intermediary agent between the Indian Ocean and Eastern Mediterranean markets, and Senskis – a production and mining settlement located in the Wadi Sikait, were two major cities that contributed to the resurgence of spectacular exchange activity in this time.
Precise petrographic, provenance, and quantification studies on key classes of kitchen and storage ceramic material allow for a deeper understanding of economic dependencies and supply strategies between the Nile Valley and the lands of the Blemmyes. The conclusions aim to address broader questions about the politics and relations between the Eastern Desert, the Byzantine Empire, and the Western Indian Ocean markets.
16.20-16.45h. S. Marion de Procé, C. Durand, R. Perrogon. “Local and global networks evidenced by the pottery assemblages from Farasan archipelago (1500 BCE – 10th cent. CE)”.
Abstract: The on-going archaeological surveys and excavations in the Farasān Islands (Saudi Arabia) carried out in the frame of the Saudi-French archaeological mission allowed recording a variety of pottery assemblages.
Late Prehistory pottery is documented in several sites throughout the archipelago and mirrors material cultures known in the southwestern coastal plain of the Arabian Peninsula (Sihi, al-Ḥāmid, Sabr, Maʾlayba). Evidence of an ancient South Arabian phase is also attested in the pottery material and by ancient South Arabian inscriptions. After this phase, we observe a hiatus in the archaeological record. From the 2nd cent. CE onwards, most of the assemblages come from two sites excavated in the eastern part of the main island: Wadi Matar 2, a local (?) settlement and Quṣār, where the Roman army settled a fort in the 2nd cent. CE. In the northern part of the main island, pottery from surveys in two sites (Wadi Shami 5 and 10) is dated between the 4th and the 13th cent. CE, with a strong representation of the types associated with the 9th-10th cent. A variety of productions from different workshops is attested: Aqaba amphoras, South-Arabian, Aksumite and glazed cups imported from the Arabian Gulf. Some locally-produced (?) shapes can be dated to the 5th-10th cent. by comparisons with regional pottery.
Local pottery production is still unproven at this stage but the environment consisting of clayish plains, the omnipresence of shells (to be used as temper) and the oasis of palm groves and acacia trees nevertheless provided the necessary conditions to organize such a production.
This paper will present an overview of the pottery assemblages found on the Farasān Islands to shed light on the complex networks the archipelago fit into from the Bronze Age to the Early Islamic period.
17.15-17.40h. Z. Barahona Mendieta. “Production and trade: new data on Upper Egyptian pottery production and distribution in the Egyptian eastern desert and the Red Sea.”
Abstract: Upper Egypt has played a significant historical and political role in the growth of the occupation of the Eastern Desert and its seaports. This is particularly evident in the ceramic repertoires found at various sites in the region. Thanks to the progress and discoveries that have been made recently in the recognition of different ceramic productions and workshops and particularly in marl fabrics, we can now propose trade and distribution networks that trace the intensity of exchanges from origin to destination.
In the framework of the project, Ceramiques Thebaines, developed at the IFAO, new data are available thanks to the combination of archeological finds and archaeometric analyzes that allow a definition of ceramic macroscopic groups and a comparison with published records. The data reveal changes in production and consumption patterns throughout the centuries, which are traceable through specific ceramic productions. From the storage and transport jars found in the Middle Kingdom, through the fine decorated ceramics of the New Kingdom, and moving on to the great expansion of amphorae and other containers in Hellenistic and Roman times, we can shed new light on the trade exchanges and production dynamics of the region over thousands of years.
17.40-18.05h. L. Packard-Grams. “Local Cinnamon Consumption in 1st c. BCE Arsinoite Nome: new papyrological evidence of trade from the Red Sea to the Fayyum”.
Abstract: Cinnamon (gr. κιννάμωμον) appears a mere ten times in documentary papyri from Greco-Roman Egypt, a staggeringly low number for the thousands of papyri that survive in the archaeological record.1 This paper presents an analysis of two of these ten instances, which offer new evidence for the circumstances of import and consumption of cinnamon in 1st c. BCE Fayyum. These two unpublished papyri are of particular interest due to their unique archaeological context: they were both recovered from the same crocodile mummy from the site of Tebtunis.2 The documents attest to the use of the specific term κιννάμωμον being used to describe cinnamon (as opposed to κασία, a separate species in the genus that was distinct from κιννάμωμον).3 The first (P.Tebt. 250, 74 BCE) is an account of a scribe who worked in the local notary office, who purchased the cinnamon alongside myrrh, natron, and a somategmaton (“bath-towel”). From other documents, we know that this scribe had a wife and children, and kept meticulous personal and professional records. This papyrus offers important evidence of the cinnamon trade in the Fayyum, linking the purchase to an individual whose personal details (and finances) survive in great detail from his archive. The second papyrus (P.Tebt. 190, 100-76 BCE) presents another account of expenses, this time mentioning “those who come for the sake of cinnamon, […] of the transport service.” This phrase is remarkably clear about the import of cinnamon and the individuals who brought it to the Fayyum. It suggests a scenario in which a trade ship or caravan from the Red Sea stopped in the Fayyum basin before reaching Alexandria.
This paper will present a translation of these papyri for the first time, contextualizing them in their historical and archaeological contexts to draw conclusions about local cinnamon consumption in early 1st c. BCE Fayyum.
June 6th
SESSION 3
9-9.25h. J. Oller Guzmán. “From global to local? The evolution of the emerald mining in the Smaragdos according to the evidence coming from Wadi Sikait”.
Abstract: The Smaragdos was the only kno wn so urce of emer alds wit hin the Roman Empire, according to the classical literary sources. Archaeological work since the last decades of the 2 0th century has allowed to identify this region with the current Wadi el Gemal National Park, in the Egy ptian Eastern Desert. This paper will try to offer an overview about the ev olution of the Smaragdos in ant iq uity (1 st c. BC to 6 th c . AD), specially focusin g on the W adi Sikait area. There, the work of the Sikait P roject has provided abundant archaeological evidence regarding both the mining sites and the mining extractive areas . This information sugge sts that during the Early Roman period a direct control of the R oman state, probabl y with the involvement of the Roman legions, existed in the emerald mines . Ho wever, after the crisis that affected Roman Egypt in the 3 rd century AD, a trans formation of the area occur red, involving c hanges in the extraction organi zation and in the settlement patterns. These changes we re most likel y related with the arrival of new population in this region, the Blemmyes of the late sources, that took over the mines and t ransformed and adapte d th is mining area , developing a large network of settlements a nd roads that supposed a different way of approaching the control and exploitation of the emerald mines. We will app roach these changes thanks to the latest archaeological data coming main ly f rom the results of the Si kait Proje ct during the 2018 2024 period.
9.25-9.50h. S. García-Dils de la Vega. “Emeralds for the Empire. Evidence of Early Roman beryl mining in Wadi Sikait (Wadi el Gemal, Eastern Desert, Egypt)”.
Abstract: The field work carried out by the Sikait Project in the Wadi Sikait beryl mining basin (seasons 2020-2023) has led to the detection of 407 underground structures, from which 370 are subterranean mines, covering the so far detected ancient exploitation zones a total area of 47 ha. Some of the mines have been fully explored, documented and surveyed, revealing complex underground networks with hundreds of metres of galleries, in some cases reaching depths of more than 50 m below the surface. This research work has allowed us to clearly identify early Roman mines, some of which date back to the Augustan-Tiberian period. This study offers a first attempt at a comprehensive reconstruction of how Roman mining operations began in Wadi Sikait, the technical difficulties they faced and the logistical challenges they had to overcome in a hostile and isolated desert environment.
9.50-10.15h. A. Mahmoud Ahmed. “The Archaeology Project in Sukari Gold mines 2022- 2023 (the story of Gold City Revival)”.
Abstract: The Red Sea Antiquities are Distinguished by their diversity and scarcity compared to the Antiquities along the Nile Valley and the Delta, All Archaeological Sites in the Red Land(Eastern Desert) it is unique from Others, Where the Red Sea Distinguished by an increase in Documenting the missions sent by the Kings and Emperors to cut hard and rare stones and extraction the precious metals from the Red Land in addition Building and Constructing international Ports that linked Egypt to the Ancient Ruling Empires through the Ages , also the first human presence ( Man of the Cave)in the Paleolithic Era and Before it was found in Soudmin Cave at a distance of 40 Km South west of Elqussier, it dating back to 120.000 Years BC , in reference to the Quarries and Mines the inscriptions of Wadi El Hammamat recorded the missions of workers and their works from the old Kingdom passing through the Ptolemaic and Roman Period until the King Farouk Visit in 1943, The Turin Papyrus which Consider the Oldest Geographical and Geological Map in the World Referred to The Umm Al-Fawakhir Mine which exploited for Gold Extraction in the New Kingdom during the Reign of Ramses III. The Large City of Workers which includes Two Temples in The Sikite Valley is a witness on the remains of the Emerald Mountain which plowed during The Roman Period. As For Sea Ports in the first half of the third Century BC The Second Ptolemy Established three Ports to restore and develop the greatest logistical and exploratory achievements of the Pharaohs when the largest Pharaonic ports disappeared from Existence (Wadi Al-Jarf- Wadi Gawassis) He Constructed The Three Ports in the same time , the three ports were connected to the Nile valley through branches prepared specially for the transportation road and they worked side by side in the Hellenistic and Roman Period. The ancient Sukari Mine starting from the New Kingdom period (1550-1069 BCE). This is due to the presence of distinctive oval grinding tools used for mining operations during the New Kingdom. There are also remnants of workers’ huts, as well as evidence of activity during the Ptolemaic period (332-30 BCE). During this time, many concave mills, workers’ workshops, mining sites, places of worship, offering Tables, administrative buildings, Ptolemaic baths, bronze coins, tools related to gold mining, various pottery, and patterns were discovered. It was also revealed that the site had a presence in multiple eras, including the Roman period (30 BCE – 395 CE) and the Late Roman (Byzantine) period (330-641 CE).
10.15-10.40h. A. Habibi, J. Marchand, M. Crépy. “Gold exploitation in the Early Islamic period: Collating archaeological data and written sources to track the chaîne opératoire and the routes of gold in Egypt”.
Abstract: The French Archaeological Mission in the Eastern Desert (MAFDO) has been exploring the archaeological sites of the Egyptian Eastern Desert for three decades. Since the beginning of the 2010s, the team has focused on gold-bearing quartz mining. Their surveys led to the discovery of several early Islamic sites that have been studied through topographic mapping, pottery analysis, etc.
This small corpus of sites, little known to archaeologists and historians, is at the heart of an organised network of gold-bearing quartz mining and trade during the Abbasid and Fatimid periods. The raw material was transported across the Eastern Desert and the Nile Valley; the metal was used to mint coins, as well as for goldsmith artefacts and luxurious textiles.
In this paper, we will compare the steps of the mineralogical treatment process as observed in the sites with the treatments described by Arab-Muslim authors of the 3rd/9th to 8th/13th centuries, as well as papyrological texts from the 3rd/9th-4th/10th centuries. These sources bring new details about the materials used in the mine extraction process. We will then examine the routes and tracks between the Islamic desert settlements and the main cities of the Valley and examine the metallurgical chaîne opératoire that took place outside the desert. As the papyrological sources also allow us to pursue the use of gold by merchants for many private purposes, it is possible to document what happens to this raw material and how it took parts to the economic boom of the Ṣa’īd, known to be partly linked to its trade. Finally, this study will also allow us to reassess the role of the port of ʽAīḍāb, as a center that combines together traders from Egypt and Nubia, as well as merchants from Yemen and India.
10.40.-11.10h. A.A. Al-Zahrani. “Asham Mining settlement and it’s ports along the southwestern coast of the Red Sea”.
Abstract: The southwestern coast of the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia is considered the seafront overlooking on the mining settlements such as Asham site in the southwest of Saudi Arabia, which contributed directly to the prosperity of mining activity during the early Islamic era.
This part of the Red Sea played a commercial role for these mining areas, particularly those sites located along the Tihama plains, which contributed to the provision of essential commodities throughout several seaports located nearby to export of mineral ores and import other goods. These mining settlements were core economic cities that stimulated (and were regulated by) the economy of the Islamic state from its inception to the late Abbasid era.
The importance of this paper lies in studying the characteristics and tools of the mining landscape, by analyzing the mining activities taking place at the mining settlement of Asham, one of the most famous mining settlements located in the adjacent area in the SW of Arabia on near the Red sea coast. The surveyed and excavated evidence from these mining settlements confirms that the Red Sea played an important and vital role in the affluence of the mining activity in the South-West of Arabia and the broader Arab-Islamic world throughout the Red Sea marine civilization during the classical Islamic civilization (c. 630-1100 CE).
11.40-12.05h. Poster session
H. Ebeid Badry Mousa. “The first Ptolemies and the in the Red Sea area. Origins of Ptolemaic activity in East Africa in the light of numismatic finds at the sites of Egypt’s Eastern Desert”.
Abstract: From time immemorial, the Eastern Desert and the Red Sea region have been Egypt’s true treasury and one of its most important gateways to the lands known as “Punt.” The mines and quarries of the region supplied gold, copper, lead, semi-precious stones, and valuable types of building stones. Expeditions sent to Punt brought whole shipments of incense and the most valuable exotic woods, fragrances, and spices.
The first four Ptolemies, although descendants of newcomers from overseas, born and raised in Egypt quickly followed the path of their Pharaonic predecessors. However, they planned and carried out the entire enterprise with the impetus and on the scale typical of the Hellenistic period.
One of the most interesting and significant groups of finds testifying to the functioning of the newly built centers and port cities of the Hellenistic period in the Eastern Desert region and on the Red Sea coast are coins. Not only do they represent one of the most important propaganda media of the Ptolemaic dynasty. They are also the first mass coinage in Egypt in general and in the Eastern Desert in particular. They date the various contexts of the sites, indicate the sequence of formation, the course of development, and the ways in which the various centers functioned. The denominations and quantities of each type of coinage can also be used to reconstruct the cost of daily life in the Red Sea region’s forts, settlements, and port cities, veritable oases of a monetized economy in a sea of tribal communities.
Most researchers have so far focused their interests on numismatic material from the Roman period. Ptolemaic numismatics remains still much less developed, especially for the peripheral regions of Hellenistic Egypt. This poster will present the most important of the issues involved in numismatic and economic studies of Ptolemaic coin finds from the Eastern Desert region. In doing so, it will make a contribution to filling this niche in research and present information useful to any researcher of ancient Egyptian history.
A.Bosch. “Pattanam, breaking ground on classical gem industries in India”.
Abstract: The traditional historical view sustains that precious gems were only crafted and worked in the Mediterranean. It was thought that in classical times, cultures outside the Mediterranean world were mainly providers of raw materials. Recent discoveries in India challenge this view.
The prospect of establishing an ancient gem craft workshop within the historic confines of the Pattanam archaeological site in India presents a tantalizing proposition. Pattanam, an ancient port city, boasts an archaeological treasure trove that spans millennia.
But is it possible that a gem craft industry was established in ancient Pattanam?
This poster explores the workshop’s historical context, shedding new light on its role within the bustling ancient port city of Pattanam. This exploration not only enriches our understanding of Pattanam’s historical background but also showcases the remarkable possibility of an active creative workshop very far from the Roman Empire.
M. Cobb. “The Blemmyes, revenue collection and the octava: some speculative reflections”.
Abstract: Some time after 174 CE the 25% duty (tetarte) on imports from outside the Roman Empire was replaced by a 12.5% duty (octava). It is possible that this new rate of duty was in place by the reign of Alexander Severus where we see a law mentioning the vectigal octavarum (Codex Justinianus 4.65.7; also SHA Severus Alexander 39). Or at the very least, it was in place by 366 CE when a law issued by Valens, Valentinian and Gratian stipulated that a one-eight duty had to be paid on all merchandise, which is fixed for all those engaged in commerce, including soldiers (Codex Theodosianus4.13.6). The reason why the duty on foreign imports was halved has been subject to some debate. These suggestions include a response to reduced levels of trade and an attempt to incentivise merchants (Sidebotham 2016), to disincentivise smuggling (Hope 2019), a reflection of the state’s decreasing ability to protect caravans and shipping (Wilson 2015), and the idea that it simply reflects a reconfiguration of tax collection system, whereby reduced duties were counterbalanced by a rise in the fiscal valuation of imports by the state (De Romanis 2020).
This paper reviews these suggestions specifically in relation to the collection of import duties at the Roman Red Sea ports. And it seeks to contextualise this new duty in connection with the growth of Blemmyean power in the southern Eastern Desert region during the third and fourth centuries CE. Whether or not the introduction of the octava can be (partially) tied to the potential sharing of revenues by the Roman state and the Blemmyes on goods coming via Berenike is considered (Sidebotham and Gates-Foster 2019; Cobb 2021). It is not possible to provide a definitive answer, but this critical reflection can potentially spur further debate.
A. De la Torre García. “Zooarchaeology in the horn: first approach to the medieval city of Fardowsa”.
Abstract: The works focused on the zooarchaeological and taphonomic study in the Horn of Africa area, and more specifically in the Somaliland region, are very scarce, practically non-existent. That is why this work becomes one of the first zooarchaeological and taphonomic analyzes of this period and this region, thus being a relevant study to understand the ways of life of Somaliland and thus know the socioeconomic factors related to livestock herds.
For this, a zooarchaeological study and another taphonomic study have been carried out, delving into the analysis of the cut marks in order to establish patterns of butchery in the actions of the people of this population in the processing of animals. The results indicate a specific pattern carried out on the area of the epiphysis or metaphysis, which has made it possible to suggest an incidence in the disarticulation.
The results obtained in this work open the doors to future research and new work, not only focused on taphonomic studies but also in combination with dental microwear studies, which allow us to reach closer conclusions to represent the past, not only in Somaliland but throughout the Horn of Africa region, to learn more about the societies and populations of this area, as well as their day-to-day activities.
D. Eguiluz, A. Molina, B. Burgaya, E. Martín. “Preserving the local, to become global: six years of conservation interventions in Wadi Sikait”.
Abstract: This poster will offer an overview about all the conservation interventions carried out to date at the Sikait site (Eastern Desert, Egypt). This site is characterized mostly by the excellent preservation of its structures and, for this reason, all the efforts of the Sikait Project conservation team have focused on guaranteeing its conservation and improving the understanding of the architectural ensembles. Of all of them, the poster will focus on the studies and interventions carried out in the Large Temple, the Southern Temple, and the Tripartite Building. The specific interest of this conservation work lays in the fact that most of the preserved buildings in Sikait belong to the post-Roman period, being probably related to the nomadic tribes of the Blemmyes, that the classical literary sources mention as owners of the emerald mines since the end of the 4th c. BC. Thus, most of the conservation interventions conducted in Sikait allow us to not only protect and preserve the rich archaeological heritage of the Egyptian Easter Desert, but also to understand the evolution and features of the local tribes that worked and lived in this region.
N. Hamed. “The Red Sea communities: potentials of connecting the past to the future in Egypt”.
Abstract: The western coast of the Red Sea in Egypt introduces a geohistorical archive for the extended maritime interaction between the Egyptians and the Red Sea from the 3rd millennium B.C. to modern periods. This interaction is evidenced in tangible remains of six principal ancient harbours and their facilities along the coast: Ayn Sokhna, Wadi Jarf, Marsa Wadi Gawasis, Quseir Al-Qadim, Marsa Nakari and Berenike. Over the last three decades, interest in this tangible heritage has been aroused through studying the material culture, concluding several layers of information about the economic, political, and social perspectives of the Egyptian maritime activity in this area. However, little attention has been paid to the connection between the communities who inhabited the Red Sea in the past and present. How does the current local community contribute to these studies, how do they receive the interpretation of this tangible heritage and how their intangible heritage is included in this geohistorical archive of the Red Sea?
Moreover, with the limitations of accessibility to the Red Sea archaeological sites, the question about the future of these sites, their preservation and public interpretation arises to shed light on the role of different stakeholders who hold different values to these sites in safeguarding them.
This paper discusses the role of the community in preserving the Red Sea heritage. It introduces the results of a baseline study of the local Red Sea community’s perception of their heritage and willingness to participate and interact with its public interpretation. It also discusses the potential for transforming these sites into heritage education and entertainment resources.
M. Jornet. “The Piper Nigrum Route: the voyage of the Black Pepper through the ports of the Red Sea and the Egyptian Eastern Desert. A preliminary analysis”.
Abstract: Egypt’s transformation into a province of the Roman Empire in 30 BC marked a turning point for the established trade route from the Mediterranean Sea, starting from Alexandria, through the Nile Valley to the Egyptian Eastern Desert and across the Red Sea ports to southern India and its trading ports, such as Muziris. Berenike, the great Red Sea port par excellence, established by the early kings of the Ptolemaic dynasty, was a key point on this route. This phenomenon was a major impulse to the overland and maritime trade established between the Roman Empire and India. The arrival of exotic products such as black pepper (or Piper Nigrum, mentioned in different classical sources such as the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, from the 1st century AD, or Strabo in his Geography, or Pliny the Elder himself, in his Natural History, among others) influenced the aesthetic preferences and lifestyles of the diners at the tables of the Urbs. Consequently, it was necessary to load large merchant ships with this spice (as mentioned in the fragmentary contract of the Papyrus of Muziris), which was so appreciated by the Romans of the time, since they wanted to keep it in their domusat all times. And so, it became a commodity of interest for the whole Empire, treated as a luxury object of special consumption. This analysis will focus on how black pepper became a commodity in the Roman Empire and how it was marketed through the Red Sea trade network.
P. Osypiński. “The early Roman rubbish dumps (?) and animal cemetery in Berenike”.
Abstract: Within this presentation I would like to discuss new archaeological data concerning suburban spaces in the ancient port of Berenike in Egypt. Previously, the investigated area was perceived as an early Roman trash dumping zone. But recent work in a small animals (pet) cemetery and a shrine produced evidence permitting a new interpretation of the whole district’s character. On the basis of the stratigraphy and of land and marine faunal remains, pottery, as well as select categories of other materials, we have redefined that space as a service area for the pack animals, camels and donkeys, that regularly transported supplies between the Red Sea shore and Nile Valley during the port’s peak period of use (1st-2nd centuries CE). This study illuminates the spatial organisation of the ancient town and allows us to consider the significance of the proximity of a service area for utilitarian animals to the non-utilitarian pet cemetery.
L. Regincós. “Gods and goddesses in the Smaragdos mines”.
Abstract: In ancient settlements where mining work was relevant, even their raison d’être, said industry impacted on many aspects of their organisation, including religious life. Such communities tended to favour some deities that were considered able to aid the miners, be as owners of the mined materials, as guides, as protectors or as providers of success. The preferred divinities often have a chthonic facet, which made them suitable for offering patronage towards such an earth-related activity, often even an underground one. Another common aspect of those deities is a strong fertility nature: mineral richness was conceived as a part of soil’s fertility, so the mine’s successful exploitation was within their sphere of influence. Specific minerals may have been linked to particular gods and goddesses. Smaragdos is a region in the Eastern Egyptian Desert whose emerald mines were mainly exploited during the Roman and Byzantine periods. The recent Sikait project’s archaeological campaigns have made many findings that allow to further analyse the religious practices and beliefs of those communities of miners. This presentation will contextualize Smaragdos’ miners religiosity and its expressions within the broader characteristics of Ancient mining religion in the Egyptian, Greek and Roman milieus. It will focus on the divinities that can be related to the mining activities most relevantly attested in the archaeological record, including those appearing in the settlements but giving special prominence to those also represented in the mines. Some of these gods and goddesses are Serapis, Min, Isis, Apollo, Osiris, Hermes and Anubis. It will also consider how the Blemmyan presence influenced the choice of deities. Since one of the main activities in the Eastern Desert was the exploitation of its mineral resources, examining the religious systems of the communities dedicated to it is important for understanding the religious life of the area.
B. Rodríguez. “The Necropolis 277 Halfa Degheim pf A Group (Lower Nubia). Distribution and value of the work of men and women from the point of view of funerary archaeology”.
Abstract: Group-A is the earliest Chalcolithic culture of Lower Nubia, mainly known through its cemeteries, which has been interpreted as a pastoralist culture, although other forms of subsistence, such as agriculture, were known. This paper presents a reinterpretation of the Necropolis 277, one of the best-known necropolises in A Group, excavated in the 1960s by the Scandinavian Joint Expedition. The necropolis was interpreted as “the women’s cemetery” on the basis of a series of statistical studies based on the analysis of the variability of the grave goods. These studies concluded that women possessed a status related to their position as “life-givers”. Without ignoring these early contributions, a critical review has been carried out on the results of the excavation, with a new theoretical-methodological approach.
This presentation will show the results of this review, based on the study of the distribution of types of burials and grave goods, and on multivariate analyses that looked for the existence or not of standardized grave goods for different social categories. The reassessment of the Necropolis 277 aims to define the social reality, and thus the social relations, that defined Group A, trying to establish whether exploitative relations exist between its members and on what basis. This analysis allows us to open the debate on the social organisation of this cultural group, in general, and on the social role of each of the social subjects, men and women, in particular. With the conclusions obtained from this specific site, the best documented and least looted of Group A, we can try to infer more complex cultural realities of the whole cultural group, such as the process of institutionalisation of patriarchal kinship structures or the processes of consolidation of a state system, influenced by trade relations with Egypt.
SESSION 4
12.05-12.30h. R. Ast. “Versifying Tyrants amid Diverse Ethnic Populations. Transitioning to Blemmye Berenike in the Third and Early Fourth Centuries”.
Abstract: By the late fourth and early fifth centuries, the indigenous tribe of Blemmyes were firmly settled at the port of Berenike. Recently documented evidence such as the monumental Greek dedicatory inscriptions set up on behalf of the Blemmye kings Isemne and Kabantia in an area of the settlement referred to as the Northern Complex give a sense of the scale of their presence. It also hints at the site’s importance to the tribe as a major transport hub of peridot, gold and other precious stones and minerals quarried in the region, a fact already alluded to in ancient literary sources. However, Late Antiquity did not mark the sudden appearance of the tribe at the port. Their presence is documented in at least one first-century papyrus from Berenike, as well as in ostraca from other parts of the Eastern Desert. In fact, recent work on the latter material has shown considerable continuity from the Ptolemaic period (B’ir Samut) into the third century (at Xeron Pelagos). The lecture proposed here builds on this work by examining another body of new finds, recently excavated third-century inscriptions from Berenike’s Isis temple set up on behalf of tribal despots (tyranni), Coptite councilors, Indian visitors and others. This epigraphic evidence promises new insight into an important transitional time at the port, which saw a diverse, multicultural group of inhabitants and visitors—some local, others not—commissioning dedications and, no doubt, vying for control of critical local trade networks. This period is crucial to our overall understanding of how the Blemmyes came to dominate the area in subsequent centuries.
12.30-12.55h. P. Schneider. “Local communities in the Indian Ocean area, between dependence and agency”.
Abstract: This communication, in accordance with the call for papers, will focus on local societies and communities in an area stretching from the Red Sea area to India in the longue durée of Antiquity (Hellenistic period –end of the ‘Antiquity). It will be based on the body of written sources originating from the Mediterranean world ; occasionally documents from outside the Mediterranean (e. g. Indian texts) will be used. Although this inquiry handles only written evidence, it aims at establishing fruitful dialogue with archaeologists.
The questions addressed in the communication will deal with the following subjects:
1)Economic issues. I will analyze how local societies engaged in the production of goods and resources which were put into circulation in global circuits (for example, pearl fishing, frankincense gathering).
2)Local networks. I will also analyze what written documents tell us about local circuits (e. g. between the Iranian coast and the Persian Gulf islands).
3)Political issues. I will analyze the political interactions between local societies and neighboring states.
4)Cultural transfers and exchanges. I will finally examine the question of cultural interactions between local communities and the societies with which they had relationships.
Generally speaking, my talk will seek to highlight: 1) the fundamental role played by local communities acting as the building blocks of global exchanges; 2) the local societies’ agency, some of them being able to evolve in spite of various local and regional constraints.
The local communities in question were settled in India, in the Persian Gulf, in the Horn of Africa, in South Arabia, and along the coast of the Indian Ocean (Fish Eaters communities).
12.55-13.20h. A. González-Ruibal. “Sasanian and early Islamic trade in the Horn of Africa. A review of new evidence”.
Abstract: The participation of the Horn of Africa in the networks of the Sasanian Empire and the early Caliphate is scarcely known due to the scant archaeological material retrieved so far and a limited literary corpus. It coincides with the decline of Aksum and has thus been generally understood as a period of crisis and contraction. However, recent research in Djibouti and Somaliland suggest that the years comprised between 600-1000 AD did not necessarily witness a decay in long-distance trade networks and economic stagnation, but a maintenance of previous trends and perhaps an intensification. Here I present new data from the Horn gathered in the course of our investigations and propose a reassessment of previous materials. The resulting panorama is one of political experimentation, global integration and economic interdependence that differs from prevalent narratives.
15.30-15.55h. I. Gerlach. “Cultural Interaction in the Ethiopian-Eritrean Highlands during the Early 1st Millennium BC: Exploring the Influence on the Local Population”.
Abstract: The paper delves into the complex interaction processes that took place in the Ethiopian-Eritrean Highlands during the early 1st millennium BC, shedding light on the role of the local population in the face of migration and cultural exchanges. It focuses on the migration of Sabaean population groups from the region of Marib and Sirwah, present-day Yemen, to the Ethiopian-Eritrean highlands. This migration set in motion significant cultural interactions, resulting in the transfer of technology, knowledge, and cultural elements, and fostering mutual dependencies and interconnections with the local population, embodying a transcultural phenomenon known as the Ethio-Sabean culture, a term coined since the 1960s to describe this amalgamation of cultures.
The encounter between distinct cultural circles initiated a comprehensive cultural transformation characterized by mutual interdependencies. This transformation was not limited to the adoption of political and religious structures, but also encompassed the introduction of the Sabaean script and language, as well as bronze craftsmanship, prevalent in Saba. The influence extended to administrative and sacral monumental buildings, following Sabaean models in function and spatial design, albeit modified in construction methods. Symbolic representations central to Sabaean religious iconography, such as the ibex, sickle, and disc, were adopted, albeit with local stylistic transformations.
In this cultural tension, entirely new developments emerged, notably reflected in the design of graves resembling shaft tombs, the diverse repertoire of grave goods, encompassing “imports” from inner-Africa such as Aegyptiaca, and the preservation of local ceramic types and firing techniques. Stamp seals underwent alterations in design while maintaining their fundamental function. Notably, the creation of the “Throne of Hawelti,” a unique cult object, exemplifies the dynamics of interaction and exchange between cultures. This object not only showcases cultural fusion in its design but also in the iconography of its reliefs. The pictorial representation of the union between the Ethio-Sabaean ruler and a native woman, as proposed, manifests the ruling structures of the new polity.
15.55-16.20h. M. Köster. “Local Communities of Pre-Aksumite Yeha, Ethiopia: Pottery Discoveries”.
Abstract: The site of Yeha in northern Ethiopia, with its prominent Sabaean remains, including monumental architecture, religious artifacts, written sources and art objects, is often discussed in the context of its association with the South Arabian influence. However, an ongoing debate surrounds the role of local communities in the emergence of this South Arabian-influenced entity. This entity, which arose in the Ethiopian-Eritrean highlands during the early first millennium BC, had Yeha as its religious and political hub. The primary evidence for its local background lies in the realm of ceramics.
Within this context, the pottery finds from the late second millennium BC in Yeha suggest the presence of a precursor culture that exhibits certain distinctions from the subsequent one. These discoveries, even if locally produced, point to extensive interactions, as evidenced by comparisons, between semi-nomadic groups and regions including the Nile Valley, the Eastern Desert of Sudan, and the Gash Delta. During the first half of the first millennium BC, some ceramic types continue to bear parallels to the Nile Valley. However, an independent inventory emerged that testifies to a growing agricultural community. Drawing from these findings, the paper will delve further into the local characteristics of Yeha and pre-Askumite pottery, with the aim of shedding light on the socio-cultural aspects of the pre-Aksumite communities.
16.20-16.45h. C. Mancarella. “Importance of cattle in Ethio-Sabaean cult and ritual: What is Sabaean and what is local?”.
Abstract: In the early 1st millennium BCE, Sabaean people, originating from the Marib and Sirwah regions of present-day Yemen, migrated to the northern Ethiopian and southern Eritrean highlands. This resulted in the emergence of a syncretic culture that we term “Ethio-Sabaean” precisely to emphasise its syncretic nature, which characterizes also the religious and ritual spheres. The involvement of cattle in cult and ritual is one noteworthy aspect shared by both the Sabaean and Ethio-Sabaean cultures. However, this raises questions regarding the differences in the role played by cattle in religious and ritual practices within these two cultures. What can be attributed to an acculturation process following the Sabaean migration and what should instead be traced back to local and inner-African origins?
To address these inquiries, we will examine the evidence for the presence (or absence) of cattle or cattle representations within religious and funerary contexts in both Sabaean and Ethio-Sabaean sites. Furthermore, traces of rituals involving cattle in local communities of the northern Horn of Africa prior to the Sabaean migration will be investigated. By drawing comparative analyses, this paper aims to shed light on the significance of cattle within cult and ritual in both the Ethio-Sabaean and its neighbouring cultures on both sides of the Red Sea.
16.45-17.05h. S. Japp. “Foreign Impact on the Material Culture of Local Communities in South Arabia and the Northern Horn of Africa in the early 1st Millennium CE – Detectable, Extensive, or Nonexistent?”.
Abstract: Foreign influence can almost not be observed in the South Arabian communities during the 1st millennium BCE, the society was autonomous, the culture unique and the communities showed little interest in new things. This seems to change from the turn of the millennia onwards. Imports, foreign ideas and align elements can now be observed. But how strong was this influence on traditional life? Were they only external changes in material culture and traditional values remained? This aspect will be examined in the lecture.
In addition, a comparative look at the situation on the other side of the Red Sea will be taken. In the early 1st millennium BCE, due to migratory movements, some of the local communities showed a clear South Arabian input not only in material culture but also in many other spheres of life. This led to the formation of a new culture. Other communities, however, lacked these aspects. In addition, there were also various African influences. In the second half of the 1st millennium BCE, however, these foreign elements seem to disappear, and with the rise of the Aksumite Empire, something new emerged here, probably closely linked to international trade and exchange. One would expect the material culture of local communities to clearly reflect these influences. Was it a completely different culture from that of the 1st millennium BCE?
As different as the development in South Arabia and in the northern Horn of Africa sounds, perhaps similarities can be observed, which were caused by a general political, economic and social development.
17.30-17.55h. H.T. Ziegler. “Hunting alongside Trogodytes. Critically reexamining sources for Ptolemaic elephant hunting”.
Abstract: Ptolemaic royal investment in capturing live elephants for use in war dramatically changed the human geography of the Red Sea beginning in the third century BCE. Scholarly treatment of Ptolemaic elephant hunting has largely focused on the role of imperial agents in founding settlements and the consequences of elephant hunting for Ptolemaic foreign policy. Interaction with local communities has not been subject to the same level of scrutiny. Historical scholarship has traditionally dismissed the possibility that indigenous Africans played a role in Ptolemaic elephant hunts, portraying local populations as subsistence communities incapable of capturing live elephants. By reexamining the evidence with a critical eye for Greco-Roman sources, I propose that Ptolemaic hunting parties likely collaborated with local populations they named referred to as Trogodytes.
17.55-18.20h. A. Guimerà, P. De Soto. “Local Portrayals of Shenoute. A systematic GIS-based analysis of settlement developments in the landscape of Red Sea Monasteries.”.
Abstract: This presentation investigates the settlement developments of the landscape around the Coptic monasteries of Red Sea in southern Egypt. Different Coptic communities were established here in 391 BC and other subsequent Roman settlement movements are known from the hagiographical sources. As in many other Roman landscapes, trends in the settlement data of Red Sea have previously been linked to the impact of Christian religion, which is usually understood as a drastic transformation of the pre-Islamic settlement landscape and land use. Rather than using theories on monastic landscape strategies for explaining possible settlement patterns (deductive approach), this paper presents an alternative, descriptive, bottom-up approach, and GIS-based inductive location preference analysis to investigate how the settlement landscape evolved in the Roman and Byzantine periods (particularly in the fourth and five–first century BC). Following closely the settlement choices from the pre-Islamic conquest period onwards and assessing patterns in continuity and change in the settlement record, we demonstrate that Coptic rural settlement and land use strategies were not eradicated but instead strongly determined the location preferences for later settlements in the Byzantine and Islamic periods. If these settlement trends can be related at all to the Christian colonization waves mentioned in the ancient literary sources, the conclusion should be that Coptic monasteries from the Red Sea did not lead to radical landscape and land use transformations, as has traditionally been suggested. Instead, an organic and complementary rural infill over time is documented, in which economic factors instead of religious land use potential played a key role.
June 7th
SESSION 5
9-9.25h. J. De Torres Rodríguez. “Tracking states: the archaeology of Ifat and Barr Saʿd al-Dīn medieval sultanates in the eastern Horn of Africa”.
Abstract: Much of the medieval and early modern history of the Horn of Africa has been built around the clash between the Christian kingdom of Abyssinia and the Muslim sultanates that controlled the southeast region of the Horn of Africa between the 13th and the 16th centuries. However, the material evidence of these Muslim states is still fragmented and diffuse, despite a steady increase in the number of research projects, archaeological excavations and the study of the materiality of the communities who inhabited the region. This paper will present an overview of the research conducted in different areas of Djibouti, Ethiopia and Somaliland in the last 20 years, updating and summarizing the data available and organizing them within their chronological, political and socio-cultural parameters.
The paper will also address key issues that define the archaeology of the region: the development of international trade routes, the interactions between nomads and sedentary communities, the emergence and expansion of permanent settlements, the arrival and consolidation of Islam and the internal and external politics of these sultanates and their material expressions in the region. The objective is to lay a coherent and comprehensive framework for the study of these polities, independent from its interactions with the Christian highlands, and to set a research agenda for the future that recognizes and addresses the complexity and sophistication of this still poorly known period.
9.25-9.50h. J. Rouco Collazo. “Medieval urbanism in the Horn of Africa. An archaeological approach through three case studies”.
Abstract: The Horn area witnessed the creation of successive Islamic states during the Middle Ages, most notably the sultanates of Ifat and Adal, which developed between the 13th and 16th centuries in parallel with the process of Islamisation. This also involved transformations in the preceding material culture.
The aim of this paper is to analyse one of the key aspects of the material culture of this area, still little studied archaeologically. It is the case of built space and urbanism. To do so, we will focus on three case studies: Handoga (Djibouti), Amud and Madduna (Somaliland). These are three settlements of the same chronology, but with different urban patterns, which speak of the variety within the sultanates. They are therefore a sample from different geographical areas within these sultanates.
The urban fabric of these sites has been reconstructed through excavation, surface survey and remote sensing. This has made it possible to carry out an analysis of the urban planning and domestic spaces of these sites, researching how the inhabited space was organized within the sultanates. The results will be presented, discussing whether there is a single model or, on the contrary, different medieval urban models in the Horn and what can be inferred about the communities that inhabited them through how they organised the space.
9.50-10.15h. C. Córnax Gómez. “The story the dead tell about the living: An archaeological study about the medieval funerary practices of the Horn of Africa”.
Abstract: The funerary practices of a society do not only tell us about the dead, but also, and sometimes even more, about the living and the society itself that carries out these funerary practices. Funerary structures and tombs reflect social idiosyncrasies, access to specific means and materials, traditions and cultural baggages, etc. that provide us with a complete and accurate picture of what the human group is like. Therefore, they also reflect the changes these societies are going through. This paper presents the results of an analysis of medieval funerary practices in the Horn of Africa. This study has focused on describing the architecture of the burials by creating a typological proposal of them and the elements added to them, and on the distribution of the different types of tombs in the necropolis of the sites documented by the StateHorn project. The analysis of these factors has allowed us to extract conclusions about medieval funerary practices, relating them to certain changes in the social dynamics of the region and other phenomena that coincide chronologically with this fact, such as the creation and rise of the first Muslim states in the Horn of Africa, the progressive sedentarisation of at least part of the population, changes in material culture, etc. This presentation will describe the typological proposal and will explain and discuss the conclusions and results drawn from the analysis carried out.
10.15-10.40h. A Martínez d’Alòs-Moner, J. Miran. “Exploring Slavery in the Red Sea Region at a Transition Age. From an Open Sea to the Ottoman Kizildeniz”
Abstract: The history of slavery has recently been the subject of a few collective publications that have shed light on this phenomenon in specific geographic-cultural realms, such as the Mediterranean, the Black Sea or the Indian Ocean. In this paper we want to explore the still largely uncharted history of the Slavery and the Slave trade in the Red Sea and in its surrounding territories. The paper will focus on the period of transformation of the Red Sea from an open sea to one largely under the dominion of the Ottoman Empire. The paper will draw on Portuguese sources from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries that inform on the involvement of different groups and individuals in activities involving slavery, from Ottoman bashas to Yemenite dealers and banyan merchants. The paper will also look at a practice that was often-times associated when not complementary with slavery, namely that of captivating enemy crews and the economy of ransom.
11.10-11.40h. D.A. Agius. “Dhows that crossed the Red Sea The towns of El Quseir, El Wejh and Yanbu al-Bahr”.
Abstract: The dhow was central to the physical and cultural landscape of the African and Arabian Red Sea. For many centuries, it brought communities together in trade and their ports became busier during the seasonal voyages of hajj. One embarkation point to cross the Red Sea was El Quseir on the Egyptian coast which lies opposite El Wejh and Yanbu al-Bahr on the Arabian Red Sea. Ruins of Ptolemaic and Roman anchorage, and Medieval Islamicate times are visible in the north of El Quseir (houses, storage areas caravanserai, artefacts etc.). Old Yanbu as an anchorage is mentioned by Ptolemy (d. c. 170 CE) and al-Muqaddasī (d. 380/991). Preceding moder-day El Wejh was Al-Ḥawrā’, lying south of it, and now in ruins. It was identified by al-Muqaddasī as a ‘natural [and] good’ landing. All three towns seem to have developed into commercial hubs in the Medieval Islamicate period as goods were traded between the anchorages and inland to the Egyptian Nile settlements and the villages of the Arabian Yanbu al-Nakhl (Yanbu of the Palm Grove). Early Modern travel writings bring to light the physical structures of the settlements and it is still possible to see the remains of the old buildings where the local communities lived a century or two ago, a visible reminder of an iconic past maritime landscape. The ruins of the town walls of El Wejh today portray an image of the towns’ planning; the fort, granary and the merchant houses of El Quseir attest to a once vibrant African and Arabian crossing; the town’s walls, workshops and dhow-building sites of El Wejh are a testimony to the town’s economic growth, while the remains of the buildings, the souq and granary in Yanbu al-Bahr are further evidence of a vibrant town with amenities shared by the local communities. Together with these physical structures, ethnographic accounts vividly narrate the life of the coastal communities and the people of the sea, activities shared with merchants and pilgrims as they stopped in these sea towns on their onward journey by land or sea. This paper seeks to confirm the importance and viability of the El Quseir – El Wejh and El Quseir – Yanbu al-Bahr crossings; looking at how far they can be traced back to Antiquity and the Islamicate period, using toponymical, cartographic, archaeological and archival sources, as well as modern-day oral history.
11.40-12.05h. S. Taha. “Vibrant religious traditions: the Red Sea region, Eastern Sudan”.
Abstract: Islam spread to all continents and multitudinous countries. It diffused at different points in time and by different means. There are over two billion Muslims worldwide, although Islam is not a homogenous religion; yet there is unity in diversity. In each country, and even within the same country, there are diverse sects, practices and traditions.
Even though Islam dispersed to Sudan at an early date, it was not until the 16th century that Islam became an official state religion there. There are numerous books and articles written about the spread of Islam to Sudan, but very few articles or mentions in books are specifically about Eastern Sudan. A handful of articles or books mention Sufism or religious orders in Eastern Sudan and a few particularly deal with the introduction of Islam to Eastern Sudan. Moreover, there is a gap in the literature on religious heritage and how Islam influenced peoples’ lives, culture, traditions, practices and way of life.
The focus of this study is on a specific region, that is Eastern Sudan located on the Sudanese Red Sea coast. I aim to illustrate the interconnections and interlink between the two sides of the Red Sea coast. Using ethnographic techniques, interviews, archival and historical data, I seek to demonstrate how the diverse ethnic groups and nationalities along the Red Sea coast, in particular port cities, intermixed with the traditions of the Beja; especially in the celebrations of Al Mawlid Al Nabawiy, events during the month of Ramadan Eid Al Fitr and Eid Al Adha. The mixture of traditions resulted in vibrant and lively practices and traditions.
Islam shaped their lives and in turn they shaped their own Islam. Social, cultural and religious lives are indivisible and make a single whole. I argue that these traditions, practices and devotedness are a living cultural heritage.
12.05-12.30h. R. Tokunaga. “People of the hinterland of al-Ḥawrāʾ to the early Islamic period in light of the epigraphic evidence”.
Abstract: The al-Ḥawrāʾ site, located about 10 km north of Umluj, Tabuk Province, was one of the most important Red Sea ports in the early Islamic period. A joint archaeological project between the Saudi Heritage Commission and Waseda University (Japan) at the site began in 2018. Along with excavations of the port city, epigraphic surveys have been conducted in its hinterland. The six-season surveys focused on four areas: (A) the direct hinterland of al-Ḥawrāʾ, (B) south of Umluj, (C) east of Umluj, and (D) southeast of Umluj. These surveys resulted in discovering roughly 150 ancient and early Islamic graffiti together with many petroglyphs. These findings highlight the hitherto unknown inhabitants of the southernmost part of the province from the late first millennium BCE to the early centuries of the Islamic period. This area’s ancient graffiti, many of which were discovered near the water sources, consist mainly of Thamudic D and its indigenous variants. The variety in the letter forms and the colour of the incised surfaces indicate the local inhabitants were familiar with the scripts for centuries. Despite the existence of a Nabataean trade port at al-Quṣayr, about 105 km north of al-Ḥawrāʾ, no Nabataean trace was seen in this area. The distribution of early Islamic inscriptions is scarce in area (A), and none has been found in (B). This result is somewhat surprising considering al-Ḥawrāʾ’s importance as an international trade port and a stopping place on the Egyptian coastal pilgrim route. The possible traces of middle- or long-distance human mobility appear only after about 40 km inland of al-Ḥawrāʾ towards the east. However, most of the graffiti seem to have been written by the members of the Juhayna tribe, whose existence is well-known in the area from the pre-Islamic period until today.
SESSION 6
12.30-12.55h. C. Zazzaro, J. Jansen van Rensburg, D. Carris. “The first underwater archaeological survey in the Red Sea area of NEOM, Saudi Arabia”.
Abstract: The maritime survey conducted by a team of geophysicists and underwater archaeologists in the NEOM region (north-west of Saudi Arabia) is the most recent systematic large-scale maritime survey conducted in the Red Sea. The survey has revealed, in particular, the strategic importance of the Northeastern Red Sea/Gulf of Aqaba during Late Antiquity/Late Pre-Islamic period, and it has pioneered approaches and methodologies to apply for future underwater archaeological investigations within the Red Sea.
The Late Antiquity/Late Pre-Islamic period amphorae scatters and shipwreck sites, identified during the survey, testify to a period of intense contacts and interactions among the southern Red Sea (Adulis, the Aksumite Empire, South Arabia) and the Northeastern Red Sea/Gulf of Aqaba. In a wider perspective, they may also represent the last evidence of the Mediterranean – Indian Ocean trade during Antiquity.
The proposed paper will present the research methods and the preliminary results of the survey. Additionally, it will discuss the potential of this research to provide a deeper historical insight into the interconnections among the Byzantine Empire, the Red Sea states/empires and coastal communities, and the wider Indian Ocean.
12.55-13.20h. M. Osypińska. “Non-humans in Berenike society. Archaeozoological data for a discourse on ancient identity and value”.
Abstract: The cemetery of small animals (cats, dogs and monkeys) discovered in the Red Sea port of Berenike (1st-2nd century AD is one of a kind, still without good parallels among ancient animal necropolises whether from Egypt and beyond. .In similarity to modern cemeteries of this sort, it brings to the front correlates of human reactions to death, the emotional approach to other beings, confronted with the moral dilemmas raised by the different treatment afforded humans and animals, two coexisting societal components that are mutually interdependent in forming the identity, cultural and religious, of human communities.In previous debates about the identity of ancient societies, archaeozoological data on animal husbandry and meat consumption were examined. More than 600. graves of pets from Berenike provide new categories of sources, not only in the field of archaeology, but also in sociology. Identity and values are important driving forces in everyone’s life. The content dimension of identity consists of a unique constellation of different identifications derived from social experience. It is particularly important for communities operating far from their native regions, and for local populations – in contact with newcomers. Also in the animal cemetery, we can see evidence of marking the ethnic, social or gender identity of the owners/guardians of dogs, cats or macaques. The results of archaeozoological analyzes provide data on the import to the Red Sea coast of new species or types of animals from other continents: Europe, India, Asia. We also have evidence of locally living animals, adapted to the community. In our research, we attempt to introduce archaeozoological and archaeological data into the discourse in the field of psychology and sociology, in which archeology rarely participates. We believe that the cultural conglomerate in which the Berenike society functioned was one of the basic factors in the formation of specific, unique human-animal relations, whose material emanation is the pet cemetery of Berenike.
15.30-15.55h. A. Adam. “Six thousand years of occupation: results from the University of Khartoum Red Sea Project”.
Abstract: The archaeologically rich and extensive Red Sea coast has provided fertile ground for archaeologists. However, the Sudanese part of this coast remains largely under-studied. For this reason, the University of Khartoum has started a fieldwork program in a large area of about 500 km in length and 200 km in width. This project aims to identify and map archaeological sites from different periods. the archaeological reconnaissance carried out by our team confirms long-term human habitation in an area often considered remote and difficult. The results of our first seasons indicate occupation since at least the Late Stone Age (4500 BC). There are also numerous instances of rock art (as yet undated), remains of a small building that has classical, and medieval remains, a huge Islamic graves and evidence of pilgrimage roads. This paper will also focus on recent discoveries made at the beginning of this year to assess whether they could be evidence of an ancient port as well as nine islands described by the inhabitants of the region to know more about the connections between these nine islands and the ones previously visited. This paper offers a renewed insight into the archaeological work of the Sudanese Red Sea project after the big challenges facing the Sudan heritage and the ongoing research work in the area. This paper will present the results from our survey and excavation in the last seasons, as our plans to do further work in the area. It will elucidate life in the area and relationships with neighbouring civilizations in the Nile Valley, the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula which are reflected in many features of the current buildings and culture. Finally, the paper will address the project’s engagement of the public in protecting and saving the heritage during threats, among which the ongoing war that started in Sudan last Spring.
15.55-16.20h. I. Lüllau Holthe, A. Mandon. “A social archaeology of abandonment: the case studies of AlUla and Luxor”.
Abstract: Our aim here is to present a comparative study of abandoned settlements and the process of heritage-making in the Red Sea region, using the examples of AlUla Old Town (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) and the West Bank of Luxor (Egypt). Combining perspectives from archaeology, anthropology and photography, the narratives coming from these two sites will tell a story of the process of leaving a place, and how the material culture left behind is tied to the concept of heritage – whether it is officially labelled as such or locally narrated.
Whereas AlUla Old Town was abandoned in the 1980s and is now the site of archaeological excavations and restoration, areas of Luxor West Bank might be better characterized as being in a process of abandonment or major change. Both areas are close to famous world heritage sites and have been inhabited by local communities for centuries. And although more than 500 km apart and divided by the Red Sea, the mudbrick and stone structures composing the two settlements have interesting architectural similarities which allowed for comparison at different scales.
While rooted in local conjectures, the processes of change, mobility and abandonment in these areas are deeply tied with national and global events and developments, from modernization policies to economic and political shifts.
This presentation will explore how an abandoned site carrying a labelling of “heritage” or “archaeological site”, can be seen in relation to sites not yet abandoned or labelled as such. Can this bring about new perspectives, understandings and questions about the heritage discourse in the Red Sea region? Furthermore, can an interdisciplinary focus on abandonment be a new way of studying social and cultural aspects of these local communities, linked to ideas of time, memories and belonging?
16.20-17h. Final remarks and closure of the conference