The second week of the MUAFS project is well underway – time flies by, only the temperatures have dropped markedly.
With limited internet access, here are just some very brief comments on our ongoing survey of the westbank. It was just stunning in the last days to experience a boat ride into a completely different landscape every morning. Attab, Ginis and Kosha look as much different as the Nile is changing its direction and course. Most beautiful so far was clearly Ginis – with impressive sand dunes and archaeological sites set between these picturesque desert landscapes and tamarisks.
As much impressed as we are by the surroundings, as rewarding are the survey results and the archaeological remains. Giulia in particular was really happy that we located a number of meso- and neliothic sites with nice pottery; my personal favourite these days was site Vila 3-P-17 in Kosha West. This is a settlement mound with early 18th Dynasty pottery, of tremendous importance for understanding the early presence of Egypt in this area during the New Kingdom (and contemporaneous to the early levels at Sai the AcrossBorders project was investigating in the last years).
Especially remarkable are also three sites in the central part of Ginis West, which Vila dated to the New Kingdom but which are clearly Napatan based on the pottery from the surface. As settlement remains with peculiar architectural features, these sites hold rich potential for investigating Napatan occupation in the Batn el-Hagar region.
The next days will be very busy finalising the archaeological survey on the westbank, the geophysical survey on the eastbank and aerial photography of Kosha East. An update will follow shortly, once we are again connected to the www.