On the Streets of Avaris
Uroš MatićWritten and visual evidence from ancient Egypt indicates that activities we consider domestic also took place in settlement areas outside of the house. This is also indicated by cross-cultural ethnographic record of urban communities. Areas outside of the houses in which at least some domestic activities can be found are also streets. They are urban spaces in which the private and the public converge. Until now streets of ancient Egyptian settlements received little if any attention in Egyptology. The work of the Austrian Archaeological Institute’s Cairo Branch of the Austrian Academy of Sciences on the site of Tell el-Dabca (ancient Avaris) since 1960s was of crucial importance for the development of settlement archaeology in Egypt. Just like on other major settlement sites in Egypt, here too, the focus was on the reconstruction of the cityscape and the studies of individual houses and the archaeological record of domestic life. This paper will analyse the use of streets in areas F/I, R/III, R/IV and A/V of Tell el-Dabca. These areas have remains of different type of settlements: 1. Planned settlement (F/I), 2. Grown settlement (R/III and A/V) and a harbour settlement (R/IV). The paper will present the results of the comparison of grid street plans and small finds found on the streets in different areas of ancient Avaris. This will allow an insight into domestic activities which took place on the streets.
Related papers
Settlement Patterns at Avaris, A Study on two Cases, in: M. Bietak, E. Czerny, I. Forstner-Müller (eds.), Cities and Urbanism in Ancient Egypt, Vienna, 22nd-26th November 2006
UZK 35, Denkschriften der Gesamtakademie 60, 2010, 103-124, 2010
The Archaeology of Urbanism in Ancient Egypt
2016
In this book, Nadine Moeller challenges prevailing views on Egypt's non-urban past and argues for Egypt as an early urban society. She traces the emergence of urban features during the Predynastic Period up to the disintegration of the powerful Middle Kingdom state (c.3500–1650 BC). This book offers a synthesis of the archaeological data that sheds light on the different facets of urbanism in ancient Egypt. Drawing on evidence from recent excavations as well as a vast body of archaeological data, this book explores the changing settlement patterns by contrasting periods of strong political control against those of decentralization. It also discusses households and the layout of domestic architecture, which are key elements for understanding how society functioned and evolved over time. Moeller reveals what settlement patterns can tell us about the formation of complex society and the role of the state in urban development in ancient Egypt.
B. Kemp and A. Stevens, 2010. Busy Lives at Amarna. Excavations in the Main City (Grid 12 and the House of Ranefer, N49.18). Volume 1: The Excavations, Architecture and Environmental Remains
2010
Between 2002 and 2006 the Egypt Exploration Society’s expedition to Amarna made a detailed study of the house of the chariot-officer Ranefer, first excavated in 1921. Particular attention was paid to the remains of an underlying earlier and smaller house that had been largely demolished to make way for Ranefer’s own. At the same time a group of smaller houses for the ordinary people of the city were excavated for the first time, in an adjacent part of the site called Grid 12. Together they represent a cross-section of residential life at Amarna. The results are presented in two complementary volumes, the first devoted to the excavation, architecture and environmental remains,and the second to the objects. They lead on to reflections on domestic living and manufacture at Amarna, and on social dividing lines within the city. This file presents the Introduction to the volume and its final discussion 'Life in the suburbs'.
Settlements and Space in the Near East and Egypt during the Hyksos Period
2019
Scholars have come a long way since ancient settlements started to be documented. While methods borrowed from geography, landscape studies, and architecture have been widely applied in Near Eastern archeology, in disciplines like Egyptology topics such as studies of ancient towns have been reduced to methods taken from urban morphology. Notwithstanding their usefulness in documenting measurements, shapes, and sizes, such approaches are based in comparative morphology. As a consequence, there is a gap of studies willing to go into deep theoretical considerations like the use of space and the landscape, or the fundamental paper of those in shaping not just homes and dwellings but also social dynamics. In my PhD research, I am covering Early and Middle Bronze Age settlements in Egypt and the Near East. Palaces, temples, and structures belonging to the “elite” are left out on this study, as they are the product of different strategies and numerous studies have been devoted to them. The main aim is to broaden the initial comparative approach and to study households and landscapes via quantitative methods taken from landscape archaeology and urban syntax. Superimposed plans in GIS can bring new light onto the construction of theoretical frameworks for the old towns in Ancient Egypt, as vectorized data help to visualize variations on the selected areas within different periods. At the same time, the combination with methods taken from urban syntax as the study of connectivity of streets in axial maps, can help to evaluate the use of open space in ancient societies, as if these areas promoted integration or just passive movement. It must not be forgotten that spatial tools are reflexive mechanisms and do not provide, nor intent to provide, higher-order knowledge. The questions open to debate are: What advantages can these methods have in old Egyptian settlements? To what extent can we use this methodological approach in past societies with success? What challenges remain?
The Urban Landscape of Avaris in the Second Intermediate Period
R. Mathews et alii (eds.), Proceedings of the 7th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, volume 1, Wiesbaden, 2012, 681-693, 2012
AbstrAct The site of Tell el-Dab'a/Qantir is located in the modern province of Sharqiya in the Egyptian Eastern Delta and has been excavated by the Austrian Archaeological Institute for over 40 years. The site can now be identified confidently with Avaris, the capital of the Hyksos, and with the southern part of Piramesse, the Delta residence of Ramesses II and his successors. The easternmost branch of the Nile once flowed just to the west of the site and by the Second Intermediate Period Avaris had become an important trading centre and major harbour for seagoing ships. The settlement covered an area of more than 260 ha and was one of the major urban centres in Egypt with an estimated population of between 28,800 and 34,600 inhabitants. In this paper, the topography and layout of the 15 th Dynasty Hyksos town will be described, with special reference to the functional divisions of space in the town.
“Kom Firin: witnessing the transformation of the Egyptian urban fabric in the 6th-5th centuries BC”. In S. Marchi (ed), Les Maisons-Tours en Égypte durant la Basse Époque, les Périodes Ptolémaïque et Romaine. NeHeT 2 (September 2014), 157-79.
Case study of Late Period urban architecture in Kom Firin (Egyptian Nile Delta), tracing the introduction of a new construction technique in the mid first millennium BC, which can be related to phenomenon of tower-houses seen elsewhere in Egypt.
International Conference
Living in the House
Researching the Domestic Life in Ancient Egypt and Sudan
IFAO-PCMA, 27 to 30 November 2022
Cairo, Egypt
Conference Program
Day 1: Sunday 27-11-2022 (at PCMA)
16:00-17:00: Registration and refreshments
17:00-17:30: Welcoming speeches and introductory remarks
17:30-17:50: Krzysztof Grzymski, Shelter, hut, house and palace – remarks on settlement
archaeology in Upper Nubia and Central Sudan, (in person)
18:00-19:00: Keynote lecture 1: Pascale Ballet, Objects in archaeological domestic contexts:
the ceramological evidence, data and results » (in person)
19:30-22:00 Cocktail welcome party at the PCMA garden
Day 2: Monday 28-11-2022 (IFAO)
8:00-9-00: Registration and coffee
Session 1.1: “Let’s furnish this house!”:
Material culture in the domestic sphere in ancient Egypt and Sudan
Chair: Joanne Rowland
9:00-9:20: Julia Budka, Cooking practices in New Kingdom Egypt and Nubia: Case studies
from Elephantine and Sai Island (in person)
9:20-9:40: Anna Wodzińska, Pottery of the Eastern Town House at Heit el Ghorab (in person)
9:40-10:00: Johanna Sigl, Katherine M. Consola, Basem Gehad, Clara Jeuthe, Peter
Kopp, Giuseppina Mutri, Joshua A. Roberson, Trading through the house (online)
1
10:00-10:20: Karolina Warecka, what are we doing in the dark? Remarks on the oil lamps
discovered in the house context (online)
10:20:10:30 Discussion
10:30-11:00 Coffee break
Session 1.2: “Let’s furnish this house!”:
Material culture in the domestic sphere in ancient Egypt and Sudan
Chair: Joanne Rowland
11:00-11:20: Manon Schutz, Beyond the grave: the use and meaning of beds in daily life
settings (in person)
11:20-11:40: Marwa Abdel Razek, Ba houses between domestic life and funerary significance
(in person)
11:40-12:00: Marisol Solchaga, Domestic architecture in the soul-houses from Rifeh:
porticoes with stairs leading to an upper floor (in person)
12:00-12:30 Discussion
12:30-14:00 Lunch break (Lunch at IFAO for speakers only)
Session 2: “Please show me the way”:
Settlement space and accessibility in ancient Egypt
Chair: Anna Wodzińska
14:00-14:20: Filippo Mi, BURIED ALIVE! First millennium settlements in the Memphite
necropolis (online)
14:20-14:40: Uroš Matić, On the streets of Avaris (online)
14:40-15:00: Aneta Skalec, Access to the house in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt –
papyrological and archaeological evidence (online)
15:00-15:30: Discussion
15:30-16:00: Coffee break
2
Session 3.1: “What happened here?!”:
Identification of the use of space in the domestic sphere in ancient Egypt and
Sudan
Chair: Julia Budka
16:00-16:20: Joanne Rowland, Living at Merimde Beni Salama: the changing community
and functional areas throughout the 5th millennium BC (in person)
16:20-16:40: Ulrike Nowotnick, Dark, crowded, stuffy: Domestic Living in Late Meroitic
Hamadab (in person)
16:40-17:00: Agata Bebel-Nowak, Changes of plant composition in Egyptian gardens (in
person)
17:00-17:20: Lukasz Jarmużek, Creating cognitive maps: visibility and movement in ancient
Egyptian houses (in person)
17:20-17:50 Discussion
18:30-19:30 Keynote lecture 2: Mark Lehner, Home Office, Office Home: The Pilaster Niche
Room in Early Egyptian Houses, (online at the IFAO conference hall)
19:30-20:30: Refreshments at IFAO garden
3
Day 3: Tuesday 29-11-2022 (IFAO)
Session 3.2: “What happened here?!”:
Identification of the use of space in the domestic sphere in ancient Egypt and
Sudan
Chair: Mennat-Allah El Dorry
9:00-9:20: Clara Jeuthe and Laure Pantalacci, A living room, an office, a workshop and all in
one: examples for the use of space in Ayn Asil/Balat (in person)
9:20-9:40: Thais Rocha da Silva, The domestic experience at the Amarna workmen’s village:
senses and practice (in person)
9:40-10:00: Delphine Driaux, The bathroom: A rather singular room in the Egyptian house
(in person)
10:00-10:20: Agnieska Ryś- Jarmużek, Reuse or discard? Waste management and recycling
patterns in domestic contexts from Tell el Retaba (in person)
10:20-10:30 Discussion
10:30-11:00 Coffee break
Session 4: “Let’s prepare some food!”:
About cooking spaces and materials in ancient Egypt and Sudan
Chair: Simon Connor
11:00-11:20: Mennat-Allah El Dorry, Kitchens vs. food preparation spaces: identifying where
people cooked in ancient Egyptian households (in person)
11:20-11:40: Claire Malleson, When smoke gets in your eyes: domestic fuels in ancient Egypt
(in person)
11:40-12:00: Leslie Anne Warden, Cooking, eating and throwing away in Old Kingdom Kom
el Hisn and Middle Kingdom Elephantine (in person)
12:00-12:20: Nicolas Morand, Cook and store food in the domestic sphere, an
archeozoological approach: three examples in the western Delta and its margins from the
Late Period to the Roman Times (online)
12:20:12:30 Discussion
12:30-14:00 Lunch break (Lunch at IFAO for speakers only)
4
Session 5: “Live from the settlement”:
Recent research at currently excavated settlement sites in Egypt and Sudan
Chair: Irene Forstner-Müller
14:00-14:20: Mohga Ramadan, Daily activities at Mariout islands during the Graeco-Roman
period "Through the newly excavated site at Tabbet Metawah west Alexandria" (in person)
14:20-14:40: Mohamed Hussein, Excavation at Gabel EL-Haridi site – Sohag (in person)
14:40-15:00: Sayed Abdel Alim, Saite settlement recently discovered at Tell Heboua II
(North Sinai) (in person)
15:00-15:20: Discussion
15:20-16:00: Coffee break
Session 6.1: “How did they build it?”:
Recent Research on domestic architecture and building techniques in ancient
Egypt and Sudan
Chair: Axelle Brémont
16:00-16:20: Marek Chlodnicki, From wood to mudbrick. Domestic architecture at Tell elFarkha from Predynastic to the Old Kingdom times (online)
16:20-16:40: Krzysztof Jacubiak, New discoveries of the house architecture from Marina el
Alamein (online)
16:40-17:00: Sarah Chandlee, Egyptian Late Period and Ptolemaic Domestic Architecture:
House forms and dual-functioning structures (online)
17:00-17:20: Discussion
18:00-19:00: Keynote lecture 3: Irene Forstner-Müller, Betwixt and Between - Liminality in
Ancient Egyptian Towns: The Case of Kom Ombo (in person)
19:00-20:00: Refreshments at IFAO garden
5
Day 4: Wednesday 30-11-2022 (IFAO)
Session 6.2: “How did they build it?”:
Recent Research on domestic architecture and building techniques in ancient
Egypt and Sudan
Chair: Anne-Claire Salmas
9:00-9:20: Lea Rees, “A phenomenological approach to the settlements of the Old Kingdom
at Dahshur” (in person)
9:20-9:40: Aaron De Souza, Living with or without corners: Thinking about ‘Nubian’ and
‘Egyptian’ dwellings in the ancient world (in person)
9:40-10:00: Ossama Abdel Wareth, Old Nubian houses on Sehel Island (in person)
10:00-10:20: Giorgia Marchiori, Houses in the Deltaic environment: observations from a Late
Antique house in Kom al-Ahmer, Western Nile Delta (online)
10:20-10:30: Discussion
10:30-11:00 Coffee break
Session 7: “The house now and then?!”:
Ethno-archaeology and the study of lifestyles at ancient settlements in Egypt
and Sudan
Chair: Thais Rocha Da Silva
11:00-11:20: Anne-Claire Salmas, Home sweet home, but what is a home? (in person)
11:20-11:40: Maria Correas, Ethnoarchaeology of domestic spaces in Egypt: a tool for the
knowledge of the past and the present (online)
11:40-12:00: Fatma Keshk, Egyptian houses through the lens of ethnography and ethnoarchaeology (in person)
12:00-12:20: Noha Mostafa, Mostafa Atallah, Rim Hamdy, Willeke Wendrich, Basketry: Form and
function in ancient and modern Egypt (in person)
12:20-12:30: Discussion
12:30-14:00: Lunch break (Lunch at IFAO for speakers only)
6
Session 8: Religion in the house
Chair: Aaron De Souza
14:00-14:20: Dina Ezz El-Din, Domestic altars: cultic spaces for private religious practices
in New Kingdom houses (in person)
14:20-14:40: Iria Souto Castro, Personal religion in domestic settings: An introductory study to
religious practices at Karanis (in person)
14:40-15:00: Cristina Lechuga-Ibáñez, Pottery offering trays: funerary or domestic artefacts?
(online)
15:00-15:20: Rennan Lemos, Were shabtis locally manufactured in Nubian temple-towns?
Connecting settlement and cemetery in New Kingdom Nubia (online)
15:30-16:00: Coffee break
Session 9: “My own house!”:
House property in ancient Egypt:
Chair: Dina Ezz El-Din
16:00-16:20: Julie Masquelier-Loorius, Bringing the Place of Truth back to Life (2): The
“Owners” of Houses, and family spatial groupings (online)
14:20-16:20: Karim el Ridy, Illuminations on wells and irrigated properties in the Libyan
Period (in person)
16:40-17:00: Lucka Hulkova and Veronika Veresova, Domestic life on the Frontier
Tell el-Retaba during the Second Intermediate Period and the early New Kingdom (online)
17:00-17:30 Final discussion and concluding remarks
18:00-22:00: final dinner and concert at IFAO gardens
7
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