Wadi Zabayda

The KU Leuven Dayr al-Barsha project worked in al-Shaykh Sa'id, just north of Amarna, in 2007-2010 and 2014, and discovered on the hillside, north of the mouth of the Wadi Zabayda, archaeological remains of a royal domain, dating to the reign of Khufu. Afterwards, royal workshops were established on top of the Old Kingdom remains to supply the New Kingdom city of Amarna with a range of different goods. Due to severe erosion, hardly any traces of buildings survive, but the industrial waste left behind provide sufficient clues that besides a vast stone artefact industry, the artisans were also making objects in faience, glass and copper. Objects relating to the textile industry were also uncovered. The presentation will give an overview of the archaeological finds relating to the various industries active at al-Shaykh Sa'id during the Amarna-period, and a comparison will be made with the faience and glass industry in the city of Amarna.

Calcite alabaster is a soft stone that can readily be worked into a variety of artefacts, ranging from small beads to large statues, or be used as building material. Objects were already made from this stone in the Predynastic period and this continued throughout the pharaonic period and thereafter. A small number of calcite alabaster quarries are located east of the Nile, between modern Cairo and Asyut, and the stone was either quarried in large open air pits or delved in long seams. Both types of quarries are present in the 15 th and 16 th Upper Egyptian nomes in Middle Egypt. I will present new research based on satellite image analysis and ground surveys, discussing the al-Qawatir quarries (16 th UE nome) and the quarries surrounding the Wadi Barshawi and the Wadi Zabayda (15 th UE Nome). The Hatnub quarries (15 th UE Nome) will also be briefly commented on for comparison. Fieldwork in the region led to the discovery of previously unknown large quarries. In addition, a number of quarrymen campsites were likewise identified, of which the earliest can be securely dated to the early Old Kingdom. Material evidence for additional occupation phases in the New Kingdom and the Roman period was also recorded, as were Coptic inscriptions and faint traces of decoration and possible hieroglyphs on a rock-cut stele. The size of the quarries will show that the 15 th and 16 th Upper Egyptian nomes were the source of a large supply of calcite alabaster up to the Roman period.