Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (11.1999(2000))

TELL EL-LARKHA

EGYPT

The best preserved wall (50 cm thick) was
uncovered in one of the lower layers of this
phase; it is made of mudbrick and runs on
a NE-SW axis for a distance of c. 9-5 m,
joining in the north a semicircular struc-
ture surrounded by a wide band (0.30-
0.40 m wide) of tamped mud. A few layers
of tamped mud floors were found inside it,
containing many small potsherds. Directly
above the southern part of the wall an
entirely different structure was discovered;
its lower parts have been left for explo-
ration in the coming seasons as a greater
part of it is apparently still hidden in the
part of the trench left unexplored this year.
It is obviously an oval or oblong structure
measuring 4 m in length and 1.90 m in
width in the explored part. Three post-
holes were found outside its perimeter: one
to the south, two right next to each other
to the east. All around the structure there
were bricks arranged regularly enough, of
a shape different than elsewhere, namely,
resembling a cylinder cut in half, some
20 cm long and 10 cm wide. Similar bricks
were also found inside the structure, lying
around in irregular groups, horizontally,
vertically and at an angle. The nature of
this assemblage is more like fallen debris
than a floor, as walking over them would
have been impossible. The bricks were all
made of mud, but for the most part, espe-
cially the ones inside and the inside part of
those lying outside, they were baked red.
Some of the outside bricks are burned
black. The fill of the structure reveals clear
evidence of fire — the mud has been baked
red and is mixed with considerable quanti-
ties of charcoal and ash. The provisional
conclusion is that the structure, which was
sunk into the ground, had walls lined with
these specific bricks in the lower parts and
was covered, either partly or completely,
with a roof supported on posts and com-
posed of organic materials. It seems proba-

ble that similar walls surrounded the struc-
ture. The cause of fire is unclear. It is a fact
that nowhere else in the explored area have
traces of a fire been observed.
PHASE 3
Phase 3 is characterized by the appearance
of considerable quantities of Nagadan pot-
tery (Nagada IId2-IIIal) testifying to the
apparent settling of the tradition from the
south of the land. The oldest preserved
architectural structure is a big rectangular
unit some 2.75 m wide and at least 6 m
long. The longer walls, which followed
a NE-SW line and were made of sand-tem-
pered mudbrick (c. 30 x 15 cm in size),
were almost 70 cm thick, the transversal
wall reached 0.90 m in thickness. The
structure is barely preserved, its place hav-
ing been taken relatively quickly by the
most extensive of the buildings uncovered
so far (Fig. 2). This building is merely
40 cm above the bricks-and-post structure
discussed earlier. A thick wall (80 cm)
made of similar sand-tempered bricks runs
NE-SW; attached to it on the northwest is
a rectangular room 11.70 m long, at least
5.50 m wide, the remaining three walls
being 50 cm thick. Successive floors were
made of mud that was presumably covered
thinly with a kind of lime mortar. Inside
the unit, especially in its southern part, the
assemblage was quite copious. Two big
storage vessels with spiked bottoms were
found beside the numerous potsherds; they
were inserted in pits lined thickly with
mud, while a third was fragmentarily pre-
served, accompanied by six small vases on
the floor (two with fish bones), a flint knife
and the flat flange of a big stone vessel. On
the south this unit has a structure with
rounded corner (1.20 x 1.50 m) surround-
ed with a low brick wall that was the same
as a brick length in thickness, (c. 30 cm).
A similar wall surrounded a semicircular

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