DOI issue:
Egypt
DOI article:Chłodnicki, Marek; Ciałowicz, Krzysztof M.: Tell el Farkha (Ghazala): interim report, 2000
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.41368#0093
TELL EL LARKHA
EGYPT
The building in the lower layers was
fundamentally different. There is an
obvious level of destruction under the
southern part of the rounded corner,
broadening toward the outside of the wall.
In effect, the inner part, made of sand
bricks, forms a rectangular corner on the
south, while the mudbrick part is reduced
to just one row of bricks. The width of the
wall is 1.60 m. The main wall is further
reduced in thickness and the division into
smaller compartments is evident under the
layer of destruction (Fig. 6). Since the
uncovered part obviously constitutes the
foundation, a casemate construction may
be assumed: relatively thin walls (0.30-
0.60 m) forming spaces that were later
filled with earth.
It is noteworthy that relatively thin
walls have also been recorded east of the
main wall, possibly constituting the
remains of adjacent buildings that must
have been much like the ones described
above. They had abutted from the east
buildings that belonged to on older phase
of the complex and were presumably
destroyed by the latter. Under the last
layer of the building (Fig. 7) a level of mud
that is practically sterile archaeologically
may be evidence for a temporary
abandonment of the site. This flooding of
the Nile occurred before the Nagada
settlers arrived at Tell el Farkha.
The interpretation of this complex
cannot be fully undertaken at the present
stage. The size of the structure and the
thickness of the main wall are noteworthy
and it is apparently the biggest Nagadan
structure discovered in Egypt so far. One
wonders what role it had served and who
were the people inhabiting it. Why was it
erected in a place that could not have been
presumably an important center of the
emerging state? The undecorated clay seals
found inside the building, along with
numerous small finds (small clay cones and
perforated and unperforated pellets), which
could have served for counting purposes,
and potsherds possibly of Palestinian
origin may constitute evidence of the
considerable role of commerce in the life of
the site's inhabitants. Perhaps we are
dealing with a residence combined with
stores, serving the trade between Upper
Egypt on one hand and the Delta and
Palestine on the other.
Indubitably connected with phase 2 at
Tell el Farkha is a structure, which
following the investigations of the
previous season was construed as related to
some domestic activities requiring the use
of fire. Of interest were bricks of
a characteristic shape, different from the
common sort in that they were flat on one
side and convex on the other, resembling
the letter “D” in section. Bricks of this
kind, commonly designated as fire-dogs,
are also present in other layers at Tell
el Farkha, as well as at many other sites,
but they have never been found in any
recognizable arrangement outside of
Abydos and Hierakonpolis. The highest
level of the building was found on the
same absolute level as the deepest layers of
the Nagadan structure discussed above.
The 4 by 4 m structure comprised (as it
turned out in the lower layers) three
adjacent circles. Its edges were surrounded
by stacked and inconsistently burned
D-shaped bricks, ranging from mud-
colored to red and even entirely black. It is
noteworthy that mudbricks constitute
a significant majority in the lowermost
layer, suggesting apparently that the firing
was quite accidental. Outside the circles
three post-holes were recorded, the posts
presumably supporting the roof. Numer-
ous flat pieces of clay, thin and baked, with
impressions of plants and human fingers
(similar to the ones discovered in the
91
EGYPT
The building in the lower layers was
fundamentally different. There is an
obvious level of destruction under the
southern part of the rounded corner,
broadening toward the outside of the wall.
In effect, the inner part, made of sand
bricks, forms a rectangular corner on the
south, while the mudbrick part is reduced
to just one row of bricks. The width of the
wall is 1.60 m. The main wall is further
reduced in thickness and the division into
smaller compartments is evident under the
layer of destruction (Fig. 6). Since the
uncovered part obviously constitutes the
foundation, a casemate construction may
be assumed: relatively thin walls (0.30-
0.60 m) forming spaces that were later
filled with earth.
It is noteworthy that relatively thin
walls have also been recorded east of the
main wall, possibly constituting the
remains of adjacent buildings that must
have been much like the ones described
above. They had abutted from the east
buildings that belonged to on older phase
of the complex and were presumably
destroyed by the latter. Under the last
layer of the building (Fig. 7) a level of mud
that is practically sterile archaeologically
may be evidence for a temporary
abandonment of the site. This flooding of
the Nile occurred before the Nagada
settlers arrived at Tell el Farkha.
The interpretation of this complex
cannot be fully undertaken at the present
stage. The size of the structure and the
thickness of the main wall are noteworthy
and it is apparently the biggest Nagadan
structure discovered in Egypt so far. One
wonders what role it had served and who
were the people inhabiting it. Why was it
erected in a place that could not have been
presumably an important center of the
emerging state? The undecorated clay seals
found inside the building, along with
numerous small finds (small clay cones and
perforated and unperforated pellets), which
could have served for counting purposes,
and potsherds possibly of Palestinian
origin may constitute evidence of the
considerable role of commerce in the life of
the site's inhabitants. Perhaps we are
dealing with a residence combined with
stores, serving the trade between Upper
Egypt on one hand and the Delta and
Palestine on the other.
Indubitably connected with phase 2 at
Tell el Farkha is a structure, which
following the investigations of the
previous season was construed as related to
some domestic activities requiring the use
of fire. Of interest were bricks of
a characteristic shape, different from the
common sort in that they were flat on one
side and convex on the other, resembling
the letter “D” in section. Bricks of this
kind, commonly designated as fire-dogs,
are also present in other layers at Tell
el Farkha, as well as at many other sites,
but they have never been found in any
recognizable arrangement outside of
Abydos and Hierakonpolis. The highest
level of the building was found on the
same absolute level as the deepest layers of
the Nagadan structure discussed above.
The 4 by 4 m structure comprised (as it
turned out in the lower layers) three
adjacent circles. Its edges were surrounded
by stacked and inconsistently burned
D-shaped bricks, ranging from mud-
colored to red and even entirely black. It is
noteworthy that mudbricks constitute
a significant majority in the lowermost
layer, suggesting apparently that the firing
was quite accidental. Outside the circles
three post-holes were recorded, the posts
presumably supporting the roof. Numer-
ous flat pieces of clay, thin and baked, with
impressions of plants and human fingers
(similar to the ones discovered in the
91