Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (12.2000(2001))

DAKHLEH OASIS

EGYPT

SURVEY OF THE MUD PAN

The Mud Pan area is a flat expanse of land,
situated in the Eastern Dakhleh (aerial
photograph sheet No. 61-37), several
kilometers in diameter, with a surface
build of heavily eroded sandstone and
shale. Sandstone hills and spurs surround
it, while some rocky forms occur in its
center. This Pan was systematically walked
in its northern, southern and eastern parts
where all rock surfaces were examined with
the aim of finding petroglyphs. In total,
seven petroglyph sites have been dis-
covered in this area in the course of the
present fieldwork (one of these had been
found by the project several years ago, but
was located again only this year). In terms
of style and chronology, the sites represent

two groups: dynastic and prehistoric.
While dynastic sites seem to bear
characteristics of the Egyptian Old
Kingdom style, the “pre-dynastic”
petroglyphs come from a different
tradition, believed to date to the older
periods of the Holocene. Their chrono-
logical positioning should be established
in the course of future research.
On five of the prehistoric sites (30/450-
E4-4, 30/450-E4-5, 30/450-E4-7, 30/450-
E7-2 and 30/450-E7-3) the petroglyphs
represent two major categories of motifs:
animals and “goddesses” (images of
a female executed in sitting or standing
position, depicted in a manner, from
practically naturalistic to schematic).


250