Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (12.2000(2001))

DAKHLEH OASIS

EGYPT

DAKHLEH OASIS
MAGNETIC SURVEY 1999-2000
Tomasz Herbich, Tatyana N. Smekalova

The research was part of the Dakhleh Oasis Project (DOP) directed by Prof. Anthony J. Mills. ^
Objectives included magnetic surveying ofEin el-Gezareen, the Old Kingdom site in the western part
of the Oasis, between the towns of el-Qasr and Gedida, in the modern district of Mushia. The site
was originally tested and appears in the DOP index as 32/390-K2-2.1 2) A probe 10 by 13 m
excavated by A. J. Mills in 1997-1998 revealed mudbrick architecture and fill that contained
substantial ash deposits.
The goal of the magnetic survey was to provide data on the extent of the settlement and its
layout. The results were expected to be useful in view of the big contrast between mudbrick walls
and the filling of the rooms in terms of magnetic properties, as well as the relative closeness of the
remains to the surface.

1) Fieldwork in 1999 was carried out by Tatyana Smekalova (Physical Institute, St. Petersburg State University, Russia)
and Tomasz Herbich (Polish Center of Archaeology, Warsaw University). In 2000, Mr. Herbich was unable to participate
and T. Smekalova continued the fieldwork alone.
2) A.J. Mills, “Dakhelh Oasis Project. Report on the Second Season of Survey, September-December, 197 9",Journal of the
Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiques X, (Toronto 1980), 257-258.

259