Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (14.2002(2003))

DENDERA

EGYPT


Testing on the axis of the eastern dromos
leading from the Hathor temple to the
Eastern temple, where a mound of stone
blocks and debris undoubtedly from some
cult building is to be seen, revealed little of
consequence. Hence the work was moved
to the urban district situated to the east of
the temple. Remains of domestic archi-
tecture of the First Intermediate Period
and Roman times were uncovered.
The Roman-period ruins were located
nearer the Hathor precinct and included
two wells of baked brick and stone debris
from the destruction of a sacral building of
the 1st century AD. The blocks were
covered with relief decoration and hiero-
glyphs, which corresponded in iconogra-
phic repertoire and textual content to the
decoration of the main temple. Small finds
from this chronological horizon included
some Hellenistic and Roman terracotta
figurines and a discouraging few (just two)
more or less complete Greek ostraca.
The putative bakery of the First Inter-
mediate Period discovered during the first
season has duly been confirmed in its func-
tion.3) The ceramic assemblage is inter-
esting, especially the storage containers and
numerous forms for baking bread, both the
slender conical types and the flat-bottomed
ones that are widened near the base. The
building, of which the bakery was part, was
enlarged repeatedly. It was also storied to
judge by the remains of a staircase.

During the most recent season, in
2002, explorations cleared the main
entrance to the building with a stone
threshold, a stone-paved vestibule and
another mud-brick staircase. Inside,
a hearth was found. A silo filled with
potsherds of the Twelfth Dynasty, recorded
in the western part of the building,
presumably reflects a later addition to the
complex.
Perhaps of greatest interest were the
remains of a “garden” adjoining the
structure. It appears to have consisted of
square “plots” where plants (trees ?) had
been grown. Palaeobotanical research4) on
charred vegetal remains from the hearth
inside the bakery led to the identification
of several kinds of grain, a variety of
graminaceae and flowers, including daisies.
Faunal remains from the area have been
identified as belonging to domestic
animals.
The excavations at Dendera are pro-
viding insight into urban architecture of
Pharaonic Egypt of which there are
precious few testimonials. The complex,
which will continue to be excavated in the
coming seasons, originated sometime in
late Old Kingdom times and functioned
through the First Intermediate Period and
into the Middle Kingdom. Detailed
studies of the archaeological and
architectural evidence should substantiate
the ongoing discussion on the subject.5)

3) Parallels include the bakery excavated by a French expedition at Balat in Dakhlah Oasis and the bakery from the Old
Kingdom discovered by M. Lehner in Giza in 1991-
4) Carried out by Claire Newton of the University of Montpellier.
5) On the Pharaonic origins of Dendera, cf. W.M. Flinders Petrie, Dendereh 1898 (London 1900); more recently, R.A.
Slater, The Archaeology of Denderah in the First Intermediate Period, University of Pennsylvania Ph.D. (Ann Arbor 1974);
B.J. Kemp, “The location of the early town at Dendera”, MDAIK 41 (1985), 89-98.

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