Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (16.2004(2005))

TELL EL-LARKHA

EGYPT

WESTERN KOM

Excavation of the western kom at Tell
el-Farkha (closed by April 22) aimed at
completing the exploration of features re-
vealed in 2003 and excavating the under-
lying layers.
With the results bearing directly upon
the work carried out in this area in 2000,
a brief review of the earlier findings is in
order. The two phases in question are the
two earliest settlement phases on Tell
el-Farkha. Phase 2 was clearly transitional
and featured pottery and architectural re-
mains typical of both the Naqada (Ilc/d) and
Lower Egyptian cultures. The older phase 1
was associated with Lower Egyptian culture
exclusively.
THE BREWERIES
The building discovered in phase 2 deposits
in 2000 was then thought to represent the
earliest brewery of its time anywhere in the
Nile Delta. It measured c. 4 x 4 m and
consisted of three abutting circular struc-
tures. At the center of each was a clearly
defined ring of bricks (0.40-0.60 m in dia-
meter). Several long, narrow bricks rammed
diagonally into the ground were found
around them. The edges of the structure in
question were surrounded by bricks laid on
top of one other. Three postholes recorded
outside this construction probably held the
posts supporting the roof. Numerous thin,
fired clay 'tiles' bearing plant impressions
and human fingerprints were found among
the fill deposits of ash and burnt earth, sug-
gesting that the roof was made of organic
materials covered with clay.
The 2000 season also saw the excava-
tion of the eastern section of a large Lower

Egyptian building made of organic
materials, evidenced by a series of furrows
(up to several dozen centimeters in length)
filled with brown soil demarcating the
layout of its walls. The interior division of
the building into numerous rooms of
various sizes was particularly notable, as
was the use of a large number of posts as
structural elements supporting the walls
and roof.
Towards the end of the 2003 season
a second brewery was discovered 10 m west
of the first one, but was not excavated for
lack of time.2 This task was undertaken in
2004, but was completed only in part,
owing primarily to the discovery in the
underlying strata of a further two brewery
buildings. Again, the complex strati-
graphy and size of these structures (they
covered a total surface area of c. 10 x 17 m)
resulted in their not being excavated in full
[Fig. 1]. Despite this, it can be said that all
three of the brewery buildings uncovered
in 2003 were probably slightly older than
the one revealed in 2000 and described
above. The chronological sequence is in
this case significant. The earliest brewery
was at some point destroyed by the annual
Nile flood, a phenomenon that must have
been relatively common in the Delta at the
time. It should be borne in mind that at
the time the island did not rise signifi-
cantly above the river level. After an un-
specified time, a second structure was built
and when this, too, disappeared under
inundation deposits of Nile silt, another
building was raised. The last of the
sequence was the building discovered in
2000 and described at the beginning of
this report.

2 Cf. PAM XV, Reports 2003 (2004), 102.

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