Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (17.2005(2007))

TELL EL-BALAMUN

EGYPT


The southern part of the great temple
enclosure at Tell el-Balamun was surveyed
during the first season of magnetic
prospection in April 2005. Research in the
past decade in Qantir,2 Tell Farkha,3 Tell
Daba,4 Buto5 and Sais6 7 has demonstrated
the efficiency of this geophysical method in
surveying archaeological sites in the Delta.
The present prospection was carried out
in units 20 by 10 m, covering a total area
of 6.3 ha. Geoscan Research FM-36
gradiometers were used for measurements
taken in parallel mode (instrument moving
in one direction only), every 0.25 m along
lines traced 0.50 m apart, the sampling
grid being 0.50 by 0.25 m. The results
were presented as grayscale maps of
changes in the intensity of the Earth's
magnetic field.
The survey included areas in which mon-
uments had been detected by excavation in
previous seasons, as well as regions which
had never been investigated [Fig. 1}.
Consequently, in addition to providing

confirmation of the position of structures
previously excavated and mapped by the
British Museum expedition, the survey also
revealed the presence of many additional
buildings the existence of which had been
totally unknown. The most substantial
features in the former group were the two
temple enclosure walls of the Twenty-Sixth
and Thirtieth Dynasties, running parallel
to one another only a small distance apart.
Owing to the extent of these walls, the
excavation of their full perimeter was
impossible, but the magnetic map revealed
some new details in areas previously not
examined. The inner wall, of Twenty-Sixth
Dynasty date, is better preserved [Fig. 2],
although the most distinctive feature on the
magnetic map is the space between the
walls, characterized by higher values of
intensity of the magnetic field due to the
presence of ashes, burned soil etc. In the
southwestern section of the inner wall
(between the southwestern corner of D1 and
the southern edge of G4), the survey has

2 H. Becker, J.W. Fassbinder, "In search of Piramesses - the lost capital of Ramesses II in the Nile Delta (Egypt) by
caesium magnetometry", in: J. Fassbinder and W. Irlmger (eds), Archaeological Prospection. Third International
Conference on Archaeological Prospection, Arbeitshefte des Bayerischen Landesamtes fur Denkmalpflege 108 (1999), 146-
150.
3 M. Chiodnicki, K. Ciatowicz, R. Ablamowicz, T. Herbich, M. Jordeczka, M. Jucha, J. Kabacinski, A. Maczynska, "Tell
el-Farkha seasons 1998-1999- Preliminary report", AIDAIK 58 (2002), 116-117, PL 14.
4 T. Herbich, "Archaeological geophysics in Egypt: the Polish contribution", Archaeologia Polona 41 (2003), 28-30;
M. Bietak, J. Dorner and P. Janosi, "Ausgrabungen in dem Palastbezirk von Avans. Vorbericht Tell el-Dabca/cEzbet
Helmi 1993-2000", Agypten und Levante 11 (2001), 27-119; I. Forstner-Miiller, W. Muller, Ch. Schweitzer and
M. Weissl, "Preliminary report on the geophysical survey atcEzbet Rushdi/Tell el-Dabca in spring 2004", Agypten und
Levante 14 (2004), 101-109.
5 U. Hartung, P. Ballet, F. Beguin, J. Bournau, P. French, T. Herbich, P. Kopp, G. Lecuyot, A. Schmitt, "Tell el-Farain-
Buto", MDAIK 59 (2003), 199-267.
6 D. Hale, P. Wilson, "Geomagnetic surveys at Sais, Sa el-Hagar, western Delta, Egypt", Archaeologia Polona ^1 (2003),
185-188.
7 One ol the instruments was provided by the Programa de Estudios de Egiptologia (Consejo Nacional de Investigationes
Cientlficas y Tecnicas, Buenos Aires) on the grounds of a cooperation agreement with the Polish Centre of
Mediterranean Archaeology of Warsaw University.

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