Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (18.2006(2008))

TELL EL-LARKHA

EGYPT

Dynastic times - from the Fourth Dynasty
or even the end of the First Intermediate
Period. The deposit found in 2006 in Tell
el-Farkha cannot be later than Dynasty 0
and I, as suggested by pottery datings for
the abandonment of this part of the site no

later than the middle of Dynasty I. This
deposit also seems more homogenous than
the one discovered earlier, in 2001, which
appears to have contained a few objects of
earlier date than the end of Dynasty 0 and
beginning of Dynasty I.

CENTRAL KOM

Work on the Central Kom concentrated on
completing the exploration of mud-brick
constructions revealed in 2005 (690 m2 of
excavated area). Eight successive layers
were explored: nos 51-58: 450-410 a.s.l. in
the main trench and nos 44-52; 465-425
a.s.l. in the slope trench, ending on early
Naqada Ilia — late Naqada lib levels.
As in the higher layers, the architecture
was found to develop on both sides of
a thick wall running NE-SW. The
buildings were arranged around two
courtyards. They consisted of oblong
rooms up to 3-50 m wide and almost 10 m
long, with smaller rooms less than 2 by 2
m in also being present. Remnants of kilns

and hearths were registered inside the
buildings and courtyards. The northern
part of the main trench, west of the thick
wall, was free of any archaeological
features.
In the slope trench, a mud-brick wall
1.50 m thick was discovered to run NW-SE,
that is, perpendicularly to the other main
walls here. At the edge of the tell, this wall
was destroyed in Old Kingdom times. At
the opposite end, it disappears into the
trench wall and does not reappear in the
main trench, which may indicate that it
turns somewhere along the way. It is
possible that this was a curtain wall
surrounding the settlement.

EASTERN KOM

Exploration continued of the Naqada III
A-B settlement investigated in 2004-2005
in the northwestern part of the trench. The
general layout of the walls followed a N-S
and E-W orientation with a slight def-
lection, forming more or less rectangular
habitations. The architecture revealed
nothing notable until level 29 when
a regular configuration of habitations was
recorded (rooms 131, 211, 212 and 186).
The thickness of the walls (more than
a meter wide) combined with the specific
brick bond suggested a building complex
of different function and importance. The

remaining architecture did not depart from
a pattern already established for the area:
severe damages caused by later pits
demonstrating extended and intense
human activity. Hearths and ash deposits
were frequent, occasionally including
ceramic jars.
An unprecedented discovery was made
in a small room (no. 205) which consisted
of three walls with the south side left open.
A stove with pot occupied a place inside
this unit and in the southeastern corner, by
the north wall, in a layer suggesting that
the wall was already ruined at this time

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