Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (19.2007(2010))

TELL EL-LARKHA

EGYPT

domestic and utilitarian purposes. The size of
the complex (several hundred square metres),
the variety, not only of the rooms, but also of
building techniques, and in particular the
two probable shrines used for cult purposes,
permit a number of preliminary conclusions
at this stage.
Firstly, it is becoming increasingly obvious
that Tell el-Farkha was a very important centre
in the Eastern Delta during the transition
between the late Predynastic and Early
Dynastic periods. It may have even served as a
local capital or administrative centre associa-
ted with the first rulers of Egypt.
Secondly, votive deposits found in
numerous locations throughout Egypt
(Elephantine, Elierakonpolis, Abydos in
Upper Egypt, Tell Ibrahim Awad in Lower
Egypt) evidence a variety of complex local
cults, even if it is still difficult to ascertain
whom they were addressed to. It is still
unclear whether at the dawn of Egyptian
statehood specific, clearly defined gods were
already being worshipped, or whether the
king, as guarantor of order and all aspects of
life, was the subject of cult devotion.
Thirdly, the deposits discovered at
Tell el-Farkha are the only ones in Egypt to
be so precisely dated. All of those found
earlier included items from later phases of

Egyptian civilization: the Old Kingdom,
First Intermediate period and even the
Middle Kingdom. This led some scholars to
link them to much later periods, negating
the very idea of a separate stage in Egyptian
art associated with the Proto- and
Predynastic period (Baumgartel 1968: 7-14;
Kemp 1989: 75). The Tell el-Farkha deposits
come from contexts securely dated to the
transition between Dynasties 0 and I. It is
worth recalling that the Western Kom at
Tell el-Farkha was ultimately abandoned in
the first half of the First Dynasty and was
never resettled, thus providing an excellent
terminus ante quem. This dating of the finds
from Tell el-Farkha makes it possible to assert
conclusively that the first great period of
development in Egyptian art took place
during the formation of the Egyptian state.
Many models established at that time were
copied with greater or lesser modifications
over the next three thousand years up until
the fall of Egyptian civilization.
Fourthly, the fact that the content of
deposits varies between individual sites
suggests that no universally accepted canons
were in force during the emergence of the
Egyptian state. It also implies that various
forms of rituals and cults were practised in
various parts of Egypt.

CENTRAL KOM

This season the Predynastic level dated to
the Naqada IID phase was reached on this
mound, which was continuously occupied
until the Old Kingdom period (as indicated
by excavations carried out here since 2000,
cf. Chlodnicki, Cialowicz 2001: 96; 2002:
111-113; 2003: 104-106; 2004: 104-105;
2005: 135-137; 2007: 147-149: 2009:
147). This phase is especially interesting
because it was a transitional one with

material of both cultures, Lower Egyptian
and Naqadan, being found together at
Tell el-Farkha.
Fundamental changes in the settlement
layout can be observed at this level. The first
Naqadans at Tell el-Farkha built mud-brick
walls which are more solid than those noted
in the uppermost levels of the Central
Kom.2 The bricks measure approximately
16 by 32 cm. Three rows of bricks

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Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 19, Reports 2007