Amara West 2013: a

kaleidoscope of life and

death in Egyptian Kush
Neal Spencer !ritish "useum
#ifty$si% days after flying out to Khartoum & landed this morning at
a grey icy 'eathro() *he temperature gradient + perhaps a
difference of 3,-. + is /ut one reminder that our si%th season of
field(ork at Amara West is no( complete) "any of the team are
still in the dig house today completing documentation and closing
up our house ahead of the ne%t season) & spent yesterday finishing
paper(ork in Khartoum (hile also (orking (ith curators Shadia
A/du 0a/o and &khlas A/del$1atif to accession our ne(ly$
disco2ered o/3ects into the collection of the Sudan National
"useum)
Kite 2ie( of neigh/ourhood E13 (ith to(n (all to right
4et as (ith all archaeological pro3ects the end of the season really
marks the /eginning of the ne%t and most time$consuming phase:
digitisation post$e%ca2ation (ork and trying to make sense of it
all) &t5s a little o2er(helming to consider the kaleidoscope of (ork
undertaken /y a team of 20 specialists from nine countries 6from
Australia to Sudan7 o2er the last (eeks) "any thanks to e2eryone
and also all those in A/ri Ernetta island and Khartoum (ho made
the season possi/le + amidst sandstorms plagues of /iting flies
chilly mornings electrical /lackouts da(n /oat 3ourneys on the
Nile crocodile sightings and fantastic /reakfasts (ith the
(orkmen8)
The town
Within the (alls of the ancient to(n (e continued (ork in
neigh/ourhood E13) Sarah 9oherty and Shadia A/du 0a/o
re2ealed the full plan of E13), a medium$si:ed d(elling at the
east end of the /lock) *he inha/itants had fitted out each room
(ith sandstone door(ays many /uilt using re$used /locks from an
earlier /uilding one naming an ;o2erseer of the granaries
'orhotep5 presuma/ly one of the high$ranking officials (ho li2ed
at Amara West) <nlike other houses in the /lock the /read o2ens
charcoal pits and cereal grinding emplacements (ere housed in an
anne% outside the house itself e%ca2ated /y Shadia) 9espite
plans to in2estigate the phase /eneath (e (ere instead tempted
north of the house (here Sarah re2ealed parts of another house
6=7 and an area (ith large o2ens or kilns + (ith tantalising
e2idence hinting atfaience production)
Shadia e%ca2ating o2ens associated (ith house E13),
"at 9alton completed the e%ca2ation of the communal
area E13)13 (hich pro2ided food processing and charcoal
making facilities for the inha/itants of houses E13)3$N and E13)3$
S) 0eturning to the ;(hite house5 E13)> "at re2ealed the striking
schist and sandstone floor of one of the large storage rooms that
characterised the area /efore it /ecame a /lock of houses) "at
also spent time taking /lock samples of floor layers and occupation
deposits from the e%ca2ated houses: these (ill /e studied as thin
sections under high$magnification re2ealing ancient acti2ities
in2isi/le to the naked eye)
0ight in the heart of the neigh/ourhood + a room rather difficult to
find? + Anna Ste2ens grappled (ith a small space that pro2ides
important e2idence for many /uilding phases ho( the maga:ines
(ith 2aulted roofs (ere con2erted for use as houses) *he ancient
inha/itants (ere clearly unhappy (ith the idea of li2ing in long
corridor$like spaces and (ent to considera/le lengths to change
the proportions created /y the e%isting architecture)
*he to(n site /eside the Nile (ith our tents in foreground
We managed to empty all pre2iously e%ca2ated rooms in the
neigh/ourhood so thatSusie @reen could capture untold giga/ytes
of digital images) *hese (ill /e used to create a 39 model using
the concept of ;Structure from "otion5 + all (ith the challenge of
photographing e2erything /efore the sun5s rays created shado(s)
*he stunning kite photographs (ill not only em/ellish this
2isualisation /ut also pro2ided us (ith a ne( perspecti2e of the
site and its landscape)
Autside of the to(n (alls 0i:(an Safir and Bera "ichel
perse2ered through layers of (all collapse and roofing remains +
further hampered /y deep sandpits left /ehind (hen the ancient
/rick (alls (ere mined out) As the season ended (e had gained
further insights into the different type of house sought /y those
(ho mo2ed /eyond the to(n (allsC there may ha2e /een more
space /ut the ne( households had to cope (ith more e%posure to
the elements)
A flying 2isit from Ale%andra Winkels conser2ation scientist
allo(ed her to collect (all plaster samples (hich (ill /e compared
to sites from across Egypt including *ell el$Amarna)
Cemetery C
*he highlight of our third season in cemetery . led /y "ichaela
!inder (as the disco2ery of the largest tom/ yet found at Amara
West: @2DD) !eneath a lo( mound 6tumulus7 the 2ertical shaft led
to t(o /urial cham/ers one to the east one to the (est) What (as
not e%pected (ere the three other cham/ers)
Ehilip and "ichaela at (ork in @ra2e 2DD
Eatience (as needed as the first cham/er (as meticulously
e%ca2ated (ith remains of painted coffins and a fine ceramic
assem/lage /eing studied /y 1oretta Kilroe) "ore (ork is needed
here /ut the tom/ seems to /e late 0amesside in date)
Fust to the north !ar/ara .hau2et spent most of her season in the
eastern cham/er of a post$Ne( Kingdom niche gra2e 6@2D37
(here another complicated array of superimposed /odies needed
disentangling) "ohamed Saad archaeologist at the National
.orporation for AntiGuities and "useums and participant in the
&nstitute of !ioarchaeology Amara West #ield School e%ca2ated
the smaller (estern cham/er as (ell as a num/er of niche /urials
in the southeast of the cemetery)
#aience situla found in @ra2e 2DD 6Sudan
National "useum SN" 3DH1,7)
Back in the house
Aur e%pedition house (as home to all the necessary tasks of
e%ca2ation paper(ork processing archaeological samples and of
course organising and storing the finds and masses of ceramics)
"arie Banden/eusch documented all the finds from to(n and
tom/s from epigraphic recording of the inscri/ed /locks in
E13), matching scara/s (ith ancient clay impressions to
(ondering (hat to make of enigmatic pieces of (orked clay)
Alongside redisco2ering(onderful (ooden o/3ects from our 200I
e%ca2ations (ith "ichaela "arie also found time to continue (ork
on the roofing fragments from houses + (ith Bera pro2iding a
particularly steady supply from 2illa 912),)
*he masses of sherds from the to(n (ere processed on site /y
Alice Springuel and Anna @arnett) After an early season hando2er
from "arie "illet 6no( directing the 1ou2re e%ca2ations at el$
"u(eis7 Anna is studying our to(n ceramics particularly the
dating and (hether certain types of 2essel are associated (ith
particular rooms or spaces) Amidst many pottery dra(ings Alice
managed archaeological illustrations of key artefacts + from
scara/s to fertility figurines)
*he first (eekend sa( us host a small (orkshop on ceramics in
Ne( Kingdom Nu/ia though discussions ranged (ell /eyond
pottery (ith colleagues from Kerma Sai Sese/i and *om/os)
.opper alloy co/ra fitting 6#,HI37 after conser2ation
Ehilip Ke2in !ritish "useum conser2ator 3oined us for the last
three (eeks and pro2ed in2alua/le in reco2ering remains of
headrests and painted coffins from the cemetery coa%ing out
hidden inscriptions in the to(n and re2ealing the e%Guisite
decoration on copper alloy co/ras 6perhaps statue fittings7 found
/y Shadia in the 2012 season)
Last, but not least
"ark and Famie pondering ancient Nile histories in a deep trench
Famie Wood(ard and "ark "acklin returned for a third season to
in2estigate the ri2er systems in and around Amara West) Easily
outpacing all other team$mem/ers in terms of logistical demands
(e nonetheless managed t(o deep trenches (hich pro2ide
fantastic slices through the history of the Nile ri2er in this region)
Ane trench ran across the edge of the ancient island and into the
channel /ed north of the temple the other in the ;Neolithic Nile5
2km into the desert) We ha2e the .1D dates already and a(ait the
AS1 dates /ut a 2ery e%citing story is emerging 8 (atch this
space)
Returning to the Museum
<nlike nineteenth and early t(entieth century e%ca2ations
conducted /y many museums e%ca2ations in Egypt and Sudan no
longer lead to the acGuisition of o/3ects for collections in other
countries) So (hy does the !ritish "useum still undertake
archaeological pro3ects= Ne( techniGues + including those
outlined a/o2e + mean (e gain insights into the ancient past and
its people that (ere not possi/le in pre2ious e%ca2ations) None of
the o/3ects in the !ritish "useum or indeed any collection can /e
fully interpreted (ithout understanding the particular time place
culture and indeed natural en2ironment e%perienced and created
/y those (ho made the o/3ects) Amara West pro2ides an
opportunity to /etter understand life in Nu/ia during the late
second millennium !. in a region (here the climate (as
deteriorating) &t (as an area under the control of the mighty
0amesside state ruled from the royal residence city of Eer$
0amses far a(ay near the "editerranean)
An important pharaonic to(n in a long$occupied land the
inha/itants of Amara West li2ed in an age of international
diplomacy cosmopolitan taste and competing superpo(ers) We
are /uilding up a picture of ho( people li2ed and treated their
dead at this to(n /ut also the nature of the Egyptian
entanglement (ith local Nu/ian cultures and the responses to
considera/le ecological changes) A story 2ery rele2ant to the
present)