Excavation in Egypt at Tell el-Balamun
Project leader: Jeffrey Spencer
Department: Ancient Egypt and Sudan
Project start: 1991
Project end: 2008
External partners:
Dr Tomasz Herbich,
Polish
Center for Mediterranean Archaeology and Polish Academy of
Sciences
Dr Patricia Spencer, Egypt Exploration Society
Project funded by:
The British Museum
Description:
This archaeological excavation in Egypt was
designed to recover the history of a major site in the Egyptian
Nile Delta. This region between Cairo and the Mediterranean is
archaeologically rich but not as well known as the sites of
southern Egypt. The excavation is one of a number which are
bringing to light the lost ancient cities in this part of
Egypt.
The discoveries made by the project have changed the perception
of the site from that of an unknown antique mound to the location
of one of the main cities of Lower Egypt, occupied for over three
millennia. The city of Tell el-Balamun was originally called Behdet
but in the New Kingdom (about 1200 BC) it acquired another name,
Paiuenamun, from which the modern ‘Balamun’ is derived. Fieldwork
took place annually in Spring, and in the most recent seasons,
magnetometer surveying has been carried out in collaboration with
colleagues from the Polish Center for Mediterranean Archaeology.
This technique is producing images of almost photographic quality
showing buried architecture of all kinds. It provides an excellent
guide for excavation to reveal the age and context of the
buildings.
Discoveries made by the project since 1991
include the foundations of four pharaonic temples, three
mud-brick enclosure walls, a secure citadel and a small cemetery
for important officials connected with the temples. The kings
responsible for the construction of three of the temples have been
identified from inscriptions found at the site. From later periods,
a Roman street has been discovered, paved with limestone slabs,
running through the centre of the town.
Objectives:
The excavation aims to illustrate the history
and development of the major Egyptian city of Tell el-Balamun and
its relationship to the surrounding environment. To better
understand the site, the project seeks to discover how the ancient
city was divided up into different areas for official use, public
monuments or private housing. By identifying these zones the task
of dealing with the large size of the site- it is over a kilometre
in diameter – is made easier.
The southern half of the site has been
identified as the location of a great complex of temples within
massive enclosure walls of sun-dried brick, and it is in this area
that magnetic mapping has revealed many new features. Some of these
have already been investigated by excavation but others remain to
be dug in order to establish their date, purpose and mode of
construction.
The context of the pottery and objects found
in the excavation often permits quite accurate dates to be given to
this material. This is valuable information for the explanation
similar antiquities in the British Museum’s collection, acquired in
the nineteenth century from early excavations in Egypt. In this way
the project can gain new knowledge about the site itself and about
existing collections at the same time.
More information:
Publications:
A.J. Spencer, with T. Herbich, ‘Geophysical survey at Tell
el-Balamun’, Egyptian Archaeology, 29 (Autumn 2006), pp.
16-19
A.J. Spencer, 'The Temple of Nekhtnebef at Tell
el-Balamun’, in BMSAES, 4, (2005), pp. 21-38:
www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/bmsaes/index.html
A.J. Spencer, ‘Main Street Diospolis Inferior’, in N.
Crummy (ed.), 'Image, Craft and the Classical World. Essays in
honour of Donald Bailey and Catherine Johns', Monogr.
Instrumentum, 29 (Montagnac, 2005), pp. 233-41
A.J. Spencer, Excavations at Tell El-Balamun,
1999-2001, (London, British Museum Press, 2003)
A.J. Spencer, 'An Elite Cemetery at Tell
el-Balamun’, Egyptian Archaeology, 18 (2001), pp.
18-20
A.J. Spencer, Excavations at Tell El-Balamun,
1995-1998 (London, British Museum Press, 1999)
A.J. Spencer, Excavations at Tell El-Balamun,
1991-1994 (London, British Museum Press, 1996)
A.J. Spencer, 'Archaeology in Egypt', in Museums and
Galleries of Britain and Ireland (Reed International, E.
Grinstead 1996), pp. xiv-xvi
A.J. Spencer, 'Diospolis - Balamoun', in Les Dossiers
d'archéologie, No. 213 (May 1996), (Editions Faton, Dijon),
pp. 86-9
A.J. Spencer, 'Work of the British Museum at Tell
el-Balamun’, Egyptian Archaeology 7 (1995), pp. 9-11
Images (from top):
- The track leading to Tell el-Balamun. The
high mounds of debris which mark the archaeological area are
visible in the background
- Excavation in progress on the
foundations of a temple of 370 BC