Kom Firin
Local histories and traditions
In 2005, a project was instigated to interview the inhabitants
of the modern village which lies adjacent to the site. Like many
sites in Egypt, the site has suffered from natural erosion and
decay, illicit and official excavations and particularly the
widescale quarrying of archaeological deposits to use as
agricultural fertiliser (sebakh).
However, such processes have rarely been seen from the viewpoint
of the people who live on and around the ancient sites. The
interviewees revealed fascinating details of previous excavations,
but also the organisation of sebakh-removal. 
In addition, the
existence of local mythologies related to the site became evident,
including the Tawahah, a goat-footed woman who would roam the site
at night.
Several local etymologies for the site name were proposed:
'Firin' was the name of a legendary king, or was a degradation of
kiffary, the Arabic word for non-believers. The name of the ancient
site remains unknown.
Another project sought to create a dialogue with local schools.
This included on-site visits, but also presentations by
team-members in nearby Nesim school.
This complemented a joint initiative between the British Museum
and Torriano Junior School in North London, to use materials from
Kom Firin to help with teaching Egypt in a cross-curricular
manner.
An Arabic leaflet on the first three seasons of work at Kom
Firin is available:
Download document (pdf 275kb)
This fieldwork would not be possible without the permission
and support of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Egypt.
Acknowledgement is also due to the staff at the Cairo Museum, who
facilitated research on the material from Kom Firin.
The work at Kom Firin is generously funded through The Townley
Group, part of the British Museum Friends. Thanks are also due to
the Archaeological Geophysics Laboratory of the University of Akron
(Ohio) and the Czech Institute of Egyptology. In addition, the
Egypt Exploration Society and Vodafone Egypt provided logistical
support.
Images (from top):
- Interviewing inhabitants of Kom Firin to
record local histories of the ancient site
- Visit of children from Nesim school to
the excavations at Kom Firin (October 2005)