Überblick
While the Nile Delta forms 50% of the ancient inhabitable territory in Egypt, its settlement history has only been researched in the vicinity of a few larger sites, and through a few extensive surveys. The Delta was characterised by a dynamic landscape. The number and courses of branches of the Nile changed fundamentally over time. The reduction to two large arms of the Nile, as is the case today, only occurred around 1000 CE. Prior to this, a longer process had occurred, during which new arms developed and existing arms shifted or silted up. The annual inundation of the Nile demanded that settlements were constructed upon areas safe from flooding. This dynamic within the alluvial landscape generated new living conditions time and again, these directly effecting the settlement sphere. The relationship between the changing environment and settlement trajectories is to be investigated for this region.
As a result of long-term research at the central site of Buto (Tell el-Fara’in), its settlement history may now be reconstructed. This site displays a prominent religious significance and a very long history of settlement, ranging from the 5th millennium BCE to Late Antiquity. A remarkable lacuna in settlement is nonetheless evident for the period between the end of the Old Kingdom (ca. 2300 BCE) and the close of the New Kingdom (ca. 1070 BCE). The excellent present understanding of Buto’s occupation forms something of an exception within the north-western Delta. Little is still known of the settlement history of the surrounding area and the form of the ancient landscape. This situation is to be addressed by way of two approaches, namely those of landscape archaeology and settlement archaeology.
Begun in 2010, the survey project “Landscape archaeology and regional settlement networks around Buto” investigates a ca. 550 km2 area north, east, and south of the ancient city of Buto. In order to reconstruct the ancient landscape, analysis of existing cartographic material and satellite images was combined with targeted field investigations. On the basis of the information obtained, a project to excavate the Ptolemaic–Late Roman settlement on the 20 ha large site of Kom el-Gir was initiated in 2019. This settlement mound’s trajectory can probably be considered typical for the entire region.