Elizabeth Bloxam

The industrial landscape of the Northern Faiyum Desert as a World Heritage Site: modelling the ‘outstanding universal value’ of third millennium bc stone quarrying in Egypt

Abstract The pyramids and temples of the Egyptian Old Kingdom (early-mid-third millennium bc) are testament to an epoch of global significance in the evolution of monumental stone architecture. The basalt quarries of Widan el-Faras and gypsum quarries of Umm es-Sawan, located in the Northern Faiyum Desert of Egypt, were key production sites in the foreground of this transformation to large-scale stone quarrying. Yet, the significance and value of these archaeological sites in shaping elements of the cultural landscape of the Northern Faiyum Desert, currently under nomination for World Heritage listing, remains largely in the background. This paper attempts to develop a methodology to articulate ‘outstanding universal value’ and to raise the significance of the largely mundane and non-monumental remains of these production sites. By deploying formulations in landscape archaeologies and key concepts used in the nomination of the Blaenavon industrial landscape in South Wales as a World Heritage Site, it argues for the cultural landscape of the Northern Faiyum Desert authenticating one of the worlds oldest ‘industrial’ landscapes related to large-scale stone quarrying.

Old Kingdom basalt quarrying activities at Widan el-Faras, Northern Faiyum Desert

The quarry of Widan el-Faras in the Northern Faiyum Desert was the source of basalt used mainly for paving mortuary temples floors in some of the Fourth and Fifth Dynasty pyramid complexes. An examination of the layout of the quarry and the attached infrastructure, as well as the extracted volumes and the use of the basalt, indicates a campaign-like, seasonal exploitation of the stone linked to the high level of Lake Moeris during the Fourth and Fifth Dynasties. These conditions enabled medium-sized basalt blocks to be transported largely via water to the pyramid construction sites, thus avoiding lengthy and difficult carriage overland.

Survey and excavation at the Gebel El-Asr gneiss and quartz quarries in Lower Nubia (1997-2000)

Presentation des fouilles effectuees dans les carrieres de gneiss et de quartz a Gebel el-Asr (basse Nubie) de 1997 a 2000. Les AA commentent les decouvertes (steles, jarres de stockage...).