Joanne Rowland

Radiocarbon-based chronology for dynastic Egypt.

Date with the Pharaohs Ancient Egypt dominated the Mediterranean world for several thousand years. However, the absolute chronology of this civilization has been uncertain, even though the sequence of rulers is well documented. Bronk Ramsey et al. (p. 1554; see the Perspective by Bruins) now provide a detailed radiocarbon-based record using more than 200 samples that spans much of this time and reduces uncertainties in some cases to less than 20 years. To avoid artifacts, the authors dated only short-lived plant remains from known contexts (i.e., that were associated with specific reigns). They then used the known reign lengths as a further constraint to obtain a final chronology. The final dates agree most closely with the previous older chronology but force some revisions to the timing of events in the Old Kingdom, the period in the third millennium B.C.E. when Egypt attained its first continuous peak of civilization. Many radiocarbon dates from short-lived plant remains provide a long and accurate chronology for ancient Egypt. The historical chronologies for dynastic Egypt are based on reign lengths inferred from written and archaeological evidence. These floating chronologies are linked to the absolute calendar by a few ancient astronomical observations, which remain a source of debate. We used 211 radiocarbon measurements made on samples from short-lived plants, together with a Bayesian model incorporating historical information on reign lengths, to produce a chronology for dynastic Egypt. A small offset (19 radiocarbon years older) in radiocarbon levels in the Nile Valley is probably a growing-season effect. Our radiocarbon data indicate that the New Kingdom started between 1570 and 1544 B.C.E., and the reign of Djoser in the Old Kingdom started between 2691 and 2625 B.C.E.; both cases are earlier than some previous historical estimates.

Synchronising radiocarbon dating and the Egyptian historical chronology by improved sample selection

Egypt has some of the oldest written records and extended lists of named rulers. But radiocarbon dates have only fulfilled expectations 66 per cent of the time. So why haven&t the two types of dating made a better match? The authors provide a dozen excellent reasons, which will sound the alarm among researchers well beyond Dynastic Egypt.

Prehistoric sites along the edge of the Western Nile Delta: Report on the results of the Imbaba Prehistoric Survey 2013-14

In the winter/spring of 2013 a new project was initiated by the lead author in the region of Merimde Beni Salama: the Imbaba Governorate Prehistoric Survey.1 This inter-disciplinary survey focussed along the western Nile Delta desert edge, from the registered archaeological site of Merimde Beni Salama in the south, northwards to the modern town of el-Khatatbah and the el-Ahmes quarry area. This survey developed from previous research in the region by the EES Minufiyeh Archaeological Survey, when members of the team first visited the region in 2008.2 A second study season was also undertaken in in the winter of 2014,3 and the third in autumn 2014; the results of the latter are not included here.

The Delta Survey: Minufiyeh Province, 2008–9*

This fieldwork report presents the results of the ground survey phase of fieldwork of the Minufiyeh Archaeological Survey during the 2008 and 2009 seasons. These seasons also saw the continuation of investigations into the cemetery and Sacred Falcon Necropolis at the Quesna archaeological area and into the archaeological remains at Kom el-Ahmar, Minuf. The 2008 season saw the first visit of the ground survey to the region between el-Khatatbah and Kafr Dawud, west of the Rosetta branch of the Nile, as well as further investigation into sites across the province and the continuation of the drill core survey. In 2009 the ground survey returned to the desert edge in the vicinity of el-Khatatbah for a focussed survey investigating early encampments and settlements along the desert edge.

The Ptolemaic-Roman Cemetery at the Quesna Archaeological Area

The 2007 season of the Minufiyeh Archaeological Survey commenced with a topographic survey at Quesna, and continued with the opening of two test trenches to evaluate the results of a magnetometry survey undertaken in 2006. These renewed investigations in 2007 were situated to the west of the mausoleum, and revealed burials of the Ptolemaic and Roman periods; these included simple pit burials, mud-brick burials, and ceramic coffins. The second trench was aimed at better understanding a rectangular structure adjoining the falcon necropolis in the west, and was successful in locating a multi-room mud-brick building with internal and external walls defined. The initial interpretation of this structure is that it served as an entrance building, originally with vaulted ceilings, which led beneath the ancient ground level and, it might be assumed, into the corridors of the falcon necropolis.

Data for: The fluvial evolution of the Holocene Nile Delta

The evolution of the Nile Delta, the largest delta system in the Mediterranean Sea, has both high palaeoenvironmental and archaeological significance. A dynamic model of the landscape evolution of this delta system is presented for the period c.8000–4500 cal BP. Analysis of sedimentary data and chronostratigraphic information contained within 1640 borehole records has allowed for a redefinition of the internal stratigraphy of the Holocene delta, and the construction of a four-dimensional landscape model for the delta’s evolution through time. The mid-Holocene environmental evolution is characterised by a transition from an earlier set of spatially varied landscapes dominated by swampy marshland, to better-drained, more uniform floodplain environments. Archaeologically important Pleistocene inliers in the form of sandy hills protruding above the delta plain surface (known as “turtlebacks”), also became smaller as the delta plain continued to aggrade, while the shoreline and coastal zone prograded north. These changes were forced by a decrease in the rate of relative sea-level rise under high rates of sediment-supply. This dynamic environmental evolution needs to be integrated within any discussion of the contemporary developments in the social sphere, which culminated in the emergence of the Ancient Egyptian State c.5050 cal BP.

An old kingdom mastaba and the results of continued investigations at Quesna in 2010

In spring 2010 a surprising find was made at Quesna during investigations to the north of the sacred falcon necropolis. A mud-brick structure was uncovered which yielded ceramic finds dating to the late third to early fourth dynasties, a structure which transpired to be a mastaba tomb following investigations during the summer season 2010. Previous evidence at the site had not pre-dated the Late Period. Work in the northwestern corner of the entrance structure belonging to the sacred falcon necropolis itself continued in spring 2010, and two trenches were opened in the south of the site, in close proximity to the modern SCA buildings. Spring 2011 saw the continuation of the ground survey, drill coring at the sites of Kom Usim, el-Rimaly/Umm Harb and Sobek el-Dahak, with field walking and observation of surface ceramics during summer 2011. A prehistoric survey took place in the region of el-Khatatbah in September 2011 and geophysical prospection continued on the northern edge of the site at Quesna, using ground penetrating radar, in August 2011.