Tell el-Farkha

Tell el-Farkha

Tell el-Farcha
Ghazala

• Project name:

  Polish Archaeological Expedition to the Eastern Nile Delta

  Project site:

  www.farkha.org

  Facebook:

  Polish Archaeological Expedition to the Eastern Nile Delta – Tell el-Farkha
  

• Type of site:

  Multicultural site: settlements, city, cemeteries

  Location:

  Egypt
  Eastern Delta
  Daqahliya Province

  Dating:

  – Lower Egyptian culture; corresponding to the Naqada IIB–C period (about 3700–3500 BC)
  – Naqada IID1–mid-IIIB period (about 3500–3200 BC)
  – Protodynastic period (Naqada IIIB–IIIC1, 3200–3000 BC)
  – Early Dynastic period (Naqada IIIC2–IIID; middle of the 1st–2nd dynasty, 3000–2700 BC)
  – Old Kingdom (3rd–4th dynasty, 2700–2600 BC)
  

Most interesting finds:

– Lower Egyptian culture settlement divided into functional quarters (residential, representative, and economic)
– The oldest brewing center in Egypt (about 3700–3500 BC)
– The so-called Naqadian residence – the largest predynastic residential building known from Egypt (about 3500–3350 BC, Western Kom)
– Protodynastic settlement on the Central Kom
– The oldest Egyptian mastaba (about 3300–3200 BC; Eastern Kom)
– Two gold statues of men (57 and 30 cm high; dated to before 3200 BC)
– Proto- and Early Dynastic administrative and cult center (about 3200–3000 BC, Western Kom) and votive deposits discovered there: several dozen figurines, mostly of hippopotamus tusk
– Multi-room storage buildings on the Central Kom, contemporary with the Predynastic residence (phase 1) and the administrative and cult center (phase 2)
– Early Dynastic tower-silo
– 140 graves dated from the Naqada IIIB period to the 3rd dynasty

History of research:

Dates of mission’s work:

1998–

Type of research:

Excavations

Directors:

Marek Chłodnicki, Archaeological Museum in Poznań
Krzysztof Ciałowicz, Institute of Archeology, Jagiellonian University

Co-operating institutions:

– Institute of Archeology, Jagiellonian University
– Archaeological Museum in Poznań
– Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw
– Patrimonium Foundation
– Silesian Museum in Katowice
– AGH University of Science and Technology
– Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences
– State Archaeological Museum in Warsaw

Additional information:

Excavations are conducted since 1998 by the Archaeological Museum in Poznań and the Institute of Archeology, Jagiellonian University, under the auspices of the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw.
National Science Centre grant, Opus 7: Assoc. Prof. Krzysztof M. Ciałowicz, “Social and political changes in the Eastern Nile Delta at the turn of the 4th and 3rd millennia BC (Jagiellonian University, Institute of Archeology)”.

Description of the site and research:

Tell el-Farkha is a multicultural site, encompassing a Predynastic settlement, Proto- and Early Dynastic city, as well as Protodynastic, Early Dynastic, and Old Kingdom cemeteries.

Seven main phases of the settlement were distinguished. The first phase is dated to the Lower Egyptian culture contemporary with the Naqada IIB–C period (about 3700–3500 BC). The next one is a transitional period between the Lower Egyptian and Naqadian cultures (Naqada IID1; about 3500–3450 BC). The beginning of southern Egyptian dominance is dated to the Naqada IID2–beginning of the IIIA1 period (about 3450–3350 BC). In the Naqada IIIA1–mid-IIIB period (3350–3200 BC), new settlers came from the south of the country, and trade with the Levant expanded. The next phase of the settlement dates to the Protodynastic (from the reign of Iry-Hor to the middle of the 1st dynasty; Naqada IIIB–IIIC1; 3200–3000 BC) and Early Dynastic period (Naqada IIIC2–IIID; middle of the 1st–2nd dynasty; 3000–2700 BC), when Tell el-Farkha lost its political significance but retained economic importance. In the Old Kingdom (3rd–4th dynasty; 2700–2600 BC), the settlement gradually fell into decline.

The research carried out in Tell el-Farkha significantly changed the opinions on the creation of the Egyptian state and the role played by the Delta in the formative period. Evidence of close relations with the Levant and Upper Egypt during the Lower Egyptian culture period was found. The name of this culture was introduced into the literature as a result of the excavations in Tell el-Farkha. Among the settlers who came to the site from Upper Egypt, at least three groups were distinguished, probably connected with different political centers. Tell el-Farkha was determined to have been an administrative and cult center of the Eastern Delta at the least. The research also showed that mastaba as a type of tomb first appeared in the Delta.

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