Tell el-Farkha

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Tell el-Farkha
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Shown within Egypt
LocationEgypt
Coordinates 30°52′14″N31°36′9″E / 30.87056°N 31.60250°E / 30.87056; 31.60250
Typesettlement
History
FoundedEarly 4th millennium BC
PeriodsLate Chacolithic, Early Bronze Age
Site notes
Excavation dates1986-1990, 1998-present
ArchaeologistsRodolfo Fattovich, Sandro Salvatori, Marek Chłodnicki, Krzysztof Ciałowicz
ConditionRuined
OwnershipPublic
Public accessYes

Tell el-Farkha ("Chicken Hill") is an ancient archaeological site in the eastern Nile Delta lying about 120 kilometers northeast of Cairo. It was occupied from about 3700 BC until about 2600 BC encompassing the Lower Egyptian and Early Naqada cultures and the Protodynastic period.

Contents

Archaeology

The site of Tell el-Farkha consists of three tells (Western Kom, Central Kom, Eastern Kom) with a total area of about 400 meters by 110 meters (just over 4 hectares) and a height of about 5 meters above the plain. It was first located Located in 1987 by an Italian archaeological expedition of the Centro Studi e Ricerche Ligabue in Venice. [1]

It was first excavated between 1986 and 1990 by a team from the Centro Studi e Ricerche Ligabue led by Rodolfo Fattovich and Sandro Salvatori, limited to the Old Kingdom remains. [2] [3] [4] After a hiatus excavation resumed in 1998 by a team under the auspices of the Institute of Archaeology of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków and the Polish Center of Archaeology of Warsaw University under the direction of Marek Chłodnicki and Krzysztof Ciałowicz and continue to the present. [5] [6] [7] [8]

Lower Egyptian and Early Naqada cultures

Notable finds include the earliest (c. 3500 BC) known brewery, on the Western Kom, consisting of a dozen large brick vats. Analysis of the plant remains allowed the brewing recipe to be recovered. With the arrival of the Naqada culture (in the Naqada II period) a monumental building was constructed on the former brewery. The new building encompassed several hundred square meters with multiple rooms facing an inner courtyard and two meter thick walls. That structure was later destroyed in a conflagration leaving a thick layer of ash and then covered with mud, presumably during a Nile inundation. [9] [10] [11] [12]

Protodynastic period

Name of King Iry-Hor, Dynasty 0, Eastern Kom, Tell el-Farkha. Name of King Iry-Hor, Dynasty 0, Eastern Kom, Tell el-Farkha.jpg
Name of King Iry-Hor, Dynasty 0, Eastern Kom, Tell el-Farkha.
Falcon-headed feline predator or "griffin". Late Predynastic period, end of Dynasty 0, Western Kom, Tell el-Farkha. Falcon-headed feline predator, and statuettes from Tell el-Farkha. Late Predynastic period (Naqada IIIB, c. 3200-3000 BCE). Egyptian Museum (Cairo). Cropped.jpg
Falcon-headed feline predator or "griffin". Late Predynastic period, end of Dynasty 0, Western Kom, Tell el-Farkha.

During this period an administrative-cultic center developed on Western Kom and a necrology developed on Eastern Kom. The Central Kom bore a residential-business zone. [15] This activity peaked during Dynasty 0 and gradually faded during the First Dynasty. The administrative-cultic center contained two chapels where many votive objects were found. In one chapel these included figurines of baboons and one figurine of a naked prostrating man. The second chapel included libation jugs and stands and figurines of people and animals, many made of hippopotamus ivory. [16] [17] [18] Other finds on the Western Kom included "miniature boats of various types, granaries, boxes, mirrors, cylindrical seals, game pieces, and stone vessels".

Numerous vessels were found at the site with "pot marks", probably used for the marking and inventory of goods, which are sometimes considered as the ancestors of hieroglyphs. Names of the rulers of Dynasty 0 also appear on these vessels, such as Iry-Hor, who is otherwise known from the Abydos area. The name of Narmer, the first historical king, also appears on two vessels. [13]

Golden figurines

On the Eastern Kom, in addition to the necrology, there was a small village. A deposit of "gold foil, carnelian and ostrich eggshell beads of a necklace, and two large flint knives " was found. When reconstructed the gold fragments formed two statues of naked men with lapis lazuli eyes. The statuettes represent standing naked males. The high is 60cm for the tallest, and 30cm for the other one. [19] The statues featured "large protruding ears, unnaturally large phalluses, and carefully modeled fingernails and toenails". The lapis lazuli came from what is now modern day Afghanistan. [19] The figurines represent bald individuals, with no facial hair and large protruding ears. [19] They are equipped with very large phallus sheaths, one of them decorated with a carved band around it. [19] The larger figure also has a necklace. [19] The core of the statuettes (now decomposed) was made of wood, which was covered with thin sheets of gold fastened by 140 golden rivets. [19]

Tell el-Farkha golden figurine (60cm tall).jpg
Male figurine from Tell el-Farkha. Late Predynastic period (Naqada IIIB, c. 3200-3000 BCE). Egyptian Museum (Cairo). 30cm height (cropped).jpg
Oldest known representations of ancient Egyptian rulers, from Tell el-Farkha (60 cm father left, 30cm son right). Late Predynastic period (Naqada IIIB, c. 3200–3000 BC). Egyptian Museum (Cairo). [20] [19]

These characteristics follow the stylistic conventions of Predynastic Egyptian art, similar to the Mahasna statuette (Amratian Period), or the Ashmolean Museum Mac Gregor Man statuette. [19] The golden statuettes most probably depict a Predynastic ruler and his son during the heb-sed festival, and they probably adorned a shrine in the Western Kom area. [21] They are thought to belong to the Naqada IIIB period (c. 3200–3000 BC), or possibly even Naqada IIIA (circa 3300 BC). [20] [19] They are thought to be the oldest known depictions of Ancient Egyptian rulers. [20] [19]

Together with the figures, two large flint knives were discovered, as well as a necklace of 382 beads (326 ostrich egg shells and 56 carnelian beads), dated to the same period. [19]

At the necrology 150 graves were excavated so far with dates ranging from Dynasty 0 to early Fourth Dynasty. [22] The necrology featured a monumental, over 300 square meters with 2.5 meter thick walls, building and dating c. 3100 BC. The building had a square main chamber with a descending shaft and is interpreted by the excavators as an early form of mastaba tomb better known from the later First Dynasty as are several smaller tombs at the site. [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [1]

History

Occupation at the site began in the Lower Egyptian culture which ran from about 3700 BC until 3300 BC. The next phase was part of the Naqada culture which is thought to have originated in the south of Egypt. The site reached its peak in the Protodynastic period, Dynasties 0 and 1, about 3000 BC. After that occupation at the site went into decline and ended entirely in the early Fourth Dynasty, about 2600 BC. Throughout the occupation there was widespread trade with the ancient Near East and Upper Egypt, the site being on a major trade route. [1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Ciałowicz, Krzysztof M., "The Predynastic/Early Dynastic period at Tell el-Farkha", Before the Pyramids. The Origins of Egyptian Civilization, Oriental Institute Museum Publications 33, Chicago: The Oriental Institute, pp. 55-64, 2011 ISBN   978-1-885923-82-0
  2. ↑ Manzo, A., "Rodolfo Fattovich (1945–2018)", Annali Sezione Orientale, 79(1-2), pp. 355-363, 2019
  3. ↑ M. Chłodnicki, R. Fattovich, S. Salvatori, "Italian Excavations in the Nile Delta: Fresh Data and New Hypotheses on the 4th Millennium Cultural Development of Egyptian Prehistory", Rivista di Archeologia, vol. 15, pp. 5-33, 1991
  4. ↑ Chlodnicki, Marek, Rodolfo Fattovich, and Sandro Salvatore, "The Nile Delta in transition: A view from Tell el-Farkha", Nile delta in transition: 4th.-3rd. millennium bc: proceedings of the seminar held in cairo, 21.-24. october 1990, at the netherlands institute of archaeology and arabic studies. ECM van den Brink, 1992
  5. ↑ Chłodnicki, M. & Ciałowicz, K., "Tell el-Farkha: Explorations. 1998", Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 10, pp. 63–70, 1998
  6. ↑ Chłodnicki, M. & Ciałowicz, K. M. et al., "Tell el-Farkha (Ghazala): Season 2001", Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 13, pp. 105–126, 2001
  7. ↑ Ciałowicz, Krzysztof M., "Thirteen Years of Polish Excavations at Tell El-Farkha", Folia Orientalia, pp. 359-370, 2010
  8. ↑ Dębowska-Ludwin, Joanna, "A Newly Discovered “Bull Head Amulet” from Tell El-Farkha, Egypt", Studies in Ancient Art and Civilization 28, pp. 99-114, 2024
  9. ↑ Kubiak-Martens, Lucy, and Jerzy J. Langer, "Predynastic Beer Brewing as Suggested by Botanical and Physicochemical Evidence from Tell el-Farkha, Eastern Delta", in Egypt at Its Origins 2 (Proceedings of the International Conference Origin of the State, Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt, Toulouse, France, 5–8 September 2005), edited by Béatrix Midant-Reynes and Yann Tristant, Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 172, Leuven: Peeters, pp. 427–41, 2008
  10. ↑ Cichowski, Krzysztof, "The Brewery Complex from Tell el-Farkha: Archaeological Aspects of the Discovery", in Egypt at Its Origins 2 (Proceedings of the International Conference Origin of the State, Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt, Toulouse, France, 5–8 September 2005), edited by Béatrix Midant-Reynes and Yann Tristant. Leuven: Peeters, pp. 33–40, 2008
  11. ↑ Ciałowicz, Krzysztof M., "Phase 5 (Naqada IIIb–IIIc1) in Tell El-Farkha. The Peak of Development or the Beginning of Decline?", Studies in Ancient Art and Civilization 26, pp. 7-23, 2022
  12. ↑ Jucha, Mariusz A., "Naqada IIIB pottery in the Nile Delta: a view from Tell el-Farkha", Studies in Ancient Art and Civilization 16, pp. 61-73, 2012
  13. 1 2 Cialowicz, Krzysztof M. (2011). "6. The Early-Dynastic/Pre-Dynastic period at Tell al-Fakrah". Before the pyramids: the origins of Egyptian civilization; [publ. in conjunction with the Exhibition Before the Pyramids: The Origins of Egyptian Civilization, March 28 - December 31, 2011] (PDF). Chicago, Ill: The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. pp. 63–64. ISBN   978-1-885923-82-0.
  14. ↑ Ciałowicz, Krzysztof M. (2012). "Votive figurines from Tell el-Farkha and their counterparts". Archéo-Nil. 22 (1): 84–86. doi:10.3406/arnil.2012.1044.
  15. ↑ Nowak, Magdalena Maria, "Results of the preliminary analysis of lower egyptian settlement discovered on the central kom in tell el-farkha", Studies in Ancient Art and Civilization 15, pp. 49-63, 2011
  16. ↑ Ciałowicz, Krzysztof M., "Votive figurines from Tell el-Farkha and their counterparts", Archéo-Nil 22.1, pp. 73-93, 2012
  17. ↑ Błaszczyk, Katarzyna, "The royal figurine (?) from Tell el-Farkha", SAAC 12, pp. 57-61, 2008
  18. ↑ Ciałowicz, Krzysztof M., "The boys from Tell el-Farkha", Studies in Ancient Art and Civilization 14, pp. 11-21, 2010
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Ciałowicz, Krzysztof M. (2012). "Votive figurines from Tell el-Farkha and their counterparts". Archéo-Nil. 22 (1): 88–90. doi:10.3406/arnil.2012.1044.
  20. 1 2 3 "tell el-farkha". Egypt Museum.
  21. ↑ Ciałowicz, Krzysztof M. (2012). "Votive figurines from Tell el-Farkha and their counterparts". Archéo-Nil. 22 (1): 91. doi:10.3406/arnil.2012.1044.
  22. ↑ Dębowska-Ludwin, Joanna, "The catalogue of graves from Tell el-Farkha", Recherches Archéologiques Nouvelle Serie 1, pp. 457-486, 2009
  23. ↑ Ciałowicz, Krzysztof M., and Joanna Dębowska-Ludwin, "The origin of Egyptian mastabas in the light of research at Tell el-Farkha", Études et Travaux 26.1, pp. 153-62, 2013
  24. ↑ Ciałowicz, Krzysztof M., "The eastern part of the Tell el-Farkha cemetery during the Early Dynastic period", Remove That Pyramid! Studies on the Archaeology and History of Predynastic and Pharaonic Egypt in Honour of Stan Hendrickx, hrsg. v. Wouter Claes, Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 305, pp. 175-186, 2021
  25. ↑ Dębowska-Ludwin, J., "Multiple and Disordered Burials as Special Funerary Practices in Early Egypt: Examples from Tell el-Farkha", Folia Orientalia 47, pp. 371–378, 2010
  26. ↑ Dębowska-Ludwin, Joanna, "The necropolis at Tell el-Farkha reconsidered", Recherches Archéologiques Nouvelle Serie 2, pp. 5-20, 2010
  27. ↑ Dębowska-Ludwin, Joanna, "Political and economic transformation as reflected by burial rites observed in the Protodynastic part of the cemetery in Tell el-Farkha", Polish archaeology in the Mediterranean XX, pp. 457-466, 2011

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