| 1. |
- Toonen, W. H. J., et al.
(författare)
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Amenhotep III's Mansion of Millions of Years in Thebes (Luxor, Egypt) : Submergence of high grounds by river floods and Nile sediments
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of Archaeological Science. - : ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV. - 2352-409X .- 2352-4103. ; 25, s. 195-205
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- New Kingdom royal cult temples in Thebes (Luxor, Egypt) are all located on the lower desert edge. Kom el-Hettan (Amenhotep III: reign 1391-1353 BCE, 18th Dynasty) is an exception, as it is located in the present Nile floodplain. Its anomalous position has puzzled Egyptologists, as has the termination of its use, which traditionally has been attributed to natural hazards such as flooding or earthquakes. Geoarchaeological analyses of the subsurface shows that Amenhotep III's temple was initially founded on a wadi fan that stood several metres above the contemporary surrounding floodplain landscape. The temple was fronted by a minor branch of the Nile, which connected the temple to the wider region, but the temple itself was relatively safe from the annual flood of the Nile. This geoarchaeological study comprised a coring programme to determine the c. 4000-yr landscape history of the local area. Chronological control was provided by the analysis of ceramic fragments recovered from within the sediments. This study shows that the New Kingdom period was, at least locally, characterised by extremely high sedimentation rates that caused a rapid rise of the floodplain and gradual submergence of the pre-existing high temple grounds. This is, however, not a plausible reason for the destruction of the temple, as frequent inundation did not begin until the temple was already out of use and largely dismantled.
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| 2. |
- Graham, Angus, 1968-, et al.
(författare)
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Theban Harbours and Waterscapes Survey, 2015
- 2015
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Ingår i: Journal of Egyptian Archaeology. - : SAGE Publications. - 0307-5133 .- 2514-0582. ; 101:1, s. 37-49
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Report on the 2015 season of the Theban Harbours and Waterscapes Survey (THaWS). The paper discusses the extension of geoarchaeological and geophysical investigations to the east of the Ramesseum, the continuing work in and around the Temple of Millions of Years of Amenhotep III, and the topographic survey and geophysical survey of the western mounds of the Birket Habu.
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| 3. |
- Toonen, Willem H. J., et al.
(författare)
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Holocene fluvial history of the Nile's west bank at ancient Thebes, Luxor, Egypt, and its relation with cultural dynamics and basin-wide hydroclimatic variability
- 2018
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Ingår i: Geoarchaeology. - : WILEY. - 0883-6353 .- 1520-6548. ; 33:3, s. 273-290
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the Theban area around modern Luxor (Egypt), the River Nile divides the temple complexes of Karnak and Luxor from New Kingdom royal cult temples on the western desert edge. Few sites have been archaeologically identified in the western flood plain, despite its presumed pivotal role in the ancient ritual landscape as the territory that both physically divided and symbolically connected the areas inhabited by the living and the areas occupied by the dead. Using borehole data and electrical resistivity tomography, the current investigation of subsurface deposits reveals the location of an abandoned channel of the Nile. This river course was positioned in the western, distal part of the Nile flood plain. Over 2100 ceramic fragments recovered from boreholes date the abandonment of the relatively minor river channel to the (late) New Kingdom. This minor river branch could have played an important role in the cultural landscape, as it would have served to connect important localities in the ritual landscape. Changes in the fluvial landscape match with established periods of basin-wide hydroclimatic variability. This links cultural and landscape changes observed on a regional scale to hydroclimatic dynamics in the larger Nile catchment, in one of the focal areas of Ancient Egyptian cultural development.
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