New evidence for the temple of Ramesses II at Abydos has been brought to light by New York University archaeologists, upon completion of the seventh excavation and conservation season within the temple precinct. According to a press release available via the American Research Center in Egypt website, which funded the works through an AEF grant, archaeologists were able to excavate all of the temple’s enclosure walls, temple palace, and storage magazines. They also performed restoration of the mud-brick first pylon.
As reported in the Press Release, before excavation the temple stood within the Abydos landscape without a hint of the extent of its surrounding precinct. During this season, the archaeological team led by Dr. Sameh Iskander managed to reveal and clear the entire precinct, including its 42 magazines and enclosure wall. Once cleared, the precinct area turned out to be a 100 m. x 90 m. rectangular space, enclosed by 3.25 m.-thick mud-brick walls with a two-fold function: a. to delineate the temple estate from the surrounding habitation and b. to protect the temple and its treasures in times of civil unrest. In the framework of this season’s conservation work, the elevation of several of these walls was raised “to an appropriate level depending on the outside terrain to give the visitor a sense of the extent of the precinct space”.
The team also cleared the foundations of the first pylon, which once enclosed the site’s eastern side. While the pylon’s superstructure has now completely disappeared, its 8 m.- x 58 m. long foundations, entirely of mud brick, survive, flanking a limestone gateway that survived to a level of about 2 m. As stated in the press release, “the use of mud brick rather than stone for building the pylon of Ramesses II temple seems unprecedented for his temples, as well as the ensuing Ramesside temples”. Mud brick had also been used for the paving of the first court, which extends between the temple’s first and second pylons, also demonstrating an unusual feature in ancient Egyptian architecture. “In order to emphasize its presence, as well as to maintain the sense of the temple’s architectural integrity”, the team has chosen to restore the mud brick pylon to an average height of 1.50 – 2.00 m. During the late Roman times, a large area of the precinct was spread with a layer of mud extracted from crushed bricks of the temple precinct magazines, to be converted into what appears to be an agricultural farm. It is this mud that the team chose to reuse, once more, converting it again into blocks which were then used in the First Pylon restoration.
Several finds demonstrate the area’s continuous use. In the first court, the remains of a late Roman/Byzantine mud-brick settlement have been revealed and restored “to give the sense of the later occupation phases and reuse of the temple, which is a rare opportunity as these late structures were usually removed from other sites during earlier excavations”. The converted farm area yielded an 8 m. deep well, which was constructed with red bricks, and was used for the farm’s irrigation. Finally, over 400 portable objects from stratified features of occupation were cataloged. These objects included the head of a black granite goddess dating to the reign of Thutmose III, a 26th dynasty seated steatite statue, eleven stelae, and Coptic and Demotic ostraca.
The excavation also brought to light temple wall fragments that were dumped in the surrounding area by archaeologist Auguste Mariette during his 1860s excavations.
As concluded in the press release, “This season is the final excavation season within the precinct and was the last stage of a long-term project toward a comprehensive analysis of the stratified features and chronological phases of the entire temple precinct during a long period, over a millennium. We hope the data gleaned from the project will ultimately contribute to a broad understanding of the various activities of this important ancient Egyptian monument, its role within Abydos, and ultimately its fate”.