Soknopaiou Nesos is a settlement north of lake Qarun in the Fayyum. It had a maximum development between the 4th century BCE and the mid 3rd century CE, but evidence suggests the presence of previous periods buildings. The archaeological area (660 x 350 meters) is quite well preserved and lies in a beautiful desert environment. It became one of the most visited sites in the region thanks to new paved roads and the opening of the North Lake Qarun Protected Area.  

The temple was dedicated to the local god Sobek, named Soknopaios, and to Isis Nepherses, as we know from dozens of papyri in Greek and Demotic found in the 19th century. The sacred area is still surrounded by high walls in mudbrick, the temenos, built at the beginning of the Roman period (88 x 125 meters). It is one of the better-preserved temple area in the Fayyum because it still retains temples, chapels, houses for priests and other service buildings, such as banquet halls for gathering of priests and religious associations. Papyri, statues, daily life materials and parts of the temple furniture are in fairly good state of preservation and allow for a contextual study of architecture with the objects used.  

A 400 meters long paved road, the dromos, divided the settlement into two areas and connected the temple with the cemetery. It served for the procession of the gods and goddess during more than 150 days of feasts celebrated during the year. The dromos was an important religious and social place where people gathered during the feasts. 

Soknopaiou Nesos was a settlement mainly inhabited by priests and important for the religious life of the region. The god Soknopaios, represented as a crocodile with a falcon head crowned with the double crown of the kingship, was associated with the solar power and the creation of the universe. 

University of Salento started working in 2003 and concentrated the excavations inside the sacred area, where no other scientific works were carried out in the past. The temple was built in the middle of the temenos area and consisted in three buildings. From south to north they are: the Ptolemaic sanctuary, still standing for more than 10 meters in height and build in local rough stones; the beginning of the roman period temple in limestone blocks, partly demolished in Late Antiquity to recover building materials; and the contra-temple, to the north, of the 1st century CE, a monumental sanctuary with columns in limestone blocks, probably dedicated to Isis, and also demolished up to 2 m in height. 

The other excavated buildings are in mudbrick, but nonetheless interesting and monumental, such as a banquet hall with 15 niches decorated with stone elements and wooden paintings. Both stone and mudbricks suffered from wind erosion that caused collapses since Antiquity. Some buildings were restored in the 2nd century CE during a comprehensive project.  

To avoid new collapses and to preserve what is still in situ, archaeologists started a consolidation season, thanks to the finance support of ARCE through the Antiquities Endowment Fund (2021-2024). 

The consolidation started from the weakest sectors of the enclosure walls (temenos), in whitish mud bricks, still standing for 15 meters in height. They are a veritable landmark in the desert, visible from the south shore of the lake in clear days. The enclosure was built in separate freestanding sectors, as was usual in Egypt, with alternate concave and convex courses.

Their restoration allowed an in deep study of the sectors’s building technique and revealed that the foundations are always different and that the mudbricks used were made with different clay and dimensions. These inconsistencies may testify to different groups of workmen and the reuse of building materials recovered from older buildings. A previous enclosure wall must have been smaller that the Roman period one, and was dismantled as well as other Ptolemaic buildings in the area, such as a kiosk, which blocks and columns were reused in the main gate of the temenos. The lower part of the gate, also dismantled, was discovered during the restoration works of the side sectors in the temenos.  

The consolidation of the southeast corner of the enclosure wall was a real challenge because of the deep erosion. Our workmen were able to follow the ancient project with sloping brick courses and slanting walls, thanks to a careful study and calculations. 

The other important step in the consolidation project was the Ptolemaic temple, which walls were damaged by treasure hunters and by collapses. It is built with local limestone slabs and boulders stuck together with mud. The upper courses in the building and its corners lost their stability due to the erosion of the mud plaster. Numerous slabs collapsed inside the temple and with windblown sand accumulated during centuries they formed a filling of the rooms 2 to 3 meters thick. The unstable and precarious state of the walls prevented any excavation of the building.

The consolidation works allowed to understand that there were two stairways leading to at least three floors in the building and that the ground floor is completely buried under 3 meters of debris. The Ptolemaic temple changed its function when the new one was built north of it and became a monumental passageway: the excavation of the inner room, that was a naos, revealed that its floor was repaved in a shape of a dromos.  

The materials used in the consolidation works are natural and local: the clay was collected in Kom Aushim quarries according with appropriate colors. The dimensions of the new bricks are compliant with the original ones and the newly built courses are separate from the original ones by a net. The stones used in the Ptolemaic temple are those collapsed in and around the building. 

Thanks to these actions the temple area is now more legible and secure for visitors. More is needed to consolidate other buildings to avoid their collapse, allow new excavation for a better understanding of the life of an Egyptian temple in the Graeco-Roman Fayyum. 

The area north of the site, where the desert track ends, was organized as a welcome space for visitors. A shelter in mudbricks and wood with benches, perfectly inserted in the landscape of the North Qarun Protected Area, welcome visitors with a series of panels in Arabic, English and Italian. A QR code allows visitors to download on their smartphone a guide in one of these languages that helps in the comprehension of the buildings during a visit. 3D models and pictures improve the guidebook. 

Written by: Paola Davoli