Dr John Ljungkvist (Uppsala University) will address the topic “Kom el-Khawaled, a Tell in the North: The Results of Two Uppsala University Surveys and the Research Potential of a Late Antique to Late Medieval Site in the Northern Delta”.
Abstract
In 2006 and 2008, an interdisciplinary group from Uppsala University, together with researchers from UCL and Southampton, conducted surveys on the c. 900×500 m large tell of Kom el-Khawaled, which belongs to the northernmost group of sites in the Delta, bordering the marshes of Lake Burrullus. The data from these surveys is yet to be fully interpreted and contextualized, but its potential is evident from the resulting combination of source materials. A substantial amount of systematically recorded surface finds has been gathered. The earliest might be Hellenistic in date, but the bulk probably span
from the 4th to 10th centuries CE. This material is supplemented by magnetometry
surveys, drill cores, topographic surface models, and excellent opportunities to
distinguish architecture on satellite images. The tell itself is remarkable in a
number of ways. It is not only significantly large, we have also identified several
workshops from primarily glass but also traces of what seems to be a significant
bronze casting workshop and a number of possible pottery kilns. Further, some
of the architecture seems to be of a clearly substantial scale. The workshop materials bring this tell into the global trade discussion of the Late Antique to early Islamic period; most remarkably, a few finds have clear connections to imports found in Sweden, for example in Birka and Valsgärde.
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This lecture is part of this term’s programme of the Higher Seminar in Egyptology (HSE) at the Department of Archaeology and Ancient History at Uppsala University. HSE events include both formal lectures and internal seminars. All are delivered in English. Members of the public are welcome to attend via Zoom the main lecture events, which are offered by both guest- and internal speakers. Please note that lectures are not recorded, and can therefore only be attended in real time.
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