Preface
This is an online digital edition from ISAW Digital Monographs. The print edition of this work can be consulted at https://isaw.nyu.edu/publications/isaw-monographs/ain-el-gedida
This archaeological report is the first comprehensive study on the excavations carried out at the site of ʿAin el-Gedida, in the Dakhla Oasis of Upper Egypt, between 2006 and 2008, followed by two study seasons conducted in 2009 and 2010. The project was directed by Roger S. Bagnall, with Nicola Aravecchia as the archaeological field director.1 During the five seasons, the project team also recorded areas of the site previously excavated, between 1993 and 1995, by the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt2 and briefly described in an article by Mr. Kamel Bayoumi, who conducted these excavations.3 Parts of the work included in the present report have been presented briefly in an earlier article and book chapter by the principal author.4 The project was sponsored by Columbia University during the entire excavation period, with management passing to New York University starting with the 2009 study season.
Two primary goals drove the writing of this report. One was to offer a comprehensive presentation and discussion of the archaeological (including documentary) evidence retrieved at the site during the three years of excavations and the two study seasons that followed. I have tried both to make this evidence available in the form needed by scholars and to keep the study accessible to others interested in the site, particularly in its church complex. A second goal was to use the discussion of the material evidence to approach and try to find answers to broad questions that led, in the first place, to the development of the research project and constantly inspired and drove our research activity, both in and outside the field. Among these were issues of relative and absolute chronology; questions about the origins and the abandonment of the settlement, about polytheism and the spread of Christianity at the site (and in the oasis) during the fourth century; highly-debated issues concerning the nature of the site and its place within the physical, administrative, and economic landscape of the Dakhla Oasis in Late Antiquity; and a necessity (and desire) to learn more about the ancient inhabitants of ʿAin el-Gedida, their social structure and the patterns of their daily life. As this volume intends to show, the picture that emerged from these inquiries is that of a small but so far unique site. In particular, its investigation made important new data available for the study of early Egyptian Christianity, as well as archaeological evidence of a type of rural settlement that was previously known only from written sources.
The report is structured into twelve chapters. Chapter 1 is an introduction to the Dakhla Oasis and to the site of ʿAin el-Gedida. The evidence for the spread of Christianity throughout the oasis, particularly in the fourth century when ʿAin el-Gedida flourished, is presented here. The chapter includes a brief history of the research project, from its inception to the work carried out on site each season, and information about the methodology of excavation and documentation that was adopted.
Chapters 2–6 (2, 3, 4, 5, 6) discuss the data collected during the survey and excavations carried out at ʿAin el-Gedida. The evidence is divided by topographical area (i.e., the five mounds of the site), by building, and by room, with a thorough analysis of the architectural features, their stratigraphy, finds, and the contribution that their study may give to a better understanding of the site’s history.
Chapter 7 touches upon broad issues—just mentioned above—concerning the identification of the site’s nature, its development, and its relation to the broader context of the Dakhla Oasis in the fourth century.
There then follow five chapters, written by specialists of the ʿAin el-Gedida research team, cataloguing and presenting the ceramics (Delphine Dixneuf), the coins (David M. Ratzan), the documentary evidence—mostly ostraka—(Roger S. Bagnall and Dorota Dzierzbicka), other categories of small finds (Dorota Dzierzbicka), and the zooarchaeological remains (Pamela J. Crabtree and Douglas Campana) that were retrieved at the site.
I am profoundly indebted to Prof. Roger Bagnall, who invited me to join the excavations at ʿAin el-Gedida as the archaeological field director since the very beginning of the project. Throughout the years, he has provided me with constant and invaluable guidance, at both professional and personal levels. I am also grateful to the faculty of the Department of Art History at the University of Minnesota and, in particular, Prof. Rick Asher for having supported, when I was still a doctoral student, my participation in the ʿAin el-Gedida mission.
I would like to acknowledge Prof. Paola Davoli for having shared with me her vast knowledge and expertise in archaeological fieldwork in Egypt. I also feel deeply grateful for the invaluable contribution given to the project by each and every member of the ʿAin el-Gedida team and, in particular, by my colleague Prof. Dorota Dzierzbicka. Their skills and their dedication to the project, both in and outside the field, made the three seasons of excavations—as well as the two study seasons—at ʿAin el-Gedida an extremely successful and rewarding experience.
All contributors and I are very grateful to the referees of this volume for providing valuable comments and suggestions.
I would also like to acknowledge Kristen DeMondo and Bruno Bazzani for their expert collaboration.
Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends for their unfailing belief in the value of my research project and their support throughout these years.
Notes
The other members of the 2006–2008 missions were: Kamel Ahmad Bayumi, cooperating archaeologist (2006–2007); Anna Boozer (2006), Roberta Casagrande (2007), Dorota Dzierzbicka (2007–2008), Maria Guadalupe Espinosa Rodriguez (2008), Francesco Meo (2006), archaeologists; Gillian Pyke (2006), Delphine Dixneuf (2007–2008), ceramicists; Angela Cervi, registrar (2006–2008); Marina Nuovo, assistant registrar (2006–2008); Fabio Congedo (2006), Valentino de Santis (2006), Silvia Maggioni (2008), Simone Occhi (2007), Fabrizio Pavia (2007–2008), topographers; Johannes Walter, archaeobotanist (2006); Silviu Angel, photographer (2006); Bruno Bazzani, IT and photographer (2006–2008). The inspectors, from the local Coptic and Islamic Inspectorate of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, were: Sahar Habeb Farid (2006–2007); Mahmoud Mohamed Massoud (2006); Adli Abdallah Zawal (2008).↩︎
Renamed in recent years as the Ministry of State for Antiquities.↩︎
See Aravecchia 2012 and Aravecchia 2015. The excavations of the church of ʿAin el-Gedida were also the subject of the author’s Ph.D. dissertation: see Aravecchia 2009a. The preliminary reports of all excavation and study seasons at the site are available on-line: see Aravecchia 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009b, 2010.↩︎