-= Tell el-Borg =-

:: To learn about of the archaeological history of this region, particularly during the New Kingdom period, and to investigate Tell el-Borg’s role in the region and relationship to other NK sites.

:: To reconstruct Egypt’s Frontier defense system during the New Kingdom, including ongoing investigation of the East Frontier Canal.

:: To clarify the route of the military highway that connect Egypt to ancient Canaan.

:: To make available to scholars and interested parties the results of our work in a timely manner through publications, lectures, and via the internet.

// CONTACT

:: Tell el-Borg 2002: SCA Report ::

Tell el-Borg 2002: A Report for the Supreme Council of Antiquities
By James K. Hoffmeier
East Frontier Archaeological Project
Trinity International University, Deerfield, IL

The 3rd season of excavations at Tell el-Borg, North Sinai, took place between March 10 and April 20, 2002. The staff included:

Dr. James Hoffmeier (Director)
Ms. Lyla Brock (Assistant Director & artist)

Field Staff:
Dr. Thomas Davis – Field Supervisor
James Knudstad -- Field Supervisor & Architect
Rosa Frey – Field Supervisor
Scott Haddow -- Field Supervisor & Anthropologist
Ronald Bull – Square Supervisor
Valerie Broucek – Field Assistant
Jessica Hoffmeier – Field Assistant

Technical Staff:
Rexine Hummel – Pottery Analyst
Amanda Dunsmore – Pottery consultant
Megan Price – Pottery Assistant
Noël Siver – Conservator
Dolores Ward – Conservation Assistant
Heather Alexander – Photographer
Linda Wilding – Data Management
Dr. Michelle Loyet – Paleozoologist
David Olney – Surveyor & Field Artist

SCA Colleagues:
We were greatly assisted in our work by our SCA Colleagues. Our special thanks to the outgoing director for North Sinai, Mr. Mohamed Abd-el Fatah, and the incoming director Dr. Mohamed Abd el-Samea, inspectors, Mr. Sayed Abd el-Aleem, Mr. Wagih Ibrahim, Mr. Bilal and Mr. Ahmed Abd el-Latif. Dr. Mohamed Abd el-Maksoud’s continuing support and collaboration since the beginning of this project must also be acknoweldged. We greatly appreciate all the assistance offered by the North Sinai Inspectorate.

Goals for the 2002 season:
1. To continue conservation and study of pottery and objects uncovered in previous season.
2. To continue to explore Field IV to learn more about the three building phases of the fortress.
3. To investigate the area on the east side of the canal (Field V) to determine if traces of the fortification survived the canal excavations and bridge construction.
4. To continue excavations in the cemetery area (Field III)
5. To remove the canal dump along the canal in the area of Field I and to try to retrieve remaining blocks in the canal itself.
6. To investigate the highest area of the tell (Field VI) and the Western Cemetery (Field VII) to determine what may have survived for future excavations.

Results of 2002 season:

1. Considerable time was given to study of the pottery. Given the variety of Amarna period wares, Amada Dunsmore from Barry Kemp’s team at Amarna consulted with us for three weeks. She was able to identify a number of Amarna period wares, as well as several amphora that originated in the Dakhla Oasis. Much effort went into reconstructing a nearly complete pottery coffin from Field III. Study of the pottery of Tell el-Borg will continue to be a priority in the coming season. The surprising number of foreign wares demands special study by experts in the fields of Aegean, Cypriote and Canaanite ceramics.
Study of the faunal remains began this season. A variety of animals have now been documented at Tell el-Borg, including fish, ducks and/or geese, cattle and pigs which would have been a part of the diet. There is also evidence of a horse, which is consistent with expectations of a military site. Remains of a turtle and crocodile were also documented. The presence of these water animals, along with the fish mentioned above, agreed with the finds of our geological survey from 2001 that showed that a branch of the Nile passed through our site.

2. After discovering the fired brick foundation of the moat or fosse in Field IV last season, we expanded this area to get a better picture of the history moat and the construction technique used. This feature was deliberately filled in order to accommodate the second phase of the fort. A large section of the fill was made up of chips of limestone. Hundreds of fragments contained blue and yellow paint, indicating that they had come from temple ceiling blocks. Some larger pieces with the star motif were also found.
East of the outside wall of the fired brick moat, a stone installation was discovered that appears to be a well. One of the blocks also has the same star motif on it. Two other blocks with inscriptions were removed from this installation. The one shows the lower half of a man carrying a large fish. It probably originated in a funerary chapel. The style of raised relief suggests an Old Kingdom date. The block was re-carved for some other architectural function prior to being used in this well. It is unlikely that the original tomb chapel was in North Sinai. The second inscribed block contained a beautifully executed hieroglyphic text which read 3wi ib.k hnc – “you are joyful with [me ?]. This type of inscription is not typcially found on temples, but in private tombs.
It was also determined that the moat wall makes a 90o turn to the east (toward the canal), and then turns north. This extension of the moat could prove to associated with a defense tower, and perhaps a gateway .

3. Opposite Field IV, and across the canal, we were able to begin excavating Field V after the large pile of debris from the bridge construction was removed. Traces of a mud-brick wall measuring 3.4 meters in width were uncovered. The brick size matches those of the second fort discovered in Field IV. This wall was cut off when the canal was excavated and for the construction of the adjacent bridge. Despite the loss of so much of this wall, it appears to have met Wall D from Field IV somewhere near the bridge to form a corner. We were able to trace this wall as it proceeded in an eastward direction to northeastern corner were it turned 90o to the south. This means we have both the southwest and northeast corner, and they are 106 meters apart. Assuming that all the corners were square, the length of each wall should be around 75 meters. This would make the interior of the fort 5625 square meters.
West of Wall D in Field IV, the very bottom remains of the corner of a large building were uncovered. Only a brick or two thickness remains, the rest having been bulldozed when the canal work was in progress. An indication of the size and importance of this building, a supporting buttress was found abutting it. This building might have been citadel, located apparently within the earliest fort. A bronze arrow and a lance 64 cm. long was discovered in association with this large building.
North of Field IV, on the north side to the road that crosses the bridge, a trench was excavated to see if any part of the fortification system could be identified. This area is over laid with over a meter of sand from the bridge construction, but we were able to reach the top of the moat wall made of mud brick. Continued excavation led to the discovery of the fired brick like those found in Field IV associated with the earliest construction phase of the fort.
It now appears that the later forts were constructed over the large moat in Area D, and followed its width. While the forts overlapped each other in Field IV, the remainder of the earliest lies to the west and the later to its east, on the other side of the canal. If this preliminary observation is correct, then the early 18th Dynasty fort was about 75 meters across. Its length, however, has not yet been determined.

4. The study of the human remains continued along with the excavation of Field III. A half dozen small, mud-brick tombs were uncovered that were made to entomb a single individual. One actually contained the remains of the bottom of a clay coffin. These tombs are all oriented with the head pointing to the west, and appear to date from the late mid-18th and into the 19th Dynasties. A ring with the seal of Queen Tiye, wife of Amenhotep III. was discovered beside on of these tombs. It was probably left behind by the robbers because it was made of faience and not gold.
The study of the osteological remains of discover in previous years determined that an older man, men and women in their 20s and young children had been buried in this necropolis. This is an important result because it means that not just soldiers lived at Tell el-Borg, but entire families.

5. As we had expected from our preliminary investigation of the canal debris in Field I (approximately 400 meters south of the bridge), more blocks remained to be uncovered. Nearly 30 uninscribed and 10 inscribed limestone blocks were recovered. The latter include:

• TBO 131 – 48 X 46 X 18 cm., containing the Horus name of Ramesses II, k3 nht mry m3ct. It would have sat close to top of the jamb.

(We do have a block from 2000 with the bottom of stp n rc which might be a missing piece between 131 and 126, but this must be directly examined.

• TBO 126 – 52 X 37 X 18 cm. Nomen of Ramesses II, rc mss sw mry imn. T (of Atum below)
• TBO 134 -- 77 X 38 X 19 cm. (matches 126) : tm nb iwn mr. Question, is the figure of the seated figure with double crown and hk3 sign a determinative for Atum? One expects the epithet nb iwnw, Lord of Heliopolis, with Atum. Is the iwnw sign beside the seated royal sign so arranged for orthographic reasons? There appears to be nothing written after the mr sign. I would expect this would read, “beloved of Atum, Lord of Heliopolis” but the orthography is unusual.

Clear signs of plaster in the figure of Re and Amun at top of cartouche.
One begins to get a sense of the proportions of this doorway when it is realized that with the three piece of the left jamb total 1.77 m. Could we be dealing with a doorway that is 2.5 – 3 m. high?

• TBO 133 – 38 X 26 X 26 cm. This piece matches TBO 1, discovered in January 2000. The feet lower part of the body and tail of the Horus-falcon appears standing on top of the serekh-box. The head of the bull is missing and the tail appears not to have been carved like its counterpart on the left side. To the right of the bull’s backside and outside of the serekh appears to be a portion of a cartouche, although no signs are discernible.
• TBO 128 – 34X 33 X 18 cm. This piece might be a part of the right door jamb – the signs are written in the same direction as TBO 126. Should they be turned the other way if this piece is from the right door jamb? The text is broken at the top of the mr sign, followed by mss sw. [rc] mss sw, mry [imn].
• TBO 125 – 51 X 30 X 46 cm. This block appears to be a chariot wheel. The inside diameter is approximately 63-65 cm. The wheel is thicker than one would expect, but shares common features with the chariots shown on the reliefs of Seti I at Karnak. Part of a spoke appears near the break in the block.
• TBO 129 -- 54 X 44 X 14 cm. Shows enemies fleeing pharaoh’s chariot. The legs are clearly shown in a running pose – the bending of the toes are deliberately exaggerated to show that the figures are running. The hilly terrain on which they are running is clearly visible, probably indicating the desert terrain. Below are the heads another group of fleeing enemy, presumably the same ethnic group of people running above. The figure on the right appears to have his eyes closed (dead ?), possibly just struck by an arrow. The figure wears a headband, but not the typical cap worn by the Shasu, but they most likely are Shasu. The second figure is carrying an axe and his eye appears to be opened. Our loader blade gashed brow of the second figure making it difficult to interpret his head gear. What is preserved does look different than the first man. The very left-most carved area is either the axe blade of another man off to the left.

The following blocks do not appear to be related to the battle scene of the Ramesses II temple.
• TBO 132 – 76 X 50 X 14 cm. This is an incomplete stela. While the rounding on the top was begun, it was not completed. No text is preserved, although the outline of the cartouche is barely visible in front of Pharaoh’s face, but no signs within it could be identified. The unnamed pharaoh is shown bashing the head of a foe wearing a long gown. The head area is poorly preserved making his ethnicity uncertain. The king wears an atef crown with ribbons flowing behind his shoulder. The royal fan is shown behind the king, but no fan bearer is visible. The king smites with a mace combined with a blade. The back is uninscribed.
• TBO 130 – 45 X 15 X 12 cm. Is poorly preserved because of the softness of the limestone. The depth of the inscription suggests it may not have been a part of the Ramesside temple blocks. The bottom of a cartouche is clearly visible (the photo does not show it but the bar across the bottom is visible. Only an n is preserved, which could be found in the names and epithets of a number of 18th and 19th Dynasty pharaohs: Thutmose III after year 21 -- 1. ir n rc; 2. mr n rc; 3. sc3 n; 4. stp n rc. 1, 2 & 4 are attested for Thutmose IV and Amenhotep III. N would also appear last in the cartouche of Akhenaten and with the epithet wc n rc in his prenomen. wc n rc is found in Smenkhkara’s cartouche too. Horemheb also uses mr n rc occasionally. Seti I has three different epithets in which n would be the last sign written: mr n pth, mr n sty and stp n rc. Then of course, Ramesses II also uses stp n rc. So we have too many choices. Interestingly, this range of monarchs represents the time period of our site, and several of these kings have been attested at Tell el-Borg. Beneath the cartouche the golden nbw-sign is written. Left of the cartouche are some faint signs, none of which are legible to me, and may be secondary.
• TBO 127 -- 38 X 37 X 13 cm. Possibly from the same structure as TBO 130. Similar preservation, size of signs and thickness of block. To the left rather than being a register line a cartouche appears to be written.
• TBO 135 – 7.2 X 6.5 X 2 cm. Fragment of a statuette made of finely carved hand limestone. The hand holding a surface (papyrus?) has a trace of a text. There appears to be a trace of a bird (3h ?) followed by a double reed leaf and the ti (?) sign.
• TBO 111 – 27 X 22 cm. flat surface was discovered nearly 3 kilometers west of Tell el-Borg in the area where we recovered several blocks last season. We believe that these blocks originated at Tell el-Borg but were removed in the canal dump to fill low lying areas for agriculture. This is the back of a royal statue made of fine quality block granite. On the one side one can see a smooth rounding area like it is the side of a man (king or deity) ofthe statue. The text clearly reads “Geb, Lord of the Two Lands.” The second t3 sign is just visible on the break.

6. The “Western Cemetery” (Field VI) was briefly explored, although it was evident that it was badly robbed over the years. Throughout this field one can see hundreds of pieces of rather poor quality sandstone. Our excavations revealed that a bed of this material underlies that sand that now covers Field VI, and the tombs were actually cut into the bedrock. No small finds were registered from this area, although potsherds can be seen on the surface, along with thick clay coffin sherds. No fine quality pottery remains were attested in our survey or this area, and no foreign sherds were found. This type of poor tomb and the absence of fine wares suggest that the residents at the lower end of the social scale of Tell el-Borg were interred in this cemetery.
A series of sondages were made in the center of the tell (Field VI). We thought that in this area, between the cemeteries at either end of the site, a residential area might be found. Despite the presence on the surface of thousands of sherds, numerous grinders and querns, the excavations revealed no evidence for housing, except a burnt reed hut, the date of which may be relatively modern. It appears that the Israeli or Egyptian armies that occupied this tell in recent decades bulldozed much of the highest part of the tell to create a defensive perimeter.

Future Plans: Excavation and Publication
The positive results of the 2002 campaign indicates that another season is in order. The priority will be to investigate Fields IV, V and VIII to learn more about the various building phases of the fort which we tentatively believe is the “Dwelling of the Lion,” the second stop on Seti I’s Karnak map.

A very brief report on the first two is scheduled to appear very soon in Egyptian Archaeology, while a complete pre-liminary report written by James Hoffmeier and Mohamed Abd el-Maksoud has been submitted to Journal of Egyptian Archaeology.

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