Tell el Fara'in Buto
Year: 2009

From autumn 2006 until spring 2008, the investigations of the German Archaeological Institute, Cairo, and the University of Poitiers project at Buto (Tell el Fara'in) were continued by further excavations, systematic surveys and studies on the material from previous seasons. Excavation work carried out by the German Institute focused on the most north western part of the site (trenches J1 3, J8, J11, J13) and on the area north of the modern village of Sekhmawy (trenches Eo E17) The University of Poitiers project continued work at the north eastern slope of Kom A (trenches P5 and P6) and started trial investigations on the so called "English Kom" in the northeast of Buto (area P10) in the middle of the site (area P7) and on the southern Kom C (area P9) In the north western part of Buto, the investigations of four large rectangular structures were continued which had previously become visible on the magnetic map. Recent work revealed that only the southern most structure is a matter of a casemate like building foundation. The three northern structures (No.1 3) consist only of a frame wall without any partition of the interior, sunken c.3 m into the ground. All three structures seem to have been originally filled with clean sand. In case of the northern Structure 1 the sand filling was visible already from the capping of the frame wall. During recent work, in both other structures, of which the upper parts are heavily disturbed, the sand filling came to light in greater depth. Unfortunately, the high water table prevented to reach the floors of these chambers. Hence, the function of these structures is not yet fully clarified but it seems most likely that they constitute large tombs of the Saite period. The structures superimpose buildings dating to the Old Kingdom and to the Third Intermediate Period. Whilst the Old Kingdom structures have not yet been further investigated, surprisingly, in trench J2 two elite tombs of the Third Intermediate Period were discovered. Although the burial chambers have been partly destroyed by the foundation of the Saite building mentioned above, the burials proper were found undisturbed. Due to the location of the burial below the ground water level, no organic materials have survived and all metal objects of the tomb equipment were found badly corroded or even partly decomposed. This is the first occurrence of this name in the western Nile Delta, and it sheds some new light on the political developments in this region during the late 8 th century BC. The valuable tomb equipment leaves no doubt about the high social status of the buried person who may well have been a high official or even a hitherto unknown local prince of Buto. A second elite burial (J2/67) was found immediately to the south. Although the tomb chamber was completely destroyed by the foundation of the Saite building, the anthropomorphic limestone sarcophagus (with the burial of an adult man, a small child and a green cat) seems to have been considered and was obviously not removed. These newly discovered elite tombs underline the special relevance of this area of ancient Buto which had been already assumed when several objects connected to the cult of Osiris were found during the previous campaign. The excavation north of the village of Sekhmawy revealed another Saite building of which only the foundation is preserved. It is constructed in the typical way with the interior subdivided into several chambers. According to the pottery evidence, the building was erected in the 1 st half of the 6 th century BC. Three of the foundation chambers contained round silos, and three other cells yielded multiple burials. The secondary use of the chambers for funeral purposes dates to the late 6 th century and indicates the abandonment of the building at this time. The building superimposes scanty occupation remains of the Third Intermediate Period and parts of an administrative building complex of the 1 st and 2 nd Dynasties of which several rooms were excavated. The general survey was continued by geomagnetic measurements carried out by T. HERBICH in the south western part of Buto. The new investigations cover ca. 5.4 ha and allow now to trace the course of a huge Ptolemaic enclosure wall over a distance of c. 400 m. Inside the enclosure, several building structures became visible. Only on the north eastern edge of the investigated area several anomalies (indicated as black dots) seem to point to the existence of a battery of kilns. As a second part of the survey, 23 new drillings were carried out in the south western part of Buto to gather further information about the extend and thickness of occupation layers. Including these new drillings, the investigations of the western half of the site of Buto is completed and first preliminary results concerning the topography and the development of the settlement during different periods of its existence can be presented. For the reconstruction of the ancient landscape, additional drillings were carried out by M. DE DAPPER (University of Gent) in the cultivation adjoining Buto to the west. Of special interest is the connection between settled areas, ancient water courses and Nile inundations which are indicated by different layers of clay, silt and sand. In cooperation with the German Institut, the University of Poitiers project dedicated to industrial activities during Hellenistic and Roman times was continued with excavations, several sondages and with a pedestrial survey, focusing on the collection of surface material, with the aim to recognize the functional division of the Ptolemaic/Roman town of Buto, and to identify places of the different kinds of industrials production. Besides excavation work, the general survey was continued consisting of a detailed inspection of surface features and the collection of surface material. So far, the invastigated area covers Kom A, Kome C and the area between and enables now the compilation of a map with preliminary indications of distinctive functional zones of the settlement of Buto during the Ptolemaic/Roman period. Study work focused mainly on pottery, small finds, animal bones and anthropological investigations of Late Period and Ptolemaic/Roman burials which came to light recently and during several previous campaigns.