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Gebel el Silsila Epigraphic Survey Project

 

 

KEY DISCOVERIES, SO FAR...

1. The rediscovery of the Temple of Kheny

2. 68 Prehistoric and early dynastic rock art sites

3. Over 5000 quarry marks/pictorial graffiti

4. Workers’ villages and storage facilities

5. Superimposed scenes within the Speos that predates Horemheb (a scene showing the transportation of two obelisks on a barge, similar to Hatshepsut’s scene in Deir el Bahari)

6. Superimposed scenes on the Nile stelae

7. Middle Kingdom expeditions recorded in inscriptions

8. Small stela on the east bank with unique combination of gods (Amun-Ra and Thoth)

9. Roman fort, road system and bridges

10. Quarry stables and administrative building belonging to the period of Tiberius

11. Series of tombs in the north of the east bank

12. Series of tombs just south of Nag el Hammam

13. Placing Gebel el Silsila along a major trade route, possibly connecting the Nile valley with Kharga Oasis

14. Major insights into the quarrying and transportation system during the New Kingdom and Roman period

15. Two unfinished obelisks

KEY RESULTS, SO FAR...

• The preliminary topographical study divided the site into 104 individual quarries (52 on each side)
  
  
• The Quarry Mark project has revealed over 5000 pictorial graffiti/quarry marks and presented a new interpretation of their meaning
  
  
• 800 Greek, Latin and Demotic texts, and several hundred hieroglyphic and hieratic inscriptions
  
  
• 68 rock art sites and rock inscription locations were discovered, including  Epipalaeolithic (c. 8500 BP), Predynastic and early dynastic sites, thereby changing the previously known history of Gebel el Silsila!
  
  
• Extraction techniques and transportation methods have been recorded in various quarries on both east and west, belonging to the Middle Kingdom, New Kingdom and Ptolemaic-Roman
  
  
• Ceramic analysis has begun, including a setting up of a database and creating a typology for the site
  
  
• Topographic features recorded so far includes workstations, blacksmith areas, ramps, stables, several temporary shelters, road/transportation systems, and two Roman bridges.
  
  
• A geological survey has begun
  
  
• Digital archaeology was introduced on site focusing on 3D reconstruction and initial GIS documentation in order to create an up-to-date archaeological map of the area.
  
  

For the 2015 season the team aims to continue the archaeological work and focus on rock art documentation, ceramic and lithic analyses, geographic and geologic mapping, GIS and 3D documentation and clearing areas of sand and document its archaeology as part of making safe the site for tourism and protecting its archaeology from potential destruction, especially on the East Bank.

Future (larger and long-term) projects in association with the inspectorates of Aswan and Kom Ombo

• Continue the work in the Temple of Kheny
  
  
• Collecting and analyzing the archaeology of Tiberius’ stables and administrative building
  
  
• Clearing parts of the northern corridor to the main quarry (East Bank) of sand to make safe for visitors and to learn more about the ancient transportation methods
  
  
• Collecting and analyzing all pottery on ‘Pottery Hill’
  
  
• Fully document the workers’ villages
  
  
• Clearing the cenotaphs from blown in sand and Nile silt to make safe and attractive for visitors
  
  
• Complete and accessible guidebook translated in various languages
  
  
• Information signs/plaques with clear and easy-read information about the various features of the site (esp. the cenotaphs and major monuments)
  
  
• Creation of new pathways to facilitate the visitation of the Nile-side cenotaphs and thereby protecting and preserving rock art sites and other antiquity along the plateau that are currently under threat
  
  
• To continue our close relationship and partnership with the local inspectorates (Kom Ombo and Aswan) in regards to the ongoing development and intention to open the East Bank to tourists; also providing scientific advice where needed
  
  
• Using the Friends of Silsila association for creating and improve the public awareness of Gebel el Silsila and the site’s importance, thereby hoping to increase touristic activity on site
  

 

 

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BECOME PART OF OUR FRIENDS OF SILSILA FAMILY.

Your support is vital in enabling the FRIENDS of SILSILA to fulfill its mission to share this ancient site and its treasures with the world.

The Friends of Silsila relies on funding from a wide range of sources and there are many ways that you can donate to help ensure the continued archaeological work, guardianship, care and preservation of this ancient historic site for future generations.

Please consider supporting the Friends of Silsila today.

 

All donations are made in USD.
Please check the conversion table below.

 

CURRENCY CONVERSION

$1 USD = 8.36 SEK (Swedish Krona)

$1 USD = 0.64 GBP (British Pound)

$1 USD = 7.64 EGYPTIAN POUNDS

$1 USD = 0.91 EURO

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