Living Near the Lake’s Edge: Recent Excavations in the Fayum, Egypt
- Date: Tuesday, March 26, 2019 - 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Building: Bata Library
Room: 103
Living Near the Lake’s Edge: Recent Excavations in the Fayum, Egypt
In this paper, I offer the results of the 2016 and 2018 field season at the Graeco-Roman village of Qarah el-Hamra. Discovered in 2004 by the UCLA Fayum project, the site lies on the North shore of Lake Qarun in the Fayum region of Egypt. The small settlement was briefly explored at that time and a non-invasive surface survey was performed. Based on the results of that work, a new project was begun in 2016 under the direction of myself and Bethany Simpson. Our goal is to explore the relationship between this smaller site and larger neighboring towns, most importantly Soknopaiou Nesos and Karanis. Combining traditional excavation methods with the detailed study of artifact remains at the site, we have been able to show how Qarah el-Hamra was part of a network of sites designed to support local agriculture and fishing which included large settlements. Our work also allows us to address important questions regarding the chronology of Qarah el-Hamra, its place in among the new foundations of the Ptolemaic administration, and the subsistence strategies used by the inhabitants.
Bio: Emily Cole received her Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures from UCLA in 2015 for her work on multiculturalism in Egypt of the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. She is currently a Postdoctoral Scholar at the Center for the Tebtunis Papyri at the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. There she is working on an exhibit that will open in Fall 2019 on the history of Tebtunis and the papyrus collection from that Fayum site. She was previously a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University. She has worked on excavations in Spain, Turkey, Sudan, and Egypt for 15 years and is now co-director of the Qarah el-Hamra Fayum Project with Dr. Bethany Simpson.
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Sponsored by: Trent University Archaeological Research Centre (TUARC)
The Trent University Archaeological Research Centre (TUARC) was established in May, 2001, by the University Senate. The Research Centre is dedicated to the investigation and understanding of past cultures through studies of material culture and environmental evidence, analysis of field, laboratory, and archival data, and the education of students and interested community members by courses, publications, and lectures.
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Posted on March 19, 2019