Qaṣr ʿAllām - Qaṣr ʿAllām

Qasr 'Allam (also Qasr Allam, Qasr A'lam, Arabic:قصر علام‎, Qaṣr ʿAllām, „known / familiar castle / fortress“) Is an archaeological site west of the city el-Bāwīṭī in the valley el-Baḥrīya about halfway between ʿAin et-Tibnīya and Qārat Ḥilwa. Here are the remains of a late settlement from the 26th dynasty (around 7th century BC). Archaeologists and Egyptologists should be mainly interested in this site.

background

The adobe cube, visible from afar, only served as a guide in the desert for a long time. Its existence has been known for around 200 years, but the importance of the site has never been recognized or misunderstood. The temple chapels from, of course, are from the 26th dynasty ʿAin el-Muftillā or the graves of high-ranking personalities in Qārat Qaṣr Salīm or Qārat esch-Sheikh Sūbī handed down. Obviously, the question of where the population lived or was buried or where the production facilities were located hardly played a role.

British Egyptologist John Gardner Wilkinson (1797–1875, visit 1825) mentioned Qaṣr ʿAllām,^[1] but only as an “insignificant crude brick ruin”. The German botanist Paul Ascherson (1834–1913), who stayed here in 1876, later agreed with him - “rightly”.^[2] Ascherson also reported that he had acquired a bronze statue of a (Horus) falcon found here, which is now in the Kgl. Museum zu Berlin is located. The Egyptian Egyptologist Ahmed Fakhry (1905–1973), who stayed here in 1938/1939, also named the site, but without having examined it more closely, and considered it a large (Roman) military fortress made of adobe bricks. Nobody mentioned the foundation walls of a settlement immediately to the east next to the leaning brick cube, which were easily visible.

In 1999, ceramic remains were found on the site of the so-called fortress by scientists from the Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale (IFAO), which clearly dated to the late ancient Egyptian period. The IFAO has been digging here since 2002 under the direction of Frédéric Colin.

The function of the adobe cube (Qaṣr) with its 23 cells is not yet known. Possibly it is a memory of a farm yard, as we know it from other places in the Nile delta or valley.

The findings can shed some light on the situation. Foundation pits were found at two corners of the cube containing blue faience beads, (cobalt) blue tablets, small model bricks and skeletal remains of an animal. The finds from the settlement, which mainly date from the 26th dynasty, are even more exciting: there are numerous clay seals of a type that was also used under Mencheperre (21st dynasty, son of King Pinudjem), an inscribed stone shard (ostracon), a vessel for wine, water, etc., two amphorae with the name of Horus and various terracotta figures such as three female fertility figures and several animals, including a mount that may represent a camel. The clay seals, whose inscriptions have a protective function, indicate that there must have been some kind of production and administrative structure here. The Horus inscriptions alone are not enough to prove a religious administration.

It is also not yet known how this warehouse and administrative town relates to other (religious) institutions in the area of el-Bāwīṭī was standing.

getting there

The site can only be reached by all-terrain vehicle, motorcycle or on foot.

mobility

The terrain itself can only be explored on foot.

Tourist Attractions

It is 40 meters long (north-south) and 28 meters wide that can be seen from afar Storage buildingwhich is still about 4 meters high. It contained 23 cell-like rooms, one of which has so far been exposed. The rooms were mainly blown with drifting sand, but the excavations showed that after the abandonment of the settlement, the rooms were used for burials of people and animals. Foundation pits have been found in the northeast and southwest.

The storage fortress was built directly on a rock ridge. The lower part of the building was protected with a thick layer of small stones and pottery shards from the 26th Dynasty.

To the east of the storage fortress is one settlement on an area of ​​about 70 (north-west) × 33 meters. The mud brick foundation walls of many buildings can still be made out, some walls are still up to a height of more than 2 meters. Some of the buildings had storage rooms. Remains of fire pits and bread molds have been found in the courtyards.

There is a small cemetery 250 meters south of the settlement.

kitchen

Restaurants can be found in el-Bāwīṭī or ʿAin et-Tibnīya. On the way to ʿAin et-Tibnīya is the Ahmed Safari Camp, where you can also stop.

accommodation

Accommodation is usually chosen in el-Bāwīṭī or ʿAin et-Tibnīya.

trips

The visit to the archaeological site can be combined with that of Qārat Ḥilwa and the Alexander Temple ʿAin et-Tibnīya connect.

literature

• Fakhry, Ahmed: Baḥria Oasis, vol. II. Cairo: Government Press, 1950, P. 83, fig. 69, plate L.
• Colin, Frédéric: Qasr Allam: a Twenty-Sixth Dynasty settlement. In:Egyptian archeology: the bulletin of the Egypt Exploration Society, ISSN0962-2837, Vol.24 (2004), Pp. 30-33.

Web links

• Bahariya, Excavation information from the Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale

Individual evidence