 Landscape in ʿAin Ziyāda | ||
| ʿAin Ziyāda · عين زيادة | ||
| Governorate | New valley | |
|---|---|---|
| height | 95 m | |
no tourist info on Wikidata:  | ||
| location | ||
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'Ain Ziyada (Arabic:عين زيادة, ʿAin Ziyāda, „Excess source") Or 'Ain el-Gebel (Arabic:عين الجبل, ʿAyn al-Ǧabal, „Mountain spring“) Is an archaeological site in the southeast of the egyptian Sink el-Chārga and about 3.5 kilometers east of Qaṣr Dūsch located. Archaeologists should be primarily interested in the site.
background
ʿAin Ziyāda is located about 3.5 kilometers east of Qaṣr Dūsch on a plain. While the source that gave it its name has disappeared or is no longer visible, clumps of sand clay can still be seen in the area of the former wells or water points, as well as bushes and palm trees.
In ʿAin Ziyāda the remains of a Roman village can be found. On two small hills there is a ruin made of unfired adobe bricks.
Jean Gascou, who visited the ruins on March 16, 1978, reported that the shards that were in the area of the buildings could be used to date the settlement to Roman times. The buildings were probably used as farm buildings for agriculture or handicrafts. There were no signs of religious or even military use.
The finds included shards of various ceramic and glass vessels, flint tools and bone fragments.
getting there
Getting there is not that easy. You can drive to Qa Taxir Dūsch by car or taxi.
The following 3.5 kilometers in an east-northeast direction must be covered on sandy ground. The easiest way to do this is to walk. Alternative possibilities are motorbikes or all-terrain vehicles. The archaeological site can hardly be missed, as it is already visible from Qaṣr Dūsch.
mobility
The ground is dry, sandy, interspersed with small pits and quite firm, which is easy to walk on.
Tourist Attractions
The entire area is currently still being scientifically examined by the Institut français d’archéologie orientale, so that a visit is not yet easy. It makes sense to coordinate a visit with the local antiquities inspector or the antiquities administration in el-Chārga in advance.
You may be accompanied by a guard from Qaṣr Dūsch, who will of course be happy about a baksheesh.
The 1 most distinctive building(24 ° 35 ′ 19 ″ N.30 ° 44 '52 "E) is located in the north on a small hill about 1.5 meters high. It is about 15 meters long, four meters wide and about four meters high in a west-east direction. The building was constructed with regular layers of air-dried bricks using clay mortar. The interior walls were once plastered white. The building consisted of four rooms: a large one in the west, two parallel in the eastern half and an adjoining room again over the full width. The roof was certainly designed as a barrel vault. The building had only a few small windows.
Access to this building was safe from the south side, as the masonry on the west, north and east sides extends to the edge of the hill.
About 200 meters to the southeast there is one 2 second adobe building(24 ° 35 ′ 14 ″ N.30 ° 44 '58 "E.)whose state of preservation is significantly worse than the above. It's smaller than the first and facing north-south. Its entrance was probably in the south. This is followed by two rooms, a longer one in the south and a shorter one in the north. Both rooms are separated by a wall with a door. In the south there are some sandstone blocks that were probably built into the building. The east wall, which is half a meter thick, is still best preserved and is up to two meters in the northern part.
In the northern, smaller room there is a niche on the east wall. In this room you can also see the approach to the barrel vault.
Even if it has to remain speculation: if one of the buildings should have served as a temple, then this one.
Kitchen and accommodation
Usually, people choose accommodation and a restaurant in town el-Chārga. There is also a hotel and restaurant in Bārīs, a seasonally used tent camp northwest of Qaṣr Dūsch.
trips
The visit of ʿAin Ziyāda can be combined with that of the archaeological sites in Qaṣr Dūsch and ʿAin Manāwir connect.
literature
- : Deux voyages archéologiques dans l’oasis de Khargeh. In:Bulletin de l’Institut français d’archéologie orientale (BIFAO), vol.79 (1979), Pp. 1-20, panels I-VI, especially pp. 5-7, panel I.B.
