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The settlement and tombs of the strata
c–a/1 of area F/I – stratum c
by Karin Kopetzky |
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Area F/I is situated about 300m west of the excavation
house of Tell el-Dabca. Between the years 1979 and 1989
an area of 5500 m2 was excavated. The oldest
settlement relicts are from the early Middle Kingdom [1] (Ph.
e), which were covered by a large building of the end
of the 12th dynasty, an edifice in the shape of a Syrian
"Mittelsaalhaus"
(Ph. d/2). This was connected to a cemetery, which lies
to the SW of it. Above it were traces of a wide spread
palace area (Ph. d/1) also connected to a cemetery [2].
Both date to the beginning of the 13th dynasty.
Simple huts were constructed in the ruins of this palace
(Ph. c), partly by reusing walls of the palace (pic.
1, pic.2). Cemeteries and their tombs were separated from
each other by wavy walls. |
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Cemeteries and their tombs were separated
from each other by wavy walls. For the first time so called
“Totenhäuser” were established. These
are separate rooms which contained one to several burials.
In some cases up to 3 generations were buried there (pic.
3, pic.
4, pic.
5). |
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The main part of the ceramic material
(80%) of the settlement layer of this phase still belongs
into the tradition of the ending Middle Kingdom (pic.
6, pic.
7). Most of the imports came from the Syro-Palestinean
MB IIA culture, while for the first time rare imports
from Cyprus are also found (pic.
8, pic.
9). |
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The architecture of the burials shows
large, rectangular tombs covered with vaults built of
sun-dried mud bricks surrounded by smaller tombs. Most
of the burials of this layer are orientated WNW-ESE
to W-E. Neonati and small children were buried along
side walls, a custom that continues until the end of
the Hyksos time. The percentage of Egyptian-style vessels
is, higher in these tombs than in the following periods.
But one must keep in mind that a lot of the tombs had
already been robbed in ancient times.
Towards the end of this phase pit burials appear, which
contained up to three burials with few burial goods.
M. Bietak has suggested the possibility of a disease
which spread across the town and cost many lives in
a very short time span. He thinks that these burials
are the evidence of this occurrence [3]. |
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[1] E.
CZERNY, Tell el-Dabca IX. Eine Plansiedlung
des frühen Mittleren Reiches, UZK XV Vienna, 1999.
[2] R. SCHIESTL, Die Palastnekropole
von Tell el-Dabca. Die Gräber der Straten
d/2 und d/1 des Areals F/I. Dissertation, Vienna, 2003.
[3] M. BIETAK, Avaris. The Capital of the Hyksos.
Recent Excavations at Tell el-Dabca, Dorset 1996, 35.
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Bibliography:
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Bagh, T.
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| The Beginning of the Middle Bronze Age in Egypt
and the Levant. A Study of the so-called Levantine
Painted Ware and Related Painted Pottery Styles
of the Beginning of the Middle Bronze Age Focusing
on Chronology, Dissertation, Kopenhagen 2000. |
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Bietak, M.
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| Servant Burials in the Middle Bronze Age Culture
of the Eastern Nile Delta, EI 20 (1989), 30*–43*. |
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| Avaris. The Capital of the Hyksos. Recent Excavations at Tell el-Dabca, Dorset 1996. |
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Bietak, M. und Hein, I.
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| Pharaonen und Fremde. Dynastien im Dunkel, Ausstellungskatalog
des Historischen Museums der Stadt Wien, Wien 1994. |
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Czerny, E.
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| Tell el-Dabca IX. Eine Plansiedlung des frühen
Mittleren Reiches, UZK XV Wien, 1999. |
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Kopetzky, K.
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Die Datierung der Gräber der Grabungsfläche
F/I von Tell el-Dabca anhand der Keramik. Unveröffentl.
Diplomarbeit,
Wien 1993. |
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| The MB II B-Corpus of the Hyksos Period at Tell
el-Dabca, in: M. BIETAK und E. Czerny (eds.), The
Bronze Age in Lebanon. Studies on the Archaeology
and Chronology of Lebanon, Syria and Egypt, CChEM,
Wien (im Druck). |
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Maguire, L.C.,
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| The Circulation of Cypriote Pottery in the Middle
Bronze Age. Vienna (in prep.) |
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Müller, V.,
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| Offering Practices in the Temple Courts of Tell
el-Dabca and the Levant, CChEM 3 (2002). |
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Schiestl, R.,
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| Die Palastnekropole von Tell el-Dabca.
Die Gräber der Straten d/2 und d/1 des Areals
F/I. Dissertation, Wien 2003. |
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