Baḥrīya Oasis
From Chapter 2
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Informal documents and remains of material culture, when analyzed properly, offer a unique window into the daily lives and workings of ancient civilizations. Published here in their archaeological context and with any relevant artifacts, the documents and inscriptions excavated recently in Egypt's Western Desert represent a valuable addition to our meager documentation of the Bahriya Oasis in the first centuries CE.
This is the first comprehensive treatment of an archaeological dataset from the archaeological exploration of Bīr Shawīsh. Dating to around 400 CE, these primary historical sources include documentary texts written on ostraka, informal inscriptions on various ceramic objects, plus a group of incised lids. The core of the volume consists of an annotated edition and analytical indices. This is prefaced by the historical and archaeological context and is followed by a synthesis of selected issues inherent to the published material. The book includes appendices and pictures of all published objects. Doubling the number of texts and inscriptions published to date from the Small Oasis, this new corpus furthers our understanding of the economic, administrative, and social history of Late Antique Egypt.
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From Chapter 2
Fig. 1. The Baḥrīya Oasis, with its two main areas of occupation and the major roads connecting it to the Sīwa Oasis and Cairo in the north and the Farāfra Oasis in the south. (Base image from Google Earth, February 2016.)
From Chapter 2
Fig. 2. Main occupation areas of the el-Ḥāyz Oasis, with principal sites and monuments. (Base image from Google Earth, February 2016.) 1. Bīr Shawīsh 2. Gard el-Shaykh 3. Umm el-Okhbayn, playa 4. Umm el-Okhbayn, necropolis 5. ʿAyn el-Khabata 6. Mannsaf 7. ʿAyn el-Gomaʿa, settlement 8. ʿAyn el-Gomaʿa, necropolis 9. Ṭāblimūn, settlement 10. Ṭāblimūn, necropolis 11. El-Rīs 12. Ṭāhūna 13. Qaṣr Masʿūda 14. Bīr ʿAyn Nagaʿ 15. Gard ʿAbyad
From Chapter 2
Fig. 5. Map of the southern part of Bīr Shawīsh. (Adapted from Musil and Tomášek 2013a, 83.)