Archaeology Magazine - Egypt Special Issue - 35

Ikram. Codirector Rossi, from Cambridge, is the project’s organizer, chauﬀeur, mapmaker, and military architecture specialist. Core staﬀ include Ikram’s husband, who studies the domestic and ritual architecture (temples and churches); the chief surveyor and his team; an archaeobotanist; a ceramic specialist; and an artist. For her part, Ikram works as housekeeper, director, zooarchaeologist, mummiﬁcation specialist, mortuary archaeologist, photographer, ﬁeld walker, and sometimes prism holder. So far, the team has located three new settlement sites and documented two others, plus three fortresses.“We’ve also identiﬁed another temple and learned a great deal about the irrigation system of the oasis, which was quite complex,” says Ikram. “This season we will be working on two temple sites and exploring a route between the Kharga and Dakhla oases, where we hope to ﬁnd evidence of long-term trade and occupation.” “Desert sand has periodically covered these sites,” says Ikram, “so they have been relatively well preserved. Also, for the most part, they are far out in the desert, and people have not had a chance to destroy them. The lack of study is because they are hard to get to, and most people are interested in pharaonic Egypt, not Roman.” But there is an underlying urgency to the survey’s work, the simple recording of these monuments. Today, looters are a big problem, and tourists are coming more frequently. “Real looters might ﬁnd our presThis carefully wrapped hamadryas baboon is one of several that have been found in the Valley of the Kings.

Perhaps a royal pet, this saluki-like dog was found in a tomb along with a baboon, below left.

ence at the sites on a regular basis a deterrent,” says Ikram. “We have also put up signs saying the sites are archaeological and that various things are forbidden in order to discourage tourist-looters. We also try to show people of the oasis that there is nothing of value there save for mud-brick antiquities, so that they don’t decide to plunder the sites.”

ll archaeologists have one or two dream projects tucked away in their minds for the future but often deferred for the lack of opportunity or by the press of teaching or other commitments. When I asked Ikram what hers was, she replied, “To excavate a settlement site that has not been tampered with, with lots of textual and archaeological evidence. I want to ﬁnd out a lot about ancient Egyptian bathrooms—I am totally serious—and kitchens. The heart of a house is the kitchen—where do people gravitate to during a party? And, you are what you eat. As for bathrooms, it is quite logical if one is interested in kitchens. All sorts of waste disposal fascinate me—it is also tied into disease and health, which also intrigue me. The guts of a house are the bathrooms and kitchens.” Humble bathrooms and kitchens. Neglected Roman forts in the remote desert. Animal mummies unstudied for a century. “I have always had a soft spot for the underdog,” Ikram explains. Her latest research underdog, which has grown out of the Kharga Oasis project, is petroglyphs, especially animal scenes from the Predynastic period, before 3000 b.c. The limits of Ikram’s devotion to the past go beyond those of the average Egyptologist. “I once had a delightful time excavating in a contorted position in Saqqara, southwest of Cairo, in a very narrow space, and having to ﬂing myself over the area I was excavating every time the army detonated stuﬀ nearby, as the tomb’s fragile rock-cut roof would drop bits onto the archaeological deposits,” she recalls. Acting as a human shield for ancient bits of bone and layers of dirt requires a certain courage and faith, and a deep conviction that what you are doing is important. ■

Archaeology Magazine - Egypt Special Issue

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Archaeology Magazine - Egypt Special Issue