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Application of Analytic Signal and Euler Deconvolution in Archaeo-Magnetic

Prospection for Buried Ruins at the Ancient City of Pelusium, NW Sinai, Egypt:
A Case Study

Article  in  Surveys in Geophysics · July 2013

DOI: 10.1007/s10712-013-9229-z

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Surv Geophys (2013) 34:395–411
DOI 10.1007/s10712-013-9229-z

Application of Analytic Signal and Euler Deconvolution

in Archaeo-Magnetic Prospection for Buried Ruins
at the Ancient City of Pelusium, NW Sinai, Egypt: A Case
Study

Akram Mekhael Aziz • William August Sauck •

El-Arabi Hendi Shendi • Mohamed Ahmed Rashed •

Mohamed Abd El-Maksoud

Received: 8 November 2012 / Accepted: 25 March 2013 / Published online: 3 April 2013
Ó Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013

Abstract Progress in the past three decades in geophysical data processing and inter-
pretation techniques was particularly focused in the field of aero-geophysics. The present
study is to demonstrate the application of some of these techniques, including Analytic
Signal, Located Euler Deconvolution, Standard Euler Deconvolution, and 2D inverse
modelling, to help in enhancing and interpreting the archeo-magnetic measurements. A
high-resolution total magnetic field survey was conducted at the ancient city of Pelusium
(name derived from the ancient Pelusiac branch of the Nile, and recently called Tell el-
Farama), located in the northwestern corner of the Sinai Peninsula. The historical city had
served as a harbour throughout the Egyptian history. Different ruins at the site have been
dated back to late Pharaonic, Graeco-Roman, Byzantine, Coptic, and Islamic periods. An
area of 10,000 m2, to the west of the famous huge red brick citadel of Pelusium, was
surveyed using the magnetic method. The chosen location was recommended by the
Egyptian archaeologists, where they suspected the presence of buried foundations of a
temple to the gods Zeus and Kasios. The interpretation of the results revealed interesting
shallow-buried features, which may represent the Temple’s outer walls. These walls are
elongated in the same azimuth as the northern wall of the citadel, which supports the
hypothesis of a controlling feature such as a former seacoast or shore of a distributary
channel.

A. M. Aziz (&)
Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Port Said University, Port Said, Egypt
e-mail: ghataas@gmail.com; akram_ghatas@science.suez.edu.eg

W. A. Sauck
Department of Geosciences, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI 49008, USA
e-mail: bill.sauck@wmich.edu

E.-A. H. Shendi  M. A. Rashed

Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt

M. A. Rashed
Department of Geophysics, King Abdulaziz University, Jidda, Saudi Arabia

M. Abd El-Maksoud
Supreme Council of Egyptian Antiquities, Ministry of Culture, Abassia, Cairo, Egypt

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396 Surv Geophys (2013) 34:395–411

Keywords Magnetic method  Magnetic susceptibility  Analytic Signal  Standard Euler

Deconvolution  Located Euler Deconvolution

1 Introduction

Several years ago, the Egyptian government began a reclamation project for cultivating
the northern Sinai region. The project started by establishing a huge canal, called the
El-Salam, to carry the River Nile’s water to the northern Sinai region, passing under the
Suez Canal through a huge siphon, to meet with a network of irrigating canals covering
the north-western corner of the Sinai. However, the noble goals of the project represent
a direct threat to archaeological sites in the area (Abd El-Maksoud 1989), where the
region has what is considered as the oldest military roads in history, known as the Ways
of Horus (Gardiner 1920), which run parallel to the Mediterranean coast. Several
ancient cities and fortresses have been discovered along the road, and archaeologists
believe that there are more archaeological remains still hidden in that region along the
road or even within the already discovered sites. Some archaeological artefacts had been
discovered, by coincidence during the process of digging the canals (Hoffmeier and Abd
El-Maksoud 2003).
In 1991, an international collaborative effort, headed by the Egyptian Supreme Council
for Antiquities (ESCA) with teams from foreign and national Universities and organiza-
tions, started to rescue the archaeological sites in the region (Abd El-Maksoud 1992).
Work has been concentrated along the proposed paths of the irrigation network.

2 Selected Site and Geological Sitting

One of the most famous sites on the Ways of Horus is Tell el-Farama (ancient Pelusium;
Fig. 1). Tell el-Farama is a huge district covering an area of almost 18 km2, (El-Taba’i and
Carrez-Maratray 1992). Ancient Pelusium had served as a Port Fortress on Egypt’s east-
ernmost Nile Delta coast. It was the northeastern entry point to Egypt when the Pelusiac
branch of the Nile flowed past this site (Stanley et al. 2008).
Many archaeological remains, such as a large Roman theater, a hippodrome (racetrack),
public houses, thermal baths with water towers, and fish-salting tanks, are already exposed
at the site. The most distinctive archaeological ruin at the site is the well-preserved red
brick fortress, which dominates the centre of the Tell, covering about 250 m by 380 m,
with 2.5 m thick walls, 36 towers, and three gates (El-Taba’i and Carrez-Maratray 1992),
the huge fortress can be seen clearly using the Google Earth (Fig. 2b).
Jean Cledat, a French archaeologist, worked at Pelusium from 1909 to 1913 and
deduced the existence of a Zeus-Kasios Temple (a conflation of the Greek gods Zeus and
the weather-god Kasios) (Cledat 1913). He sketched a map (Fig. 2a) showing the visible
archaeological features and the proper location of the Temple to the west of the citadel,
where only two huge fallen Aswan granitic columns are visible at the surface, thought to
have served as the Temple’s entrance (El-Taba’i 2008). Usually these granites were carried
on barges floated down from Aswan via the Nile, then to the Pelusiac branch to the
construction place, as there is no other source of granites nearby (Abd El-Maksoud et al.
1994). Priority was given by the archaeologists to examine this location for evidences of
the buried Temple. Accordingly, the magnetic survey was designed to cover the area

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Surv Geophys (2013) 34:395–411 397

Fig. 1 a Satellite image of the Nile Delta and Sinai, b Seven distributaries of the old Nile Delta and the
ancient shore lines: 1 at the beginning of the Holocene, 2 during historical times, and 3 in modern times
(Said 1981; Sestini 1989), and c Palaeogeographic map of the northwest Sinai for Late Bronze Age.
Symbols for archaeological sites: E New Kingdom Egyptian, R Roman, S Saite. Hoffmeier and Moshier
2006; Moshier and El-Kalani 2008

Fig. 2 a Sketch map of Tell el-Farama archaeological site made by the French archaeologists (after Cledat
1913 and Abd El-Maksoud et al. 1994), and b Google Map view of the site showing the Pelusium citadel at
the centre and the selected site to the west of the citadel where the magnetic survey was conducted

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around these two granitic columns. The surveyed area is located to the west of the citadel
(Fig. 2b).
Geologically, the area of study represents the easternmost corner of the old delta of the
river Nile. The early course of the Pelusiac branch behind the coastline towards the
paleolagoon was proposed by Bietak (1975, 1996) and Marcolongo (1992). Sneh and
Weissbrod (1973) followed the branch to the east of the Suez Canal passing by Tell el-
Farama. Marcolongo (1992), Bietak (1996), and Stanley (2002) defined the relict dune
ridges of the ancient Mediterranean coastline (Fig. 1b). The Pelusium transcontinental
fault delineated the southern border of the old delta. A distinctive variation in soil character
could be noticed in satellite images of the region (Fig. 1a). The southern and the eastern
parts are dominated by sands with thin lenses of gravels, while sands become interbedded
with clay layers on the northern side of the fault (Neev et al. 1982).
Moshier and El-Kalani (2008) constructed a Palaeogeographic map (Fig. 1c), based
upon interpretation of CORONA space imagery and the distribution of Holocene deposits.
They defined a semi-enclosed lagoon of about 7 km diameter, and the dark-coloured mud
deposits, which represent marsh and estuarine environments surrounding the lagoon and
landward of the coastal dune ridge. They interpreted the changes in the environmental
setting of this area from marine shoreline and lagoon (Bronze Age) to delta plain marsh
(Roman period) to inland sabkha (post-Roman period), all of which were deposited during
the changes in the broader Nile system flow and its sediment load, which are related to
paleo-climatic changes in East Africa (Krom et al. 2002). They stated that the Pelusiac
branch had been advanced seaward beyond the Pelusium Line (3,100 years B.P.), creating
the delta plain of Tineh. At this time, the lagoon south of the Pelusium Line was filled with
deltaic fine-grained sediment and then converted into a delta plain marsh that exists today
as a sabkha.
The decreased Nile flow occurred 1,000 years B.P. (Krom et al. 2002; Stanley et al.
2003) and ultimately led to the abandonment of the Pelusiac branch main course. In
addition, El-Gamili and Shaaban (1988) proposed that westward tilting of the delta plain
during the late Holocene may have promoted the degeneration and silting up of eastern
Nile delta branches.

3 Previous Archaeo-Geophysical Work in the Region

Early attempts at using geophysical methods for searching for buried remains in north-
western Sinai were conducted by the Argentinean archaeological mission at Tell el-Ghaba,
in 1998 (Rosso et al. 2002). These attempts were followed by national efforts led by the
Egyptian universities at Tell el-Farama (Ibrahim et al. 1998), Tell el-Borg (Hoffmeier and
Abd El-Maksoud 2003), Tell Heboua-I (Aziz 2005), Tell Abyad (Valbelle and Leclère.
2008), and Tell el-Herr, Tell el-Ghaba, Tel el-Farama (Herbich 2007, 2009).
Most of the archaeological sites in Northwestern Sinai were mainly dated back to
Roman and Egyptian periods (Fig. 1c). The characteristic difference between the con-
struction materials, used in building these sites, had a great influence in choosing the
proper geophysical method to be employed at each site. For instance, archaeological ruins
at the ancient Egyptian sites in this region were built mainly from ‘‘adobe’’ blocks
(compacted, unfired mud blocks, just dried by exposing to the Sun’s heat; Fig. 3a). Aziz
(2005) examined the impacts of the archaeological ruins of Tell Heboua, an ancient
Egyptian site, 5 km to the west of Suez Canal (Fig. 1c). He used different geophysical
methods, including total magnetic field, vertical magnetic gradient, magnetic susceptibility

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of outcrops, very low frequency electromagnetic (VLF), very low frequency resistivity
(VLF-R), resistivity gradient, and 2D resistivity imaging. The results showed that there is a
very small physical contrast between the buried archaeological ruins and the host sedi-
ments. Shendi and Aziz (2010) concluded that the detection of buried archaeological ruins,
with very small magnetic susceptibility contrast, like those at the ancient Egyptian sites at
the easternmost edge of the old delta, depends more on the geometry of the anomalies
rather than their magnitudes.
On the other hand, Ibrahim et al. (1998) conducted magnetic and resistivity surveys in
two locations at Tell el-Farama, a Roman site. They concluded that the magnetic method
was more successful than resistivity. High salinity, shallow water table, and increased soil
moisture made it difficult to detect the archaeological remains using the resistivity method.
On the other hand, the higher magnetic susceptibility contrast between the fired red bricks
(which were used in most Roman site construction; Fig. 3b), and the surrounding clayey
soils, helped in discriminating the buried archaeological features.

4 Field Work and Data Reduction

The total magnetic field was measured using a Scintrex proton-precession ENVI-MAG
geophysical system. The instrument is capable of recording the total magnetic field with a
sensitivity of 0.1 nT. The instrument has a high capacity memory, which enables it to
measure the filed in a continuous walking mode.
The data acquisition had taken place during the summer season of 2007. The Geo-
magnetic Reference Filed (GRF) was computed for the surveyed area, at that time of the
year, using Geosoft Oasis Montaj software (Oasis Montaj 2006). The results of the ambient
magnetic field strength (H), inclination (I) and declination (D) were H = 43,801.3 nT,
I = 45.9°, and D = 3.5°, respectively.
The data were collected over twenty-four grids, with each grid covering an area of
20 m 9 20 m with a sampling interval of 1 m 9 1 m, and the sensor height was 0.5 m.
The grids surrounded the location of the two granitic columns, located in square (D3), as
shown in (Fig. 4), where data were not collected. The relatively coarse sampling interval
1 m 9 1 m was chosen in order to cover a large area around the two granitic columns,
without missing any information from the targeted archaeological feature. It was noticed
from the nearby exposed archaeological ruins, the Roman theater and the citadel, that their

Fig. 3 a Foundations of walls excavated at the ancient Egyptian sites of Tell Heboua-I, and b Exposed wall
of the Pelusium citadel, at Tell el-Farama

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wall widths range from 3 to 5 m. The direction of the surveyed traverses was perpendicular
to the main direction of these fallen columns, N 15°W, since they are the only ‘‘outcrops’’
at this site.
Field measurements were collected during the day hours, where the field had a gradual
changing rate, as monitored from the base station readings. The base station was revisited
every 20 min during the survey. That time interval was enough to traverse 4–5 profiles,
unidirectional, before returning back to record the field at the base station. Later on, these
base station records were used to remove the effect of the diurnal variations from the
measured data (Telford et al. 1990).
Buried war debris, accidental instrument failure or instability, and human errors are all
uncontrollable contributors that can cause an instantaneous abrupt change in the magnetic
field and cannot be avoided during any data-sampling procedures. These errors can be
visually detected from contour maps, since their values are anomalous compared to the
measurements surrounding these points. Conventionally, these odd data points can be
removed either by removing them manually from the data sets or by using high-frequency-
cut filters (Oasis Montaj 2007).
Then, data were gridded at a grid cell size of 0.25 m and then plotted in the form of a
colour contour map (Fig. 4), using Geosoft Oasis Montaj software (Oasis Montaj 2006).

Fig. 4 Total magnetic field map after diurnal variation removal, with a preliminary delineation of the
anomalous features

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Surv Geophys (2013) 34:395–411 401

5 Data Processing and Qualitative Interpretation

At least six distinguishing features could be noticed on the total magnetic field map. The
first two are characterized by low magnetic field intensity, broader contour spacing, and
regular fixed geometry. These two features are delineated by the dashed black lines
(Fig. 4). One of them is square in shape and almost dominates the location of grid B3 with
extensions into grids B4, A4, and A3. The other low intensity feature is in the form of a T-
shape occupying the lower half of C1, the left side of C2, and upper parts of B1 and B2.
These two regularly shaped features with low intensities could be due to the presence of
buried ditches, excavated by the military forces during the Egyptian–Israeli war
(1967–1973), when this region was a part of the warfront between the two forces. It is also
very possible that these features are much older, since the measured data did not show any
noise spikes resulting from steel military debris, as is commonly encountered at similar
sites (Shendi and Aziz 2010). Moreover, their sides are nearly parallel to other anomalies
of higher amplitudes and to the citadel walls.
Another moderately high intensity anomaly, ranging between 43,725 and 43,740 nT,
surrounds the unmeasured grid D3 on the right and upper sides, forming a square with a
missing side, which is denoted by the dashed white square at the middle of the map. It may
have resulted from a shallow-buried platform or base of a building.
The highest intensity anomaly, exceeding 43,740 nT, strikes ENE–WSW, covering the
grids of E2, F3, F4, and F5. This feature, or series of adjacent elongated blocks, gets
broader in the NE direction, or perhaps that appearance is because a part of that feature was
not sampled by the empty grids to the left of grid F3. This feature is outlined by a black
solid rectangle at the upper part of the map (Fig. 4).
The other two anomalies are delineated by black ovals at grids C4 and E3, showing a
sequence of high–low–high peaks starting from the southern sides of these grids to their
northern edges. This could be the result of two parallel-buried features striking also ENE–
WSW, or there may be a double-walled structure surrounding the middle square platform.
More field data and/or further processing are needed to infer more information about these
anomalies.
It is very common in archaeological prospection work, when magnetized bodies are so
spatially close to each other, that their magnetic anomalies overlap to form a complex
anomaly (Reynolds 1997). Calculating the horizontal field derivatives, in the X and Y (E
and N) directions (dT=dx; dT=dy), where T is the measured field value of the Earth’s
magnetic field after removing the diurnal fluctuation effect, is very helpful in resolving
composite and complex anomalies into their individual constituents. Additionally, hori-
zontal derivatives can clearly define the edges of the anomalies, especially if those
anomalies are striking at near-perpendicular angles to the direction of the applied deriv-
ative (Telford et al. 1990; Phillips 2000; Ansari and Alamdar 2011).
The vertical field derivative (dT=dz), in the Z direction, can enhance the buried shallow
features, at the expense of the regional magnetic gradient. The only precaution of using the
vertical derivative is that it can enhance the surface noise, which is difficult to distinguish
from desired features (Breiner 1999). The orthogonal derivatives calculations were carried
out using the Geosoft Oasis Montaj software 7.2, and the results were plotted on maps
(Fig. 5a–c).
By inspecting the two horizontal derivatives maps (Fig. 5a, b), it was noticed that the
Y-derivative map showed a clear-cut view of the edges of the anomalies striking
approximately E–W, more so than that shown on the X-derivative maps. That may have
happened because the Y-derivative calculations were done along the actual paths of the

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Fig. 5 a Horizontal derivative in the X (E) direction, b Horizontal derivative in Y (N) direction, c Vertical
derivatives, and d the Analytic Signal map

surveyed traverses, which were previously chosen to run perpendicular to the general
azimuths of the nearby exposed archaeological ruins at the site. On the contrary, the X-
derivative map failed to enhance the image of these features, since it passes almost parallel
to most of them. In other words, the enhancement of the buried features, striking at a large
angle to the surveyed traverses, indirectly emphasizes that most of these buried features
have the same azimuth as that of the exposed ruins.
In addition, the Y-derivative map managed to resolve the complex broad anomaly,
shown on the upper part of the total magnetic field map (Fig. 4), into its constituents. For
example, the broad anomaly (extending along the grids: E2, E3, E4, F3, F4, and F5) was a
resultant of two spatially adjacent anomalies, resulting from two parallel-buried walls,
striking ENE-WSW, and spaced by a small distance of about 5–8 m, as can be deduced
initially from the map. Another similar anomaly shape was repeated at the location of the

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grids B3, C3, C4, and D5. It can be inferred that this double-wall structure surrounds the
place of the fallen columns.
The relatively continuous anomalies that appear on the Y-derivative map (Fig. 5b) have
been cut into a number of separate isolated closures, as shown in the vertical derivative
map (Fig. 5c), but these closures still have the same common strike. That may be the result
of the same features but with an eroded or irregular upper surface, which may be closer to
the ground surface at some places than at other places. Many other small localized
anomalies had been enhanced in various places on the vertical derivative map (Fig. 5c),
since the vertical derivative could enhance the surface noise as well as the targeted shallow
features.
The previously calculated potential field derivatives can be used to calculate the Ana-
lytic Signal Amplitude (Nabighian 1972, 1984; Roest et al. 1992; Macleod et al. 1993a, b).
The amplitude of the Analytic Signal equals the square root of the squared sum of the two
horizontal derivatives in the X and Y directions and the vertical derivative in the Z
direction, as follows:
h i1=2
jAðx; yÞj ¼ ðdT=dxÞ2 þ ðdT=dyÞ2 þ ðdT=dzÞ2

Analytic Signal Amplitude is widely used in magnetic interpretation. It is able to determine

the location of the causative sources of the magnetic anomalies, where its maxima are
mainly positioned over the edges of the sources, regardless of their magnetization direction
(Roest et al. 1992; MacLeod et al. 1993a, b; Parlowski et al. 1995; Wijns et al. 2005;
Cheyney et al. 2011). Moreover, the calculation of the Analytic Signal will be very helpful
to limit the number of depth solutions of the Euler Deconvolution equation (Reynolds
1997), which will be applied later. The calculated results of the Analytic Signal Ampli-
tudes were plotted on a map (Fig. 5d). It should be noted that the small negative values in
the colour scale bar of the Analytic Signal map are simply an artefact of the contouring
method used to plot the map, rather being a true negative anomaly, since all the values
derived from the Analytic Signal Amplitudes equation are positive.
From an inspection of the maps, it was noticed that all of the negative anomalies shown
in the derivative maps (Fig. 5a–c) were converted into positive anomalies in the Analytic
Signal map (Fig. 5d). Due to this sign conversion and the close spacing between the buried
archaeological ruins, it was very difficult to delineate the edges of the buried ruins. This
processing also resulted in broadening other anomalies, such as those that appear at grids
C2 and D2 of Fig. 5d.
Moreover, other scattered small anomaly closures, with no obvious orientation, had
covered the entire map of the Analytic Signal. These appear more obvious at the south-
western part of the map, in grids A1, A2, B1, and B2. This could be the result of the effect
of the surface, or near surface, scattered broken red bricks of the adjacent Pelusium citadel,
wherein their effects were enhanced by applying the vertical derivative calculations.

6 Quantitative Interpretation

Euler Deconvolution is considered as an evolving technique used for interpreting total

magnetic field data. Its objective is to produce a map showing the lateral locations and
depths of the causative sources of magnetic anomalies, by processing and condensing the
magnetic data to a point source at a depth. That can be achieved by providing mathematical

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solutions for Euler’s homogeneity equation, without recourse to any geological constraints
(El-Dawi et al. 2004; Piro et al. 2007; Panisova and Pasteka 2009).
Euler’s homogeneity equation (Thompson 1982) relates the magnetic field strength T,
which is measured at ðx; y; zÞ, resulting from a magnetic source at ðxo ; yo ; zo Þ, with its
gradient components. The equation can be expressed as follows:
dT dT dT
ðx  xo Þ þ ðy  yo Þ þ ðz  zo Þ ¼ NðB  TÞ
dx dy dz
where T is the total field strength at the point, and B is the regional field value. N is the
degree of homogeneity and is usually referred to as the Structural Index (SI), or the rate at
which the field falls off with distance from the source.
The choice of the SI value depends on the expected or assumed geometry of the targeted
feature, where it varies from 0 to 3. For spherical bodies, SI equals 3 (where the magnetic
field from a point dipole falls off as 1/r3), for a vertical rod and horizontal cylinder SI
equals 2, while for dike and sill-like structures, SI equals 1, and for contacts, it equals 0.5
(Reid et al. 1990).
The advantage of Euler’s equation is that it is insensitive to magnetic inclination,
declination, and remanence since these become a part of the constant in the anomaly
function of a given model. Euler equations are usually solved using a least-squares
inversion method, to determine the optimum source location ðxo ; yo ; zo Þ and B value, for a
given index SI (Reynolds 1997).
Two different methods were applied to produce solutions for the previous equation. The
first is called the Standard Euler Deconvolution method, where solutions are calculated
within a fixed window size. This square window moves over every data point in a uniform
grid and produces a large number of solutions all over the grid. The second method, named
the Located Euler Deconvolution, was designed to limit the number of the calculations,
where it calculates the depths only at positions of the field maxima. These positions could
be located, as stated previously, using the Analytic Signal Amplitude (FitzGerald et al.
2004). Both Standard and Located Euler methods were applied to the data with a series of
different SI values (0, 0.5, 1, 2, and 3). The resulting solutions (depth and location) were
presented in the form of maps. Figure 6 shows only the results of SI = 1 and 2 for both
methods.
Although the total magnetic field data were filtered at an early step, to remove the high-
frequency features, the effects of the scattered buried broken bricks were enhanced again
by the vertical derivative term of the Analytic Signal calculations. That resulted in
increasing of the randomness of the maxima locations and produces much distorted depth
maps as shown in (Fig. 6a, b), for the Located Euler Deconvolution results.
The window size chosen for the Standard Euler calculations was 5 m. This size is
appropriate for the expected dimensions of the archaeological buried remains at the site.
The results of the Standard Euler method (Fig. 6c, d) show many more solutions than given
by the Located Euler, but it was noticed that these solutions were more concentrated along
specific trends, which are likely to be the margins of the buried features.
The Standard Euler map distinguished very clearly two parallel features occupying the
grids E2, E3, the upper part of E4, and the lower part of F4. Another two similar features
can be seen in the grid of C4, but it seems that the lower feature is not continuous through
grid C3. One possible interpretation is that these are the outlines of an outer foundation of a
double-wall structure surrounding the magnetically low area between them, which is
compatible with a floor platform. The Standard Euler Deconvolution method helps not only

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Fig. 6 a, b Located Euler Deconvolution results using SI = 2 and 3, respectively; c, d Standard Euler
Deconvolution results using SI = 2 and SI = 3, respectively

in estimating the depths of the buried ruins, but also in clarifying the geometry of the
buried ruins. In other words, by limiting the data to these maxima locations only in the
Located Euler Deconvolution, the continuous outlines of the buried features could not be
detected as well, whereas they were mapped very well by the Standard Euler method.
Comparing the results produced by using the SI = 2 and SI = 3, shown in (Fig. 6c, d),
it is clear that solutions assuming horizontal cylinder (SI = 2) geometry are better defined,
with the depth solutions more concentrated along the axis of the features.
Seventeen soil samples, collected from the surface and from several depths, were taken
to a laboratory where their magnetic susceptibilities were measured. Also, two-fired
Roman bricks and a sample of slag (unknown origin) were drilled to provide samples for
susceptibility and for natural remanent magnetization (NRM) measurements (intensity
only). All the magnetic susceptibility measurements were made using the System

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International units. The results of the soil susceptibility showed a range from 9.182 9 10-3
to 4.907 9 10-2, with a mean value of 2.97 9 10-2. The samples from the bricks showed
susceptibilities approximately an order of magnitude higher, averaging 1.452 9 10-1, for
eight samples. The slag sample had a susceptibility somewhat higher than that of the
bricks. The NRM measurements on the brick and slag cores showed strong remanence
averaging 1.628 9 10-2 A/m, yielding a Konigsberger ratio ranging between 4.56 and
85.91.
The magnetic susceptibility measurements showed a distinctive contrast between the
buried ruins and the surrounding sediments, which were taken into consideration while
constructing the 2-D inverted models across the site. Two profiles AA0 and BB0 , crossing
the most significant features shown in Fig. 4, were selected and digitized using the GM-
SYS software (GM-SYS 2006). Figures 7 and 8 show the interpreted cross sections of
these two profiles.
Both models could explain the anomalous field with various blocks buried at depths of
1.8–3 m. All blocks have model susceptibilities higher than that of the Holocene sedi-
ments, which have a relatively lower susceptibility than that of the presumed archaeo-
logical buried structures. Profile AA0 shows a symmetrical geometry of the buried features.
At the centre of the profile, a platform or a floor is apparent, of relatively lower suscep-
tibility compared with the surrounding double-wall structure. The outer-consolidated
floors, or possibly sidewalks, of the highest susceptibility levels, are located at the two ends
of the profile. As for Profile BB0 , the northern ‘‘sidewalk’’ is extended, while the southern
one seems to be truncated by a ditch, perhaps excavated during the recent wars, and filled
with sediments, which resulted in lowering the total magnetic field measurements at the
southern end of the profile.
Figure 9 shows an integration of the total magnetic field map, and the depth solutions
map, resulting from the Standard Euler Deconvolution method using SI = 2. Superposed
on these is a plan view (at depth of 2.75 m, which was chosen to cut through most of the
buried blocks) of the interpreted and extrapolated 2-D inverted models of the two profiles
AA0 and BB0 .

Fig. 7 Profile AA0 with length of 84 m crossing the crowded anomaly zone to the northern and eastern
sides of the fallen columns at Grid D3, and its interpreted cross section with rms error of 0.89 between the
observed and modelled profiles

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Fig. 8 Profile BB0 with length of 108 m crossing the area on the western and southern sides of the gird D3,
and its interpreted cross section with rms fitting error of 1.035

It was noticed that the locations of the depth solutions are mainly associated with the
high total magnetic field values. In general, they are clustered along and superimposed over
the edges of interpreted buried blocks. That property can be used to trace the edges of the
buried structure. Using the Standard Euler Deconvolution depth maps, as an edge detector
(FitzGerald et al. 2004; El-Dawi et al. 2004), could help in delineating the internal
geometry of the buried archaeological ruins, particularly in places where the magnetic
anomaly closures are not so clear. For example, the magnetic anomaly closures resulting
from the double-wall structure, which were detected at Grids C2 and C4, were not obvious
at the grid C2. One of these walls can be traced by the continuity of the depth solution
locations crossing the centre of Grid C3. The missing part of the other wall supports the
idea of the presence of a recent excavation, a possible gun emplacement dug by the
military forces during the Suez war, in 1973. The trench destroyed the southern wall and
eroded the middle part of the northern one.
Information derived from correlating the total magnetic field map with the locations of
depths solutions provided by the Standard Euler Deconvolution method enables us to
delineate and illustrate the geometry of the interpreted buried ruins (Fig. 9). The illus-
tration shows a huge platform, dominating its central part. That platform covers an area of
about 1,200 m2. The two exposed fallen granitic columns, denoted by small solid circles at
grid D3, are located in front of that platform. These two columns probably served as an
entrance gate to the platform, which may represent the big floor of the building. The other
three sides of this floor are surrounded by the double-wall structures, reflecting the
importance of this building, which was very likely referred to as the buried ruins of the
Zeus-Kasios Temple by Cledat (1913).
The edges of another-squared-buried feature, at the southwestern corner of (Fig. 9),
were well defined on the Euler Deconvolution depth map. This feature is of moderate total
magnetic field value and may represent a building associated with the main compound of
the Temple, since its sides are in same directions as the sides of the main building of the
Temple.
What is also very interesting is that the axis of the whole complex, of the buried ruins,
lies in the same azimuth as the northern wall of the citadel (Fig. 2b). That reflects some

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408 Surv Geophys (2013) 34:395–411

Fig. 9 Total magnetic field map as a base, with superposed depth map of the Standard Euler
Deconvolution, the plan views of the interpreted profiles, and the interpreted buried structures of the
Temple of Zeus-Kasios, at Pelusium

certain historical relationship between the two buildings or just emphasizes the presence of
a controlling feature such as a former sea coast, at the time when these buildings were
erected, especially if the city once served as a harbour (Neev et al. 1987).
The two irregular closures, shown in blue colours in (Fig. 9), represent low magnetic
intensity-buried features. These features are interpreted as recent excavations for trenches
or artillery emplacements dug by the military forces during the Suez war.
More detailed surveys should be conducted around the un-surveyed grid C5, and the
survey should be extended to cover the area of D6 and E6 and beyond. Additionally, the
anomaly that lies between grids D1 and E1 reflects the presence of a deep-seated, highly
magnetized body with circular shape. Much more information is needed to understand its
spatial relationship to the high magnetized anomaly in the middle of grid E1. Because so
many of these buried features show appreciable magnetic response, a systematic mapping
programme over a much larger area, and using a modern, continuously recording mag-
netometer along closer spaced lines is recommended.

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7 Conclusions

Geophysical data processing and modern interpretation techniques were applied to the
detailed total magnetic field data measured at the presumed location of the Zeus-Kasios
Temple, at the ancient city of Pelusium, recently called Tell el-Farama. Orthogonal field
derivatives were calculated for the diurnally corrected data, and horizontal derivatives
helped in delineating the edges of the buried features, while the vertical derivative
enhanced both the signal from the buried targets and the noise effect.
The Standard Euler Deconvolution method was very helpful not only in finding the
depths to the buried features, but also in delineating edges, extensions, and internal
geometry of the buried archaeological ruins. In this test on (relatively) very shallow targets,
it was the best of the modern processing methods. The Located Euler method results were
distorted, since it calculated the depths only at maxima locations, previously determined
with the Analytic Signal calculations, where the latter was greatly affected by the scattered
enhanced noise level of the vertical derivative. Although the Analytic Signal Amplitude
method is very popular in aero-magnetic prospection, it is clearly not so efficient in
archaeological prospection work, especially if the buried ruins do not have an adequate
spacing to isolate their anomalies from each other. The distance and depth scaling of the
aeromagnetic surveys are certainly very different from the parameters of archaeological
targets.
Susceptibility and normal remnant magnetization laboratory measurements were carried
out for soil and surface samples. The results of sample measurements were used to con-
strain the 2D inverted modelling of two selected profiles running NW–SE across the study
area. Several buried features were interpreted from correlating the total magnetic field map,
the Euler Deconvolution depth map, and the two interpreted profiles. The depths of the
buried ruins range between 1.5 and 3.5 m below the ground surface. A map showing the
expected layout of the buried ruins of the Zeues-Kasios Temple was constructed to guide
archaeologists in their next excavations. Finally, the dominant axis of these ruins was
found to be parallel to the azimuth of the northern wall of the Pelusium citadel, which may
reflect some certain historical relationship between the two buildings or may reflect the
presence of a controlling feature such as a former seacoast at the time when they were
erected. Future investigation should concentrate on the exact location of the old shoreline.

Acknowledgments The authors wish to thank the Council of Egyptian Antiquities, Dr. Mohammed Abd
El-Samie, and Mr. Ahmed El-Taba’i, for facilitating the field surveys. Thank are due to Western Michigan
University for providing software and accessibility to computer labs. Dr. Rob Van der Voo, University of
Michigan, made his palaeomagnetic laboratory available. We thank Matt Domeier and Dr. Fatim Hankard of
that laboratory for valuable assistance in measuring the susceptibility of more than fifty samples, and NRM
intensities of ten others.

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