Excavation in Khaled Ibn El Waleed Garde

EXCAVATIONS IN THE KHALID IBN EL-WALEED
GARDEN, LUXOR: AVENUE OF THE SPHINXES
Freya SADARANGANI, James S. TAYLOR

with Ashraf ABD EL-AZIZ, Mansour BORAIK
Rabee EISSA, Ahmed M. EL-LAITHY,
Hanan M. M. MAHMOUD, Essam M. SHIHAB*
Abstract
Members of the ARCE and AERA Salvage Archaeology Field School (SAFS) excavated in the
Khalid Ibn el-Waleed Garden, located on the east bank of Luxor, 317 meters north of the Luxor
Temple, between January and March 2008. The aim of the field school is to train Supreme Council
of Antiquities (SCA) Inspectors in all aspects of the archaeological process. The focus of the 2008
field school in Luxor was on salvage archaeology applied to the excavations of the Avenue of the
Sphinxes.
The 2008 excavations revealed features from approximately 2,300 years of occupation, including
pre-Nectanebo I architecture, the Avenue of Sphinxes, constructed during the reign of Nectanebo
I (380-343 BC), and features associated with the subsequent use of the Avenue. During much of
the Late Roman period a watercourse ran through the site, the team found evidence of numerous
works of maintenance and management of the water course at a time when industry flourished
on its upper banks, including pottery manufacture to the southeast and more diverse industries
to the northwest. People continued to manage and occupy the banks of the water course well
into the Medieval period.
1. Introduction to the Excavations

The Salvage Archaeological Field School (SAFS) excavations at Khaled Ibn el-Waleed
Garden (KIW), Luxor, took place between 5th January and 27th March, 2008. The purpose of
the SAFS was to train Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) inspectors in archaeological
field techniques and methods of recording, with a focus on rescue work. The American
Research Centre in Egypt (ARCE) and the Ancient Egyptian Research Associates (AERA)
funded the SAFS. Mohsen Kamel and Ana Tavares directed the SAFS, under the executive
direction of Mark Lehner, with the collaboration of Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the
SCA, Sabri Abd El Aziz, SCA Director of Pharaonic Monuments, and Mansour Bouraik,
SCA General Director of Luxor.
1.1. Location and Topography

The site encompasses the area of the former Khaled Ibn el-Waleed Garden, located in
downtown Luxor, 317m northeast of Luxor Temple and 210m southeast of the River Nile
(Figs 1 and 2, Pl. Ia). The walls of the garden enclosed a trapezoidal area over 5,600m square
meters (95m north-south by 43m east-west at the north and 78m east-west at the south),
bounded by Sharia El Karnak, Sharia El Muqashqish, Sharia El Matafy, Sharia Montazah,
and Sharia Youssef Hassan. The southwestern boundary of the site was located across
the street from the Mosque of Abu al-Muqashqish and Luxor Police Station (which has
subsequently been removed).
* With the following appendices: ‘Osteological Report on the KIW Burials’ by Jessica Kaiser and Ahmed Mohamed Gabr, ‘The Objects’ by
Mennat-Allah El Dorry.
81
F. SADARANGANI, J. S. TAYLOR AND OTHERS
The ground level at the beginning of the SAFS was between 77.14m ASL to 78.07m ASL.
The Luxor Governorate program to clear the Avenue of the Sphinxes began on November
20, 2005. Authorities demolished the cement and brick walkways and curbs, cleared the
garden of trees and shrubbery, machined the surface of the site, and accumulated spoil piles
along the perimeter of the former garden.
1.2. Excavation History

An SCA team, under the direction of Hanem Mahmoud, excavated two long trenches
(labeled Trenches 1 and 2) oriented southwest-northeast, to expose the northwestern and
southeastern rows of sphinxes and red-brick planters on either side of the Avenue of the
Sphinxes, (Fig. 3). The SCA carried out this work as part of a plan instigated by Samir
Farag, the Governor of Luxor, to expose the whole course of the Avenue of the Sphinxes
between the sites of Luxor and Karnak Temples.
1.2.1. Excavation and Recording in 2006

At the request of Mansour Bouraik
aik, General Director of Luxor, beginning in Spring 2006,
team members of the AERA Giza Plateau Mapping Project at Giza and graduates of the
ARCE-AERA Field School worked with the Luxor SCA team assigned to the monitoring
of the works in KIW. This partnership recorded the stratigraphy of the two trenches
and excavated by hand a further northwest-southeast orientated trench to connect the
stratigraphy between the two trenches, which had been excavated by machine, and to make
an assessment of the level of preservation of the Avenue. The collaborative work began
on 20th March 2006 and ended on 31st May 2006, and was conducted under the direction of
Mohsen Kamel, Ana Tavares and Mark Lehner. After this limited season of work, the SCA
team partly backfilled the trenches and work remained suspended until 2008.
1.2.2. The Salvage Archaeological Field School 2008

By 2008 the SCA and Luxor Governorate planned to bring the KIW site into the enclosure
and archaeological preserve around the Luxor Temple, by demolishing the KIW perimeter
walls and building new walls to connect with those surrounding the temple. The Luxor
Governorate planned to clear that part of the Avenue of the Sphinxes running under the
KIW, and to connect this stretch of Avenue with the part of the Avenue running toward
Karnak from the front of the Luxor Temple, excavated and restored in the 1960s. As part
of this plan, the Luxor Governorate signaled the intention to demolish structures attached
to the Muqashqish Mosque and the nineteenth century building housing the Luxor police
station between KIW and the Luxor Temple.
The 2005 work, the plans to further excavate the Avenue, and the ongoing urban
development program for downtown Luxor fulfilled many of the prerequisites for teaching
'salvage' archaeology in a controlled environment.
The field school prioritized archaeological tasks, based upon the level of threat, whilst
being flexible enough to respond to further ground works that could take place in the future.
The primary aim was to save as much information about the later, post-Nectanebo I (380 -
362 BC),1 sequence of this site as possible, whilst providing multidisciplinary archaeological
training to twenty-five SCA inspectors by archaeologists experienced in rescue work from
Egypt and other countries.
1 I. Shaw, The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (Oxford, 2000), 487.
82 ASAE 88
EXCAVATIONS IN THE KHALID IBN EL-WALEED GARDEN, LUXOR
1.3. Archaeological and Historical Background

Prior to the 2008 season excavations at KIW, the students performed a desk-based
assessment of the site in accordance with the ARCE-AERA curriculum. Students
documented the archaeological potential of the site, evaluated the impact of the proposed
development of the Avenue of Sphinxes and ascertained previous modern truncation of
the archaeological horizons at KIW. Students considered written historical documentation,
previous archaeological excavations in the vicinity of the site and historic maps of the
area. The following synopsis of these findings details the types of remains that excavators
expected to encounter in the KIW site. We have updated this synopsis to reference work
that has been published in the interim period, between the 2008 KIW excavation and this
publication.
1.3.1. Excavating the Avenue of Nectanebo I

In 1949 Zakaria Ghoneim began the first extensive excavations of The Avenue of Sphinxes
in front of Luxor Temple. Subsequent excavations by Abdul Qadar and Mahmoud Abdul
Razik between 1958 and 1964 exposed the Avenue from Luxor Temple to the back of Luxor
Police Station. These excavations revealed a total of 62 sphinxes, along with interspersed
circular red-brick structures, interpreted as tree borders, associated red-brick lined irrigation
channels, and a pavement made of sandstone slabs.
The bases of the sphinxes carried hieroglyphic inscriptions with Nectanebo’s title and
eulogies. In one text he 'describes this magnificent Avenue which was enclosed within
walls, planted with trees and made dazzling with flowers'.2 Of note, Abdul Qader recorded
that the eastern row of sphinxes was, without exception, destroyed, whereas the western
row was found more intact. Mohammed El-Saghir later recorded a similar scenario in his
excavations of the Avenue to the northeast.
In addition to the excavations in front of Luxor Temple, Mohammed El-Saghir excavated
three more exposures along the course of the Avenue between 1984 and 1991. In the area
to the north end of the Hod (basin) of Abu al-Gud, he exposed twenty sphinxes, all badly
damaged, along with the pavement running down the center of the Avenue, 7.60m from
the fronts of the sphinx pedestals, flower basins and irrigation channels. An excavation
west of the northwest corner of the Mut precinct demonstrated that the Avenue of
sphinxes, which runs directly northward from Luxor Temple, does not connect, as was
formerly believed, with the dromos of the temple of Khonsu, but reaches its north end at
a point facing the northwest corner of the Mut precinct. At this point it joins an east-west
avenue of sphinxes also erected by Nakht-Nebef (Nectanebo I). The eastern part of this
avenue connects with the main entrance of the Mut precinct, where it branches south for
a short distance to the temple of Mut and northward for a greater distance to the tenth
gate of Karnak.3 Along this 'east-west' axis the Avenue was bounded by mud-brick walls
on either side.
Work that began in April 2006 by the SCA exposed a large portion of the Sphinx Avenue
behind the Susan Mubarak Library. Many of the sphinxes here had been destroyed, although
some were in a relatively good state of preservation. The excavations exposed the remains
of late Roman industrial activity on both sides of the Avenue, including a wine installation
2 M. Abdul-Qader ‘Preliminary Report on the Excavations Carried Avenue of the Sphinxes at Luxor)’, in S. Curto and A. Mm. Donadoni-
out in the Temple of Luxor, Seasons 1958-1959 and 1959-1960’, Roveri (ed.), Sesto Congresso Internazionale Di Egittologia, I, Societa
ASAE 60 (1968), 40. Italiana per il Gas (Turin, 1992), 181-184.
3 M. El-Saghir, ‘The Great Processional Way of Thebes (The
2020–2015 83
and structures interpreted as galleries for laborers to the northwest of the Avenue and large-
scale pottery production to the southeast.4
After the 2008 excavation of the KIW site the SCA continued their excavations to the south,
beneath the police station, linking KIW with the already exposed portion of the Avenue in
front of Luxor Temple. Here the SCA team found five sphinxes on their pedestals (along
the western row) with the titles of Nectanebo, red-brick circular planters and portions of
the pavement. They also uncovered large amounts of Late Roman pottery in a dump to the
west of the sphinxes.5
1.3.2. The Luxor 'Tell'

The KIW site lies in close proximity to the 'old town mound', which built up inside the
Luxor Temple and in the area extending to the northeast toward Karnak, over the route
of the Avenue of the Sphinxes. The massive 1881-1960 clearances of Luxor Temple and
the Avenue removed approximately 15m of superimposed, stratified settlement deposits
down to the level seen today. This vertical 15m contained structures, occupation layers and
remains of industries left by inhabitants of the Late Period, Ptolemaic, Roman, Coptic and
Islamic period towns. A portion of this 'tell' survives behind the house of Yasa Andraus
Pasha, which was the focus of excavations by The Chicago Medieval Luxor Project in 1985,
under the direction of D. Whitcomb and J. Johnson. Their team excavated two trenches to
a depth of 8m to 9m, and revealed a stratified sequence of walls and floors attributable to
the Late Period, Roman, early and late Coptic and early and middle Islamic periods.6 The
remaining tell was revisited by a later AERA-ARCE Salvage Field School and stratigraphically
excavated in 2010.7 These excavations, which stopped above the Roman town, revealed at
least 8m of complex Coptic and Islamic period structures, which represented the very last
remnants of the original Luxor Tell.
At the base of the early excavations (mid twentieth century) of the old town mound,
structures are visible to the east and west of the Avenue. In 1983 a network of Late Roman
houses, streets and two bath buildings were surveyed by Jacek Kościuk, Mission of the
German Institute of Archaeology in Cairo. The houses to the east of the Avenue were
provisionally dated to the late fourth century or fifth century AD,8 and the bath buildings
to the west of the Avenue were provisionally dated to the end of the third century AD to the
first half of the fourth century AD.9
The KIW site lies a short distance northeast of where the excavations of the old town
mound stopped. Given this proximity, SAFS team members reasoned that there was a high
potential for similar, albeit deflated, remains at the KIW site.
1.3.3. The Mosque, the Gardens, and the Electricity Building

Team members reviewed maps of the KIW area to assess what type of twentieth
century remains (and earlier) we could expect, as well as to identify modern truncations of
archaeological horizons. The 1798-1799 Napoleonic map of Luxor shows a contemporary
thoroughfare in front of Luxor Temple, following the route of the underlying Avenue of
Sphinxes (Fig. 4). The 1922 Survey of Egypt shows most of the site already occupied by a
4 M. Boraik,
raik, ‘Sphinxes Avenue Excavations First Report’, Cahiers 7 A. Mohamed Sayed Ahmed et al, LTM 2010: Excavations at the
de Karnak 13 (2010), 49-55. Luxor Town Mound Data Structure Report (Unpublished AERA Report
5 Boraik, Cahiers de Karnak 13, 47. 2010).
6 D. Whitcomb and J. Johnson, The Chicago Medieval Luxor 8 J. Kościuk, ‘Late Roman Housing in the Area of the Luxor Temple’,
Project. The Oriental Institute 1985-1986 Annual Report (Chicago, BSAC L (2011), 37-74.
1986), 31–34; Whitcomb and Johnson, The Luxor Temple Project. The 9 Kościuk, Two Bath Buildings on the Western Side of the Sphinx
Oriental Institute 1985-1986 Annual Report (Chicago, 1987), 45-46. Avenue in Luxor, BSAC L (2011), 75-100
84 ASAE 88
garden, with pathways and trees (Fig. 5). However, this map also shows a cemetery in the
southwest corner of the KIW site, associated with the Muqashqish Mosque across the road.
A map of 1937 also depicts the cemetery, but labels it 'unused' (Fig. 6). Since the Muqashqish
Mosque has medieval origins we considered it likely that the cemetery had considerably
older origins and that people had buried their dead here between the medieval period and
1937.
A map dated to c. 1985 shows an electrical utility building occupying the northwestern
side of the site. This building was demolished, and the area was re-landscaped into a second
phase of garden prior to the 2005 excavations.
1.4. KIW 2008 Summary Objectives and Trench Locations

The main aims of the season were fourfold: to clean, record and complete the trenches
cut in 2005; to excavate a full transect across the Avenue and beyond, in order to understand
the full stratigraphic sequence; to ascertain the presence of any pre-Nectanebo I activity;
and to quantify and understand the post-Nectanebo I sequence.
We emphasized in particular the need for trenches that crossed the axis of the Avenue, in
order to systematically excavate the sequence of deposits pre- and post-dating the Avenue,
and to understand the structure of the Avenue itself, rather than excavating trenches along
the axis, or along the rows of sphinxes, which completely severs the relationship between
layers and the walls, roads, and rows of sphinxes to which they related in time.
The 2008 SAFS team continued recording the stratigraphy of Trenches 1 and 2, and
excavated targeted sondages. The team continued the cross trenches begun in 2006, now
designated Area A/B, and excavated a new trench at the northeastern end of the site (Area
C) and another trench in the western corner of the site (Area E) (Fig. 3).
Trench 1, cut in 2005 to follow the row of sphinx pedestals, is on the river (northern) side
of the Avenue. The linear trench, orientated northeast- southwest, 61.50m long (northeast-
southwest) by 5.00m to 6.50m wide and 2.00m deep, ran parallel to the northwestern garden
boundary. Trench 1 exposed twelve sphinxes or sphinx pedestals.
Trench 2 also cut in 2005 to follow the row of sphinx pedestals on the town (southern)
side of KIW, is located along the southwestern-northeastern edge of KIW, approximately
12m north of the garden enclosure wall. The trench measures 35.50m long (northeast-
southwest), 2.00m to 5.00m wide, and 2.20m deep. Trench 2 exposed five sphinx pedestals.
The SAFS team excavated ten sondages, labeled A-I, in the base of the trench (Fig. 7).
Trench A/B, orientated northwest-southeast in the central portion of the site, connects
Trenches 1 and 2. A broader excavation at the northwestern end of the cross trench makes
this exposure T-shaped, 17m (northwest-southeast) by 16.50m (northeast-southwest). The
main stem trench was 2m wide.
Area C was located approximately 20m southwest of the northeastern garden enclosure
wall. The trench itself was a reverse L-shape, orientated northwest to southeast at the
northwestern end, and orientated northeast-southwest at its southeastern end. As such,
Trench C cut across the Avenue of Sphinxes and linked the northeastern end of Trenches 1
and 2. At its northwestern end Trench C extended some ten meters beyond the projected
continuation of the western line of Sphinxes. In total, Trench C measured 40m (northwest-
southeast) by 15m (northeast-southwest).
Area E was located at the southwestern corner of Khaled Ibn el-Waleed Garden, orientated
northwest to southeast. Area E measured 22m (northwest-southeast) by 5m (northeast-
2020–2015 85
southwest). Operations in Area E also included the planning of the modern architecture
and the upper steps and sections to the northwest of Trench 1.
2. Stratigraphic Sequence: Phased Narrative

The phasing outlined in the following text is a simplified version of the phase structure
outlined in the Data Structure Report (DSR) for the site.10 In this phased narrative we have
integrated the stratigraphic sequences from the separate trenches outlined above. The
broad site phasing we posit in this article is based on the stratigraphic sequence combined
with casual on-site dating observations (mainly from personal communication with the
site ceramicists). The broad site phasing is not at this time based on any dates afforded by
detailed analysis of the material culture. It is quite possible that future detailed analysis
and dating of the material culture may result in changes to the site phasing.
Phase Phasing Identified in Areas:

Period Description
No. A/B C E T1 T2
I Earliest Late Period Mud-brick Architecture Y

Pre-Nectanebo
Architecture
Disuse & Abandonment of Early Late Period

II Y
Architecture
III Late Period, Pre-Nectanebo Red-brick Structures Y Y
IV Abandonment of Late Period Red-brick Structures Y

Construction
Preparation, Construction and Use of Nectanebo
& Use of V Y Y Y
Avenue of Sphinxes
Avenue
Monumental Landscape
Abandonment Sequence of Avenue of Sphinxes,

Utilization of residual
VI Y
Early Retaining Structure
Roman Construction I: Utilizing Residual

VII Y Y
Monuments
VIII Fluvial Sequence I Y Y Y

First Use of Roman Cemetery Utilizing Residual
IX Y Y
Monuments
Roman Construction II: Structures to the
Retaining Structures &
Industrial Occupation,
X Y Y Y
Water Management
Northwest, Kiln & Associated Activity
XI Disuse of Roman Kiln & Channel Y
(Late?) Roman Construction III: Retaining

XII Y
Structure (?)
XIII General Occupation & Industrial Land Use Y Y Y
XIV Fluvial Sequence II Y Y Y Y Y

Management
Occupation
and Water
(Late?) Roman Construction IV: Construction of

XV Y Y Y Y
Roman Building on Northwest bank of Channel
XVI (Late?) Roman Dumping, Pitting & Firing Activity Y Y Y
10 A. Abd El Aziz et al., SAFS08: KIW Data Structure Report (Unpublished AERA Report, 2008)
86 ASAE 88
Phase Phasing Identified in Areas:

Period Description
No. A/B C E T1 T2
Localised Channelling and Fore-Shore
Occupation XVII Y
Management
& Water
Management XVIII Late Roman (?) Cemetery in Northwest Area of Site Y
Medieval Occupation, Foreshore Management &

XIX Y Y Y Y Y
Channel
Medieval
Land Use Possible Islamic Period Cemetery to Northwest of
XX Y
Site (Unexcavated)
Modern XXI Electricity Station & Modern Garden Y Y Y Y Y
2.1. Pre-Nectanebo I Architecture (Phases I-IV)

The SAFS excavations exposed a number of architectural structures that predate the
construction of the Nectanebo I Avenue. This architecture was sealed by a sequence of
water-lain deposits, which may have accumulated as a result of local flooding, possibly
causing people to stop using these structures.
Our limited exposure of these structures leaves its use and function uncertain. We
identified parts of this architecture in the sondages in Trench 2 and Area A/B. This
architectural layout and associated deposits continued beyond the limits of our exposures.
2.1.1. The Earliest Mud-brick Architecture in KIW (Phases I-II)

A mud-brick wall, 0.64m wide and oriented northwest-southeast, which we exposed
only at the bottom of Sondage A in Trench 2, is the earliest architecture we found in our
2008 excavations. We exposed this wall for a length of 1.60m in the base of the sondage. We
did not ascertain the surviving height of this wall, the top of which was at approximately
73.49m ASL. It was also not possible to establish the date of its foundation. However, the
wall was sealed to a height of 73.80m ASL by an accumulated sequence of water-lain silt
deposits, which the team identified across the base of Trench 2. These deposits almost
certainly date to the Pre-Nectanebo I Late Period, based upon provisional pottery dates
(somewhere between the Twenty-fifth and Thirtieth Dynasties).11
2.1.2. Pre-Nectanebo Red-brick Architecture (Phase III)

Two additional northwest-southeast orientated red-brick walls were constructed directly
on top of the water-lain deposits that marked the disuse of the earlier mud-brick structure
(Fig. 8). Both of the red-brick walls are of a considerable size, the southernmost, wall [1640],
being the largest exposure of pre-Nectanebo I architecture on site (Pls Ib and IIa). At least
21.5m long, it spanned Trench 2 and ran most of the length of the cross trench (Area A/B),
with no obvious turn or corner along this length. This wall is 2.5m wide. It survives to a
maximum height of 0.80m.
The wall was constructed on a bed of fine sand at 73.27m ASL in the base of a construction
cut, which was only present on its southwest side. The surviving top lies at elevation 74.08m
ASL. On its northeast side a homogenous silty-sand deposit respected the wall. This
deposit seems to have been dumped against the wall itself, with no sign of a corresponding
. 11 M. Sherif and A. Mohamed, Ceramics Preliminary Report (Unpublished AERA Report 2008), 6-8.
2020–2015 87
construction cut. It seems likely from the scale of the wall that it did not survive to its full
height. However, the team found no collapse or demolition material associated with this
structure.
The team exposed part of the second red-brick wall [1648] only in Sondages A and B in
Trench 2.5m to the northeast. This second wall lies on the same orientation as its southern
counterpart. It clearly continued beyond the southeast long sections of this trench, and may
well have also continued to the northwest. It too was built on a bed of fine sand at the base
of a construction cut. This wall was at least 1.65m wide and it survived to a height of 0.60m,
at approximately 73.95m ASL, but the team exposed only 3m of its length. The team noted
a hole in the centre of the uppermost course, which might have served as a socket (0.12m by
0.08m) for a door or post. Many of the bricks on this northern wall were decayed, especially
in the lower courses, possibly as a result of water damage.
In Trench 2, Sondage F, the team found a pot emplacement that may have been associated
with red-brick wall [1648]. The vessel was set in a circular cut at 73.70m ASL, close to
the surface on which this northern wall was constructed. This feature represents the only
evidence of occupation identified in association with either of the large red-brick walls.
The team recorded a number of other fairly ephemeral architectural features, primarily
in the Sondages in Trench 2, which could belong to the phase of the large red-brick walls.
These included two further, much smaller red-brick walls, and a single mud-brick wall. We
exposed only parts of these structures, which are in a poor state of preservation, perhaps
due to robbing or disturbance during the construction of Nectanebo’s I Avenue. As yet we
found no real indication of how these traces of architecture related to each other.
2.1.3. Disuse of the Late Period Red-brick Walls and Associated Structures (Phase IV)
Another accumulated sequence of water-lain deposits marked the disuse of these
Late Period red-brick walls. This material accumulated before the Sphinx Avenue was
constructed. The team exposed these water-lain deposits only in the sondages of Trench 2.
The top of this sequence was at an average height of 74.85m ASL and reached a depth of
1.40m.
Although these deposits were mostly water-lain silts and clay they were periodically
interspersed with dumps of pottery and layers of red-brick tumble. Additionally twelve
irregular cuts were filled by one of the water-lain deposits. These cuts seem to have been
formed by flooding that had either scoured the surface or had caused puddles to appear
once the water had receded.
The SAFS team found a number of objects throughout this sequence, including several
beads, worked flint, the remains of white plaster, shell fragments, iron slag fragments, red
ocher, an animal terracotta figurine, a miniature faience sculpture of a cluster of grapes, and
fragments of a Bes faced pot (see Appendices 3 and 4 for further details)
2.2. Discussion of Phases I-IV

The earliest architecture identified in the Sondages in Trench 2 (phase I) was sealed by a
short sequence of water-lain deposits, presumably associated with Nile flooding. The large
red-brick structures that dominated Phase III are of particular significance.
It seems likely that these two large walls functioned with one another. They run parallel,
about 5m apart, across the longitudinal axis of the later Sphinx Avenue. The overall
structure is likely to have been much bigger. Both walls were clearly capable of supporting
88 ASAE 88
a very large load. The function of these walls still remains ambiguous within the current
archaeological exposure. Their proximity to the nearby Luxor Temple complex and their
large size suggests that they may have served as a part of a major‚ royal or‚ state built
structure, perhaps part of a large magazine.
We note the lack of a construction cut to the to the north of the southern wall. This might
suggest that the builders dug this area down to foundation level as part of the construction,
possibly as part of an internal space. We might infer that the structure was originally
sunken, however this remains to be proven and we should note that we found no floors on
either side of the wall. Whatever the case it seems likely that the deposits to the north were
laid after the structure had gone out of use, possibly in preparation for the construction of
the Avenue of Sphinxes.
The absence of any collapse or demolition material associated with either wall suggests
that they might have been carefully dismantled or robbed. Alternatively the builders
may have left the large red-brick walls even and flat at this height as a foundation for a
mud-brick superstructure. However, the team found no associated mud brick collapse or
any evidence of such a mud-brick structure. It seems more likely that the wall had been
systematically dismantled in order to reuse the bricks elsewhere.
Perhaps the most important point of interest about these walls is their alignment nearly
perpendicular to the later Nectanebo I Avenue and to the River Nile. This strongly suggests
that, at least to a level of 73.20m ASL, there was no pre-Nectanebo I avenue that crossed
the KIW site exactly in line with the avenue of Nectanebo I. Other evidence suggests that
a processional avenue did exist prior to Nectanebo I. For example, inscriptions on the
exterior wall of the Red Chapel of Hatshepsut at Karnak mention that there were six way
stations between Luxor Temple and Karnak Temple in the Eighteenth Dynasty.12 As such,
one might conclude that an earlier avenue, if it was actually present on the KIW site and
on the same alignment, must have been constructed below the height of 73.20m ASL (this
is at least below the foundation of these red-brick walls and notably about 1m below the
Nectanebo I sphinxes). Alternatively the findings of the SAFS team might suggest that the
earlier avenue followed a different course or alignment.
Further work is required to test these hypotheses. Our archaeological exposure of this
early material is relatively small. As such we cannot yet rule out that an earlier avenue does
exist deeper and on this alignment in KIW, but that it had fallen out of use and became buried
during a period of disuse, or that the foundation cuts for the pre-Nectanebo architecture
truncated the earlier avenue.
It is impossible to say whether the other red and mud-brick architecture in this phase
were directly associated with the large red-brick walls. It remains possible that these
architectural elements may have served as internal dividing walls. The presence of mud
brick is notable however within the context of this site, since mud brick remains a relatively
rare building material, compared with other sites of the same date. The high red brick to
mud brick ratio may simply be a bias of the data set, indicating that we did not have a large
enough representative sample of the early architecture.
However it may also be an indicator that more red bricks were being used before Nectanebo
I constructed his avenue than was previously thought. Although red brick technology first
appears in the Middle Kingdom, it is believed that it did not become common as a building
12 A. Cabrol, Les Voies Processionnelles de Thebes, OLA 97 (Leuven, 2001), 35-36, 283; P. Lacau and H. Chevrier,
Une chapelle d’Hatshepsout à Karnak I (Cairo, 1977)
2020–2015 89
material until the Roman period.13 This suggests that either the previous understanding of
the ratio of mud brick to red brick is wrong, or more likely, it supports the argument that
these early red-brick structures were of considerable importance.
Regardless of whether the red-brick walls were purposefully dismantled it seems likely
that towards the end of its life, this red-brick structure or structures were already being
affected by flooding episodes, and it is these flooding episodes that might account for the
eventual disuse of this early structure or structures. However it is impossible to say to what
extent these 'floods' were anthropogenically controlled.
We have not, as yet, conducted any comprehensive spot dating or analysis of the material
culture from KIW. However the site’s ceramicists have looked at some of the diagnostic
pottery sherds contained within a random selection of features (across all phases). Within
this corpus of material the ceramicists identified a number of Late Period diagnostic sherds,
dated to c. Twenty-fifth Dynasty.14 On the whole these c. Twenty-fifth Dynasty sherds were
found within deposits assigned to Phases 2 to 4 and excavated in Trench 2. A further small
assemblage of c. Twenty-fifth Dynasty sherds were also retrieved from Phase 5 deposits
within Area A/B. The small selection of Late Period diagnostic pottery sherds that have
been looked at are all connected to storage and do not appear to represent a strictly domestic
style assemblage.
Of the small selection of pottery sherds analysed by the ceramicists four diagnostic
sherds were datable to the Middle Kingdom and one to the New Kingdom. All five sherds
were residual (found within later period contexts) and all five sherds were beer jars.
2.3. Construction and Use of the Avenue of Sphinxes (Phase V)

This phase begins with the continuation of flooding and dumping sequences, which
probably began around the time of the disuse of the earlier red-brick structures. Much of
the later dumping was preparation for the construction of the Avenue of Nectanebo I.
This phase also incorporates the construction of all the architectural elements of the
Avenue, including sphinxes and red-brick planters. Notably the stone pavement found
elsewhere down the center of the Avenue was missing in the 2008 SAFS trenches.
2.3.1. Preparation Layers of the Nectanebo I Avenue

When Nectanebo decided to establish his Avenue, it seems likely that the area was already
prone to flooding associated with the natural cycle of the Nile inundation that left clay and
silt deposits. Much of this accumulated sequence (identified in Phase 4 above) was very
well compacted and, as part of an ongoing process, appears to have been supplemented
by further homogenous dumps of compact silts and clays, generally containing moderate
amounts of pottery and crushed red-brick fragments. These inclusions would help in some
part to lend stability to the soil matrix.
Almost certainly the ultimate purpose of this sequence was to make up and level the
ground surface for the foundation of the Avenue. At approximately 1.30m deep, the top of
this sequence was at a height of 74.62m ASL. As such this level appeared to represent the
closest to a formal construction horizon for the Avenue.
13 A. J. Spencer, Brick Architecture in Ancient Egypt (Warminster, 14 T. Rzeuska, Personal Communication.

1979).
90 ASAE 88
2.3.2. The Construction of the Nectanebo I Avenue

In total nineteen sphinx pedestals and eleven red-brick planters were discovered within
KIW (Fig. 9). Mechanical excavation of Trenches 1 and 2 in 2005 exposed seventeen of the
sphinxes and all the planters in two rows orientated northwest-southeast. The remaining
two sphinx pedestals were excavated as part of the Area C transect across the Avenue
during 2008. The width of the Avenue, as defined by the distance between the two rows of
sphinxes was about 20m.
2.3.2.1. The Sphinxes

As a general rule, the layout of the sandstone sphinxes, on both the northwestern and
southeastern sides, was extremely uniform. Both rows of sphinxes were aligned northeast-
southwest parallel to the axis of the Avenue (which corresponds to the general river
orientation at Luxor). Each sphinx was interspersed with a 'planter', a circular red-brick
structure that likely enclosed a tree, and the distance between each sphinx pedestal and
its adjacent pedestal was approximately 3.40m. No sphinxes were complete in situ and
only one of the sphinx bases, at the very southwestern end of Trench 1, was found to be
complete, in situ, and undamaged.
The northwestern end (back end) of the pedestals in Trench 1 frequently remained
more intact than the southeastern ends of the pedestals (Pl. IIb). In Trench 2 the damage
was generally evenly distributed across the top of the remaining pedestals. Much of the
damage was characterized by wear and abrasions, suggesting that at some point after their
abandonment these surfaces were exposed, perhaps in the banks and beds of some of the
later channels identified upon the site.
Where it was identifiable the construction of the sphinxes was extremely uniform. First
the Avenue builders cut a foundation trench, generally about 0.25m deep. On the whole,
the foundation cut for the pedestals was narrower at the back, being almost flush with the
blocks of the pedestal. This indicates that the sphinxes were probably constructed from
back to front, presumably to enable more control over the finishing of the front, visible,
end of the sphinxes. The builders filled the foundation trench with a layer of fine sand
as a bed for the sandstone pedestal. A trampled layer of silty sand existed at the level of
construction.
The size of the sandstone blocks used in the pedestals was variable, averaging between
1.20m and 1.90m long, with some blocks being as much as 2.96m long. The width of
the blocks ranged from 0.50m to 0.90m, however their height remained fairly uniform,
averaging between 0.30m and 0.40m. This would suggest that the builders took some care
to make sure the coursing was fairly even, presumably since this would be the most visible
aspect of the masonry.
The overall dimensions of the pedestals were also fairly regular. The foundation course
averaged between 3.40m and 3.50m long by 1.50m-1.70m wide. Very little remained of the
superstructure of most of the pedestals, but where the footprint was visible it tended to
be approximately 30mm narrower on every side. The best surviving pedestals identified
at the southwestern part of the site suggest that the average height of the superstructure
was originally approximately 0.70m. The top of the pedestal foundation courses, which
presumably represented the height from which the monuments could be seen, varied
considerably across the site. These heights showed a 1.20m drop across the site, from 75.62m
ASL in the southwest to 74.20m ASL in the northeast. This almost certainly reflected the
2020–2015 91
residual topography of the site. Once they had placed the stone into the foundation cuts,
the builders sealed the cuts with silty sand, full of sandstone fragments, probably from the
final dressing of the sphinxes and the rendering of their pedestals. This suggests that the
builders brought the sandstone to the site, presumably already roughly shaped, and that
the final carving and dressing of the sphinxes was performed on site.
Some of the foundation blocks of the pedestals featured on their sides two square sockets
(circa 0.10m wide) probably for hauling the blocks into position. Some of pedestals also
had two or more holes or protrusions towards their rear top edges (circa 0.15m diameter).
They appeared to have served as postholes to support some kind of superstructure, such as
a temporary awning or wooden superstructure.
The tool marks on the pedestal blocks were very regular, closely set longish lines, all
hewn from the same direction, indicating that the blocks had been shaped and modified
using iron tools which are known from the Ramesside Period to the end of Pharaonic
times.15 However the rear blocks had the familiar pattern of the shallow round, pitted
marks associated with the round bar copper chisels, that occur from the reign of Djoser to
the New Kingdom.16 This suggests that some of the stones had been reused from earlier
structures. Some of the pedestal foundation courses also showed an incised line on their top
surface, which probably served as a marker for the next course, which was set in slightly.
Remains of the sphinx statues survived on only two pedestals in the southwest end of
Trench 1. Their bases still bore some of the original hieroglyphic inscriptions.
2.3.2.2. The Sphinx Inscriptions

The base of one of the sphinxes, located in the southwest end of Trench 1, was inscribed
with hieroglyphics upon both sides. The transliterations of these inscriptions follows:17
The Right Side
nb t“wy (⁄pr k“ R©∏ s“-r© nb ≈©w (N≈t-nb.f∏ mry [µr].n.f mnw n µt.f Ómn rdµ n.f w“t nfrt r
µpt-rsy µr.n Ú“.f nfrt m µpt-rsy
///// Lord of the two lands (⁄pr k“ R©∏, son of the sun god Ra, lord of appearances.
(N≈t nb .f∏ the beloved one from the god Amon, who made his monuments for his father
Amon. He made the beautiful way in ipt-rsy, this is what the good boy did in ipt-rsy.
The Left Side
//////(⁄pr k“ R©∏ ////// nb ≈©w (N≈t-[nb.f]∏ mry Ómn ////// rdµ n.f [w“t nfrt] r µpt-rsy r µr.n.f
[Ú“.f] nfr m µpt-rsy ////// µr.n.f ////// dµ ©n≈ mµ R© ƒt
(⁄pr k“ R©∏ /// lord of appearances (N≈t nb .f∏ he made the beautiful way in ipt-rsyt, this
is what the good son did in, he made that, may he live like the son god Ra forever.
15 D. Arnold, Building in Ancient Egypt, Pharaonic Stone Masonry 17 The writing form of Luxor temple (ipt rsy) is totally different from
(Oxford, 1991), 33, 257, fig 2.9 the forms known from previous periods. It was inscribed twice on the
16 Arnold, Building in Ancient Egypt, Pharaonic Stone Masonry, 257-8 Sphinx pedestal in two different ways.
92 ASAE 88
2.3.2.3. The Circular Planters

The planters were all constructed with a rim of red brick placed within a circular
construction cut. The few examples that we excavated averaged between 0.30m to 0.60m
deep. In general the red bricks were set flush against the inside of the cut. The inner
diameter of the planters was fairly uniform, ranging from 2.00m to 2.15m across. Excavated
examples also indicated that there were at least three to six courses within the construction
cut, but it is not clear how many, if any, of the courses would have acted as a superstructure.
It is possible that the top of the red-brick structures and their construction cut would have
been slightly lower than the foundation courses of the sphinx pedestals. However many of
the planters were later damaged and probably robbed.
Each of the planters was centered between two of the sphinx pedestals on each side, leaving
approximately 0.50m between their external edge and the adjacent pedestal. Internally the
planters were backfilled with sandy Nile silt, which often showed signs of being cut by tree
boles, containing a higher humic or organic content. In rare cases, above the primary fill of
the planter a square or circular red-brick structure was constructed surviving two or three
courses high (Pl. IIIa). This was probably inserted to protect the base of the tree.
The team found three portions of open red-brick drains in Area C and Trench 2. They
were the only surviving elements of the red-brick irrigation channels found on the site
(although parallels did exist elsewhere).18 The drain fragments along the southern side of
the Avenue were generally more complete than to the north. The main drain or irrigation
channel ran along the fronts of the sphinx pedestals, orientated northeast to southwest (Pl.
IIIb). From the main line, a small feeder channel branched out perpendicular to serve each
circular tree planter.
2.3.2.4. The Avenue Pavement

We found no surviving remains of the central Avenue pavement that remained elsewhere
along the Avenue of Sphinxes, for example, in front of the Luxor Temple gateway, and in
the exposure adjacent to the Suzanne Mubarak Library. Based on other exposures of the
Avenue, we assume the pavement would have been founded at approximately the same
level as the top of the foundation course of the adjacent sphinx pedestals. If so, the pavement
at KIW would have sloped from southwest to northeast down the line of the Avenue, again
reflecting the site’s topography.
2.4. Discussion of Phase V: The Avenue of Sphinxes

When fully functional, the Avenue of Sphinxes was a substantial, well-designed and
carefully maintained monument. The presence of an extensive irrigation system suggests
that it would have utilized a considerable infrastructure, including labor and a continuous
source and delivery of water. The use of foundation cuts in the construction of the sphinxes
and planters allowed for considerable control over the final relative heights of the statues.
Across the KIW site, the average height on the top of the foundation course of the sphinx
pedestals, above which the superstructure would have been visible, varied slightly, sloping
some 1.20m from southwest to northeast, the direction from the Luxor Temple toward
Karnak. This slope may reflect an underlying pattern of settlement. Given the earlier
architecture on the KIW site, could the slope reflect the tail end of a settlement mound
centered on and around the temple?
18 Boraik, Cahiers de Karnak 13, 49.
2020–2015 93
The importing of the sandstone pedestal blocks and sphinxes as 'rough-outs', to be

dressed at their final destination would presumably compensate for damage in transit and
give more control to the masons over the final look of the product. There were at least
thirty-four ancient sandstone quarries identified throughout ancient Egypt, most of which
were concentrated between Esna southwards into northern Sudan.19 It seems quite likely
that the Nectanebo I Sphinxes in Luxor came from one of these. Indeed at the quarry at
Gebel El Silsila, roughed out sandstone sphinxes have been identified within the quarry
site.20
Little else can actually be said about the sphinxes at KIW because their general state of
preservation was quite poor. All of the sphinxes showed signs of dismantlement in later
phases (see also Phase VI below), something that has been observed elsewhere along the
Avenue where sphinxes have been exposed. It has already been noted that the pavement
itself was not present in any of the archaeological exposures at KIW. This suggests that once
the Avenue fell into decline, it was heavily robbed.
The fact that the relative preservation of the sphinxes directly in front of the Luxor Temple
gateway was much better than at KIW could reflect the fact that these sphinxes remained
for a long period inside an area protected by its proximity to the temple, or at least within
the boundaries of the growing town of Thebes, or that they were sooner buried under the
rising mound of the old town than the sphinxes in KIW, located at the town margins. 'Urban
zones' such as this may have offered more protection to the monument from later robbing.
The sphinxes at KIW and beyond may well have been outside of this area, possibly in rural
or agricultural zones. All of the later land use that typifies the site (cemeteries, industrial
areas, flooding and channeling) can be associated with marginal zones on the outside of
urban centers. It could be that the poor preservation of these monuments at KIW reflects
this later pattern of land use.
However, it should be noted that it remains unclear just how much the preservation
of the sphinxes adjacent to Luxor Temple differed from those at KIW, because restoration
work has been carried out upon the sphinxes along the reconstructed Avenue closer to
the temple. Documentary evidence suggests that the southeastern side of this part of the
Avenue was in a worse state of repair than the northeast.21 This trend is noted throughout
the length of the Avenue, including at KIW.
2.5. Use of a Residual Monumental Landscape (Phases VI-IX)

This broad band of activity across the site incorporates several stratigraphic phases,
beginning with the disuse or abandonment of the monumental Nectanebo I architecture. As
the Sphinx Avenue fell into disrepair, people used its pieces for other constructions. The
period begins with the construction of an early retaining wall, constructed with sandstone
pieces of sphinxes and pedestals, and the general degradation of the Avenue (Phase VI). This
was followed by the construction and use of installations to the northwest, which made use
of in situ Sphinx Avenue architecture (Phase VII), followed by the first of many water-lain
sequences (Phase VIII), which in turn was followed by the creation of a Roman cemetery,
located along the southeastern line of partially visible sphinx pedestals (Phase IX).
2.5.1. Abandonment (Phase VI)

19 P. Nicholson, P and I. Shaw, Ancient Egyptian Materials and Egypt (2008), 185-187
Technology (Cambridge, 2000), 54. 21 Abdul-Qader Muhammad, ASAE 60, 40.
20 R.M. Klemm and D.D Klemm, Stones and Quarries in Ancient
94 ASAE 88
The construction of a stone wall, broadly oriented north-south, is one of the earliest
events that marks the disuse of the Avenue. We found this wall on the boundary between
Trench 1 and Area A/B, built of roughly hewn blocks, taken from the nearby sphinxes
(including one complete sphinx head). The dimensions of this wall, as it survived, are
1.90m long by 0.85m wide by 0.58m high. Although there was a short return to the west
at its southern end, it is possible that the wall originally continued to the northeast, since
it shared an alignment with later phase structures to the northeast. Preliminary dating
based on ceramics in the deposits that immediately sealed the wall suggest a Roman period
construction. The function of the wall is not at all clear. The 2005 machine excavation
left the wall on a pedestal of unexcavated soil, making it hard to identify what deposits
had originally respected it. To the southeast of the wall, excavations immediately adjacent
to the structure were not deep enough to establish what character of deposits respected
it. A sondage 2m to the southeast, within Trench A/B, exposed a sequence of water-lain
deposits that were laid down either before or after the construction of the wall. The location
and alignment of this wall, combined with the character of the later phase stone walls
elsewhere on the KIW site may provide some indication of its function. It may have served
as a waterfront revetment in response to the first appearance of water flooding or flowing
through site following the abandonment of the Sphinx Avenue. Flooding, in fact, may have
or prompted the abandonment of the Avenue.
2.5.2. Final Disuse of the Avenue

Further robbing and collapse of the Nectanebo I sphinxes and waste dumps (mostly
ceramic) over the red-brick planters and over the partially dismantled pedestals mark the
next stage of activity. We found sandstone blocks from the sphinxes and pedestals toppled
over onto thick spreads of dumped deposits, rich in pottery, next to what remained of
the original monument. People used pieces of the sphinxes and their pedestals in other
structures during a long period of Sphinx Avenue quarrying. The proximity and multiplicity
of sphinxes made them a convenient source of sandstone for building. The blatant robbing
of the Sphinx Avenue may also explain the absence of the pavement within the exposures
of the 2008 season.
The build up of dumped deposits, which sealed the planters but underlay many of the
toppled sphinxes, would suggest that the actual robbing and destruction of the sphinxes
occurred after the Avenue had been out of use for some time, and as part of an extended
period of general dilapidation (Pl. IVa).
2.5.3. Installations to the Northeast (Phase VII)

This phase was defined by the construction of architecture to the northeast of what was
now a dilapidated Avenue. At the same time, these new constructions made use of in situ
sphinx architecture, demonstrating that some components of the Avenue remained in place
and visible, albeit in a damaged and eroded form.
At the northeastern end of the site, a buttressed mud-brick wall [195] was built
immediately in front of the degraded sphinxes (Fig. 10). The team could trace its length for
9.10m to where the 2005 machining had removed it. This wall originally continued some
6m to the southwest as a mud-brick wall identified in the northwest facing section of Trench
1. The wall shows no turns within the exposed part of it. At the northeastern end, behind
this wall, the team exposed the remains of two badly damaged red-brick installations,
2020–2015 95
one circular [1362] and one rectangular [1361] (Pl. IVb). Only the red-brick foundation
courses remained of both these installations; we saw no sign of any superstructure. The
rectangular foundation measured 2.02m by 1.24m and abutted the farthest to the northeast
of the sphinx pedestals. In the center of the structure the excavators found an amphora pot
emplacement, 'plugged' with a semi-circular red brick [1365]. The amphora itself was not
a portable feature. Its size exceeded the space within the red-brick foundation, which had
been constructed tightly around the narrow rim, 0.13m wide, of the vessel. As such, the
vessel was integral to the original design of the structure and could not be removed, but
could be 'plugged'. We found no render or plaster on the 'floor' of this installation. The
other, circular installation was located approximately 0.40m to the southwest and measured
1.40m by 1.20m. There was no surviving indication of this feature’s function.
The construction of an additional mud-brick wall at the southwestern end of Trench 1
also marked this phase. This wall was visible only in the southeast-facing section. The wall
runs northeast to southwest and survived to a length of 8.30m by 0.58m wide and 0.68m
high. Like the wall at the northeastern end of the site, this wall abutted a sphinx pedestal,
further indicating that the sphinxes or their pedestals remained at least partially visible
during this time. Since we could only record the wall in section, we do not know what sort
of occupation or features might be associated with it to the northwest.
2.5.4. The Beginning of the Flood Horizons: Fluvial Sequence I (Phase VIII)
This phase was characterized by a series of water-lain deposits in the northwestern
areas of the site. These deposits effectively mark the disuse and possibly destruction of
the architecture and associated occupation of the previous phase. The team found similar
sequences of water-lain deposits in later phases. Water invaded the KIW site throughout its
history. The presence of water prior to the construction of the Avenue and again throughout
the later periods may explain the gradual decline in importance of the Sphinx Avenue.
Water was certainly a dominant and guiding factor for the way people used the KIW site
in later periods.
Evidence of flooding at this period consists of a series of compact, water-lain Nile clays
and sands in the northwestern part of Area C, continuing into the northeast end of Trench
1’s southeast facing section. In general the more clay-rich deposits lie towards the bottom
of the sequence, whilst the sandier deposits sit on top, which likely represents fluctuations
in the flow rate or hydro-dynamics of the flooding. These deposits had a combined depth of
0.60m (with a top elevation of 74.31m ASL). These layers sealed everything in the northwest
corner of Area C, including the Phase VII red-brick installations. The mud-brick wall [195]
at the northwestern end of Area C however, survived this phase and was later modified as
a retaining wall that marked the edge of a more controlled watercourse.
2.5.5. The First Roman Cemetery (Phase IX)

This next phase of activity was represented by five Roman burials, including one horse
interment (for pathological details of these burials see Appendix 2). The team found all five
burials in Trench 2 and in the southeastern end of Area C, alongside or following the eastern
line of sphinxes (Fig. 11). Although the exact stratigraphic context of the Trench 2 burials
were unclear, due to truncation by the 2005 machining, the Area C burial was clearly cut after
the adjacent sphinx had been entirely buried. The location of these burials, along the line of
the eastern sphinxes, suggests either that parts of some of the sphinxes were still visible and
96 ASAE 88
acted as cemetery markers in what was a ruined and partially buried Sphinx Avenue, or that
people had retained some memory of this past and buried monumental landscape.
All five interments were orientated northwest to southeast and three were lined with
red bricks. The horse burial was missing its head. Red brick and limestone fragments
surrounded the neck, while the body lay directly on the flattened base of the cut (Pl. Va).
Although it is possible that the head was removed during the 2005 machining, the recovery
of horse teeth in an adjacent burial (Burial 1), provides a tantalizing link.
It is worth noting that we found no such burials associated with the western line of
sphinxes (in Trench 1). Although this may reflect an excavation bias, with the potential for
interments beyond the limits of Trench 1, it may also reflect the fact that people were using
this side of the Avenue for other purposes and that this part of the site was susceptible to
flooding.
2.6. Discussion of Phases VI-IX

Phases VI-IX were bonded by a common feature, the site as a residual monumental
landscape. People may have continued to use the Avenue as a thoroughfare throughout
these phases but the sphinxes themselves were no longer maintained, were variously
quarried for building stone, and stood in varying states of visibility. To the northwest of
the Avenue, people incorporated some of the pedestals in their constructions during Phase
VII, and in Phase IX people used the southeastern line of sphinxes or sphinx pedestals as
markers for burials.
The dilapidation of the Avenue was a process that (based on preliminary pottery dating)
began in the Roman period. Flooding, evidenced by accumulated water-lain deposits, may
have spurred on, or indeed caused, the decline of the Avenue. The early stone construction
(Phase VI), built using robbed sphinx architecture, may have been a localised attempt to
control the flow of water on site and mitigate its damage. This was a recurrent activity on
site through the Roman and Medieval periods.
How people used the northwest part of the site in Phase VII remains ambiguous because
of the subsequent phase of flooding and our limited archaeological exposure of the area
behind the Avenue. The buttressed mud-brick wall is an enigma, since the presence of these
buttresses suggests that the wall served as a retaining wall, or at least was under pressure on
its northwestern side. The later water-lain deposits that respected the wall’s southeastern
face suggests that it may have been constructed to protect the red-brick structures and
associated activity behind from water damage. However, the choice of building material
- dense mud bricks - when there was a wealth of readily available cut stone, suggests an
alternative function.
Behind this wall, the red-brick installations, which were represented only by the
foundation course or floor of bricks, may have functioned as domestic or industrial storage
or processing. They may have originally had superstructures around their perimeter, also
constructed of red brick, which may have functioned as containers of some kind. The
pot emplacement in the rectangular installation was clearly integral to its function. The
assembly might have been for liquid to drain into the vessel, but the liquid could only have
been extracted from the vessel buried under the floor by using a ladle. The two installations
may have functioned together, performing operations that were part of a process. Recent
excavations by the SCA behind the Suzan Mubarak Library revealed substantial evidence
of Roman industry on either side of the Sphinx Avenue. To the southeast of the Avenue
2020–2015 97
this industry was dominated by pottery manufacture, and the northwest by a series of
wine making installations. These comprised several large plastered red brick and plaster
constructions related to three different stages of the wine-making process, including
rectangular tanks or basins where the grapes would have been collected, sorted, washed
and pressed. An underground drainage system connected the installations, accessed via
holes at the base of the feature. The holes were plugged with broken amphorae. A large
cistern nearby was likely used for the fermentation period.22 The truncated red-brick
features at the KIW site showed no signs of a connected drainage system (although we did
not completely excavate these features), but it is possible that they represent some sort of
similar industrial or domestic process.
Water-lain deposits to the northwest mark the abandonment of these features. These
deposits appear to have been left by the natural flow of water, possibly the result of local
seasonal flooding. These early floods were not particularly well-managed or maintained. In
later phases people became increasingly concerned with the management and maintenance
of water on the KIW site. This eventually lead to the creation of a permanent watercourse
that ran through the site with artificially created upper banks that supported domestic and
industrial occupation. The presence of water on site during this period further contributed
to the demise of the Avenue as a monument. As Ptolemaic power waned and the Romans
began to exert their control upon Egypt, the ongoing maintenance of monuments like
the Avenue may not have been a priority, especially if they were under constant threat of
damage by flooding, inundation and shifting channels. The course of the Avenue may
have continued to be used as a thoroughfare during this period. Certainly the presence of
a Roman cemetery along the eastern line of now dilapidated sphinxes is consistent with the
Roman practice of burying the dead along the margins of roadways.23 Further the absence
of burials inside the Avenue may suggest the internal course of the Avenue was still in use
or had some residual significance. This phase of Roman cemetery was the first of three
found on site. The trend of human burials across the succeeding phases reinforces the view
of the KIW site as marginal land on the outskirts of settlement.
2.7. Industrial Occupation, Retaining Structures, and Water Management

(Phases X–XIII)
This sequence marks a considerable change in the local landscape. The sphinxes were
finally buried, people controlled and maintained an established watercourse, and they built
up and occupied the banks behind. The type of occupation and land use on the northwestern
bank is unclear. Occupation on the southeast bank was dominated by pottery production,
this included the construction and use of a pottery kiln (Phase X), which was destroyed
(Phase XI) and then relocated nearby (Phase XIII).
2.7.1. Water Channels, Banks and Pottery Production (Phase X)

This phase began with the building up of the northwest bank by at least 0.70m. These
bank deposits sealed the earlier channel or flood deposits (Phase VIII) that had destroyed
the Phase VII red-brick structures. People built up the area by dumping material rich in
small abraded pottery sherds and ceramic slag. These dumps respected the northwest
face of the earlier mud-brick wall [195] in Area C (Phase VII), and raised the ground level
22 Boraik, Le Domaine d’Amon Re, 74.

23 J. M.C. Toynbee, Death and Burial in the Roman World (New York, 1971), 49.
98 ASAE 88
commensurate with the surviving top of the wall (to 74.72m ASL). The artificially raised
ground level was slightly higher, to 75.45m ASL, at the northwestern end of the trench.
The presence of abraded pottery within these dumps suggests that the dumped material
had been quarried from an area affected by water. The presence of ceramic slag within
these dumps suggests earlier industrial activity in the vicinity. The team also found a
concentration of sphinx fragments, including fragments with inscription and a sphinx’s
foot, within the bank’s make-up, located 0.62m to the southwest of the northeastern sphinx
and possibly represents the dismantling/robbing of this sphinx (Pl. IVa).
Having built up the ground level of the northwestern area, a number of walls were
constructed (Fig. 12). The first of these was a mud-brick wall [1323], which was founded
on the earlier mud-brick wall [195] and on the sequence of make-up deposits. This wall
followed exactly the same orientation as the earlier mud-brick wall. To the south of the
earlier mud-brick wall and its new rebuild the water-lain deposits, which likely began in
Phase VIII, continued to accumulate. The build up of water-lain deposits in this area should
be considered ongoing throughout this sequence.
At the far northwestern end of Area C, we recorded three additional walls, all orientated
northwest to southeast. These walls were also founded upon the northwestern bank’s make-
up deposits. They extend into the northwest limit of excavation. Later water erosion had
truncated the southeastern ends of these walls. The northwestern wall [1522], which was
constructed of red brick, survives two courses high, with a width of 0.69m. Only one course
survives of the second wall [1521], 0.27m to the northeast. The third wall [1368], located
1.14m to the east, was built of mud bricks, 0.60m wide. This wall was so heavily eroded,
it was almost impossible to define its coursing. The wall stepped down from 76.24m ASL
at its northwestern end to 75.59m ASL at its southeastern end, where it survived to less
than one course high. It is difficult to imagine how the three walls functioned together. It
is possible that the space between the mud-brick wall and the red-brick wall functioned
as a corridor between two buildings or two rooms. Equally, it is possible that they all
represent foundations for drainage systems that ran down the bank and over the northeast-
southwestern wall into the channel beyond.
We exposed additional architecture to the southwest of these features on the northwestern
upper step of Trench 1. We found a circular red-brick construction, composed of a ring of red-
brick headers with a 1.80m diameter, similar to the 'planters' along Nectanebo’s Avenue (phase
V), 14.86m southwest of the Area C architecture. Deposits and architecture belonging to later
phases obscured most of this feature. A circular planter like those along the older Sphinx Avenue
would suggest that people maintained trees along the newly created upper bank.
2.7.1.1. The Roman Pottery Kiln

Our team found a circular ceramic kiln at the southern end of Area C, adjacent to Trench
2, (Figs 11 and 12, Pl. Vb). The kiln was constructed on ground that gradually sloped
downward from 74.65m ASL at the southern end of Area C to 74.37m ASL to the northeast
where the Area C trench narrows. From here, where the trench narrows, to the southeast
face of mud-brick wall [195]/[1323], water-lain deposits continued to accumulate.
With an outer diameter of 3.16m, the walls of the kiln, approximately 0.50m thick,
were built primarily of mud bricks, although occasionally red bricks were used for added
strength. The structure survived to a maximum height of 0.50m. Mud coated the interior
face of the mud-brick walls, which were baked red through use of the kiln. Fourteen
2020–2015 99
springers left 13 openings for the fire. The springers varied from 0.50m to 0.90m long by
0.18m to 0.38m wide. The openings for the fire were concave in profile and sloped upwards
to distribute the heat to the upper part of the kiln. Some of these spaces were ovoid (0.20m
to 0.26m by 0.27m to 34m) and some were square (0.30m by 0.30m). The southeast part
of the kiln showed signs of repair, which obscured three of the openings. A possible flue,
under the repair, measured 0.44m long, 0.53m wide and 0.20m high, with an opening 0.18m
wide. This feature is located to the southeast to be away from the prevailing north wind. It
remains possible that the repair and 'flue' may actually represent the structure’s collapsed
upper floor.24
The team could not identify a stokehole, which might have been located higher than
the surviving height of the walls. Indeed, a kiln at the Suzanne Mubarak Library had a
stokehole on the sixth course, 0.54m above the ground level.25
All around the perimeter of the kiln the excavators recorded material associated with the
use of the kiln. Such material was more concentrated on the downward slope to the north
and northwest of the kiln. Immediately to the north they found a pit that may have been
a rake-out pit, marking an entrance into the structure. A dump of pottery fragments that
filled this depression was sealed by a sequence of ash and pottery-rich deposits. The total
sequence was 0.10m to 30m thick. The radius of these dumps from the kiln itself was 4.80m.
To the northwest of the kiln, the team found two deposits of kiln waste containing frequent
ceramic sherds, occasional red-brick and stone fragments.
2.7.2. Disuse of Pottery Kiln and Accumulation of Channel Sediments (Phase XI)
It is unclear how long people used the kiln. Its disuse is marked by what seems to be its
deliberate demolition, which may have been due to encroaching water up the slope of the
southern bank.
In Area C the deposition of channel sediments that had begun in Phase VIII, to the south
of the northeast-southwest mud-brick wall [195], came to a climax in this phase, bursting
the mud-brick retaining wall and overflowing the northwestern bank, leaving a 0.10m thick
deposit of dense silty clay. As a result, a new retaining structure was built out of stone
[1535] (Phase XII).
2.7.3. Foreshore Maintenance (Phase XII)

The new sandstone wall [1535] was built on exactly the same orientation and almost
exactly the same location as its mud-brick forebears [195], [1323]. They used large sandstone
blocks, which survived to only one course high. The wall continued to the northeast,
beyond the limit of excavation, and its southwestern continuation was removed by the
2005 machining (Fig. 14).
To the northwest, it appears that people continued use the very northwest end of the
older (Phase X) mud-brick wall [1368] where it survived to a higher level after the bursting
water entirely destroyed its southeastern portion. People raised the ground a further 0.35m
to create an even higher bank, on which to found a northeast-southwest mud-brick [1369]
return for the earlier wall, which abutted its northeast face (Fig. 14). These two walls formed
a corner.
24 Nicholson, Personal Communication (2008). 25 Boraik, Personal Communication (2008).
100 ASAE 88
2.7.4. Continued Industrial Use and Channel Sediments (Phase XIII)

Although the pottery kiln of Phase X had been demolished in Phase XI, there is convincing
evidence that suggests that people simply relocated it further up the southern bank, away
from the encroaching channel that flowed through the central portion of Area C.
We found a sequence of Late Roman pottery, deposits rich in pottery slag, and spreads
of ash at the southern end of Area C and in the sections on the northeastern end of Trench 2
(Pl. VIa). These deposits slope downwards from the southeast to the northwest. A number
of open fires or firing pits were also located at the southeast end of Area C.
A series of deposits rich in clay and silt, some with occasional small, water abraded
pottery fragments, built up within the central portion of Area C. These water-lain deposits
respected the southeast face of the preceding stone retaining structure [1535], and spread
up the gradual incline of the southern bank, near to the remains of the earlier kiln. Some
of these water-lain deposits were interspersed with the dump deposits and hearth-like
features. Within this phase some attempt seems to have been made to retain the southern
limits of the channel: we found a possible sandstone wall [1384] 7.20m to the southeast of
the Phase XII sandstone wall [1535], on the northeast safety step (where we stepped in the
trench for safety, just beyond where the Area C trench narrows (Fig. 13). We only revealed
part of this wall, which is orientated northeast to southwest, and comprised of only five
extremely degraded sandstone blocks.
We found pits and dumps on the northern bank, within Trench 1 and Area C. We
recorded a sequence of pottery dumps that respected the northwestern face of the Phase XII
sandstone retaining structure [1535]. These dumps sloped markedly downward from the
northwest to the southeast, and appear to represent the refuse of people’s activities higher
up on the northern bank.
2.8. Discussion of Phases X-XIII

The Phase X-XIII sequence was for the most part isolated to the eastern end of the site,
especially Area C. People continued to exert some degree of control over the water channel,
which apparently followed a northeast to southwest course through the site. They also built
up the northern and southern banks. Throughout this sequence, pottery production appears
to have monopolized the southern bank, from the construction and use of the kiln in Phase X,
its disuse in Phase XI, and its relocation further up the southern bank in Phase XIII. We are less
clear on the kind of activity people carried out on the northern bank. Certainly they exerted
more of a concerted effort to consolidate and protect the northern bank - they purposefully
raised the ground level and built a retaining structure to protect the area from water damage.
These efforts directed toward the dynamics and flow of the channel (see below) may indicate
a more vulnerable settlement on the northern bank, possibly one that was domestic in nature.
The dynamics of the channel may have prompted people to build the kiln on the southern
bank of the channel. The southern bank shows a gradual incline and there had been no real
attempt to retain the channel here (except during Phase XIII). The low, gradually sloping
southern bank may fit the hypothesis that the site is located on the bend of a channel, which
curves from the northeast to the south. Since water flows faster along the outside of a
channel bend, it cuts the outside bank steeper. Water flows slower along the inner part of a
bend, creating a gradual, shallower, sediment accumulation.26 We have not ascertained the
exact course of the channel during this sequence.
26 J. Bunbury and A. Graham, Personal Communication (2008).
2020–2015 101
Although we picked up the channel in Area C, it is absent from Area A/B and Trench 2.
This absence is likely due to the large scale truncation of the site in the Medieval period by a
large channel course in Phase XIX, which also seems to have had a northeast to south bend.
This later channel had effectively scoured out all traces of the earlier watercourse.
Pottery production requires access to water, clays and silt. The position of the kiln on the
slow moving inner bank would have been an optimal location. Conditions optimal for making
pottery are further attested by the apparent re-location of the kiln further up the southern bank
in Phase XIII, once the encroaching water levels had made its original position untenable.
We provisionally date the pottery dumps relating to the use of the Phase X pottery kiln
to the sixth or seventh century AD.27
During subsequent phases of occupation and water management (Phase XIV to XV),
the southern limits of the channel encroached even further to the south within Area C. It is
possible that people continued to produce pottery throughout these phases, but relocated
this production some distance beyond the southern limit of our 2008 excavation.
2.9. Occupation and Water Management: Phases XIV-XVIII

Activities seen in Phases XIV to XVII are similar to those in preceding phases. People
continued to manage the flow of water through the site, and to consolidate and occupy the
banks of the channel. This sequence begins with a series of fluvial deposits (Phase XIV),
followed by the construction of a large building on the northern bank, whose southern limits
were strengthened, retaining the water to the southeast (Phase XVI). This was followed
by a phase (XVI) when people dumped industrial waste to the west of the building, and
managed the foreshore of the northwestern limit of the channel (Phase XVII). The sequence
ends when people began to use the area taken in by the northwestern corner of the site as a
cemetery (Phase XVIII).
2.9.1. Fluvial Sequence (Phase XIV)

We found a sequence of water-lain deposits belonging to Phase XIV across much of the
site: throughout Area C, much of the northwest-facing section of Trench 1, at the northeastern
end of Trench 2, and at the eastern end of Trench A/B. The average depth of these combined
deposits was 0.49m, although they were thickest, 0.66m, at the southeastern end of Area C,
where they sloped downward from 75.97m ASL in the northwest to 75.20m ASL on the
southeast. Some of these deposits were mixed with fragments of small, abraded pottery.
To the north, people reclaimed the northern bank by dumping material to raise the
ground level in preparation for the large building constructed in Phase XV.
2.9.2. A Building on the Northern Bank and Construction of Channel Defenses (Phase XV)
We found the remains of what seems to be a large building, constructed mainly of red
brick, on the northern bank of the channel (Fig. 15). The truncation caused by the machining
of Trench 1 obscured the footprint of this building, as did its continuation beyond the
northern limit of excavation. Scattered architectural remains of this structure were only
seen at the northwestern end of Area A/B, the northern lower step of Trench 1, and as a
single wall crossing Trench 1 that pre-2008 excavation left 'pedestalled' on older deposits.
The building extended at least 20.00m northeast-southwest by 10.00m northwest-
southeast. Our team picked up the southern wall [272] at the northwestern end of Area A/B.
27 Rzeuska, Personal Communication (2008).
102 ASAE 88
This wall may have been the southeastern boundary or enclosure of the building. The wall,
0.60m wide, survived four courses high. Its northeastern continuation extends beyond the
limits of Trench A. Sandstone blocks were tied into the coursing at the northeastern end
of the wall, where the wall became slightly wider. One of these was inscribed with the
cartouche of Cleopatra VII (Pl. VIb). A deflated course of mud brick [335] was built on top
of the red-brick wall, suggesting that the red brick served as a foundation for a mud-brick
superstructure. Further anomalies associated with this wall, included the presence of a
northwest-southeast wall [273] built of red brick and standstone, 0.77m long by 0.48m wide
and 0.15m high, slightly 'off' alignment and abutting the northwestern face of the southern
boundary wall. This was possibly a later addition that was meant as a sort of buttress that
to support the southern wall from flood damage.
A northwest return [235] to the boundary of this building was found to the southwest,
although the corner itself had been cut away. This return, 0.56m wide and 7.0m long
(northwest-southeast), was constructed of red brick and followed a similar pattern of
coursing; it survived four courses high. A mud-brick wall [2102] abuts the northwestern end
of red-brick wall [235]. We only revealed part of this mud-brick wall, 2.90m long by 0.80m
wide. It runs northeast to southwest. Approximately 1m to the northwest, we partially
revealed another mud-brick wall [1226], 0.95m wide by 0.30m high by 2.80m long, running
northeast-southwest. This wall may continue to the northeast as wall [709]. It is possible
that these three mud-brick walls formed an entrance and corridor that led into the building.
Approximately 9m to the east of these walls we exposed a series of red-brick walls on
the northern upper step of Trench 1 [1122], [2109], [345]. These walls are generally much
narrower (approximately 0.45m wide) and likely represent internal architecture rather
than the larger bounding walls to the southwest. These thinner walls form a room 4.00m
(northeast-southwest) by 2.90m (northwest-southeast), with an access to the east, through
a space 0.40m wide. The initial excavation of Trench 1 cut through these walls. We also
recorded red-brick architecture that had been cut by Trench 1 in the northwest-facing
section of Trench 1. This is a relatively thick wall [1481], at 0.65m wide, similar in size to the
bounding walls to the southwest, and orientated northwest to southeast.
We also picked up this phase of construction further to the east, at the very northwestern
end of Area C. Here, an extremely damaged red-brick wall oriented northwest-southeast
survived to only one course high and one course wide, of which only 0.60m of its length
was recordable in the trench before it extended beyond the northwestern limit of excavation.
It is, of course unclear, whether this structure represents the continuation of internal
architecture, all contained within the one building of this phase.
The founding levels of the walls were markedly different, with the walls at the
southwestern end founded considerably lower, at circa 74.50m ASL, than the walls to the
northwest, which were founded at circa 75.30m ASL.
A distinct absence of floors, internal installations or deposits within the building may
be partly due to the lack of excavation on the upper step of Trench 1. If Trench 1 removed
such features, they should have been visible in the sections. It is likely therefore, that floors,
internal installations or other deposits of this phase existed at a higher layer that was later
truncated by the medieval occupation of the northern bank. We did, however, find a wealth
of dumped material to the west of the building in Area E (Phase XVI). It remains unproven
stratigraphically whether this dumping and industrial activity was at all connected to the
Phase XV architecture, but we are tempted to see the two as having been associated.
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2.9.3. Industry on the Northwestern Bank (Phase XVI)

This phase of activity was mainly isolated to Area E, although we did record a series
of pits in Area A/B just outside the southwestern wall of Phase XV that might belong to
Phase XVI. Within Area E the team found a sequence of dump deposits at the southeastern
end of the area, all similar in composition and all contained a high concentration of pottery
sherds. These deposits generated a wealth of materials: fragments of oil lamps, slag, glass,
metal, faience, one copper object (a spoon or medical tool?), copper fragments and traces
of copper on pottery sherds. These dumps, up to 1.50m thick, contained large quantities
of pottery, metal, glass, and faience 'wasters' - the material discarded during production.
Since such 'wasters' rarely move far from their point of production. Their presence in Area
E imply the close proximity of pottery workshops, glass industry, faience production and
metal working - especially copper (the presence of copper fragments on pottery sherds is
especially indicative of copper production).
Towards the northeastern end of the trench team members identified a firing pit that
partly continued into the southwest-facing section (Pl. VIIa). This pit had an irregular
shape in plan, irregular sides and an irregular base. The sides of the cut had clearly been
burnt. The pit was filled with a series of varied pinkish and dark grayish ash-rich deposits
that contained red-brick fragments. It is possible that the firing pit had been used as a kiln,
and that the red-brick content in its fill represented what had originally been a red-brick
superstructure or a red-brick lining. Fragments of charred material might have belonged to
the wall of a kiln.
2.9.4. Further Channeling and Foreshore Management (Phase XVII)

Throughout Phases XV and XVI the channel to the south of the upper bank continued
to flow through Area C and Area A/B. We found more evidence of the threat of floods
and the need to control the northwestern limit of the channel during Phase XVII. At the
northwestern end of Area A/B, 3.60m to the southeast of the southern border of the Phase XV
building, we found another retaining wall [333] of sandstone blocks, orientated northeast-
southwest, 0.53m wide and surviving two courses high (Pl. VIIIa). Once again, the builders
may have taken the sandstone blocks from the Sphinx Avenue. To the south of this wall,
another structure [1650] may have served as a ramp, oriented northeast-southwest, 2.20m
long, 1.20m wide and 0.17m high (Pl. VIIIa).
To the southeast of the retaining structure [333], the team found a sequence of homogenous
silt and clay deposits, 0.50m deep, laid in a naturally formed channel, 5.00m wide. In some
cases these deposits lipped up the southeast face of the wall. The elevation at the top of this
sequence was 74.87m ASL.
2.9.5. Late Roman Cemetery (Phase XVIII)

Following the large scale dumping in Area E during phase XVII, the use of this particular
corner of the site changed entirely; it became a cemetery.
Team members identified two phases of Roman burials in Area E (Fig. 16). The first
consisted of three burials, all orientated northeast-southwest. The team excavated Burial 4
and Burial 5, which had been disturbed by later phase truncations. To the southwest of the
trench, the team identified, but did not excavate, the mud-brick lining of a further burial.
The burials were sealed by a spread of ashy silt, rich in pottery sherds and containing
moderate amounts of charcoal, occasional bones and oil lamp fragments. Of note, the
104 ASAE 88
deposit yielded faience, an amulet, a clay token and an ostracon with either demotic or
Greek writing on it. The pottery ostracon was provisionally dated to the Late Roman
Period.28
A second phase of the cemetery contained six possible burials. The team excavated none
of these burials for fear that they may be Islamic graves. All were lined with mud brick
and were orientated northeast to southwest. The presence of human remains was only
positively identified in one of the burials, which the team left unexcavated.
2.10. Discussion of Phases XIV-XVIII

People continued to use the site during these phases as they had previously. As with the
preceding phase, a controlled channel ran through the site, from northeast to southwest or
west. People maintained and consolidated the upper northwestern bank, upon which we
found evidence of varied industry and the footprint of a large building. Many of these features
and activities continued into the Medieval period, where people continued to manage the
foreshore of the now well-established channel. People continued to use the northwest corner
of the site as a cemetery from Roman times to the Islamic period in Phase XX.
The dumps of industrial waste on the northwest bank, in close proximity to Area E,
indicate the presence of faience production, glass making, copper working and pottery
production. The concentration of 'dirty' industries here may suggest that the site, at this
time, was located in a marginal area, on the edge of extra-mural Luxor, at the periphery of
the Late Roman town. Although pottery production of the previous phases was located on
the southeastern foreshore of the channel, the encroachment of that channel to the south,
as attested within this sequence of phases, may have forced a shift of industries to the
northwest bank.
Although we lack a stratigraphic link between the industrial waste and the occupation
of the newly constructed building on the northwest bank, it is tempting to posit the idea
that this building could have contained industrial workshops, with its waste being dumped
outside, to the west.
The later use of the northwest corner of the site as a cemetery, both Roman and Islamic,
may be due to its proximity to Muqashqish Mosque. Local tradition maintains that a
Coptic martyr’s tomb became a healing shrine, for both Copts and Muslims, and was later
converted into a mosque (Muqashqish) still associated with healing.29 Churches have been
located within the vicinity of Luxor Temple, including seventh century churches which
stood to the north of the Amun temple and to the east of the Avenue of Sphinxes.30
2.11. Medieval Land Use: Phases XIX-XX

The Medieval period saw the continuation of activities on the site that had begun in
the Late Roman Period. Although people continued to occupy the northwest bank, there
was less evidence of industrial activity. They continued to maintain and consolidate the
foreshore, cutting terraces and controlling the channel. Within Area E, there was a hiatus in
the use of the cemetery. The team found the remains of a floor and various dump deposits,
indicating that the use of Area E as a cemetery temporarily changed before becoming used
as an Islamic burial ground.
28 Rzeuska, Personal Communication (2008). attention.

29 G. Legrain, Louqsor sans les pharaons. Légendes et chansons 30 P. Grossman, ‘Eine Vergessene Fruhchristilche Kirche Beim
de la Haue Egypte (Bruxelles-Paris, 1914), 9-17, pl. 2-4. We thank Luxor Temple’, MDAIK 29 (1973), 167-181;
Monmeem Saad and Sabine Lammel for bringing this reference to our
2020–2015 105
At the northwestern end of Area C we found evidence of occupation and localized

terracing of the foreshore, which effectively protected the upper settlement from flooding
and overflow of the channel. This 'terracing' cut [1409] created a relatively steep bank,
approximately 9.70m northwest of the earlier northwestern limit of the channel (Fig. 17).
The cut was 0.72m deep and had a relatively flat base, its top level was 75.99m ASL and its
bottom was 74.87m ASL. At the base of the cut, the earlier northeast-southwest sandstone
wall [1535] was still visible, and likely continued to function as the main retaining structure
of the channel to the southeast. The bank itself was once again raised, to a height of 76.21m
ASL. On this upper bank, we found the remains of a mud-brick wall, oriented northeast-
southwest, and a degraded or robbed, foundation, 0.32m wide, adjacent to and following the
same orientation as the edge of the channel cut. To the northwest, we revealed two parallel
Fatimid Period ceramic water pipes, (each pipe was 0.09m in diameter), oriented northeast
to southwest. Small limestone boulders blocked the northeastern and southwestern ends,
suggesting people had deliberately blocked these pipes when they later remodeled the area.
These associated features may represent some sort of domestic occupation, located on
the raised upper bank. The mud-brick wall may have formed both a border to the bank as
well as a boundary to a building, with pipes constructed at foundation level, possibly sealed
by overlying surfaces. The newly created terrace below, between the upper bank and the
sandstone retaining wall, may have enabled a foreshore pathway along the northwestern
side of the channel. At some stage later, people filled and raised this terrace to a level
roughly commensurate with the upper bank, probably to maximize the habitable zone. The
sandstone retaining wall [1535] was now entirely covered, and therefore obsolete. With
this, a new channel edge [1007] was created (Fig. 17).
The edges of this latest channel and its dense clay and silt fills were picked up throughout
much of the site (Fig. 18). In area C, the clay and silt-rich fills covered much of the area, from
the newly created northwestern edge [1007] to the southeastern limits of excavation (Pl.
VIIb). Here, the water-lain deposits, approximately 1.75m thick, spanned at least 23.50m in
width. We recorded the top of the channel cut at 75.97m ASL and the bottom at 74.25m ASL.
The water-lain clays were cross-bedded, indicating that they were laid by fairly fast moving
water. At the northeastern end of Trench 2, the southeastern edge of the channel was visible
in its southwest facing section (adjacent to Trench C). Here the edge of the channel had a
very gentle incline. From Trench C, the channel continued into Area A/B [1054], although
we picked up a small portion of its northwestern edge in the northwest-facing section of
Trench 1. Since the upper ground level slopes markedly downward to Area A/B, only the
lower fills of the channel were seen here. In area A/B the top of the channel was recorded
at 74.48m ASL and the bottom at 74.10m ASL. The course of the channel from Area C to
A/B seems to accommodate a gentle bend, from northeast to south. The team picked up
the channel once again in the sections at the southwestern end of Trench 2, where it had
a top elevation of 76.25m ASL and a bottom elevation of 75.25m ASL at the base of the
trench. Here, the sides of the channel had a relatively gradual slope. Its location in Trench
2 certainly indicates the channel took a bend from northeast to south in its course across
the site.
The sides of the channel had relatively gentle inclines in almost all areas. The
northwestern edge [1007] in Trench C however, was strangely vertical. The explanation for
this anomaly may be had from the presence of five postholes at the base of the cut, adjacent
to the northwestern edge, and following the same alignment as the cut. It is possible that
106 ASAE 88
here, a timber retaining structure was constructed against the edge of the cut, holding it
back and protecting the occupation of the upper bank.
Once the new northwestern limit of the channel had been established, occupation up on
the bank continued to flourish. People dismantled the pipes and walls and leveled the area.
A series of silt floors accumulated, at a level circa 76.30m ASL. These look like trodden
surfaces associated with an informal hearth with associated small-posted structures.
However, we found no evidence for walls in this phase. These may be located outside the
limits of excavation.
In Area E the Late Roman burials and the Islamic Cemetery of Phase XX were interspersed
with a period of medieval occupation. Throughout the northwestern and southwestern
parts of the trench we found scattered patches of floor that sealed an ash-rich make-up
deposit. The surface was about 0.06m thick with an average elevation of 76.95m ASL. We
found no associated structures, but these too may lie outside the limits of excavation. The
floor was then sealed by large amounts of debris that spread over the whole of the area. The
material consisted of sandy silt with varying amounts of ash and occasional red brick. Here
and there we found pits filled with dumped material. These upper deposits may represent
a sequence of leveling in preparation for the subsequent cemetery, or they may represent
the refuse of nearby occupation.
2.11.1. The Islamic Cemetery (Phase XX)

The Islamic cemetery was only attested by the presence of one unexcavated burial. As
soon as it was revealed, and the stratigraphic sequence proved that it was post-Roman, we
left it untouched.
As mentioned above in section 1.3, a cadastral map of 1937 depicts a cemetery on
this corner of the site but states that is 'unused'. It also depicts a cemetery behind the
Muqashqish Mosque. This cemetery was removed during the clearances of the Avenue in
front of Luxor Temple. The presence of a late burial in Area E suggests that the area was
in fact used as a cemetery prior to 1937. This is not entirely surprising since the mosque is
known to date back to the Medieval period, and we might, therefore, expect a long history
of burials associated with it.
2.12. Discussion of Phases XIX-XX

This sequence reflects life at the site through the Medieval period. People used the site
in ways not dissimilar to those seen during the Late Roman Period as they maintained the
water channel and occupied of the upper bank.
The water-lain deposits of the earlier channels differ from the thick buildup of clay in
the medieval channel. The type and thickness of this accumulation suggests that it was
operational for a prolonged period of time.31 Archaeologists recorded similar clay-rich
deposits with substantial thicknesses to the northeast during the excavation of Nectanebo’s
Avenue, behind the Susan Mubarak Library.32 A map dated to 1922 clearly shows the Badran
Canal, a small portion of which was loosely aligned with the former Sphinx Avenue (Fig.
19). Although this course diverts to the south, some distance to the northeast of the site, if
the course of the canal is projected to the southwest, it would directly hit KIW. Could the
channel in KIW represent a medieval antecedent to the Badran canal, prior to its diversion?
31 J. Bunbury and A. Graham, Luxor ‘Khalid Ibn el-Waleed Garden’ AERA 2008).
Site – Some Remarks on Channels and Islands (Unpublished Report 32 Boraik, Cahiers de Karnak 13, 52.
2020–2015 107
The course of the KIW channel in the Medieval period gently curves from the northeast
to the south. This prompts the hypothesis that the channel ran around the southern extent
of the 'Old Town Mound', which had built up inside and around the Luxor Temple. The
occupation of the northwestern bank in KIW, with its close proximity to the 'Luxor Tell' may
indicate that this area was being absorbed into the gradual expansion of medieval Luxor.
The 1798-1799 Napoleonic map of Luxor shows a contemporary thoroughfare running
through the Luxor settlement (Fig. 4). This thoroughfare follows the route of the Avenue of
Sphinxes and may have run through the KIW site, either over the channel or a little to the
west of the channel, just as the Badran Canal lay alongside the modern thoroughfare, Sharia
el Karnak, in 1922 (Fig. 19).
2.13. Garden and Electricity Building (Phase XXI)

The final activity on the KIW site included two phases of landscaped garden interspersed
with the construction and use of an electricity building. Although we excavated and
recorded this modern phase of development at KIW using the same single context method
applied to pre-modern deposits, we will not discuss this phase in detail here. Suffice to say
that we picked up traces of the early garden, landscaped prior to 1930, as shown on early
maps. We also exposed the foundations of a building located to the northwest of the site,
likely the electricity building that appears on maps dated to c. 1985. Remains of all these
features were sealed by the latest garden phase.
3. Conclusions: KIW Excavations and Site History

One theme characterizes KIW throughout its lifespan: the presence of water. Our
excavations demonstrate that water was present in various forms throughout the
stratigraphic sequence, evidenced by flood horizons, channels, and various waterfront
activities and industries.
In some manner, the local hydrology touched all aspects of the archaeology at KIW. We
interpret many of the strata as primary, water-lain silts (either as a result of flooding or as
deposition within channels). After the Late Period (c. 664-340 BCE), people devoted most
of their efforts on the site to control, manage, capitalize upon, or minimize the effects of
water. Even the large pottery dumps, which clearly demonstrate large-scale efforts to fill
and reclaim land, frequently show signs of bedding and imbrication, suggesting they have
been affected by flowing water.
The earliest exposed features on the site comprised a number of substantial Late Period
structures, which clearly pre-dated the Avenue of Nectanebo I. It remains unclear how
these individual architectural elements may have functioned with each other. Of some
structures, we saw little more than scraps of damaged walls in the bottom of small
sondages. However, we exposed parts of two large red-brick walls that crossed the axis of
the Nectanebo Avenue.
One of these large walls spanned some 21m, crossing directly underneath the Avenue
of Sphinxes. This effectively rules out the possibility that an earlier avenue existed along
the same alignment on this exact spot, immediately preceding Nectanebo’s Avenue. These
findings generate further questions. The Nectanebo I Avenue of the Sphinxes falls along
a line drawn from the entrance of the Luxor Temple to the sanctuary area of the Karnak
Temple. Where is the earlier avenue along this line, which is attested in texts and wall-
scenes like those of the Hatshepsut Red Chapel? An older, deeper avenue may have been
108 ASAE 88
disturbed during the construction of these pre-Nectanebo buildings. Or the earlier avenue
may lie deeper, below layers of settlement that accumulated over the 1,200 years, between
the time of Hatshepsut and Nectanebo I. Alternatively the earlier avenue may simply lie on
a different alignment, placing it outside the area of the KIW excavations.
Ultimately, given the limited exposure of these large walls to date, it is impossible to
say conclusively whether or not they represented one monumental structure, whether they
were associated with the organization of the nearby settlement, or if they related to the
Luxor Temple to the southwest.
With the abandonment or dismantling of the pre-Nectanebo I structures, we see the first
evidence of flooding, which may suggest that the area was marginalized for a short while. It
is through this landscape, with some local preparation in the form of dumping and leveling
deposits, that Nectanebo I ordered his Avenue of Sphinxes to be built.
The Avenue of Sphinxes at KIW conforms closely to exposures of the Avenue elsewhere,
between Karnak and Luxor Temples. Two rows of sphinx pedestals, round red-brick-lined
planters and small brick-lined irrigation channels comprised the Avenue. However, the
central pavement was completely absent in our excavations. This should not be a great
surprise since the pavement is missing in other exposures of the Avenue, no doubt because
people robbed or quarried the sandstone extensively for use in other structures. As such, it
was difficult to ascertain the construction level of the pavement, particularly since much of
the area was scoured out by later channeling.
Repeated flooding may have been the reason for the decline and eventual disuse of the
Avenue. We have provisionally dated to the Graeco-Roman period fluvial deposits and
water-management structures that covered and sealed the Avenue. These strata culminate
in features associated with large channels. We might assume that after the Ptolemaic Period,
under Roman rule, the Avenue may well have taken on a role less concerned with sacred
ritual. Perhaps because of this, as the water continued to encroach upon the site and the
Avenue became harder to manage, it was simply left to fall in disrepair.
Despite the apparent robbing of stone from the Avenue from this point onwards, there
is evidence that the process of decline was gradual. The presence of Roman burials, which
respected the sphinx pedestals, suggests that elements of the Avenue were still partially
visible and respected within the landscape. The Avenue retained enough significance as a
an ancient feature of the landscape to serve as a focus for the intrinsically Roman tradition
of burying the dead along roadways, which suggests that the Avenue was still used as a
thoroughfare.
The team found Roman mud-brick walls and red-brick installations on the northwestern
side of the Avenue that abutted partially standing sphinx pedestals. Again, this shows that
elements of the Avenue were still partially visible and were integrated, in situ, into new
constructions along the line of the Avenue.
Eventually water flowed across the site in a channel that crossed the Avenue at an angle,
making it impossible to use the Avenue as a thoroughfare. Most of the later Roman activity
on the site took place on either side of a sequence of channels. There was clear evidence
of ceramic production, including a kiln, on the southeast bank. People built structures,
possibly domestic, and produced ceramics, faience and glass on the northwest bank.
Foreshore management of the channels continued throughout the Medieval period,
culminating in a two-meter deep watercourse that curved across the site from the
northeast to the south. People continued to occupy the north side of the channel. A
2020–2015 109
map dated to 1922 shows that as the main Luxor settlement expanded, the area to the
immediate northeast of KIW remained partly agrarian. The earlier structures we found
at the northwestern end of the site probably represent the thinning out of the Luxor tell,
which would have been centered on the Luxor Temple and within the enclosure of the
Roman fort to the southwest.
In the 1922 map, part of the Badran Canal to the northeast of the site was broadly aligned
with the former route of the Avenue, before diverting to the southwest around the settlement
of Luxor. Could this canal have originated on this orientation in Medieval or Roman times,
already skirting the settlement of old Luxor?
Excavations at KIW exposed two meters of stratified deposits, an archaeological cross-
section of two and a half millennia of Luxor’s development, ranging from the pharaonic
Late Period to modern times. Apart from Oriental Institute excavations in the 1980s and
subsequent work on this area by the 2010 AERA-ARCE SAFS of the remnant tell inside the
protected area of the Luxor Temple enclosure, nowhere else has a stratigraphic sequence
of this time range been recorded in Luxor. Our own excavations at KIW are by no means
conclusive, and must be seen as part of the SCA ongoing program along the Avenue of
Sphinxes. However, they have greatly improved our understanding of the evolution of
Luxor from late antiquity to the modern era. We hope the excavations of the Salvage
Archaeological Field School 2008 provides new information and yields further questions
that will guide future research and archaeological investigation on Luxor’s East Bank.
Appendix 1
Excavation and Recording Methods

As with all the field schools run by Ancient Egypt Research Associates and the American
Research Centre in Egypt, the main purpose of the exercise is to teach Supreme Council
of Antiquities Inspectors how to excavate and record archaeological deposits quickly and
efficiently, to a very high quality. As such, the teaching tends to emphasize standardized,
relatively low-tech methods of recording.
The field school adapts the excavation and recording methods developed by the
Museum of London,33 known as 'Single Context Recording'. The site is broken down into
discrete deposits and cuts (truncations), units commonly known as 'stratigraphic contexts'
or 'stratigraphic features'. Under this system, each of these features receives a unique
numerical identifier. Excavators produce a written, graphic and photographic record for
each feature. All material culture, including objects, ceramics, environmental (or other)
samples, animal bone and human remains, carry the numerical identifier of the deposit
whence they were extracted.
We cleaned excavation areas by hand and fully excavated features and deposits. We
planned and recorded features onto pro-forma context record sheets in accordance with the
guidelines set down by the Museum of London Archaeological Services (MoLAS),34 and the
Giza Plateau Mapping Project (GPMP) Field Manual.35
We took the decision prior to the excavation not to use pre-cut sheets of drafting film pre-
printed with grid and fields to be filled (for feature number, coordinates, etc.). Use of such
standardized sheets is common on UK sites where organizations use a system like that of
33 Museum of London Archaeological Service, Archaeological Site Manual.

Manual (London, 1994). 35 J. S. Taylor, Giza Plateau Mapping Project Basic Level
34 Museum of London Archaeological Service, Archaeological Site Archaeological Field Manual (Unpublished AERA Document 1996).
110 ASAE 88
MoLAS. We based our decision upon the fact that while most inspectors have ready access to
computer technology making pro-forma written records sheets a viable option, pre-printed
drafting film requires special manufacture. For now, we did not deem such manufactured
sheets to be a viable resource for students once they left the field school. As such, the team
produced the graphic archive on rolls of blank drafting film, which is more readily available
in Cairo. We encouraged students to cut their drafting film to uniform size and to respect the
baselines and grid present on site in order to facilitate archiving these records.
In this way, the team drew plans, sections and elevations at a scale of 1:10 or 1:20 as
appropriate. As a rule, team members planned features as single stratigraphic units during
the course of excavation. Multi-feature plans were discouraged except in pre-excavation
and post-excavation general maps of an area, or, exceptionally to demonstrate groups of
related features, or features that may have been 'in phase' stratigraphically, facilitating the
process of stratigraphic analysis in the post-excavation process (see below).
The team undertook a general photographic survey of the site, using digital single-
lens reflex cameras. We decided that the technology surrounding digital archiving was
well-developed enough, that given the relative inexpensiveness of digital photography,
inspectors could produce a fully digital photographic archive in situations outside of the
field school. As such, we gave appropriate instruction to all students on how to use and
archive digital photography.
Where considered suitable or of value, bulk environmental samples were taken from
features for flotation. 30L of all archaeological features were dry sieved through a 5mm
mesh. Any features that yielded significant assemblages were then 100% dry sieved.
A dedicated survey team established temporary benchmarks, where necessary, across
the site and staked out a 5m grid, based upon the survey carried out in the 2005-2006
excavations. The grid was tied into local Luxor surveys. The team carried out almost all
of the hand mapping on local baselines (established to advantage for different parts of
the site). They later tied these baselines and the maps measured off of them into the grid,
because the orientation of the site made it highly impractical to use a north-south grid for
hand mapping. All cardinal points in this document (including illustrations) are based
on true north (as opposed to the idiosyncratic practice of using 'River North', which runs
southwest to northeast).
One of the most important lessons of the 2008 Salvage Archaeology Field School came in
the design of the trenches with respect to the axis of the Avenue of the Sphinxes. Trenches
1 and 2 were cut in late 2005 to follow the rows of sphinx pedestals, the objective being
to free the series of stone monuments as quickly as possible from the encumbering dirt.
This cut off the relationship of the layers and other deposits to the pedestals, to the broken
pieces of sphinxes and to other objects and materials. While achieving the objective of
freeing the monuments from the ground, parallel trenches like these violate a basic strategy
and rule of archaeology: to retrieve the history of a linear structure like a wall (or these
rows of pedestals, or the Avenue as a whole) it is best to excavate cross trenches that
leave perpendicular sections across the axis. Actually, any stratigraphic excavation and
recording will salvage the relationship of cuts and deposits to a structure. But the cross
section view nicely documents in a standing section those deposits and layers upon which
builders founded a structure, the cut lines of the foundation trench down through layers
that predate the structure, layers that abut to the structure and so must be later than the
structure, layers that are commensurate with the destruction of the upper part of the wall
2020–2015 111
or other structure, and those layers or other deposits that bury and seal the structure. So it
was for the Avenue of the Sphinxes in the Khaled Ibn el-Waleed Garden.
SAFS 2008 was a break from truly massive large-scale clearing of hundreds of meters of
the Avenue between 2005 and 2010 in machine-dug trenches parallel to the Avenue, or as
wide as 70 meters to expose the entire width of the ancient Avenue so as to reconstruct its
pavement, pedestals, and sphinxes. SAFS 2008 dissected trenches A/B and C across the axis
of the Avenue. The team also excavated stratigraphically broader extensions in Operations
A/B, C, and E perpendicular to the axis of the Avenue. The team excavated all these areas,
deposit by deposit, removing deposits in the inverse order of deposition, giving each a
discrete identification tag number, and saving all pottery, objects, animal bone and other
material culture embedded in each deposit separately, mapping each deposit individually,
and drawing the resulting sections across the breadth of the Avenue.
In so doing stratigraphic excavation and recording in controlled trenches across the
Avenue, the 2008 SAFS team retrieved the history of the Avenue in this one spot. The
history of the Sphinx Avenue included massive red-brick walls that predate the Avenue and
cross its axis, showing that, here at least, no avenue existed immediately prior to Nectanebo
I. We retrieved a picture of how Nectanebo I’s builders founded the sphinx pedestals and
tree circles, partly upon these older massive red-brick walls; how people used the Avenue
through time, respecting its flanks as a burial ground in Roman times even after it began to
go derelict; how people destroyed the sphinxes and used sphinx pieces in walls to shore up
the sides of a water that now flowed through the sunken channel left by build-up on either
side of the Avenue; how people used the flanks of this ever-widening and deepening water
channel for smoky industry, producing pottery and possibly glass and faience, on the edge
of the old town mound; how people used the west bank as a cemetery, eventually as the
burial ground of a mosque; and how the people of Luxor developed this spot as a garden
that lasted for nearly a century.
Thanks to stratigraphic excavation in select trenches across the Avenue of the Sphinxes
in one very small part of its three-kilometer run through ancient Thebes, or old Luxor, we
can now add this part of the Avenue, the water channel, the industrial zone, the burial
ground, and the garden to our very precious and ever-so-limited understanding of daily
life in what was one of the preeminent cities of the ancient world. In recording in this one
spot something of the history of ancient Luxor, the SAFS 2008 excavations in the Khaled Ibn
el-Waleed Garden taught and carried out the best of salvage archaeology.
Health and Safety on Site

As always, health and safety were considered in these excavations, since it was known
that the trenches would be deep and deposits unstable. As a general rule, British professional
guidelines for excavation health and safety36 were observed alongside those set out by the
American Research Center in Egypt. We regularly checked trenches and sections over
1.20m deep for signs of instability. Where appropriate, we stepped in the sides of such
trenches. All those working on site were taught about health and safety issues.
Post-Excavation Methodology
The AERA Field School staff believe that the archiving, write-up and dissemination of
archaeological data are the duty and responsibility of those who excavate. We teach that
36 U.K. Health and Safety Executive, Successful Health and Safety Management, SG 65 (HSE Books, 1997).
112 ASAE 88
no site should be excavated without consideration of how the material will be brought into
the public domain. With this consideration in mind, care is taken in the planning of the
field school to consider the techniques of analysis and writing that make up this process. A
suitable time period is always allocated for this purpose.
After excavation, the students checked all archives. The supervisors then double-checked
all the records. Lists of features were compiled and the archive was fully quantified. When
this process was complete, team members constructed a stratigraphic matrix for each area,
based upon the generally recognized principles of archaeological stratigraphy.37
Supervisors then grouped these area matrices stratigraphically into higher order groups
of features based on stratigraphic relationships, space and function. They joined together
the area matrices to form an integrated, phased, site-wide matrix. This formed the basis for
a technical summary or 'Data Structure Report', containing a descriptive summary of the
stratigraphy.
Appendix 2
Osteological Report on the KIW Burials

Jessica Kaiser and Ahmed Mohamed Gabr
Introduction
All osteological investigations that took place in the course of the excavations in the
Khaled Ibn el-Waleed Garden during spring 2008 were part of the osteological curriculum
of the AERA/ARCE Luxor Salvage Archaeology Field School. Initially, the osteology
curriculum was developed as a pure theory course, since no burials had been recognized
during survey and previous excavation of the site. However, the discovery of human
remains was accommodated into the syllabus, and all subsequent fieldwork was carried
out with the field school students that showed an interest in bioarchaeology, overseen by an
AERA osteology supervisor. In all, five burials (Burials 1 through 5) were excavated during
the 2008 Luxor SAFS, representing two different phases of cemetery use. The orientations
of the first three burials were similar, southeast - northwest with the head towards the
northwest (Fig. 11). These burials were also all aligned with the eastern row of sphinxes
lining the Avenue, and belong to the earlier phase of Roman cemetery use, Phase IX (for
phase narrative see above). Burial 1 was oriented with the skull 40˚ west of magnetic north,
Burial 2 with the skull 55˚ degrees west of magnetic north and burial 3 with the skull 50˚
west of the magnetic north. Burials 4 and 5 were located at a higher elevation in Area E and
oriented differently, northeast-southwest, with the head to the southwest (Fig. 16). These
two burials belong to a later phase of Roman cemetery use, Phase XVIII (for phase narrative
see above).
Aims and Objectives

The unexpected presence of burials on the site provided an additional opportunity for
teaching students how to recover and record human remains in a salvage archaeology setting.
On a smaller scale, skeletal assessment of the human remains - in salvage and research
archaeology alike - aims to determine age, sex and stature, as well as any pathological
conditions from which the individuals may have suffered.
37 E. C. Harris, Principles of Archaeological Stratigraphy (London & New York, 1989).
2020–2015 113
Methodology
As is general practice at AERA, bone specialists excavated all human remains. This is
necessary, due to the poor preservation of the bone. Without the specialized knowledge of a
bone specialist, information would be lost. Further, and also according to AERA procedure,
a large part of the skeletal analysis was carried out in situ, due to the fragmentary nature
of the remains. Metric analysis in particular is often impossible after lifting the skeletal
elements if the bone is fragile, but can be performed after clearing the soil from the skeleton.
The excavation procedure follows the guidelines set forth in the MOLAS manual.38 The
recording procedure is site-specific, but generally follows the guidelines set forth in
Standards for Data Collection from Human Skeletal Remains.39 All of the burials were
photographed, levels recorded using a total station and the skeletal remains were drawn
with a computer-mapping program (MapInfo™) to be imported into the overall plans of
the site.
Team
The AERA SAFS osteology team consisted of Jessica Kaiser (University of California,
Berkeley), assisted by Ahmed Gabr (Supreme Council of Antiquities). Students that showed
a special interest in osteology and assisted in the excavation of the burials were Shereen
Ahmed, Ayman Damarany and Nagwan el-Hadidi.
Osteological Analysis
Osteological analysis centers on the determination of a demographic profile of the
assemblage studied, based on the assessment of sex, age and stature, as well as measurements
and non-metric traits. This information is crucial in order to determine the occurrence of
disease types and age-related changes. It is also vital for identifying gender dimorphism
in occupation, lifestyle and diet, as well as the position of different age groups in society.
Preservation
No single factor determines the preservation of skeletal remains alone. Differential
preservation may occur between individuals of different sex, age and size, as well as
between different bones of varying density from the same individual. Burial environment
and disposition of the remains,40 incomplete excavation and post-depositional disturbance,
as well as excavation and post-excavation loss of skeletal material can also influence bone
condition.41
The preservation of the KIW burials varied greatly. Actual bone preservation (lack
of demineralization) in burials 1 and 2, and to some extent burial 3, was generally fair,
while burials 4 and 5 were almost completely de-mineralized. This is probably due to
the physical location of the burials, in that burials 1 through 3 were at a much lower level
in the southeastern part of the site (aligned with the Avenue of Sphinxes, at around 74m
ASL), while burials 4 and 5 were at a much higher elevation (around 77m ASL) in Area E,
within reach of both plant roots and bioturbation as well as watering of the modern Khaled
Ibn el-Waleed Garden. The lower level of preservation of burial 3 in relation to nearby
38 Museum of London Archaeological Service, Archaeological Site Understanding Mortuary Behavior’, in W.D. Haglund and M.H
Manual. Sorg (eds) Advances in Forensic Taphonomy: Method, Theory and
39 J.E. Buikstra and D.H. Ubelaker, Standards for Data Collection Archaeological Perspectives (Boca Raton, 2002), 99-117.
from Human Skeletal Remains: Proceedings of a Seminar at the Field 41 D.H. Ubelaker, ‘Approaches to Demographic Problems in the
Museum of Natural History (Arkansas, 1994). Northeast’. in D.R. Snow (ed.), Foundations of Northeast Archaeology
40 M. Roksandic, ‘Position of Skeletal Remains as a Key to (New York, 1981), 177.
114 ASAE 88
inhumations can be explained by the fact that it belonged to an infant, young enough that
the mineral content in the bones of the individual would have been lower than those of an
older child or adult at the time of death.42 Several of the burials had also been truncated.
Burial 1 was truncated twice, once in antiquity, and once during previous SCA excavations.
Following the SCA excavation, the upper body of the individual had been left exposed, and
as a result the cranium and thorax were very fragmented. Burials 4 and 5 had also been
truncated, and were both missing large parts of the skeleton.
Description of Individual Burials

Burial 1 (Fig. 20)
This burial had no coffin, but considerable effort had gone into preparing the burial pit.
The burial was aligned with the adjacent sphinx, abutting the northern side of the sphinx
base, in trench 2, sondage D, and was oriented northwest-southeast. The pit had been sunk
alongside and directly adjacent to the Sphinx, and was lined with red brick. Finely levigated
silts had been used to smooth the sides of the grave. There were no grave goods, aside
from a small deposit of horse teeth, which had been placed to the south of the feet of the
skeleton. The way the horse teeth were deposited suggested they were originally enclosed
in a pouch or package, possibly as a good-luck charm. Truncation had removed most bones
of the skull, left arm and shoulder and some of the ribs. Also, some of the lumbar vertebrae
had been re-deposited on top of the skeleton, and the area above the sacrum was devoid
of bones. There are several possible explanations for this. The displacement is probably
due to animal activity, but it could also have been done at the time of burial, since the
individual was too tall for the grave. Strange as it seems, there are parallel examples of this
from Giza, where bodies have been cut in half in order to fit in their coffins. However, no
cut marks were found on any of the vertebrae, so most likely the culprits in this case were
small scavengers.
The skeleton of Burial 1 belonged to an adult male. Sex assessment was based on cranial
and pelvic morphology (nuchal crest, mastoid process, sub pubic angle and sciatic notch).43
The age assessment was based on dental wear according to Brothwell,44 which suggested
an age of between 33-45 years. A small part of the pubic symphysis also remained, and
symphysis morphology suggested an age in the lower part of the dental range,45 although
too little of the pubic bone remained to be certain. The individual was buried in a half-
seated position, with slightly bent knees, and the hands along the sides of the femurs. This
was probably due to the small size of the burial pit, as the individual was too tall for the
grave once it had been lined with the mud and brick. The head position was difficult to
determine, because of the extent of damage to the skull.
Pathologies
The individual in Burial 1 had a severe fracture of the right leg, which affected both
the femur and tibia and fibula (Pl. VIIIb). The right femur had a healed fracture, with
slight angulation of the distal third of the bone, due to misalignment. There was also a
healed fracture of the proximal third of the tibia, but with better alignment, probably due
to the latter fracture being a greenstick fracture, rather than a compound fracture, as was
42 J. Buckberry, ‘Missing, Presumed Buried? Bone Diagenesis and Natural History.
the Under-Representation of Anglo-Saxon Children’, Assemblage: 44 D. H. Brothwell, Digging up Bones (Oxford, 1981).
The Sheffield Graduate Journal of Archaeology 5, (2000). 45 S. Brooks and J. M. Suchey, ‘Skeletal age determination based
43 Buikstra and Ubelaker, Standards for Data Collection from Human on the os pubis: A comparison of the Acsádi-Nemeskéri and Suchey-
Skeletal Remains: Proceedings of a Seminar at the Field Museum of Brooks methods’, Human Evolution, vol.5, no.3, (1990), 227-238.
2020–2015 115
probably the case with the femur.46 There was extensive callus formation, and the medial
fibula and lateral tibia also had a periosteitic reaction, with a cloaca forming on the fibula.
The extensive healing that had taken place suggests that the individual was alive for an
extended period after the injury. Further, there were arthritic changes to the feet, with
osteophytic growth posteriorly on both tali, particularly in the right foot. This new bone
formation is probably related to the injury on the right leg, as the misalignment of the right
femur resulted in a difference in length between the two legs of almost two centimeters,
probably causing difficulty walking. There was also some osteophytic growth on the first
and second metacarpal, possibly related to waking with a stick. Further, there was slight
osteophytic growth on the lumbar vertebrae and the 12th Thoracic vertebra, and spina
bifida occulta of the sacrum. The spina bifida was probably not severe enough to cause any
neurological problems.47
Burial 2 (Fig. 21)

This burial was in close proximity to Burial 1, abutting the eastern end of the same
sphinx base. The burial was again oriented northwest-southeast and was at approximately
the same elevation as Burial 1. As in Burial 1, there were no grave goods and no coffin, but
considerable effort had gone into preparing the burial pit. The skeleton was resting on a
prepared and flattened mud surface covering the base of the cut, and was covered in yellow
sand. The sand was then capped with a mud-brick cover.
This was a primary burial, belonging to a child, 7-8 years (+/-24 month) old according
to long bone length48 and dental eruption.49 The skeleton was extended, anterior up, with
the chin on the chest, hands on pelvis/femur and extended feet. The mud-brick cap, which
was just under the surface, escaped the front-loader scrape of the sphinxes 2 years ago, and
no bones were exposed. Thus, this burial was the best preserved of all the KIW burials
although there was some plant activity that affected the bones: a root crushed the skull of
the skeleton.
Pathologies
The child in Burial 2 had enamel hypoplasia on all mandibular incisors consistent with
illness between the ages of approximately 18 months to 2 years. Further, although not
outside the standard deviation of the age group 6-8 years old, the long bone length indicated
an age to the lower end of the age range, while the dental eruption indicated an age to the
higher end of the age range. This may indicate that this child was ill for an extended period
before death, and sufficiently so to stunt growth of the long bones.
Non-Metric Traits
The Child in Burial 2 Had Bilateral Fossa Olecranon Perforatio
Burial 3 (Fig. 22)
Burial 3 was located at the southeastern end of Area C. The burial had no coffin, but
instead the body was placed in a shallow grave, lined with red brick, and aligned with the
Avenue of Sphinxes, like burials 1 and 2, but approximately 1 meter higher in elevation.
The grave itself was constructed with fired brick for support. Unlike in Burial 1 however,
pieces of pottery were also used to support the walls of the pit, and a deposit of clay had
46 A. C. Aufderheide and C. Rodriguez-Martin, The Cambridge 48 W. M. Bass, Human Osteology: A Laboratory and Field Manual
Encyclopedia of Human Paleopathology (New York, 1998), 478. (Columbia, 1987).
47 D. J. Ortner and W. G. J. Putschar, Identification of Pathological 49 D.H. Ubelaker, Human Skeletal Remains: Excavation, Analysis,
Conditions in Human Skeletal Remains (Washington, 1985) Interpretation (Chicago, 1978).
116 ASAE 88
been placed under the skull, like a pillow of sorts. There were no items associated with
this burial. The skeleton in Burial 3 was that of an infant, 6 months +/- 3 months old at
the time of death according to dental eruption.50 The measurements of the left femur were
also consistent with an age less than one year.51 No sex assessment was possible due to the
young age of the child. The orientation of the burial was northwest to southeast, with the
head to the northwest. The child was buried in an extended position, anterior up, with the
hands extended at the sides, and extended feet. On the skeleton was found white plaster
on the right hand and between the legs, probably reflecting a layer of plaster applied to the
wrapping of the body before it was put in the grave. Other than this, there was no evidence
of mummification.
As is to be expected, the bones of this small infant were less well preserved than those
of burials 1 and 2. The bone had a reddish black colour, and many of the smaller bones
from the hands and feet were missing altogether. This is probably due to the lower mineral
content in bones from younger individuals in combination with the small size of the bones.52
There were no items associated with this burial, and no pathologies were noted.
Burial 4 (Fig. 23)

This very poorly preserved burial was located in Area E. It was sealed by an ashy dump
layer, and was truncated by two separate and probably modern cuts, which removed
the lower part of the body from the pelvis down, the skull and cervical vertebrae. The
orientation of the burial was southwest to northeast, with the head to the southwest. Burial
4 was also significantly higher in elevation than burials 1 through 3, and thus within reach
of the water system for the modern garden and tree and plant roots close to the surface, all
of which had caused further damage to the bones.
The burial belonged to an adult male, probably above the age of 30. Sex and age
assessments were based on the narrow sciatic notch and the fused medial clavicle. There
was no coffin, and the skeleton was interred in a simple, sand-filled pit. It was a primary
burial, with the individual extended anterior up. Because of the heavy truncation, head
orientation, hand and feet placement was impossible to reconstruct. However, the intact
left humerus allowed us to calculate the approximate stature of this individual, which was
172.9cm.53 There were no pathologies noted.
Non-Metric Traits
Fossa Olecranon Perforatio on the Left Humerus
Burial 5 (Fig. 24)
Burial 5 was located approximately 4 meters north-northwest of Burial 4 in Area E and
was also sealed by the ashy dump layer. Again, preservation was very bad, due to the
higher elevation, which exposed the bones to the watering system and plant roots of the
modern garden. Further, the burial was truncated by a cut, which destroyed the lower part
of the body, removing the lower legs, most of the femurs, the hands, part of the pelvis and
parts of the radii and ulnae. The orientation of the burial was the same as that of Burial 4:
southwest to northeast with the head to the southwest.
50 Ubelaker, Human Skeletal Remains: Excavation, Analysis, Archaeology 5.

Interpretation. 53 M. Trotter and C. G. Gleser, ‘Estimation of Stature from Long
51 Bass, Human Osteology: A Laboratory and Field Manual, 228-229. Bones of American Whites and Negroes’, American Journal of
52 Buckberry, Assemblage: The Sheffield Graduate Journal of Physical Anthropology 10 (1952).
2020–2015 117
The burial belonged to a young female, 15-21 years of age. The age assessment was
based on dental eruption.54 There was no coffin, and the skeleton was lying in a simple,
sand-filled pit. The body was extended almost entirely anterior up, but lying slightly on
its right side, with the hands on the pelvis. It is possible that the arrangement of the body
is due to the truncation, since the position of the individual skeletal elements indicates that
the damage occurred before the body was completely skeletalized.
The individual in Burial 5 was interred with a metal bracelet, earrings and part of a badly
corroded necklace.
Pathologies
The left upper central incisor had slight enamel hypoplasia, and most teeth showed
evidence of calculus.
Conclusion
Because of the small sample size, it is impossible to draw any general conclusions about
the population represented by the KIW burials. Nevertheless, a few points are worth
noting. First, the absence of burial goods in the earlier burials, coupled with the evidence
of hard physical labor in the male of Burial 1 probably indicated that these graves belonged
to members of the non-elite. However, the extent of healing to what must have been a
very complicated injury suggests that at least the male in Burial 1 may have had access to
medical care. Further, the presence of enamel hypoplasia in burials 2 and 5 implies that at
least these two individuals suffered from prolonged illness and/or nutritional deficiencies
in early childhood. Finally, the care that had gone into preparing the grave for the infant
in Burial 3 suggests that in spite of the likely high rate of child mortality in Roman Luxor,
children were considered members of society at a very early age indeed.
Appendix 3
The Objects
Mennat-Allah El Dorry
Introduction
KIW yielded a large amount of objects from a variety of categories. Due to time
constraints, this season’s work aimed to form a rough idea of what the material present
entailed and detailed documentation of a representative sample. It is hoped that the study
of the objects will continue in a more in-depth manner in the future.
Artefacts recovered from the site ranged from the Late Period to the eighteenth century
AD. This Appendix aims to only list and describe the most common material, which time
has allowed to be studied. This account does not generally posit dates and they have not,
at this interim stage, been integrated into the general site-wide phasing.
Methodology
Overall 113 objects were registered. Each object was cleaned, photographed and registered
on site. Pro-forma Artefact Sheets were filled out recording only the salient features and
elements of each object, and selected objects were drawn in detail. Many of the objects were
consolidated or glued by the site conservator, Lamiaa al Hadidy. A small selection of the
registered objects has been included as a Catalogue in this appendix (see below).
54 Ubelaker, Human Skeletal Remains: Excavation, Analysis, Interpretation.
118 ASAE 88
A Selection of Object Types

Pipes
A collection of 12 Ottoman pipes were found, most of which come from the flood layers
in Area C. They were all of very fine manufacture, with beautiful moulded, rouletted and
incised decoration. They represented various fragments, and there was one complete pipe
with residue inside. Despite the 'Ottoman Pipes' being commonly recovered from relatively
modern contexts on archaeological sites (such as the Valley of the Kings and the Tombs of
the Nobles), there is very little published material on them. One of the recovered pipe
fragments carried a manufacturer’s mark which could possibly be traced to a workshop
in Asyut.55 As such clay pipes came in and out of fashion very quickly; they provide fairly
accurate dating and should be the subject of much deeper study.
Terracotta Figurines
Terracotta figurines came in both anthropomorphic and zoomorphic forms. Perhaps
the highlights of the terracotta figures are two Tanagra-type heads (object numbers 26 and
40). The term Tanagra refers to an area in Greece where these types of statuettes were first
found. However, it has become a generic term for many terracotta figurines.56 As what
defines a Tanagra is a gray area, their dating ranges from 625 BC when the first terracotta
figurines were made in Tanagra itself,57 and until the fourth century A.D. where they were
manufactured in neighbouring areas such as Athens.58
While they were first discovered in tomb contexts in Tanagra, Greece, they appear in both
settlement and funerary contexts in Egypt. Since both KIW Tanagras came from contexts in
or around burials (Area E, Trench 2), they can perhaps be tied in with their appearance in
funerary contexts. It has been suggested that they could either have carried a use similar to
Egyptian ushabtis or servant statuettes, especially as Tanagras often show people carrying
out daily activities. It has been suggested that they could have been children’s toys that
were kept throughout one’s life and then buried with them, or even representations of
deities.59
The zoomorphic figurines include horses, various fragments of quadrupeds and also
one fragment showing a leg that seems to belong to someone riding a horse. No complete
horse figurines were recovered, just the heads, which were either hand moulded or made
in double moulds. The handmade examples showed remains of pigment around the eyes
and mane.
Oil Lamps
The site, especially Area E, yielded 29 oil lamps ranging from mere crude bulbous figures
to very finely manufactured decorated lamps with a frog design, and even a possible Greek
import (object number 69).60 Seven examples are complete, most of which had fill remaining
inside and one is covered in soot (object number 67). The fill has been taken out of one of
the oil lamps (object number 70), and surprisingly yielded what seems to be a charred lentil
seed (Lens culinaris).
55 Information courtesy of Dr. Laurent Bavay, director of the Belgian 58 Higgins, Tanagra and the Figurines, 64.
mission working at the Tomb of Sennefer on the West Bank. 59 Higgins, Tanagra and the Figurines, 65.
56 J. Chesterman, Classical Terracotta Figures (New York, 1974). 60 Based on fabric.
57 R. Higgins, Tanagra and the Figurines (London, 1987), 64.
2020–2015 119
Other Materials
Other materials were of course recovered, such as faience, beads of various material,
glass and metals. Many glass fragments were recovered. The glass has not been studied,
but there are certainly several 18th–19th century glass bracelets, which are typically of a lime-
green colour and are twisted.61 Most of the recovered metals are either copper or bronze,
and there is also a large corpus of coins dating from Ptolemaic to Modern times. There are
nails, possible door hinges and two metal spoons. Three seals were recovered, one of which
represents a winged figure (cupid/Eros-type) (object number 91). Shells, lithics, flints, and
agate were also recovered from the site.
Amulets
Several amulets were recovered, most of which come from Area E. Three Bes amulets
were recovered, two of which were faience and from Area E (object number 92). An almost
complete Bes amulet probably made of faience came out of a sealed pre-Nectanebo context
(based on ceramics) from Area A/B (object number 22).62 A lovely quadruple wadjet amulet
was found in Area E (object number 27).
Conclusion
Area E yielded the largest amount of material: many amulets, oil lamps and other objects.
Some of these, such as the oil lamps and Tanagra head can be related to the burials, while
others point to a domestic setting such as recut potsherds used as gaming pieces (object
number 52) and another reused perhaps as a grinding palette (object number 51).
Two faience moulds could point to a nearby faience production area (object number 54).
Area E material all dates between the Late Period to the Late Roman Period. Area C yielded
mostly Islamic material, such as several clay pipes.
61 Information courtesy of Dr. Laurent Bavay, director of the Belgian 62 The material of this amulet is not very clear as it has a lime-like
mission working at the Tomb of Sennefer on the West Bank. texture, and has been the object of some speculation.
120 ASAE 88
Appendix 3
Object Catalogue
Object
Description of Object Image
Number
Horse head figurine (2 pieces) Low Fired Nile Clay,

1 remains of paint. Surface find
Pipe Shank. Nile Clay, slipped and polished. Shows

8 makers mark. Area C [975]
Pipe Complete. Nile Clay, slipped and polished. Area

10 C [975]
Pipe Shank. Nile clay, slipped? and polished? Area C

14 [921]
Bes Amulet with hole for suspension. Faience. Area

22 A/B [1171]
2020–2015 121
26 Tanagra. Clay. Trench 2 [1063]
27 Quadruple Wadjet? Faience. Area E [1541]
28 Miniature Grapes. Faience. Trench 2 [791]
40 Tanagra. Clay. Area E [1593]
51 Palette - reused pot. Marl Clay. Area E [1472]
122 ASAE 88
52 Recut Potsherds/Gaming Pieces. Clay. Area E [1456]
54 Mould for Scarab. Clay. Area E [1590]
67 Oil Lamp complete. Nile Clay? Area E [1597]
69 Oil Lamp Fragment. Nile Clay. Area E [1214]
Oil Lamp complete. A4 Vienna System Marl. Area E

70 [1472]
2020–2015 123
91 Seal. Clay. Area C [1553]
92 Bes Amulet with Hole. Faience. Area E [1597]
All Photographs were taken by Jason Quinlan
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the former Minister of Antiquities, Zahi Hawass; the former SCA General
Director in Luxor, Mansour Boraik; the former Director of the American Research Center in Egypt
(ARCE), Gerry Scott; the Co-Director Shari Saunders; the former Egyptian Antiquities Conservation
(EAP) Project Director, Michael Jones; and the USAID (United States Agency for International
Development) program in Egypt, 'Bambi' Arellano (USAID Cairo) and Jorge Arellano to have
launched this extraordinary field school session.
Our thanks also go to the Director of the Ancient Egypt Research Associates, Mark Lehner and to
the field directors Mohsen Kamel and Ana Tavares for organizing and running the field school. We
are indebted to Mark Lehner, Michael Jones and Ana Tavares for editing this volume.
Thanks are due to Amer Gad El Karim Abo el-Hassan and Hasan Ramadan Mahmoud for putting
together the illustrations.
We really appreciate the whole KIW team for their hard work. The 2008 team included field school
teachers/area supervisors Ashraf Abd el-Aziz, Amelia Fairman, Mike House, Freya Sadarangani,
Hanan Mahmoud Mohamed Mahmoud, James Taylor, Lauren Bruning, Lisa Yeomans and Francois
Le Clere. The area supervisors were assisted by field school supervisors Ahmed Mohamed Sayed
el-Laithy, Ali Mohamed, Ahmed Ibrahim, Amer Gad El Karim Abo el-Hassan, Essam Mahmoud,
Mohamed Ahmed, Essam Mohamed Shihab, Mohamed Hatem Ali Soliman, Rabee Eissa Mohamed
Hassan, Susan Sobhi Azer and Moamen Saad. Alison Jane Roberts, Daniel Hounsell, Daniel Jones,
Katarzyna Olchowska and Nora Abd el-Hamid Shalaby worked as archaeological site assistants.
124 ASAE 88
Mary Anne Murray and Mennat-Allah el-Dorry were the site archaeobotanists and taught
archaeobotany to the field school students. Mennat-Allah el-Dorry also worked as the site’s Object
Registrar. Teodozja Rzeuska was the ceramics field school teacher, assisted by Mohamed Aly Abd el-
Hakiem Ismail and Sherif Mohamed Abd el-Monaem, the ceramics field school supervisors. Lamia el-
Hadidy worked as the site’s conservator as well as teaching conservation to the field school students.
Jessica Kaiser and Ahmed Mohamed Gabr were the site osteologists and also taught osteology,
archaeological theory, research design and sampling to the field school students. The surveying
team comprised Mohammed Abd el-Baset, assisted by Azab Mohamed. Yuki Kawae, Jason Quinlan
and Yasser Mahmoud worked as the site photographers and taught the field school students the
principles of photography. William Schenck and Yasser Mahmoud taught archaeological drawing
and Mari Rygh organized and maintained the archive.
Thanks of course go to the 2008 ARCE-AERA field school students for all their work: Mansour el-
Badry Mostafa Aly, Mona Fathy Sayed, Yasser Abd el-Razik Mahmoud, Mohamed Naguib Reda Abd
el-Kader, Ezzat Abo Bakr Saber, Nagwan Bahaa Fayez el-Hadidi, Saad Bakhit Abd el-Hafez, Emad
Abdallah Abd el-Ghany, Omar Ahmed Abo Zaid, Hazem Salah Abdalla, Ahmed Hassan Ameen,
Sayed Ahmed Sayed Ahmed Said, Ahmed Boghdady Ahmed, Hanem Sadeek Qenawy, Ayman
Mohamed Damarany, Adel Abd el-Satar Mohamed, Amer Amin el-Hifny, Hussien Rikaby Hamed,
Shimaa Montaser Abo el-Hagag, Ahmed Abd el-Raof Abd el-Rady, Shereen Ahmed Shawky, Hasan
Ramadan Mahmoud, Mohamed Ahmed Abd el-Rahman, Mohamed Zarad Shaban Hasan.
We are indebted to the crew involved in the 2006 KIW work. The 2006 crew comprised members
of the AERA Giza Plateau Mapping Project at Giza, graduates of the ARCE-AERA Field School and
the Luxor SCA team, in addition to the excavation directors, Yehiya Abd el-Latif and Hanem Sadek
and GPMP team members Mohsen Kamel, Ana Tavares and Mark Lehner. The team included Giza
Field School graduates Tayeb Khudary, Amer Gad El Karim Abo el-Hassan, Moamen Saad and
Suzanne Sobhi Azer. Trainees from the Luxor area included SCA Inspectors Ali Hanawy, Asmaa
Omar, Hussein Fawzy, and Ahmed Boghdady. Engineer Maged Lamey assisted with recording the
Sphinx statue bases. Azab Ahmed Assa worked as survey assistant. SCA inspectors Mona Fathi,
Omar Yussef and Shazly Ahmed also participated in the work.
Finally thanks are due to Judith Bunbury and Angus Graham for their help in the geomorphology
of the site, Director of the Epigraphic Survey, Ray Johnson, Mary Bryan, Director of the library, who
graciously welcomed the students at Chicago House, and Immanuel Laroze, Director of the French
Mission, who welcomed the students at the Karnak mission’s library 'CFEEK' to look at published
and archival sources.
***
2020–2015 125
Fig. 1. The East Bank of Luxor Showing the Location of the KIW Site and Major East Bank Monuments.
Google Earth, Imagery Date: 3/4/2005.
Fig. 2. Location of KIW Site. Google Earth, Imagery Date: 27/4/2005.
126 ASAE 88
Fig. 3.. Trench/Area Location. Illustration Prepared by Amer Gad and Hassan Ramadan.
Fig. 4. 1798 - 1799 'Napoleonic Map of Luxor'.

Descriptions de L’Egypte III: Antiquités III, Thèbes, Louqsor. Plan topographique
des ruines, 2, pl. 1 (Paris, 1822).
2020–2015 127
Fig. 5. 1922 Survey of Egypt Map Showing Garden and Cemetery

on the KIW Site.
Fig. 6. 1937 Map Showing the Cemetery in the Southwest Corner of the KIW
Site but Labels it as 'Unused'.
128 ASAE 88
Fig. 7. Sondage Locations in Trench 2 and Area A/B. Illustration Prepared by Amer Gad and
Hassan Ramadan.
Fig. 8. Phase III Pre-Nectanebo Architecture. Illustration Prepared by

Amer Gad and Hassan Ramadan.
2020–2015 129
Fig. 9. The Avenue of Nectanebo I. Illustration Prepared by Amer Gad and Hassan Ramadan.
Fig. 10. Phase VII Mud-brick Wall and Associated Red-brick Installations. Illustration Prepared by
130 ASAE 88
Fig. 11. Phase IX Roman Cemetery. Illustration Prepared by Amer Gad

and Hassan Ramadan.
Fig. 12. Phase X Structures at the Northwest end of Area C and Kiln
Location to the South. Illustration Prepared by Amer Gad and Hassan
Ramadan.
2020–2015 131
Fig. 13. Phase X Kiln Detail.

Illustration Prepared by
Amer Gad and Hassan
Ramadan.
Fig. 14. Phase XII and

Phase XIII Architecture
in Area C. Illustration
Prepared by Amer Gad and
Hassan Ramadan.
132 ASAE 88
Fig. 15. Phase XV

Roman Building to
Northwest of Channel.
Amer Gad and Hassan
Ramadan.
Fig. 16. Phase XVIII

Late Roman Cemetery
Showing Excavated and
Unexcavated Burials.
Amer Gad and Hassan
Ramadan.
2020–2015 133
Fig. 17. Southwest Facing Section (Towards the Northwestern End) Showing Terracing and
Channel Cuts. See Location of Section. See Figure 17. Illustration Prepared by Amer Gad and
Hassan Ramadan.
Fig. 18. Phase XIX Actual and Projected Course of Medieval Channel. Illustration Prepared by
134 ASAE 88
Fig. 19. 1922 Survey of

Egypt Map Showing the
Course of the Badran
Canal.
Fig. 20. Burial 1.

Skeleton [857]. For
Burial Location see
Figure 10. Illustration
Prepared by Jessica
Kaiser.
2020–2015 135
Fig. 21. Burial 2. Skeleton [895]. For Burial Location Fig. 22. Burial 3. Skeleton [1710]. For Burial Location
see Figure 10. Illustration Prepared by Jessica Kaiser. see Figure 10. Illustration Prepared by Jessica Kaiser.
Fig. 23. Burial 4. Skeleton [1599]. For Burial Location Fig. 24. Burial 5. Skeleton [1607]. For Burial Location
See Figure 15. Illustration Prepared by Jessica Kaiser. see Figure 15. Illustration Prepared by Jessica Kaiser.
136 ASAE 88
PL. I
a. Khaled Ibn Waleed Garden.

Facing Southwest. Photograph
by Mark Lehner.
b. The largest exposure of pre-

Nectanebo architecture (red-brick
wall [1640]). Facing northwest.
Photograph by Jason Quinlan.
2020–2015 137
PL. II
a. The largest exposure of pre-Nectanebo architecture, underlying Nectanebo phase architecture. Facing
northwest. Photograph by Jason Quinlan.
b. The northwestern Avenue of Sphinxes (Trench 1), showing the better preservation at the northwest end
(back end). Facing southeast. Photograph by Mansour el-Badri Moustafa.
138 ASAE 88
PL. III
a. Trench 2 circular planter in

between two sphinx pedestals,
with a small internal red-brick
structure. Facing northwest.
b. The southeastern Avenue of

Sphinxes (Trench 2), showing
a red-brick irrigation channel
feeding the planters. Photograph
by Jason Quinlan.
2020–2015 139
PL. IV
a. Trench 1 and Area C, showing broken

up sphinx debris in the foreground
(phase X) and a toppled sphinx sealing a
pottery dump in the background (Phase
VI). Facing southwest. Photograph by
Adel Abd El-Satar.
b. Trench C showing the buttressed mud-brick wall [195] and associated red-brick installations [1361], [1362].
Facing southeast. Photograph by Jason Quinlan.
140 ASAE 88
PL. V
a. Trench 2 horse burial. Facing southeast.

b. Trench C. Planning the kiln. Facing southeast. Photograph by Jason Quinlan.
2020–2015 141
PL. VI
a. Southwest facing section of Trench 2 showing

the dumps of Late Roman pottery to the right,
which sealed the demolished kiln. Photograph by
Yasser Mahmoud Hussein.
b. Area A/B showing the building’s

southern red-brick wall [272] and
Cleopatra VII block. Facing northeast.
Photograph by Moamen Saad.
142 ASAE 88
PL. VII
a. Fire pit and industrial refuse in Area E. Facing northeast. Photograph by Moamen Saad.
b. Area C, northwest facing section showing the clay and silt fills of the channel,
filling basal undulations. Photograph by Jason Quinlan.
2020–2015 143
PL. VIII
a. NE-SW sandstone retaining wall [333] and sandstone structure (ramp) [1650] to the south. Area A/B.
Photograph facing southwest. Photograph by James Taylor.
b. Fractured Femur and Tibia of Burial 1 (Skeleton [857]). Photograph by Jason Quinlan.
144 ASAE 88

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EXCAVATIONS IN THE KHALID IBN EL-WALEED

GARDEN, LUXOR: AVENUE OF THE SPHINXES

Freya SADARANGANI, James S. TAYLOR

1. Introduction to the Excavations

1.1. Location and Topography

1.2. Excavation History

1.2.1. Excavation and Recording in 2006

1.2.2. The Salvage Archaeological Field School 2008

1 I. Shaw, The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (Oxford, 2000), 487.

1.3. Archaeological and Historical Background

1.3.1. Excavating the Avenue of Nectanebo I

1.3.2. The Luxor 'Tell'

1.3.3. The Mosque, the Gardens, and the Electricity Building

1.4. KIW 2008 Summary Objectives and Trench Locations

2. Stratigraphic Sequence: Phased Narrative

Phase Phasing Identified in Areas:

I Earliest Late Period Mud-brick Architecture Y

Disuse & Abandonment of Early Late Period

III Late Period, Pre-Nectanebo Red-brick Structures Y Y

IV Abandonment of Late Period Red-brick Structures Y

Abandonment Sequence of Avenue of Sphinxes,

Roman Construction I: Utilizing Residual

VIII Fluvial Sequence I Y Y Y

Northwest, Kiln & Associated Activity

XI Disuse of Roman Kiln & Channel Y

(Late?) Roman Construction III: Retaining

XIII General Occupation & Industrial Land Use Y Y Y

XIV Fluvial Sequence II Y Y Y Y Y

(Late?) Roman Construction IV: Construction of

XVI (Late?) Roman Dumping, Pitting & Firing Activity Y Y Y

Phase Phasing Identified in Areas:

Medieval Occupation, Foreshore Management &

Modern XXI Electricity Station & Modern Garden Y Y Y Y Y

2.1. Pre-Nectanebo I Architecture (Phases I-IV)

2.1.1. The Earliest Mud-brick Architecture in KIW (Phases I-II)

2.1.2. Pre-Nectanebo Red-brick Architecture (Phase III)

2.2. Discussion of Phases I-IV

2.3. Construction and Use of the Avenue of Sphinxes (Phase V)

2.3.1. Preparation Layers of the Nectanebo I Avenue

13 A. J. Spencer, Brick Architecture in Ancient Egypt (Warminster, 14 T. Rzeuska, Personal Communication.

2.3.2. The Construction of the Nectanebo I Avenue

2.3.2.1. The Sphinxes

2.3.2.2. The Sphinx Inscriptions

The Right Side

The Left Side

2.3.2.3. The Circular Planters

2.3.2.4. The Avenue Pavement

2.4. Discussion of Phase V: The Avenue of Sphinxes

18 Boraik, Cahiers de Karnak 13, 49.

The importing of the sandstone pedestal blocks and sphinxes as 'rough-outs', to be

2.5. Use of a Residual Monumental Landscape (Phases VI-IX)

2.5.1. Abandonment (Phase VI)

2.5.2. Final Disuse of the Avenue

2.5.3. Installations to the Northeast (Phase VII)

2.5.5. The First Roman Cemetery (Phase IX)

2.6. Discussion of Phases VI-IX

2.7. Industrial Occupation, Retaining Structures, and Water Management