Cultural and natural context of the ancient settlement of Gebel el-Nour in the mouth of Wadi Ghayada (Middle Egypt): main challenges and prospects for studying

Abstract

In 2022, the archaeological site of Gebel el-Nour witnessed the first season of the Egyptian-Russian archaeological mission organizes in cooperation between the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt and the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. This Greek-Roman site and its surrounding infrastructure have not attracted much attention of researchers besides archaeological works within the temple area built by Ptolemy II. The inauguration of the new international project may become an important step for Russian specialists in developing an integrated approach to Egyptian settlement archeology and regional studies of ancient and medieval sites in the Nile Valley. The paper deals with the history of the research on the archaeological zone of Gebel el-Nour, its layout and dating, the general archaeological context, as well as the surrounding cultural and natural landscapes. The author provides a brief review of the climatic changes that occurred during the history of the settlement and outlines the problem of reconstructing the migration of the main Nile channel at a local scale. The issue of the formation of a system of settlements on the territory of the XVIIIth Upper Egyptian nome and the problem of linking archaeological sites to toponymy preserved in written sources are also considered. The paper discusses the possible role of the site in exploiting large calcite quarries and in control over one of the contact zones on the border of the Nile Valley and the Eastern Desert. The purpose of this communication is to introduce the new monument into a wider regional context and to formulate priority issues and tasks related to its study.