Human and Deltaic Environments in Northern Egypt in Late Antiquity

Abstract

Abstract This paper analyses the relationship between archaeological sites from the Roman-Late Roman period in the north-central Delta of Egypt and the palaeotopography and environmental conditions from the 1st millennium BC to 1st millennium AD. The location of the archaeological sites is mapped according to survey maps of the 19th and 20th c. and digital topographic models from satellite data. The Ptolemaic and Roman context for the apparent ‘boom’ in settlement during the late antique period (3rd–7th c. AD) is described to assess the way in which the diverse environments of floodplain, wetland and marsh, and sand-bars were managed, and to propose a possible reconstruction of the ancient landscape. The results of the correlation are discussed in terms of connectivity to waterways, lagoons and the sea, spatial organisation, hierarchy and site function. The way in which the evidence from this time period may provide a potential proxy for understanding earlier and later settlement density is explored. Throughout, the historical trajectory and the environment will provide the background for the development of the Delta in the Medieval and Modern period.