Second Preliminary Report on the Town of Kom Ombo (2019-2021)

Abstract

This article presents the results of five seasons of excavation and study at the townsite of Kom Ombo in Upper Egypt. The work, carried out by the Cairo branch of the Austrian Archaeological Institute (ÖAI), has concentrated on remains of the Old Kingdom and First Intermediate Period. From the latter, an exceptionally well-preserved building containing numerous round silos, perhaps for grain, and a further building to its south provide evidence for large-scale administrative organisation. To the north lay a cemetery dating from the Old Kingdom into the First Intermediate Period, which overlay occupation levels dating from the later 2nd into the earlier 5th Dynasty. Artefacts associated with these structures—pottery, stamped sealings including examples with royal names, and stone tools—are discussed. Finally, results from cleaning surface features of Roman and later date at the south end of the Kom Ombo tell are described.