Western Mareotis lake(s) during the Late Holocene (4th century BCE–8th century CE): diachronic evolution in the western margin of the Nile Delta and evidence for the digging of a canal complex during the early Roman period

Maël Crépy,Marie-Françoise Boussac

doi:10.5194/egqsj-70-39-2021

Maël Crépy, Marie-Françoise Boussac

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-70-39-2021

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Abstract

Abstract. Lake Mareotis (modern Mariut), located near the Mediterranean coast of Egypt west of the Nile Delta, is bordered by ancient sites dating from the New Kingdom (end of the 2nd millennium BCE) to the Medieval period (8th century CE), the most famous one being Alexandria. In its western part (wadi Mariut), several sites are equipped with harbour structures, but they also have structures contemporaneous with them that are not compatible with the lake level required for the operation of the harbour. Between the 1990s and 2010, several sedimentological studies tried to solve this paradox without completely succeeding. To go further, this study is based on the reassessment of geoarchaeological data and on the analysis of early scholars' accounts (1800–1945), maps (1807–1958) and satellite photographs (Corona). It allows us to reconstruct the extension of the lake(s) at different periods in wadi Mariut. During the 1st millennium BCE, the Mariut lagoon experienced a drawdown in its western part, and several distinct lakes formed, followed by building operations in some emerged areas during the Hellenistic period (332–30 BCE). During the early Roman period (30 BCE–284 CE), the digging of several canals in the 2nd century CE to connect the sites of the wadi Mariut to the eastern part of the Mariut basin reconfigured the lake(s).

Highlights

Introduction and objectivesLake Mariut, ancient Mareotis (Fig. 1), is a lagoon that polarised the human occupation of Egypt’s north-western margins during antiquity
– in the western part of wadi Mariut, the only facies that can be linked to a lagoon are “lagoon margin mud” facies whose composition could just as well correspond to playa or semi-playa deposits
It was possible to have harbour infrastructures without a continuous stretch of water. These canals are connected to the Taposiris harbour canal, whose digging is firmly dated to the 2nd century CE, and they border several sites that were occupied during the same period, including three amphora kilns whose construction is dated between the mid-1st and the mid-3rd centuries CE (Fig. 6)

Summary

Introduction

Lake Mariut, ancient Mareotis (Fig. 1), is a lagoon that polarised the human occupation of Egypt’s north-western margins during antiquity. The human occupation of the region has been closely linked to the lake (Blue and Khalil, 2011). Strabo (∼ 60 BCE–∼ 20 CE) mentions a very large lake (Strabo, 2015:17, 14) of major economic importance (Strabo, 2015:17, 7). Accounts by travellers from the 6th century CE to 1798 (Sennoune, 2015), maps (Awad, 2010) and sedimentological data (Flaux, 2011) indicate significant fluctuations of the lake levels and positions (including phases of desiccation). At the beginning of the French expedition to Egypt (1798–1801), the lake area was dry (Le Père, 1825)

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