Tell el-Farkha
Tell el-Farkha is an ancient archaeological site in the eastern
Nile Delta lying about 120 kilometers northeast of Cairo. It was occupied from about 3700 BC
until about 2600 BC encompassing the Lower Egyptian and Early Naqada cultures and the Protodynastic period.
Archaeology
The site of Tell el-Farkha consists of three tells with a total area of about 400 meters by 110 meters and a height of about 5 meters above the plain. It was first located Located in 1987 by an Italian archaeological expedition of the Centro Studi e Ricerche Ligabue in Venice.It was first excavated between 1986 and 1990 by a team from the Centro Studi e Ricerche Ligabue led by Rodolfo Fattovich and Sandro Salvatori, limited to the Old Kingdom remains. After a hiatus excavation resumed in 1998 by a team under the auspices of the Institute of Archaeology of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków and the Polish Center of Archaeology of Warsaw University under the direction of Marek Chłodnicki and Krzysztof Ciałowicz and continue to the present.
Lower Egyptian and Early Naqada cultures
Notable finds include the earliest known brewery, on the Western Kom, consisting of a dozen large brick vats. Analysis of the plant remains allowed the brewing recipe to be recovered. With the arrival of the Naqada culture a monumental building was constructed on the former brewery. The new building encompassed several hundred square meters with multiple rooms facing an inner courtyard and two meter thick walls. That structure was later destroyed in a conflagration leaving a thick layer of ash and then covered with mud, presumably during a Nile inundation.Protodynastic period
During this period an administrative-cultic center developed on Western Kom and a necrologydeveloped on Eastern Kom. The Central Kom bore a residential-business zone. This activity peaked during Dynasty 0 and gradually faded during the First Dynasty. The administrative-cultic center contained two chapels where many votive objects were found. In one chapel these included figurines of baboons and one figurine of a naked prostrating man. The second chapel included libation jugs and stands and figurines of people and animals, many made of hippopotamus ivory. Other finds on the Western Kom included "miniature boats of various types, granaries, boxes, mirrors, cylindrical seals, game pieces, and stone vessels".
Numerous vessels were found at the site with "pot marks", probably used for the marking and inventory of goods, which are sometimes considered as the ancestors of hieroglyphs. Names of the rulers of Dynasty 0 also appear on these vessels, such as Iry-Hor, who is otherwise known from the Abydos area. The name of Narmer, the first historical king, also appears on two vessels.
Golden figurines
On the Eastern Kom, in addition to the necrology, there was a small village. A deposit of "gold foil, carnelian and ostrich eggshell beads of a necklace, and two large flint knives " was found. When reconstructed the gold fragments formed two statues of naked men with lapis lazuli eyes. The statuettes represent standing naked males. The high is 60cm for the tallest, and 30cm for the other one. The statues featured "large protruding ears, unnaturally large phalluses,and carefully modeled fingernails and toenails". The lapis lazuli came from what is now modern day Afghanistan. The figurines represent bald individuals, with no facial hair and large protruding ears. They are equipped with very large phallus sheaths, one of them decorated with a carved band around it. The larger figure also has a necklace. The core of the statuettes was made of wood, which was covered with thin sheets of gold fastened by 140 golden rivets.
These characteristics follow the stylistic conventions of Predynastic Egyptian art, similar to the Mahasna statuette, or the Ashmolean Museum Mac Gregor Man statuette. The golden statuettes most probably depict a Predynastic ruler and his son during the heb-sed festival, and they probably adorned a shrine in the Western Kom area. They are thought to belong to the Naqada IIIB period, or possibly even Naqada IIIA. They are thought to be the oldest known depictions of Ancient Egyptian rulers.
Together with the figures, two large flint knives were discovered, as well as a necklace of 382 beads, dated to the same period.
At the necrology 150 graves were excavated so far with dates ranging from Dynasty 0 to early Fourth Dynasty. The necrology featured a monumental, over 300 square meters with 2.5 meter thick walls, building and dating c. 3100 BC. The building had a square main chamber with a descending shaft and is interpreted by the excavators as an early form of mastaba tomb better known from the later First Dynasty as are several smaller tombs at the site.
History
Occupation at the site began in the Lower Egyptian culture which ranfrom about 3700 BC until 3300 BC. The next phase was part of the Naqada culture
which is thought to have originated in the south of Egypt. The site reached its peak in
the Protodynastic period, Dynasties 0 and 1, about 3000 BC. After that occupation
at the site went into decline and ended entirely in the early Fourth Dynasty, about 2600 BC. Throughout the occupation there was widespread trade with the ancient Near East and Upper Egypt, the site being on a major trade route.