Tell el-Murra

Tell el-Murra
Tell el-Murra is located in Egypt
Tell el-Murra
Location within Egypt
30°53′00″N 31°53′00″E / 30.88333°N 31.88333°E / 30.88333; 31.88333
Typesettlement
PeriodsLate Chalcolithic, Early Bronze Age
LocationSharqia Governorate, Egypt
History
BuiltMiddle 4th millennium BC
Site notes
Excavation dates2008, 2010-present
ArchaeologistsMariusz A. Jucha, Grzegorz Bąk-Pryc
ConditionRuined
OwnerPublic
Public accessYes

Tell el-Murra is an ancient archaeological site in the eastern Nile Delta in the Sharqia Governorate of Egypt lying about 120 kilometers northeast of Cairo. It lies 1 kilometer to the south of the modern village of Abu Umran, and roughly 10 kilometers east of Tell el-Farkha. The ancient name of the site is unknown. It was occupied from about 3500 BC until about 2200 BC encompassing the Naqada III Culture, which includes the Protodynastic and Early Dynastic periods (1st–2nd dynasty), and was then abandoned after the Old Kingdom period (3rd through Sixth Dynasty). Lower Egyptian Culture, c. 3500 BC, remains were found in one trench and no remains from the intervening Naqada II period were found. The nearby sites of Tell el-Akhdar, Tell Gezira el-Faras, Tell Abu el-Halyat, Minshat Radwan, and Ezbet el-Tell/Kufur Nigm were also surveyed and found to have been occupied in the Naqada III period as well.[1]

Archaeology

Old Kingdom bread mould found at Gebelein Egypt

Tell el-Murra rises to a height of 3 to 4 meters and is so far relatively undamaged by agricultural activity. The mound measures 250 meters from north to south and 180 meters east to west with a total an area of about 4.5 hectares. A cemetery lies in the southwestern part of the and settlement activity has been found in the northern, eastern and south-eastern part of the mound.[2] In the 1980s the Amsterdam University Survey Expedition in the area noted Old Kingdom surface pottery at the site.[3][4]Following a regional survey season in 2008 excavations at Tell el-Murra began in 2010 by a Institute of Archaeology of Jagiellonian University in Kraków team under the direction of Mariusz A. Jucha and Grzegorz Bąk-Pryc.[5] A few years before that a roughly 40 meter by 80 meter trench was excavated by Egyptian archaeologist in the northeastern part of the tell but it appears to be undocumented. A total of over 300 square meters have been excavated.[6][7][8][9][10][11]

Finds

In the settlement area (primarily trench S3 and trench T5) Early Dynastic and Old Kingdom levels a large number of bread moulds were found, many with pre-firing potmarks. A few were also found in funerary contexts (mainly Early Dynastic graves 33, 39, 40, and 42). The shape of bread moulds evolved over time in Egypt, from broad and shallow in the Naqada IIIA-B period through the inverted bell shape of the Old Kingdom. Those at Tell el-Murra were produced from Nile clay, sand, and straw and were poorly fired, being disposable. Potmarks were also found on some very tall wine jars, very tall jars with broad shoulders, medium-sized ovoid jars, small jars with broad shoulders, bowls and very small jars.[12][13] Over 600 flint artifacts, many fragmentary, were recovered from the Early Dynastic layers. These were mostly blades for use as sickles and in tools like razor blades, bifacial flint knives, scrapers, and perforators. A few fragments of armbands were also found.[14]

Settlement

The largest settlement remains are from the 3rd and 4th Dynasty period with 3 large complexes being built (structures on a north-west, south-east orientation) separated by pathways. Two meter wide silos, used in food storage, were found in some rooms. In others numerous bread moulds and signs of burning were found. The settlement appears to have developed organically rather than being a planned development.[15]

Cemetery

Example of a Naqada III period Copper harpoon tip from another site

The Naqada III through Early Dynastic periods cemetery in the southwestern part of the site consisted of about 40 burials to date. These were in the form of simple pits and one chambered or two-chambered graves. So far about 40 burials have been excavated dating to Naqada IIIB-C1, Naqada IIIC2, Naqada IIIC, Naqada IIIC2/D, and Naqada IIID (Dynasty 0 through Dynasty 2) and an area of over 5 acres excavated. The full extent of the cemetery is not yet known. Grave goods were mostly pottery and stone vessels however a few flint knives, stone or bone bracelets, and beads were also found. Pottery types include beer jars and wine jars. Beer jars a named from their appearance matching those in Old Kingdom art depicting what is assumed to be beer drinking. Beer Jars found at Tell el-Murra dated to the Naqada IIIB–C2/D and Naqada IIIIC2/D periods.[16][17] The most notable grave goods were two copper harpoons, dated by associated pottery to the Naqada IIIC1 period.[18] Similar harpoons were found at nearby Tell el-Farkha.[19] ten of the burials were in pottery coffins, one being of the bathtub type. Some were lidded and some were unlidded. Pottery coffins are very rare at similar sites of this period.[20][21]

History

The site was first settled in the Lower Egyptian Culture period, show by the discovery of, post holes, storage pits and wooden wattle and daub constructions in two trenches. It then entered an occupational hiatus, after major Nil flooding destroyed much of the settlement, before being resettled on a larger scale in the Naqada III period which encompasses the Proto-Dynastic period and following Early Dynastic periods. After time of much reduced use it was fully settled again, albeit with a smaller footprint, in the Old Kingdom period, beginning in the 3rd Dynasty, before becoming abandoned permanently in the time of the Sixth Dynasty at the end of the Old Kingdom. During the Old Kingdom period the site appears to have been largely devoted to agricultural production and storage.[2][22]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Jucha, Mariusz, "Naqada III pottery in the Nile Delta: a view from Tell el-Murra, Tell Abu el-Halyat, Ezbet el-Tell/Kufur Nigm, Tell el-Akhdar, Tell Gezira el-Faras, and Minshat Radwan", Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 34, pp. 483-522, 2025
  2. 1 2 Małecka-Drozd, Natalia, "The Old Kingdom upcountry settlement architecture in the Nile Delta–the case of the 3rd–4th dynasty building at Tell el-Murra", Desert and the Nile. Prehistory of the Nile Basin and the Sahara. Papers in honour of Fred Wendorf [= Studies in African Archaeology 15], pp. 419-435, 2018
  3. ↑ van den Brink E. C. M., "A geo-archaeological survey in the North-Eastern Nile Delta, Egypt; the first two seasons, a preliminary report, MDAIK 43, pp. 7–31, 1987
  4. ↑ van den Brink E. C. M., "The Amsterdam University survey expedition to the North-Eastern Nile Delta (1984–1986) [in:] e.c.m. van den Brink (ed.), The Archaeology of the Nile Delta. Problems and Priorities, Amsterdam: Netherlands Foundation for Archaeological Research in Egypt, pp. 65–114, 1988
  5. ↑ Jucha, Mariusz, "Tell el-Murra. The Polish Archaeological Survey in Ash-Sharqiyyah Governorate (Egypt, the Nile Delta)", Recherches Archéologiques Nouvelle Serie 2, pp. 229-238, 2010
  6. ↑ Jucha, Mariusz, et al., "Tell el-Murra (Northeastern Nile Delta Survey): Season 2010", 2013
  7. ↑ Jucha, Mariusz A., Grzegorz Bąk-Pryc, and Natalia Małecka-Drozd, "Tell el-Murra (Northeastern Nile Delta Survey). Seasons 2012–2013", Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 24, pp. 199-214, 2015
  8. ↑ Jucha, Mariusz A., et al., "Tell el-Murra (Northeastern Nile Delta Survey): preliminary report on research in 2014 and 2015", Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 26, pp. 137-160, 2017
  9. ↑ Jucha, Mariusz, et al., "Tell el-Murra (Northeastern Nile Delta Survey): research in 2016–2017", Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 27, pp. 149-167, 2018
  10. ↑ Bąk-Pryc, Grzegorz, et al., "Tell el-Murra (Northeastern Nile Delta Survey): Research in 2018 and 2022", Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 32.2, pp. 99, 2023
  11. ↑ Lajs, Katarzyna, "Evolution of ancient Egyptian Bifacial Flint knives", Studies in Ancient Art and Civilization 23, pp. 7-27, 2019
  12. ↑ Kazimierczak, Magdalena, "Potmarks on Early Dynastic and Old Kingdom Bread Moulds from the Settlement Layers of Tell el-Murra", Études et Travaux 36, pp. 155-181, 2023
  13. ↑ Kazimierczak, Magdalena, "Potmarks from Tell el-Murra and Tell el-Farkha cemeteries (seasons 2011–2016", Studies in Ancient Art and Civilization 20, pp. 7-26, 2016
  14. ↑ Lajs, Katarzyna, "Two fragments of Early Dynastic flint bangles from Tell El-Murra in the context of finds from ancient Egypt", Studies in Ancient Art and Civilization 25, pp. 73-82, 2021
  15. ↑ Guyot, Frédéric, et al., "An Early Old Kingdom Rural Community in the Eastern Nile Delta. First Season of Excavations at Tell el-Neshed", Bulletin de l’Institut français d’archéologie orientale (BIFAO) 118, pp. 143-187, 2019
  16. ↑ Kazimierczak, Magdalena, Mariusz A. Jucha, and Mary F. Ownby, "Beer Jars from Tell el-Murra – Preliminary Results of Typological and Petrographic Analyses", Ägypten und Levante 34, pp. 213-234, 2025
  17. ↑ Kazimierczak, Magdalena, "Beer jars from Tell el-Murra graves. Seasons 2011–2015", Studies in Ancient Art and Civilization 19, pp. 7-21, 2015
  18. ↑ Kazimierczak, Magdalena, "Corpus of types of ceramic vessels discovered in Proto-and Early Dynastic graves at Tell el-Murra cemetery", Ägypten und Levante/Egypt and the Levant 31, pp. 179-205, 2021
  19. ↑ Czarnowicz, Marcin, "Examples of copper harpoons of Naqada culture in the Eastern Nile Delta", Ben-Yosef, Erez, and Benno Rothenberg. Mining for ancient copper: Essays in memory of Beno Rothenberg. Eisenbrauns, pp. 526-538, 2018
  20. ↑ Kazimierczak, Magdalena, and Konrad Grzyb, "Distribution of the pottery coffins and ceramic vessels within the Early Dynastic graves from Tell el-Murra cemetery", Ägypten und Levante/Egypt and the Levant 30, pp. 415-444, 2020
  21. ↑ Kazimierczak, Magdalena, et al., "The Early Dynastic cemetery at Tell el-Murra, Eastern Nile Delta: the case of grave 40", Per vias Aegypti et orientis medii : studies presented to Krzysztof M. Ciałowicz, pp. 135-151, 2025
  22. ↑ Jucha, M.A., Bąk-Pryc, G., Małecka-Drozd, N., Kazimierczak, M., Ownby, M.F., Mądrzyk, K., Pankowska, A., Woźniak, B., and Abłamowicz, R., "Polish excavations at Tell el-Murra in the Nile Delta. Preliminary report 2013–2015", Archeologia, 65, pp. 85–146, 2016

Further reading

  • Jucha, M., "Tell el-Murra: The Predynastic—Old Kingdom site in the North-East Nile Delta", Folia Orientalia; 47, pp. 379-390, 2010
  • Jucha, Mariusz A., "Tell el-Murra 2008-2015. Excavation of the Nile Delta Site from the IVth–IIIrd Millennia BCE", Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections 7.4, pp. 71-74, 2015
  • Jucha, Mariusz, "The Polish Archaeological survey in the north-eastern part of the Nile Delta (season 2010)–the pottery from Tell el-Murra and Tell Abu el-Halyat", Recherches Archéologiques Nouvelle Serie 3, pp. 179-194, 2011
  • Jucha, Mariusz A., "Tell el-Murra–results of survey and prospects for research", Studies in Ancient Art and Civilization 17, pp. 53-65, 2013
  • Jucha, Mariusz, "The burial customs in early dynastic Egypt: a view from the cemetery at Tell el-Murra (Nile Delta)", Egypt at its Origins 6: Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference'Origin of the State. Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt', Vienna, 10th-15th September 2017, Vol. 303. Peeters Publishers, pp. 275–296, 2021
  • Jucha, Mariusz A., et al., "The Nile Delta society of the 4th/3rd millennium BCE as seen from the perspective of recent research at Tell el-Murra", Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta, pp. 343, 2024
  • Kazimierczak, Magdalena. "Spatial Distribution of Ceramic Vessels from the Early Dynastic Period in the Funerary Context: Case Study of Tell el-Murra", Archéo-Nil 33, pp. 107-133, 2023
  • Kazimierczak, Magdalena, "Pottery from Tell el-Murra graves", Studies in Ancient Art and Civilization 18, pp. 101-118, 2014
  • Kazimierczak, Magdalena, "Lidded Jar from Grave No. 40 at Tell El-Murra Cemetery", Studies in Ancient Art and Civilization 25, pp. 31-45, 2021
  • Kazimierczak, Magdalena, "Meidum bowls from Tell el-Murra, Trench T5 (season 2013)", Aegyptus est imago caeli: Studies presented to Krzysztof M. Ciałowicz on his 60th birthday, pp. 161-166, 2014
  • Kazimierczak, M., "The pottery from Early Dynastic cemetery at Tell el Murra: seasons 2011–2014", The Land of Fertility 2, pp. 3-21, 2916
  • Małecka-Drozd, Natalia, "The Nile Delta Settlements during the 3rd Millenium BC. The View from Tell El-Murra", Ciałowicz, Czarnowicz, Chłodnicki (Eds.) Eastern Nile Delta at the Turn of the 4th Millenium BC, pp. 59-69, 2018.

Tell-el Murra excavation web site

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