{
    "type": "FeatureCollection",
    "name": "site",
    "crs": {
        "type": "name",
        "properties": {
            "name": "EPSG:4326"
        }
    },
    "features": [
        {
            "type": "Feature",
            "geometry": {
                "type": "Point",
                "coordinates": [
                    30.421458,
                    25.72992
                ]
            },
            "properties": {
                "id": 8,
                "site_uri": "https:\/\/4care-skos.mf.no\/site\/8",
                "modern_name": "Umm al-Dab\u0101d\u012bb",
                "ancient_name": "",
                "typology": "village",
                "date_from": -100,
                "date_to": 499,
                "dating_criteria": "",
                "place_names": [
                    {
                        "language": "Arabic",
                        "pl_name": "\u0623\u0645 \u0627\u0644\u062f\u0628\u0627\u062f\u064a\u0628"
                    },
                    {
                        "language": "English",
                        "pl_name": "Umm Dabadib | Umm el-Dabadib"
                    },
                    {
                        "language": "French",
                        "pl_name": "Omm Dabadib | Oum el-Dabadib"
                    }
                ],
                "trismegistos_uri": "https:\/\/www.trismegistos.org\/place\/61709",
                "pleiades_uri": "https:\/\/pleiades.stoa.org\/places\/776237",
                "paths_uri": "",
                "description": "Umm al-Dab\u0101d\u012bb is a remote site, located to the north of the Darb \u02bfAin Am\u016br and 45km N-W of the ancient city of Hibis (Rossi 2017: 20). It is also known as the \u2018Oasis of Abbas\u2019 and \u2018Ain Elwan\u2019 (Ball 1900: 53; Rossi & Ikram 2018: 205). It was probably inhabited since Ptolemaic times, with settlement intensification in the second\/third century CE, with uncertain periods of occupation, and eventually being re-used and abandoned in the early twentieth century (Ghica 2012: 210; Rossi & Ikram 2018: 206). The site comprises a number of archaeological sectors divided into the Northern Settlement, the Eastern Settlement, and the \u2018Fortified\u2019 Settlement, with a number of cultivation areas in the west a number of aqueducts, some ten cemeteries and at least one hermitage (Rossi & Ikram 2006: 296).\r\nNorthern SettlementAs indicated by the name, this settlement is located in the northern area of the site. The ceramic assemblages in this sector lack fourth and fifth century indicators, subsequently being understood to date to the third century CE, making it the earliest of the settlements at Umm al-Dab\u0101d\u012bb (Rossi & Ikram 2006: 283, 286, 299; Ghica 2012: 210). The architectural typology differs from that in the \u2018Fortified\u2019 Settlement, with the houses being constructed as architecturally independent entities (Rossi & Ikram 2006: 286). The settlement is located in a hollow near a well accompanied by a small temple (Rossi & Fiorillo 2018: 375). This well is understood to have been the origin of the entirety of Umm al-Dab\u0101d\u012bb: a natural water source located on an ancient caravan route, between the main core of the oasis and the \u2018tiny isolated water station of Ain Amur\u2019 (Rossi & Ikram 2006: 283; Rossi & Fiorillo 2018: 374). The ceramic around this spring is the earliest of the site, tentatively dated to the Late Ptolemaic era (Rossi & Ikram 2006: 281, 293; Rossi & Fiorillo 2018: 374).\r\nThe TempleDesignated \u2018Chapel B\u2019, the Temple is located north of the Northern Settlement, adjacent to the aforementioned spring (Rossi & Ikram 2006: 293). At least three construction phases have been identified with the following chronology. On the west side of the temple complex lies a square room, designated section A, that is \u2018covered by a shallow dome on pendentives, above which is a flat mud roof\u2019. Immediately to the east of this western cluster of buildings lies section B, clearly the largest building of the complex consisting of an ambitious vault, the largest self-supporting vault thus found in the oasis (Rossi & Ikram 2006: 294). This has been classified as the main room of the temple. A number of additions were added to the complex around section A, consisting of a narrow barrel-vaulted room running E-W, as well as a second square domed space; together these additions comprise section C. After the completion of section B, the vault appears to have begun to spread, resulting in cracking in the perimeter wall. This was amended by the addition of a large buttress built against the perimeter wall, identified as section D. This structure appears to have been Roman, perhaps dating to the second century CE, based on parallels with the second century temples at Ismant al-\u1e2aar\u0101b (Rossi & Ikram 2006: 283, 296). Further excavations would be necessary, however, in order to develop a more substantial chronology.\r\n\u2018Fortified\u2019 SettlementThis section is located to the south of the Northern Settlement and is a later construction. The ceramic assemblages from this area dates to the fourth century (Rossi & Ikram 2006: 281, 293; Rossi & Fiorillo 2018: 375). Despite its name, the perimeter wall enclosing the settlement is only one brick thick, indicating that it was not constructed to withstand actual assault. Rather, it was simply intended to have a defensible appearance. There are, nevertheless, attestations of the Roman army stationed in the area (Rossi & Fiorillo 2018: 389). The houses in this settlement were constructed without interruption, seemingly as part of the same architectural unit, differing from those of the Northern Settlement, which were architecturally independent. It is possible that these structures of the \u2018Fortified\u2019 Settlement were connected by narrow covered \u2018streets\u2019, as can be seen at al-Qa\u1e63r in Dakhleh (Rossi & Ikram 2006: 286). The houses were well-constructed in a grid pattern, centred around the central \u2018Fort\u2019, with parallels seen in the settlements found at \u02bfAyn al-Laba\u1e2ba, Qa\u1e63r al-Nis\u012bma, Mu\u1e25ammad Tulayb and Qa\u1e63r al-Baram\u016bn\u012b (Rossi & Fiorillo 2018: 375).\r\nThe \u2018Fort\u2019This structure is located in the centre of the \u2018Fortified\u2019 Settlement. Originally with five floors, it stands to a height of 10-13 meters in some areas (Wagner 1987: 169; Rossi & Fiorillo 2018: 376). Despite its domineering appearance, the \u2018Fort\u2019 is likely to have been an administrative building, rather than a proper military construction (Rossi & Ikram 2006: 281, 286). A cross has been found on the lintel of the structure raising questions about the nature of the building, with suggestions that perhaps it was originally a monastic building. This has been rejected, however, considering the strong parallels between Umm al-Dab\u0101d\u012bb and Settlement A to the south of Qa\u1e63r al-Sumayra and \u02bfAyn al-Laba\u1e2ba, which are known military installations. It is more reasonable to view Umm al-Dab\u0101d\u012bb in light of the same large-scale building program (Rossi & Ikram 2006: 291). This program is understood to be the result of Diocletian\u2019s visit to Egypt at the end the third century, \u201cwhich appears to have triggered the construction of several fortresses and forts all over Egypt\u201d (Rossi & Ikram 2006: 284). It is more likely that the cross was a later addition, coinciding with the construction of the church (Rossi & Ikram 2006: 291).\r\nThe ChurchThis is a later addition protruding from the eastern boundary wall of the Fortified Settlement, located directly to the east of the \u2018Fort\u2019. The complete plan of the church is not entirely readable, but it is possible that there were two construction phases (Ghica 2012: 211). It is \u201cbuilt of mud-bricks laid in mortar, aligned E-W with a trefoil apse slightly off the central axis of the building and covered by a semi-dome\u201d (Rossi & Ikram 2006: 292). The church is decorated with a number of Greek and Coptic inscriptions, first reported by Blundell (1894: 237), much of which postdate the abandonment of the city in the fourth century CE (Wagner 1987: 169; Ghica 2012: 211). Three of these Coptic graffiti have been published in Rossi and Ikram\u2019s 2018 publication North Kharga Oasis Survey: Explorations in Egypt\u2019s Western Desert (Rossi & Ikram 2018: 241). Apart from this church, the \u2018Fortified\u2019 Settlement shows few signs of modification, indicating a relatively short period of occupation (Rossi & Ikram 2006: 284).\r\nEastern SettlementVisibly smaller than the Northern Settlement, it is situated roughly at the same distance from the \u2018Fort\u2019 as the Northern Settlement (Rossi & Ikram 2006: 287). The ceramic assemblages from this area date to the fourth century, like those of the \u2018Fortified\u2019 Settlement (Rossi & Ikram 2006: 281). The same early fourth century ceramic assemblages found at the \u2018Fortified\u2019 and Eastern settlements indicate that the two were constructed as part of a single building project which can be seen as a sort of settlement intensification (Rossi & Ikram 2006: 283).\r\nHermitageLike D\u016b\u0161, Ismant al-\u1e2aar\u0101b and \u02bfAyn al-Tar\u0101kwa, Umm al-Dab\u0101d\u012bb was abandoned towards the end of the fourth century, after which point we see evidence of hermitic occupation (Ghica 2012: 211). Located in the very north, on the edge of the w\u0101d\u012b containing aqueducts 4 and 5, lies a rock-cut cave that appears to have been used as a hermitage sometime in the fifth century (Rossi & Ikram 2006: 292; Ghica 2012: 211). The walls of the cave have been deliberately shaped to create somewhat vertical surfaces, into which a number of niches and emplacements for shelves were cut (Rossi & Ikram 2006: 293). The mud-plastered walls contain a number of explicitly Christian Coptic graffito (Rossi & Ikram 2006: 293; Ghica 2012: 211; Rossi & Ikram 2018: 268). Further up the cliff, near aqueduct 6, an additional installation has been identified, tentatively classified as a hermitage. No religious signs were found, however, perhaps suggesting that it functioned as a guard-post (Rossi & Ikram 2006: 281; Ghica 2012: 211). The ceramic assemblage from this guard-post\/hermitage dates to the fourth century (Rossi & Ikram 2006: 281; Ghica 2012: 211).",
                "archaeological_research": "The site has been visited and surveyed countless times. Initially visited and briefly described by Cailliaud in 1821, it was then visited by John Ball in 1898, and again by H. J. Beadnell in 1909 whose focus was the subterranean aqueducts (Beadnell 1909: 57). H. E. Winlock visited the site but did not publish anything, instead simply mentioning the presence of a well in a personal communication (unpublished notes in the Metropolitan Museum of Art). Elinor Wight Gardner and Gertrude Caton Thompson then visited the site in 1932-22, conducting a number of geological surveys (Gardner & Caton Thompson 1933). Ahmed Fakhry also wrote about the site focusing on the aqueducts, similarly to Beadnell (Fakhry 1974: 34). Systematic and extensive investigations did not begin until 1998, when Corinna Rossi visited the area, which led to the creation of the North Kharga Oasis Survey (NKOS), co-founded with Salima Ikram. The first fieldwork conducted occurred in 2002, which was the third season of NKOS, and consisted of GPS and theodolite surveys. A number of additional theodolite surveys were carried out between 2001 and 2007. Rossi then founded the Old Agricultural Sites and Irrigation Systems (OASIS) project in 2012, in collaboration with the MUSA Centre of the University of Napoli Frederico II. A number of 3D surveys of the Fortified Settlement and the entire agricultural system were carried out as part of OASIS between 2013 and 2015. In 2014 and 2015, Francesco Fassi and Alessandro Mandelli performed a 3D survey of the entire Fortified Settlement. The work conducted, and the information collected eventually enabled the creation of the LIFE project (\u201cLiving in a Fringe Environment\u201d) for which Rossi partnered with the Politecnico di Milano and the MUSA Centre (Musei delle Scienze Agrarie) of the University of Napoli Frederico II. Rossi received an ERC Consolidator Grant for the project in 2015, and activities commenced in 2016.",
                "bibliography": "\u2022\u00a0Ball, J. 1900. Kharga Oasis: Its Topography and Geology. Cairo: National Printing Department.\u2022\u00a0Beadnell H. LI. 1909. An Egyptian Oasis: An Account of the Oasis of Kharga in the Libyan Desert, with Special Reference to its History, Physical Geography, and Water-Supply. London: J. Murray.\u2022\u00a0Blundell, H. W. 1894. \u201cNotes sur une excursion \u00e0 Khargueh, Dakhel, Farafrah et Behariyeh.\u201d Bulletin de la Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 kh\u00e9diviale de g\u00e9ographie 4: 237. \u2022\u00a0Caton Thompson, G. 1952. Kharga Oasis in Prehistory. London: Athlone Press.\u2022\u00a0Cailliaud, F. 1821. Voyage \u00e0 l\u2019oasis de Th\u00e8bes et dans les d\u00e9serts situ\u00e9s \u00e0 l\u2019Orient et \u00e0 l\u2019Occident de la Th\u00e9ba\u00efde fait pendant les ann\u00e9es 1815, 1816 et 1817. Paris: Monsieur Jomard.\u2022 Fassi, F., C. Rossi and A. Manelli. 2015. \u201cEmergency Survery of Endangered or Logistically Complex Archaeological Sites.\u201d International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences XL-5\/W4: 85-91.\u2022\u00a0Fiorillo, F. and C. Rossi 2017. \u201cMetric Analysis and Interpretation of the Unit of Measurement in the Late Roman fort of Umm al-Dabadib (Egypt).\u201d In\u00a0Proceedings of the 3rd IMEKO International Conference on Metrology for Archaeology and Cultural Heritage, Lecce, Italy, 23-25 October 2017. Budapest: Curran Associates, 139-44.\u00a0\u2022 Fiorillo, F. and C. Rossi. 2018. \u201c3D Survey and Metric Analysis of the Late Roman Site of Umm al-Dabadib, Kharga Oasis (Egypt).\u201d The International Measurement Confederation\u00a07\/3: 57-63.\u2022\u00a0Gascou, J. and G. Wagner. 1979. \u201cDeux voyages arch\u00e9ologiques dans l\u2019Oasis de Khargeh.\u201d Bulletin de l\u2019Institut fran\u00e7ais d'arch\u00e9ologie orientale 79: 15.\u2022\u00a0Gardner, E. W & G. Caton Thompson. 1933. \u201cSummary Report on the Kharga Expedition.\u201d Man (Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute) 33: 178-180.\u2022 Ghica, V. 2012. \u201cPour une Histoire du Christianisme dans le D\u00e9sert Occidental d\u2019\u00c9gypte.\u201d Journal des savants 2: 189-280.\u2022 Ghica, V. 2016. \u201cVecteurs de la christianisation de l\u2019\u00c9gypte au IVe si\u00e8cle \u00e0 la lumi\u00e8re des sources arch\u00e9ologiques.\u201d In Acta XVI Congressus Internationalis Archaeologiae Christianae, Rome 22-28.9.2013, edited by O. Brandt and G. Castiglia, 199 and fig. 9g. Citt\u00e0 del Vaticano: Pontificio Istituto di Archeologia Cristiana.\u2022\u00a0Grossmann, P. 1989. \u201cNeue fr\u00fchchristliche Funde aus \u00c4gypten.\u201d In Actes du XIe congr\u00e8s international d\u2019arch\u00e9ologie chr\u00e9tienne. Lyon, Vienne, Grenoble, Gen\u00e8ve, Aoste, 21-28 septembre 1986, edited by N. Duval, 1897-1898. Rome: \u00c9cole Fran\u00e7aise de Rome.\u2022\u00a0Ikram, S. 2005. \u201cEndangered Archaeology of the Kharga Oasis, Egypt.\u201d Culture Without Context 5: 22-3.\u2022\u00a0Ikram, S. and C. Rossi. 2002. \u201cSurveying the North Kharga Oasis.\u201d KMT: A Modern Journal of Ancient Egypt 13\/4: 72-9.\u2022\u00a0Jenkins G., D. McBride and C. Rossi. 1999. \u201cBrief Report on the Umm el-Dabadib Project.\u201d\u00a0Annales du Service des antiquit\u00e9s de l\u2019\u00c9gypte\u00a074: 3-7.\u2022\u00a0Rossi, C. 2000. \u201cUmm el-Dabadib, Roman Settlement in the Kharga Oasis: Descriptions of the Visible Remains, with a Note on \u2018Ain Amur.\u201d Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archaologischen Instituts Abteilung Kairo\u00a056: 235:52.\u2022\u00a0Rossi, C. 2013. \u201cControlling the Borders of the Empire: The Distribution of Late-Roman \u2018Forts\u2019 in the Kharga Oasis.\u201d In The Oasis Papers 6, Proceedings of the Sixth Conference of the Dakhla Oasis Project, edited by R. S. Bagnall, P. Davoli and C. Hope, 331\u2013336. Oxford: Oxbow Books.\u2022\u00a0Rossi C. 2016. \u201cItalian Mission to Umm al-Dabadib, Season 2014 \u2013 Preliminary Report.\u201d\u00a0Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archaologischen Instituts Abteilung Kairo 72: 153-172.\u2022\u00a0Rossi, C. 2017. \u201cSurvey, Conservation and Restoration in Egypt\u2019s Western Desert: Combining Expectations and Context.\u201d Restauro Archeologico 26\/2: 20-35.\u2022\u00a0Rossi C. 2018. \u201cItalian Mission to Umm al-Dabadib, Season 2015 \u2013 Preliminary Report.\u201d Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archaologischen Instituts Abteilung Kairo\u00a074: 149-161.\u2022 Rossi, C., G. B. Chirico, A. Migliozzi and S. Mazzoleni (forthcoming). \u201cGreening the Desert at the southern edge of the Empire: the Irrigation System of the Late Roman Site of Umm al-Dabadib (Kharga Oasis, Egypt).\u201d In Proceedings of the Mediterranean Forum of Water Sources, Matera, October 18-22, 2015.\u2022\u00a0Rossi, C. and F. Fiorillo. 2018. \u201cA Metrological Study of the Late Roman Fort of Umm al-Dabadib, Kharga Oasis (Egypt).\u201d Nexus Network Journal 20: 373-391.\u2022\u00a0Rossi, C. and S. Ikram. 2006. \u201cNorth Kharga Oasis Survey 2003. Preliminary Report: Umm el-Dabadib.\u201d Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archaologischen Instituts Abteilung Kairo 62: 279-306.\u2022\u00a0Rossi, C. and S. Ikram. 2018. North Kharga Oasis Survey: Explorations in Egypt\u2019s Western Desert.\u00a0Leuven: Peeters.\u2022 Rossi, C. and G. Magli. 2019. \u201cWind, Sand and Water: the Orientation of the Late Roman Forts in the Kharga Oasis (Egyptian Western Desert).\u201d In Archaeoastronomy in the Roman World, edited by G. Magli, E. Antonello, J. A. Belmonte and A. C\u00e9sar Gonz\u00e1lez-Garc\u00eda, 153-166. Berlin: Springer.\u2022 Rossi, C., A. Migliozzi, F. Fassi, A. Mandelli, G. B. Chirico, C. Achille and S. Mazzoleni. 2015. \u201cArcheologia, Scienza e Tecnologia: lo Studio del Sito Tardo-Romano di Umm al-Dabadib (Oasi di Kharga, Egitto).\u201d In Proceedings of the Seminar L.O.S.A.I. (Laboratori Open su Scienza, Arte e Innovazione) 2015. Napoli, Artstudiopaparo: 221-228.\u2022 Wagner, G. 1987. Les oasis d\u2019\u00c9gypte \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9poque grecque, romaine et byzantine d\u2019apr\u00e8s les documents grecs: Recherches de papyrologie et d\u2019\u00e9pigraphie grecques. Cairo: Institut fran\u00e7ais d\u2019arch\u00e9ologie orientale.",
                "external_links": [
                    {
                        "text": "LIFE project",
                        "url": "https:\/\/www.life.polimi.it\/"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": "NKOS archaeological survey",
                        "url": "http:\/\/www1.aucegypt.edu\/academic\/northkhargaoasissurvey\/dabadib.htm"
                    }
                ],
                "authors": [
                    {
                        "author": "Rhiannon Williams",
                        "year": "2020"
                    },
                    {
                        "author": "Victor Ghica ",
                        "year": "2020"
                    }
                ]
            }
        }
    ]
}