4care-sites

DAYR UMM AL-ĠANĀʾIM

Place names

Egyptian	Pȝ-sy (?)
Arabic	الدير‎ \| دير أم الغنائم \| دير المنيرة‎
English	el-Deir \| Deir el-Munira

Site map

Site information

DEChriM ID	40
Trismegistos GeoID	14221
Pleiades ID	776167
PAThs ID	-
Ancient name	-
Modern name	Dayr Umm al-Ġanāʾim
Latitude	25.596300
Longitude	30.730395
Date from	-700
Date to	450
Typology	Military camp, temple
Dating criteria	Funerary, numismatic and ceramic material
Description	The site of el-Deir, also known as Dayr Umm al-Ġanāʾim, is located on the N-E edge of the Kharga Oasis, 25km N-E of the town of Madīnat al-Ḫāriǧa (Reddé 1999: 379; Dunand, Heim, Lichtenberg 2010: 13). It is situated on the Darb al-Rufūf, a route linking the oasis to Ğirğā and Faršūṭ, in the Nile Valley (Ghica 2012: 230). The site consists of an imposing fortress, a mud-brick temple dedicated to Amun of Hibis, a residential area dating to the Persian period, as well as five cemeteries. Occupation of the site seems to span from Prehistoric times until the fifth century CE (Bagnall & Tallet 2015: 4). Excavations have been ongoing since 1998 under the direction of Françoise Dunand, then under the direction of Gaëlle Tallet, in association with the University of Limoges. Research is currently funded by the French National Research Agency within the framework of the international CRISIS program. Fortress The original settlement, a residential area, dates back to the Persian occupation, although limited archaeological remains are identifiable from this period. Nearby, a fort was erected. Unfortunately, no systematic excavations have been carried out here as of yet, but there have been three trial soundings. The ceramic uncovered revealed that the construction took place between the late third and early fourth century, aligning with the major construction projects implemented by Diocletian (Reddé 1999: 329; Brones, Duvette 2007: 16, 21; Ghica 2012: 230; Dunand, Lichtenberg 2019: 121; Letellier-Willemin 2020: 45). The structure was clearly made to withstand assault, with the walls standing to a height of some 14 meters, and being 3.6 meters thick at the highest point, and 4.5 meters at the lowest (Brones, Duvette 2007: 6). It was also theorised to have potentially been a customs post between ‘the Oasis, its routes and the Nile Valley‘ (Letellier-Willemin 2020: 45). The fort was frequented and partially occupied through to the seventh-ninth centuries, tentatively the tenth century (Brones, Duvette 2007: 22). There have been a number of recorded instances of modern re-use of the structure, including re-use by the Egyptian army, who established temporary military barracks which date from the late 19^th/early 20^th centuries. The fort has been predominantly studied by Catherine Duvette and Sophie Brones, who have also worked on establishing a consolidation/restoration project of the fortress (Dunand, Lichtenberg 2008: 280; Dunand, Lichtenberg 2010: 27). Temple 800 meters to the N-W of the fortress lies an E-W oriented mud-brick building with two vaulted rooms which has subsequently been recognised as a temple. This classification has been made based on the similarities the building holds with other temples in the Oasis, specifically those at Dūš, ʿAyn Labaḫa, ʿAyn al-Dabašiyya and Umm al-Dabādīb (Dunand, Lichtenberg 2008: 279). Remains the fact that none of the temples at these other sites have been properly dated. A recent analysis of the brick temple at Dūš by M. Wuttmann, however, indicates that it could, in fact, date back to the Persian period (Dunand, Heim, Lichtenberg 2010: 47). So far, investigations have revealed that the current structure at Dayr Umm al-Ġanāʾim was preceded by at least one other building, but it is more likely that there were numerous preceding structures (Dunand, Heim, Lichtenberg 2010: 47). Evidence of this has been found in fragments of painted stucco containing traces of hieroglyphic inscriptions (Dunand, Heim, Lichtenberg 2010: 47). The dateable material found within the temple consists of a number of ostraca dating to the second century BCE; numerous Greek and Demotic coins – a considerable amount of which are of the type Zeus Ammon, dating from the reign of Ptolemy VI, around 175-170BCE, and one dating from the first half of the third century BCE; as well as a number of Demotic papyrus fragments (Dunand, Lichtenberg 2008: 280; Dunand, Heim, Lichtenberg 2010: 47). The aforementioned ostraca dating to the second century BCE indicates that the temple was dedicated to Amon of Hibis (Dunand, Heim, Lichtenberg 2010: 47). There are no architectural features that might indicate Christian use at a later date, but the numerous Greek and Coptic graffiti inscribed on one of the walls of the temple have inspired suggestions that the structure was used as a tomb, a chapel, a church, and perhaps even a hermitage (De Bock 1901: 5; Maspero 1912: 22; Naumann 1939: 16; Meinardus 1965: 346; Wagner 1991: 695a; Coquin 1991: 1658b; Ghica 2012: 230, 231). The numerous invocations of the Archangel Michael undoubtedly attest to the use of the structure by Christians, but exactly when this occurred, and the context in which it occurred, is unknown (Reddé 1999: 378; Ghica 2012: 231). Cemeteries Five necropolises have been identified so far, named according to their location on the site: Northern, North-Eastern, Eastern, Southern and Western. Worth mentioning also is a dog cemetery which has been found, containing some 500 mummified dogs (Dunand, Lichtenberg 2008: 278). These necropolises are of great importance in relation to establishing a timeline of occupation of the site thanks to a plethora of datable material and to chronologically well-defined funerary practices. Much of the ceramic found in the cemeteries dates indisputably to the late second/early third centuries CE (Dunand, Heim, Lichtenberg 2010: 48). This provides evidence of the use of the cemeteries in Roman times, but this use was in fact, secondary in many cases. Several tombs found in the Eastern Necropolis have enabled the team to trace the occupation of the site back at least to the Persian period, while a number of Demotic ostraca have also been found, which have been dated prior to the Ptolemaic period (Dunand, Lichtenberg 2008: 263; Dunand, Heim, Lichtenberg 2010: 35). Accompanying this, the mummification methods are also useful dating tools. The mummies in the Northern and Eastern necropolises, for example, contain canopic packets inside the thoracoabdominal cavity, the use of which dates back at least to the Third Intermediate Period (Dunand, Heim, Lichtenberg 2010: 46). Likewise, the typology of a number of the tombs can be traced back to the 25th dynasty (Dunand, Heim, Lichtenberg 2010: 47). In 2004, excavations began in the Western Necropolis, which has since been classified as ‘Christian’. The record of this cemetery includes various decorated textiles, a number of which are made from wool, a material rarely seen in ‘traditional’ funerary contexts (Dunand, Lichtenberg 2008: 276). The necropolis is somewhat cut into two independent sections, the northern and the southern half. The graves in the north are predominantly oriented E-W, while those in the south are oriented N-S (Dunand, Heim, Lichtenberg 2010: 42). It is this presence of woolen textiles, the E-W orientation of the graves, the single interments, as well as unique aspects of a number of mummies and representations of crosses that have led to the northern half being classified as a Christian cemetery (Dunand, Lichtenberg 2008: 276). This necropolis is consequently of particular importance in relation to the study of the evolution of funerary practices, particularly in relation to the spread of Christianity (Dunand, Lichtenberg 2008: 263, 274-275). It is understood to have been in use at least from the fourth century CE (Dunand, Lichtenberg 2008: 263, 276; Dunand, Heim, Lichtenberg 2010: 48). All of these chronological markers, if interpreted correctly, show that the site, or at least the cemeteries, have been in use for eight centuries, from at least the fourth century BCE, to the fourth/fifth centuries CE (Dunand, Heim, Lichtenberg 2010: 48). Embalmer’s workshop Accompanying the necropolises is a structure tentatively identified as an embalmer’s workshop. Uncovered in 1999, the structure is situated in a valley between the Southern and Northern necropolises, and consists of a mud-brick construction containing three communicating rooms (Dunand, Lichtenberg 2008: 263; Dunand, Heim, Lichtenberg 2010: 33; Dunand, Heim, Lichtenberg 2015: 9). As well as a large quantity of intact ceramic, the team found a large cloth bag filled with natron salt blocks, two baskets filled with stained linen, and a number of reed mats, at least one of which is assumed to have been used to deposit natron on the bodies of the deceased. All of these artefacts in combination led to the classification of the space as an embalmer’s workshop (Dunand, Lichtenberg 2008: 273). The fabrics of the ceramics imply that the area, and presumably the workshop, was in use since the beginning of Roman era until Coptic times (Dunand, Heim, Lichtenberg 2010: 43).
Archaeological research	While not excavated until recently, the site has been known for some time, with the early investigations and descriptions centered mainly on the fortress (Dunand, Lichtenberg 2008: 261). The first mention of the site comes from Cailliaud in 1821, after his visit in 1818 (Cailliaud 1821: 96 & pl. 22, 2-3). This simple initiate description was followed by the earliest geological study conducted in the oases, that of John Ball at the end of the 19th century, then by the work of H. J. Llewellyn Beadnell as part of the Egypt Geological Survey. Additionally, the site was likely visited by members of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA), who conducted excavations in Kharga from 1908 to 1928, but no systematic exploration was ever undertaken. A number of objects in the MMA are believed to have originated from Umm al-Ġanāʾim, but their provenance has been lost (Heim, Lichtenberg 2010: 24). An area of the fortress was modified at the end of the 19th/beginning of the 20th century in order to house a small garrison of Egyptian soldiers (Dunand, Heim, Lichtenberg 2010: 22). The German scholar R. Naumann mentioned el-Deir in an article for MDAIK, which included a brief description and a plan of the fortress, whose walls were described as standing to a height of some 12 meters (Naumann 1939: 1-16 & fig. 1-7). Six decades later, a topographic survey of the site was then conducted by Ch. Braun and P. Deleuze, for which A. Lecler took photographs (Reddé 1999: 379). Eventually, excavations began on the site in 1998, led by Françoise Dunand (Dunand, Lichtenberg 2008: 9). Directorship was passed from Dunand to Gaëlle Tallet, and in 2010 a collaborative partnership was also initiated with the team from Amḥayda, led by Roger Bagnall. Since 2013, there has been an emphasis on restoration and development, and in 2014 the team’s architect Nicholas Warner has been engaged in a project geared towards restoring the fort in order to create a tourist-friendly site, while preserving the archaeological heritage (http://oasis.unilim.fr/patrimoine-oasien/).

Bibliography

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Authors

Rhiannon Williams, Victor Ghica, 2020

Suggested citation

Rhiannon Williams, Victor Ghica, 2020, "Dayr Umm al-Ġanāʾim", 4CARE database - Fourth-Century Christian Archaeological Record of Egypt, https://4care-skos.mf.no/places/40

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DAYR UMM AL-ĠANĀʾIM