Tell el-Farkha: archaeological fieldwork 2014–2015

The archaeological site of Tell el-Farkha is composed of three mounds excavated continuously by the Polish team since 1998. In the 2014 and 2015 seasons, covered in this report, investigations were carried out in already opened trenches in three sectors. On the Western Kom, another brewery was explored to add to the already existing set of investigated installations of this kind. It demonstrated three phases of use, the topmost separated from the middle one by a thick layer of burnt soil and ashes. The deposit attests to a conflagration that consumed the entire settlement. The study of a huge Naqadian building was continued on the Central Kom. Two occupation phases were distinguished: an older one at the beginning of the Naqada IIIA1 period and a younger one attributed to Naqada IIIA1–IIIA2. Remains of Lower Egyptian structures were unearthed below the foundations of this building. A big clay stamp-seal with hieroglyphs from the mid First Dynasty period was found associated with this feature. On the Eastern Kom, a big mud-brick edifice of unknown function was investigated. A further 17 graves, mostly from the second half of the First and the beginning of the Second Dynasty, were discovered as well.