A Foundation deposit in a Hyksos Palace at Avaris

Pp. 529-538

BAAL Hors-Série X

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The excavations at Tell el-Dab‘a/Avaris in the Eastern Nile Delta/Egypt are a long term project of the Austrian Archaeological Institute. In the more than 40 years of research at the site it has been possible to develops ideas not only about the town and its daily life, but also of its metasphere (ritual function). The focus of this presentation will be on foundation deposits from the site. These are found all over the town, in domestic areas, administrative areas and funerary areas.This phenomenon will be discussed with particular emphasis on the typical blend of Egyptian and ancient Near Eastern cultural spheres and rituals at Tell el-Dab’a.

Irene FOrSTner-MÜLLer

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A foundation deposit in a Hyksos palace at Avaris

The palatial compound of the 15th Dynasty in area F/II is situated to the north of the modern village of Khata’ana, between the excavation house of the Austrian Archaeological Institute mission and the modern Didamun canal (Fig. 1). It was discovered by a geophysical survey in 20051. Thereafter five seasons of excavation have taken place until now on behalf of the Austrian Archaeological Institute (20062, 2008, 20093 by Manfred Bietak and the author and in 2011 by Manfred Bietak4 and in 2013 by the author). With regard to the ancient topography of the town, this palatial -area is situated in the southwestern part of Avaris.

At its southern edge was a large depression filled with water, the remains of which (birka) still can be seen and in times of heavy rain and high Nile sometimes still fills with water. Originally this was thought to be a possible location of the harbour5. Detailed investigations in 2008 however6 have ruled out this hypothesis. The palatial architecture shows a large complex of rooms and courtyards attached to each other which cover the area. Many of these rooms can be interpreted as magazines the large number of which points clearly to its official character (Fig. 2). No clear axes to the complex are recognisable, but its main facade and probably the main entrance were

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A foundation deposit in a Hyksos palace at AvarisBAAL Hors-Série X

The palace was previously ascribed to the reign of King Khyan10. This attribution, however, is doubtful. It is based solely on sealing impressions bearing the name of the king found in this area in contexts which do not connect directly to phases of the palace building11.

Even if found in sealed contemporary contexts this would not allow the direct dating of the structure, as royal sealings are often found in later periods/contexts and do not therefore necessarily provide a direct connection to be made between buildings and kings, as has been demonstrated in other areas of Avaris12. According to the pottery it seems that the palatial area in F/II was in use over a long period of time, and the sealings give therefore only a terminus post quem13.

situated to the northeast. In the architecture neither solely Egyptian nor ancient Near Eastern features are visible but components of both spheres blend into one other, a phenomenon which is typical of Avaris in the late Middle Kingdom and 15th Dynasty. It is striking that the buildings are orientated identically to most parts of the Tuthmoside palatial precinct (palace G) in ‘Ezbet Helmi7, and it may be that we see here the starting point of a tradition in the urban development of the town, the central administrative area then shifting to the west but keeping the same tradition in its orientation8. Short excurse on the dating of the palatial area in F/II9:

Fig. 1- Overall map of Tell el-Dab’a with geophysical prospection and satellite image und Satellitenbild, area F/II in red circle, map A Astrid Hassler und Michael Weissl, copyright ÖAI.

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Irene Forstner-MüllerBAAL Hors-Série X

Fig. 2- Plan of area F/II including the excavations in 2013, graphik Leila Masoud, copyright ÖAI.

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Foundation ritual

Within the central part of the palatial compound a foundation deposit L557 was found. It was interred in the eastern corner of a building, called building A (Figs 2 and 3)14. Within the deposit five objects were found on top of a light yellow sand layer which separates building A from an earlier building. The deposit contained a piece of bronze (Catalogue Nr. 3) and three faience objects: a miniature cup with a round base (Catalogue Nr. 1), a necklace with cylindrical beads (Catalogue Nr. 4 and 5), and a plaque (Catalogue Nr. 2) (Figs 4 and 5). The material used for these objects was not chosen arbitrary but deliberately. Faience was used in Egypt from ancient times and as well as having a luxury value was also symbolic of the joy of life and rebirth15.

It was commonly used in foundation deposits16. Plaques were regularly put in foundation deposits from the 11th Dynasty17 at which time they substituted for foundation bricks18. As Weinstein has pointed

out19small lumps of building material such as metal were deliberately and regularly included in these deposits. Thus it might not be wrong to assume that bronze was used as a building material in the palace. The layer of pure sand in the foundation deposit is also deliberately deposited and can be connected to the foundation rite of “Pouring the Sand”20. Inscribed items giving the name of the builder/owner are a common feature in foundation pits on sites in Egypt21. Unfortunately all the objects here were without inscriptions, thus not allowing us to connect a name with the founder of the building. At Avaris foundation deposits are known from other areas and periods. For the New Kingdom, a deposit was found in area H/III at ‘Ezbet Helmi beneath the wall of a magazine dating to the early 18th dynasty22. Another foundation offering, perhaps a feast or meal, was unearthed beneath a wall belonging to an 18th dynasty structure in area H/VI23. In the temple area A/II pits with cattle bones were found beneath the southern corners of chapel II24.

Fig. 3- Foundation deposit L557 on top of a light yellow sand layer in Eastern corner of Building A, photo Peter Janosi, copyright ÖAI.

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Depositing small objects, especially miniature vessels, under and inside walls, was popular in Avaris. This custom occurs both in domestic25 and in funerary contexts from the late Middle Kingdom to the end of the Second Intermediate Period26. In Egypt foundation deposits with similar kinds of objects (miniature vessels and plaques) have been found in abundance in temples and tombs27 but only a few have been found in palaces28. New Kingdom examples are known from Amenhotep III’s northern palace at Malqata29 and Ramses III’s palace at Medinet Habu30; both are very simple like the deposit in F/II. No certain foundation deposits have been found in the many palaces at Amarna31. In Avaris with the exception of the example presented here no foundation deposits were found inside a palace. The phenomenon of foundation deposits are of course also a well known in the ancient Near East however they are of a different character. Avaris was from the Late Middle kingdom onwards always an interface where the Egyptian and Near Eastern cultural spheres blended into one another. Therefore the foundation deposit has to be considered in the light

of this background. The phenomenon of foundation deposits are of course also well known in the ancient Near East, but are of a different character32. The foundation deposit within the palace in F/II is clearly rooted in the Egyptian cultural sphere33. The founder of this building, whose name is not known to us but most likely was one of the rulers of the 15th dynasty, was well aware of the meaning and implication of this ritual.

Catalogue

1. (TED Inv. Nr. 9196) Miniature Cup, Faience, Find Nr. 1complete, intact, rounded base, surface: light green, dimensions: hight: 2,5 cm; rim diameter: 3,8 cm, width diameter: 0,7 cm

2. (TED Inv. Nr. 9197) plaquette, Faience,Find Nr. 2complete, broken into two parts in the middle, restored, rectangular, surface: light greendimensions:length: 5,3 cm; width: 3,2 cm, thickness: 0,9-1,0 cm

Fig. 4- Foundation deposit L557 consisting of three fayence objects and one bronze fragment, copyright ÖAI.

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3. (TED Inv. Nr. 9374H)

Find Nr. 5

two fragments (lumps), bronze

undefined shape

dimensions: 9374H.1: 0,9 x 0,7 cm; 9374H.2: 0,5 x

0,3 cm

4. and 5. (TED Inv. Nr. 9374F und 9374G), necklace

with cylindrical beads, faience

Find Nr. 3 and 4

incomplete (?); belonging to one necklace which was

torn and found in two separate parts, surface: light

green; 39 beads of different length, partly broken,

perforated, dimensions length varies from: 0,4-2,7

cm, width: 0,2 mm, perforation: 0,1 cm

Fig. 5- Foundation deposit L557 consisting of three fayence objects and one bronze fragment, copyright ÖAI.

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19- Weinstein 1973: 436.

20- For the several phases of the foundation ritual s. Letellier

1977: 912-914, s. also Weinstein 1973: 422-423.

21- Weinstein 1973: 435.

22- Bietak, Dorner, Jànosi 2001: 60, 62-63, fig. 20a+b

23- Bietak, Dorner, Jànosi 2001: 64-67, fig. 23a+b.

24- For this information I am indebted to Manfred Bietak.

25- These were found especially in the settlement of the

later Second Intermediate Period at ‘Ezbet Helmi/H/VI. S.

Bietak/Forstner-Müller 2007, p. 38, fig. 4.

26- Schiestl 2009: 99-100, Forstner-Müller 2008: 117.

27- Letellier 1977; Weinstein 1973, s. for royal contexts of

the 18th Dynasty s. Hayes 1978, 84-88.

28- For the royal secular deposits s. Weinstein 1973: 430-

433.

29- Weinstein 1973: 103.

30- Weinstein 1973: 273-275.

31- For the information on Amarna I am indebted to Kate

Spence, s. also Weinstein 1973: 141-142.

32- Ellis 1968, Radner 2006: 136-137, 144-145.

33- Vera Müller reaches the same conclusion: Müller 2008:

377.

Notes

1- For a detailed map of this survey done by Forstner-Müller,

Herbich, Schweitzer and Weissl s. Bietak/Forstner-Müller

2006, fig. 2 and 3, Bietak/Forstner-Müller/Herbich 2007.

2- Bietak/Forstner-Müller 2006.

3- Bietak/Forstner-Müller 2009.

4- Bietak 2012a, 2012b, Bietak/Math/Müller.

5- Forstner-Müller 2010, 117-118, fig. 12.

6- Jurman 2014. The excavations were undertaken on

behalf of the Austrian Archaeological Institute Cairo Branch,

the auger drillings by the same institution in cooperation

with UMR 5133 ArchÃ©orient, CNRS .

7- Bietak/Forstner-Müller 2007, 36-37, fig. 2.

8- Forstner-Müller 2012: 683.

9- For this see also the Forstner-Müller/Rose 2012: 184.

10- S. Bietak/Forstner-Müller then still hesitantly ascribed

to this ruler, afterwards Bietak 2010a,b, recently still Aston

2012: 160-162.

11- For the sealing impressions bearing the name of King

Khyan see Sartori 2009, 284–288.

12- See for instance the sealings of Hyksos kings which

were found in 18th dynasty contexts in Ezbet Helmi (Bietak

2004). Most recently Khyan sealings were found in recent

excavations in area R/III in later contexts. Form this area

also comes the earliest evidence for this king, from a context

of the early 15th Dynasty. This permits redating king Khyan

from Apophis’ predecessor to the start of the 15th dynasty.

Forstner-Müller, Rose 2012: 62; Reali 2014: 71-72.

13- A detailed study of the pottery in F/II will perhaps make

this clearer.

14- S. also Forstner-Müller 2011.

15- S. general Dunn Friedman 1998.

16- For model cups s. Weinstein 1973: 289, 291, 357;

17- Weinstein 1973: 421. For the plaques in general s.

Weinstein 1973: 126-133.

18- Letellier 1977, 909

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Delta”, in Z. Hawass, J. Richards (eds.), The Archaeology and Art of Ancient Egypt: Essays in Honor of David. B. O’Connor, Cairo, p. 141-147.

Bietak, M. - Math, N. - Müller, V. and Jurman, C. 2011. Report on the excavations of a Hyksos palace at Tell el-Dab‘a/ Avaris (23rd August - 15th November 2011), Egypt and the Levant 22 - 23, p. 17-54.

Dunn Friedman, F. (ed.) with the assistance of Borromeo, G. 1998. Gifts of The Nile. Ancient Egyptian Fayence. Exhibition organized by the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence.

Ellis, R.S. 1968. Foundation Deposits in Ancient Mesopotamia, New Haven.

Forstner-Müller, I. 2008. Tell el- Dab‘a XVIII. Die Gräber des Areals A/II vonTell el- Dab‘a. Die Gräber der Straten d/2 und d/1 des Areals F/I in Tell el Dab‘a, Ausgrabungen in Tell el- Dab‘a, Untersuchungen der Zweigstelle Kairo des Österreichischen Archäologischen Instituts XXX, Denkschriften der Gesamtakademie der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften XLVII, Vienna.

Bietak, M. - Czerny, E. - and Forstner-Müller, I. 2010.Settlement patterns at Avaris: A study on two cases, in Cities and Urbanism in Ancient Egypt. Papers from a workshop at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Untersuchungen der Zweigstelle Kairo des Österreichischen Archäologischen Instituts 29, Denkschriften der Gesamtakademie 55, Wien. 2010, p. 103-124.

Forstner-Müller, I. 2011. Ritual Activity in a Hyksos Palace of the 15th Dynasty (Hyksos) at Avaris, in: Gundlach, R. - Spence, K. (eds.), Palace and Temple, 5. Symposium zur ägyptischen Königsideologie. Königtum, Staat und Gesellschaft früher Hochkulturen 4,2, Wiesbaden, p. 1-22.

2012. The Urban Landscape of Avaris in the Second Intermediate Period, in R. Mathews et alii (eds.), Proceedings of the 7th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, volume 1, Wiesbaden, p. 681-693.

Forstner-Müller, I. and Rose, P. 2012. Nubian Pottery at Avaris in the Second Intermediate Period and the New Kingdom: Some remarks, in I. Forstner-Müller/P. Rose (eds.), Nubian pottery from Egyptian cultural contexts of the Middle Kingdom and early New Kingdom, Proceedings of a Workshop held at the Austrian Archaeological Institute

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A Foundation deposit in a Hyksos Palace at Avaris

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