,,,t,, .",,r..1,i.17:i,,i-i..l

; i l_i_tt ljl I i. Ê, ,,i,i i.j:,, i:; ! i',j E l" ri lA i3

:,: iltii..) l"'r:li.." . a:.-tl, r|i

i-r' t: l

-rji,;

l1/lrie:han a irr:d:-er:1'ea:--" lid. rhe lil n: lr.,; [Ll::"]i;: ;i;rlrll i.l: l-'ei'illrri;r:;i:d ;ria.e 19,17 i:'1 .1eiç1i..Ln a ){ a

'i,.raijt,i.: 'j

PecÊnirly lli'r.,-: çi lls :.'r,l il i:ricl< !irL!{:iLjae5 nave aiiliiil:''=al :-r'i,: le:rls i.:t-il:ni;€,,.;i,.5.,it il.iiit:u,--jta.j:ieî;j:'_.:.rari:.

f+sdsr-

."î-1 ,I. :l:iffifl

aBovF Ih. Somers a rr(e Ho!se at El Kab. Photo: R. Betz

l-:istr ilJ-11o|n nr B|ighton on thc 22 ol .lulv ltlll, G.ors-cl,isomers Clalke nâs an English arcl,nel and archeologist lho began his caleer ljth thc rnstrucrion ancl

|estorarion ol B|itish churchcs. Hr dcsigred, erJârg€d orrestored not less than a dozcn r:lnri:hes in England(Blighton and Hole, Cral'lo; T,nrcllirtrl. PaLcham ...1. Hcwas macle Suneror of rhe lablic, St. PaLrl's Cathcùal in1897 ar.l app.,nred archir.-.t of the Dean âD(l Cl,atrler of(lhichcstcl Oarhcdral ir 1900 \retirirlg in 19221. Hc uasalso a mr:nùcr ol thc l\rts arnl []râlis morement in thrUK. As an archcologisr. hc wrrt âs earlv as I890 to Eg]tlard irorkcd thcrc until his dcatl, il, 1920. ,\ srud\'rcccnÈlv nrade bv Dr: \icholas\\^ùct (v( t,? u t, !. 22) Â.1t'cates that he l as also. frorn IB8I. a ftll(^! o1 the Socie$of Anticprarics in T,ondon ancl. lron 1902..rn houolarv

,nennre| ol tlre Ca titl tu Cù&ùdtiu lt.\,\I|ttùotr ù L1tt

11 re rrnsnl<:r thi: r\vi, rnaiD pul)licrrn,rr. ol Some$Clarke. ut uill irnnk,diâreh Lrndcrstantl rl,. he had aLl

dr( qualirn:s nû'cssar) Lo bLrikl a nagriilirenr house.inspired bv ùe la|ge ChlisriaDES\PL. l he ll*r publniarion. issucd j. l'l l!. lrrs ar ils titleChti\Lw Atry itis iu ttu.\ik IAIL\ 6.. rit,a, l. In rhisbook. Somcls Clarkc cstalJlishe.l a rvpolDg] ol tL:igus làt'Coptic churches. nrclLrdhg tl,r plan ol a liln ol (i,lxir:r:hLrrch to be lound onlr in thc \il \allt'i: The plan is 1or

a mLrLti aisled. singLe storel buildnrg based on r {L,arc.(lomecL n.,dL,le capable ol infiritc crrcrLrnn. Thc sccond

1,,.. ,lù,,,., ,,,. tlr. l r an 'r...r. .

srandard lirr thc sLud\ of ancicnt Egr}t alchil..tLrre:)tu iûù Lstt ,vt.u,tU flLt Buildutg Lr(i.

1é ANa-lLN i LGYr l- D"..'b.' 101 //Jaiuât! 1.11

t

é,, ,t

St, Mark's Anglican Church inAswan and Bayt Clarke at Elkabrlrô ,e* hi, ideÀs or dle usr of mu.lI n'

'"t . ;" the consuuction ul

Egyptian bujldings, Somers Clarkcreceived the proposal to builcl a novchurch, dedicâted 1lr St. N{ark, rvhichrvas situated before its destruction inthe mid'ninetccn eighdes just ncxt tothc Old Catamct Flotel in Asr'an. Itoccupied the site rvhere the nerv CopticCathcdral rvas built at the turn of thiscentury (St Michaei). Thc constructiotlof the initial church took place betweenlB99 and 1901 and sun,iving photo-graphs flæfg 3 in rel'avnu, shorv thebasic principlc oI conslruction: scvc.alhemispheric domes, supported on fourarches which rely on columns or piersthal are couplcd to make a large build-i"g.

The same principle was to be applieda le\\r years later (in 1906) to build hisown housc situâted on a magnificentsite: a rocky hill near the village olNasrâb, populâted with pdm trees, onlya lew steps {iom the Nile and with â

direct vielv towards ùe \^'est bank o{ the

The builcling, also called Bayt Clarkc

irqr means 'house' in Arabic), is entire-h made of mud bdcks on stone lbunda-

tions. l'ith u,alls U0 cm thick. lt is com-posed of no lelver than 26 domedrooms, each ccll measuring 4 metrcs x 'lmctrcs, as can bc seen on the plan f.nrù,qloar).

-lhe vaults âre si\ meters hieh.Thjs is the first architect-designed build-iDg conslructed in the twentieth ccnturythat uses traditional building techniques,with \cndlated double walls that ensurcthat thc construction is comfortable tolive in throughout thc $'hole year. This

ABOVEBayr c arke viewed irom theNile.

BELOW

Plan: courtesy of Dirk Huyge.

ANCILNT LGYrI Decençer zot z,lJanûtg zolt

t'I t r! lonk,'itrùtr tlyhtls t|!ùhl rn I u tul

t7

ABOVEThe Càrtcr House on lhe

west Bank rt Luror bèlôre.ôrrFleL ôn ol rt re.eni

ref!rb shm€rt.Pholo:lPP.

BELOWIhe f fa restirq pla.e ol

5ônêrs Clarkeierr ro hls ho!se

Photo: R. Betz.

'--ll.l

I'j

lernarkable piccc of arhiLccture r\'âs tosmc as a gridc tor odler r€nor'ne.lalchitects frfrrarr J). uù as Hassanlhth! \lho dcsigDcd r'1,(nc \illâgcs. suchas Nor QLu na, ir thc sinrilar traclitional iray ol mLrcl brick constructi.n /r*rdr( lr. tb.L.l)! one cannot Noi.l nnkirlga compariv,n with the horrscs olHo\,ârcl (larlel lî. abaù) ùdÀlexandrc Sr(,ppclâile irl LLrxo,l

Às ealll as 1893. Somets Clarkcivo|kecl nr EglpûrithJJ. lylor ù Elkabard co publishcd n;th J.l-. O-uibell and'l\'l(' Lhe firs1 book cniirch .ledicatecL ioLhis site iÀl /ià1,. 1898, BcrnardQLralitch. Londonl. Hc olÈrecl his assis

rarn: to Quibell and F.\\i (lreen Ibrthcir crr ararions nr Hielakor4rrnis (sttChaptcr Vl r\ Illtûkùtpal;! ltut IIEgrpt Rcscarch Acci,unt. London 19021

ancl \rcDt bach ro llhab *'ith Grccn andArchihalcl Savir' li,r sereral !,rsons

(1901-1901). Hc also rmdc pLans a,rdelelations for tln, r.nnb c,f SobcknakhtiD lLl96 at Elkal), ând ihal of 11.,ù,i.1900. ancl li,r the Tenrplc ol'In1€nhotep TII. 1898.

Somels Ularkc worked also rliihl-douald \ar,illc, mai,,h agâin as ânarcl,irco, ând publishcd r,ilh (Le S$issE$?rologist rhe second paû 01 thc iLlus

oious Tlir 17 llnnsh l tl)h at Dtû dBaiarl (Part I\') nt 1910. \\ith Sa)rr nr

1909 anrl 1910, hc iisned \ubia a,rdthe SucLan, bclorc sriri,rg his book onChristian churchcs.

Ularke dicd nr l-lkab on Àugust :11 .

1926 ancl; bl,.nrl rrri\r to his housr:, atth€ bâse ol â litllc r(1)4.e. oricnicclsourh-c:rst. in a r aultcd ntû brick,1r1r1€rlsce tda:). One can pcrhaps ask 1lSomcrs Clarke chose this plar:c irt hotrour ol thc phalaohs rhosc tcmbs irereoricntccl trxrarcls thc'.asi so as ro grect

la AN. F Nr L(.Y|i p...'b-. zc I z7.Junuêrq rc i 1

i:,ilI

i:

l.i".

ùe sun when it risesl It is paticularlyfit-ting to know that such a promincntEnglishman lies so ncar to his spcctacu-lar house.

The watercolours of F.w. Creen:sonre painted in Elkabt \ hÊnriône.l :bore Somen Cl:rke

- \""'r."a r". .erer:l ve:rs in F.lk:l-,

\\,ith Grccn ancl Sayce. ôreen was alsoan artist in that he 1elt, duringhis career,a number of watercolours of Eg).pt thatare now dispersed throughout thc world(iefrrcnu 5). one man has succcssfutlytried to make available many of thcseart uorks in the form oI a CD-RON'I:Ânctras Zbora.v of I J Expcditions(tln:lrrpedirions.corr Zboray ishimsell the owner of some oi Green'slvorks). Among the nineteen water-colours painted iû trlllab (one ftom inlB9B-9. sixteeû vieù,s when Greenstayed at Somcrs Clarke's house in 1924and two during h;s last visit in l93B),one is particularly intercsting as it showsone of the domes of Somers Clarkethor:se u'irh rhe River Nile in rhe back-ground. Another watercolour is a.lso

ver,v interesting f.re aôor'y': it shorvs thcRiver Nile in thc dircction of thc Elkabfortress, seen as ablack linc at thc foot ofthe hills in the background. This vicwwas definitely also capturcd in 192+

fronr the rooi of the Somers Clarke

Occupation ofthe Elkab Dighouse'{ihe e:rlicst des' ription ol the houseI rncl irs ouncr dâtes frûm the time ol

Jean Capart, thc first and highlyreknowned Belg;an Egptologist whoreceived flom the Dcpârtment ofAntiquities a concessioD {ôr l,lkab in1936 (concession in 1936; start of thc

ABOVEA wat€rcolour, painted byF.W. Creen n 1924, of thev ew f.om the Somers Clarkehouse towards the Elkâb

Photo: Andrâs Zboray.

LEFTThe int€rior of Bayt Clarke, inuse as the Belgiaf dig house.

Pholo: courtesy ofDlrk Huqye.

ANC]LNT LGYTT l)ecenber zot zTJanuarg zo I t 19

ABOVEThe nonh façade of the

house ir [4àrch 2009.Photo: R. Betz.

BELOWA close up ofthe north

façade of the house in March2009, showinq omifouscracks in the structure.

Photo R. Betz.

Iexcavations in 1937). The house isrccorded in his book (ChapLer Il) Fauilltsat ÉsylrtN, InPrc::irn: et Sawmirs, El Kab

cclited by the Fondation EglplologiqueReirc É[sabeth in Brusscls (Belgium) in1946 (some copies may still be availableat the secrcta àr \ww',aere-egke.be).

Since 1937, the Belgian Archeological\lission has occupied the housc on aseasonal basis ar",lzt ,lJ Pase, battom), arâ !,ery comlortable fiÊd-à-tne fot thearchaeologists who are working only a

l'cs. kilonetes away in and around thebig {brtress of Elkab, rvhich is situaredB0 km south oi Luxor and l5 km noflhof Edtu. Jeân Capart led three diggingcampaigns, the frst mo jn 1937 and 38,beforc \\iorld Wb II intcrrupted thervork. The Belgian Egptologist couldonly comc back 1àr a third and last cam-paign in l9't6. FIe died suddcnly in19,t7 at thc agc o{ 70. Since thc 1960's,regliar excavations \dth a fer,v interrup-

lions have bccn conducted by theCon:rmittee lor Bclgian Excavations inEgypt, and ver,v important results havebeen oblained in diffcrent parts of theconcession (fort, templcs, cemeteries,rock-cut tombs in hills ctc.), all publishcd h a series of volumcs on ELkab

numbcred I to VIII (Brepols Publishers,Turnhout, Belgium). In a lorthcomingissue oI your magazine, a paper rvill beentirel,v devotccl to a summary o{ thework done on thc Elkab site during thesecond half oî the o'crltieth century

Two Neighbouring Predynasticsites: El Hosh and QurtaI

^ Ie nee.l to mendon à1\o L\ro other

V\'';,* ".- th€ Elkdb Flouse thathavc been very thoroughly researchedby Belgian archeologists under thedirection of Dr Dirk Huyge, takiùeBayt Clarke as thcir base; the fi$t one,el Hosh, situated 30 km soulh of Edfu,has revealed since l99B verr- importantrock drarvings lrom thc end of thePalaeolithic period {about 9,000 8,000ycaIs old) (tefemce 6); somc of these represent groundplans of labyrinth lishtraps. Im'estigations carricd in 2004 inthe samc site hale re\€âled a prehislorictomb Èom the Nagada lI period (about3,a50 3,s00 BC) (teJatnu 7).

qlrrta, 40km south ol Ediu and alsodirectly south of thc Gebel elSilsilaquarries (on the East Bank), has beenexplored since 2007. There again, rockart pictures have becn found that lepre-sent bovids, birds and human figures.Scicntilic dating of sedjmcnts co\eringthc rock àrt indicates that these repre-sentations are ât least 15,000 )cârs old,which situates them more or less in thesame period of crealion as the cclcbrat-ed Lascaux and Altamira cave paint-ings, the Upper or Late Pâlaeolithic /rry'rrnra 8/. These Fndings rvill also be thetopic of a thid papcr to be published inAL.

After a Hundred Years,the House Needs SomeRefurbishment!T hrcl thc tharce Lo visit thc site o1'

I g.. t Ct.' t. ;. I t," t, l0lJq \bci D,.HLLyge rn'as onsitc; at Lhat time, somcdangerous cracks were lisible in thchundred-1'ear-old làbric ol the house

6ee W and ofpasite, ta?). \'err sholtlv alter(in October 2009), part of the north sideof the house lell dorvn, itcludins the

70 ANc-rF NT L6YFT Decenber zot z,tJanuarg 20 I l

mâin staircase free r.l0&r. It uas dccidedto launch a call lor funds within theBelgian community, which very rapidlybrought in €20,000 for the urgent con-solidation and rebuilding of the nolh|açade (sct ot)etuaj.

However, more work needs to be donein the restoration of the house, to avoidn€w short-term degradation:Replaccment oI the surface of the

whole root ensuring proper falls todrainspouts

Pirning of delaminatirg screen walls onthe bedroom $,ing

Installation of a new electrical network1() the entirc house (concealed con-

duits) anct sanitary pipesReplacement of all tinber elements

damaged by termite attacks (windows,

New sewage conduits and fresh waterdistribution.

rTrhe housc i\ àcruàll) tle prope(y olI rhe Es\Dri,n State, bur hàs been set

at the disposal of the Belgian mission"as long as Belgian archaeologlcal workis going on in the region, and on condi-tion thal the Belgians maintain thehouse". A call for fundirg has gone outin Belgium, but an international cam-paigr is also now beinglaunched, as the

ABOVEDangerous cracks n the wa ls

Photos: R. Betz.

ABOVEThe nonh fâçade of thehouse after its collapse inoctober 2009.

Phoro: Dlrk Huyqe,

References Mentionedin the TextI httpr//www.tawy.nl/Bayt Clarke.html

2 Christian Antiquities in the Nilevalley - A Conlribution towards theStudy of the Ancient Churches,Somers Clarke, clar€ndon Press,Oxford Univ€rsity, I9l 2.

\

\

housc, rvhich is p.ur ol rhe hcritrtgc ofllg11lt, ncccls 1o hc conscnecL at all costs.

Bavt Clilrkc is shortly to be registc|ed as

a national lnonlrmcnt b-v ûe SupIemeCouncil of Antiquitics. This rvill furtherraise the profile of thc silri, il successli,l,and provide additjonal lcverage lorliundraising As the housc h,ts a stronglink rvith its English buildcr {re'nemberrhâ1 Sômen Cl,rke is brn-i.d next to thchousc), rve particLrlarly would likc toappeal to your generosity to hefu raisethe next €100,000 thât is still neecled, so

thât this pearl of Egptian architecturervill Live lbr anothcr hundred years.

Cont"rcl in [gyptDr: Nicholas \\iarncrConseNation Architccl+20 p)10 s7s 983s

n j,r'arrrr'(!aucesvpt.cdu

Colltaat n Belglrrnl)r l)irk I luyscDilcctol ol thc llls-itur-,\rchacological N,lissiru ro lill,aLr+32 ())2 71 I 73:) I

rl.htrr$ (al'rrah.bc

somers Clarke: a pioneer of mudbrick architecture in Egypl, in Sergesântell (ed.) Hdssan Fâthv. unea m b t t ion Eqy pt i e n n e, lns\itu IFrânçais d'Egypte, 2011, pp. l-l l.Curna a tale of two villages,Hassan Fathy, Ministry of Cu ture,Cairo I969.The watercolours of FrcderickWilliam Green, in Nekhen Newsn'22, pp.24-25,2010.'Lascaux along the Nile': LatePleistocene Rock Arl in Egypt, D.Huyge, Antlqulty 81, 2007, ProjectCallerylhttp://www.antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/huygeSI3/1.

7 El Hosh et Qurta: sur les traces duplus ancien art éqyplien, hy DlrkHuyge and Wouter Claes ir (Cecin'est Pas une PYramide un sièclede recherche archéoloqique belgeen Égypte,, Peetercl Leuven, 2012.

8 See reference 6, bibliography onpage 44. Also Confirming thePleistocene Age of the Qurta Rock,4ft, D. Huyge & D.a.C.Y àndenbetghe, Egy pt i anArcheology, thê Bulletin of theEgypt Exploration Society, 39(2011), pp.21-24.

Other ReferencesOf the lt'lethods Used in Making and

ornamentinq an Eqypllan Rock Tonb,in Archeologia, vol. 55, issue I , pp.2l -32 (January 1896).

Ancient Egyptian Masonry: The Euildingcrafr (t 930) with Reginald Engelbach.

Who Was Who in Egyptology, Warren R.

Dawson, Egypt Exp oration Society,1972 (p.65); in third edition, p.100.

Somers C arke's manuscripts! notes,maps, p ans and som€ photographsare kept Àt the 6riffith lnstitute,Oxford:http:/ /www.qriffith.ox.ac.uk/qri/4clarkes.html

'Bavt Clarke', â Mud Erick Masterpieceby the N//e, Bulletin of the AmericanResearch Center in Egypt (lssue 200,Spring 2012).

Raymond Betz,Srussels, Eelgiirm.

'-,

Rebu ld nct work on the northfaçad€ of the hou5e.Photos: Dirk Huyge.

It Decenb-, zot z'tJanuârg zolt