Buto II: the Late Period Where the DAI excavations look at Buto’s beginnings, the missions of the Universities of Poitiers and Paris Nanterre explore the urban settlement from the end of the Late Period until the Islamic Period. Pascale Ballet and Loïc Mazou summarise the results of the 2016–18 seasons, presenting evidence for a large storage building of the early Roman period, an economic structure rarely attested here for this time. The main purpose of our fieldwork is the exploration of Buto’s urban evolution during the roughly 1000 years from the end of the Late Period around 330 BC to the beginning of the Islamic Period in 642 AD. Within this framework, we aim to determine different types of contexts, such as domestic dwellings, production facilities and communal places, e.g. bath complexes. This ar ticle in par ticular presents the results of recent field seasons (2016–18) that revealed evidence of a large storage building of the Early Roman period on top of kom A (right; for a map of the settlement, see the following page), an economic structure that is all the more remarkable as such buildings are only very rarely attested in the Delta for the Graeco-Roman Period. Previous work Surveying in 2010–12 had already shown ex tensive settlement areas of the Saite/ Persian Period but also suggested progressive abandonment from the early Ptolemaic Period onwards until Byzantine and early Islamic times. Diagnostic trenches dug in 2013 p r ov id e d ad d i t io na l ins ig h t in to t h e development of the city’s fringes, revealing domestic buildings of the Late Period in sectors P13 and P14. In one of these, Building 2 (P14), impor tant domestic and religious objects (stelae, amulets) were found. Its pot te r y a s s e m b la ge ind ic a te d a la s t occupation in the 5th century BC. On kom C, by contrast, there were only scarce Late Pe r i o d t r a ce s ; i ns t e a d , i t s h owe d a considerable concentration of pottery from the Ptolemaic and, to a lesser degree, the early Roman period. Photo: G. Pollin Further investigations have been conducted outside the southern par t of the temple enclosure wall (P16), following a magnetic survey in 2014: kilns of the late Ptolemaic Period set on a huge mud-brick building show that the empty space between the temple and kom C was not unoccupied. Fieldwork since 2016, on the eastern border of kom C, has revealed a significant area devoted to industrial ceramics production during the Ptolemaic period (probably 2nd century BC), confirming the importance of Buto at this time and its long-standing tradition in pottery production. General view (to the south-east) of the early Roman storage building. A Roman storage building on kom A Recent excavations have focused on the central and northern parts of kom A (P15, P17, P18), where stratigraphy is best preserved, in order to explore the early and late Roman occupations. In sector P18 (c. 1200 m2), four phases have been identified, ranging from the EGYPTIAN ARCHAEOLOGY ISSUE NO 53 AUTUMN 2018 33 Map of the settlement, showing the different sectors of archaeological work on Late Buto. Bouto J1-3, 8, 11,13 (Tell El-Fara‘in) Y=3453900 P11 P1 P3 P2 N P4 O E S P14 Y=3453800 P13 P1K P12 P10 P5 P6 Y=3453700 kôm A P18 P17 P15 P19 kôm B (Temple) Y=3453600 Y=3453500 P16 E0-E17 Y=3453400 P7 Y=3453300 P20 1452 29.23 Village de Sekhmawi 1462 29.24 1455 29.25 1465 29.33 1467 29.33 1466 29.37 1459 29.29 kôm C Y=3453200 Village de Mohammed el-Baz P9 Y=3453100 Cimetière actuel Y=3453000 P6 Secteurs de fouille depuis 2001 (P. Ballet) Y=3452900 Secteurs de fouille de l’équipe du DAIK depuis 1993 (D. Faltings) et 2000 (U. Hartung) 0 IFAO-DAIK - Relevés topographiques par: Y=3452800 M.A. Flechter et A. Knuth, 1996 (DAIK) D. Laisney 2004 (IFAO) R. Bernard 2006 (INRAP) G. Marouard 2007-2013, 2015 (OI) M. Gaber 2012-2014 (IFAO) 50 150 m Système de coordonnées : WGS 84 Projection : UTM Zone : 36 Echelle : 1/1000 Equidistance des courbes de niveau : 0.25 m X=285400 X=285300 X=285200 X=285100 X=285000 X=284900 X=284800 X=284700 X=284600 X=284500 Map: P. Ballet / L. Mazou Right: castor seeds found in the storage facility. Opposite page, bottom left: remains of architectural plaster decorations from a residential dwelling. 34 mid-1st to the 3rd/4th centuries AD, with a final occupation indicated by pottery material from the 6th/7th centuries AD. The main result of these excavations was the discovery of a Roman storage building for foodstuffs, mainly cereals, belonging to phase 2, which can be dated to the 2nd century AD. Built in mud brick, it is surrounded by imposing walls around 90 cm thick. Our latest fieldwork in spring 2018 showed the structure to consist of eight rooms for the storage of agricultural products: six adjoining rooms with a N-S orientation, two with an E-W orientation, surrounding an open area in the centre. Five of the rooms have a floor space of about 13 m2 (3.55 x 3.7 m), two are larger at 20 m2 (4 x 5 m) all with a mud-brick floor (the eighth room is still unexcavated, so we do not yet know its dimensions). The best-preserved rooms show vestiges of doorways with a closing system that led directly into open space. We entered the rooms by descending three steps (opposite page, top). Being partly buried, the rooms would have stayed cool for better preservation of the stored goods. A silo was located in the central Photo: L. Mazou BUTO II: THE LATE PERIOD Photo: L. Mazou space, where we found a buried imported amphora (middle right), still filled with a large quantity of wheat grains. Wheat, together with other grains such as castor-oil seed, was in fact found in all the rooms of the structure (opposite page, bottom). The absence of containers suggests that the grains were stored in bulk directly on the ground. The building was abandoned after a fire, traces of which can be seen on the walls and the floor, suggesting a significant amount of combustible material. One might speculate that the fire was caused by the fermentation of cereals in poorly ventilated rooms, resulting in the production of heat and the release of flammable gases. Size and layout of the structure, the thickness of its walls, the neat brick paving arranged in a herringbone pattern, the presence of substantial amounts of flammable material and of a silo as well as traces of grains found in various quantities across the rooms, all point to a storage facility for cereals of some kind (Latin thesaurus / granarium), of particular importance for Buto’s economy. Based on ceramic evidence, the structure was built between two phases of residential occupations (phases 1 and 3), without discontinuity. An interesting structure dating to phase 3 is a residential dwelling with a private garden and what was possibly a modest por tico. Within a destruction level, we discovered elements of architectural plaster decorations and fragments of mural paintings, suggesting a cer tain social standing of its occupants (bottom left and right) Phase 4 corresponds to the construction of two buildings on either side of a street or open area, though for the time being it is impossible to determine their function, which could have been domestic or economic. The excavation of the filling of a space between two thick walls Below: stairs to the partially buried rooms and remains of a wooden closing system. Middle: photogrammetric picture of the cellar with buried amphorae. Bottom: foundations of a residential dwelling with a garden and, possibly, a modest portico. Photo: L. Mazou Photo: L. Mazou Photo: L. Mazou EGYPTIAN ARCHAEOLOGY ISSUE NO 53 AUTUMN 2018 35 showed the presence of cellars in a narrow passage, containing cooking ceramics with animal residues and amphorae buried in the floor. These finds suggest that the building also provided storage space, as in phase 2. It is conceivable that the area was used for storage (or other economic functions) in both phase 2 and phase 4, though evidence for the later period is insufficient for a definitive conclusion. But a large amount of both Egyptian and imported amphorae from the western and eastern Mediterranean (Tunisia; Tripolitania in modern-day Libya, Cilicia, Pamphylia and Knidos, all in modern-day Turkey; Crete; Gaza) during phases 2 to 4 found around this area could support this hypothesis. In the eastern part of sector P18, a metal processing workshop was discovered in 2017–18 (images below). Its various levels correspond to the working stages of such a facility, containing beads and copper drops, thick layers of ash, rejects and many crucible fragments, terracotta moulds and smelting waste. Again, while there is no definitive Right: a crucible from the metal-processing workshop. Photo: G. Pollin Below: photogrammetric image of the metal-processing workshop. evidence, the production of copper objects might have been linked to the storage facility in the same area – producing, for example, tools, locks and bolts, or seals. Conclusions If the area served as a storage facility during phases 2 and 4, its mode seems to have evolved from bulk storage to storage in amphorae and small underground spaces. These changes might indicate a parallel change of the neighbourhood, evolving from a single, large storage structure into a residential area with individual food stocks. It is hard to tell whether the storage facility belonged to the state or a private owner, and whether grains were distributed for local consumption or for trade (shor t or long distance?). Its location certainly is surprising, as it is far from the transport facilities in the lower parts of the city. However, it does seem safe to conclude that a storage facility continued to operate at this spot over an extended period, as attested by the great number of Egyptian and imported amphorae. The arrival of amphorae from across the Mediterranean during phases 2 to 4 is remarkable, reaffirming Buto’s place in the distribution network of imported foodstuffs. • Pascale Ballet (Paris Nanterre University, Photo: L. Mazou ArScAn) has directed the University of Paris Nanterre mission at Buto since 2001. Loïc Mazou (Poitiers University, HeRMA) has conducted excavation in the center of kom A since 2014. Others sectors have been excavated by G. Marouard, M. Pithon, G. Lecuyot, B. Redon and R . Séguier, with J. Marchand, M. Pesenti, R . Reimann and A. Simony as ceramicists. The team of the University of Paris Nanterre works through the concession of the German Archaeological Institute (DAI), with the support of the French Foreign Office and Ifao (Cairo). Further reading on Buto: Surveys and excavations 2001–06: P. Ballet et al., Tell el-Fara‘în–Buto VI (Archäologische Veröffentlichungen 110; in press). Post-2007 excavations: G. Marouard and M. Pithon (Ptolemaic quarter), G. Lecuyot and B. Redon (bath complex first excavated by the EES in the 1960s), EA 40 (2012). For surveying and mapping on kom A in 2010–12: G. Marouard, MDAIK (forthcoming). Several preliminary reports of the results can be found in MDAIK 59, 63, 65 and BIFAO 111. 36
