Project Details
Projekt
The Cultic Centre of the Sun-God of Heliopolis (Egypt)
Subject Area
Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies
Term
from 2012 to 2020
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 223572664
The sun-cult was the central element of ancient Egyptian religion for more than three millennia, and Heliopolis stood at its centre - the place of the worlds creation and a country-wide reference point. The architectural layout and the landscape of Heliopolis are the topic of much debate. Most of these hypotheses are based on decontextualised objects. In addition, the situation in Heliopolis has deteriorated considerably after the revolution in 2011. Large space is being lost to illegal construction work. Towards the end of the first phase 2012-2015 a hitherto unknown temple of Nektanebo I. was discovered In spring 2015. Pumps were tested to allow detailed excavation and recording up to 1 m beneath the water table. In addition, remains of the main temple built of limestone were detected by the geophysical and geomorphological survey. Furthermore, the nucleus of the cult topography, a late Pleistocene gezira, was discovered. It is here that the centre of the sun-temple was located, as indicated by the obelisk of Sesostris I. The relocalisation of the mud-brick embankment of the so-called High sand led to the assumption of a measure to protect the sacred ground of creation against exceptional floods by an enclosure of about 400 m diametre.The mission will focus in 2016-2019 on four research targets: The fragments of the hitherto unknown temple of the 4th century BC will be unearthed and studied. This will provide first-hand evidence for texts from Heliopolis itself, as the temple is generally considered as a centre of the textual culture of Pharaonic Egypt. Since it was built on top of the mud-brick embankment, the reliefs are at little depth beneath the present water table. The localisation of a temple wall of min. 30 m length to the west of the obelisk allows for the first reliable investigation on the temples astronomical orientation since it is evident that it differs from the orientation of the large enclosure walls of the 2nd and 1st millennium BC. Small sondages will provide the dating of that structure. Stratigraphical investigations of the western mud-brick embankment will allow for a reassessment of the date of its construction as well as for further insights to the early history of the sanctuary by reused objects as they were found in spring 2015. The reconstruction of the historical landscape is the subject of the geomorphological survey. This part of the project will focus on the palaeo-landscape and the earliest strata in the later precinct of the sun-temple. The results will be supplemented by unpublished data from earlier excavations and subsequently elaborated and verified in a GIS. The combination of various methods will illustrate the transition of the area starting with periods when the mythology might have been formed. The further development of the temple site will prove the transformation into the most prominent national sanctuary of the 3rd, 2nd and earlier 1st millennium B.C. of Egypt.
DFG Programme
Research Grants
International Connection
Belgium, France
Co-Investigators
Professor Dr. Morgan De Dapper; Dr. Luc Gabolde
