Archaeology Magazine - July/August 1988 - 63

dievalcastle.
One of the wallpaintingsthat decorated
the entrance corridor depicted a series of
soldierscarryingbattle axes, and a number
of actual, as weUas model, weaponswere
alsofoundin the area of the palace.A limestone door lintel-inscribed with the name
of SekhenenreTaoI (1596-1591
B.C.)-that
had come from the palacewas discovered
builtintoa house in the nearbymodernvillage. Jar sealings of Ahmose (1570-1546
B.C.)mark the finalperiodof occupationin
the palace.These finds,alongwithpottery
and other artifactualmaterial,date the site
to the turbulent era knownas the Second
Intermediate Period (eighteenth to sixteenth century B.C.)when northern Egypt
was ruled by foreigninvaders,the Hyksos.
The Egyptianswere squeezed into a restrictedarea by the Hyksosin LowerEgypt
(to the north) and the Kerma kingdomto
the south (See ARCHAEOLOGY,
November/December1983).
Both the royalresidence and the rest of
the settlement at Deir el-Ballasappear to
havebeen abandonedafter the defeatofthe
Hyksosat the beginningof the Eighteenth
Dynasty.The North Palacewas later reoccupiedin the Romanand Copticperiods.
The palacewas surroundedby a vast enclosurewall900 by 450 feet. The wallwas
whitewashedon the outside and bordered
by a mud-brickpavement.A smallerenclosure, 180feet on each side, was adjacentto
the west side of the mainpalaceenclosure.
Noevidenceofanybuildingswaspreserved
within the small enclosure, but a section
cleared along one of the old excavation
trenches revealeda thickstratum of animal
manure,whichsuggeststhat this area may
haveserved as a stable or pen.
Farther to the west was a series of three
houses,not unlikemodernvillagehousesclosely grouped, and fronted by a dooryard with facilitiesfor cookingand animalkeeping. Although these buildingswere
decoratedwith wallpaintingsand had large

columnedhalls, they are very unlike the
"standardvilla"we knowfromAmarnawith
its columnedcentral hall and symmetrical
arrangementof rooms in a walledgarden.
These Amarnavillasare the ones archaeologists most frequentlyhave in mindwhen
discussingancientEgyptiandwellings.Our
work at Deir el-Ballassuggests, however,
that there was far more variety than we
supposed in traditionalEgyptiandomestic
architecture.
Southofthe palacewe beganclearinganother structure, covering approximately
400 squareyards, whichwe termed "House
E."It soon became clear,however,that the
moundhadbeen onlypartiallyexcavatedby
the originalexpedition.Wenowexcavateda
small area in the southeast corner of the
mounddownto floorlevel, to obtaininformationon the constructionof the excavated
houses and to get an idea of the degree of
preservationwe couldexpect to findin future seasons of excavation.
Wefoundthat the upper levelsconsisted
of collapsed roofing material, which included mud brick, mud plaster with reed
impressions,reeds, rope, and palm logs.
Mixedin withthis debriswere birdfeathers
and eventhe remainsofa tinylizardsuchas
those that still commonlyinhabitthe ceilings of Egyptianvillagehouses. Beneath
the fallenroof and wallmaterialwe uncovered a limestone columnbase which had
been re-cut for use as a socket for a beam.
Beside the socket were found the remains of the acaciabeam, a stone bench,
and a "spinningbowl"used in the manufacture of thread. All these features are
depicted, in exactlythe same order as we
found them, in representations of textile
workshops in Theban tomb paintings.In
additionto the objects mentionedabove,
we also foundfragmentsof thread, unspun
wooland finishedtextiles.
Groups of houses were situated to the
north and south of the North Palace,as at
Amarna. The domestic structures exca-

Workmenclear surfacewall traces at the north end of the site. Expansionof the modern
village, in the background, threatensfurther workat the ancientsettlement.

vated by Reisnes expeditionrangedfrom
small, two-roomdwellingsto large "villas"
withcolumnedhalls,courts, grainsilos,and
these buildings
outbuildings.Unfortunately,
were only summarilyrecordedby Reisner
and in the succeedingyears manyof them
havebeen almosttotallydestroyedby erosionandthe expansionofthe moderntown.
A differenttype of housingwas foundto
the south of the North Palace.This was a
groupofcontiguous,roughlybuiltdwellings
flankinga longcentral avenue,remarkably
similarto the workmen'svillagesat TellelAmarnaandDeirel-Medina.These villages
were built to house artisans engaged in
the constructionand decorationof various
royalprojects.
The workmen'svillageat Deir el-Ballas
most closelyresembles the early stage of
the Deir el-Medinavillagewith its twisty
lanes and crowdedlittlehomes.The village
was later cut into by graves that contain
potteryandscarabsdatingto the earlyNew
Kingdom,possiblybelongingto a "squatter" populationwhichoccupiedparts of the
townafter a brief periodof abandonment.
Again,as at Amarna,on the side of the
hillbeside the workmen'svillageare traces
of rectangularstructures roughlybuilt of
stones, alluvialandmarlbricksandpartially
cut into the hillside.The remainsof these
buildingsresemble the chapelsassociated
withthe workmen'svillageat Tellel-Amarna
,
whichconsistedofone or morecourts connected with short flights of steps and a
niche for the placementof votiveobjects.
Among the cultic artifacts found in the
chapelsat Amarnawere pottery bowlscontainingfigurinesof deities. Fragments of
a similar vessel containinga figure of a
Hathorcowwere recoveredfromthis area
at Deir el-Ballas.
Still another possible parallelto TellelAmarnawasrevealedin mappingthe southcontinuedon page66
July/August1988

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Archaeology Magazine - July/August 1988

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Archaeology Magazine - July/August 1988
