Draft:Kafr Hassan Dawood

Introduction

Kafr Hassan Dawood (KHD) is an important archaeological site situated in the western part of the Wadi Tumilat, northern Egypt. The site was first occupied during the Predynastic period in the second half of the 4th millennium BC, and continued to be inhabited until around 2700BC. At this point the site was abandoned. The area was reoccupied in the mid 2nd millennium BC, although KHD saw no further settlement until the 1st millennium BC. The site is primarily known for its extensive cemeteries

Ecology

KHD sits in an area that is generally considered to be suboptimal for agriculture - owing to low riverine sedimentation levels - so local economies tend to be mixed, to include hunting, fishing, pastoralism, and some agriculture (Redmount 1989: 57). The fact that flooding seems to have declined into the 3rd millennium BC - combined with increasing prevalence of aeolian sand - may have contributed to the site's abandonment. The establishment of an artificial canal in the 1st millennium BC seems to have enabled resettlement.

The Site

Identified in the 1930s, the site was first excavated following threats from land redevelopment in the 1970s and 1980s, and studied more intensively by the Supreme Council of Antiquities from 1989-1995. A joint mission with University College London operated at the site from 1995-1999, and further work was carried out under the aegis of the local inspectorate between 2018-2019. At least 769 early burials were recovered up to 1999, in addition to a further 350 Late Period to Roman interments. This makes KHD possessor of the largest Predynastic to early Dynastic cemetery in the Eastern Egyptian Delta. Less is known about habitation at the site, for at time of writing (2024) the settlement has not yet been conclusively identified. The project was relaunched by Dr Geoffrey Tassie (1959-2019) in 2019.

Archaeology of the 4th-3rd Millennium BC

KHD is the only large Predynastic-ED site to have been assessed in the Wadi Tumilat. The cemetery shows clusters indicative of social (perhaps kinship) groupings, and considerable variability in terms of grave morphology, burial goods, and the use of coffins and body treatments. While analysis remains at an early stage, the dissimilarities between KHD and contemporary sites in northern Egypt may relate to the site's seemingly unique relationship with the Sinai/Levant, and seems to have continued into the Early Dynastic period when Lower and Upper Egypt were united under Narmer as various royal serekhs have been recovered from the site. In the Protodynastic period the distribution of copper artefacts may indicate local hierarchy; the nature of the changes that ensued in the aftermath of Egypt's unification remain to be ascertained.

Archaeology of later periods

While the Wadi Tumilat was reoccupied in the 2nd millennium BC, KHD does not appear to have seen further activity at this time. The construction of an artificial canal during the Saite period allowed the development of communities throughout the region, including at KHD, where significant cemeteries have been identified. Currently awaiting exploration and analysis, previous projects have noted the presence of cattle/ovicaprine interments alongside those of children.

References

Redmount C.A 1989. On an Egyptian/Asiatic Frontier: An Archaeological History of The Wadi Tumilat. The University of Chicago.Rowland J.M. 2003. Social Transformation in the Delta from the Terminal Predynastic to The Early Dynastic Period: A Comparative Study. Unpublished Doctoral Thesis, London: University College London.

Rowland J.M. 2014. Interregional Exchange: The Evidence from Kafr Hassan Dawood, East Delta. In: A. Mączyńska (Ed.), The Nile Delta as a Centre of Cultural Interactions Between Upper Egypt and The Southern Levant in the 4th Millennium BC. Poznań: Poznań Archaeological Museum: 269-297.

Tassie G.J. and Hassan F.A. 2017. Kafr Hassan Dawood Late Period to The Late Antique. Egyptian Archaeology 51: 14-17.

Tassie G.J. and van Wetering J.F.L. 2003. Early Cemeteries of The East Delta: Kafr Hassan Dawood, Minshat Abu Omar, And Tell Ibrahim Awad. In: Z. Hawass and L. Pinch Brook (Eds.), Egyptology at The Dawn of The Twenty-First Century: Proceedings of the 8th International Congress of Egyptologists, Cairo 2000. Volume 1: Archaeology. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press: 499-507.

Tassie G et al. 2008. ‘Potmarks from the Protodynastic to Early Dynastic Cemetery at Kafr Hassan Dawood, Wadi Tumilat, East Delta, Egypt’. In: B. Midant-Reynes et al. (Eds) Egypt at Its Origins 2: Proceedings of The International Conference ‘Origin of The State. Predynastic And Early Dynastic Egypt,’ Toulouse, 5th-8th September 2005. Peeters, Leuven, Pp. 203–236.

Tassie G et al. 2021. ‘Social Differentiation as Revealed in The Mortuary Remains at Kafr Hassan Dawood: Elite Formation in The Southern East Delta’. In: E. C Köhler et al. (Eds) Egypt at Its Origins 6. Peeters Publishers. Doi:10.2307/J.Ctv2crj2bh.

Tucker T. L. 2003. Biocultural Investigations at Kafr Hassan Dawood. In: Z. Hawass and L. Pinch Brook (Eds.), Egyptology at The Dawn of The Twenty-First Century: Proceedings of the 8th International Congress of Egyptologists, Cairo 2000, Volume 1 Archaeology. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press: 530-5.

van Wetering J. and Tassie G.J. 2003. Biocultural Investigations at Kafr Hassan. In: Z. Hawass and L. Pinch Brook (Eds.), Egyptology at The Dawn of The Twenty-First Century: Proceedings of the 8th International Congress of Egyptologists, Cairo 2000, Volume 1 Archaeology. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press: 530-5.