Ain el-Gedida: Results from the 2006 Field Season

Abstract

The site of Ain el-Gedida is located in the Dakhleh Oasis of Upper Egypt, three kilometers north of the village of Ma‘sara and to the north-west of the ancient site of Kellis. A preliminary survey was conducted in 1980 by members of the Dakhleh Oasis Project, who registered the site and assigned it an official D.O.P. number. Thirteen years later, an Egyptian archaeological mission conducted three seasons of excavation at Ain el-Gedida, under the direction of Mr. Ahmad Salem and Mr. Kamel Bayoumi of the local Coptic and Islamic Inspectorate of the Supreme Council of Antiquities. After a first visit to Ain el-Gedida in 2005, the collaborative project between the local Coptic and Islamic Inspectorate and a group of ten specialists was developed, thanks to the funding provided by Columbia University and Prof. Roger Bagnall. This paper aims to illustrate the results of the work carried out at Ain el-Gedida during the Winter 2006 field season. Due to the large number of structures that were the object of investigation, only the most relevant data for each of them will be provided here.