With donkeys, jars and water bags into the Libyan Desert the Abu Ballas Trail in the late Old KingdomFirst Intermediate Period

7/30/2019 With donkeys, jars and water bags into the Libyan Desert the Abu Ballas Trail in the late Old KingdomFirst Interme

1/36

http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/research/publications/bmsaes/issue_7/foerster.html

With donkeys, jars and water bags into the Libyan Desert:

the Abu Ballas Trail in the late Old Kingdom/First

Intermediate PeriodFrank Frster

The Dakhla Oasis, situated some 300km from the Nile Valley in Egypts Western Desert,can be regarded as the most southwesterly outpost of pharaonic civilisation. When anexceptionally strong sand storm revealed, in 1947, the rst traces of the late Old Kingdomtown at Ayn Aseel in the eastern part of the oasis, it came as quite a surprise to the scientic,Nile-oriented community (though some ancient monuments and artefacts of later date hadbeen known before). Over nearly 30 years, the systematic research by missions of the Institutfranais darchologie oriental (IFAO) and the Dakhleh Oasis Project (DOP) has revealedmany aspects of ancient life in this remote region, the archaeological potential of which is farfrom being exhausted. The recent discovery of a long-distance desert route, which extends theknown limit of Egyptian inuence several hundred kilometres further towards the heart of thecontinent, is another surprise. In 999 and 2000, the German desert traveller Carlo Bergmannfound several sites which form a chain of staging posts on an almost straight line, the endof which lies close to the Gilf Kebir Plateau in the Libyan Desert, about 400km southwestof its starting-point in Dakhla (g. 1).2 The midpoint of the trail is the well known, but fora long time mysterious, Abu Ballas or Pottery Hill site where large amounts of pharaonicpottery were discovered as early as 1918 and 1923, respectively (gs. 24).3 Rudolph Kuper,for many years interested in the riddle of these pots, immediately initiated investigations

of the new sites within the prehistoric research programme of the Collaborative ResearchCentre ACACIA at the University of Cologne.

This paper, presenting some of the results of the ACACIA project, will focus on thematerial evidence, practical use and possible purpose of the trail in the late Old Kingdom

See, for example, the fairly personal account of Ahmed Fakhry, in Textes et langages de lgypte pharaonique,21922.

2 Bergmann, Der letzte Beduine, 367460.3 Kemal el Dine and Franchet, Revue scientique65 (1927), 596600; Ball, Geographical Journal70 (927), 22, n.

; Jarvis, Three Deserts, 11416. Cf. Frster and Kuper, Sahara14 (2003), 1678. Cf. Bergmann, Der letzte Beduine, 40910; Kuper, in Caneva and Roccati (eds.),Acta Nubica. Proceedings of the X.

International Conference of Nubian Studies, 39. Cf. Kuper,Antiquity75 (2001), 8012; id., in Friedman (ed.),Egypt and Nubia: Gifts of the Desert, 910, pls.

1823; id., in Hawass and Pinch Brock (eds.), Proceedings of the Eighth International Congress of Egyptologists, 37276; id., BSFE 158 (2003), 1726, gs. 26; id., in Caneva and Roccati (eds.),Acta Nubica. Proceedings of the X.International Conference of Nubian Studies, 35761, gs. 210; Frster, in Bubenzer et al. (eds.),Atlas of Culturaland Environmental Change in Arid Africa, 1303; Frster and Kuper, Sahara14 (2003), 1678; Kuhlmann, inJennerstrasse 8 (ed.) Tides of the Desert, 14958; Riemer, in Bubenzer et al. (eds.), Atlas of Cultural andEnvironmental Change in Arid Africa, 1345; Riemer et al.,MDAIK61 (2005), 291350; Schnfeld, Wegstationenauf dem Abu Ballas Trail. Preliminary reports on individual eld and study seasons of the ACACIA projecthave been submitted for publication inASAE.


2/36


2 FRSTER BMSAES 7

or (early) First Intermediate Period. The physical remains of that period are by far the mostnumerous and informative along the trail. Moreover, there is a strong connection with theoasis capital and administrative centre at Balat/Ayn Aseel around the late Sixth Dynasty,allowing the use of the local chronology established by IFAO colleagues. Other periods ofpharaonic activity are attested on the route as well, principally through ceramic evidence. Thismaterial has been thoroughly studied by Stan Hendrickx, also revealing vessels of the SecondIntermediate Period, the later Eighteenth Dynasty and the Ramesside Period. In addition, afew artefacts point to Roman and Islamic times; others can be dated to the Predynastic orEarly Dynastic Periods. But whatever happened on the trail during its apparently episodic useover the centuries, the activities in the late Old Kingdom or First Intermediate Period haveleft the most distinctive and abundant traces.

Clearly these Egyptian enterprises did not venture into barren, hostile regions hithertototally unexplored. A few years ago, Olaf Kaper and Harco Willems reported on some Fourthor Fifth Dynasty hilltop sites on the periphery of Dakhla which had been used as watch posts

in order to control the access roads to the oasis from the east as well as from the south.

Similar sites along the southwestern fringes of the oasis, excavated by the ACACIA project,can now be added (g. 5).7 Another remarkable discovery by Carlo Bergmann, a desert campsite with hieroglyphic rock inscriptions some 0km southwest of Dakhla, demonstrates anEgyptian interest in that area already at the time of Khufu and Radjedef. According to theanalysis of the epigraphic material by Klaus Peter Kuhlmann, pharaonic expeditions of upto 00 men came here to procure mineral powder used for paint.9 Although this site, the so-called Radjedef s Water-Mountain (Chufu 0/0), is several kilometres off the Abu Ballas

Trail, where no pottery of the early Old Kingdom has yet been found, it is difcult not toconclude that the Egyptian settlers of later times already had knowledge of the regions to thesouth and west.

Crossing the vast, waterless terrain between Dakhla and the Gilf Kebir must always havebeen a risky challenge in pharaonic times when, until the introduction of the domesticatedcamel in the rst millennium BC,0 the principal beast of burden was the donkey. Withoutany wells in between and only sparse vegetation at best, small groups of desert travellers

Kaper and Willems, in Friedman (ed.),Egypt and Nubia: Gifts of the Desert, 7994.7 Riemer et al.,MDAIK61 (2005), 291350. Bergmann and Kuhlmann, GEO Special5 (2001), 1207; Kuhlmann, in Jennerstrasse 8 (ed.), Tides of the

Desert, 1338, gs. 210; id.,MDAIK61 (2005), 24389; Kuper, BSFE 158 (2003), 2633, gs. 712; Kuperand Frster,EA 23 (2003), 258.

9 Kuhlmann,MDAIK61 (2005), 24551, gs. 18.0 For the ongoing debate on the appearance of the domesticated camel in Egypt see, inter alia, Midant-Reynes

and Braunstein-Silvestre, Or46 (1977), 33762; Ripinsky,JEA 71 (1985), 13441; Rowley-Conwy, JEA 7(1988), 2458; Brewer et al., Domestic Plants and Animals: The Egyptian Origins, 1045; Pusch,&L (99),10718; Osborn and Osbornov, The Mammals of Ancient Egypt, 1557; Kuhrt, in Leahy and Tait (eds.), Studieson Ancient Egypt in Honour of H.S. Smith, 17984.

The economic role of the donkey in ancient Egypt is a topic that has not attracted much scholarly attention.For a general overview see Brewer et al., Domestic Plants and Animals: The Egyptian Origins, 99100 and Osbornand Osbornov, The Mammals of Ancient Egypt, 1326 (with further references). See also the recent studyby Janssen, Donkeys at Deir el-Medna. A small clay model of a loaded donkey has been found in Balat, seeBoutantin, BIFAO 99 (1999), 61, gs. 201 (no. 71).


3/36


2007 THE ABU BALLAS TRAIL 3

could hardly have carried more than the provision in water and food they and their animalswould need for the journey - and this had to be well prepared. An elaborate system of cairns(alamat) made of loose stones is one of the features of the trail (g. 6),2 and sometimes thetracks of the donkeys leading to these points of orientation are still visible after thousands ofyears (g. 7). Donkey bones and droppings have been detected at some sites, and small stonecircles measuring up to two metres in diameter might well have served as basins for wateringor feeding them (g. 8).3

In the late Old Kingdom or First Intermediate Period, some authorities decided to installsupply depots at regular distances in order not only to facilitate transits for donkey caravans,but to free their backs for other goods that needed to be transported. A great number of largeearthen storage jars, identical to the ones used in Balat at the same time in terms of typologyand fabric, had been selected for that purpose (gs. 910). Being 5060cm in height and witha capacity of around 30 litres, however, they exceed the average size of the vessels used inthe capital of the oasis (which are 3040cm in height). At about twenty sites, usually at the

foot of prominent sandstone hills, the remains of some 300 vessels of this type have beenfound, mostly broken and heavily eroded. The original number was probably much higher,and more concentrations may still await discovery. According to descriptions given by JohnBall, Prince Kemal el-Din and C.S. Jarvis, more than a hundred jars, still in a good state ofpreservation and dumped in regular order, were excavated at Abu Ballas in 1923 (cf. g. 3).Unfortunately, the site is now bereft of much of its original material due to the activities ofoff-road tourists.

Some of the storage jars bear incised potmarks that are also known from Balat (whichapparently represents the departure point for the trail), especially marks known from thearea of the governors palace at Ayn Aseel.7 A mark resembling the hieroglyphic sign forh, , occurs frequently (g. 10), and a few combinations of hieroglyphs are probably to

be considered as personal names, identifying the owner of the content before the vesselhas been reused. Large collective storage areas necessitating such identications of personalownership are, up to now, only known from the residence. 9 The variety of about thirtydifferent potmark motifs, incised both before and after ring, adds to the suspicion that thetrails storage facilities had been produced in the pottery workshops of the administrativecentre, but not specically for this purpose.

Many of the jars, which were probably closed with a piece of leather when lled or re-

2 Cf. Riemer, in Bubenzer et al. (eds.),Atlas of Cultural and Environmental Change in Arid Africa, 1345.3 Cf. Riemer et al.,MDAIK61 (2005), 3045, g. 7, pl. 45c. For a representation of a resting donkey, incised

(next to another one) on a Ramesside storage jar found at Muhattah el-Homareen (site Jaqub 99/33), see

Kuper,Antiquity75 (2001), 802, g. 5. Soukiassian et al., Balat VI, 107; Valloggia, Balat I, 150. Larger vessels do occur in Balat, but rarely (e.g.,

Minault-Gout, Balat II, 1678; Castel et al., Balat V, gs. 14552). See above, n. 3. Cf. Frster and Kuper, Sahara14 (2003), 1678, gs. 12.7 For the residence of the local dynasty of state-controlled rulers of the oasis (HqAw wHAt) see Soukiassian,

EA 11 (1997), 1517; Soukiassian et al., Balat VI. Cf. Pantalacci, in Soukiassian et al., Balat VI, 4569, gs 269 [592b, 1389], 270 [647e].9 Op.cit., 333, 7 with n. .


4/36


FRSTER BMSAES 7

lled,20 show mineral stains characteristic for the evaporation of liquids. Water was of coursethe most basic need in these desert environments.2 Nevertheless, some of the vessels mighthave contained grain or other foodstuffs deposited for the donkeys and their drivers. Thisassumption was recently evidenced by the nding at one of the smaller stations of a jar stillcontaining some barley grain (gs. 1112). Multiple erosion lines caused by wind-blown sandare visible on the exterior of some vessels. They always occur at an angle of 2045 degreescompared to the central axis of the jars but at different places, thus indicating a repeated useafter they had lain empty for a while. For how long or for how often the jars were used ishowever difcult to estimate.

The sites along the trail where late Old Kingdom/First Intermediate Period pottery hasbeen found differ much in size and structure. Sometimes there are only a few sherds withoutany further archaeological context, probably the remains of one or two jars accidently brokenduring transport. Others yielded more vessels which had carefully been stored in rock sheltersclose to where people were to spend the night. The most important sites, however, are those

where several dozen vessels had been deposited and where simple stone structures, hearths,rock engravings and a number of other artefacts attest a temporary occupation for more thanone day or night.

Two sites, the original Abu Ballas site (gs. 24) and one named Muhattah Jaqub byCarlo Bergmann22 where some 70 jars have been excavated (gs. 1314), belong to this lattercategory. Besides the storage jars, both sites yielded similar cups and bowls, as well as large

vats used for the preparation of bread dough (see below). Furthermore there are identicalpotmarks. These two sites are therefore not only contemporaneous but should be consideredelements of the same operation(s). Obviously some people stayed here for a while, probablyto keep watch over the provisions until they would be needed. Senet-game boards made oflocal sandstone (g. 15), reworked pottery sherds and int stones used as tools (g. 16), and a

few rock engravings, elucidate how they spent their time at these lonely outposts. Among thelatter, there are rows of notches which may be interpreted as a counting of days (gs. 1718).More sophisticated rock art is attested at Abu Ballas: a scene showing a bearded Libyan (?)hunter with two dogs chasing a gazelle (g. 19), and one depicting a cow suckling its calf(g. 20).23 For Muhattah Jaqub a spiral motif may be mentioned (g. 21). Rock shelters,some of which were furnished with small walls made of loose stones as well as with hearths,had been used as resting places (g. 22). At Abu Ballas, a small cave (c. 2x.m, max. height.2m) halfway up the southeastern slope of the hill, thus affording a good vantage point, wasexcavated by the ACACIA-team in 2002 (gs. 234).

One of the duties of the men stationed here apparently was to prepare bread on a

comparatively large scale, probably in order to supply the members of the caravan to come.Sherds from two large vats, each with a capacity of more than 0 litres, have been found at

20 Cf. Balcz,MDAIK5 (1934), 78, g. 105. Some fragments of thin leather pieces have been excavated at AbuBallas in 2002.

2 Using pottery deposits as articial water reservoirs appears to be an age-old technique of long-distancedesert travel, cf. Herodotus III, .

22 Bergmann, Der letzte Beduine, 3868, 392, 415.23 Already discussed by Rhotert, Libysche Felsbilder, 704, pl. XXXVI [36].


5/36


FRSTER BMSAES 7

Abu Ballas, and three or four are attested for Muhattah Jaqub (gs. 256).2 Curiously, oneof them has a representation of a standing king wearing the double crown of Upper andLower Egypt on its outer, at, bottom, incised before ring (gs. 278). Since inscriptionsare almost entirely missing from the trail, this depiction of an unnamed pharaoh is the onlyevidence so far which might attest to activities of an ofcial nature.

The two sites under discussion also provide a clue for understanding the pattern ofdistribution of the main supply depots. Muhattah Jaqub is situated almost 80km northeastof Abu Ballas, where the next large depot has been installed (cf. g. 1). This distance mostprobably relates to the donkeys ability to go without water for two or three days, 2 an abilitythe Egyptians certainly made use of. Thus, the pack animals either walked c. 0km per dayand were watered at the end of every second, or they needed three days at a rate of c. 2530km to cover the distance, getting their water at the end of every third. Though the formergure cant be excluded, comparative data, both of ancient and more recent times, suggeststhe latter to be more realistic under the given circumstances. Moreover, the positions of

intermediate, smaller sites where people could spend the night before arriving at a maindepot supports such an interpretation. Of course, one cannot expect a mathematically exactdistribution of supply depots but one that had been dictated by practical considerations andexperience. More difcult terrain along some parts of the route would certainly have increasedthe journey time, and this is only one of the factors which might have had an impact on dailytravel rates. Nevertheless, assuming an average rate of c. 2530km per day for a pack trainconsisting of, perhaps, 50100 donkeys, it can reasonably be argued that the journey from theDakhla Oasis to the outskirts of the Gilf Kebir Plateau (or vice versa) could take around two

weeks. Presumably, the journeys were undertaken in the colder seasons, i.e. in winter or earlyspring times, when winter rains might even have provided fresh grass in places, especiallyin the surroundings of the mountainous region of the Gilf Kebir, frequently blessed with

cloud-cover.2Setting up such a chain of supply depots must have been a logistical challenge and a

laborious task as well. The storage jars weigh 1415kg on average; lled with water, theycould attain c. kg in weight, not easy to handle in the heat of the desert. To avoid a loss ofprecious water if a donkey lost its load, the vessels would have been transported empty, andlled at their nal destination. Most probably, the water had been carried separately in light,exible water bags which usually were made of goat skins (so-calledgirbas).27 Though todayoften replaced by the plastic jerrycan, this device was and still is the most essential equipmentof bedouins and other desert travellers (gs. 2930). A curious clay object found at Balat andsaid perhaps to represent a hippopotamus may actually be a model of such a water bag. 2

The jars, on the other hand, were probably carried in baskets. At one of the stations used in2 Similar vats were found in Balat: Soukiassian et al., Balat III, 11213, pl. 33; Castel et al., Balat V, 132, g. 135

[C78]; Soukiassian et al., Balat VI, 503, g. 335 [1228/1].2 Osborn and Osbornov, The Mammals of Ancient Egypt, 132; Dill, Life, Heat, and Altitude, 0, 09.2 Amounts of pressed dry grass, perhaps collected and deposited for use as animal fodder, have recently been

found at some of the smaller stations along the trail.27 Cf., for example, Gasse, in Menu (ed.), Les problmes institutionnels de leau en gypte ancienne et dans lAntiquit

mditerranenne, 1723.2 Soukiassian et al., Balat III, 27, pl. (no. ).


6/36



Ramesside times (Muhattah el-Homareen), such a means of transportation has been found,still covered with vessels of that period (g. 31).

Using donkeys, jars and water bags to prepare a way through the desert - how exactlydid this work? Without taking into account the additional weight of packing devices suchas baskets and ropes, a donkey load may well have consisted of either four empty jars ortwo large water bags, each lled with c. 30 litres of water (cf. gs. 323). Distributing theseloads of c. 60kg evenly on the animals anks was of course important. In order to place a

water depot of c. 3000 litres at Abu Ballas, for example, 2 donkeys were needed to carrya hundred containers, and 50 more to get the vessels lled. However, during the c. 200kmjourney from Dakhla to Abu Ballas and back again, the animals as well as their drivers wouldneed provisions, which could only have been provided at intermediate supply stations. Thesuccessive installation of these supply stations and the re-lling of their storage capacities

was evidently an enormous effort involving many donkey convoys.Revealing pharaonic advances far into the Libyan Desert and thereby contributing to the

early history of trans-Saharan trafc is interesting enough. Furthermore, the archaeologicalevidence of the trail allows insights into the methods and strategies of long-distance deserttravel at the end of the third millennium BC. But what was the reason for using the route insuch a manner in the late Old Kingdom/First Intermediate Period? What motivated such anexpenditure of resources? The answer probably lay on the backs of the donkeys, once all thestations were ready for use. But whatever the pack animals transported, traces have yet to befound in the archaeological record.

In order to offer a hypothetical explanation, two main aspects have to be dealt with.Firstly, what was the nal destination of the caravans (certainly not the Gilf Kebir), andsecondly, when exactly did the activities take place? Due to excavated material, the latter canbe answered more easily: the cups and bowls used at the stations (g. 34) have their best

parallels in ndings from the so-called premire phase post-incendie at Ayn Aseel. This isthe local phase that immediately followed the deliberate destruction by re of the governorsresidence around the end of the reign of Pepi II.29 We do not know what this decisive eventmeant to the line of governors in the late Sixth Dynasty and thereafter. But we do know thatsome governors still (or again) reigned in the oasis in the First Intermediate Period. 30 Tworadiocarbon dates from charcoal samples, stratigraphically connected with those cups at AbuBallas and Muhattah Jaqub, center around a calibrated age of 2190 30 years BC (KIA-203, -20). Accepting a long duration for the First Intermediate Period,3 this wouldlead us to the very end of the Old Kingdom, i.e. the Eighth Dynasty, or the beginning ofthe following epoch. Some simple motifs, engraved on the rocks of the trails stations and

known from contemporary button seals, t well with this chronological context: for exampleswastikas (g. 35), looped ropes (g. 36) and the spiral form from Muhattah Jaqub alreadymentioned (g. 21).32 The hunting scene from Abu Ballas (g. 19) can best be compared with

29 Soukiassian et al., Balat VI, 912, 5213, gs. 1, 5; Soukiassian,EA 11 (1997), 1517.30 Cf. Aufrre,gypte. Afrique & Orient18 (2000), 414; Pantalacci, in Pantalacci and Berger-el-Naggar (eds.),

Des Nferkar aux Montouhotep, 23.3 See Seidlmayer, in Shaw (ed.), The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, 119; id., GM 157 (1997), 8190. Cf.

Beckerath, Chronologie des pharaonischen gypten, 1435.32 Cf. Wiese, Die Anfnge der gyptischen Stempelsiegel-Amulette, pls. 27 (nos. 5557), 50 (nos. 10401); Pantalacci,


7/36


7 FRSTER BMSAES 7

similar scenes painted on First Intermediate Period bowls that have been found at the Qubbetel-Hawa near Aswan (gs. 3738).33

Where the trail ultimately led to is, on the other hand, difcult to answer. The nearestplaces with permanent water are the Kufra Oases in modern Libya, some 350km to thenorthwest of the eastern fringes of the southern Gilf Kebir, and Gebel Uweinat, some 200kmto the southwest. Kufra, however, surrounded by seas of sand, is rather isolated and probablybecame important for trade-caravans only with the introduction of the camel.3 Therefore,and for other reasons, it is to be assumed that the next leg of the route led towards GebelUweinat, the island-like most elevated feature in the whole of the eastern Sahara, which isprovided with a number of rain-fed wells at its foot (in Arabic, Uweinat means the smallfountains).3 From here it would be possible to reach more southern regions in the territoryof modern Sudan or Chad. To date, however, no evidence has been found in the GebelUweinat, nor in the Gilf Kebir proper, that attests to an Egyptian presence there.3

Epigraphic material from Ayn Aseel might help to throw some light on the matter. A few

letters of administrative contents, written on clay tablets and stored in the archives of thegovernors palace before it was destroyed, prove the existence of Egyptian relations withdistant regions, the names of which are otherwise unattested. One letter records a complaintthat a potter has not yet arrived at a place called Rudjet (RwDt), probably one of the villagesin the oasis (western?) outskirts, in order to prepare a way for the chief of a foreign regioncalled Demiiu (r irt wAt HqA n mi-iw).37 Another letter mentions that something should betaken from a granary that enriches (or lls,sxwd) the way of the same chief.3 Apparently, thelocal administration took some measures to facilitate movements of foreign groups coming

in Pantalacci and Berger-el-Naggar (eds.), Des Nferkar aux Montouhotep, 238, gs. 4 (no. 3816), 5 (no. 4421),cf. p. 236, g. 2.

33

Kuper, in Hawass and Pinch Brock (eds.), Proceedings of the Eighth International Congress of Egyptologists, 373;id., in Friedman (ed.),Egypt and Nubia: Gifts of the Desert, 910, pl. 21 (image inverted); id., BSFE (2003),1920, g. 4; cf. Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im Alten gypten, 314, pl. CXLII (J 49). For the datingof the bowls according to Seidlmayer see Stnkel, in Petschel and von Falck (eds.), Pharao siegt immer, 22 (no.2).

3 In the 1930s, the Hungarian desert explorer Ladislaus E. Almsy proposed that Abu Ballas was a waterstation marking the rst third of a route connecting Dakhla with the Kufra Oases. In his opinion, one ofthe valleys of the western Gilf Kebir Plateau, Wadi Abd el-Melik (which he claimed was the legendary lostoasis of Zarzura), was another intermediate stop after two thirds of the distance. See Almsy, Schwimmer inder Wste, 1089.

3 For Gebel Uweinat, situated in direct prolongation of the trail (cf. g. 1), and its exploration see Simons,in Schiffers (ed.) Die Sahara und ihre Randgebiete III, 4239; Czerniewicz et al.,Journal of African Archaeology2

(2004), 8196.3 Except for, perhaps, a single sherd found already in 1980 in the southwestern part of the Gilf Kebir Plateau

(B.O.S. site Wadi el-Akhdar 80/55) which has only recently been identied by Stan Hendrickx as belongingto a storage jar of the late Old Kingdom/First Intermediate Period.

37 Tablet no. 3: Pantalacci, BIFAO 98 (1998), 30610, g. 1; cf. Posener-Krieger, in Lalou (ed.), Les tablettes crire de lAntiquit lpoque Moderne, 456, g. 7. See also Pantalacci, in Eyre (ed.), Proceedings of the SeventhInternational Congress of Egyptologists, 3.

3 Tablet no. 3: Valloggia, Les oasis dgypte dans lAntiquit, 96, g. 81; Posener-Krieger, in Lalou (ed.), Lestablettes crire de lAntiquit lpoque Moderne, 45. Laure Pantalacci kindly provided me with a completetransliteration and translation of the text.


8/36



to Dakhla, measures that included the delivery or disposal of pottery and grain. A connectionbetween the subject of the letters and the slightly later establishment of the trails supplydepots seems reasonable.

But where is Demi-iu to be located? Since the place-name can be translated as village (orperhaps better: landing-place) of the island,39 it is, again, tempting to think of Gebel Uweinatand one of the wells at its foot. In the 920s, about 0 people of the Goran tribe, originatingfrom northern Chad, had settled here for some years, and their leader, Sheikh Herri, wasknown as the king of Uweinat (g. 39).0 Was the chief of Demi-iu a forerunner of SheikhHerri, 4000 years ago? In recent centuries, nomadic tribes from the south, such as the Goranor Tibu, frequently came to the Uweinat and Gilf Kebir when, during the rainy season orshortly after, the region offered good pastures for their animals. This was probably an age-old tradition.

In northwestern Sudan, where better climatic conditions prevailed in ancient times, there isarchaeological evidence indicating that highly mobile groups of pastoralists roamed vast areas

of the eastern Sahara around the end of the third millennium BC. Domestic donkeys hadserved as pack animals, and the specic pottery of these groups has been found, for example,in the Laqiya region, in Wadi Hariq and up to the Wadi Howar in the south. 2 There is reasonto assume that the transhumance cycles of the nomads, who might have been termedTmHw-Libyans by the Egyptians, not only encompassed these areas, but also the Uweinat regionand the Nile Valley south of the Third Cataract.3 The latter includes the region where theKerma state emerged, an important trading centre probably to be identied with the Yamcountry of Egyptian records.

The famous biography of Harkhuf, and other sources, indicate that by the late SixthDynasty, some generations before the stations of the Abu Ballas Trail were established, ithad become increasingly difcult to reach Yam due to a confederacy of hostile chiefdoms

in Lower Nubia: Irtjet, Setju and Wawat. On his third journey to Yam during the reign ofMerenra, Harkhuf preferred a route he called the oasis road (wAt wHAt) instead of one closerto the Nile, probably to avoid trouble. This time, however, he found his trading partner not athis residence in Yam, but on his way to smiteTmHw-Libyans to the western corner of heaven.Harkhuf wisely followed and satised (sHtp) him, as the text in his rock tomb at the Qubbetel-Hawa near Aswan concisely states. The journey was most successful: Harkhuf returned to

39 Cf. Posener-Krieger, in Lalou (ed.), Les tablettes crire de lAntiquit lpoque Moderne, .0 See Hassanein Bey, Rtsel der Wste, 1945, g. facing p. 192. Cf. Almsy, Schwimmer in der Wste, 168223, esp. 21521.2

Jesse et al.,Journal of African Archaeology2 (2004), 12364; Jesse, in Kroeper et al. (eds.),Archaeology of EarlyNortheastern Africa, 9871004.3 Cf. Jesse et al.,Journal of African Archaeology2 (2004), 1568; Czerniewicz et al.,Journal of African Archaeology2

(200), . Cf. Bonnet, in Wildung (ed.) Die Pharaonen des Goldlandes, 89; Manzo,changes et contacts de long du Nil et de la Mer

Rouge dans lpoque protohistorique, 1720 ; Obsomer, in Bruwier (ed.), Pharaons noirs. Sur la Piste des Quarante Jours,3952 (with further references). For an inscribed execration gure from Balat mentioning Yam see Grimal,inMlanges offerts Jean Vercoutter, 11121.

Sethe, Urkunden des Alten ReichsI, 12031; Lichtheim,Ancient Egyptian LiteratureI, 237; cf. the most recentstudy by Obsomer, in Bruwier (ed.), Pharaons noirs. Sur la Piste des Quarante Jours, 3952.


9/36


9 FRSTER BMSAES 7

Egypt with 300 donkeys laden with all sorts of good products such as incense, ebony, oils,panther skins and ivory. When he passed by, on his way back closer to the Nile, the residenceof the ruler of Irtjet, Setju and Wawat, his pack train was escorted by troops from Yam,guaranteeing a safe passage. Among the valuable goods Harkhuf nally delivered to his kingthere was also the information that Libyan tribes coming from the west or northwest were,at least sporadically, in contact with Yam.

So, in short, the Abu Ballas Trail may not have been the rst leg of a route destinedto open up new territories, or markets, in Kufra, northern Chad or the Darfur region inSudan when the central power of the Egyptian state was already in an advanced state ofdeterioration. Rather, it may have been part of a route that ultimately led to the Nile Valleyin Upper Nubia. In a time when more direct communication between Egypt and Yam hadbecome a serious problem, the search for an alternative trade route might well have becomea requirement. Libyan nomadic groups could have acted as middlemen or intermediaries,and one of their leaders who could have managed part of the protable trafc perhaps had

a temporary base at Gebel Uweinat. The main tasks of the local administration in Dakhlawould have been to organize communications, engage Libyan groups to participate, and tomake the most difcult desert stretch between the Gilf Kebir Plateau and the Dakhla Oasispassable for donkey caravans. It almost goes without saying that this scenario raises a numberof questions and will remain a mere hypothesis until new material comes to light.

In any case, the archaeological evidence does not attest to a very intense or long use ofthe Abu Ballas Trail in the period under discussion: the pottery seems most homogeneousand the rock engravings found at some of the stations are comparatively few in number. Thefour rows of notches at Muhattah Jaqub (g.18) may well represent the minimum numberof seasons when all of the trails supply stations were ready for use.

In the Middle Kingdom, probably in the Twelfth Dynasty, the steward (imy-rA pr) Mery left

a short semi-hieratic inscription, the only one so far known from the trail, at a conspicuousrock about 30km southwest of Dakhla (Merys Rock: g. 40, cf. g.1). As it states, Mery setout in regnal year 23 of an unnamed king in order to search out the oasis dwellers (r Da(r)wHAtyw, g. 41).7 The arrival of foreign groups at Dakhla in the late Old Kingdom or earlyFirst Intermediate Period was probably part of the collective memory in much later times,

when a chain of forts was set up in Lower Nubia, in order to control direct access to theregions further south.

We do not know how far Mery advanced on his reconnaissance trip, but no MiddleKingdom pottery has been found along the trail. It was not before the early New Kingdomthat large amounts of storage jars were once again been dumped between Dakhla and the

Gilf Kebir, but this is another story the Abu Ballas Trail has to tell.

Published by Burkard, Sahara9 (1997), 1523. Cf. Baud et al., BIFAO 99 (1999), 7, g. 8; Kuhlmann, inJennerstrasse 8 (ed.), Tides of the Desert, 1568, gs. 1718.

7 Burkards reading requires the modications outlined by Darnell, Theban Desert Road Survey in the EgyptianWestern Desert, Vol. , 73.

For the function of the Second Cataract forts see Trigger, JSSEA 12 (1982), 16; Kemp, Ancient Egypt.Anatomy of a Civilization, 16678; Smith,JARCE 28 (1991), 10732.


10/36



Acknowledgements

This is a slightly altered version of a paper read at the British Museums internationalcolloquiumEgypts great oases: the archaeology of Kharga, Dakhla and the roads of the West (July1920, 2006). I would like to thank Vivian Davies for his kind invitation to contribute tothis stimulating meeting. A more in-depth analysis of the pharaonic use of the trail willbe found in this authors Ph.D. dissertation, Der Abu Ballas-Weg. Eine Langstreckenroute in derLibyschen Wste (Oase Dachla - Gilf Kebir) und ihre Nutzung in pharaonischer Zeit(University ofCologne, in preparation). The scientic investigation of the Abu Ballas Trail reported herehas been carried out within the scope of ACACIAs subprojects A Climatic change andhuman settlement between the Nile Valley and the Central Sahara and E3 Routes and tradein arid zones. ACACIA (Arid Climate, Adaptation and Cultural Innovation in Africa) is aCollaborative Research Centre (SFB 39) at the University of Cologne generously funded bythe Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft since 1995. My sincere thanks go to Rudolph Kuper

who, as the head of subproject E3, entrusted me with dealing with this fascinating subjectfrom an Egyptologists point of view, as well as to my colleagues Stan Hendrickx, MichaelHerb, Heiko Riemer and Peter Schnfeld who contributed to the research in many ways. Theanalysis by Stan Hendrickx of the trails pottery deposits has been made possible by a grantof the Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Vlaanderen, Belgium. Nadja Pllath (Institut frPaloanatomie und Geschichte der Tiermedizin, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitt Mnchen)and Stefanie Nubaum (SFB 39 ACACIA) investigated the animal and plant remains. Workin Egypt was kindly permitted by the Permanent Committee of the Supreme Council of

Antiquities and supported by Maher Bashendi and Sayed Yamany, Chief Inspectors, DakhlaOasis.

Bibliography

Almsy, L.E., Schwimmer in der Wste. Auf der Suche nach der Oase Zarzura. Mnchen: DeutscherTaschenbuch Verlag2, 1999 [new and enlarged edition of Unbekannte Sahara. Mit Flugzeugund Auto in der Libyschen Wste. Leipzig: Brockhaus, 1939].

Aufrre, S.H., Et les oasis? Relations entre les oasis mridionales et Thbes,gypte, Afrique& Orient18 (2000), 414.

Balcz, H., Die Gefdarstellungen des Alten Reiches,MDAIK5 (1934), 4594.Ball, J., Problems of the Libyan Desert, Geographical Journal70 (1927), 2138, 105128, 209

22.Baud, M., Colin, F. and Tallet, P., Les gouverneurs de loasis de Dakhla au Moyen Empire,BIFAO 99 (1999), 119.

Beckerath, J. von, Chronologie des pharaonischen gypten. Die Zeitbestimmung der gyptischen Geschichtevon der Vorzeit bis 332 v. Chr. MS 46, Mainz: Philipp von Zabern, 1997.

Bergmann, C., Der letzte Beduine. Meine Karawane zu den Geheimnissen der Wste, Reinbek beiHamburg: Rowohlt, 200.

Bergmann, C. and Kuhlmann, K.P., Die Expedition des Cheops, GEO Special5 (2001), 1207.


11/36


FRSTER BMSAES 7

Bonnet, C., Das Knigreich von Kerma, in Wildung, D. (ed.), Die Pharaonen des Goldlandes.Antike Knigreiche im Sudan [exhibition catalogue, Reiss-Museum Mannheim]. Mannheim:Waanders Uitgevers, 1998: 8995.

Boutantin, C., Les gurines en terre crue de la ncropole de Balat, BIFAO 99 (1999), 41.

Brewer, D.J., Redford, D.B. and Redford, S., Domestic Plants and Animals: The Egyptian Origins.Warminster: Aris & Phillips Ltd, 1994.

Burkard, G., Inscription in the Dakhla Region. Text, Translation and Comments, Sahara9(1997), 1523.

Castel, G., Pantalacci, L. and Cherpion, N., Balat V: Le mastaba de Khentika. Tombeau dungouverneur de lOasis la n de lAncien Empire. FIFAO 40/12. Le Caire: Institut franaisdarchologie orientale, 200.

Czerniewicz, M. von, Lenssen-Erz, T. and Linstdter, J., Preliminary Investigations in theDjebel Uweinat Region, Libyan Desert,Journal of African Archaeology2 (1) (2004), 8196.

Darnell, J.C., Theban Desert Road Survey in the Egyptian Western Desert, Vol. : Gebel Tjauti RockInscriptions 145 and Wadi elHl Rock Inscriptions 145. OIP 9. Chicago: The OrientalInstitute of the University of Chicago, 2002.

Davies, N. de Garis, The Rock Tombs of El Amarna, IV: The Tombs of Penthu, Mahu, and Others.Archaeological Survey of Egypt 16. London: Egypt Exploration Fund, 1906.

Decker, W. and Herb, M., Bildatlas zum Sport im Alten gypten. Corpus der bildlichen Quellen zuLeibesbungen, Spiel, Jagd, Tanz und verwandten Themen. HdO I, XIV, 12. Leiden, New Yorkand Kln: Brill, 1994.

Dill, D.B., Life, Heat, and Altitude. Physiological Effects of Hot Climates and Great Heights, Cambridge:Harvard University Press, 93.

Fakhry, A., The Search for Texts in the Western Desert, in Textes et langages de lgypte

pharaonique. Cent cinquante annes de recherches 1822-1972. Hommages Jean-Franois Champollion.BdE 64/2. Le Caire: Institut franais darchologie orientale du Caire, 1973, 20722.

Frster, F., The Abu Ballas Trail: a Pharaonic Donkey-caravan Route in the Libyan Desert (SW-Egypt), in Bubenzer, O., Bolten, A. and Darius, F. (eds.),Atlas of Cultural and EnvironmentalChange in Arid Africa.Africa Praehistorica 21. Kln: Heinrich-Barth-Institut, 2007, 1303.

Frster, F. and Kuper, R., Abu Ballas (Pottery Hill): Call for Information, Sahara (2003),1678.

Gasse, A., Lapprovisionnement en eau dans les mines et carrires, in Menu, B. (ed.), Lesproblmes institutionnels de leau en gypte ancienne et dans lAntiquit mditerranenne. BdE 110. LeCaire: Institut franais darchologie orientale, 1994, 16976.

Grimal, N.-C., Les noys de Balat, inMlanges offerts Jean Vercoutter

. Paris: EditionsRecherche sur les Civilisations. 1985, 11121.Hassanein Bey, A.M., Rtsel der Wste. Leipzig: Brockhaus, 1926.Henein, N.H., Poterie et potiers dal-Qasr, Oasis de Dakhla. BdE 116. Le Caire: Institut franais

darchologie orientale, 997.Janssen, J.J., Donkeys at Deir el-Medna. Egyptologische Uitgaven 19. Leiden, Nederlands

Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten, 200.Jarvis, C.S., Three Deserts. London: John Murray, 1936.Jesse, F., Pastoral Groups in the Southern Libyan Desert: The Handessi Horizon (c. 2400


12/36



1100 BC), in Kroeper, K., Chlodnicki, M. and Kobusiewicz, M. (eds.),Archaeology of EarlyNortheastern Africa. In Memory of Lech Krzyzaniak, Studies in African Archaeology 9, Poznan:Poznan Archaeological Museum, 2006, 9871004.

Jesse, F., Krpelin, S., Lange, M., Pllath, N. and Berke, H., On the Periphery of Kerma -The Handessi Horizon in Wadi Hariq, Northwestern Sudan,Journal of African Archaeology2 (2) (2004), 12364.

Kaper, O.E. and Willems, H., Policing the Desert: Old Kingdom Activity around the DakhlehOasis, in Friedman, R. (ed.), Egypt and Nubia: Gifts of the Desert. London: The BritishMuseum Press, 2002, 7994.

Kemal el Dine, H. and Franchet, L., Les dpots de jarres du dsert de Lybie [sic], Revuescientique65 (1927), 596600.

Kemp, B.J.,Ancient Egypt. Anatomy of a Civilization. London and New York: Routledge, 1989.Kuhlmann, K.P., The Oasis Bypath or the Issue of Desert Trade in Pharaonic Times, in

Jennerstrasse 8 (ed.), Tides of the Desert - Gezeiten der Wste. Contributions to the Archaeology

and Environmental History of Africa in Honour of Rudolph Kuper. Africa Praehistorica 14. Kln:Heinrich Barth Institut, 2002, 12570.Kuhlmann, K.P., Der Wasserberg des Djedefre (Chufu 01/1). Ein Lagerplatz mit

Expeditionsinschriften der . Dynastie im Raum der Oase Dachla, MDAIK (200),24389.

Kuhrt, A., The Exploitation of the Camel in the Neo-Assyrian Empire, in Leahy, A. andTait, J. (eds.), Studies on Ancient Egypt in Honour of H.S. Smith. EES Occasional Publications13. London: Egypt Exploration Society, 1999, 17984.

Kuper, R., By donkey train to Kufra? - How Mr Meri went west, Antiquity75 (2001), 8012.

Kuper, R., Routes and Roots in Egypts Western Desert. The Early Holocene Resettlement

of the Eastern Sahara, in Friedman, R. (ed.),Egypt and Nubia: Gifts of the Desert, London:The British Museum Press, 2002, 112.

Kuper, R., The Abu Ballas Trail: Pharaonic Advances into the Libyan Desert, in Hawass, Z.and Pinch Brock, L. (eds.),Egyptology at the Dawn of the Twentyrst Century: Proceedings of the

Eighth International Congress of Egyptologists, Cairo 2000, Vol. 2: History, Religion. Cairo, NewYork: American University in Cairo Press, 2003, 3726.

Kuper, R., Les marches occidentales de lgypte: dernires nouvelles, BSFE (2003),1234.

Kuper, R., News from Nubias western hinterland, in Caneva, I. and Roccati, A. (eds.), ActaNubica. Proceedings of the X. International Conference of Nubian Studies Rome 914 September2002

. Roma: Universit di Roma La Sapienza, 2006, 35563.Kuper, R. and Frster, F., Khufus mefat expeditions into the Libyan desert,EA 23 (2003),258.

Lichtheim, M.,Ancient Egyptian Literature. A Book of Readings, I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms.Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, 1973.

Manzo, A.,changes et contacts de long du Nil et de la Mer Rouge dans lpoque protohistorique (IIIeet IIe millnaires avant J.-C.). Une synthse prliminaire. Cambridge Monographs in African

Archaeology = BAR International Series 72. Oxford: Archaeopress, 999.Midant-Reynes, B. and BraunsteinSilvestre, F., Le chameau en gypte, Or46 (1977), 337


13/36


3 FRSTER BMSAES 7

2.Minault-Gout, A., Balat II: Le mastaba dImaPepi (Mastaba II) n de lAncien Empire. FIFAO 33.

Le Caire: Institut franais darchologie orientale, 1992.Newberry, P.E., Beni Hasan, Part I. Archaeological Survey of Egypt [1]. London: The Egypt

Exploration Fund, 93.Obsomer, C., Les expditions dHerkhouf (VIe dynastie) et la localisation de Iam, in Bruwier,

M.-C. (ed.), Pharaons noirs. Sur la Piste des Quarante Jours. Catalogue de lexposition du 9mars au 2 septembre 2007 par le Muse royal de Mariemont. Mariemont: Muse royal deMariemont, 2007, 3952.

Osborn, D.J. and Osbornov, J., The Mammals of Ancient Egypt, The Natural History of Egypt.Warminster: Aris & Phillips Ltd., 1998.

Pantalacci, L., La documentation pistolaire du palais des gouverneurs Balat-Ayn Asil,BIFAO 98 (1998), 30315.

Pantalacci, L., Les habitants de Balat la VIme dynastie: esquisse dhistoire sociale, in

Eyre, C.J. (ed.), Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of Egyptologists, Cambridge, 39September 1995. OLA 82, Leuven: Peeters, 1998, 82937.Pantalacci, L., Sceaux et empreintes de sceaux comme critres de datation. Les enseignements

des fouilles de Balat, in Pantalacci, L. and Berger-el-Naggar, C. (eds.), Des Nferkar auxMontouhotep. Travaux archologiques en cours sur la n de la VIe dynastie et la Premire PriodeIntermdiaire. Actes du Colloque CNRS - Universit Lumire-Lyon 2, tenu le 57 juillet 2001 .

Travaux de la Maison de lOrient et de la Mditerrane 40. Lyon: Jean Pouilloux, 2005,22938.

Posener-Krieger, P., Les tablettes en terre crue de Balat, in Lalou, . (ed.), Les tablettes crirede lAntiquit lpoque Moderne. Bibliologia 12. Turnhout: Brepols, 1992, 4152.

Pusch, E.B., Ein Dromedar aus der RamsesStadt,&L6 (1996), 10718.

Rhotert, H., Libysche Felsbilder. Ergebnisse der XI. und XII. Deutschen InnerAfrikanischen ForschungsExpedition (DIAFE) 1933/1934/1935. Darmstadt: L. C. Wittich, 1952.

Riemer, H., The Archaeology of a Desert Road the Navigation System of the Abu BallasTrail, in Bubenzer, O., Bolten, A. and Darius, F. (eds.),Atlas of Cultural and EnvironmentalChange in Arid Africa. Africa Praehistorica 21. Kln: Heinrich-Barth-Institut, 2007, 1345.

Riemer, H., Frster, F., Hendrickx, S., Nussbaum, S., Eichhorn, B., Pllath, N., Schnfeld, P.and Wagner, G., Zwei pharaonische Wstenstationen sdwestlich von Dachla,MDAIK61 (2005), 291350.

Ripinsky, M., The Camel in Dynastic Egypt,JEA 71 (1985), 13441.Rowley-Conwy, P., The Camel in the Nile Valley: new Radiocarbon Accelerator (AMS) dates

from Qasr Ibrm,JEA

74 (1988), 2458.Schnfeld, P., Wegstationen auf dem Abu Ballas Trail. Dynastische Fundpltze aus der Western Desertgyptens. Unpublished M.A. Thesis, Institut fr Vor- und Frhgeschichtliche Archologieder Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universitt zu Bonn, Bonn 2004.

Seidlmayer, S.J., Zwei Anmerkungen zur Dynastie der Herakleopoliten, GM 7 (997),8190.

Seidlmayer, S.J., The First Intermediate Period (c. 21602055 BC), in Shaw, I. (ed.), TheOxford History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000, 11847.

Sethe, K., Urkunden des Alten Reichs I. Urkunden des gyptischen Altertums, . Abt., Bd. I. Leipzig:


14/36


FRSTER BMSAES 7

Hinrichs, 933.Simons, P., Uweinat, ein Insel-Gebirge am Grenzkreuz, in Schiffers, H. (ed.), Die Sahara

und ihre Randgebiete. Darstellung eines Naturgroraumes, III: Regionalgeographie. Afrika-Studien 2.Mnchen: Weltforum Verlag, 1973, 4239.

Smith, S.T., Askut and the Role of the Second Cataract Forts,JARCE 28 (1991), 10732.Soukiassian, G., A Governors Palace at Ayn Asil, Dakhla Oasis,EA 11 (1997), 1517.Soukiassian, G., Wuttmann, M., and Pantalacci, L., Balat VI: Le palais des gouverneurs de lpoque

de Ppy II: Les sanctuaires de ka et leurs dpendances. FIFAO 46, Le Caire: Institut franaisdarchologie orientale, 2002.

Soukiassian, G., Wuttmann, M., Pantalacci, L., Ballet, P. and Picon, M., Balat III: Les ateliers depotiers dAynAsil. Fin de lAncien Empire, Premire Priode intermdiaire. FIFAO 34. Le Caire:Institut franais darchologie orientale, 990.

Stnkel, I., Schale mit Darstellung eines nubischen Jgers, in Petschel, S. and von Falck, M.(eds.), Pharao siegt immer. Krieg und Frieden im Alten gypten [exhibition catalogue, Gustav-

Lbcke-Museum Hamm]. Bnen: Kettler, 2004, 221 (no. 214).Trigger, B.G., The Reasons for the Construction of the Second Cataract Forts,JSSEA 2(1982), 16.

Valloggia, M., Balat I: Le mastaba de Medou-Nefer. FIFAO 31/12. Le Caire: Institut franaisdarchologie orientale, 9.

Valloggia, M., Les oasis dgypte dans lAntiquit. Des origines au deuxime millnaire avant J.C.Gollion: Infolio ditions, 200.

Wiese, A.B.,Die Anfnge der gyptischen Stempelsiegel-Amulette. Eine typologische und religionsgeschichtlicheUntersuchung zu den Knopfsiegeln und verwandten Objekten der 6. bis frhen 12. Dynastie. OBOSeries Archaeologica 12. Freiburg, Gttingen: Universittsverlag Freiburg and Vandenhoeck& Ruprecht Gttingen, 1996.


15/36


FRSTER BMSAES 7

Fig. : Satellite image showing the chain of archaeological sites along the Abu Ballas Trail. The square in the

inset marks the area between Dakhla and the Gilf Kebir crossed by the trail.

Fig. 2: Abu Ballas or Pottery Hill (site Abu Ballas /), the northern (on the right hand) of two lonelyPottery Hill (site Abu Ballas /), the northern (on the right hand) of two lonelysandstone cones, some 200km southwest of the Dakhla Oasis (photo: R. Kuper).uthwest of the Dakhla Oasis (photo: R. Kuper).


16/36



Fig. 3: Northern pottery depot at Abu Ballas, once consisting of more than a hundred late Old Kingdom/First Intermediate Period storage jars. Photograph taken by J. Ball after excavation in 1923 (Ball,Geographical Journal70 (1927), g. facing p. 125, above).

Fig. 4: Prince Kemal el-Din at the southern depot at Abu Ballas which included some Eighteenth Dynastyamphorae. Obviously the vessels had been arranged for the picture taken by J. Ball in 1923 (Ball,Geographical Journal70 (1927), g. facing p. 125, below).


17/36


7 FRSTER BMSAES 7

Fig. 5: Map showing Old Kingdom hilltop sites on the periphery of Dakhla, used as watch posts to controlthe oasis eastern, southern and southwestern fringes (Riemer et al.,MDAIK61 (2005), 295, g. 1).Note the course of the Abu Ballas Trail, suggesting Balat/Ayn Aseel as point of departure.

Fig. : The trails largest road sign, or alam: a carefully stacked pile of stones more than two metres high(Muhattah Umm el-Alamat, site Jaqub 99/30). The impressive construction also served as a wind-breaker for a small resting area at its foot, delimited by two dry stone walls (photo: R. Kuper).


18/36



Fig. 7: Ancient donkey track passing-by a simple upright stone slab (photo: R. Kuper).

Fig. : One of a number of small stone circles which probably served as basins for watering or feedingdonkeys (Muhattah Umm el-Alamat, site Jaqub 99/30, photo: R. Kuper).


19/36


9 FRSTER BMSAES 7

Fig. 9: Some late Old Kingdom / First Intermediate Period storage jars (as well as the lower part of anEighteenth Dynasty amphora) found at Abu Ballas (photo: R. Kuper).

Fig. 0: Drawing (S. Hendrickx) of one of the better preserved storage jars bearing a -potmark on itsupper body.


20/36



Fig. 11: Lower part of a storage jar still containing remains of barley grain (site Jaqub 00/20, excavated inMarch 200, photo: H. Riemer).

Fig. 2: Detail of the remains of barley grain (photo: H. Riemer).


21/36


2 FRSTER BMSAES 7

Fig. 13: Sandstone hill at Muhattah Jaqub (site Jaqub 99/31). In the foreground the remains of storage jarsMuhattah Jaqub (site Jaqub 99/31). In the foreground the remains of storage jarshalf-buried in the sand (photo: R. Kuper).(photo: R. Kuper)..

Fig. : Some of the jars after excavation (photo: R. Kuper).


22/36


23/36


23 FRSTER BMSAES 7

Fig. 17: Row of notches engraved upon a rock face at a resting place at Abu Ballas (photo: R.Kuper).

Fig. 18: Four rows of notches engraved upon rock faces at resting places at Muhattah Jaqub

(Schnfeld, Wegstationen auf dem Abu Ballas Trail, g. 52).


24/36



Fig. 19: Rock engraving at Abu Ballas showing a Libyan (?) hunter with two dogs chasing a gazelle (photo:

R. Kuper).

Fig. 20: Representation of a cow suckling its calf at Abu Ballas (photo: R. Kuper).


25/36


2 FRSTER BMSAES 7

Fig. 21: A spiral motif, one of a few rock engravings at Muhattah Jaqub (photo: R. Kuper).

Fig. 22: Dry stone wall surrounding a small resting area beneath a rock shelter at Muhattah Jaqub (site

Jaqub 99/32, photo: R. Kuper).


26/36



Fig. 23: Entrance of a small natural cave halfway up the southeastern slope of the Abu Ballas hill, excavated

in spring 2002 (photo: R. Kuper).

Fig. 24: Ground-plan showing the caves dimensions as well as the position of ndings within the rock nichearea in front of it: fragments of storage jars, cups and vats (Schnfeld, Wegstationen auf dem AbuBallas Trail, g. 12). Note the hearth on the lower left and the position, marked by B, of the notchesshown in g. 17.


27/36


27 FRSTER BMSAES 7

Fig. 25: One of the vats found at Muhattah Jaqub (photo: R. Kuper).

Fig. 26: Drawing (S. Hendrickx) of the vat shown in g. 25.


28/36



Fig. 27: Representation of a standing pharaoh, incised on the at outer bottom of a broken vat found at Abu

Ballas (photo: R. Kuper, drawing: S. Hendrickx).


29/36


29 FRSTER BMSAES 7

Fig. 28: Detail of g.27. Note the necklace and the staff, or shepherds crook, in the kings left hand.

Fig. 29: The famous representation of an Asiatic caravan in the Twelfth Dynasty tomb of Khnumhotep IIat Beni Hasan (Newberry, Beni HasanI, pl. 3). Two of the men carry water bags slung on their

shoulders.


30/36



Fig. 30: A bedouin boy with a water bag made of a goat skin (from an old postcard by Lehnert & Landrock,Cairo).

Fig. 3: The well-preserved remains of a woven basket or bag uncovered below an assemblage of Ramesside

storage jars at Muhattah el-Homareen (site Jaqub 99/33, photo: R. Kuper).


31/36


3 FRSTER BMSAES 7

Fig. 32: Below: transport of four water jars in two baskets xed on donkey-back, modern Dakhla (Henein,Poterie et potiers dal-Qasr, Oasis de Dakhla, 168, g. 102). Above: a donkey carrying two vessels asdepicted in the Eighteenth Dynasty tomb of Mahu at el-Amarna (de Garis Davies, The Rock Tombs ofEl AmarnaIV, pl. 2, lower right).

Fig. 33: A donkey carrying two large water bags made of animal skins. Detail from a modern trade caravan innorthern Chad (photo: M. Meerpohl).


32/36



Fig. 34: Types of late Old Kingdom/early First Intermediate Period cups and bowls found at some stationsalong the trail (drawings: S. Hendrickx)


33/36


33 FRSTER BMSAES 7

Fig. 35: Rock engravings at Muhattah Harding King (site Jaqub 99/35, photo: R. Kuper). On the right, aswastika-like motif which probably developed from a combination of four antelopes foreparts asfound on late Old Kingdom/First Intermediate Period button seals (cf. Wiese, Die Anfngeder gyptischen Stempelsiegel-Amulette, 84 (g. 29), 1335, pls. 247).

Fig. 36: Looped ropes engraved on a broken stone slab found at site Jaqub 00/21. The hieroglyphic signs onthe right may be read assnb, health (photo: S. Hendrickx).


34/36



Fig. 37: Painted bowl, dated to the First Intermediate Period, from a tomb at the Qubbet el-Hawa nearAswan (photo: R. Kuper).

Fig. 38: Another painted bowl from the Qubbet el-Hawa bearing a similar decoration (photo: R. Kuper).

Both desert hunting scenes, showing a Nubian and an Egyptian individual, respectively, accompanied

by two dogs, can easily be compared to the rock engraving at Abu Ballas (g. 19).


35/36


3 FRSTER BMSAES 7

Fig. 39: Sheikh Herri (on the left), the king of Uweinat in the 920s, and one of his fellows (Hassanein Bey,

Rtsel der Wste, g. facing p. 192).

Fig. 40: Merys Rock (site Meri 95/5, photo: R. Kuper).


36/36



Fig. 41: The semi-hieratic rock inscription left by the steward Mery (photo: R. Kuper).

Documents

With donkeys, jars and water bags into the Libyan Desert the Abu Ballas Trail in the late Old KingdomFirst Intermediate Period