Archaeologist reassesses scope of early Egyptian colonies in Southern Levant

AMMAN — The question of permanent Egyptian colonies in the southern Levant remains a matter of debate among scholars.

Until the discovery of Tell es-Sakan, Archaeologist Eliot Braun was somewhat dubious of that characterisation, and he thought such occupation might have been confined to enclaves of Nilotic peoples within primarily south Levantine population centres.

Braun accepts the existence of an Egyptian colony independent of south Levantine communities, but with reservations concerning its scope.

"Scholars’ characterisations tended to 'paint pictures' of that colony with very broad brushes and, I believe, to exaggerate the degree and nature of the Egyptian colonial episode. Their interpretations also purportedly indicated quite distinct territorial limits for the colony and even some rather precise descriptions of its socio-political and military activities," Braun said.

Following is a brief review of the more detailed characterisations available in the literature, with my most recent interpretations of available evidence.

Three, or possibly four sites in the southern Levant, all in the central, southwest fertile zone seem to have been populated by immigrants from Egypt’s Nile Valley, he added.

That hypothesis is extrapolated from the evidence of material culture at a handful of sites, which seems to have been predominantly Egyptian-associated, with little evidence of local south Levantine material culture. One site seems to have been central to the Egyptian colonial enterprise, while two or possibly three others were apparently its satellites, the archaeologist underlined.

 There may have also been a fifth site associated with the Egyptian colony, but information on it is equivocal.

The first is Tell es-Sakan where wealth of Egyptian and Egyptianised material culture that apparently predominated at the site in four of the earliest strata, offers great credence to the idea of a permanent Egyptian community planted in the southern Levant, Braun elaborated, adding that the site is strategically placed adjacent to possible anchorages on the Mediterranean coast and not far from the border of the arid, northern Sinai land route.

"Tell es-Sakan was an ideal location for a south Levantine colonial enterprise. The relative size of that occupation, as well as its associated massive fortifications, proclaim it the central site of Egyptian activity in the southern Levant in that time span," Braun underscored.

The second is En Besor that was completely excavated and it has been dated to late EB I.

The third is Tel Ma’ahaz which is less known and due to limited fieldwork, scholars concluded that it was a campsite. 

"However, the wealth of looted ceramics from the site argues for a more sedentary type of settlement as well as suggesting it too was largely, if not exclusively, populated by Egyptians," Braun underlined.

The fourth one is Taur Ikhbeineh which is in a close proximity to Tell es-Sakan, and it seems likely that the site was some sort of satellite to the larger community occupying the fortified site nearby.

The fifth one is locale of Sheikfh Zuweid, Northern Sinai

Five intact Egyptian storage jars, four of which are published, purportedly from a locale near Sheikh Zuweid on the Wady el-Arish (located east of el-Arish where they were purchased) in northern Sinai, may, if indeed such a site existed and these vessels derive from it, indicate additional Egyptian activity at the very border of the southern Levant. 

"As these objects were looted in modern times, and acquired on the antiquities market, there is no surety of such an archaeological provenience. If such an Egyptian settlement actually existed there, then that site might have been associated with activity in more eastern regions, perhaps as a way-station on the way to copper sources at Timna and Faynan," Braun concluded.