Inhabiting post-Roman Egyptian port: the households of Berenike

Created at 9.06.2024 by Mariusz Gwiazda in Project

National Science Centre, Poland Grant “OPUS” nr 2023/25/N/HS3/00XXX / Project director Dr. Emilia Smagur

The proposed project aims to explore the domestic life of the post-Roman (4th - 6th c. CE) Eastern Desert port through a multidisciplinary study of the westernmost insulae of Berenike which was, most probably, controlled in this very period by the Blemmyes. It is inspired by anthropology and sees a household as an essential unit of analysis, being a social construct and the fundamental element of human society. It intends to combine methods of inquiry used in disciplines such as history, archaeology, ethnography, and chemistry to obtain a multifaceted, cross-disciplinary perspective on the complexity and diversity of the roles of households. During its implementation, their various aspects will be elucidated through the study of domestic architecture, the use of domestic space, and the wide spectrum of domestic material culture. In order to fulfill the project objectives several important and interrelated research questions will be answered, related to the building techniques, house components, status, wealth, social background and geographical origin of the household members, the relation between the private and public space, the functional and social organization of domestic space, the dweller's perception of space within houses as well as rituals and symbolism in household behaviors. The area chosen for research covers three insulae and is located in the southwestern part of the town, on the eastern shore of the Berenike southwestern bay.

The research will be carried out in three main stages. For each year of the duration of the project, a five-week-long field season of survey and excavations in Berenike is planned, during which the site will be excavated, and georeferenced, the research area will be documented photogrammetrically, and the soil samples will be collected. Finds such as pottery, textiles, beads and ivory objects, wooden fragments, glass fragments, metal objects, and animal bones will be documented and analyzed. The macrobotanical remains will be also studied. The geochemical investigation of the archaeological sediments will constitute an important component of the proposed research, providing an insight into the internal, spatial organization, and functions of spaces by linking human activities to specific chemical signatures. Since Berenike was abandoned by its inhabitant many artifacts might have been taken with them. Therefore, the view of a house from the perspective of activities performed is crucial for understanding the use and functions of rooms and buildings, providing information about the activities not confirmed by the presence of artifacts, and revealing potential invisible activity areas that cannot be detected through classic archaeological methods. The reconstruction of a function of space and its changeability within households will be conducted based on geochemical analysis, investigation of planigraphy of artifacts, distribution of pottery, as well as botanical and faunal remains, information on architecture, all built-in features, and the results of an ethnographic survey conducted near Berenike. The dweller's perception of space will be examined by application of space syntax analysis (access to particular spaces and visibility and exposure of areas within the house), providing a better understanding of the privacy and public-private dichotomy. For conceptualizing space within compounds, a Portnoy model of division of space will be applied. The relation of the houses to the rest of the town will be studied through building techniques, organization of space, and artefact assemblages.

The project is to be the first comprehensive study of the domestic architecture and households of the post-Roman Eastern Desert settlement, which also functioned as a port, providing further depth and texture to our understanding of social and economic practices in this region, as well as in the Indian Ocean world. The research questions regarding the site are also linked to the broader historical narratives about cross-cultural relations. The specific nature of ports and their connection with places across water meant that they might have attracted different people living in the same town. The analysis of households can also shed light on aspects of their lifeways and the cultural interaction of different people in port towns.