The fortress-town of el-Deir, also known as Deir el-Ganayim, lies at
the foot of the eastern escarpment about 20km north of el-Kharga,
where it guarded the main desert route towards Farshut and the Nile
Valley. It is one of the most impressive Roman fortresses in North
Kharga.
The huge enclosure measures 73m square and had twelve round towers
interspersed along its thick mudbrick walls. The towers were
interconnected by a parapet running along the top, accessible via
staircases inside the fortress. Entrances to the fortress were on the
northern, eastern and western walls but it is the southern wall which
is the best preserved, still rising to a height of around 10m. The
interior is now empty apart from a few rooms on the southern side of
the courtyard and the plastered walls of these rooms still contain a
wealth of modern graffiti left by British soldiers who were stationed
nearby during the First World War, as well as many Arabic, Coptic and
Turkish names. In the centre of the courtyard a deep well provided the
inhabitants with water which was also channelled through an ingenious
system of underground conduits to the outbuildings and cultivated
fields beyond. Although never excavated, the fortress is thought to
date from the reign of Diocletian at the end of the 3rd century AD.
Sadly, much of this magnificent fortress is now irrevocably ruined by
the destructive forces of sand and wind, but assessments for the
consolidation and restoration of the remains are being currently
undertaken by the French team Alpha Necropolis, who will present them
to the Supreme Council of Antiquities.
A town lay on the northern side of the fortress and surrounded a
temple which also remains unexcavated. A great number of pottery
sherds litter the ground but remains of any dwellings have yet to be
found, even though their irrigation system is quite visible. It is
thought that the site was occupied from the Ptolemaic Period or
earlier through to the 5th century AD, and was cultivated up to the
20th century when it was eventually deserted.
The temple, about 1.5km north of the fortress, is constructed from
mudbrick, similar in plan to the temple at Qasr Dush and thought to
date to the 2nd to 3rd centuries AD. It contains an antechamber with
benches along its sides, a hypostyle hall, an offering chamber and
vaulted sanctuary. The name el-Deir means ‘the monastery’, indicating
occupation of the site in early Christian times, when the temple
itself was transformed into a Coptic church and may have been the
monastery from which the name derives.
The Alpha Necropolis team has recently been conducting a study of the
occupation of some of the sites in Kharga Oasis, including el-Deir. A
rapid survey carried out in 1997 recognised the existence of three
areas of burials to the south, north and east of the fortress. During
excavations of the southern sector in 1998, eight plundered tombs were
uncovered and wooden sarcophagi, human remains and traditional
funerary furniture were found. Subsequent excavation seasons devoted
to the northern sector of the necropolis have revealed 35 tombs and 19
white limestone sarcophagi, some containing well-preserved mummified
bodies buried in the Osiris position with arms crossed over the chest.
The burials are thought to date from the 3rd to 5th centuries AD.
During the 2002 season several re-used tombs were found to contain the
bodies of a large quantity of mummified dogs, presumably votive
offerings to the canine deities Wepwawet or Anubis who were worshipped
in the Asyut to Abydos regions from where desert tracks led out to the
oasis. |
