The village of Tell el-Balamun lies on the western side of the
Damietta branch of the Nile in the central Delta, towards the coast.
This is the location of a huge and relatively intact mound which
covers the ancient town of Sma-Behdet, the most northerly city of
Pharaonic Egypt, called Paiuenamon during the New Kingdom and
Diospolis Inferior by the Greeks.
Howard Carter began work at Tell el-Balamun in 1913, believing it to
be the site of a lost city, when he found evidence of structures
resembling plans of other temples in Lower Egypt. His work was
interrupted and he went on to find important tombs in the Valley of
the Kings, culminating with his famous discovery of Tutankhamun’s
tomb. Carter left maps and a report of his excavations at Tell
el-Balamun and a hoard of Ptolemaic silver jewellery which was housed
in Highclere Castle, the home of Lord Carnarvon. It was not until the
spring of 1991 that investigations of Tell el-Balamun were
re-instigated, resulting in the discovery of three destroyed temples
within a huge mudbrick enclosure wall. The expedition to find the lost
city was led by Jeffrey Spencer, who with a team from the British
Museum has made many exciting discoveries at the site over several
excavation seasons.
Tell el-Balamun is in an inhospitable area of marshy ground and it is
for this reason that the mound has remained intact, naturally
protected from robbers, early treasure seeking archaeologists and
modern development. In the earliest excavation seasons the team from
the British Museum uncovered the sand-filled foundations of temples,
finding several royal names in foundation deposits, with the oldest
dating to Shoshenq III Usermaatre Setepenre of Dynasty XXII and
dedicated to a Temple of Amun. The temple had been dismantled in
antiquity and much of the stone re-used elsewhere or burnt for lime at
the site. Evidence of a second temple built by Psamtek Wahibre during
Dynasty XXVI and a third by Nakhtnebef, or Nectanebo I Kheperkare of
Dynasty XXX was found in further foundation deposits. The temples were
enclosed within huge walls with wide, high gates. The discovery of a
damaged quartzite statue-group depicting Rameses II with Amun and Mut
and inscribed with the name of the city, Sma-Behdet, suggests that
there were also earlier temples in the area.
The team have since uncovered more of the plan of the temple
enclosure, locating pylons and avenues of shinxes, courtyards and
subsidiary buildings in this huge site. Parts of the settlement area
surrounding the enclosure have been investigated revealing remains of
domestic structures and pottery dating to the Late and Ptolemaic
Periods. A large mudbrick structure, thought to have been a fortress,
was relatively well-preserved.
Recent work includes the excavation of part of a Dynasty XXII cemetery
of brick-built tombs to the north of the temple enclosure which have
revealed some preserved burials including falcon-headed coffins.
Reports of excavations at Tell el-Balamun by Jeffrey Spencer were
published in 1996 and 1999. |
