Archaeological Investigation in the Aswan-Kom Ombo Region (2007―2008)

Members of the Aswan-Kom Ombo Archaeological Project have been working since 2005 in the West Bank of the Nile, from Qubbet el-Hawa north to Kubbaniya north, Wadi Kubbaniya, Wadi Abu Subeira, and a section of the desert east of Kom Ombo. Both survey and rescue operations are performed, the latter as an answer to the urgency to save as many archaeological sites as possible from the destruction caused by quarrying and building activities in the area. This paper summarizes the main activities of the 2007―2008 field seasons. The geoarchaeological survey consists of both surface and sub-surface investigations, the second obtained with drill coring. Specific studies are also devoted to epigraphic evidence and to rock art. As for the rescue operations, they are mainly concerned with the Predynastic sites at Nag el-Qarmila and the Pan-Grave cemeteries in the West Bank. A small test-trench was excavated in a Ptolemaic rock necropolis at Hagar el-Ghorab.