Berenike 1999/2000

Berenike 1999/2000 : report on the excavations at Berenike, including excavations in Wadi Kalalat and Siket, and the survey of the Mons Smaragdus Region

by Willeke Wendrich and Steven E Sidebotham

Excavations at Berenike, a Greco-Roman harbour on the Egyptian Red Sea coast, have provided extensive evidence for trade with India, South-Arabia and sub-Saharan Africa. The results of the 1999 and 2000 excavations by the joint mission of the University of Delaware, Leiden University and UCLA, have been published in a comprehensive report, with specialists' analyses of different object groups and an overview of evidence for the trade route from the Indian perspective. The book is lavishly illustrated with photographs, drawings, plans, and two large fold-out maps of Berenike and Sikait, anciently known as Mons Smaragdus, the emerald/beryl mines of the Roman Empire. 417p, b/w illus (Cotsen Monograph 56, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology 2007).


ISBN-13: 978-1-931745-29-1
ISBN-10: 1-931745-29-3

ISBN-13: 978-1-931745-28-4
ISBN-10: 1-931745-28-5

A corrected text of Prof. Cuvigny's contribution to this volume, "Dipinto rouge dans le pronaos du grand temple rupestre de Sikayt" is available here (courtesy of the author).

Source: Papy-L

R. CAPPERS, Roman foodprints at Berenike: archaeobotanical evidence of subsistence and trade in the Eastern Desert of Egypt

Roman Foodprints at Berenike: Archaeobotanical Evidence of Subsistence and Trade in the Eastern Desert of Egypt

René T.J. Cappers

"DESCRIPTION: During the Graeco-Roman period, Berenike served as a gateway to the outside world together with Myos Hormos. Commodities were imported from Africa south of the Sahara, Arabia, and India into the Greek and Roman Empire, the importance of both harbors evidenced by several contemporary sources. Between 1994 and 2002, eight excavation seasons were conducted at Berenike by the University of Delaware and Leiden
University, the Netherlands. This book presents the results of the archaeobotanical research of the Roman deposits. It is shown that the study of a transit port such as Berenike, located at the southeastern fringe of the Roman Empire, is highly effective in producing new information on the import of all kinds of luxury items. In addition to the huge quantities of black pepper, plant remains of more than 60 cultivated plant species could be evidenced, several of them for the first time in an archaeobotanical context. For each plant species detailed information on its (possible) origin, its use, its preservation qualities, and the Egyptian subfossil record is provided. The interpretation of the cultivated plants, including the possibilities of cultivation in Berenike proper, is supported by ethnoarchaeobotanical research that has been conducted over the years. The reconstruction of the former environment is based on the many wild plant species that were found in Berenike and the study of the present desert vegetation.

SUBJECTS: Egyptian Archaeology

ISBN: I-931745-26-9 (paper), I-931745-27-7 (cloth)

Publication Date: 2006

Series: Monograph 55

Publisher: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology

Price: US $35 paperback, US $65 cloth "

The Author's webpage at Groningen University

Source: Worldcat LC no DT 73.B375