Amheida: Excavating a City in the Dakhla Oasis of Egypt

A public lecture, sponsored by ISAW and the Archaeological Institute of America:

Amheida: Excavating a City in the Dakhla Oasis of Egypt
presented by Roger Bagnall, ISAW Director

6:30 pm, Thursday, September 30, 2010
*reception to follow

ISAW Lecture Hall
15 East 84th Street
New York, NY 10028
www.nyu.edu/isaw

Amheida is a large archaeological site on the western edge of the Dakhla Oasis in Egypt, with finds ranging from the Old Kingdom to the fourth century C.E. Exploration of the site began in 2001, with excavation starting in 2004 (photos). Near the center of the town is the 15-room house of Serenus, who was part of the city council in the middle of the fourth century. Four of the rooms have surviving wall-paintings, including a central reception room with scenes from classical mythology. To the north of the house was a three-room school; underneath all of this were the remains of a Roman bath. Areas excavated to date also include the remains of the Temple of Thoth, and an early Roman pyramid has been conserved.