2020 HARRIS GRANT AWARDEE: THE WADI EL-HUDI EXPEDITION
Since 2014, the Wadi el-Hudi Expedition has been working in Egypt’s Eastern Desert to document exceptionally well preserved ancient fortified settlements attached to gold and amethyst mines from the Middle Kingdom (c. 2000-1700 BCE) and the Early Roman Period (c. 50 BCE to 200 CE).
Prior to the Wadi el-Hudi Expedition’s work, all previous studies of Wadi el-Hudi focused solely on the inscriptions. Yet the inscriptions provide only one perspective, that of the ancient administrators. What about the laborers who worked there? The archaeological record can address their lived experience. Questions regarding what the miners ate, how they prepared or stored their food, who supplied the expedition with food and water are primarily answered through the intensive study of ceramics. Daily life of these workers in the settlements as seen through pottery will complement the perspective of the administrators recorded in the inscriptions.
This coming season, we will focus on ceramic analysis and finalize our pottery corpus in order to complete our monograph on the Middle Kingdom pottery at Wadi el-Hudi that incorporates multi-disciplinary perspectives, including scientific analysis of clay. We are also excited to bring a stone conservator to write an initial report to facilitate the conservation and reassembling of important stelae and statues from Wadi el-Hudi.
The Wadi el-Hudi Expedition collaborates with PhD students and early career specialists to give them opportunities upon which they can build their careers. The ASOR Harris Grant will facilitate this.
-Kate Liszka, California State University, San Bernardino
