From Khemenu to Tjerty. Prolegomena to a Social and Physical Geography region in Pharaonic Middle Egypt.

Since 2002, the Dayr al-Barsha project has been able to determine through spatial analysis the internal layout and the social and chronological development of the cemeteries at the site. Also, the setting of the site in rela-tion to landscape features and settlements in the region became clearer by the discovery of the location of an-cient Nile branches, of various settlement sites and of a new cemetery in 2012. The new project aims to more deeply analyze the regional relationship between the sites over a vastly increased area. Dayr al-Barshā (ancient name: Tjerty) was i.a. the main cemetery of the provincial capital in al-Ashmūnayn (ancient name: Khemenu). Also, an ancient road pattern between the two sites was brought in evidence. The present proposal develops the regional perspective along the axis between Khemenu and Tjerty. The main foci are 1) the investigation of the newly discovered cemetery (date; typology; population size and structure); 2) the determination of the size and time range of the hitherto unknown settlement site of Tjerty under the village of Dayr al-Barshā by core drilling, re-sistivity imaging, and punctual excavation; 3) the determination of the location, size, date range and nature of other settlement sites along the Khemenu-Tjerty axis; 4) the relation with landscape features in the area. A new approach will be the integrated analysis of historical maps, satellite remote sensing and geomorphic field work (group Verstraeten The results will be a) the determination of the size of the cemetery of Dayr al-Barshā (already planned under OT/09/12, but then the newly discovered settlement of Tjerty could not yet be considered); b) an assessment of all cemeteries in Dayr al-Barshā; c) a vastly increased window on settlement and population spread in the region.