Tell el-Kuʿ

Tell el-Kuʿ (Arabic تل الكوع), also written as Tell el-Ku'a^[1] and Tell el-Koa,^[2] is an archaeological site in Egypt, located in the eastern Nile Delta at the Wadi Tumilat. The excavated areas of the site were used at different times as a cemetery and a settlement. The finds from the site date mostly from the Second Intermediate Period, encompassing the period from the late Middle Kingdom to the early New Kingdom.^[3] The site exhibits burial practices of non-Egyptian origin, including donkey burials, attested at other eastern Delta sites during the period (such as Tell el-Dab'a, Tell Basta, Tell el-Yahudiya).^[4] The settlement architecture is comparable to that of the nearby site Tell el-Maskhuta.^[3] Along with other sites at the Wadi Tumilat, Tell el-Kuʿ is considered to be involved in trade contacts between Second Intermediate Period Egypt and the Levant.^[5]

The site was excavated in 1987 by Ibrahim M. Soleman, later by Nabil el-Sherif, M. Salem el-Hangury, Nasr Allah el-Kelany, and Soleman Mahmoud, and since 2018 by Aiman Ashmawy Ali.^[3]

Tell el-Mansheya

Just 200 meters to the west of Tell el-Kuʿ lies another Second Intermediate Period archaeological site Tell el-Mansheya (Arabic تل المنشية) Salvage excavations conducted in 2015 revealed settlement remains and burials. It is considered to have been a hamlet or a satellite of the Tell el-Kuʿ settlement. Tell el-Mansheya burials are comparable to those from other Second Intermediate Period sites at Wadi Tumilat.^[2]

References

1. Holladay Jr., John S. (1997). "The eastern Nile Delta during the Hyksos and pre-Hyksos Periods: towards a systemic/socioeconomic understanding". In Oren, Eliezer D. (ed.). The Hyksos: new historical and archaeological perspectives. University Museum monograph. Philadelphia: The University Museum, University of Pennsylvania. pp. 183–252. ISBN 0-924171-46-4.
2. Mahmud Ahmed, Mostafa Hassan; Elsaid Hashem, Sameh Ahmed; Hulková, Lucia; Wodzińska, Anna (2018). "Egyptian salvage excavations at Tell el-Mansheya". Ägypten und Levante. 28: 24–54. doi:10.1553/AEundL28s25.
3. Ashmawy Ali, Aiman (2023). "Forgotten Excavation Part 2: Tell El-Kuʿ". In el-Aguizy, Ola; Kasparian, Burt (eds.). ICE XII: proceedings of the Twelfth International Congress of Egyptologists, 3rd-8th November 2019, Cairo. Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale. pp. 21–29. ISBN 9782724709537. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
4. Ashmawy Ali, Aiman (2019). "Donkey burials at Tell El-Yahudia". In Ikram, Salima; Pasquali, Stéphane; Porcier, Stéphanie (eds.). Creatures of earth, water, and sky: essays on animals in ancient Egypt and Nubia. Leiden: Sidestone. pp. 39–46. ISBN 9789088907722. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
5. Ksiezak, Aleksandra E. (2021). "The Middle Bronze Age settlement pattern in the Wadi Tumilat (eastern Nile Delta)". In Bietak, Manfred; Prell, Silvia (eds.). The enigma of the Hyksos, volume IV: Changing clusters and migration in the Near Eastern Bronze Age. Collected papers of a workshop held in Vienna 4th-6th of December 2019. Contributions to the Archaeology of Egypt, Nubia and the Levant. Vol. 12. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. pp. 365–393. doi:10.13173/9783447117371. ISBN 9783447117371.

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