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The Early Imperial fortress of Berkou, Eastern Desert, Egypt

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 July 2021

Jennifer Gates-Foster ,
Isabelle Goncalves ,
Bérangère Redon Open the ORCID record for Bérangère Redon [Opens in a new window] ,
Hélène Cuvigny ,
Mariola Hepa Open the ORCID record for Mariola Hepa [Opens in a new window]  and
Thomas Faucher
Jennifer Gates-Foster
Affiliation:
Department of Classics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Isabelle Goncalves
Affiliation:
Université Lumière Lyon 2/HiSoMA, Lyon
Bérangère Redon
Affiliation:
Centre National de Recherche Scientifique/HiSoMA, Lyon
Hélène Cuvigny
Affiliation:
Centre National de Recherche Scientifique/IRHT, Paris
Mariola Hepa
Affiliation:
Institute of Palaeoanatomy, Domestication Research and the History of Veterinary Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Thomas Faucher
Affiliation:
Centre National de Recherche Scientifique/IRAMAT-CRP2A, Bordeaux
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Abstract

In 2020, during excavations in the Wadi al-Ghozza in the Eastern Desert of Egypt, archaeologists from the French Archaeological Mission to the Eastern Desert of Egypt discovered a well-preserved Flavian praesidium. This small and unusually shaped fort, identified in ostraca found in the fortress as Berkou (Βɛρκου), lay along a track leading from ancient Kaine (Qena) to the imperial quarries at Porphyrites. The fort lay over the remains of a Ptolemaic village and incorporated elements from the water system of the older settlement. This article presents the results of those excavations, including an overview of the fort's architecture and associated finds, as well as a discussion of its role in the regional transportation and security network that supported Roman exploitation of the nearby porphyry quarries in the 1st c. CE.

Keywords

praesidiumEastern DesertRoman quarriesarmywater managementRoman roads
Type
Article
Information
Journal of Roman Archaeology , Volume 34 , Issue 1 , June 2021 , pp. 30 - 74
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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