Excavations at Mut el-Kharab and Ismant el-Kharab in 2001-2002

With contributions by Olaf E. Kaper, Helen Whitehouse, Klaas A. Worp.

The second season of excavations at Mut el-Kharab, was focused on the area of the main Temple of Seth, Lord of the Oasis, but where also the cult of Amon-Re was celebrated. A well-preserved sandstone block found in the vicinity was decorated with a scene of Psammetichus I making offering to Re-Horakhty and Atum, while another indicated that the temple had been in existence before the 25th Dynasty. This and other material confirmed the site as the provenance of the two Dakhleh stelae once purchased by Lyons and dating to the 21st and 25th Dynasties. The excavations revealed that the temple was built over stratified Old Kingdom deposits, containing pottery types dating to before the 6th Dynasty. Other ceramics cover the timespan from the Old Kingdom to the Islamic Period. Excavation in a corner of the temenos wall yielded ceramics from the late Roman Period to the Mameluk Period. In a domestic house a cache of ceramic vessels was found which date to the Third Intermediate Period or early Late Period (several of them had perforated bases). - The excavations at Ismant el-Kharab were confined to Shrine I, the mammisi of the main temple complex. (OEB abbr.)