Professor Joan Oller Guzmn from the Department of Antiquity and Middle Age Studies at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa is the director of the Sikait Project.
The Northern Complex, one of the most important buildings of the city of Berenike at that time, is described in the paper.
The site was excavated by the Polish Center of Mediterranean Archaeology and the University of Delaware and was once a Red Sea harbor.
The Late Roman Period, from the fourth to sixth centuriesCE, was a period in which the city seemed to be partially occupied and controlled by a group of people from the Nubia.
Thanks to the discovery of inscriptions to some of their kings, the Northern Complex provides clear evidence of a link with the Blemmyes.
The small traditional Egyptian temple was adapted by the Blemmyes to their own beliefs after the 4th century. The material findings are particularly remarkable and include offerings such as harpoons, cube-shaped statues, and a stele, which was chosen for the cover of the journal's current issue.
Most of the falcons within the shrine are headless. Although burials of falcons for religious purposes had already been observed in the Nile Valley, this is the first time researchers discovered falcons buried within a temple and accompanied by eggs.
In other sites, mummified headless falcons were never found in a group, but only individual ones. The inscription on the stele reads, "It is improper to boil a head in here", which is far from being a dedication or sign of gratitude as usually corresponds to an inscription.
Joan Oller says that all of these elements point to intense ritual activities combining Egyptian traditions with contributions from the Blemmyes. The discoveries expand our knowledge of the people who lived in the Eastern desert during the decline of the Roman Empire.
More information: Joan Oller Guzmán et al, A Falcon Shrine at the Port of Berenike (Red Sea Coast, Egypt), American Journal of Archaeology (2022). DOI: 10.1086/720806
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