TELL TIMAI
Listing
Location: EGYPT
Season dates: June 9-July 15, 2011
Application Deadline: Rolling - Nov. 15^th, 2010

Program Type
Field School
Volunteer

Affiliation
University of Hawaii

Project Directors
Prof. Robert Littman, Dr. Jay Silverstein, University of Hawaii

Description

We are searching for students and several supervisors interested in participating in a summer 2011 archaeological field experience excavating at the site of Tell Timai in the Delta region of Egypt. The investigation will include street-by-street mapping of Thmuis and excavation of elite and administrative precincts of the older Hellenistic district and harbor area. This project will offer students comprehensive training in survey, mapping, excavation, and laboratory analysis of artifacts. In addition, we will take several field trips to Monumental Pharaonic sites such as Giza and Tanis, the National Museum, as well as Classical sites such as Alexandria.

The ruins of the Greco-Roman Egyptian city of Thmuis are found at Tell-El Timai in the Delta region of Egypt near the modern city of El-Mansoura. Thmuis is first mentioned in Classical texts by Herodotus (Histories of Herodotus 2.166) based on his visit in the middle of the 5th century BC. By Ptolemaic times the city was flourishing, having assumed administration of the Mendesian nome from its sister city at nearby Tell el Rub'a. Historical references to the city in Josephus (Jewish Wars 4.656), Pliny (Natural History 13.2.4), Ammianus Marcellinus (Roman History 22.16) and other sources attest to the importance of the city in the Classical world. The city earned its greatest fame as the source of Mendesian perfume which was prized throughout the Mediterranean. The city later played an important role in the rise of early Christianity, serving as an episcopal see during the late Roman Period (3rd -4th centuries AD). The city appears to have been abandoned during the Arab Period in the 10th century AD following the suppression of a tax revolt.

See photos of previous seasons at http://www.flickr.com/photos/31110069@N02/sets/72157607743111893/

Period(s) of occupation
450 BC-900 AD

Minimum length of stay for volunteers
Full session

Minimum age
18

Experience required
none

Room and Board arrangements
Dig house at Timai El Amdid. Shared rooms and bathrooms; in house cook and cleaning staff. Wireless. All in country costs covered except incidentals. Air transportation to Cairo not covered. A number of small partial scholarships are available.

Cost: $4,500

Academic credit
Number of credits: 3 or 6 credits available in Anthropology, undergrad or grad level. Offered by: University of Hawaii
Tuition: $453 for 3 credits, $906 for 6 credits

Contact information
Professor Robert Littman

littman@hawaii.edu