Western Mareotis lake(s) during the Late Holocene (4th century BCE–8th century CE): diachronic evolution in the western margin of the Nile Delta and evidence for the digging  of a canal complex during the early Roman period

Crépy, Maël; Boussac, Marie-Françoise

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-70-39-2021

Articles | Volume 70, issue 1

https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-70-39-2021

© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Special issue:

Geoarchaeology of the Nile Delta

https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-70-39-2021

© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 70, issue 1

Research article

|

28 Jan 2021

Research article |

| 28 Jan 2021

Western Mareotis lake(s) during the Late Holocene (4th century BCE–8th century CE): diachronic evolution in the western margin of the Nile Delta and evidence for the digging of a canal complex during the early Roman period

Maël Crépy and Marie-Françoise Boussac

Data sets

El Hammam 88/42 AMS http://legacy.lib.utexas.edu/maps/ams/egypt/txu-pclmaps-oclc-6559596-el-hammam.jpg

Burg El Arab AMS http://legacy.lib.utexas.edu/maps/ams/north_africa/txu-oclc-6949452-nh35-8.jpg

Map of Lower Egypt A. Arrowsmith https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b530669569/

Carte de la Basse-Égypte dédiée à Mohammed Aly Pacha P.-X. Coste https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8491814n/

Carte des environs d'Alexandrie M.B El-Falaki https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b10101071m

Carte topographique de l'Égypte et de plusieurs parties des pays limitrophes P. Jacotin https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b531569998/f42.item

Map to Illustrate a Journey from Alexandria (Egypt) to The Oasis of Siwah B. St John https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b53136219p/

Mudiriyet El-Beheira Survey of Egypt https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~317305~90086593:Sheet-47-Bahig

Notice topographique sur la partie de l'Egypte comprise entre Rahmanyeh et Alexandrie G. Chabrol and M. A. Lancret https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k28016p/f1.item.r=description de l'egypte

Mémoire sur la partie occidentale de la province de Bahyreh, connue anciennement sous le nom de nome maréotique G. Le Père https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k28016p/f1.item.r=descriptiondel'egypte

Mémoires d’un artiste. Notes et Souvenirs de voyages (1817–1877) P.-X. Coste https://books.google.fr/books?id=yWo3AQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&hl=fr#v=onepage&q&f=false

Carte topographique de l'Égypte et de plusieurs parties des pays limitrophes P. Jacotin https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b531569998/f42.item

Extrait d'un Mémoire sur les lacs et les déserts de la Basse Egypte G. Le Père https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k28013n.r=description de l'egypte

Nome Maréotique G. Le Père https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k2991761/f9.item.r=dictionnaire%20des%20d%C3%A9couvertes%20mou%20-%20pat

Mémoires sur les principaux travaux d’utilité publique exécutés en Egypte L. M. A. Linant de Bellefonds https://books.google.de/books?id=tepYAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&hl=fr#v=onepage&q&f=false

The Geographical System of Herodotus J. Rennell https://archive.org/details/geographicalsys00renn/page/n7/mode/2up

Adventures in the Libyan Desert B. St John https://archive.org/details/adventuresinliby00stjo/page/n7/mode/2up

EarthExplorer US Geological Survey (USGS) https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/

Short summary

Based on a new method, this paper proves the presence of several lakes during Greco-Roman antiquity in the Mariut basin and the digging of a canal network (up to 12 km long) in the Roman period to link them to Lake Mareotis. This challenges a 2-century-long scientific tradition according to which Lake Mareotis naturally linked Taposiris Magna to Alexandria during the Hellenistic and Roman periods. It is thus a starting point for new analyses of regional archaeology and geoarchaeology.