In the Field - Digging in the Nile

Ever wondered what ancient histories might be waiting to be discovered underwater, or dreamed about diving in the Nile and looking for treasures? Well, check out this new video from Heritage Key, featuring Dr. Hawass and teams of Egyptian divers excavating underwater relics near Aswan, Egypt. Experience almost first-hand that feeling of adventure that surrounds Zahi Hawass and his team as they search in the greenish basin of the Nile for precious items.

The success of Mediterranean underwater archaeology has led divers and Egyptologists to re-consider the the Nile as an attractive archaeological site. Already, the river has yielded some remarkable treasures, and unlike many of the country's ancient artefacts, any found here will be staying in Egypt.

In this video we can see some of the artifacts found by professional divers working for the Supreme Council of Antiquities near Aswan; from a grinding stone to Coptic churches' niches. Dr. Hawass stresses that this area would have been a market area in the past. The Nile was the 'highway' of Egypt and all commercial products as well as construction materials were transported up and down the river frequently. In fact, the river was so jam-packed with trade that any distraction, accident or dispute would result in materials and objects getting lost overboard seemingly forever - or at least until now.

Aswan is a town in Upper Egypt close to the border with the Sudan. It has been an important region in Egypt since the Predynastic times, and there are many archaeological sites in the area, making it rich with finds to this day. In order to further explore this area, we have been conducting underwater archaeology to find artefacts that are hidden in the river.
Underwater Archaeology in the Nile

You can find a transcription of this video on Heritage-Key.com.
Related Egyptology Video: Treasures Hidden in the Cairo Museum's Basement

It is not only at excavation sites that amazing artefacts can be discovered, but the archives of previous digs as well as the artefacts already in museums can still surprise us. Or what about the basement of the Cairo museum? Watch the video.

The area we are working in now used to be a market place, where people would come from the north and the south and meet to trade their goods. Goods from Aswan would include granite, which was quarried locally and traded in other major cities like Thebes and Memphis. The main way of moving goods for trade was on the river, and there was always the possibility that goods could be lost or discarded on the journey. These are the kinds of things we discover through underwater archaeology, showing us what kinds of things were moving around ancient Egypt.

Many churches were built in Aswan during the Coptic Period, and they utilized sandstone from Gebel el-Silsila in forms like this piece, which is a niche that would have been placed near the altar in one of these churches. It could have been decorated in a workshop near the quarry in Gebel el-Silsila, and on its way the boat could have wrecked and lost its cargo in the river, depositing this piece for us to find 3000 years later. Another piece likely from Gebel el-Silsila is this pottery jar that shows there was trade with Aswan extended perhaps as far as Turkey.