This year’s prize from the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres in Paris has been awarded to the joint Egyptian-German archaeological project at the Temple of the Sun in Heliopolis. This award recognizes the collaboration between the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities, theInstitute of Egyptology/Egyptian Museum – Georg Steindorff – at the University of Leipzig, and i3mainz – the Institute for Spatial Information and Measurement Technology at Mainz University of Applied Sciences – for their research work over the past six years.
Excavation team in April 2018, including Khaled Abu al-Ela, Director of the Matariya Inspectorate/Ain Shams (top, 5th from left) and Hoda Kamal, Director of the Matariya Museum (top, 11th from right) (Photo: Christopher Breninek)
The citation highlights that the research has demonstrated, to an unexpected extent, that significant finds and findings related to this once-central sanctuary of ancient Egyptian culture can still be uncovered and preserved. This is taking place under particularly challenging circumstances marked by rapid urban development and a constantly rising groundwater level. Illegal landfills up to 15 meters high have also posed special challenges for the work on this inner-city site.
Visualization of the colossal statue of Psammetichus I, 664–610 BCE, quartzite,
Graphic: Christopher Breninek
With this award, the Academy honors the impressive results that were achieved under these circumstances. These include the discovery of the colossal statue of Psammetichus I (664–610 B.C.), which can now be virtually reconstructed to a height of 10.5 m based on some 6,000 fragments. Of particular interest is the discovery of temple structures in situ, which—despite intensive medieval use as a quarry—have been located over the past six years. These include two permanent temples dedicated to Ramses II (1279–1213 BCE) as well as numerous architectural elements from a temple of Nectanebo I (380–363 BCE) dedicated to the creator god Atum.
The project to study the temples has been funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) since 2012. Further research in a residential and commercial quarter dating from the 4th–2nd centuries BCE is made possible by support from the Gerda Henkel Foundation. In addition, a series of emergency excavations requiring prompt action were made possible by grants from the Fondation Schiff Giorgini (Lausanne), the Fonds Khéops pour l’Archéologie (Paris), the Greiss Foundation (Cologne), the American Research Center in Egypt, the Selz Foundation (New York), the Mehen Study Center for Ancient Egypt (Leiden), the Friends’ Associations of Egyptological Institutes and Museums in Leipzig, Zurich, and Hamburg, and individual donors. The Cultural Heritage Preservation Program of the Federal Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany supports local efforts to display the finds at the Matariya Open-Air Museum on the site of the former temple complex. The technical expertise required for documenting the findings under considerable time pressure, as well as for managing the research data, is provided through cooperation with Prof. Kai-Christian Bruhn and his colleagues at Mainz University of Applied Sciences.
The award will be presented to Dr. Dietrich Raue on October 26 at the Salons du Palais de l’Institut de France in Paris on behalf of the entire team. In his acceptance speech, Raue—also speaking on behalf of the Egyptian co-director, Dr. Aiman Ashmawy— the unique nature of the collaboration amid the sometimes difficult circumstances of an inner-city excavation in post-revolutionary Egypt and thanked the Egyptian authorities who have supported the collaboration at all levels since 2012. At the same time, he took the opportunity to highlight the exceptional dedication of the Egyptian team members and skilled workers, the students from Leipzig, and the international team of specialists from Egypt, Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and the United States. The prize money will be used in its entirety to support the work at the Temple of Heliopolis. Recent urban development projects in the area require an undiminished level of intensity in our efforts. “We are extremely grateful for the support from Paris,” said Raue, “It enables us to intensify our research at this unique site. For more than 2,400 years, this temple was a linchpin of ancient Egyptian culture.”
