Holocene landscape reconstruction in the surroundings of the Temple of Pepi I at ancient Bubastis, southeastern Nile Delta (Egypt)

Abstract

In ancient Egypt, lakes, canals, and other water bodies were an essential part of the sacred landscape in which temples were embedded. In recent years, geoarchaeological research at the site of the Temple of Bastet at Bubastis in the southeastern Nile Delta has proven the existence of two water canals surrounding the temple. It has now been investigated whether these canals were connected to the Temple of Pepi I (2300–2250 B.C.E.), located approximately 100 m to the west of the Temple of Bastet. To explore the Holocene landscape genesis of the Temple of Pepi I, 15 drillings and six geoelectrical profile lines were performed in the surroundings of the temple in spring 2022. The results show loamy to clayey sediments in deeper sections of all drillings with a maximum thickness of 1.70 m, indicating a marshy or swampy depositional environment. Based on the recovered sediment sequences and archaeological remains in the vicinity of the Temple of Pepi I, the marshy or swampy area existed before the Fourth Dynasty. During the Old Kingdom (ca. 2850–2180 B.C.E.), the former marshland either dried up through natural processes or was intentionally drained and filled with sediments for subsequent use for occupation. Regarding the original research question, there is as yet no evidence for a direct connection to the canals of the Temple of Bastet.