Formation of an Empire. Results of the Season 2017 in Tell el-Retaba

Abstract

This contribution focuses on the settlement history of Tell el-Retaba, starting from the settlements and cemeteries of the Second Intermediate Period and the early New Kingdom up to the construction of large fortresses in the Ramesside Period. The rich pit tomb {2458} of the early New Kingdom date seems to especially indicate the continuation of the Second Intermediate Period burial customs in the New Kingdom and, thus, a kind of settlement continuity. The discovery of a geminated moat of the Nineteenth Dynasty expands our knowledge of defensive constructions in the eastern Delta, confirms the location of the gate to the Nineteenth Dynasty fortress and contributes to our knowledge of the concept of transformation between the Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasty. The 2017 season also extended the view of construction details of the Twentieth Dynasty defence “wall 2”.