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The archaeological site of Tell Toukh El-Qaramous, which is located to the south of Abu Kebir, Sharkiya Governorate, was subjected to detailed geophysical studies using magnetic vertical gradient and geoelectric resistivity survey. The success of these surveys depends on the contrast in the physical properties between the dominant sedimentary deposits (clays and sands) and the buried archeological constructions. The area of study occupies about 80 acres at present. It was subjected firstly to a regional geophysical survey to discover the subsurface conditions above one of the most important military fortress that had been constructed to be vanguard of the eastern entry to Egypt during the Ptolemaic age (323-30 BC). Detailed gridded magnetic (0.5 m grid interval) and geoelectric resistivity surveys (2 m grid interval) were also carried out at a selected site of about 50 ð 100 m according to the recommendations of the archaeologists who periodically carried out excavation of the archaeological remains. Such surveys could help mapping of the anomalous features that probably reflect the buried archaeological remains.The integrated results of the magnetic gradient images obtained as well as apparent resistivity maps for depths ranges from 1 to 5 m gave fascinating results. The results indicate that the Tell-Toukh El-Qaramous has been built on a buried sand gezira. Also, groups of ancients walls made of mud bricks and some interesting locations of archeological buried artefacts have been delineated. Both the magnetic and resistivity data supported each other and are in good agreement for the same locations of archeological interest.

One of the main goals of the interpretation of magnetic data is the imaging of the boundaries of subsurface structures. In this study, a new edge detector called improved horizontal tilt angle (impTDX) has been introduced and tested on synthetic and measured magnetic data. The filter exhibits high efficiency not only in detecting the boundaries of the sources, but also in determining magnetic sources from different depth levels. The impTDX filter produces more precise and sharper boundaries, increases the discernibility of neighboring anomalies, has the advantage of avoiding creation of false edges, and is less sensitive to noise compared to other known filters, which minimizes the uncertainty in the data interpretation. The proposed filter has been applied to aeromagnetic data from Sohag, Egypt. It highlighted the subsurface magnetic structures with high resolution where a structural map showing normal faults demarcating the subsurface causative horsts and grabens was constructed. This map confirms that the Nile grabens are of tectonic origin related to the opening of the Red Sea. Our findings indicate that the proposed filter can be considered as a valuable tool in mapping of subsurface magnetic structures.

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Abstract. The paper explores the relationship between the archaeological zones of the ancient city of Sais at Sa el-Hagar, Egypt, and the natural landscape of the western central Nile Delta and, in particular, the extent to which the dynamic form of the landscape was an element in the choice of settlement location. Furthermore, settlement at Sais has been determined to have existed at several locations in the immediate environs of the current archaeological zones from the Neolithic period, around 4000 BCE (Before Common Era), to the modern day, suggesting that the local environment was conducive to sustainable settlement, culminating in the establishment of a capital city in the 7th century BCE. The nature of the settlement, its immediate environs and waterway systems will, thus, be described, based on correlation of geological, geophysical, remote sensing and archaeological data, in order to establish if and when human interactions in the landscape can be determined to be reactive or proactive.