Geoelectric resistance scanning on parts of Abydos Cemetery Region, Sohag Governorate, Upper Egypt

Abstract

The ancient Egyptian Abedju (original name of the present Abydos) locality is a famous archaeological site southwest of Balyana town, Sohag Governorate, Upper Egypt. It is located to the west of the agricultural land of the Nile Valley. The locality represents one of the most important burial grounds for kings and high court dignitaries in ancient Egypt. Shallow geophysical techniques are considered as one of the most accurate and cost‐effective methods used in archaeological prospecting and are considered as rapid and safe techniques in detecting a wide range of buried archaeological features. The geoelectric resistance scanning technique, using the Geoscan RM‐15 Resistance Meter, is applied with a twin‐electrode configuration at three sites of the unexcavated localities of Abydos area. This technique proved to be a useful means of exploring the sites through mapping the subsurface burial inhomogeneities resulting from the marked resistance contrast between the buried stone and brick walls and the covering fill of sand, silt and clay. Interesting different buried features are imaged and displayed on maps and three‐dimensional representations to guide the archaeological excavation programmes at the sites of Umm El‐Qaab, Shunet El‐Zebib and Kom El‐Sultan within the Abydos region. At the Umm El‐Qaab site the combined interpretation of the tomography resistance ranges and maps indicate buried walls and rubble as well as an amorphous background area. At the Shunet El‐Zebib site, the texture of the images, which show scattered and crowded high‐resistance anomalies, confirms the existence of buried tombs at the site, which is surrounded by defence walls. Thus, this site was not a fortress or a palace, but a special cemetery for higher dignitaries. Kom El‐Sultan, however, shows a concentration of high‐resistance anomalies at the northern part. Thus, these may be related to walls and rubble related to a nearby elevated temple. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.