Hydrological and archaeological studies to detect the deterioration of Edfu temple in Upper Egypt due to environmental changes during the last five decades

Abstract

Archaeological sites in Upper Egypt, especially Edfu Temple, are considered a wealth of human civilization and are irreplaceable. Deterioration of archaeological sites due to environmental changes in Edfu city include disintegration and exfoliation of stones, dissolution of building materials, loss of moral paintings, crystallization of salts in walls and columns, stone bleeding, destruction of wall paintings and texts, decreasing of durability of monumental stones, and discolouring. Recently, the archaeological field has received a lot of interest from Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) users to observe the impact of environmental changes on archaeological sites during long periods. CORONA, LANDSAT, and SENTINEL-2A satellite images are our tools in detecting the changes around the study area and creating innovative solutions. Results from the analysis conducted suggest that most of the environmental changes in the study area are caused by uncontrolled urban sprawling and rising groundwater levels due to agricultural and urban expansion. The proximity of agricultural lands to archaeological areas has also affected the rise in groundwater levels. This has also played an important role in the transfer of chemical contaminants with the leaking water of soil to these archaeological sites, resulting in the growth of salt crystals. In this research, the environmental hazards and their effects are being observed for the archaeological sites of Edfu city (Upper Egypt). A comprehensive analysis has been conducted for the Horus Temple considering its building material, soil characteristics and environmental setting. Finally, we have created some models to protect the archaeological sites from environmental changes by the integration of remote sensing and GIS techniques.

Climate change associated hazards on cultural heritage in Egypt

“…It could be argued that the outcome of this research shows that climate change impacts will be another stressor to the already stressed monuments and archaeological sites in Egypt, which are already exposed to environmental and anthropogenic hazards (Elfadaly et al, 2017; Kołodziejczyk, 2018; Megahed, 2020). This stresses the urgent need for proper management plans that deal with not only environmental and anthropogenic hazards but also climate change‐associated ones.…”

“…This means that Egypt has diverse assets of archaeological sites that comprise valuable assets of tangible cultural heritage, with 62.3% of these assets belonging to old historical eras, particularly prehistoric, Pharaonic and Greco-Roman eras. Generally, the main material of archaeological buildings in Egypt, whether Pharaonic, Greek, Roman, Coptic or Islamic, is limestone (Megahed, 2020).…”

“…Even though different materials may respond differently to changes in temperature range and humidity, they are expected to have similar susceptibility to damage and destruction risks associated with climate change. This is because the main material of archaeological buildings in Egypt, whether Pharaonic, Greek, Roman, Coptic or Islamic, is limestone (Megahed, 2020).…”

Taş Duvarlarda Yüzey Bozunmaları

“…Bazı durumlarda su seviyelerine göre yüzey sularının etkisi yanında zemin suları da yapıların temellerinden kapilarite ile tüm duvarda yükselmekte ve duvarların bozunmasına yol açmaktadır. Mısır'da Nil'in kenarında bulunan ve kireçtaşından yapılmış Horus tapınağın strüktürünü etkileyen zemin suyunun yarattığı etkiler Şekil 10'da gösterilmiştir (Megahed, 2020).…”

A Comparative Analytical Study of Some Deterioration Products Formed on the Sandstone Reliefs of Edfu and Kom Ombo Temples

“…Many of the monuments in Upper Egypt are suffering from a serious damage due to various deterioration factors [1], such as the dramatic variations of the climatic conditions, the agricultural drainage, the lowlevel location of some sites and the surrounding urban sewage. Also, the geological setting itself is considered one of the main deterioration factors affecting the studied sites which geologically comprises four stratigraphic formations: Edfu, Esna shale, Armant and Issawia Formations [2]. The studied temples were constructed mainly on silt and clayey soil through the River Nile alluvial plains.…”