The Early Basilica Church, El-Ashmonein Archaeological Site, Minia, Egypt: Geo-Environmental Analysis and Engineering Characterization of the Building Materials

Abstract

El-Ashmonein is a significant archaeological site with different buildings from various eras. Between the villages of El-Idara and El-Ashmonein are there mains of Hermopolis, one of the ancient Egyptian metropolis capitals of the fifteenth century of Upper Egypt, called the hare. The buildings in this archaeological site are exposed to many causes of destruction and damage. The remaining structures and granite free standing columns in this area are suffered from plenty of geo-environmental and geotechnical problems. The main objectives of this study are 1) to assess the current state of preservation of this important archaeological site, especially the basilica church with its free standing huge columns, 2) to analyze the different actions which cause the destruction of the archaeological site, in particular the old flash floods and earthquakes, and 3) to identify the geochemical and engineering properties of the construction materials of the granitic columns and other limestone structures of the basilica church by using different kind of sophisticated analytical and diagnostic tools and methods. The multi-criteria analysis allowed the integration of several elements for mapping the vulnerable zones. Results revealed that about 80% of the study area was exposed to high and medium old floods vulnerability because of the vicinity to the Nile River. The structural and non-structural measures recommended in this research will help the decision makers and planners to effectively develop strategies for future site management, intervention retrofitting and rehabilitation of this unique archaeological site.

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