The late Holocene record of Lake Mareotis, Nile Delta, Egypt

Abstract

Abstract. Lake Maryut (northwestern Nile Delta, Egypt) was a key feature of Alexandria's hinterland and economy during Greco-Roman times. Its shores accommodated major economic centers, and the lake acted as a gateway between the Nile valley and the Mediterranean. It is suggested that lake-level changes, connections with the Nile and the sea, and possible high-energy events considerably shaped the human occupation history of the Maryut. To reconstruct Lake Maryut hydrology in historical times, we used faunal remains, geochemistry (Sr isotopic signature of ostracods) and geoarcheological indicators of relative lake-level changes. The data show both a rise in Nile inputs to the basin during the first millennia BCE and CE and a lake-level rise of ca. 1.5 m during the Roman period. A high-energy deposit, inferred from reworked radiocarbon dates, may explain an enigmatic sedimentary hiatus previously attested to in Maryut's chronostratigraphy.

Socio-Economic Dimension of Mariout Lake as an Ecological Approach for Sustainable Development in Alexandria, Egypt

“…There have been reciprocal urban diversity, whether residential, agricultural, commercial, or industrial, especially when the region's origin was fresh water, not salt. There, the Lake's range was densely occupied during Greco-Roman times (Flaux et al, 2021); initially, before this era (Stanley et al, 2007), it was a flourished urban center as part of the related town. This range was a flourishing commercial, agricultural, maritime, and residential center.…”

Preface: Special issue “Geoarchaeology of the Nile Delta”

“…Based on the assumption that lake-level changes, connections with the Nile and the sea, and possible high-energy events considerably controlled the human occupation history of ancient Lake Mareotis, the study of Flaux et al (2021) reconstructs the lake's hydrology in historical times using faunal remains, geochemistry, and geoarchaeological indicators of relative lake-level changes. The data show both an increase in Nile sediment inputs to the basin during the 1st millennia BCE and CE and a lake-level rise of ca.…”

“…Further on, the team of Jürgen Wunderlich (Goethe University Frankfurt) established a project on the Holocene development of the western Nile Delta, building a bridge between geography, geoarchaeology, and Egyptology (Wunderlich, 1988(Wunderlich, , 1989Andres and Wunderlich, 1991). This project is still ongoing in cooperation with Robert Schiestl (University of Munich) and the German Archaeological Institute (DAI) in Cairo (Ginau et al, 2017(Ginau et al, , 2019(Ginau et al, , 2020Altmeyer et al, 2021). In recent years further geoarchaeological ventures evolved in the Nile Delta.…”