Continuity of the Early Dynastic and Old Kingdom plant economy in Egypt? A comparison of the archaeobotanical assemblages of Tell el-Iswid, Deir el-Bersha and el-Sheikh Sa’id/Wādī Zabayda

Introduction

Since the introduction and establishment of agriculture in ancient Egypt during the 4th millennium BC it seems that an overall conservative, but also stable agricultural economy was established. Already during the Predynastic and Early Dynastic period its main elements were present and well pronounced, including the same inventory of staple cereal crops (hulled barley and emmer), pulses (mostly lentil and pea), vegetables like chate melon,¹ fibre crops like flax and at least some condiments like dill.² The coherence of the economic footprint of the ancient Egyptian plant economy during Early Dynastic and later Pharaonic times is also traceable by the very uniform crop weed assemblages³ and the persistently important interrelation of fodder and fuel resources.⁴

The majority of Early Dynastic and Old Kingdom sites which have yielded archaeobotanical assemblages are concentrated in the Nile Delta or Lower Egypt. They reflect the plant economy of these important periods when social and economic stratification, “urbanisation” and various cultural influences were introduced in Egypt. This archaeobotanical evidence also bears witness to the practice of agriculture affected by the processes of specialization and hierarchy during the formation of the ancient Egyptian state. Most of our knowledge of Old Kingdom agriculture and plant-related economy in Egypt comes from Upper and Lower Egypt,⁵ while much less is known about its development in Middle Egypt.

Evaluation of representative, quantified archaeobotanical assemblages from different types of features could help to recognise possible differences or continuous trends in the plant economy of the Early Dynastic period and the Old Kingdom. While for later dynastic periods (2181–1069 BC) the hypothesis of an overall continuity of the major elements of the Old Kingdom plant economy was rejected, at least concerning fodder and fuel,⁶ it is still not clear if certain continuity of the plant economy is traceable in the archaeobotanical assemblages from the preceding periods (3300–2181 BC).

The Old Kingdom archaeobotanical assemblages obtained in the framework of the Deir el-Bersha project undertaken in Middle Egypt by KU Leuven and the Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Cairo (NVIC) provide a quantified dataset of plants cultivated, consumed and discarded at the 3rd/4th and 5th/6th Dynasty cemeteries of Deir el-Bersha and at the 4th Dynasty industrial site at el-Sheikh Sa’id/Wādī Zabayda (fig. 1). The fully quantified archaeobotanical assemblages and the archaeobotanical evidence from the Naqada IIIA–D period from Tell el-Iswid (fig. 1), previously studied by the first two authors,⁷ are taken in the current paper as a case study. Here, these archaeobotanical assemblages will be interpreted in terms of recognising possible common elements and differences of the plant economy of Egypt during the formation and establishment of dynastic rule. Moreover, the study will also pay attention on the specific natural circumstances and constraints typical for both considered regions, thereby seeking to overcome the spatial and, related with it, environmental discrepancies between the Delta and Middle Egypt.

**Fig. 1.** Map of Egypt, with the study sites.

Material and methods

Deir el-Bersha is located in Middle Egypt about 300 km south of Cairo, on the east bank of the Nile. The current research on the site and its surroundings started already in 1988 under the direction of Harco Willems and focused on the various cemeteries and settlements in Deir el-Bersha and the surrounding region.⁸ The main aim was to understand better the spatial organization of the burial sites from the Old Kingdom, the First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom and to gain insights into the social stratification of the community buried there.

Various parts of an early Old Kingdom cemetery, containing rock circle tombs on the escarpment (in zone 8), were investigated between 2009 and 2013.⁹ It concerns small, simple near-surface burials, surrounded and covered with stones and boulders, ranging in date between the late 2nd and the early 4th Dynasties. During the excavation, black ash spots were observed, which usually contained lots of burned plant remains. Most of the samples derive from poorly fired clay coffins made of Nile clay tempered with abundant plant fragments (Nile C fabric), eroded to very small particles. The rich organic tempering of the pottery coffins yielded numerous, well preserved, mostly charred plant remains. Another source of archaeobotanical finds were the contents of beer jars and Maidum bowls, containing beside charred also desiccated plant remains.

A second area at Deir el-Bersha that is considered here is the late Old Kingdom necropolis on the south hill of the site (zone 7). Here, several well-preserved funerary deposits were found, some of which were rich in plant material. The first one is a deposit of 6th Dynasty beer jars (F3377) filled with Nile mud or a combination of Nile mud and limestone debris. A large concentration of such jars was found in front of the door of a rock-cut tomb. Charred plant remains and charcoal seem to be indicative of a funerary pire that once took place here. Close to this deposit of beer jars, a late Old Kingdom embalming deposit (F3380) was encountered, consisting of a shallow structure on top of the bedrock filled almost entirely with broken red-slipped plates. Based on the ceramic material, this deposit too can be dated to the 6th Dynasty. Both deposits are clearly the result of funerary practices that took place in the necropolis at the end of the Old Kingdom.

Some 5 km further south, between Deir el-Bersha and Amarna, lies the site of el-Shaykh Sa’īd/Wādī Zabayda, where during the 4th Dynasty (reign of king Khufu) a quarry and stone-processing site existed.¹⁰ The Old Kingdom archaeobotanical assemblages used in the current study were collected in the framework of the Deir el-Bersha project and comprise mainly charred plant remains and a small amount of mineralized and desiccated plant remains, covering the time span of ca. 2589–2566 BC.

This entire dataset comprises in total 56 samples from 42 different archaeological contexts, referred to below as “features” (32 samples from the burials of Deir el-Bersha, zones 7 and 8, as well as 26 samples from el-Shaykh Saʻīd/Wādī Zabayda, sectors 1 and 4). The features sampled from Deir el-Bersha all coming from burial contexts were classified as “pottery coffin”, “beer jar/vessel content” and “embalming deposit”, while the feature type from el-Shaykh Saʻīd/Wādī Zabayda was classified as “dump deposit” (tab. 2).

For a comparison with the Old Kingdom plant economy, a quantitative Early Dynastic archaeobotanical assemblage of Tell el-Iswid was chosen. This dates to the Naqada IIIA–D period (3300–2900 BC) and was largely already published elsewhere.¹¹ The predynastic site of Tell el-Iswid is located in the Eastern Nile Delta, 120 km north-east of Cairo, in the province of Sharqīya. The excavations are part of an archaeological research project of the Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale (IFAO), which began in 2006 and is still ongoing.¹² The study of the site provided an important contribution to the understanding of the processes of homogenization of the material culture which took place during the formation of the Egyptian State.¹³ Its recent archaeobotanical evidence reflects the general trends and variability in space and time of the long-term predynastic occupation (covering the 4th millennium BC) of the site and contributed to the understanding of the diachronic evolution of plant subsistence representative of the Nile Delta region. In this study, we choose to focus on the Predynastic and Early Dynastic period, because it is an important period for understanding the genesis of the dynastic period and the societal and technological innovations associated with it. The studied material includes charred and mineralised plant macrofossils coming from soil samples taken during the 2013–2023 excavation seasons. The dataset comprises in total 39 samples from 37 different archaeological contexts. Sediments were mostly collected from the following feature types: ovens (15) and cultural layers (20), but also silos (2).

At all of the sites presented in this paper, the sediment samples, taken from the corresponding cultural layers, were treated on-site by manual flotation to extract the plant macrofossils. The sieve meshes for flotation included 2 mm, 1 mm and 0.3 mm, aiming to capture even the smallest plant macro remains. The plant remains extracted by flotation were then studied in the field laboratories of each respective excavation. The laboratory work included the sorting and identification of the plant remains preserved in the samples, and the identification of the plant remains was finalized using the reference collections of the IFAO, Cairo. This work was carried out using a low-magnification stereomicroscope (from 10x to 70x).

After primary identification, all the archaeobotanical data (tab. 1 and 2) were stored in the archaeobotanical database program ArboDat¹⁴ and thus in a format suitable for subsequent analyses and comparisons. To assess the archaeobotanical assemblages we consider primarily the charred plant macro remains as the most numerous components of the studied assemblages. The datasets were evaluated by applying basic qualitative and quantitative approaches (such as calculations of concentration, diversity and frequency of plant remains). The identified plant taxa were grouped into the main ecological and economic groups, then the proportions between the sums of these groups were calculated. In addition, the contextual information available on the various structures from which the plant remains originated was used to interpret the archaeobotanical evidence obtained. Multivariate analysis of the dataset was performed with the PAST,¹⁵ applying correspondence analysis (CA) on all the samples classified by feature type and containing more than 15 identifiable charred items and at least 6 different taxa and transforming the absolute values in logarithmic. The desiccated plant remains were excluded as they were available only in the assemblages from Deir el-Bersha and thus represent a find category which is not common for both study areas. We applied CA analysis to explore the variation among crops, arable weeds, and other wild plants within the feature types and to reveal the possible similarity or dissimilarity trends in samples composition according to feature type for the two considered periods.

		Period	Naqada III A/D		Old Kingdom 3, 4,5/6
		Sample Volume (l)	324		54
		Number of Samples	39		56
		Feature number	37		42
		Sum plant remains	7578		15195
			sum	ubiquity in %	sum	ubiquity in %
Cereal crops
Hordeum vulgare undiff.	seed/fruit	charred	285	62	84	33
Hordeum vulgare hulled	seed/fruit	charred	7	8	237	40
Hordeum vulgare undiff.	seed/fruit	mineralised	1	3	0	0
Hordeum vulgare undiff.	seed/fruit	dessicated	0	0	24	2
Hordeum vulgare undiff.	rachis segment	charred	219	41	621	67
Hordeum vulgare undiff.	rachis segment	mineralised	1	3	0	0
Hordeum vulgare undiff.	rachis segment	dessicated	0	0	48	12
Triticum dicoccum	seed/fruit	charred	137	38	1561	52
Triticum dicoccum	glume base	charred	691	86	362	60
Cerealia indet.	seed/fruit	charred	1657	86	48	33

Pulses
Lathyrus cicera/sativus	seed/fruit	charred	0	0	35	17
Lens culinaris	seed/fruit	charred	4	11	9	10
Pisum sativum	seed/fruit	charred	25	35	8	7
Fabaceae (kult.)	seed/fruit	charred	37	35	4	5

Oil/fiber crops	seed/fruit	charred	3	8	27	17
Linum usitatissimum	seed/fruit	charred	3	8	9	12
Linum usitatissimum	capsule	charred	0	0	4	5
Linum usitatissimum	capsule dent	charred	0	0	4	5
Linum usitatissimum	capsule dent	dessicated	0	0	10	7

Garden/Imported Plants
cf. Anethum graveolens	seed/fruit	charred	9	5	1	2
Beta vulgaris	seed/fruit	charred	0	0	6	5
Cucumis melo	seed/fruit	charred	3	3	751	33
Cucumis melo	seed/fruit	mineralised	8	3	616	29
Ficus carica	seed/fruit	charred	0	0	66	12
Ficus carica	seed/fruit	mineralised	2	3	1	2
Ficus sycomorus	seed/fruit	charred	1	3	3	2
Ficus sycomorus	seed/fruit	dessicated	0	0	7	5
Ficus sp.	seed/fruit	charred	4	5	0	0
cf. Origanum	seed/fruit	charred	2	5	0	0
cf. Vitis vinifera	seed/fruit	charred	2	5	0	0

Potential field weeds
Anthemis pseudocotula	seed/fruit	charred	7	8	13	7
Avena spec.	seed/fruit	charred	0	0	3	5
Bromus spec.	seed/fruit	charred	15	14	135	33
Cuscuta spec.	stem/culm fragm.	charred	0	0	20	12
Lathyrus hirsutus/Vicia (klein)	seed/fruit	charred	185	59	82	19
Lolium temulentum	seed/fruit	charred	1126	92	1581	64
Lolium spec.	seed/fruit	charred	12	8	46	19
Lolium spec.	seed/fruit	mineralised	1	3	0	0
Phalaris minor/paradoxa	seed/fruit	charred	779	89	342	60
Phalaris	seed/fruit	mineralised	1	3	0	0
Rumex crispus/dentatus	seed/fruit	charred	394	81	283	50
Scorpiurus sp.	seed/fruit	charred	0	0	19	10
Sherardia arvensis	seed/fruit	charred	1	3	0	0
Veronica polita	seed/fruit	dessicated	0	0	3	2
Vicia hirsuta/tetrasperma	seed/fruit	charred	76	27	27	7

Ruderals/Segetals undiff.
Ammi cf. visnaga	seed/fruit	charred	1	3	0	0
Chenopodium ficifolium/polyspermum	seed/fruit	charred	0	0	35	2
Chenopodium murale	seed/fruit	charred	0	0	11	12
Chenopodium spec.	seed/fruit	charred	7	14	3	5
Digitaria sanguinalis	seed/fruit	charred	2	5	8	10
Echinochloa crus-galli	seed/fruit	charred	0	0	0	0
Echinochloa/Setaria	seed/fruit	charred	11	19	5	10
Heliotropium	seed/fruit	dessicated	0	0	1	2

Medicago/Trifolium	seed/fruit	charred	2	3	22	19
Oryzopsis milliaceum	seed/fruit	charred	8	5	0	0
Phleum spec.	seed/fruit	charred	4	3
Poa spec.	seed/fruit	charred	9	5
Polypogon	seed/fruit	charred	9	8	12	5
Portulaca oleracea s.l.	seed/fruit	charred	2	3	419	21
Portulaca oleracea s.str.	whole fruit	charred	0	0	12	7
Setaria verticillata/viridis	seed/fruit	charred	1	3	5	7
Setaria spec.	seed/fruit	charred	12	16	2	2
Setaria spec.	seed/fruit	mineralised	1	3	0	0
Trifolium spec.	seed/fruit	charred	55	54	17	10
Verbena officinalis	seed/fruit	dessicated	0	0	4	2

Riparian/Floodplain Vegetation			794	86	525	69
Aeluropus littoralis	seed/fruit	charred	4	3	0	0
cf. Berula erecta	seed/fruit	charred	2	3	0	0
Bolboschoenus	seed/fruit	charred	7	11	0	0
cf. Bolboschoenus	seed/fruit	charred	2	5	0	0
Carex spec.	seed/fruit	charred	1	3	6	5
Coronopus cf. niloticus	seed/fruit	charred	0	0	14	2
Cyperus cf. rotundus	rhizome	charred	8	5	0	0
Cyperus	rhizome	charred	4	3	58	7
Cyperus	rhizome	mineralised	0	0	5	2
cf. Cyperus	seed/fruit	charred	0	0	8	5
Cyperaceae	seed/fruit	charred	64	27	14	21
Cyperaceae	seed/fruit	mineralised	4	3	0	0
Cyperaceae	stem/culm fragm.	charred	35	27	8	5
cf. Cyperaceae	stem/culm fragm.	charred	0	0	2	2
Eleocharis	seed/fruit	charred	53	27	14	12
Eleocharis	seed/fruit	mineralised	53	22	6	2
Fimbristylis	seed/fruit	charred	0	0	8	7
Glinus lotoides	seed/fruit	charred	1	3	0	0
Isolepis	seed/fruit	charred	28	16	0	0
Isolepis	seed/fruit	mineralised	1	3	0	0
Persicaria lanigera/lapatifolia	seed/fruit	charred	85	46	1	2
Phragmites	stem/culm fragm.	charred	41	22	40	7
Ranunculus aquatilis agg.	seed/fruit	charred	0	0	1	2

Desert			24	22	573	62
Acacia sp.	seed/fruit	charred	0	0	26	29
Acacia sp.	leaf/needle	charred	0	0	21	10
Acacia sp.	whole fruit	charred	0	0	296	24
Acacia sp.	infructescence	charred	0	0	4	2
Anabasis	seed/fruit	charred	0	0	2	2
Anabasis	stem/culm fragm.	dessicated	0	0	15	7
Arnebia	stem/culm fragm.	charred	2	3	0	0
cf. Capparis	seed/fruit	charred	3	5	0	0
Echium rauwolfii	seed/fruit	charred	0	0	7	7
cf. Ornithogalum	seed/fruit	charred	3	3	0	0
Pulicaria	seed/fruit	charred	11	11	132	24
Pulicaria	infructescence	charred	3	3	34	17
Tamarix	seed/fruit	charred	2	3	8	2
Tamarix	twig/branchet	dessicated	0	0	3	2
Zilla spinosa	seed/fruit	charred	0	0	1	2

Varia			667	86	325	62

Other			1014	70	321	48

Tab. 1. Summary of the results of the archaeobotanical studies from both considered periods and study areas.

			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	sum	ubiquity in %	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42	sum	ubiquity in %
		Period	Neo	Neo	Neo	Neo	Neo	Neo	Neo	Neo	Neo	Neo	Neo	Neo	Neo	Neo	Neo	Neo	Neo	Neo	Neo	Neo	Neo	Neo	Neo	Neo	Neo	Neo	Neo	Neo	Neo	Neo	Neo	Neo	Neo	Neo	Neo	Neo	Neo			BA	BA	BA	BA	BA	BA	BA	BA	BA	BA	BA	BA	BA	BA	BA	BA	BA	BA	BA	BA	BA	BA	BA	BA	BA	BA	BA	BA	BA	BA	BA	BA	BA	BA	BA	BA	BA	BA	BA	BA	BA	BA
		Archaeological Dating	NGD3 CD	NGD3 CD	NGD3 CD	NGD3 CD	NGD3 CD	NGD3 AB	NGD3 AB	NGD3 AB	NGD3 AB	NGD3 AB	NAGD3	NAGD3	NAGD3	NAGD3	NAGD3	NAGD3	NAGD3	NAGD3	NAGD3	NAGD3	NAGD3	NAGD3	NAGD3	NAGD3	NAGD3	NAGD3	NAGD3	NAGD3	NAGD3	NAGD3	NGD	NGD	NGD	NGD	NGD	NGD	NGD			OK 5/6	OK 3	OK 3	OK 3	OK 3	OK 3	OK 3	OK 3	OK 3	OK 3	OK 3	OK 3	OK 3	OK 3	OK 3	OK 4	OK 4	OK 4	OK 4	OK 4	OK 4	OK 4	OK 4	OK 4	OK 4	OK 4	OK 4	OK 4	OK 4	OK 4	OK 4	OK 4	OK 5/6	OK 5/6	OK 5/6	OK 5/6	OK 5/6	OK 5/6	OK 5/6	OK 5/6	OK 5/6	OK 5/6
		Site	Iswid ISW	Iswid ISW	Iswid ISW	Iswid ISW	Iswid ISW	Iswid ISW	Iswid ISW	Iswid ISW	Iswid ISW	Iswid ISW	Iswid ISW	Iswid ISW	Iswid ISW	Iswid ISW	Iswid ISW	Iswid ISW	Iswid ISW	Iswid ISW	Iswid ISW	Iswid ISW	Iswid ISW	Iswid ISW	Iswid ISW	Iswid ISW	Iswid ISW	Iswid ISW	Iswid ISW	Iswid ISW	Iswid ISW	Iswid ISW	Iswid ISW	Iswid ISW	Iswid ISW	Iswid ISW	Iswid ISW	Iswid ISW	Iswid ISW			Iswid ISW	Barsha DALB	Barsha DALB	Barsha DALB	Barsha DALB	Barsha DALB	Barsha DALB	Barsha DALB	Barsha DALB	Barsha DALB	Barsha DALB	Barsha DALB	Barsha DALB	Barsha DALB	Barsha DALB	ShaykhSaid South	ShaykhSaid South	ShaykhSaid South	ShaykhSaid South	ShaykhSaid South	ShaykhSaid South	ShaykhSaid South	ShaykhSaid South	ShaykhSaid South	ShaykhSaid South	ShaykhSaid South	ShaykhSaid South	ShaykhSaid South	ShaykhSaid South	ShaykhSaid South	ShaykhSaid South	ShaykhSaid South	Barsha_S DALB (south hill)	Barsha_S DALB (south hill)	Barsha_S DALB (south hill)	Barsha_S DALB (south hill)	Barsha_S DALB (south hill)	Barsha_S DALB (south hill)	Barsha_S DALB (south hill)	Barsha_S DALB (south hill)	Barsha_S DALB (south hill)	Barsha_S DALB (south hill)
		Site Type	Tell	Tell	Tell	Tell	Tell	Tell	Tell	Tell	Tell	Tell	Tell	Tell	Tell	Tell	Tell	Tell	Tell	Tell	Tell	Tell	Tell	Tell	Tell	Tell	Tell	Tell	Tell	Tell	Tell	Tell	Tell	Tell	Tell	Tell	Tell	Tell	Tell			Tell	burial ground	burial ground	burial ground	burial ground	burial ground	burial ground	burial ground	burial ground	burial ground	burial ground	burial ground	burial ground	burial ground	burial ground	industrial site	industrial site	industrial site	industrial site	industrial site	industrial site	industrial site	industrial site	industrial site	industrial site	industrial site	industrial site	industrial site	industrial site	industrial site	industrial site	industrial site	burial ground	burial ground	burial ground	burial ground	burial ground	burial ground	burial ground	burial ground	burial ground	burial ground
		Feature Type	cult.layer	cult.layer	cult.layer	cult.layer	cult.layer	cult.layer	cult.layer	cult.layer	oven	oven	cult.layer	oven	cult.layer	oven	oven	cult.layer	pit	cult.layer	cult.layer	cult.layer	cult.layer	cult.layer	cult.layer	cult.layer	cult.layer	cult.layer	oven	oven	oven	oven	cult.layer	cult.layer	oven	oven	cult.layer	Silo	Silo			cult.layer	vessel content	beer jar	beer jar	beer jar	pottery coffin	pottery coffin	pottery coffin	pottery coffin	vessel content	pottery coffin	beer jar	vessel content	cultural layer	beer jar	dump deposit	dump deposit	dump deposit	dump deposit	dump deposit	dump deposit	dump deposit	dump deposit	dump deposit	dump deposit	dump deposit	dump deposit	dump deposit	dump deposit	dump deposit	dump deposit	dump deposit	beer jar	beer jar	beer jar	beer jar	beer jar	beer jar	beer jar	embalming deposit	embalming deposit	beer jar
		Sample Volume (l)	9	7	9	3	3	5	8	7	6	6	8	9	8	15	12	12	8	18	6	6	10	6.5	8	9	1.5	9	8	2	87	18	8	8	8	16	8	8	8	324			0.5	0.8	0.2	0.6	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.4	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.4	0.2	0.3	0.2	0.7	0.4	1	6.25	0.3	0.5	0.5	5	5.55	0.5	0.7	0.5	0.2	0.2	0.25	0.2	0.5	0.4	1	0.5	1	0.7	1.3	3	0.3	0.25	53.8
		Number of Samples	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	39		1	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	2	5	1	1	1	1	3	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	2	3	1	1	56
		Feature	US 6810	US 6712	US 6773	US 6803	US 9519	US 13099	US 6863	US 9200	US 9036	US 14078	US 14038	US 14131	US 14418	US 15071	US 15108	US 15140	US 14050	foyer 2174	US 9321	US 9404_foyer 2093	US 9859/9860	US 9870_foyer2163	US 9880_foyer 2166	US 10610	US 11012	US 14021	US 10503	US 13017	US 13066	US 13145	US 22200	US '23024	US '23040	US '21212 fond	US '22234	US '23046	US '23046 fond			US 15067	4992_4_z8_s86	4513_3_z8_s15	4517_3_z8_s15	4518_3_z8_s15	4527_1/2_z8_s16	4527_1_z8_s16	4527_3_z8_s16	4590_4_z8_s18	4884_3_z8_s78	4958_24_z8_s86	4971_64_z8_s86	4992_3_z8_s86	10803_1_z8_s93	4971_61_z8_s86	S6B	S9	S13	S54	S54A	S57	S58	S59	S64	S65	S117	S120	S122	S123	S124	S127	S128	3377_2_z7_s12	3377_36_z7_s12	3377_38_z7_s12	3377_39_z7_s12	3377_40_z7_s12	3377_43_z7_s12	3377_44_z7_s12	3380_2_z7_s12	3380_14_z7_s12	3380_4_z7_s12
		Sum plant remains	238	199	504	354	1331	43	144	251	111	58	308	218	15	522	119	107	818	260	211	75	443	66	164	225	33	286	181	54	30	210	890	269	299	1331	483	299	1666	7578		789	167	501	400	300	314	125	180	248	6	390	176	105	100	278	74	188	68	642	4171	221	220	415	1729	2126	65	89	36	126	62	121	160	23	29	79	19	65	45	71	47	16	209	15195
		Concentration per liter	26	28	56	118	444	9	18	36	19	10	39	24	2	35	10	9	102	14	35	13	44	10	21	25	22	32	23	27	0	12	111	34	37	83	60	37	208	34.084412889585		51	334	626	2000	500	628	250	360	620	12	780	352	263	500	927	370	269	170	642	667	737	440	830	346	383	130	127	72	630	310	484	800	46	73	79	38	65	64	55	16	53	836	402
	RTyp	Pres.
Cereal crops
Hordeum vulgare undiff.	seed/fruit	charred		5	9	4	37	3		5	1		26			1	4	1	17	4	2		19		2	1	1	15				1					4	1	122	285	62	2			17		8	2		3			2	3				6	2		29				7											1	1						1	84	33
Hordeum vulgare hulled	seed/fruit	charred								1													2						4											7	8					8						2				8	9	5	1	12	48	1	41	20	22	37	1	5		14		3												237	40
Hordeum vulgare undiff.	seed/fruit	mineralised														1																								1	3																																											0	0
Hordeum vulgare undiff.	seed/fruit	dessicated																																						0	0																																			24								24	2
Hordeum vulgare undiff.	rachis segment	charred	4		3	7					1			2		5			4		8		2						6				88	11		30	21	27		219	41		19	78	48	43	47	28	46	64		9	14	34		38	6			8	21	2	47	9		10		3	3	31		1			1				3	3		3	2	621	67
Hordeum vulgare undiff.	rachis segment	mineralised			1																																			1	3																																											0	0
Hordeum vulgare undiff.	rachis segment	dessicated																																						0	0																																		1	36				1	3		7	48	12
Triticum dicoccum	seed/fruit	charred			2		6			4			4					4	10		1		2						12			2	6			4	26		54	137	38				9	1	3	7		1			2	1		4	6	11	8	60	735	5		19	158	437	1	6		12	8	67												1561	52
Triticum dicoccum	glume base	charred	5	6	38	23	9		6	12	19	14	5	60	7	71	23	7	89	24		4	27	6	21	2		6	28	4		6	40	13	7	79	11	19		691	86	56	2	5	28	18	18		4	18		47		4		28	3		1	16	54	3		7	14	16		2	3	11		2								1			1	362	60
Cerealia indet.	seed/fruit	charred	7	4	3	4	15		2	3	4		13	2		8	2	3	22	2	6	3	13	2	3			7	7	2	6	7	467	81	100	273	97	180	309	1657	86	9	2							6		8		1						2							5	5						1	1		4	1		2		1		48	33

Pulses			3		1	1	5						5			2		1	5				2	1				4			1	2	8	2	8	4	3		8	66	51		1		2		7	3	2							2		1	2	2	21		2		1	7		3																56	33
Lathyrus cicera/sativus	seed/fruit	charred																																						0	0																	1	2	2	20		2		1	7																		35	17
Lens culinaris	seed/fruit	charred														1												1									1		1	4	11				2		2	3	2																																			9	10
Pisum sativum	seed/fruit	charred	1		1	1	2						2					1	1					1								1	8	1		4	1			25	35		1				5									2																												8	7
Fabaceae (kult.)	seed/fruit	charred	2				3						3			1			4				2					3			1	1		1	8		1		7	37	35																				1							3																4	5

Oil/fiber crops			1						1	1																														3	8		4				3						2	5		6																								5			2	27	17
Linum usitatissimum	seed/fruit	charred	1						1	1																														3	8		3				1						2	2		1																												9	12
Linum usitatissimum	capsule	charred																																						0	0		1											3																														4	5
Linum usitatissimum	capsule dent	charred																																						0	0						2									2																												4	5
Linum usitatissimum	capsule dent	dessicated																																						0	0															3																								5			2	10	7

Garden/Imported Plants			2			2	1	2					1										2	1					11			9								31	24	4		13		1								1		4		35		39	531	81	14	6	351	313	11	9	4	5		14		2	9								4	1451	50
cf. Anethum graveolens	seed/fruit	charred					1																									8								9	5					1																																						1	2
Beta vulgaris	seed/fruit	charred																																						0	0																			4	2																							6	5
Cucumis melo	seed/fruit	charred																											3											3	3			10										1		3		3		30	349	5	5	6	293	26	4		4			12												751	33
Cucumis melo	seed/fruit	mineralised																											8											8	3																	32		5	144	76	9		37	287	7	9				2		2	6									616	29
Ficus carica	seed/fruit	charred																																						0	0	3														1					36				21					5														66	12
Ficus carica	seed/fruit	mineralised						2																																2	3	1																																										1	2
Ficus sycomorus	seed/fruit	charred																					1																	1	3			3																																								3	2
Ficus sycomorus	seed/fruit	dessicated																																						0	0																																		3								4	7	5
Ficus sp.	seed/fruit	charred	2			2																																		4	5																																											0	0
cf. Origanum	seed/fruit	charred											1																			1								2	5																																											0	0
cf. Vitis vinifera	seed/fruit	charred																					1	1																2	5																																											0	0

Potential field weeds			83	45	127	43	529	11	12	57	15	16	94	29	4	164	31	15	129	26	42	8	96	7	53	2	6	72	37	5	11	49	71	15	28	60	21	26	157	2196	100	200	15	73	58	111	44	30	4	50	3	49	12	7		23	19	30	15	143	693	17	46	55	204	303	8	10	5			7	26	1		4			2	1		1	2	2271	83
Anthemis pseudocotula	seed/fruit	charred					1			4	2																													7	8					2														9	2																							13	7
Avena spec.	seed/fruit	charred																																						0	0							2						1																														3	5
Bromus spec.	seed/fruit	charred					2							1												2		1											9	15	14		1	30	2	2	11	11		38		31	1	1		2									2		1						2											135	33
Cuscuta spec.	stem/culm fragment	charred																																						0	0			8	4	2	4									2																												20	12
Lathyrus hirsutus/Vicia (klein)	seed/fruit	charred		6	2		43					6		4		19	3	3	13		4	1	18					4		1	4	11	12	3	6		4	6	12	185	59	22	7			16	14	3					1			8					11																							82	19
Lolium temulentum	seed/fruit	charred						4					63	11					68									39			7	7					16			215	22	119				29											17	28	15	125	630	13	44	37	161	289	5	8				7		1					2	1				1531	43
Lolium cf. temulentum	seed/fruit	charred	73	34	73	8	331			41	7	10			3	87	20	12		19	6	5	31	5	11				16	3			20	2	8	26		6	54	911	70		5	9		8	6	2	4			2	4	4		6																												50	24
Lolium spec.	seed/fruit	charred							6																		2		4											12	8					11		6		1										6				18			2	1								1								46	19
Lolium spec.	seed/fruit	mineralised			1																																			1	3																																											0	0
Phalaris minor	seed/fruit	charred								3	6			2							18		43		42				11	1		31	39	10	14	34	1	14	81	350	43										3										4																							7	5
Phalaris minor/paradoxa	seed/fruit	charred	10	5	36	34	146	7					27	8	1	58	8		48	7		2		2				15												414	43	55	2	7	52	41	5	6		11		16	6			5																												206	26
Phalaris	seed/fruit	charred							3																		4												1	8	8													1			2	2			36	2	2		37	14		1	5				24									1	2	129	31
Phalaris	seed/fruit	mineralised			1																																			1	3																																											0	0
Scorpiurus sp.	seed/fruit	charred																																						0	0																			3	10	2			4																			19	10
Sherardia arvensis	seed/fruit	charred				1																																		1	3																																											0	0
Veronica polita	seed/fruit	dessicated																																						0	0																																			3								3	2
Vicia hirsuta/tetrasperma	seed/fruit	charred			14		6		3	9			4	3							14		4					13	6											76	27	4		19			4																																					27	7

Ruderals/Segetals undiff.			2		7	9	2			4	5		1	4		10	2	2	17	1	2		16		2			3	1	2		3	7		6	8	5	1	2	124	70	14		5	5		1					35	10			3		1	7	12	244			7	89	58	3	2	1		7		46	1			5							556	50
Ammi cf. visnaga	seed/fruit	charred					1																																	1	3																																											0	0
Chenopodium ficifolium/polyspermum	seed/fruit	charred																																						0	0											35																																35	2
Chenopodium murale	seed/fruit	charred																																						0	0			2									2			2															2		3											11	12
Chenopodium spec.	seed/fruit	charred			1	1					2																			2		1								7	14				2																																1							3	5
Digitaria sanguinalis	seed/fruit	charred														1												1												2	5				3															2					2	1																		8	10
Echinochloa crus-galli	seed/fruit	charred																																						0	0																																											0	0
Echinochloa/Setaria	seed/fruit	charred	2		2	2				1				1			1						2																	11	19																		1	1	2					1																		5	10
Heliotropium	seed/fruit	dessicated																																						0	0																																	1										1	2
Medicago/Trifolium	seed/fruit	charred				2																																		2	3	2					1											1		4	3			1		9			1															22	19
Oryzopsis milliaceum	seed/fruit	charred								1													7																	8	5																																											0	0
Phleum spec.	seed/fruit	charred																																		4				4	3
Poa spec.	seed/fruit	charred																															7		2					9	5
Polypogon	seed/fruit	charred			2									1					6																					9	8												8								4																							12	5
Portulaca oleracea s.l.	seed/fruit	charred									2																													2	3																		4	5	233			6	76	45	2				5		43											419	21
Portulaca oleracea s.str.	whole fruit	charred																																						0	0																				1				9	2																		12	7
Setaria verticillata/viridis	seed/fruit	charred																														1								1	3																		2		1				2																			5	7
Setaria spec.	seed/fruit	charred				1														1			3					1							4				2	12	16																											2																2	2
Setaria spec.	seed/fruit	mineralised												1																										1	3																																											0	0
Trifolium spec.	seed/fruit	charred			2	3	1			2	1		1	1		9	1	2	11		2		4		2			1	1			1				4	5	1		55	54	12		3												1											1																	17	10
Trifolium spec.	seed/fruit	mineralised																																						0	0																																											0	0
Verbena officinalis	seed/fruit	dessicated																																						0	0																																				4							4	2

Riparian/Floodplain Vegetation			17	24	33	73	60	1	53	30	18	2	6	4		9	7	28	100	78	39	7	38	15	10			13	8			16	36	7	6	23	7	4	22	794	86	25		10	6	3	6	1	11	11		7	1	2		18	4	1		32	71	4		89	58	112	2	8	4	6	20		8		1	2				2				525	69
Aeluropus lithoralis	seed/fruit	charred	4																																					4	3																																											0	0
cf. Berula erecta	seed/fruit	charred					2																																	2	3																																											0	0
Bolboschoenus	seed/fruit	charred	2			1										2			2																					7	11																																											0	0
cf. Bolboschoenus	seed/fruit	charred																			1				1															2	5																																											0	0
Carex spec.	seed/fruit	charred	1																																					1	3																									2							4											6	5
Coronopus cf. niloticus	seed/fruit	charred																																						0	0																				14																							14	2
Cyperus cf. rotundus	rhizome	charred								2														6																8	5																																											0	0
Cyperus	rhizome	charred																		4																				4	3																				25				8	25																		58	7
Cyperus	rhizome	mineralised																																						0	0																									5																		5	2
Cyperus	rhizome	dessicated																																						0	0																																											0	0
Cyperus	stem/culm fragment	charred																			5																			5	3			8												6										34																		48	7
cf. Cyperus	seed/fruit	charred																																						0	0						1									7																												8	5
Cyperaceae	seed/fruit	charred		2	1		2				3								45		2		3	1								1	4							64	27	1		2	2		2									3									1	1					1		1											14	21
Cyperaceae	seed/fruit	mineralised			4																																			4	3																																											0	0
Cyperaceae	seed/fruit	dessicated																																						0	0																																											0	0
Cyperaceae	rhizome	dessicated																																						0	0																																		1									1	2
Cyperaceae	stem/culm fragment	charred		11		3	1		2		2								4	3			3	5				1												35	27	5					3																																					8	5
cf. Cyperaceae	stem/culm fragment	charred																																						0	0																																							2				2	2
Desmostachya bipinnata	stem/culm fragment	charred																																						0	0																																											0	0
Eleocharis	seed/fruit	charred	2	1			24									4					3	6	6					5										1	1	53	27	2												2												3				4			3											14	12
Eleocharis	seed/fruit	mineralised			1	28				4	1								3		9		4		3															53	22	6																																										6	2
Fimbristylis	seed/fruit	charred																																						0	0																								1	5				2														8	7
Glinus lotoides	seed/fruit	charred																			1																			1	3																																											0	0
Glinus lotoides	seed/fruit	dessicated																																						0	0																																											0	0
Isolepis	seed/fruit	charred				1	22				1										1		2		1															28	16																																											0	0
Isolepis	seed/fruit	mineralised								1																														1	3																																											0	0
Persicaria lanigera/lapatifolia	seed/fruit	charred	1		4	1	2		2		1	2				2			6	53		1	1					1	1			2			2				3	85	46	1																																										1	2
Phragmites	stem/culm fragment	charred		3		4	5				4		3						17	3	2																			41	22																			30						8										2								40	7
Ranunculus aquatilis agg.	seed/fruit	charred																																						0	0																							1																				1	2
Rumex crispus/dentatus	seed/fruit	charred	7	7	23	35	2	1	49	23	6		3	4		1	7	28	23	13	15		19	3	5			6	7			13	32	7	4	23	7	3	18	394	81	10			3	3		1	6	9		7	1			2	4	1		2	32	4		88	48	29	2	8	4		19													283	50
Rumex spec.	seed/fruit	mineralised																		2																				2	3																																											0	0
Rumex spec.	pericarp	charred																																						0	0				1				5	2																																		8	7

14 Desert			3	2	3	4															2		6		1							3								24	22		2	106	77		33	10	47	12		12		7		18		5	1	24	51		3	21	41	19	4			17		3		1	3			7		8			41	573	62
Acacia sp.	seed/fruit	charred																																						0	0		1		1		1	1		2									1	1	6		3	2	4	3																		26	29
Acacia sp.	seed/fruit	dessicated																																						0	0																																							1				1	2
Acacia sp.	leaf/needle	charred																																						0	0				4			5		4																																	8	21	10
Acacia sp.	whole fruit	charred																																						0	0		1	106	67		32	4	47	6		12		3		18																												296	24
Acacia sp.	infructescence	charred																																						0	0																																							4				4	2
Acacia sp.	infructescence	dessicated																																						0	0																																										23	23	2
Anabasis	seed/fruit	charred																																						0	0																	2																										2	2
Anabasis	stem/culm fragment	dessicated																																						0	0																																					7		3			5	15	7
Arnebia	stem/culm fragment	charred				2																																		2	3																																											0	0
cf. Capparis	seed/fruit	charred																					2		1															3	5																																											0	0
Echium rauwolfii	seed/fruit	charred																																						0	0													2										1	4																			7	7
cf. Ornithogalum	seed/fruit	charred																														3								3	3																																											0	0
Pulicaria	seed/fruit	charred			3	2															2		4																	11	11				5									2						11	41			18	26	8	4			12													5	132	24
Pulicaria	infructescence	charred	3																																					3	3																	3		4	4				7	8				5		3												34	17
Tamarix	seed/fruit	charred		2																																				2	3																			8																								8	2
Tamarix	twig/branchet	dessicated																																						0	0																																		3									3	2
Zilla spinosa	seed/fruit	charred																																						0	0																																	1										1	2

11 Varia				8	41	15	18	4	2	8	5	4	18	6		33	5		27	10	12	11	6	3	1	4	5	29	4			6	11	1	1	2	11	1	355	667	86	15	50	2	1		1		1			59	54	9		18			3	2	22		1		3	1	1			1				2		3		16	19	11	5	5	20	325	62
Amaranthaceae	seed/fruit	charred																																					6	6	3																																											0	0
Apiaceae	seed/fruit	charred																							1							1				2				4	8															1																												1	2
Asteraceae	seed/fruit	charred				2	1				4								2	1																		1	5	16	19																										1																	1	2
Asteraceae	leaf/needleü	charred				1																																		1	3																																											0	0
Asteraceae	infructescence	charred																			1																			1	3																																											0	0
Brassicaceae	seed/fruit	charred			1					1																						1								3	8																																											0	0
Fabaceae	seed/fruit	charred				1			1							2																					10		167	181	14			2	1									1						2			1		2																			9	14
Lamiaceae	seed/fruit	charred																										1					1							2	5																																											0	0
Lamiaceae	seed/fruit	mineralised																																			1			1	3
Poaceae	seed/fruit	charred		2							1								1	1		1					5					2	10	1	1				169	194	30						1		1												14				1	1																	1	19	14
Poaceae	basal part of plant	charred											2															4												6	5																																						2			3		5	5
Poaceae		dessicated																																						0	0																																							5				5	2
Poaceae	awn	charred																																						0	0												50																															50	2
Poaceae	clum	charred											1								7																			8	5		50													14																								6				70	7
Poaceae	clum	dessicated																																						0	0																																					9	3		4	2	19	37	12
Poaceae	halm node	charred								2									6		4																			12	8											35		8		3																												46	7
Poaceae	halm node	dessicated																																						0	0																		3																			3			1			7	7
Poaceae	rhizome	dessicated																																						0	0																																	2		3		4						9	7
Poaceae	stem/culm fragment	charred		6	10	11	17	4	1	5		4	15	6		31	5		18	7		10	6	3		4		24	4			2								193	57	15										24	4																															43	7
Poaceae	stem/culm fragment	mineralised			30																																			30	3																																											0	0
Poaceae	stem/culm fragment	dessicated																																						0	0																																						14					14	2
Polygonaceae	seed/fruit	charred																																					8	8	3																																											0	0
Solanaceae	seed/fruit	charred																		1																				1	3																																											0	0
Zygophyllaceae	seed/fruit	charred																																						0	0																				8									1														9	5

20 Other				13	12	11	17	2		13			5	34					60			8	23	2	2	105	5	8	1	17		9	20	57	47	376	115	4	48	1014	70	103					24			5					50	8	2	10		18	9	3		2	17			2	1					4			2	9		5	17		30	321	48
Indeterminata	seed/fruit	charred		4		3		2		3																5	5					1		21	47	205	115	3	45	459	35	3								5														2	3			2	1															16	14
Indeterminata	seed/fruit	mineralised		7			17							8								8	8		2	100		2				4								156	24																																											0	0
Indeterminata	seed/fruit	dessicated																																						0	0																																	4										4	2
Indeterminata	stem/culm fragment	charred		2	12	6								3					42				15							17		4								101	22						24																																					24	2
Indeterminata	stem/culm fragment	dessicated																																						0	0														50																										17			67	5
Indeterminata	leaf/needleü	charred																																						0	0																				9																							9	2
Indeterminata	porridge/(flat) bread/pulp	charred											3																							50				53	5																																											0	0
Indeterminata	pulp	charred											2																											2	3																																											0	0
Indeterminata	leaf/needle	dessicated																																						0	0																																										30	30	2
Indeterminata	basal part of plant: nodules, tubercles, bulbis, rhizomes, ...	charred																																						0	0																																											0	0
Indeterminata	rhizome	charred																										6												6	3																																											0	0
Indeterminata	rhizome	mineralised																																36		120				156	5
Indeterminata	Fisch	charred				1								23																										24	5																																											0	0
Indeterminata	Fisch	others																						1																1	3																																					7						7	2
Indeterminata	Insek	charred																																						0	0																			16																				3				19	5
Indeterminata	Insek	others																																						0	0																																					2						2	2
Indeterminata	bones/teeth	charred				1																																		1	3																																											0	0
Indeterminata	bones/teeth	others																						1					1											2	5																																											0	0
Indeterminata	coprolites	charred								10									18														3					1		32	11	100														8	2	10		2		3			14												2			2				143	21
Indeterminata	coprolites	mineralised																															17			1			3	21	8

Semi-quantified
Angiospermae Monocotyledonae	rhizome	charred		2	13					1	2											4							13													2
Angiospermae Monocotyledonae	stem/culm fragment	charred																		2
Cerealia indet.	awn	charred																															100			10		10	100
Angiospermae Monocotyledonae	stem/culm fragment	dessicated
Cerealia indet.	awn	mineralised	1000			1000	1000									100		1000				1000								100	1000																																													100
Cerealia indet.	glume	dessicated																																																	100																									100					50		100
Indeterminata	stem/culm fragment	mineralised	1000
Indeterminata	Kopr	mineralised	100				10															100		1000
Indeterminata	Moll	others																						10
Indeterminata	Text	dessicated																																																																															2000
Indeterminata	sonst	mineralised														10						1000																				100
Indeterminata	sonst	others																																												1					7
Indeterminata	unbek.	charred												10
Indeterminata	unbek.	mineralised												100															100

Tab. 2.
Available for download here.

Results

The Old Kingdom archaeobotanical assemblages from Middle Egypt yielded 15195 plant macro remains, with average concentrations of ca. 400 identifiable items per litre and 75 different taxa identified. Most of the samples from pottery coffins and beer jars, show a high concentration of plant remains and this is related not only to crop remains, but also to numerous and various field weeds as well as plants belonging to the desert habitat. The dump contexts also have a high concentration of plant remains and a more variable composition, including several concentrations of emmer grains and melon seeds.

For the site of Tell el-Iswid, a total of 7578 identifiable plant remains were found, with average concentrations of 34 identifiable items per litre and 78 different taxa. The overall impression is that the samples from the Naqada IIIA–D period have a rather variable composition and in many cases are dominated by cereal chaff (mostly emmer), potential crop weeds and small seeds which pass the digestive tract of herbivores and are often connected with dung fuel.

The archaeobotanical study of both macrobotanical assemblages here considered (tab. 1) suggests that the main annual crops used in both study areas were cereals (emmer and barley, presented by grains and chaff remains (fig. 3) and pulses (lentil and pea) known as principal crops in the study area already from the beginning of the Neolithic. Further elements of the plant economy were flax, fig and eventually some condiments like dill. The most common weeds typical generally for the Predynastic and Dynastic periods, like Lolium cf. temulentum and Phalaris minor/paradoxa, occur also frequently in the dataset. Apart from the cultivated fields, also plants from the wetlands and desert contribute to the plant economy of the sites, providing fodder, fuel, construction materials and food resources (fig. 2). Looking at the overall amount of plant remains per studied feature type, it seems that features that are the richest in samples (clay coffin DALB, dump deposit DALB, cult. layer ISW, oven ISW) from both study areas have comparable amounts of plant remains per sample (fig. 4A), but concerning concentration the sites from Middle Egypt show higher values than Tell el-iswid (fig. 4B), while the taxonomic diversity is lower than the site from the Nile Delta (fig. 4C).

**Fig. 2.** Percentage proportions of the main economic and ecological groups of the identifiable plant macrofossils. Based on **1. Tell el-Iswid** (Naqada IIIA-D) 37 features, with total volume 377,8 L floated sediment and 7578 plant remains and **2. Deir el-Bersha-Project** (Old Kingdom) 42 features, with total volume 54 L floated sediment and 15195 plant remains.

**Fig. 3. A.** Percentage proportions of the chaff and grains of Cerealia indet., *Triticum* sp., *Triticum dicoccum* and *Hordeum vulgare* during both studied periods (abbreviation ISW=Tell el-Iswid; DALB=Deir el-Bersha-Project, vc=vessel content) B. Sum of chaff per feature (abbreviation after feature type: DALB=Deir el-Bersha-Project, ISW=Tell el-Iswid). Deir el-Bersha: 42 features (5 pottery coffin; 17 beer jar/vessel content, 2 embalming deposit, 1 cultural layer; el-Sheikh Sa’id/Wādī Zabayda: 17 dump deposit), Tell el-Iswid: 37 features (20 cultural layers; 15 ovens; 2 silos).

**Fig. 4. A.** Sum of plant remains (NRT) B. Concentration and C. Plant diversity, of the archaeobotanical assemblages according to period and feature type (the same features as listed in Fig. 3), abbreviation after feature type: ISW=Tell el-Iswid, DALB=Deir el-Bersha-Project; vc=vessel content.

Preservation

The concentration of remains per litre is much greater in the Old Kingdom samples (coming from Deir el-Bersha and el-Shaykh Sa’īd/Wādī Zabayda), than in those from the Naqada IIIA–D period, (coming from Tell el-Iswid) comprising on average 400 and 34 remains per litre respectively. The assemblage, obtained in the framework of the Deir el-Bersha-Project from burial and dump disposal contexts (tab. 2) shows in general a very good preservation. In many cases fine surface structures on the seed/fruit remains are intact and well observable, suggesting that the plant remains once deposited were not exposed to changing conditions or re-deposition. Plant diversity is more or less the same for both study areas (fig. 3C), although the preservation of the remains in many of the Tell el-Iswid samples is much poorer. This rather variable to poor preservation can be explained by the fragmentation and abraded surfaces of many of the plant remains, leading subsequently to the missing of recognisable morphological and anatomical features and hence to identifications at only very broad taxonomic level (like family or even higher taxonomic group). A poorer preservation of the macroremains in them is attested by much higher proportions of the “Cerealia”, “Varia” and “Indeterminate” categories (fig. 3A).

Proportions of the main economic and ecological groups

The same plant categories were found in both sites (fig. 2). Cereal crops are slightly more abundant at Tell el-Iswid, but the same two species are present at all three sites, namely barley (Hordeum vulgare) and emmer (Triticum dicoccum). In the cereal category, emmer grains dominated the Old Kingdom samples from Middle Egypt, while barley chaff was more abundant among the found chaff remains. The reverse is true for the Naqada assemblage from Tell el-Iswid (fig. 3A). Overall, the sites studied in the framework of Deir el-Bersha-Project show higher concentrations of chaff remains in the studied structures (fig. 3B), compared to Tell el-Iswid, where only few samples from silo-contexts contain numerous chaff remains. Pulses reach similar proportions and the same species dominate (lentils, Lens culinaris and peas, Pisum sativum) at both study areas. Lathyrus cicera/sativus was only identified at el-Sheikh Sa’id/Wādī and not at Tell el-Iswid. Potential field weeds and riparian and floodplain vegetation are also more important in Tell el-Iswid assemblages. The assemblages of el-Sheikh Sa’id/Wādī Zabadya especially, but partly also those of Deir el-Bersha (zone 7), show a clear abundance of garden and imported plants, notably Cucumis melo and Ficus carica, but also Beta vulgaris. However, while few specimens of Origanum sp. and Vitis vinifera were identified in the Tell el-Iswid samples, this was not the case in the Middle Egypt samples studied in this paper. Beta vulgaris is only identified in the el-Sheikh Sa’id/Wādī Zabadya assemblages. Ruderal/segetal and desert plants are much more abundant in the samples obtained by the Deir el-Bersha project, than in the Tell el-Iswid samples.

Ubiquity

Pulses seem to be less ubiquitous (fig. 5) in the Middle Egypt assemblage if we include the features from zone 7, related with highly specialised ritual. Without the samples from zone 7, the assemblage from Dayr el- Barshā and el-Sheikh Sa’id/Wādī Zabayda shows pulses ubiquity comparable with the one from Tell el-Iswid. The different categories of weeds (both potential field weeds and ruderals/segetal species) and species of riparian and flood plain vegetation occur more frequently in the Tell el-Iswid samples. On the contrary, garden and possible imported plants as well as species from the desert were more frequent in the assemblages from Middle Egypt, especially due to the site of el-Sheikh Sa’id/Wādī Zabayda (tab. 1).

Multivariate analysis

The correspondence analysis (fig. 6) of the sample compositions between the two considered study areas and three case study sites shows that they mostly overlap. However, in the samples from the Deir el-Bersha-Project there is a clear difference between the archaeobotanical assemblages from Deir el-Bersha zone 7 (beer jar) and zone 8 (pottery coffins), and from the dump deposits at el-Sheikh Sa’id/Wādī Zabayda, confirming the distinct archaeobotanical composition between them.¹⁶ The most highly mixed samples, i.e. those coming from the features assigned to the feature type “cultural layer” from Tell el-Iswid (indicated in fig. 6 by orange crosses) are spread the widest in the plot and fit overall within the range of the majority of the el-Sheikh Sa’id/Wādī Zabayda assemblages, suggesting similar trends in the composition of the archaeobotanical samples from both periods.

**Fig. 6.** Multivariate statistics – CA per feature types. orange color for Tell el-Iswid, plus=cultural layer, square=oven, circle=silo; black color for Deir el-Bersha-Project: circle=pottery coffin; diamond=beer jar/vessel content, triangle=dump deposit.

Discussion

Formation of the archaeobotanical assemblages

The preservation of the plant assemblages from Deir el-Bersha and el-Sheikh Sa’id/Wādī Zabayda contexts is very good, a fact that is reflected also in the well-observable fine cell structures in many of the archaeobotanical finds, as mentioned above. This is also visible when considering the quantitative proportions of the cereal grains. For example, in the assemblages from Tell el-Iswid for nearly 80% of the cereal grains no more specific identification could be proposed than “Cerealia”, a category that can also be considered as proxy for poor preservation (fig. 3A), as the abrasion and fragmentation are too strong to reach a better identification level. In archaeobotanical assemblages from Middle Egypt, such grains represent only 6% of the total number of cereal grain identifications. However, while considering the taxonomic diversity of both assemblages, it seems that the differences between them are negligible (fig. 4C). The high concentration of plant remains in the Middle Egypt features (fig. 4B) is mostly related to several samples with higher concentrations of chaff remains (fig. 3B) from the pottery coffins and beer jars from Deir el-Bersha and emmer grains and melon seeds in the dump deposit of el-Sheikh Sa’id/Wādī Zabayda (tab. 1). The correspondence analysis (fig. 6) also suggests that both assemblages overlap at large in their major composition. Thus, it seems that concerning general trends and patterns in their components both assemblages are more or less comparable.

For the macro-botanical remains deposited in the Naqada IIIA–D structures from Tell el-Iswid, the overall composition of the studied archaeobotanical assemblages suggests that dung fuel was the main source.¹⁷ Therefore, they probably reflect a variety of plant economy resources, like dung, fodder, threshing remains, etc. which according to ethnographic observations and previous studies are usually incorporated in the dung cakes used as fuel in the ovens.¹⁸ The samples obtained in the framework of the Deir el-Bersha-Project derive mainly from three types of deposits i.e. features: 1) pottery coffins (3rd Dynasty), 2) beer jars/vessel contents (6th Dynasty) and 3) dump deposits from a settlement context (early 4th Dynasty) (tab. 2). All those feature types could surely also contain remains of disposed fuel and this is visible in the correspondence analysis result on sample, resp. feature composition (fig. 6), where several of the “dump deposit” samples overlap with the “oven” and “cultural layer” samples from Tell el-Iswid. Therefore, apart from the primary components like threshing remains, waste of food processing and consumption and vegetal construction elements, they contain also remains of fuel disposal and should have a rather mixed character. The composition of plant remains found in Old Kingdom pottery coffins, which originate from the tempering used in the pottery fabric, is quite distinct. Although it also shows a very high diversity of plant taxa, like the Naqada cultural layer samples from Tell el-Iswid, they also contain the highest amount of barley chaff remains compared to all the sample types (fig. 3B). Thus, for the tempering in the clay fabric used for the coffin construction, cereal threshing remains played a very important role, and this makes their composition so distinctive within the studied assemblage. High participation of chaff threshing remains as tempering is a common pattern in clay constructions, like for example those described in the predynastic pisé tempering.¹⁹ Here as well, like in the studied pottery coffins, the chaff of barley is an essential component of the tempering material (tab. 2).

Another group of feature type concerns the contents of ceramic vessels deposited during funerary rites (beer jars or Maidum bowls). Here, the major plant components are related with primary food remains considering that they are dominated by barley (as part of brewing residues) as well as grains of barley and emmer, seeds of lentil, seeds and fruit capsules of flax, vegetables like melon (Cucumis melo), and fruits like fig (Ficus cp.) and christ´s thorn (Ziziphus spina-christi). Further, few seeds of arable weeds occur as well as desiccated remains the desert vegetation, which could have entered the matrix later, for example blown by wind. Beside this, in zone 7, two features from an embalming deposit proved to be rather poor in archaeobotanical remains (apart from few representatives of desert vegetation, which obviously came into the samples by accident) and their main organic content consisted of remains of textiles. Thus, those contexts stand somehow aside from the rest of the studied material, but also reflect the plant economy of the site, even if seen through the lens of a ritual.

The similarity patterns observed in the archaeobotanical assemblages from both study areas suggest that these assemblages originate not only from similar principal ingredients, but also from similar economic activities performed at the sites.²⁰ Thus, most probably the sites from the two different regions and periods also share common elements of agriculture, fodder and fuel procurement, as well as food consumption and waste disposal.

Common elements and differences

The main categories of cultivated plants for both study areas overlap clearly. The same principal cereal crops (barley and emmer), pulses (lens and pea), fibre crops (flax) and vegetables/spices (Cucumis melo, Anethum graveolens) occur in both areas and all three considered sites. The poorer preservation of the Tell el-Iswid assemblage does not allow to estimate if hulled barley was the main type, but this is to be assumed considering the evidence from other contemporary sites in the area.²¹ Similarly, hulled barley is the main barley variety in the considered Old Kingdom sites. The concentrations of emmer grains (n=3) at el-Sheikh Sa’id/Wādī Zabayda could reflect the consumption of emmer food products, as those finds were also associated with bread moulds deposited in the same layers.²² Looking at the group of garden/imported plants for the Old Kingdom sites, i.e. Deir el-Bersha and el-Sheikh Sa’id/Wādī Zabayda, it seems that those plants play a more important role than in earlier material, occurring in 60% of the studied samples, while at Tell el-Iswid they occur in 24% of the studied samples. The bigger concentrations (n=4) of melon seeds, suggest direct evidence of the consumption of melon at the workmen’s site of el-Sheikh Sa’id/Wādī Zabayda (tab. 2). That melon (Cucumis melo) and dill played a certain role in the plant economy since the very beginning of the formation of the ancient Egyptian state is also visible in studies at several other predynastic sites.²³ However, it seems that in the Deir el-Bersha-Project assemblages, the fig plays a more significant role, occurring in 12% of the studied contexts, well in accordance with the iconographic and archaeobotanical data from the period.²⁴ The single finds of Beta vulgaris, occurring only in the samples from el-Sheikh Sa’id/Wādī Zabayda, should probably be considered not as an indicator of crop cultivation, but rather as an element of the weed flora typical for the early pharaonic period.²⁵ Of interest are the finds of Origanum sp. and cf. Vitis vinifera present only in the Tell el-Iswid samples but not identified in the samples from the Deir el-Bersha project. Considering the geographic location of Tell el-Iswid, these plants seem to reflect the connections with the adjacent Levantine region. Similarly, due to natural geographic circumstances, the desert vegetation is much more present in the Old Kingdom assemblages from Middle Egypt (Deir el-Bersha and el-Sheikh Sa’id/Wādī Zabayda), where the proximity of the desert creates locally specific conditions amenable to the presence of this vegetation type. The two Old Kingdom assemblages certainly show a very similar composition to the one found in predynastic Ma’ādī,²⁶ including also the evidence on the used wood fuel (mostly Acacia and Tamarix). Obviously, the sites in the Delta²⁷ relied more on dung fuel, while those close to desert wadis had access also to wood fuel,²⁸ independent of the period (Predynastic or Old Kingdom) to which they belong.

Thus, despite differences in preservation and regionally specific features, the qualitative and quantitative comparison of the two archaeobotanical datasets presented here, point strongly to a continuity in the agricultural practices and in general plant economy of both considered regions and periods. Moreover, the observed notable similarities over a long duration of time and in spite of vastly different natural environments suggest structural similarities in the Naqada IIIA–D and Old Kingdom plant economy over the longue durée of those periods.

Conclusions

The quantitative analyses of the archaeobotanical assemblages from Tell el-Iswid and Deir el-Bersha/el-Sheikh Sa’id/Wādī Zabayda indicate that the plant economy of the Predynastic and Early Dynastic period (Naqada IIIA–D) and Old Kingdom (3rd–6th Dynasty) share many common features. The taphonomic analyses and comparisons of the two study areas have shown very common trends in the quantity, diversity and concentration of the considered charred plant remains found in the different feature types. These observations were confirmed also by multivariate statistical analyses.

The staple crops in both cases are hulled barley and emmer, followed by pulses (lentil, pea and grass pea). The oil/fibre crop, flax, is represented with few finds in both cases, probably due to its underrepresentation in a charred state, as from written sources and textile finds it is known that the plant played an important role at least in the Old Kingdom economy as a source of fibres for textiles. Regarding the vegetables and spices, the most common are Cucumis melo and Anethum graveolens, found in both study areas. The most commonly identified potential weeds (Lolium temulentum, Phalaris minor/paradoxa, Lathyrus hirsutus/Vicia, Trifolium sp., Rumex crispis/dentatus) are identical for both study areas, suggesting common agricultural practices in both the Early Dynastic period and the Old Kingdom.

Thus, the considered case studies suggest that the tendencies of specialisation and standardisation typical for the pharaonic periods in Egypt were already well developed from its very beginning. Therefore, the plant-based ancient Egyptian economy, which was the foundation of stable nutritional resources through the pharaonic era (nearly three millennia), was already available at its beginning as recorded in the archaeobotanical evidence from Tell el-Iswid.

Acknowledgments

This contribution is dedicated to Natalie Buchez, with cordial thanks for inspiring and fruitful scientific exchange and cooperation.

The KU Leuven Special Research Fund and FWO-Vlaanderen are acknowledged for funding the research in the framework of the Deir el-Bersha project.

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Notes

The variety of melon used as vegetable and which according to depictions was the variety used during the Old Kingdom in Egypt, see Murray 2000b.

van Zeist & de Roller 1993; Murray 2000a, b; Fahmy 2005; Cappers 2016.

Fahmy 1997.

Moens & Wetterstrom 1988; Murray 2009.

See Malleson 2016; Moens & Wetterstrom 1988; Moustafa et al. 2018; Murray 2004; 2005; Murray & Gendy 2015; Newton 2004; 2007.

Murray 2009.

Marinova et al. 2024.

Willems 2013.

Vanthuyne 2016; 2017; Willems et al. 2004.

Willems et al. 2009.

Marinova et al. 2024.

Midant-Reynes & Buchez 2014; 2024.

Bajeot & Buchez 2021.

Kreuz & Schäfer 2002.

Hammer et al. 2001.

In el-Sheikh Sa’id/Wādī Zabayda, the material is from an early 4th Dynasty settlement context, whereas the Beer jars and coffins are from the 3rd and 6th Dynasties respectively, and were part of the mud paste from which the coffins were made. Here a factor not encountered in the settlement material could be the paste recipe of the potter.

Marinova et al. 2024.

Cappers 2006.

Newton 2004.

Cappers 2006.

See the discussion on the topic in Moustafa et al. 2018.

Willems et al. 2009.

See Fahmy 2001; 2005; van Zeist & de Roller 1993.

Murray 2000b.

Fahmy 1997.

see Van Zeist & de Roller 1993.

Moens & Wetterstrom 1988; Marinova et al. 2024.

see Van Zeist & de Roller 1993; Murray 2009.

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Continuity of the Early Dynastic and Old Kingdom plant economy in Egypt? A comparison of the archaeobotanical assemblages of Tell el-Iswid, Deir el-Bersha and el-Sheikh Sa’id/Wādī Zabayda

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Introduction

Material and methods