The prehistoric village of Ma'adi

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THE WESTERN QUARTER OF THE PREHISTORIC SETTLEMENT OF MAADI

(EGYPT)

 Projected archaeological rescue operation

(First version: September 1996)

Luc Watrin

PRE-PHARAONIC EGYPT: contribution to the study of the Nile Delta and to the issue of exchange between Egypt and Palestine.

Acknowledgements

             I would like to express my warmest thanks to Professors I. Rizkana and Y. Fayyed, directors of Maadi (University of Cairo, Department of Geography), for their availability, their open-mindedness towards young scholars, their willingness to provide easy access to the material and to the site (1994-1999); the elaboration of this project owes much to their personal qualities. I would also like to thank F. A. Badawi (University of El-Azhar) for for his help in this project, as well as to the various members of the SCA (Supreme Council of Antiquities) for their support. I thank also the CEDEJ's members for making topographical documentation accessible.

NB: Documenta A to L are found in the appendices at the end of the page.

Figure 1: General location of the site

  Figure 2: Cairo, 10 August 1994

©SPOT IMAGE                                                                                                                            CEDEJ-OUCC

                                                                                                                                                   GÉOSYSCOM

AIMS OF THE PROJECT

Maadi is an important prehistoric site of the fourth millennium BC located in Southern Cairo (fig.1-2). Its location on a lower terrace secluded from the annual flooding of the Nile, has to a great measure protected the site. However it is at present under the threat of complete obliteration by the urban expansion of Greater Cairo (fig. 3-5, pl. 1).
The aims of this document are to present a summary of presently obtainable factual information on the available archaeological plans, and to make research bodies aware of its total disappearance before the year 2000, at a moment when the main issues concerning this important settlement have not been clarified.
One will recall the importance of Maadi in the intra and supra-regional history of the Nile Delta; moreover, We aim to insist on the interest in conducting excavations in order to understand the development of urban culture and complex societies in this region, particurlarly in a specific area previously spared on the Western part of the prehistoric village by ancient archaeological fieldwork and recent building operations.
A surface survey realized in 1994, then in 1995-96 (L. Watrin ) under the supervision of Professor I. Rizkana, director of the former excavations of Maadi, has shown the archaeological potential on the Western periphery of the site, on a surface of 10.000 sq. m. Additionally a stratigraphic excavation strategy - a nowadays classical and indispensable digging technique, but unfortunately not practiced on site until now - is still possible: presence of layers of human occupation, sometimes over a thickness of one metre.
Add also that the archaeological perimeter is strongly desired by two buildings compagnies ("Nerco" and Maadi") who have already destroyed an important part of the prehistoric village (fig. 5). These compagnies are actually in a process of acquiring of the last peace of the archaeological land of Maadi, and it's seems to have inspired a recent article from El-Wafd newspaper (article du journal El-Wafd). The destruction of these last remains would be a crucial loss for the archaeology of the area, whilst an operation using modern means of exploration would ease the verification of the different issues concerning the site, and enrich our knowledge of predynastic Egypt.

Figure 3: General view of western Ma'adi (1996)

Figure 4: The town of Ma'adi early in the excavation (Menghin/Amer, 1932, pl. III)

1. LOCATION, SPECIFIC INTEREST OF THE SITE AND SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS WORK. 

1.1. An original local repertoire

            Ma’adi is the type site of the culture of "Buto-Ma’adi" that characterised Lower Egypt between 3900 and 3500 BC. This culture was in close relation with Palestine since its very origin, as is shown by the presence of Late Chalcolithic pottery (Buto I ) and then from the beginning of the Early Bronze Age (Ma’adi).
In the middle of the fourth millennium BC, Egypt shows a diversity of stylistic traits in its material culture that can be summarized as follows into two main groups (fig. 6) :
- The above mentioned "Buto-Ma’adi" culture.
- The one of Naqada in Upper Egypt, whose original centre is located in the region of the great-bend of the Nile, at the junction with the Wadi Hammamât.

            1.2. History of excavations

            Maadi was discovered in 1913 by Bovier Lapierre, who published in 1926 the first archaeological documentation on the site .
In 1930, professors Amer and Menghin of the Geographical Institute of Cairo initiated excavations on the site , located to the South of the small modern village of Ma’adi, at the time a resort for expatriates in Egypt. It consisted on the surface of a large zone of discarded material and waste covered by a thin deposit of aeolic sand, extending over more than a kilometre in length over a low terrace of the Nile, to the North of the quarries of Tura (fig. 4, add.2).
The Eastern sector of the site was partially destroyed by the installation of a military base. For these reasons, the first excavators created a 10 X 10 m grid on the middle part of the prehistoric village, where as a matter of fact the greatest accumulation of deposit was observable (layers of more than one metre in depth).
In 1948, I. Rizkana joined the team of Ma’adi, and fieldwork was resumed by M. Amer until 1953 . The excavated surface is impressive (approximately 40,000 sq. m.). Nevertheless, according to the archaeologists, the material being homogenous in all layers (sic!), no exposure of remains according to the rules of stratigraphy was ever carried out. The excavation method consisted in uncovering great sectors by digging through arbitrary 20 cm layers at a time, until the structures and bedrock were finally reached. The remains of deliberate architectural levelling, the traces in negative of huts made of perisheable material (pisé, wood), large pithoi/storage jars (pl. 4b), as well as some structures (one rectangular, the others circular) dug in the rock substratum, were uncovered.

The overwhelming majority of the ceramic repertoire (80 %) is made up of small globular jars with a rounded base, and vases with a ring-base (pl. 4a). The presence of imported ware from Palestine (3 % of the assemblage) testifies to inter-regional exchange. One notes specific productions such as basalt containers (pl. 6a) - particularly those with a ring base, common feature of the pottery of Maadi not found in the Naqadian pottery - possibly used as a commercial counterpart to imported products.

This settlement has been dated quite early to the middle of the Fourth millennium by Menghin (1934) thanks to the imported material (notably Palestine). The necropolis of Maadi was identified to the South of the settlement and was partially sounded (today under street 206 in the Degla quarter). Another necropolis, more recent (belonging to the First Dynasty) was discovered by Brunton (1938) one km South of the ancient village, near the Sakanat el Maadi subway station.

During fourty years there was no publication. The archaeological material was stored in an excavation depot built on site by Cairo University, placed under the trust of two guards. In 1984, the German Archaeological Institute of Cairo suggested to publish the Maadi excavations. The first volume, under the supervision of J. Seeher, was edited in 1987 (MAADI I), followed by three others (MAADI II-III-IV).
In 1983, an Italian expedition resumed excavations in the central sector of Maadi but its results appear to have been limited and remain unpublished: i.e. approximately 400 sq. m. exposed, where they noted the presence of postholes and storage jars.
In 1985-86, a little operation conducted by professor F. A. Badawi took place on the Western sector of the site, which had never been previously probed. Hence a semi-subterranean structure was uncovered but fieldwork was not continued . One shall note that no work (to the exception of F. A. Badawi) was conducted on the Western sector of the site, which appears nevertheless to be the most promising area. It is on this sector that we urge the necessity of an intervention.

2. IMPORTANCE OF THE SITE AND CURRENT ISSUES.

            2.1. A focus on domestic occupation.

Ma’adi is the only prehistoric village in Lower Egypt preserved in its entirely, apart from the site of Buto in the Western Delta, where remains contemporary with Maadi lie buried under 7 metres of sediment, and are hence only accessible through narrow soundings. (excavations performed by T. Von der Way and D. Faltings, DAI).

There is currently in Egypt, to the South of Greater Cairo, no reasonably preserved predynastic site with important traces of domestic habitat with the exception of Hierakonpolis. Badarian and Naqadian settlements are today most probably under modern cities, destroyed by flooding or by peasants searching for natural fertilizers (Sebakhin). A typical case is to be found in Upper Egypt on the site of El Adaima, excavated by a French expedition since 1991 . If the necropolis is partly intact (75% of robbed graves) and shows the presence of abundant funerary goods, including imports from Nubia and Lower Egypt (SP 404), the more ancient village (Naqada IIa-d), founded at the summit of a sand dune and marked by a series of big depressions which are the negatives of houses of mudbrick; the latter have been collected by peasants in order to fertilize their fields. The only undamaged spaces are a succession of courtyards that have shown the presence of some secondary domestic features (such as grinding stones, storage jars of the B-class, animal or child burials).

The understanding of an ancient prehistoric society through burials only (as such is too often the case in Egypt) is insufficient. For this very reason, the existence of well-preserved domestic units, as at Maadi, calls for an unusual caution and specific efforts. Domestic architecture will necessarily be one of the main topic of research on this period for years to come.

            2.2. A distinctive form of architecture made of semi-subterranean structures.

The presence, at Ma’adi of rectangular or elliptic semi-subterranean architectural structures, built in the bedrock, in this case unique in Egypt it deems indispensable specific studies, since their function was never made clear (houses or granaries/magazines...). Some could be a reflection of architectural techniques from Palestine (?). These structures, superficially examined in 1940, are today inaccessible because they have been destroyed by the spread of the modern town of Ma’adi (they are actually buried under the buildings of street 216, in the South-Eastern angle of the radio station). However a comparable structure (fig. 7-8, pl. 2-3) has been unearthed by an Egyptian team under the supervision of F.A. Badawi in 1985-1986 .
To the exception of a short archaeological note this structure has neither been the focus of any report, nor an appropriate dating.

This structure is semi-subterranean; its shape is elliptical, and it is entirely built of stone. Its external dimensions are 10,50 m X 5,50 m. Its preserved height is 2 m. The walls are between 0,60 and 0,80 m wide and built of roughly hewn limestone blocks of varying size. A doorway 2,50 m long over 0,80 m is located near the Eastern angle of the Northern side. It shows on its Western face remains of mudplaster (at least two phases). A niche 0,50 X 0,50 m was built in the upper part of the Northern wall. The internal corners are rounded, just as the external ones on at least three sides - as far as one can judge from “in situ” observation.

Indeed the chronology of this stone structure is difficult to establish. F. A. Badawi and ourself have no doubt about its position in the prehistoric period. But for his part, U. Hartung think that this structure is not prehistoric, and must be dated in the islamic period (he believes that is it a cistern !). His colleague T. Von der Way think that it must be a tomb of the First or Second dynasty, similar to those excavated at Helwân.

Figure 7: State of preservation of the structure excavated by F. A. Badawi

        With this in mind one can find similarities with the architecture known from Palestine and Libanon, for example on the site of Sidon- Dakerman in Southern Lebanon during the beginning of the Early Bronze Age I (EB Ia, c. 3650-3400 BC)

Another clue to the date of these structure, namely EB Ia : Badawi's discovery on the floor of the structure of a hearth and two big storage jars (items stored in a warehouse belonging to the SAE, and not yet identified) which are probably of the same type as those found in the vicinity during previous excavations.

Moreover, the mortar between the stone blocks of the construction contains numerous fragments of sherds of Ma’adian pottery, typologically similar to those on the site’s surface (noteworthy are the fragments of jars with a ring base). This could indicate a direct exploitation of surrounding soils in order to extract the various constituants of the mortar and eventually could mean either a contemporary or later phase of occupation at the site.

Figure 8: Excavated structure. Current status (1996) and cross-section.

Finally this construction is not unique in its kind as related structures have been discovered in 1940 in the immediate surroundings of the Western domestic sector .
These consisted of oblong or rectangular pits, sometimes with a stone or mudbrick face, most often with traces of postholes indicating walls made of perisheable material; they were also accessible through a door in one of the faces, near one of the corners . These pits, typologically, could either characterize a more ancient stage, or a primitive sketch of this kind of domestic installation.

            2.3. Problems of regional chronology and stratigraphy.

The main problems concerning the site of Ma’adi are chronological and stratigraphical.
The site seems to have been occupied during several centuries. Absolute dating by 14C has given the following frame: 3985-3515 BC . Stone artefacts (vases, rhombic palettes, flat-topped maceheads (pl. 6b) would indicate a date Naqada I-IIa . Imports from Upper Egypt have allowed W. Kaiser to place the beginnings of the site towards Naqada Ib and its end at the beginning of the Naqada IIc period. The imports from Palestine make the site belong to the beginning of the Early Bronze I (EB Ia, i.e. between 3700 and 3400 BC ). The likelyhood that the site was founded just before contact was made with other regional entities (as far as the late Badarian or Naqada Ia) is however not to be discarded; this would render a high chronology obtained through absolute dating more coherent.
The excavations having been carried out without stratigraphic control, it has not been possible to determine the different phases of occupations. Yet the accumulation is approximately 1 m deep in the central part of the settlement. Our own investigations demonstrate the existence of at least twelve archaeological strata in this sector (pl. 1).
Ma’adi represents most certainly the only stratified site in Egypt for this period that is (1) reasonably easily accessible, and (2) that could provide new information on the evolution of domestic occupation, architecture and associated furnishings and material culture (local productions and imports); seriation could more firmly establish the chronology and the gradual changes in cultural assemblages on a broader scale.
Observations made by K. Bittel in 1931 , founded only on a selection of the material, lead to conclusions on the homogeneity of the material in all strata (that consequently meant the abandonment of all stratigraphic control on site) is to be treated critically. A new analysis of the material as a whole, making use of standard procedures of modern prehistoric excavation in stratigraphy quite probably result in other conclusions.

            2.4. A site with close links to Palestine.

The discovery of a whole assemblage of material relating to Palestine is one of the most relevant issues of Ma’adi. The pottery of Palestinian type or manufacture (Ware V in the reports of Seeher and Rizkana) is constituted by a few large jars of the "Wavy Handled" type (pl. 5a), as well as numerous small jars, including juglets (pl. 5b), containers of undetermined liquids.
Lithics show the presence of a great number of Palestinian blades of the "Canaanite" type. These finds are to be assigned to the beginning of the Palestinian Early Bronze Age (EBIa). The presence of exotic raw materials, like cedar wood, copper from the Wadi Arabah and maybe Dead Sea bitumen, is a clear indication of the importance of exchanges between the inhabitants of Ma’adi with mid-fourth millennium BC Palestine.
The chronological positioning of this material in relation to the cultures of Palestine is still a hotly debated issue. Nevertheless most of the forms somewhat have a link with the shapes of the beginning of the Palestinian Bronze Age (EB Ia) , contemporary with the Naqada Ic-IIb period . On the other hand, the assemblage of Palestinian pottery recently identified at Buto I by D. Faltings, contemporary with the end of the Ghassul-Beersheva horizon seems older than that of Maadi . This could bring about a reassessment of the chronology of the "Ma’adi-Buto culture" , most probably more ancient than was previously thought up to now. On the basis of Palestinian material, Buto I could be tentatively dated to the same period as late Badarian and Naqada Ia and not Naqada IIb as thought by T. Von der Way and K. Köhler.
The imported ceramic assemblage at Ma’adi equally causes problems. If it is of Palestinian origin in a broad sense, the areas of production remain unknown because of the absence of petrographical analyses. Likewise no study of what was contained in the jars was ever performed, so one is unable to assert what were the organic products exported to the Delta by Palestinian settlements.

2.5. Ma’adi and the copper trade with Palestine : a matter of controversy.

            According to the metallographic analyses (A. Hauptmann ), the copper at Ma’adi would come from the Wadi Arabah, and more specifically from Feinan in Jordan. The issue of copper is of paramount importance for the study of the early history of Egyptian-Palestinian exchange. Underestimated in the more recent publications on the site (MAADI III), Ma’adian copper is considered to be imported more in order to be used in cosmetic products of the population, rather than satisfying the needs of local metallurgists. Yet the presence of ingots (fig. 9a), of copper tools with no equivalent in stone (fig. 9b), argue in favour of technological innovation and evolution; other finds hint at the development of a metalworking tradition. On the other hand the absence of furnaces or crucibles are points that appear to nevertheless minimize its significance at Ma’adi as an industry. It will be stressed, however, for instance that no potter’s kiln was found on the site, while their local provenance is absolutely sure.
It is therefore not unreasonable to think that specialised quarters of Ma’adi (copper, etc…) could be located on the Western part of the site, which incidentally was practically never explored and where an operation could yield interesting results.

Figure 9: Two copper ingots discovere at Ma'adi

3. CONTEXT OF INTERVENTION - METHODOLOGY

            3.1. Nature of the operation, and technical conditions of intervention

            On the basis of the surveys realised in 1994, 1995 and 1996 on the Western sector of the site, to the South of the perimetral wall belonging to the radio station, the semi-subterranean stone structure exposed by Badawi was rediscovered; it has been possible to identify a series of small mounds and archaeological strata that could be interpreted as the remains of the prehistoric village . The remaining sections show at least a metre of archaeological deposit.
The operation proposed would first take the form of an archaeological diagnostic operation (in the shape of a trench, or through the means of an extensive open exposure) allowing the testing of presently formulated hypotheses. Confirmation of the potential wealth of the site would accordingly lead to a programmed excavation.
The surface is at leats of 10,000 sq. m. (a four-sided polygon of 100 X 100 m). The average altitude of the low terrace at Western Maadi is about 37 meters (Add. 2). The site seems to have benefited of good fossilization conditions (it was sealed by aeolic sand deposits).

            3.2. Processing of the material in real time.

            The study of the stratigraphy of the site and of associated finds renders indispensable the use of statistical and computing tools; the abundance of ceramic material as well as lithics is such that processing through “human” means would take up uncontrollable proportions.
The perspective of a stratigraphic approach in such a context would allow the establishment of typo-morphological criteria of the ceramic assemblages and of other finds and would enable to define on a broad scale the evolution of cultural facies during a given period; the conclusions would be confronted to those already obtained on excavated sites (Buto…). From this point of view Ma’adi could become one of the major milestones in the chronology of the Fourth millennium.
In tandem it is also the evolution of domestic occupation that will be characterized; this has not yet been done in older excavations, principally due to the absence of this type of approach.

            3.3. Technical data.

           The operation would place itself under the scientific sponsorship of the University of El-Azhar. The legal frame (authorisation for work in the field given by the SAE) would be allotted by the University of El-Azhar.
Supervision could be performed jointly by professional archaeologists : Fathi Afifi Badawi, professor at El Azhar University assisted by GREPAL’s members : Luc Watrin, protohistorian and professional supervisor for rescue excavations in the « Island of France » region (AFAN) and Pierrick Brihaye (computer-scientist, DRAC of Rennes).
The storage of the archaeological material could be done in the old excavation deposit of Maadi after agreement with the University of Cairo (Department of Geography).
Students from the University of El-Azhar, the University of Cairo (Department of Geography) and the SCA will be able to join the team and, for the students, acquire field experience.
The cost of such an operation could be situated around 25 000 $ for a one month and half season.
An electromagnetic survey could be dealt on the site in order to locate others dwelling structures in stone. The identification of new semi-subterranean buildings is indeed a major hypothesis of the recumption of the excavations at Ma’adi.
Ideally, one should not exclude a financial participation of France after presentation of the project to the competent authorities. Ma’adi could thus be considered as an promising international cooperation project.

CONCLUSION

            The prehistoric settlement of Maadi is located today in the Southern outskirts of Cairo. Partially destroyed by the development of the modern town of Maadi, it extended over 1200 m (E/W) and was 250 m large (N/S); it was built on a low terrace of the Nile. The Eastern and middle sectors of the site were obliterated by the residential complex of Degla-Maadi. Only the Western part is intact at the present day but under threat of destruction. It is in this area that this project aims at evaluating in a proper way the last traces of this village before the inception of urbanisation.
The history of the site of Maadi is a condensed version of late Predynastic Lower Egypt. Previous work has unearthed a village with a architecture unique to the Nile valley. The presence notably of semi-subterraneous features in the village, may be belonging to palestinian settlers, testify to a high degree of social integration.
The use of modern means of research and excavation would allow the obtention in little time of results enabling us to clarify the various pending issues concerning intra and supra-regional history and to bring new fresh data on the later prehistory of Lower Egypt. In this respect, our project is a real rescue operation that needs to take place as soon as possible.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Amer, M./Rizkana, I., "Excavations at Wadi-Digla, First Session report (1951-1952)", in Bulletin of the Faculty of art of the Cairo University, volume XV (1953), 97 et suiv.

Badawi, F. A., "Kurzbericht über die neuen ägyptischen Ausgrabungen in Ma’adi (Prädynastisch)", in MAVV 12, pp.58-60. 

Bovier-Lapierre P., "Stations Préhistoriques des Environs du Caire", in Congrès International de Géographie, Le Caire (1925), pp 306. 

Bökönyi, S., "The animals remains of Ma’adi, Egypt: a Preliminary Report", in Studi di Paletnologia in onore di Salvatore M.Puglisi, Roma, 1985, pp 495-499. 

Brunton, G., "A First Dynasty Cemetery at Ma’adi", in Annales du Service des Antiquités de l'Égypte, volume 39 (1939), pp. 419-425.

Brunton, G., Matmar: British Museum Expedition to Middle Egypt 1929-1931, London, 1948. 

Caneva I./Frangipane M./Palmieri A., "Predynastic Egypt: new data from Ma’adi", in The African  Archaeological Review, volume 5 (1987), pp. 105-114. 

Dittmann, K. H., "Bericht über Archäologische Unternehmungen in Ägypten 1934-36". Ma’adi Bei Kairo, Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archaeologischen Instituts, volume VI (1936), pp 158. 

Faltings D., "Recent Excavations in Tell el-Fara'in/Buto", in Additional of Papers, Seventh International Congress of Egyptologists, Cambridge, 3-9 September 1995, Edited by C.J. Eyre, Oxford, 1995, p 8. 

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Hartung, U., "Bemerkungen zur Chronologie der Beziehungen Ägyptens zu Südkanaan in spätprädynastischer Zeit", in Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archaeologischen Instituts, volume 50 (1994), pp. 107-113. 

Hoffman, M.A., "Copper, Cattle and Storage Cellars: the Merchants of Ma’adi", in Egypt Before the Pharaohs : The Prehistoric Foundations of Egyptian Civilization (dir. Hoffman), Dorset Press, New-York, 1979, pp. 200-214. 

Kaiser, W., "Stand und Probleme der ägyptischen Vorgeschichtsforschung", in Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde, volume 81 (1956), pp. 107-109.

Kaiser, W., "Zur inneren Chronologie der Naqadakultur", in Archeologia Geographica, volume 6 (1957), pp. 69-77.

Kaiser, W., "Zur Entstehung des gesamtägyptischen Staates", in Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archaeologischen Instituts, volume 46 (1990), pp. 287-299.

Kaiser, W., "Trial and Error", in Göttinger Miszellen, volume 149 (1995), pp. 5-14. 

Köhler, C., "The State of Research on Late Predynastic Egypt: New Evidence for the Development of the Pharaonic State ?", in Göttinger Miszellen, volume 147(1995), pp. 79-92. 

Menghin, O., "Die Grabung der Universität Kairo bei Ma’adi", in Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archaeologischen Instituts, volume V (1934), pp. 111-118. 

Menghin O./Amer M., The Excavations of the Egyptian University in the Neolithic Site at Ma’adi, Cairo: First Preliminary Report (Season 1930-31), Faculty of Arts, Cairo, 1932.

Menghin O./Amer M., The Excavations of the Egyptian University in the Neolithic Site at Ma’adi, Cairo: Second Preliminary Report (Season 1932), Faculty of Arts, Cairo, 1936. 

Porat N./Seeher J., "Petrographic Analyses of  Pottery and Basalt from Predynastic Ma’adi", in Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archaeologischen Institute, volume 44 (1988), pp. 215-228. 

Rizkana I./Seeher J., "New Lights on the Relation of Ma’adi to the Upper Egyptian Cultural  Sequence", in Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archaeologischen Instituts, volume 40 (1984), pp 237-252.

Rizkana I./Seeher J., "The Chipped Stones at Ma’adi: Preliminary Reassessment of a Predynastic Industry and its Long-Distance Relations", in Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archaeologischen Instituts, volume 41 (1985), pp. 235-255.

Rizkana I./Seeher J., Ma’adi I, The Pottery of the Predynastic Settlement, Mainz am Rhein, Archäologische Veröffentlichungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts n° 64, 1987.

Rizkana I./Seeher J., Ma’adi II, The Lithic Industry of the Predynastic Settlement, Mainz am Rhein Archäologische Veröffentlichungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts n° 65, 1988.

Rizkana I./Seeher J., Ma’adi III, The Non-Lithic Finds and the Structural Remains of The Predynastic Settlement, Mainz am Rhein, Archäologische Veröffentlichungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts n° 80, 1989.

Rizkana I./Seeher J., Ma’adi IV, The Predynastic Cemeteries of Ma’adi and Wadi-Digla,  Mainz am Rhein Archäologische Veröffentlichungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts n° 81, 1990.

Seeher, J., "Ma’adi - eine prädynastische Kulturgruppe zwischen Oberägypten und Palästina", in Praehistorische Zeitschrift, Band 65/2 (1990), Berlin, pp. 123-156.

Seeher, J., "Gedanken zur Rolle Unterägyptens bei der Herausbildung des Pharaonenreiches", in Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archaeologischen Instituts, volume 47 (1991), pp.313-318.

Seeher, J., "Burials Customs in Predynastic Egypt: a View from the Delta", in The Nile Delta in transition: 4th-3rd millenium BC, proceedings of the seminar held in Cairo, 21-24 October 1990 (dir. E.C.M. Van den Brink), Jerusalem, Israel   Exploration Society, 1992, pp. 225-233. 

Watrin, L., "The Relationship between the Nile Delta and Palestine during the IVth Early Exchanges (Naqada I-II) to the Colonisation of Southern Palestine (Naqada III)", in Seventh International Congress of Egyptologists, Cambridge, 3-9 September 1995, Edited by C.J. Eyre, Oxford, 1995, pp 197-199.

Watrin, L., « Copper Drops and Buried Buildings : Ma’adi’s Legacy as a Predynastic Delta Trade Capital », in Bulletin de la Société Géographique d'Égypte, in press

APPENDICES

C: General view of the semi-subterranean stucture, from the south.

D:General view of the semi-subterranean stucture, from the west..

M : Regional chronology (adapted from Samson, vol. I, 1995).

Article from El-Wafd (17 April1997), Arabic

Article from El-Wafd (17 April 1997), French

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The hijacking of a project

The project to reopen excavations in the western sector of Ma’adi resulted from the work conducted in this area in 1986-1987 by Fathi Afifi Badawi and in 1995-96 by Luc Watrin under the direction of Ibrahim Rizkana. It was the first project initiated by the GREPAL in Egypt. A joint project uniting the University of Cairo, the University El-Azhar, and the GREPAL was drawn up in 1997. In the same year the DAI was contacted to request financial help. The DAI accepted the proposition but also submitted its own excavation project to the SCA, in the same area, without advising its partners. It obtained its own authorization to excavate before the GREPAL or the Egyptian universities that created the project. This hijacking of a franco-egyptian project by the German Institute under the authority of Reiner Stadelmann and Gunter Dreyer is regrettable and shows the sometimes unorthodox processes used by certain foreign Institutions in Egypt.