Fayum Field School
Egypt
October 10 - November 16, 2008
Approximately 50 miles southwest of Cairo lies the Fayum, a lush oasis in Egypt’s Western Desert. Fed by a branch of the Nile, the Fayum is a fertile depression with a lake at its northern edge. UCLA’s archaeological research project in the Fayum is entitled “Lake Shores, Land Use and the Development of Agriculture from Prehistory to Present”. The earliest evidence of agriculture in Egypt has been found the ancient shorelines of the lake, which are now located in the Sahara Desert. Agriculture intensified during the Middle Kingdom (ca. 1975-1640 BCE) and the Greco-Roman period, starting in the third century BCE. The Field School will concentrate on the Greco-Roman town of Karanis, founded in the third century BCE and abandoned during the seventh century CE. The preservation of the ancient remains is excellent and a wide range of archaeological materials, including botanical macro-remains, textiles, wood and metal, is studied by a large group of archaeological specialists. The work of UCLA in the Fayum includes a site management and landscape preservation project. The Fayum Field School combines teaching American students with training Egyptian archaeologists employed by the Supreme Council of Antiquities making cultural exchange an integral part of the program. During the five weeks of the field school students get an intensive on-the-job training in archaeological excavation techniques, survey and finds processing. Students will have the opportunity to work closely with a wide range of archaeological specialists. Excursions to important sites in the vicinity and ethnoarchaeological assignments are also part of the training.