The volume under review is a selection of papers that were given at a meeting on the ongoing work at Thonis-Heracleion, Egypt, held at Queen's College, Oxford, in March 2013. The editors start by providing a general introduction and a brief discussion of the ongoing work in which the University of Oxford's Centre for Maritime Archaeology participated. The main part of the volume is divided into four sections: ‘The Religious Landscape and Gifts to the Gods’ (Chapters 1–3), ‘The Organisation of Trade’ (Chapters 4–8), ‘Ships at Thonis-Heracleion’ (Chapters 9–11) and ‘Trade beyond Thonis-Heracleion’ (Chapters 12–16). The book concludes with an appendix of ‘14C dates obtained from vessels found at Thonis-Heracleion’ and a general index.
The site was rediscovered by an underwater survey of more than 110 km2 of submerged landscape in Aboukir Bay, just a few kilometres north of the present coastline of the north-western Nile Delta of Egypt. Once located at the mouth of the Canopic branch of the Nile, the site consisted of several islands, canals and ports. Activity at the site could be traced from the seventh century b.c. to the mid second century b.c., when the city was abandoned.
In the first section, G. summarises the sacred topography of Thonis-Heracleion (Chapter 1, pp. 15–54) and discusses textual evidence for divine worship at the site. Underwater survey and excavations revealed a temple of Amun on the Central Island of the site, a sanctuary devoted to Khonsu-Herakles north of it as well as a sanctuary of Khonsu-Thot near the central port. A significant number of cult utensils testify also to the cult of Osiris and the Khoiak festival. Cult utensils are also discussed by S.S. Heinz in her contribution on the production and circulation of metal statuettes and amulets (Chapter 2, pp. 55–70). Although over 300 statuettes have been found at the site (most of them made of bronze or lead), so far a ‘location of a large, clearly-defined production centre (or centres) has not yet been discovered’ (p. 57). The picture from Thonis-Heracleion is contrasted by a discussion of a deposit of votive offerings from Naucratis by A. Masson (Chapter 3, pp. 71–90). Known in the literature as the ‘cache of bronzes’ from Naucratis, the assemblage is important as it belongs to the Egyptian cultural sphere, whereas the Greek cultural traits have mostly been studied at Naucratis so far (p. 84).
The second section is devoted to trade. B. Muhs gives a general overview of taxes, money and the circulation of wealth in Third Intermediate and Late Period Egypt (Chapter 4, pp. 91–100), followed by S. von Bomhard on the stela of Thonis-Heracleion (Chapter 5, pp. 101–20). She discusses the black granodiorite stela that was found in 2001 in the area of the temple of Amun-Gereb that records a decree of Nectanebo I. The stela is of considerable interest, as ‘the object … provided positive proof that Thonis was its [the city's] ancient Egyptian name’ and as it offers ‘the first known hieroglyphic attestation of the complete name of Thonis’ (p. 101). The decree discusses an additional amount of taxes (10%) that is reserved for the temple of Neith in Saïs. The section on trade continues with a chapter by A. Meadows on coin circulation and coin production at Thonis-Heracleion and in the Delta region (Chapter 6, pp. 121–36). Spatial mapping of different coin series over Thonis-Heracleion leads Meadows to the conclusion that ‘a spread of monetary activity outwards over time from the ritual centre of the site to outer areas of Thonis-Heracleion’ could be observed, but that in the 160s b.c. ‘some crisis event lead to a sudden contraction of monetary activity’ (p. 134). A very useful chapter on the Late Period pottery found at Thonis-Heracleion is presented by C. Grataloup (Chapter 7, pp. 137–60). She presents the ceramic material according to chronological periods (Saïte, Persian, Ptolemaic Periods), and according to pottery wares. Imported pottery forms the bulk of the assemblage, but influences on the local production is perceptible as well. A chapter on the weights of Thonis-Heracleion by E.M. van der Wilt concludes the part on trade (Chapter 8, pp. 161–74).
The section on the ships at Thonis-Heracleion starts with an overview by D. Fabre (Chapter 9, pp. 175–94). Over 700 anchors and over 60 ships have been located, most of them belonging to the type of baris (a freighter or transport vessel). Wood used for construction is in most cases local, only two ships were found with non-native species. This is an important observation, as it shows that these ships are apparently not of foreign construction and, moreover, that construction of these ships was not dependent on imported material (contrary to what we often learn from historical texts and archaeological evidence from earlier periods). The type of ship that was found (baris) is further explored by A. Belov (Chapter 10, pp. 195–210), comparing the construction of a well-preserved vessel (Ship 17) with an account by Herodotus. That the assemblages of sunken ships at the site are probably intentional is argued by R. (Chapter 11, pp. 211–28). He examines Ship 43 as part of a graveyard of at least seven other vessels and concludes that they were deliberately sunk, either as a defensive measure in order to block the entrance to the harbour, or as a measure to create a pontoon bridge or an artificial island.
The last part deals with trade beyond Thonis-Heracleion. A. Villing takes a look from Naucratis, and discusses entanglement of Greek and Egyptian culture in the archaeological record (Chapter 12, pp. 229–46). For a long time research on Naucratis was dominated by a focus on the Greek population, but she warns that the pendulum could swing to the other side: ‘we need to take care, however, not to fall as readily into some of the traps presented by current scholarly fascination with cross-cultural interaction as we accuse our predecessors of doing with regard to notions of colonialism and hellenocentricity’ (p. 242). R. Thomas also focusses on Naucratis (Chapter 13, pp. 247–66), presenting a preliminary report of the 2012 and 2013 seasons of the British Museum Naukratis Project. A third paper on Naucratis by M. Bergeron discusses Greek imports found at the site (Chapter 14, pp. 267–82).
The last two papers deal with the western and northern Delta in a more general way. M. Kenawi reports on a survey in the hinterland of Alexandria that included archaeological excavations at Kom al-Ahmer and Kom Wasit which he proposes to identify with the so far unlocated city Metelis (Chapter 15, pp. 283–96), and P. Wilson (pp. 297–314) presents a review of the northern Nile Delta from the seventh century b.c. to the seventh century a.d., ‘an attempt to look at the geological, historical and archaeological framework for the millennium of growth in the northern Delta and reasons for the change in the landscape during the ninth and tenth centuries ad’ (p. 297).
While the volume contains some very valuable papers, the overall impression is impaired by a lack of general coherence. For instance, the reader misses a general map of the Nile Delta and/or the eastern Mediterranean where the sites mentioned in the texts are recorded. The only map where the sites of Thonis-Heracleion, Naucratis and Saïs are marked is in Chapter 5 and is based on a map from 1922 (fig. 5.4). The order of papers is not comprehensible. For example, it would have been reasonable to first have the paper on the stela of Thonis-Heracleion and then the general paper on taxes in Late Period Egypt and not the other way around. The same holds true for the three papers on Naucratis. The general introduction to the site would make more sense before the more focused paper on Egyptian–Greek exchange at the site.
Aside from these minor issues, the book offers a number of useful papers and should definitely be consulted. Nevertheless, it is hoped that the current academic practice of publishing more and more edited volumes of workshops and meetings does not come at the expense of profound final publications.
