Archaeological exploration using magnetic and GPR methods at the first court of
Hatshepsut Temple in Luxor, Egypt
Odah, H [ 1,4 ]; Ismail, A [ 2 ]; Elhemaly, I [ 1 ]; Anderson, N [ 2 ]; Abbas, AM [ 1 ]; Shaaban, F
[ 1,3 ]
ARABIAN JOURNAL OF GEOSCIENCES
Volume: 6, Issue: 3, Pages: 865-871, DOI: 10.1007/s12517-011-0380-x
Published: MAR 2013, Publisher SPRINGER HEIDELBERG, TIERGARTENSTRASSE
17, D-69121 HEIDELBERG, GERMANY
ISSN: 1866-7511
Abstract
The Hatshepsut Temple at Luxor, southern Egypt was built as a garden for Amun, and
the first court indeed had exotic trees and vegetations. The pathway to the temple was
along a sphinx-lined causeway linking the valley to pylons, which are missing now. As
an effort to outline remains of the vanished garden and missing pylons and any other
possible archaeological structures at this first court site, an extensive integrated
magnetic/ground-penetrating radar (GPR) geophysical survey was conducted. The
magnetic survey covered the entire area of the first court (100 x 60 m), while the GPR
survey covered only an area of 50 x 50 m. The acquired GPR data were processed and
presented as 2-D depth sections providing a reasonable vertical/horizontal resolution for
the upper 6 m of the investigated site. The acquired magnetic data was processed and
presented as 2-D image. The integrated interpretation of the acquired GPR and
magnetic data revealed some archaeological features including a rectangular
depression which is presumably an ancient man-made pond in the garden of the
temple, a rectangular feature that may be a foundation of the missing pylon of the
temple, and a suite of aligned anomalies that could be the remnants of sphinx. Such
findings reflect the archaeological potentiality of the surveyed site and outline the
extension of the temple. Meanwhile, these results necessitate further geophysical
investigation or archaeological excavation to be confirmed.
Keywords
Author Keywords:GPR; Magnetic; Archaeology; Luxor
Author Information
Reprint Address: Odah, H E-mail Addresses:hatemodah@yahoo.com
Natl Res Inst Astron & Geophys NRIAG, Helwan 11277, Egypt.
Addresses:
[ 1 ] Natl Res Inst Astron & Geophys NRIAG, Helwan 11277, Egypt
[ 2 ] Univ Missouri, Dept Geol Sci & Engn, Rolla, MO 65401 USA
Organization-Enhanced Name(s)
Missouri University Science & Technology
University of Missouri System
[ 3 ] King Khalid Univ, Fac Sci, Dept Phys, Abha, Saudi Arabia
Organization-Enhanced Name(s)
King Khalid University
[ 4 ] King Saud Univ, Prince Sultan bin Salman Chair Developing Natl Hu, Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia
Organization-Enhanced Name(s)
King Saud University