1921 el-Amarna

Type of fieldwork: 
Excavation
Director: 
Season summary: 

The excavation season lasted from January 18-March 23. The stated aim of the excavation was to systematically clear the town, continuing from the work of the German excavators who worked in the residential area from 1907-14. Peet explicitly mentions that he wanted to investigate the dating of the site and the length of occupation at the site.

  • The town mounds:  The German team had started on the south side of the site on the edge furthest from cultivation and followed for a kilometre and a half a street that runs north-south which they named the "Street of the High Priest". Peet and his team decided to clear a block of buildings adjacent to this street by excavating east and south.  The excavators found a series of well-appointed domestic structures (N49.14, N49.18, N49.19, N49.20, N49.31, N49.32, N49.33, N49.34, N49.35, N49.36, N49.37). They also conducted a sondage beneath the floor of House O.49.18. Notable finds include a sculptor's trial piece, glass bottles including one in the form of a fish, silver vessels, a cuniform tablet, and painted plaster. 
  • The Walled Village: The German survey marked this area as a cemetery and was excavated briefly in 1907 and recorded as New Kingdom tombs. Excavations by Peet and his team revealled these as houses that were located within a wall. They cleared 12 rooms (501, 511). Objects mentioned include wooden items, the remains of a loom, spindles and other domestic objects.
  • The Tomb-Chapels: A number of mudbrick tomb chapels were excavated ( 522, 524, 525, 528) and objects like pottery, wood, and limestone stelae.
  • The palace waste-heaps: Objects recovered include pottery and glass. 

 

 

Relevant archive holdings: 
London, Lucy Gura Archive, Egypt Exploration Society
Relevant publications: 

Catalogue of exhibition of antiquities from Tell el-Amarna, 1920-21: exhibited at the Society of Antiquaries, Burlington House, July 4th to July 13th, 1921 / Egypt Exploration Society. 1921. London: Egypt Exploration Society.

Peet, T. Eric 1921. Excavations at Tell el-Amarna: a preliminary report. The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 7.3/4, 169-185. 

Peet, T. Eric and C. Leonard Woolley 1923. The city of Akhenaten. Part I: excavations of 1921 and 1922 at el-'Amarneh. Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Society 38. London: Egypt Exploration Society.

Related excavations: 
Distribution destinations: