Tell Dafana

Alternative site names:

Tell Dafana; Defenna; Tell Defeneh; Tell Defenneh; Tell Dafna; Tell Defenna; Tell Defenne; Tell Defenneh; Tell ed-Defenna; Daphnae (ancient Greek); Daphne; Tahpanhes; Tahapanes; Tehaphnehes

Arabic site names:

تلّ دفنة

Site description:

The garrison temple-town of Tell Dafana controlled the mercantile traffic on the Pelusiac branch of the Nile. Although some Greek pottery was recovered from the site, which Petrie interpreted as evidence for a possible Greek settlement, further study of the material culture from the site revealed that Egyptian manufactured material was more prominent.

Type of site:

Temple; town

Timeframe:

Temple (26th Dynasty); town (Ptolemaic Period)

Overlay map:

Original excavator's map of the archaeological features at Naqqada superimposed on a modern Google map image. Created by Bryony Smerdon, 2016.

Relevant publications:

Petrie, W. M. Flinders, Murray, A. S., and Griffith, F. LL. 1888. Nebesheh (Am) and Defenneh (Tahpanhes). Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Fund 4. London: Trübner & Co.

Leclère, François and Jeffrey Spencer (eds) 2014, Tell Dafana reconsidered: the archaeology of an Egyptian frontier town. London: British Museum.

Site gallery:

Tell Defenneh.jpg

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