Abstract
Hierakonpolis, Greek for City of the Hawk, nearly 25 km NW of Idfu (Egypt), is an important and extensive archaeological discovery covering a large area. Its richness in archaeological artifacts makes it a valuable site. It has a valid claim to be the first nation state, as indicated by the Palette of Narmer discovered in its main mound. Geological and hydrogeological investigations at the Hierakonpolis Temple Town site documented nearly a 4.0-m water table rise from as early as 1892 to the present. In addition to the rising water levels, the increase of both subsoil water salinity and humidity threatens and damages fragile carvings and paintings within tombs in Kingdom Hill, the foundation stability of the site, and the known and still to be discovered artifact that recent pottery finds dates at least 4,000 BCE. Representative rock and soil samples obtained from drilled cores in the study area were chosen for conducting detailed grain size and X-ray analysis, light and heavy mineral occurrences, distribution of moisture and total organic matter, and scanning electron microscopy investigations. Mineralogical analysis of clays indicated that the soil samples are composed of smectite/illite mixed layers with varying proportions of smectite to illite. Kaolinite is the second dominant clay constituent, besides occasional chlorite. Swelling of the clay portion of the soil, due to the presence of capillary groundwater, in contact with buried mudbrick walls expands and causes severe damage to important exposed and buried mudbrick structures, including the massive ancient “fort” believed to date from the Second Dynasty (from 2,890 to 2,686 BC). The “fort” is 1.0 km south of the Temple Town mounds near to confluence of Wadi Abu Sufian. Groundwater samples from the shallow aquifer close by the intersection of Wadi Abu Sufian and the Nile flood plain were analyzed for chemical composition and stable isotope ratios. The groundwater in the upper zone (subsoil water) within fine-grained Nile alluvium is characterized by high salinity which varies from 415 to 4,500 mg/L total dissolved solids. In contrast, most of the groundwater samples in the lower zone (Quaternary aquifer) are characterized by a low salinity in the order of 164–792 mg/L. Values of δD and δO18 obtained from this deep (9–20 m) aquifer ranged from 16.98 to 19.87 ‰ and from 1.67 to 2.99 ‰, respectively. These values indicated that the Quaternary aquifer waters are recharged directly from recent Nile water. Subsoil water is very shallow in the area; it ranged from 0 to 2.6 m with a mean of 1.1 m within the main mound of the Hierakonpolis Temple Town site by 2003, in contrast to its more than 4.5-m depth in 1897. The exposure of subsoil water to increased evaporation is expected, with a consequent increase in the concentrations of dissolved solids and usually large proportions of chloride and sulfate. Artifacts recovered from the Temple Town site are becoming damaged and destroyed by crystallization processes caused by repeated wetting and drying of salt and the accumulation of new salts.
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Acknowledgments
The Permanent Committee, Supreme Council of Antiquities, authorized hydrogeologic and related investigations at the Hierakonpolis Temple Town and the “ancient fort.” Support was provided through a US–Egypt joint NSF grant no. INT 01-11344 (period September 1, 2001–August 31, 2004), grant no. 01SE-04-20777 (period September 1, 2004–August 31, 2006), together with personal funds provided by E.J. Walters, R. Shoemaker, R.R. and E.B. Parizek. The Pennsylvania State University undergraduate and graduate students together with students from other institutions are acknowledged for their contributions during respective field seasons. K.A. Parizek and E.B. Parizek helped log cuttings, construct shallow piezometers, and collect water level and quality data related to this investigation. El Kom El-Ahmar villager Ahmed Bast assisted with augering and piezometer construction. Geology Department staff, Tanta University, performed chemical analysis, the Central Laboratory for Environmental Hydrology, Atomic Energy Authority (Cairo), provided isotopic analysis, and Emily Hartsay provided editorial assistance.
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El-Shishtawy, A.M., Atwia, M.G., El-Gohary, A. et al. Impact of soil and groundwater corrosion on the Hierakonpolis Temple Town archaeological site, Wadi Abu Sufian, Idfu, Egypt. Environ Monit Assess 185, 4491–4511 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-012-2884-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-012-2884-6