Egypt - Tell el Herr

Situated in the North-West of Sinai, in the vicinity of the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, Tell el-Herr is composed of a tell, occupied by successive fortresses, an extensive settlement and several cemeteries. The most ancient remains - enclosure walls and a religious complex in mud bricks - observed sofar date back to the Persian Period (Vth century). This level was erased to be replaced by a larger fortress - including an oriental palace and many military living units - at the very beginning of the IVth century, built in cylindrical mud bricks. The later building of Hellenistic and early Roman levels, were mostly destroyed by the construction of a late Roman camp at the end of the IIIrd century on the tell, while the settlement and the necropolis are still visible outside. Since 1985, the site is excaved by a joined mission (University Charles-deGaulle-Lille III/Supreme Council of Egyptian Antiquities) under the direction of Dominique Valbelle, professeur in the University of Lille III and Mohamed Abd el-Maksoud, director of Eastern Delta and Sinai), with the help of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.