A comprehensive study of the archaeology of the House of Serenos The House of Serenos, Part II is the second of four books devoted to publishing the archaeology of the House of Serenos, a richly decorated, late antique villa of a local élite, located in Amheida (ancient Trimithis) in the Dakhla Oasis of Egypt. The House of Serenos, Part II synthesizes the archaeological information presented in detail in other volumes in a comprehensive study of the architectural and archaeological history of the house and its relationship to its natural and built environments, from construction through expansion and renovation to its eventual abandonment around the end of the fourth century. The volume includes discussions of archaeological method, stratigraphy, architecture, and the archaeological assemblages discovered in the House of Serenos—and reveals what all this can tell us about the inhabitants and their experience living in this high-status residence at the edge of the Roman Empire.

A comprehensive archaeological study of the ceramic finds from a house in Amheida The House of Serenos: Part I: The Pottery (Amheida V) is a comprehensive full-color catalog and analysis of the ceramic finds from the late antique house of a local notable and adjacent streets in Amheida. It is the fifth book in the Amheida series. Amheida is located in the western part of the Dakhla oasis, 3.5 km south of the medieval town of El-Qasr. Known in Hellenistic and Roman times as Trimithis, Amheida became a polis by 304 CE and was a major administrative center of the western part of the oasis for the whole of the fourth century. The home’s owner was one Serenos, a member of the municipal elite and a Trimithis city councillor, as we know from documents found in the house. His house is particularly well preserved with respect to floor plan, relationship to the contemporary urban topography, and decoration, including domestic display spaces plastered and painted with subjects drawn from Greek mythology and scenes depicting the family that owned the house. The archaeology from the site also reveals the ways in which the urban space changed over time, as Serenos’s house was built over and expanded into some previously public spaces. The house was probably abandoned around or soon after 370 CE. The pottery analyzed in this volume helps to refine the relationship of the archaeological layers belonging to the élite house and the layers below it; it also sheds light on the domestic and economic life of the household and region, from cooking and dining to the management of a complex agricultural economy in which ceramics were the most common form of container for basic commodities. The book will be of interest to specialists interested in ceramology, Roman Egypt, and the material culture, social history, and economy of late antiquity.

"This book is one of several devoted to publishing the archaeology of the large house now known as the "House of Serenos" (or more technically as B(uilding) 1 in Area 2.1) of Amheida, the ancient Roman city of Trimithis in the Dakhla Oasis of the Western Desert of Egypt, administratively today part of the New Valley Governorate. Amheida V published the analysis and catalogue of the pottery (published by ISAW, August 2020); Amheida VII will contain the analysis and catalogue of the small finds from B1; and a subsequent volume in the Amheida series will record and analyze the extensive paintings and decorations of B1. The present volume synthesizes the detailed archaeology information presented by the other Amheida volumes dedicated to the House of Serenos in a comprehensive study of the architectural and archaeological history of the house and the deposits located below it. A methodological chapter (Chapter 1) introduces the volume, explaining archaeological methodology, documentation, the analysis of the finds, and the presentation of the results. It is followed by Chapter 2, devoted to the architecture of the house and a room-by-room analysis, with detailed description of the building techniques, materials, and features, including the wall-paintings. Chapter 3 enters into the details of the stratigraphy of the house and the adjacent streets, with the interpretation of the formation processes and materials found. The same scheme is followed in Chapter 4 for the stratigraphy of test trenches below the house. Chapter 5 is a synthetic discussion of our major findings with respect to the house, its associated finds, and the post-abandonment phase, framed in a regional context, with comparisons to late antique dwellings and sites elsewhere. The volume is illustrated with photographs, plans, sections, 3D reconstructions, and photogrammetric projections"--

Explores the history and archaeology of two oases, remote but closely tied to the Nile valley for thousands of years.

This book examines different forms of ritual activities performed in houses of Graeco- Roman Egypt. It draws on the rich archaeological record of rural housing and evidence from literature or papyrological references to both urban and rural housing.

Scattered through the vast expanse of stone and sand that makes up Egypt’s Western Desert are several oases. These islands of green in the midst of the Sahara owe their existence to springs and wells drawing on ancient aquifers. In antiquity, as today, they supported agricultural communities, going back to Neolithic times but expanding greatly in the millennium from the Saite pharaohs to the Roman emperors. New technologies of irrigation and transportation made the oases integral parts of an imperial economy. Amheida, ancient Trimithis, was one of those oasis communities. Located in the western part of the Dakhla Oasis, it was an important regional center, reaching a peak in the Roman period before being abandoned. Over the past decade, excavations at this well-preserved site have revealed its urban layout and brought to light houses, streets, a bath, a school, and a church. The only standing brick pyramid of the Roman period in Egypt has been restored. Wall-paintings, temple reliefs, pottery, and texts all contribute to give a lively sense of its political, religious, economic, and cultural life. This book presents these aspects of the city’s existence and its close ties to the Nile valley, by way of long desert roads, in an accessible and richly illustrated fashion.