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activates enzymes that produce sugars. Subsequently the grains are spread out to dry in warm air so as to arrest the sprouting before the growth of the stem consumes the sugars. People might have used vats sunk into the floor of these basins for soaking grain, which they then spread out across the basin within the low rim, while excess water drained back to the socket or a vat. In the southern rooms people built hearths, probably for baking and cooking. In the southeast chamber people lined a hearth with mud accretions against the southern wall and the western wall. The structure is very similar to the hearths built against the southeastern corners of the bakeries we excavated in 1991. In the southwest chamber ash with pottery and bone filled the southeast corner, which was scorched. In the northwestern corner the team found a simple platform made of two pieces of limestone and one of granite. Bakery or Brewery? The preponderance of low bins and vats suggests that the “bakery” may have had as much to do with malting, hence brewing, as baking. Other evidence suggests people might have devoted this complex to beer production. It connects via a long corridor to a room in the southwestern corner of the house with a set of eight shallow bins, like the ones we proposed were used for sprouting. Immediately south of this corridor we found large quantities of beer jar fragments in a massive dump we called “Pottery Mound.” Another possible connection to brewing may be a set of pedestals, similar to those we have found across the site, under Pottery Mound and in a court south of the “bakery.” We believe that jars and pedestals functioned together to effect evaporative cooling to keep grain cool and moist in a jar or other container, a stage preliminary to spreading out on a cool bin floor to allow continued sprouting. If we could ascertain some degree of specialized work with brewing or malt production here, it would be the first and so far only facilities for beer brewing that we have found across the site, whereas we have found dozens of bakeries. It will be interesting to see how this evidence of specialized beer production associated with House Unit 1 plays out in our continued excavations. The Khentkawes Town (KKT) and Monument and Menkaure Valley Temple. AERA operations in 2009 are outlined in black; 2008 operations are shown in aqua; and 2006–2007 in yellow. The houses in KKT are indicated with letters. The map is from Selim Hassan’s 1942 publication, Excavations at Giza IV (1932–33). George Reisner published the map of the Menkaure Valley Temple in his 1931 publication, Mycerinus, the Temples of the Third Pyramid at Giza. Hassan excavated and mapped the Ante-Town. 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 KKT-E 2009 Khentkawes Monument 0 5 20 40 60 80 meters A B C Khentkawes Town D KKT-AI 2009 E KKT-N 2009 Menkaure Valley Temple F 2008 G 2008 Ante-Town 2006–2007 H I K 2008 J L K J I H G F E D C B A Z Y X W V U T S R Q P O N M L K J I H G F E D 10 Ancient Egypt Research Associates 2008–2009 Annual Report
The Khentkawes Town (KKT) and the Menkaure Valley Temple (MVT) Expecting a wealth of information, and new discoveries at the Khentkawes complex, we placed the core of the excavation team here. We were not disappointed. On the east we uncovered a striking arrangement of terraces, ramps, stairways, and a very deep basin, which could belong to the valley temple and harbor of Khentkawes’ funerary complex. In the town we completely excavated one of the houses and discovered that the town was not continuously inhabited, but endured a long hiatus before being reoccupied. To the south we pursued the elusive stratigraphic link between the Khentkawes Town and the Valley Temple of King Menkaure, possibly Khentkawes’ husband or father. A House Through Time For three seasons we have been gradually clearing and mapping the houses where Egyptologists have long thought priests lived in the Khentkawes Town (map on facing page). This year one of our most experienced archaeologists, Lisa Yeomans, assisted by Hanan Mahmoud, a gifted Egyptian archaeologist, seized the chance to excavate one of the better preserved houses that remained after Selim Hassan’s large scale excavations in 1932. Hanan expanded our knowledge of the phasing and layout of this part of the town by dissecting a cross-section of the causeway. The layers revealed the history of its building. Khentkawes’ town planners laid out eight houses along the north side of the causeway. The western six houses (A-F) share the same general plan; the four houses on the east are smaller. Two larger houses (K-L) lay south of the causeway. We mapped the scant remains of the eastern houses in 2007. During 2007 and 2008 we progressively cleared southwards across the foot of the town and westward along the causeway. In 2007 Lisa Yeomans and Pieter Collet recorded the scanty remains of the houses I-J, where many of the walls had been scoured down to bedrock. During our 2008 season Pieter continued clearing and mapping westward. During 2009 Lisa and Hanan excavated House E. Phase 5a 70 69 Building E phases. Changes in walls in Phase 6 shown in gray. 68 Phases of occupation and renovation in Building E at the Khentkawes Town. Changes in the walls in Phases 5b through 6 are shown in gray. 20 21 22 Street 71 79 Phase 5b 70 69 73 74 80 77 76 0 1 5 meters 71 79 74 G H E D C B 80 Phase 6 70 72 79 Phase 5c 70 72 79 68 77 73 76 Narrow Causeway 69 74 69 74 71 80 71 80 77 77 68 73 76 68 73 76 11
Page 1 and 2: Annual Report 2008-2009 Ancient Egy
Page 3 and 4: A Message from Mark Lehner AERA’s
Page 5 and 6: Mohsen Kamel and Ana Tavares, Field
Page 7 and 8: Facing page: Work begins in the Wes
Page 9 and 10: wall attached to the eastern end of
Page 11: House Unit 1 in the Western Town. Y
Page 15 and 16: correctly, people completely blocke
Page 17 and 18: From the depression, a stairway ram
Page 19 and 20: Sphinx Sphinx Temple Khafre Valley
Page 21 and 22: the Ramp surfaces are later than th
Page 23 and 24: Jessica Kaiser, head of the AERA Os
Page 25 and 26: The Ceramics group discuss their as
Page 27 and 28: The first two volumes of A Manual o
Page 29 and 30: Charred plant remains under the mic
Page 31 and 32: Facing page: South facade of the re
Page 33 and 34: The restored front door and entranc
Page 35 and 36: AERA Study Day Program Introduction
Page 37 and 38: WORK AERA team members and the Lost
Page 39 and 40: The AERA Team 2008-2009 PRESIDENT A

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