Mohamed Kenawi – författare

This book is the first text dedicated to Gara Oasis, one of the smallest oases in Egypt. It presents a general overview of the history, archaeology, and the landscape of the oasis, which has a population today of about 700. Gara Oasis is located 110 km northeast of Siwa Oasis, in the Western Desert and remains an important transit hub connecting the Nile Delta with the western cultures of Egypt and Libya. In the 4th century BC, Alexander the Great probably passed through Gara Oasis on his way to the Amun Temple in Siwa, leaving behind "Camp of Alexander" as one of the local names for Gara.

This volume contains detailed information about 63 sites and shows, amongst other things, that the viticulture of the western delta was significant in Ptolemaic and Roman periods, as well as a network of interlocking sites, which connected with the rest of Egypt, Alexandria, North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean and Aegean. Far from being a border area — as perhaps it had been in the Pharaonic period — the west Delta network exerted an important economic production influence over a very wide area. In addition, with access to medieval and later Arabic sources, Kenawi’s discussion of the sites has an added dimension not found in the work of western scholars. Mohamed Kenawi’s meticulous and determined work has resulted in an improved set of data for the Delta and shown how its potential can be tapped.

Unearthing Alexandria’s Archaeology: The Italian's Contribution' contains the results of an archival survey, historical research, and archaeological description of the main Italian excavations in Alexandria from the 1890s to the 1950s. The Italian archaeological investigations in the city of Alexandria are presented through unpublished photographs of Evaristo Breccia, Achille Adriani, and some of the glass negatives of the Graeco- Roman Museum of Alexandria. Various Italians contributed to the fieldwork and the production of drawings and plans, and documenting the majority of the most important sites in Alexandria, on which our archaeological knowledge today is based. But their names have been forgotten compared with Giuseppe Botti, Breccia, and Adriani: Giacomo Biondi, Gino Beghé, Antonio Gentili, Giuseppe Ramacciotti, Mariano Bartocci, Giovanni Dattari, Despina Sinadino, Michele Salvago, Orazio Abate, and Giovanni Peruto. The book gives detailed descriptions of the Italian excavations at Hadra, Chatby, Anfushi, Kom al-Chougafa, the Serapeum, and Kom al-Dikka, accompanied by often unpublished photographs and followed by a catalogue of other rare photographs of different archaeological sites in Alexandria.

In 2012, fieldwork began at two large sites in the Beheira Province in the western Nile Delta: Kom al-Ahmer and Kom Wasit (ancient Metelis). Being close to the important ports of Thonis-Heracleion, Alexandria, and Rosetta meant that they had been ideally placed to take advantage of the trade between the Mediterranean and Egypt. The sites are being thoroughly investigated to reveal their archaeological significance.Kom al-Ahmer – Kom Wasit I Excavations in the Metelite Nome, Egypt presents the results of the Italian archaeological mission between 2012 and 2016. It provides details of the survey and excavation results from different occupation phases. A complete town beneath the Nile silt was revealed using a combination of modern scientific techniques. Hellenistic houses and a temple enclosure wall were investigated at Kom Wasit; while at Kom al-Ahmer, a Late Roman house, an amphora storage building, a cistern and an early Islamic cemetery were revealed.Dating from the Late Dynastic to the Early Islamic period, the remains found at Kom al-Ahmer and Kom Wasit demonstrate for the first time the rich archaeological heritage of this region.Edited by Mohamed Kenawi, this volume contains contributions by Cristina Mondin, Michele Asolati Louise Bertini, Audrey Eller, Urška Furlan, Ole Herslund, Israel Hinojosa Baliño, Marie-Caroline Livaditis, Giorgia Marchiori, Marcus Müller, Benjamin T. Pennington and Amy Wilson.

Kom al-Ahmer—Kom Wasit III presents the results of our investigations of the Hellenistic phases at the two sites. The survey and excavations occurred between 2017 and 2020 and focused on the residential districts, individual houses, and a public tholoi bathhouse. The volume also includes specialist contributions on the material culture, including Greek pottery and numismatic finds. The Western Nile Delta (the chora of Alexandria) enjoyed a very active life of commerce and trade with the Mediterranean ports. The imports found at Kom al-Ahmer and Kom Wasit emphasise the region’s strong connection with the Aegean Sea, Gaza, and the Cilician region. In addition, an account on the situation of the Western Delta in the Early Arab period presents a fresh overview of the current debate on Egypt beyond AD 641.