Site 346:Tell Ras Budran:Site 345 lies 1,780 metres to the south of Site 346 and 200 metres from the Red Sea near an area called Ras Budran: hence its appellation Tell Ras Budran. This site was first recorded by B. Rothenberg in 1967, who suggested a possible pharaonic date and designated this site as 345. He described Site 345 as containing potsherds, copper slag, and traces of a large structure below the sand, but otherwise has not published more information about the site. Reis Ayad, a local Bedouin chieftain, directed us to the site, which now lies within the grounds of the Suez Oil Company (Suco). Mustafa Rezk (SCA inspectorate at Abu Zenima) arranged for a meeting with a plant official, Mr. Mohammed Saad. This official contacted the head office of Suco in Cairo, which kindly gave permission to investigate Site 345 and supplied full assistance and hospitality to our team with equipment, property access, and other encouragement and concern for our welfare.
View to east of mound of Site 345 and
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South Sinai
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The following images provide a panoramic tour of the structure
photographed from its northern end, with a sequence of 13 images. The images begin with a
view to the north, towards Site 346, and move clockwise to view the surrounding El-Markha
Plain and the Red Sea.Panoramic Tour of Site 345: Tell Ras Budran:
View slide show*** |
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Site 345: Background:A topographic map was generated for the mound, while a general plan was produced by taking measurements along every 10 degree line radiating out from the centre of the structure. The Toronto-SCA investigations revealed a large, circular, limestone structure below the sand; it measured 42 metres in diameter with 5 metre wide walls of local limestone blocks. Most of the structure had been covered with windblown sand, but excavation revealed a structure preserved up to 3.5 metres in height in some areas. The southwestern portion of the fort’s wall had suffered severe denudation.
Delineating the northern interior edge of the fort’s wall,
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Plan of circular structure at Site 345. (G. Mumford)The modern surface has produced several potsherds, including two diagnostic forms. One neck fragment represents a late Roman to early Byzantine period flagon; the ring base from a glazed bowl with blue Islamic motifs on a white background. The latter vessel has been dated to ca.1475-1525 A.D., by Dr. Robert Mason (Royal Ontario Museum), on the basis of parallels found at Fustat (Cairo, Egypt). This bowl is decorated with blue Islamic motifs on a white background. Further excavation, radiocarbon dating, and more diagnostic pottery from secure contexts, should provide closer date ranges for the various phases of occupation at Site 345.
Site 345: reconstruction of Byzantine-Islamic for/caravanserai at Tell Rad Budran (Drawing: G. Mumford). |
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