Berenike 1996: Report on the 1996 Excavations at Berenike (Egyptian Red Sea Coast) and the Survey of the Eastern Desert.

• Author: VORDERSTRASSE, TASHA
• Position: Review

Berenike 1996: Report on the 1996 Excavations at Berenike (Egyptian Red Sea Coast) and the Survey of the Eastern Desert. Edited by STEVEN E. SIDEBOTHAM and WILLEMINA Z. WENDRICH. CNWS Publications Special Series, vol. 3. Leiden: RESEARCH SCHOOL CNWS, 1998. Pp. vii + 477, maps, illus. plts. HFI 90.

This volume is the latest in the series of preliminary reports on the excavations at the site of Berenike. These excavations continue to be conducted by the University of Delaware and Leiden University. The editors of this series should be congratulated for publishing the results of the season so promptly, thus enabling other archaeologists to have access to their results. The editors have also included in the book several large and very well drawn maps.

The format remains similar to the previous two volumes in this series: The editors have divided the book into different sections and chapters that examine various aspects of the site and its materials. The range of these chapters indicates the interest of the editors in publishing all aspects of the excavations at Berenike in a preliminary form, as well as the expertise of the individuals involved in the analysis of the objects.

The book is quite extensive and cannot be summarized here, but this review will focus on some of its chapters. Chapter three, written by Steven Sidebotham, provides extremely detailed information about the trenches dug at Berenike. The text is accompanied by a large number of detailed drawings. All of this information allows the reader to follow clearly how the excavation was conducted. Sidebotham provides a useful summary, which allows the reader to understand what the excavators now know about Berenike and how it is connected with the two previous years of excavation.

The detailed chapters are very informative in their depth and scope. When the excavations are concluded, it will be extremely interesting to see the final reports of the many different types of objects that have been collected. Many chapters, such as those on coins and pottery, include drawings and photographs of the objects. Tomber's article on the pottery provides a useful summary of the finds from the previous seasons, thus allowing...