Ayn Soukhna III

"Storage gallery complexes can now be considered a major characteristic of the pharaonic 'periodic harbours' that have been successively identified on the sites of Mersa Gawasis, Ayn Soukhna and Wadi el-Jarf. In between two expeditions, those caves were used to store the sailing equipement, and especially dismantled boats waiting for their next use. The systematic excavation of this whole Ayn Soukhna cave complex has allowed a better understanding of this site's purpose thank to the discovery, in two of those galleries, of remains of boats that were carefully stored there before being destroyed by fire. It also shows the long use of the harbour by the Egyptians, between the Old Kingdom and the Middle Kingdom. The archaeological work in Ayn Soukhna was led in the framework of a joint project of the IFAO, the Ismaïlia University and the Paris-Sorbonne University (CNRS UMR 8167)". -- Publisher's Web site.