Merimde Beni Salama (west Delta):Challenges and potential for protecting and preserving prehistoric heritage

Type:

Book Chapter

Author:

Joanne Rowland

Published:

2026

Publisher:

University of Edinburgh

Prehistoric sites, often invisible or with seemingly marginal surface material remains, can be the hardest to protect; yet they need protection. Within a programme of site management that seeks to share old and new found knowledge, together with providing physical measures that bind and preserve areas into the future, site management initiatives have been instigated at the two sites focal to the two papers shared within this document paper. Merimde Beni Salama and Nubt are, in the textbooks, two of the most archetypal sites in Egyptian prehistory, yet beyond academia and some university classrooms, they are rather poorly known, and their importance is not recognised. With no investigations since the early 1980s, both had lacked active on-site research that led to growing knowledge and awareness. In 2013 (Merimde) and 2018 (Nubt), the author was involved in new projects in these locations, raising new questions, introducing new methods, and implementing programmes of site management. Aimed at ensuring that new investigations were coupled with protective measures, crucial given that the sites sit today next to the ever-expanding modern floodplain in the northern and southern Egyptian Nile Delta and Valley, respectively. The particular value of these sites, the potential knowledge still within them, and the measures we need to take to protect them are shared over two working papers. Some measures are now in place, others are ongoing. Hopefully, the background, progress, and u…

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