Although Hierakonpolis is best known for its wealth of Predynastic material, the site has a number of important Dynastic features which have unjustly been overshadowed. Foremost among them is the oldest free-standing structure in the world: the mud-brick ceremonial enclosure, also known as the Fort, of King Khasekhemwy of Dynasty 2 (c. 2700BC). It is still preserved in places to its original height of 9 meters, with walls some 5 meters thick. Once decorated on its exterior with a pattern of recessed paneling or niches and originally plastered white, it must have been a striking sight in its time. In recognition of its historic importance and deteriorating condition, the enclosure has been placed on the World Monuments Watch's list of The World's 100 Most Endangered Monuments for 2000/2001.

Hierakonpolis also preserve various forms of information about the interaction of the valley population with the desert and its inhabitants in the Predynastic period and later. Among the most important is the discovery of well preserved camp-sites of distinctly non-Egyptian, non-urban, people at the base of an isolated desert hillock (HK64). This remote hill is covered with numerous petroglyphs, rock paintings and inscriptions. Recent excavations have revealed that the joyous celebration of the return of the goddess Hathor in the form of rising ground-water in the desert peripheries, a sign of the impending Nile flood, drew city and desert dwellers to this remote spot for one heck of a party!

Like other Egyptian sites, Hierakonpolis also has decorated rock cut tombs, however, at Hierakonpolis the tombs date to periods in Egyptian history rarely found at other sites like Luxor. Among them is the tomb of Itjefy dating to the late Old Kingdom which was later usurped by Ny-ankh-Pepy in the Middle Kingdom. Then there is the charming tomb of Horemkhawef, a priest of the Second Intermediate period. Two officials from the early years of the New Kingdom, Djehuty and Hormeni also built their tombs here.

But the most lavish was the unique tomb of Hormose dating to the very end of the New Kingdom. With the assistance of a grant from USAID, administered by the American Research Center in Egypt's Egyptian Antiquities Project, a three-year program of intensive conservation and recording has revealed unexpected amounts of information and artistic detail within these important tombs.

In all periods, Hierakonpolis was a complex and fascinating site. Every year new discoveries continue to contribute a richer and better understanding of ancient Egyptian civilization at its origins and beyond.

While Hierakonpolis has provided us with first glimpses at many things that would come to typify Egyptian civilization, we must remember that every glimpse may be our last. Pressures of land reclamation suggest that the majority of Hierakonpolis will not see a trowel before it is gone forever. So every season counts. And we need your help now more than ever.

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