The growing pressure on the boundaries of the Hierakonpolis archaeological zone is a direct result of the Wadi Sayyida project, an ambitious scheme to reclaim over 400,000 feddan of desert to the west of and directly behind Hierakonpolis. In response to this situation, the Hierakonpolis expedition mounted a survey along the southeastern and western edges of the concession. The purpose of this survey was to record and plot the location of archaeological localities that are in serious danger of being destroyed.

The first thing we found was the flint source for the Hierakonpolis Region. This was an especially surprising discovery, as the area, mainly composed of Nubian sandstone, is not credited with locally occurring flint resources. The literature states that all flint had to have been imported from the region around Esna, some 30 km to the north, with far-reaching implications for interregional trade going back to the Palaeolithic period. This view clearly can no longer be maintained. At the base of the southernmost ridge at the edge of the wide embayment of the Wadi Khamsini, we observed several large cobbles of flint. Looking up, we realized that this flint was derived from the ridge itself, or more specifically one slope of this ridge composed remarkably of fossilized coral full of flint. There were several mine cuttings in which we found not only the flint nodules, but also the extraction tools used to remove them, just as they were abandoned. There can be little doubt that this convenient location was the source for much of the flint that Hierakonpolis needed and Predynastic ceramics found at the site attest to activity here at that time. The discovery of this resource in such a convenient location provides us with another possible reason for Hierakonpolis’ location and its explosive growth in the Predynastic period.

But the Predynastic inhabitants were not the only ones to visit this hill, which we dubbed "Flint City". Further exploration revealed a series of New Kingdom inscriptions incised into the rock high up on the rise. These record the names of several priests with prayers and dedications to Horus of Nekhen depicted as a crouching falcon with the White or Double Crown on his head. The location of the inscriptions suggests that this spot had been chosen not only for the commanding view it provided, but because it marked the southeasternmost border of Hierakonpolis and would be the first place illuminated by the rays of the rising sun each morning.

For More information see:

Friedman R and D. Youngblood, 1999. "The Concession Survey", Nekhen News 11:7-8.

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