Speakers

Prof Pierre  TALLET
Chair Professor of Egyptology, Paris–Sorbonne University (Paris IV)

Biography:

Pierre Tallet is Chair Professor of Egyptology at Paris–Sorbonne University (Paris IV). He obtained his PhD in Egyptology in 1998 from the same University. He is the President of the French Society of Egyptology (2009–2016), and a Lecturer at Paris–Sorbonne University (Paris IV) (2001–2015) and at Yale, USA (1990/1991). He participated in the publications of the French Institute for Oriental Archaeology (IFAO), Cairo, Egypt. Tallet has been intensively involved in archaeological fieldwork in Egypt since 1994 as a participant in the excavations of the French–Egyptian Center for the study of the Karnak Temple, Deir el-Medina, Bahariya Oasis,Dakhla Oasis (previously known as Balat/Ayn Asil), and Gebel el-Tih in Central Sinai. He is the Director of the archaeological mission in South Sinai (Serabit el-Khadim region) IFAO/Paris–Sorbonne University (Paris IV) (2005–2016), and Director of the archaeological mission of Wadi el-Jarf, Red Sea (2010–2016).

Abstract:

The Harbor of Khufu on the Red Sea Shore at Wadi el-Jarf

This paper aims to present the archaeological work undertaken in 2011, in the framework of a joint venture between Assiut University, the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities and Paris–Sorbonne University (Paris IV), on the Pharaonic site of Wadi el-Jarf (Red Sea Coast), which is probably to date the most ancient maritime harbor in the world. The site is the first attempt of the Pharaonic power to establish an intermittent settlement on the western bank of the Suez Gulf, which is predated as similar sites of Ayn Soukhna and Mersa Gawasis. It was probably used mainly during the reign of Khufu, at the beginning of the Fourth Dynasty (c. 2550 BCE), to cross the sea and reach the Sinai Peninsula.