North Kharga Oasis Survey 2007 – Preliminary Report: Ain Lebekha and Ain Amur

This article contains a summary of the results of the 2007 season of the North Kharga Oasis Survey. Two teams worked in parallel at the late-Roman site of Ain Lebekha and at Ain Amur as well as along the Darb Ain Amur, in the Kharga Oasis. At Ain Lebekha, the remains include three temples, a fort surrounded by a settlement, a large necropolis, a system of underground aqueducts and substantial remains of ancient cultivations; nearby, a large alum mining settlement was discovered. The majority of the standing remains date from the late 1st through the late 4th centuries AD, although there is evidence for Ptolemaic activity at the site, particularly in the cemetery area. At Ain Amur a temple with its enclosure wall was mapped and planned, together with outlying industrial, administrative, and commercial areas. Parts of the Darb Ain Amur route were also explored and sites along the route mapped.