Within the framework of her archaelogical studies, Dr Maria Carmela Gatto made a special discovery: The sceleton of a pregnant woman, who was buried in a so called Pan-Grave, widespread in Lower Nubia and Egypt. In an interview, we asked the archaelogist about her project, which is funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation, the special found in particular and future projects.
L.I.S.A.: Dr Gatto, you are the director of a research project in Egypt funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation. What is your project exactly about?
Dr. Gatto: The project is called ‘Endangered Nomads’ and focuses on the salvage excavation of burial grounds of nomads who lived in the region of the first Nile cataract around 3800 years ago. That was a time of political crisis in Egypt; the country was invaded from the north by the Hyksos, while the Nubian kingdom of Kush pushed at its southern frontier. It also corresponded to a period of climatic deterioration. Those nomads, archaeologically known as the ‘Pan-Grave’ culture, managed to settle along the Nile and escape the harshness of the desert, only because of Egypt’s weaknesses. We know from ancient written sources that nomads from the deserts tried to enter Egypt many times prior to the political turmoil but were repeatedly stopped by Egyptian patrolmen.