New publication from the JoGA Special Issue 2025/26

The area of Balat in the Dakhla Oasis (Western or Libyan Desert, Egypt) is best known for the remains of the Pharaonic Egyptian culture coming from the Nile Valley. The settlement area Ayn Asil and necropolis Qila al-Dabba date from the late Old Kingdom to the early Middle Kingdom (c. 2350–1900 BCE) and are investigated by the Institut français d’archéologie d’orientale (IFAO) since 1977. However, little is known about the indigenous population of the oasis, the so-called Sheikh Muftah group, dating to the 4th/3rd millennia BCE. A large campsite was recently investigated in Balat, located directly north of the Ayn Asil enclosures. Dating to the early 4th Dynasty, around 2600 BCE, it predates Ayn Asil but is contemporary with other Pharaonic Egyptian settlements in the oasis, as well as activities in the Western Desert. Moreover, studies of material culture enabled research into the survival of local traditions in later Pharaonic Egyptian culture. Consequently, Balat has been designated as micro-region for cross-cultural influence and processes of assimilation, although the limited archaeological evidence makes tracing historical processes during the Old Kingdom difficult.

The article can be downloaded here as a PDF or read in the Journal Viewer:   https://publications.dainst.org/journals/joga/article/view/5456

This contribution is published as part of the Journal of Global Archaeology (JoGA) Special Issue 2025/2026 ‘Archaeologies of Africa from Prehistory to the Colonial Period: Proceedings of the TransArea Network Africa (TANA) Meeting of the German Archaeological Institute at the University of Ghana’, which is edited by Jörg Linstädter, Cornelia Kleinitz and Wazi Apoh.

The entire JoGA Special Issue 2025/26 is accessible here: https://publications.dainst.org/journals/joga/issue/view/705