Tell Timai, the ancient city of Thmouis, is a rare example of a well-preserved Graeco-Roman City in the Egyptian Nile Delta. The urban center is nearly complete and offers an exceptional opportunity to study all aspects of life, business, religion, and administration during the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. Mudbrick architecture is rarely preserved in the Delta, making Tell Timai a unique piece of Egyptian history. Unfortunately the site is under considerable threat from encroachment, erosion, and looting. The Tell Timai Project of the University of Hawaii has embraced the concepts of Research, Conservation, and Education and undertaken the tasks of studying the city and saving it as an important piece of Egyptian patrimony and world history. The ultimate goal is to develop a site worthy of drawing tourism to the infrequently visited Eastern Delta and combining the site with neighboring Pharaonic Mendes to help the Egyptian government prepare the sites and propose the Mendes-Thmouis Archaeological Zone as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The Tell Timai Project Conservation Field School (TTPCFS) is a new education initiative that has as its primary goal to bring Egyptian conservators and scholars together with their international colleagues in order to exchange knowledge and methods and to train students and inspectors in the latest methods and procedures for artifact analysis, conservation, and digital archiving. The TTCPFS will include classroom learning and a rare opportunity to work with recently excavated artifacts from Tell Timai . The practicums will include a high ratio of professional conservators working side by side with the students to teach techniques of restoration and conservation. Restoration of the buildings of Thmouis is paramount to preparing the site of World Heritage status, but it is also one of the most poorly understood areas of architectural restoration.
16 July to 14 August 2013
Course fee covering room and board and in-country transportation is $4000.
Some support may be available.
For those registered in the Tell Timai Excavation Field School (June 5-July 12 2013) the Conservation School fee is $2000.
Contact: Dr. Jay Silverstein, Jsilvers@hawaii.edu
www.TellTimai.org
AIA Announcement : http://www.archaeological.org/fieldwork/afob/10197