Ostraka and Other Inscribed Material from Bir Shawish, Small Oasis: Excavation Seasons 2005 and 2007

Fig. 1. The Baḥrīya Oasis, with its two main areas of occupation and the major roads connecting it to the Sīwa Oasis and Cairo in the north and the Farāfra Oasis in the south. (Base image from Google Earth, February 2016.)

Fig. 2. Main occupation areas of the el-Ḥāyz Oasis, with principal sites and monuments. (Base image from Google Earth, February 2016.) 1. Bīr Shawīsh 2. Gard el-Shaykh 3. Umm el-Okhbayn, playa 4. Umm el-Okhbayn, necropolis 5. ʿAyn el-Khabata 6. Mannsaf 7. ʿAyn el-Gomaʿa, settlement 8. ʿAyn el-Gomaʿa, necropolis 9. Ṭāblimūn, settlement 10. Ṭāblimūn, necropolis 11. El-Rīs 12. Ṭāhūna 13. Qaṣr Masʿūda 14. Bīr ʿAyn Nagaʿ 15. Gard ʿAbyad

Fig. 3. Sand dune gradually burying the modern-day village of el-Rīs, November 2006. (Courtesy of Charles University.)

Fig. 4. Sand dune at Bīr Shawīsh viewed to the east, with House 3 in the upper left corner and more structures apparent at the foot of the dune, February 2014. (Courtesy of Charles University.)

Fig. 5. Map of the southern part of Bīr Shawīsh. (Adapted from Musil and Tomášek 2013a, 83.)

Fig. 6. Aerial kite photograph of the southern part of Bīr Shawīsh, with houses, kilns, and other structures apparent under the surface, December 2012. By sheer luck, the pictures were taken after it had rained, which made the mudbrick structures more visible. (Courtesy of Charles University.)