A Ramesside Well at Samana near Qantir – A New Insight into the Hydrological Technology of Pharaonic Egypt

Although ancient water wells can be considered as a primary source that can add substantially to different aspects of research such as technological history, environmental history or even demography , this type of archaeological feature is rarely found in pharaonic contexts in Egypt and even more rarely described and properly examined . The following article will show that pharaonic wells are a valuable source of information for Egyptologists. I am going to show that well builders of ramesside Egypt were able to build technologically advanced wells. This sheds light on the capability to find appropriate solutions for specific environmental conditions and the demands of the water consumers. As a case study I use the results of the excavation of a ramesside well in the village of Samana near Qantir-Piramesse in the North-eastern Nile delta.