IFAO

19464

Le dattier en Égypte, mise à jour égyptologique et archéobotanique

Claire Newton (UQAR (Canada))

Claire Newton

archéobotaniste

UQAR (Canada)

The status of the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) in ancient Egypt differs when viewed from the point of view of archaeobotanists or egyptologists. In order to understand the discrepancies between different types of datasets, a more thorough investigation is required. The main aims of the project are, to start a conversation between archaeobotanists and egyptologists in order to clarify the status of dates and of the date palm in Egypt from the Old Kingdom onwards, and to update our knowledge on date occurrences from the New Kingdom, when the date palm was definitely cultivated in Egypt. We will look into cultivation techniques, uses of the date palm, provenance of dates and morphological diversity, based on both texts and archaeological plant remains.