Karanis

The Egyptian town Karanis lies approximately fifty miles south-east of modern Cairo. More than 100,000 archaeological objects and more than 2,500 folders-worth of complete and partial documents were recovered from the site. These objects now constitute more than 50% of the holdings at the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, and they, in combination with the thousands of papyri and the plans of the structures and streets that were drawn during the excavation give us a unique opportunity to reconstruct everyday life in this village in unparalleled detail.

Although there have been archaeological expeditions to Egypt in the past ten years or so, the wealth and the amount of information that Karanis has produced still remains virtually unmatched. The prospects of finding as promising a site as Karanis in the future are rather grim. The construction of the rather recent high dam at Assuan and the progress of the irrigation technique has caused the rise of the water-table throughout Egypt and the ultimate destruction of archaeological artifacts sensitive to water.

As for research on the existing materials from Karanis, there is a renewed interest in the study of the village. Coordinated efforts between the papyrus collection and the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology have resulted in an agreement to make their holdings from Karanis available on the World Wide Web in the near future and to use the integrated data as the foundation for the creation of a "virtual Karanis" for educational and research purposes.

The Kelsey Online sponsors a page devoted entirely the archaeological site at Karanis and has an on-line version of a 1983 exhibition organized by Elaine K. Gazda about the city.

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