Mirgissa VI: La Ville Hors Les Murs (Fouilles De L'institut Francais D'archeologie Orientale, 89)

The sixth volume of the Mirgissa series is devoted to the publication of the Egyptian civil town MI, one of the most ancient settlements. Located north of the fortress, it was linked to it by one of the earliest enclosure walls, surrounding the harbor of Iqen's mnnw. It was probably built during the reign of Senusret I, like Buhen at the other end of the second cataract. This settlement, near the Nile, has the form of a large rectangle protected by its own stone enclosure wall. The plan differs from that of a "workers' settlement". The elite dwellings along the narrow streets are built in mud brick within sinusoidal walls, with domestic installations and sometimes with their own small gardens. Smaller houses are built with stones, as well as bakeries and potters' workshops. A large garden or kitchen-garden is in the middle of the settlement. Finds within the settlement, most only pottery, date the occupation between the second half of the XIIth dynasty and the end of the Middle Kingdom. This edition includes a volume of text and a folder with thirty-seven plans of the site.