Professor Lucy Blue speaks with associate Professor in Egyptology, Dr Claire Somaglino from the Sorbonne, about two decades of excavation at the site of Ayn Soukhna at the northern end of the Red Sea in the Gulf of Suez. During Pharaonic times, this important site was occupied over an extensive period, as not only was it close to the important centre of Memphis, but there was a spring, an oasis with trees and a sheltered anchorage, making it a perfect harbour.  Rock inscriptions led to its discovery and seasons of excavation have revealed it was a hive of activity with workshops, dwellings, redox furnaces for processing ore and galleries housing some of the oldest seagoing vessels in the world.  Discover how the boats were used to bring food to the mining areas of the South Sinai and returned with copper ore required for making tools and precious turquoise, which was fashioned into jewellery prized by the Pharaohs.      

Ayn Soukhna is an Egyptian-French excavation (dir. C. Somaglino, M. El-Weshahi), supported by : IFAO, CNRS, Sorbonne University, Suez Canal University, and the Honor Frost Foundation.