Abstract
The National Museums of Scotland are engaged in producing an up-to-date archaeological and subsurface geophysical map of an interesting and little explored area of the necropolis of Memphis at Saqqara. The area comprises the Gisr el-Mudir (also known as the ‘Great Enclosure’) at the southern boundary, the open valley between the Sekhemkhet complex and the Gisr el-Mudir stretching north to the Serapeum and containing the L-shaped enclosure at the Old Kingdom tombs around the mastaba of Ptahhotep, the area of the Serapeum and its dependencies, and the valley to the north-west of the Sacred Animal complex down to the edge of the remnant lake at Abusir in the north. The geology, topography, structural details, techniques and instruments for geophysical prospection, methods of interpretation and results of our research are described and discussed. The conclusions draw on the significance of our work using geophysical prospection methods and sondage trenches to find the best solution for archaeological work in desert conditions.
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