Fifty years ago on 9 January, excavations began on the Nile island of Elephantine in southern Egypt. For more than four millennia Elephantine was the most important frontier and trading post between Egypt and sub-Saharan Africa. The island settlement also acquired, in early times, an important status in the deity cult as the mythical source of the waters of the Nile.
In collaboration with the Swiss Institute for Research in Egyptian Architecture and Archaeology, the DAI has been able to study and reconstruct the island’s long settlement history, establish site museums, and rebuild the changing temples of the goddess Satet and the god Khnum. The ongoing project Lebenswirklichkeiten examines the realities of everyday of life on the island, and strikes out on a new path in excavation technique and research.
The reconstructed Temple of Satet from the reign of Hatshepsut (Photo: F. Arnold, DAI Cairo) 
Poster exhibition at the expedition house on Elephantine marking the 50th anniversary of the start of excavations (Photo: D-DAI-KAI-ELE-50th anniversary (442)) 
Aerial photo of the Nile island of Elephantine at the 1st Cataract (Photo: DAI Cairo)