Sebakh ( ar, سباخ, sabākh, less commonly transliterated as ''sebbakh'') is an

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...

word that translates to "fertilizer". In English, the term is primarily used to describe decomposed

mudbrick A mudbrick or mud-brick is an air-dried brick, made of a mixture of loam, mud, sand and water mixed with a binding material such as rice husks or straw. Mudbricks are known from 9000 BCE, though since 4000 BCE, bricks have also been ...

s from archaeological sites, which is an organic material that can be employed both as an

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...

fertilizer and as a fuel for fires.

Composition

Most sebakh consists of ancient, deteriorated mudbrick, a primary building material in ancient Egypt. This material is composed of ancient mud mixed with the nitrous

compost Compost is a mixture of ingredients used as plant fertilizer and to improve soil's physical, chemical and biological properties. It is commonly prepared by decomposing plant, food waste, recycling organic materials and manure. The resulting ...

of the hay and stubble that the bricks were originally formulated with to give added strength before being baked in the sun.

Affecting archaeology

A common practice in Egypt, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, was for farmers to obtain government permits to remove this material from ancient

mound A mound is a heaped pile of earth, gravel, sand, rocks, or debris. Most commonly, mounds are earthen formations such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. A mound may be any rounded area of topographically higher ...

s; such farmers were known as ''sebakhin''. Mounds indicating the location of ancient cities are also known as a '' tell'', or ''tel''. An

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscape ...

site could provide an excellent source of sebakh because decomposed organic

debris Debris (, ) is rubble, wreckage, ruins, litter and discarded garbage/refuse/trash, scattered remains of something destroyed, or, as in geology, large rock fragments left by a melting glacier, etc. Depending on context, ''debris'' can refer t ...

creates a soil very rich in

nitrogen Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at seve ...

. Nitrogen is an essential component in fertilizers used for plant crops. Numerous potentially valuable archaeological finds were unfortunately destroyed by farmers in this way. However, sebakh digging also led to the discovery of archaeological finds that might otherwise have gone undetected.

Amarna

Sebakh is most commonly associated with the finding of the site of Amarna (Arabic: العمارنة al-‘amārnä). In 1887, a local inhabitant who was delving into sebakh deposits accidentally discovered more than 300

cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo- syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedg ...

tablets that turned out to be pharaonic records of correspondence. These tablet letters, known as the Amarna Letters, have provided much valuable historical and chronological data, as well as information bearing on Egyptian diplomatic relations with her neighbors at that time.

References

Egyptology Online (sebakh used as fertilizer)

External links

University of Southampton, 2002 - Sebakh Excavations and the Written Material (examples of sebakh diggings)
Composting Ancient Egypt