Four young women in headscarfs posing for a selfie outside.

A young women in a headscarf using a level to take an elevation while a man to the left looks on.

Two people sitting on either side of a fallen piece of plaster, cleaning it with brushes. Orange flags mark important spots near them.

The young women in headscarves work at a table to reassemble an ancient pot. Near them on the table is a green tub of sand and shards of pottery.

This week we are hosting four fantastic Egyptian students from #matrouhuniversity, Arwa, Nadia, Rahma, and Manar, during their holiday break. They are learning about everything from stratigraphy, to to ceramics, to conservation—and clearly having a blast! #amheida2026 #dakhlaoasis

**Dakhla Bird Quiz** Who am I? Answer tomorrow! #dakhlaoasis #ancientbirds #amheida2026

A long, straight, wide street formed by low walls in the desert with men working clear the walls in the background

An orthogonal T intersection of low walls in the desert with a man to the extreme right in the background

The archaeological plan of Trimithis showing the areas and the extant, mapped walls

A detail of the archaeological plan of Trimithis showing the walls in Area 11

Welcome to Area 11! This is the site’s w. edge, recently revealed by a dune’s passage. This year we will map it (see old plan) & put in a test trench. The surface pottery suggests that it is earlier than the late antique core. It also seems planned, unusual (so far) for #dakhlaoasis ! #amheida2026

Black, gray and white bird in a green field. Orange banners declare that it is the Spur-wing Lapwing or Trochilus bird

DAKHLA bird Quiz #2 (1/2). It’s the “Spur-winged lapwing,” ubiquitous in the #dakhlaoasis. Sometimes identified with Herodotus’ “trochilus,” or “crocodile bird” (2.68), a bird he says had a symbiotic relationship with crocodiles, tolerated because they clean their teeth. #ancientbirds #amheida2026

Black, white, and gray bird in a green field

Dakhla Bird Quiz #2. What am I? Answer tomorrow. #amheida2026 #dakhlaoasis #ancientbirds #birding #egypt

We would love to be at the #aiascs2026 in SF, but #amheida2026 officially kicked off yesterday! Students from #washu helped to clean and prepare the site Building 10 in Area 8. We plan to open at least 2 trenches this Sat. #dakhlaoasis #romanegypt #archaeology @isawnyu.bsky.social

Vista over the tops of a mudbrick city and a cloudless blue sky.

Monumental arch over empty book niches and shelves in a ancient madrasa

Tall mudbrick room with empty book niches and shelves in a ancient madrasa

An undecorated mudbrick minaret stretching into a cloudless blue sky

@isawnyu.bsky.social ISAW library staff embedded with @amheida-project.bsky.social visited the medieval and mudbrick city of el Qasr in the #dakhlaoasis with some #washu students yesterday. Among the highlights was the library of the madrasa! #egypt #libraries #nyulibraries

Long table in a room with shelves on either side partially filled with books

Book cover O.Trim. volume 3 in black and red with text on it, and an image of a fragmentary, rubricated inscription in Greek.

Three people sitting around a table on a roof with an escarpment in the background

The #isawnyu branch here at the #nyu excavation facility in the #dakhlaoasis is ready! We also made sure to add a copy of Amheida VIII, O.Trim. 3. Thank you to #washuclassics and #washuarthistory students Aaron Held, Claire Lyman, and Mo Stein for all the help! #nyuisawlib #amheida2026 #archaeology

Night and Day at the #NYU excavation house in the #dakhlaoasis. Even the moon shadows here are intense! #amheida2026 #romanegypt #archaeology

Limestone stele with hieroglyphs and images of pharaoh (Seti II) making offerings to ibis-headed Thoth. In lower register there is a banner saying, “who rules Trimithis? Thoth! Even Seti II knew that.”

Trimithis goes back to the OK, but we only pick up the site’s main temple with this stele (inv. 16309) of Seti II (Dyn. 19) making offerings to Thoth. Thoth was Lord of Trimithis until the 4th c. CE. For more, see An Oasis City (2016): dlib.nyu.edu/awdl/isaw/oa... #amheida2026 #dakhlaoasis

Book cover of O.Trim 3 showing a rubricated fragmentary inscription

And ostracon showing two faces in black ink

An ostracon showing two faces in black ink

O.Trim 3 was published this fall by @isawlibrary.bsky.social and @nyupress.bsky.social , incl Egyptian, Greek, and pictorial ostraca (see O.Trim 3.1062 and 3.1065.) Of course, we hope to find more ostraca this season …and, dear Thoth, 1-2 papyri? 🙏#amheida2026 #papyrology #ancientegypt #dakhlaoasis

Map of Egypt showing location of western oases and major sites in the Nile Valley

Map of Dakhla and Kharga oases with major sites indicated

Plan of Amheida showing extant Alla and location of dunes.

Where are we? A good question! Amheida is in the western part of Egypt’s Dakhla oasis, which is deep in the Western Desert. The oasis is a huge depression and most sites are tucked up against the ever-present scarp to the north. And the site is huge! #amheida2026 #dakhlaoasis #romanarchaeology

An owl staring at the camera from a free top.

Saw this little guy this afternoon on a walk in the fields behind the house. Any guesses as to what Dakhla denizen this is? Answer tomorrow. #amheida2026 #dakhlaoasis #birdsoftheworld