First Intermediate Period

The three Hyksos dynasties (XIV, XV, XVI) ruled Egypt approximately from 1750 to 1530 BCE and then disappear abruptly after the death of Pharaoh Seqenenre Taa. One can notice that Egyptian documents unanimously describe the departure of the Hyksos from Egypt to Palestine in a disaster. Modern Egyptologists pictured a ‘war of the Hyksos’, however no document speaks of war but only that Avaris, Hyksos' capital, was looted and vandalized after their departure. Moreover all accounts of former historians picture the Hyksos as the ancestors of the Hebrews, led into Palestine under the leadership of Moses. In addition both biblical and Egyptian chronologies date the Hyksos departure in 1533 BCE, which implies the coincidence of these two dramatic events. The only way to date the so-called “Hyksos' war” is: gathering all historical and archaeological documents about the Hyksos, establishing a relative chronology of the “Hyksos' war”, identifying who was Apopi and his links with the biblical Moses, determining from where came the Hyksos and where did they go, dating the Hyksos war according to the Egyptian chronology through synchronisms dated by astronomy and dating the Exodus according to the Israelite chronology (based on masoretical text) checked by absolute dates.
According to Egyptian accounts the last king of the XVth dynasty, named Apopi, "very pretty" in Hebrew that is Moses' birth name (Exodus 2:2), reigned 40 years in Egypt from 1613 to 1573 BCE. 40 years later Apopi met Seqenenre Taa the last pharaoh of the XVIIth dynasty and gave him an unspecified disturbing message. The eldest son of Seqenenre Taa, Ahmose Sapaïr, who was crown prince died in a dramatic and unexplained way shortly before his father. Seqenenre Taa died in May 1533 BCE, after 11 years of reign, in dramatic and unclear circumstances. The state of his mummy proves, however, that his body received severe injuries and remained abandoned for several days before being mummified (see Psalms 136:15). Prince Kamose, Seqenenre Taa's brother, assured interim of authority for 3 years and threatened attack the former pharaoh Apopi, new prince of Retenu (Palestine). In the stele of the Tempest he also blames Apopi for all the disasters that come to fall upon Egypt which caused many deaths."

ABSTRACT: Preface to the Guide:

Focus and limitations:
The compilation of this guide began in Spring 2007 as a series of check lists and book requests for the somewhat small collection of Egyptological and related works in M. H. Sterne library at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.  During the development of several courses on Ancient Egypt, the Ancient Near East, and other areas spanning Prehistory through to the Roman period (and later), the collection grew, and continues to expand, and began to require a research paper guide for students enrolled in courses dealing with these geographic areas and time periods. The nature of the prime cliental, namely undergraduate to MA students in a North American setting, in conjunction with limited funding, has steered  –of necessity– the building of both Sterne library’s collections and this guide towards mostly English-language sources, less expensive works, and more easily available and more recent publications.

Overall aims:
In order to maximize student and public research usage of the existing, albeit still limited, collections, I have since compiled and incorporated selected journal articles, book chapters, encyclopedia entries, and other book titles from Sterne Library’s physical holdings (i.e., non-electronic sources) into diverse categories of research topics/subjects.  In addition, every effort has been made to add a full listing of electronic sources (including links) available to researchers of the geographic and temporal areas covered by this guide (i.e., mainly Prehistoric to Roman period Egypt).  The guide also provides general assistance for more serious/professional scholars (i.e., a quick reference to key articles, chapters, and volumes), but remains a tool aimed at English-speaking undergraduate-MA students and the public, focusing on Sterne’s holdings (note: other emerging Egyptological libraries will also approximate Sterne’s holdings).

Design and usage:
An attempt has been made to obtain sources spanning all aspects of Ancient Egypt and related areas, which have in-turn influenced the subdivision of the guide into general works, time periods, and diverse subject areas. Some of these categories have grown sufficiently large to merit further subdivision, such as the New Kingdom section, which has a general list of sources, materials regarding individual rulers, and a few affiliated topics of interest (Exodus; Sea Peoples).  I have attempted to place each source (i.e., books; book chapters; encyclopedia entries; journal articles) under each pertinent topic category that it covers, but naturally I may have missed some categories, while there may be other complementary and broader works that cover such topics elsewhere.  A list of the pertinent call number ranges has been placed at the end of the guide (see table of contents) to assist in the merits of additional shelf-browsing.

Beyond the guide:
Naturally there are numerous significant Egyptological sources outside Sterne Library’s holdings (including electronic links: e.g., JSTOR) that might be retrieved via interlibrary loan.  Sterne Library’s current Egyptological resources, however, are sufficient to introduce most areas of Egyptological research, and enable the researcher to consult the endnotes/footnotes and bibliographic data listed in recent books, articles, and encyclopedia entries to compile a list of further resources that may either be accessed via interlibrary loan, or possibly by visiting directly a neighbouring professional Egyptological library: e.g., the instructor (UAB); Atlanta (Emory University); Memphis (Memphis State University).

The collections in other Birmingham and Alabama libraries have online links via Sterne Library’s website, and offer many duplicate and different Egyptological works that are often accessible to the public/students: e.g., Birmingham Public Library, Gorgas Library (UA).  Naturally, I encourage students, faculty, and public researchers to see me for further assistance with this guide and their research topics.

Gregory Mumford (UAB)
Update: 15 Jan., 2021

PLEASE NOTE: This resource has received substantial updates in pertinent sections within the guide.  Some additional sorting of various articles/entries is still required, but these articles can be found, unsorted, at the end of the guide (e.g., articles from KMT, JSSEA, EA, etc., listed chronologically and by issue). I anticipate another update in the following year ...

Middle Egypt provides a unique insight into the organization of power, politics, economy, and culture at the turn of the third millennium BC. The apparently easy integration of this region into the reunified monarchy of king Mentuhotep II (2055 was possible because the interests and the local lineages of potentates were preserved. Trade and access and/or control of international exchange networks were important sources of wealth and power then. And Middle Egypt appears as a crossroads of diverse populations, as a hub of political and economic power, as a crucial node of exchanges through the Nile Valley, and as a power center whose rulers provided support to the monarchy in exchange of local autonomy and considerable political influence at the Court. In the new conditions of early second millennium, potentates from Middle Egypt succeeded in occupying a unique advantageous position, not matched elsewhere in Egypt, because of the concentration of wealth, trade routes, new technologies, political power, and autonomy in the territories they ruled. arbitrarily) were immediately equated with centralization, efficient administration, prosperity, and royal absolutism. On the contrary, when works of art lacked the excellence and grandeur expected from a wealthy and refined monarchy (once more defined in quite arbitrary terms), this could only mean that the authority of kings was collapsing and plunging the country into a time of decadence, decentralization, emergence of regional powers, and usurpation of royal prerogatives, usually accompanied by political fragmentation .

An increasing body of archaeological data and a careful re-evaluation of Egyptian texts are showing Libyans, usually depicted in pharaonic sources as a menacing force of wandering herders, in a different light. The western Delta and Middle Egypt formed a vast area with low human density, scattered settlements, abundant grazing and wooded land and porous borders, an ideal landscape not only for herders (both Libyan and Egyptian), but also for foragers and fishermen. Their autonomous mobile lifestyles usually clashed with the fiscal and agricultural interests of the Pharaohs, but conflict did not necessarily ensue. Thus, while some kind of mutual agreement dominated much of third-millennium relations between Libyans and Egyptian kings, the foundation of a new capital in the eastern Delta, at Pi-Ramesses, and its heavy impact on Delta resources launched an increasing wave of conflicts with Libyan herders. Competition then actually underlies what pharaonic sources unilaterally present as invasions.

Contrary to traditional interpretations about the end of the Old Kingdom, recent archaeological research shows no trace of climatic or subsistence crisis. Instead, Egypt appears more and more involved in international exchange circuits where mobile populations and autonomous traders played a considerable role. Technical innovations in weaponry, textile production and pottery reveal intense contacts with Nubia and the Levant and, in fact, Nubians and especially Asiatics became a far from negligible part of Egyptian society. It appears then that the end of the monarchy had finally more to do with internal struggles between competing sectors of the ruling elite and with control of wealth flows than with environmental causes. In fact, some regions and social sectors flourished and their later integration within the reunified Middle Kingdom monarchy remained somewhat incomplete as they managed to keep a certain autonomy.

Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über http://portal.dnb.de abrufbar.

Life, Death, and Coming of Age in Antiquity: Individual Rites of Passage in the Ancient Near East and its Surroundings. Vivre, grandir et mourir dans l'antiquité : rites de passage individuels au Proche-Orient ancien et ses environs. Edited by A. Mouton and J. Patrier. PIHANS, vol. 124; ISBN: 978-90-6258-335-5.

Recent fieldwork at the two major settlement sites in southern Egypt have provided new data concerning their respective foundations and long-term developments during the 3rd millennium BC. While both towns gained the status of provincial capitals during the early Old Kingdom, their initial settlement and long-term evolution show some interesting differences but also share many commonalties. Those developments seem to be related to significant changes in the floodplain regime and the course of the Nile river but there are also indications that more general trends, for example a population increase linked to the establishment of a local elite and a dynamic and sustainable regional economy, played a role in the sudden expansion of these sites at the end of the Old Kingdom. The archaeological fieldwork conducted by the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago, has focused on specific areas of these two settlements that had been founded directly on the natural bedrock constituting newly established settlement quarters at different stages of their development. At Tell Edfu, the Old Kingdom town gradually expanded northwards and westwards during the Old Kingdom making use of the increasingly flood-free zone, which can be seen by the newly excavated settlement quarter dating to the late 5th Dynasty that was situated less than 20m to the much later Ptolemaic temple. Further expansion of the town occurred during the very end of the Old Kingdom / early First Intermediate Period (c. 2200 BC), a time that has usually been associated with political and economic crises which might have been triggered by the effects of a short time climate change. By this time, the town had reached its maximum northern and western limits, which remained relatively stable for centuries to come.
The ancient city at Dendara has much older roots dating back at least to the late Predynastic period but it also saw a major expansion to the east of the Roman temple enclosure during the late Old Kingdom/First Intermediate Period transition, which was inhabited until the early Middle Kingdom. The new fieldwork conducted at both sites offers a glimpse of the organisation of the new town quarters in previously unsettled areas. These two examples of growing urban centres at the end of the 3rd millennium BC are especially interesting since this particular time frame corresponds to a politically troubled period that led to a fragmented state with multiple power centres. However, from an urban perspective, cities in southern Egypt seem to demonstrate a true resilience in a time of relative prosperity and expansion.

The history of the Heracleopolitan royal " House of Khety, " comprising Manethonian Dynasties IX and X, remains unknown to us. The only monarch whose place in the Heracleopolitans' succession is believed to be well established is Merikare, the addressee of the famous treatise on kingship. For almost eight decades he has been alleged to be the final or penultimate Heracleopolitan ruler. However, even this hardened opinion rests on erroneous presumptions. Close scrutiny of all pertaining records permits rather to identify Merikare with the sixth Heracleopolitan pharaoh, listed in the Turin King-list, V. 24, with the nomen " Khety. " Merikare's father, the fifth king of Heracleopolis, managed to restore the capital back to Memphis. Therefore, later he was at times considered as founder of a new, Dynasty " X " , with his four " purely Heracleopolitan " predecessors forming " Dynasty IX. " Such is an explanation for Manetho's much debated division of the Heracleopolitans into two dynasties. Keywords First Intermediate Period – Heracleopolitans – Dynasties IX and X – Turin King-list – Merikare Raue, who kindly provided me with some of the necessary publications.

Pepy I’ necropolis delivered many fragments of decrees, which are the subject of this article. The corpus discovered by the MafS includes fragments of widely varying size and interest. If some of them contain only a few signs, others are almost complete. As a whole, they reflect the significance of such documents in the organization of funerary cults. Issued by Pepy II for the queens, they refer to the moving of statues from one complex to another. Very close to other documents already known, these new decrees also specify some provisions regarding personnel and institutions in charge of worship. Particular attention is paid to ȝḥt-fields and jzn-territory.

Cristina Alù, Some Remarks on the sx.tjw and their Overseers: The Multiple Meanings of sx.t and the Social Identity of the Marsh-dwellers

Daphna Ben-Tor, James M. Weinstein, Scarabs from a Late Middle Kingdom Workshop at Tell el-Dab‘a

Edward Brovarski, A Hitherto Unpublished Middle Kingdom Stela in the Field Museum of Natural History – Chicago

Arkadiy E. Demidchik, Some Remarks on Neha’s Spell for Gaining Power over his Servant Statuettes

Micòl Di Teodoro, The Preservation of Monuments in the Written Sources of Dynastic Egypt between 2000 and 1550 BC

Gudelia García Fernández, Angela M.J. Tooley, Paddle Dolls from the Spanish Mission to Dra Abu el-Naga: Images and Contexts

Wolfram Grajetzki, Middle Kingdom Coffins and Coffin Fragments in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

Ali Hassan Eid, The Journey from Authenticity to Forgery: A Case-study on an Adzeblade (Egyptian Museum Cairo JE 67944) of the Thirteenth Dynasty

Khaled Hassan, Middle Kingdom Wooden Board with Hieratic Inscriptions from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo (JE 30442/CG 25369/SR 920)

Dinara Hereikhanova, Not only for a King: Nms-headdresses on the Objects of the Twelfth to Eighteenth Dynasties

Lubica Hudáková, The Acquisition of a Coffin – Tracing the (Art) History of the Coffin of Neby (MFA 04.2058): From Dayr al-Barsha to Beni Hassan to Boston

Alexander Ilin-Tomich, Minor contributions to Middle Kingdom prosopography

Esmeralda Lundius, Processing Sites in the Funerary Landscape: Observations on Ancient Egyptian Offering Trays and ‘Soul houses’

Ahmed M. Mekawy Ouda, Seven Oyster Shells at the Egyptian Museum Cairo (CG 12825-12829, JE 28320 and JE 91753)

Ahmed M. Mekawy Ouda, Khaled Hassan, Wooden Kohl Tube with Hieratic Inscriptions at the Egyptian Museum Cairo (CG 44703/JE 18553)

Gianluca Miniaci, Cornelius von Pilgrim, An Unusual Mutilation of the Crocodile Hieroglyphic Sign in an Early Middle Kingdom Stela from the Sanctuary II of Heqaib at Elephantine

Stephen Quirke, Three Types of inscribed Middle Kingdom objects in the Purchases by Flinders Petrie

Patricia Rigault, A new Occurrence of CT 398 on two Coffin Fragments in the Louvre Museum

Julien Siesse, The Late Middle Kingdom Stela Louvre N 196 = C 42 from the Louvre Museum

Uta Siffert, ‘Death ends a Life, not a Relationship’. Some Thoughts on Designatin the Deceased Ax and Wsir NN in the Middle Kingdom

Danijela Stefanović, The Administration of the Middle Kingdom Weaving Workshops: a Note on the Textual and Iconographic Data

Mohamed Youssef Ali, The Statue of Ameny from his Tomb at Lisht

The Wadi el-Hol is an ensemble of rock inscription sites and caravansary deposits near the mid-point of the Farshut Road, roughly equidistant between ancient Thebes and Hiw. The rock inscriptions range in date between the Predynastic and Coptic Periods, with the majority belonging to the Middle Kingdom. Most inscriptions record names and titles, but others are longer and of more unusual content, including literary texts and references to religious celebrations in the deep desert. Archaeological remains include Predynastic burials of the Tasian culture and debris mounds that represent the detritus of caravans and travelers along the Farshut Road. The largest deposit includes a continuous stratigraphic record of ceramic and organic material from the late Middle Kingdom through the Persian Period.

The first quarter of the second millennium bc: collapse of the great Longshan centres 25 The second quarter of the second millennium bc: the emergence and decline of Erlitou 28 The third quarter of the second millennium bc: the rise and decline of Zhengzhou 33 The fourth quarter of the second millennium bc: the rise and decline of Anyang 35 The first quarter of the first millennium bc: addressing fragility and resilience in the Zhou political order 38 Conclusion 42

The article proposes a multidisciplinary study that begins with an analysis of the details of the "stretching of the cord" ceremony as the main documentary evidence of the actions undertaken by ancient Egyptian architects when laying out the foundations of sacred buildings. Based on the observations made, the essence of the orientation method is formulated, which was one of the acts of the ceremony. Applied to the data on the azimuths of the Old Kingdom pyramids, this reconstructed method of orientation allows us to find a unique pattern that explains the alignments of all the measured pyramids of the Old Kingdom (from 3rd to 5th dynasty) and ultimately leads to the need to shift in the past of the Old Kingdom epoch by increasing the duration of the 9th-10th Herakleopolitan dynasties, which are recognized by all chronologists as the most problematic and uncertain. Our brief chronological study discovers that the increased duration of the Herakleopolitan reign is confirmed by the Manetho's data, the only ancient source that provides the values for the duration of this period. Further research in the field of radiocarbon dating indicates that underestimation of the age of the Old Kingdom continues to this day because of the difficulties associated with the collection of samples belonging to this period and the influence on the radiocarbonists’ researches of the expectations of currently accepted Egyptian chronology.

La nécropole de Pépy Ier est aujourd’hui connue essentiellement pour les
complexes funéraires du roi et des reines de la VIe dynastie. Pourtant, de nombreux
particuliers sont venus là pratiquer leurs dévotions et, pour certains, s’y faire inhumer,
constituant ainsi ce qui apparaît comme un véritable lieu de mémoire.
Trois grandes phases se distinguent, qui témoignent de l’évolution de cette
nécropole royale, dans sa perception et son occupation. L’Ancien et le Moyen Empires
se caractérisent par une continuité de l’activité rituelle dans le temple. Ensuite,
jusqu’au Nouvel Empire au moins, les sépultures de particuliers se multiplient, mais
conservent une certaine considération pour les installations royales. C’est à la Basse
Époque enfin qu’il faut situer la cessation des pratiques funéraires.
The work of the MAFS, for more than fifty years, has considerably increased our knowledge of the area of Saqqara South. The search of Ppy-Mn-Nfr - whose name is supposed to be at the origin of that of Memphis - now allows to propose a first assessment of the activity on this part of the site and the continuity of occupation with the ages. The extent of discoveries does not permit a systematic study in the context of such an article. The purpose of this paper will be to paint a broad outline, period after period, of private activities, worship and burial practices, within the necropolis to show how it was recognized and used by the different occupants who have succeeded one another.

The biography of Heqaib on British Museum stela 1671 is one of the main sources on the history of Ancient Egypt in the First Intermediate Period. Of particular importance is its information on the social stratum typical of the period, consisting of individuals who did not hold high offices but were well-off and able to exploit others. The article presents a new translation of Heqaib's inscription followed by an analysis of the cultural and historical information it provides. The author discusses the titles of the owner and his wife; Heqaib's attitude to the wealth he had obtained and his position in the hierarchy of the local elite; the information about grain distribution and grain loans in the periods of food shortages in the south of Egypt; the social status of Heqaib's workers. However, neither this nor any other inscriptions have given the answer concerning the initial sources of the wealth of this social layer which enabled its representatives to acquire arable land, cattle and workers, lend money at usurious rates, etc.

This paper explores evidence for the presence of Nubians in the Gebelein region (Southern Egypt) during the First Intermediate Period (c. 2118–1980 BCE). Nubians in this text are understood as the bearers of the C-Group culture, persons described in textual sources as Nehesi(u), or depicted with characteristic iconographic features, e.g. dark complexion, bushy hair, sash, etc. Published and unpublished records related with archaeological works undertaken in the Gebelein region were analysed to find any mention of artefacts, textual information or patterns of culture that can be ascribed to Nubians. The evidence is ambiguous in majority of cases. The results of the current field work enables one to set these sources in topographic context. The gathered evidence is analysed and some thoughts on relations between Nubian and Egyptian populations of the Gebelein region are presented as well as how Nubians seen themselves and influenced local Egyptian population. Furthermore, the terms ‘colony’ and ‘mercenary’, which are used by many scholars in the context of the First Intermediate Period Nubians in the Gebelein region are evaluated to find more correct words.

Famines and epidemics (iAdt rnpt) are two of the natural catastrophes connected with the rhythm of the Nile: the former were determined by a low inundation, while the latter were  the consequence of excessive stagnation of the waters. With regard to the famines, much has been written; in this paper, I focus on the interpretation of the textual sources of the First Intermediate Period in order to test the thesis of  B. Bell (which occasionally still finds acceptance) who considered the end of the Old Kingdom as a consequence of a series of famines determined by climate change. As for the epidemics, their diffusion during the year is examined in the light of the calendar of the lucky and unlucky days (pSallier IV and pCairo JE 86637) and one tablet of the XVIII dynasty in the Louvre which seems not have been hitherto considered as a textual witness of this phenomenon.

Après une synthèse historiographique qui met en avant les changements de perspective des auteurs ayant abordé le sujet, cet article tente de trouver des nouvelles réponses à la question de la religiosité des Égyptiens au IIIe millénaire. À travers une analyse qui tient compte de différents types de sources, on s’aperçoit que l’idée répandue qu’à l’Ancien Empire le roi était le seul intermédiaire entre les hommes et les dieux nécessite d’être mise en discussion et fortement nuancée. Il semble que les individus du IIIe millénaire priaient les dieux et croyaient en la causalité divine, et que le deus loci était un référent majeur dans leur vie. De fait, les principes de l’éthique et de la dévotion divine s’appliquaient à un horizon plus étendu que la simple loyauté au roi.

L'étude des activités commerciales de l'Égypte pharaonique a été longtemps centrée sur les initiatives de l'État en raison de la documentation conservée. Celle-ci, en effet, concerne surtout les activités des marchands au service des grandes institutions (temples, palais), les expéditions royales envoyées à l'étranger (Pount, Sinaï, Levant, Nubie) et les archives diplomatiques qui évoquent les échanges entre les cours royales. Cependant, l'archéologie révèle une réalité bien plus nuancée, où des acteurs souvent négligés dans les sources officielles jouèrent un rôle très actif dans la diffusion des biens, des techniques et des idées sur de vastes distances. Surtout les populations pastorales (Nubiens, Libyens, Asiatiques) et des marchands indépendants, dont les activités avaient lieu fréquemment en marge des initiatives de l'État et au service de la demande privée.

The present article aims to combine an accurate philological analysis of the letter to the dead UC16163 and its archaeological context. The letter is a double document containing two letters addressed by Shepsi to both his dead parents (Iinkhenmut and Iy). In fact, the letter was found in an undisturbed tomb, no. 7695, in the necropolis of Qau, where only a single male deceased lay in the funerary chamber, with no evidence/traces of any further interment or later disturbance. According to the text of the letter, one would expect two internments inside the tomb, Shepsi’s father and mother. The discrepancy between the content of the letter and the archaeological evidence is remarkable. However, the new philological reading here proposed sheds new light on the role of Shepsi’s brother, Sobekhotep, switching his role from the dangerous, as previously interpreted, to simply negligent dead. Sobekhotep is the prime element in both texts and he is the last person to have died in Shepsi’s family, as in many points evident in the two letters. The particular emphasis of the episode of the funeral/burial of Sobekhotep reveals that Shepsi is addressing directly to his brother. The new interpretation of the text seems to support the idea that the deceased found together with the bowl in Qau tomb 7695 is Sobekhotep himself.

Ouvrage disponible en libre accès sur la page de l'éditeur : https://books.openedition.org/momeditions/193

En Égypte ancienne, la mort semble être une préoccupation constante. Pour affronter cette étape tant redoutée, le dogme prévoit une existence dans l'au-delà, mais celle-ci demeure conditionnée au maintien de la mémoire des individus parmi les vivants. Chaque personne va donc tenter, en fonction de son statut et de ses capacités, de développer certaines stratégies pour rendre son propre culte éternel et garantir ainsi son immortalité.
Cette étude, fondée principalement sur l'analyse des pratiques post-inhumatoires, souhaite mettre en évidence les différents leviers qui sont utilisés en vue de pérenniser les cultes mémoriels : le choix du lieu, celui des supports et enfin – peut-être surtout – l'intégration à de multiples matrices sociales complémentaires. Car le maintien de la mémoire est avant tout affaire de société. L'individu, pour exister, se doit d'interagir avec la communauté, qu'il soit vivant ou bien mort.

The false door, later replaced by the stele, can be continuously traced in the archaeological record from the end of the Old Kingdom to the beginning of the Middle Kingdom. It can be traced across sites in Upper and Lower Egypt and across each of the major phases of rule from the Memphites to the Herakleopolitans and the Thebans. Yet, studies to date have only considered the false door and stele within the parameters of individual sites or localised regions, for example: Dunham and Brovarski’s studies at Naga ed-Deir (Dunham 1937 & Brovarski 1989), Daoud’s study at Memphis (2005) and Fischer’s studies at Dendera (1968). There has been little attempt to date false doors and stelae across both time and place. But what this can actually offer us is the potential to determine a benchmark for dating other events and material culture of the First Intermediate Period, as well as clearer patterns in artistic, administrative, and social changes. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is twofold: (1) to present the preliminary findings from a site distribution of 562 Egyptian false doors and funerary stelae currently known from the First Intermediate Period (reigns of King Pepy II – Mentuhotep II) and (2) to explore the results of a set of dating criteria applied to a representative group of ‘well-dated’ examples.

The article points to some additional written
evidence on the relation between the kA-concept and the
cult image. It is argued that connection with the latter
was essential and inherent for the Hw.t-kA and the service
of the Hm-kA. The inscriptions on JE 46068, BM EA 627
and BM EA 1164, by highlighting the cult image-twt as
recipient of the boons provided for the k#, almost equate
these two notions, that is best explainable if the cult image
was considered as “door” for the kA’s “going forth”.
Such revealing deviations from the Old Kingdom written
tomb etiquette may have been induced by the rarity of
tomb sculpture and some innovations in its use in the
First Intermediate Period.

Publication d’une stèle de la Première Période intermédiaire connue sur le marché de l’Art. Sa datation et sa provenance – une nécropole thinite – sont proposées d’après une analyse de ses caractéristiques intrinsèques. Plus précisément, le monument est attribué à un célèbre atelier de l’époque hérakléopolitaine que l’on appelle le «groupe polychrome». Le propriétaire du monument, le ḥ3ty-' Nfr-tb-3w, est figuré ici avec sa femme Ibi et deux officiants. Un groupe d’offrandes et une inscription biographique conventionnelle accompagnent la scène. L’article offre un état de la question pour maintes particularités épigraphiques et prosopographiques.

Gracias infinitas a mi directora de tesis Karen Cerón, por ser una gran guía en todo el proceso, por ser una maestra excepcional. A mis padres por darme alas para alcanzar todos mis propósitos, gracias familia por ser la luz que me acompaña en cada uno de mis pasos.

During the late Old Kingdom to the end of the Middle Kingdom, there were two principal types of artistic representation in the ancient Egyptian elite tomb: funerary models and wall scenes. The two media exhibit several similarities in design, with both depicting people and animals engaged in activities of everyday life. This has caused scholars to regularly label funerary models duplicates or substitutes of wall scenes, implying that they served the same purpose in the tomb. However, there are several notable differences yet to be acknowledged. This book conducts a detailed comparative analysis of the two artistic media, focusing on representations from the sites of Meir, Deir el-Bersha and Beni Hassan in Middle Egypt. The analysis highlights the distinguishing characteristics of each medium and establishes a more precise understanding of the role of funerary models in the tomb and their relationship to wall scenes.

This report presents the archaeological, epigraphic, conservation and site management activities carried out by the Middle Kingdom Theban Project – a project under the auspices of the Freie Universität Berlin Mission to Deir el-Bahari – in the first two seasons (2015–2016). The two initial seasons have provided abundant material
for the researchers to investigate the origin, history, and role of the early Middle Kingdom necropolis in the northern hills of Deir el-Bahari, its tombs and elite officials buried there, and shall shed light on the history, society, and religion of the period initiated by Mentuhotep II at Thebes at the end of the Eleventh Dynasty.