On the West Bank of the Nile, opposite Aswan, is Qubbet el-Hawa, the necropolis of the governors of Elephantine during the Old and Middle Kingdoms. These officials – the guardians of Egypt’s southernmost border – built monumental tomb complexes on…
Two Old Kingdom tombs have recently been discovered at Saqqara by an Egyptian team working at the Bubasteion necropolis, and a Spanish Egyptian team excavating at the ‘Mariette Necropolis’ to the north. The remains of a funerary chapel with a…
Following George Reisner’s discovery (in 1925) and meticulous excavation of the Tomb of Queen Hetepheres I at Giza, William Arnold Stewart was engaged by Reisner to reconstruct the furniture (‘the carrying-chair, the bed, the arm-chair, the jewel- box, and the…
A group of rock-cut Old Kingdom tombs has been uncovered by an Egyptian mission working at Qubbet el-Hawa, near Aswan. The tombs contained burial chambers that were reused in the First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom. More than 160…
Wolfram Grajetzki explores rare painted scenes from an Old Kingdom mastaba at Dahshur.
Hilary Wilson looks at the development of axes, from Palaeolithic flint to ceremonial gold in the Eighteenth Dynasty.
Karl Harris continues his ‘Travels in an Antique Land’, discovering the ‘Art of Cusae’ in Middle Kingdom tombs at Meir – accompanied by a local snake charmer.
Roger Forshaw records the life and career of a court official and scribe who was the world’s first recorded dentist.
REVIEW BY ROGER FORSHAW Michelle Middleman’s new book presents a well-structured and perceptive exploration of how individuals attained administrative positions during Egypt’s early dynastic era. Focusing primarily on tomb biographies from the Sixth Dynasty, Middleman uses these inscriptions as a…
A 4,500-year-old Egyptian skeleton from a rock-cut tomb in Nuwayrat, near Beni Hasan, has provided the first biological evidence for links between ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia in the early Old Kingdom. The man’s unusual burial – in a sealed pottery…
REVIEW BY ROGER FORSHAW The 23rd Current Research in Egyptology (CRE) conference was held at the University of Basel in 2023. Bringing together an engaged community of mainly early career researchers, the conference offered a diverse programme from which 22…
A new Fifth Dynasty tomb has been discovered at Saqqara by an Egyptian mission led by the Supreme Council of Antiquities and the Zahi Hawass Foundation for Antiquities and Heritage. The 4,400-year-old tomb belongs to Userafra, a previously unknown son…
In the first of a two-part article on the symbolism attached by the ancient Egyptians to beasts with horns, Hilary looks at cattle.
Dr Campbell Price describes a small cleansing basin and ewer set from the Musée du Louvre.
An ornately decorated mastaba has been discovered in the cemetery at Dahshur, the southernmost of the necropolises associated with Memphis, an ancient Egyptian capital. The tomb was discovered during recent excavations by the German Archaeological Institute (DAI), Cairo, which has…
Following a public outcry over new ‘renovation’ work on the Pyramid of Menkaura at Giza, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has decided not to approve the continuation of the project. The original aims were to restore, document, and…
An Old Kingdom mastaba tomb with painted decorations has been discovered by a team from the German Archaeological Institute working at Dahshur. Inscriptions name the deceased as Senebnebef, a palace official, and his wife Idut, a priestess of Hathor. The…
Your thoughts on issues raised by the magazine.
Dr Campbell Price describes an architectural portal between the realms of the living and the dead.
REVIEW BY HILARY WILSON Histories of ancient Egypt have traditionally been written from a royal perspective, due largely to the availability of source material. This approach underestimates the role of the provinces, their administration and social structure, in the overall…
Ancient Egyptians believed that the foods and goods listed in their tombs would magically become available to them for eternity. Hilary Wilson reports.
Your thoughts on issues raised by the magazine, plus what’s coming up in future issues. Email the Editor: peter@ancientegyptmagazine.com with your comments.
The study suggests that the existence of a Nile branch during the Old Kingdom allowed the Egyptians to transport heavy stone blocks by water close to where these monuments were built.
In December 2019, a small fragment of cedar, which had been missing for more than 70 years, was rediscovered within the collections of the University of Aberdeen. The fragment may, at first glance, seem unprepossessing, except for the fact that…