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Tomb and temple robberies were an endemic concern throughout ancient Egyptian history. With the exception of the thefts recorded in the so-called Great Tomb Robbery Papyri of the 20th Dynasty, we have almost no direct information on those who committed them. These texts provide important details on the sociology of robbers that, thus far, has not been fully explored. For this article, a database containing the almost 400 individuals involved in temple and tomb robberies was created. This article is the first half of this study and addresses the questions of who the robbers were, what they robbed, and why. [Formula: see text]

International audience; This paper presents the results of a reassessment of the Predynastic Egyptian Fibrous Ware (Naqada IIA–B–Naqada IIIA2–B) diffused in Egypt and beyond. Fibrous Ware is characterised by a particular temper made of long fibres and has been defined as a typical Lower Egyptian ceramic production. The present study is based on the technological analysis of pottery samples from Tell el-Iswid, Tell el-Samara and Tell el-Fara’in/Buto, as well as on bibliographical research into the chronological and geographical diffusion of this ware. The results have shown that Fibrous Ware is characterised by its own unique technological tradition, which differs from the tradition identified for the Lower Egyptian production and is therefore not part of the latter. Finally, as a working hypothesis to be developed in the future, we propose to view this ceramic as the representation of mobile or semi-mobile groups who were located at the fringes of the western Nile Delta.

This brief communication concerns an unpublished wooden manacle kept at the Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung in Berlin. The object, of unknown provenance, entered in the Museum collection in 1900 through a purchase made by L. Borchardt from the antiquities dealer Butros Abd el Melek of Qena. The manacle bears on both sides a one-line hieroglyphic inscription, giving the name and title of its possible owner: Nebamon ‘The soldier of the company of Pharaoh’. In order to better understand the function and use of the analysed artefact, a comparison with the available visual and written documentation is offered. Concerning the date, all of the information gathered points toward the first half of the Eighteenth Dynasty.

This article is the publication of the sarcophagus lid British Museum EA 1640 belonging to the nb-nḫt ( nebnakht) Iahirdis. The present study focuses in particular on the dating and origin of this object, as well as on the priestly titles held by its owner and his father. Interestingly, the graphic peculiarities analysis of the signs used in the inscriptions also revealed that the scribe sometimes chose to combine hieroglyphic, cursive and hieratic writings.

This paper is the publication of the amulet Papyrus British Museum EA 10732 written for the protection of Amennakhte, born of Tarekhânou, against the srf-inflammation. The text is very close to P. Chester Beatty VII verso 7, with some variations in text and images. A partial doublet of P. Chester Beatty VII, verso 7 has been published by Yvan Koenig (Papyrus Deir al-Médîna 42). The nature of the relationships between P. British Museum EA 10732 and P. Chester Beatty VII, verso 7, is discussed.

A statistical analysis of text A of the Wilbour Papyrus shows that the pattern of landholdings surrounding localities well reflects the population inhabiting settlements and allows their categorization without preconceived idea. The resulting typology fits only in part with classifications relying on administrative considerations, the central place theory or archeological criteria. Urban features are not limited to regional capitals. Main and secondary urban centers are distinguished by a hinterland of small localities; this hinterland is exclusive to each main urban center but shared in secondary urban centers. Small rural settlements are not homogenous and can be distinguished according to their agricultural activity, particularly cattle and horse breeding, and the locally predominant landholding institution.

This article aims at presenting a methodology for Social Network Analysis (SNA) applied to Egyptology and ancient societies studies, with its benefits and issues. One of the big issues dealing with social relationships in ancient Egypt lies in the use of kinship terminology defining relations outside the family. In that sense, SNA allows researchers to partially set aside links values contrary to traditional genealogical studies, especially for the graphical projection. Thus, biological and social brothers do not have to be distinguished using this method, although this distinction is often impossible to do. It then presents an empirical method developed using this branch of sociology on an Egyptological dataset dating back from the New Kingdom. With the help of centrality measures, SNA enabled attention to be drawn to secondary role characters at the first sight of the hieroglyphic documentation. However, studying such a type of documentation requires a cautious approach, especially regarding the nature and aim of the sources available. International audience

This article studies a fragment of a stele found by Clarence Stanley Fisher in 1915 at Dendara necropolis and most probably left in situ. Nevertheless, based on a photograph kept in the archives of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, it has been pointed out that the artefact, also known under the registration number D 628, presents a cut biography and a very damaged decorated scene. Despite its poor state of preservation, two themes have been recognized in the hieroglyphic text. The first is about the management of a grain silo, the second concerns the economic role of the owner for the funerary cult of his father. In addition to a phraseological analysis based on the terms mḫr/mẖr and šnwt, taking into account different information such as archaeological data, allowed an identification of the stele owner. It appears that he was a middle-ranking official who lived during the First Intermediate Period.

International audience; In the Nile valley and since the Neolithic period, ritual offerings and deposits have included oddly-shaped stones whose meaning is still little understood. Both unusually shaped stones and fossils are attested in the Nubian kingdoms, where their presence was thought to be limited to royal graves and temples. Recent finds at Sai Island and Sedeinga show that, in the kingdom of Meroe, such curiosities could be associated with other non-royal contexts. It is also shown that some of these stones were modified by hand, accentuating the resemblance to religious symbols. The evidence points at a more widespread use of these objects than previously assumed and serves as a reminder for archaeologists to document a new aspect of Kushitic ritual practices.