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Burial Practices and Ritual Landscapes at Ptolemaic Abydos The 2011 and 2012 Seasons of theAbydos Middle Cemetery ProjectAuthor(s) Thomas LandvatterSource Near Eastern Archaeology Vol 76 No 4 (December 2013) pp 235-245Published by The American Schools of Oriental Research

Stable URL httpwwwjstororgstable105615neareastarch7640235

Accessed 01072014 0821

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NEAR EASERN ARCHAEOLOGY 764 (2013) 235

Tomas Landvatter

BURIAL PRACICES AND RIUALLANDSCAPES A POLEMAIC ABYDOS

Te 2011 and 2012 Seasons of the

Abydos Middle Cemetery Project

he Late and Ptolemaic periods o Egyptian history (664983138983139983141 to 30 983138983139983141) were politically socially and cultur-ally tumultuous his time saw both the inal resurgence

o the indigenous Egyptian state and its subjugation to oreignrule his same period was one o the most dynamic in Egyptianhistory as Egypt became urther integrated into wider Mediter-ranean networks and saw the inlux o large oreign populations

irst Greek mercenaries and traders during the 26 th Dynastyand then immigration on a larger scale under the Ptolemieswhen Egypt was again an independent state and empire In

such a context o intense cross-cultural interaction and politicalupheaval we would expect that personal and social identitiesbe contested and renegotiated as individuals were conrontedwith change in old social and political structures as well as thecreation o new ones

From an archaeological perspective the material remainso mortuary practices are particularly useul or the analysis ochanges in social structures and identities Mortuary remains aredense with social inormation since unlike many archaeologicaldeposits a burial is nearly always an intentional deposition andis treated according to certain rules and within certain boundar-ies which a given society deems appropriate Burials are ofen

specifically marked to reflect identities such as age gender andsocio-economic status through the treatment o the body theburial architecture or the inclusion o specific pieces o uner-ary equipment

In order to examine such changes in social structures andidentities in Egypt during the Late and Ptolemaic periods I field-directed an excavation sub-project in 2011 and 2012 as part othe University o Michiganrsquos Abydos Middle Cemetery (AMC)Project under the overall direction o Proessor Janet Richardsocused on the unerary remains o the Late and Ptolemaic peri-

ods As a cemetery site continuously in use rom ca 3700 983138983139983141to the Arab conquest in the seventh century 983139983141 Abydos is idealor the study o shifing social identities over time Te mate-rial culture and unerary landscape o Late and Ptolemaic-periodAbydos has only recently become the ocus o sustained modernarchaeological excavation and publication It appears that wellinto the Ptolemaic period individuals exhibited elite status part-ly through an explicit association with the other monumentsgeographic eatures and landmarks which shaped ritual practiceat Abydos Yet at some point during the Ptolemaic period a reori-entation o the ritual landscape caused a shif in the ways by whichpeople exhibited their elite status through mortuary practice

A view of the entrance to the desert cliffs at Abydos Photograph by T Landvatter

This content downloaded from 129130252222 on Tue 1 Jul 2014 082107 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions



236 NEAR EASERN ARCHAEOLOGY 764 (2013)

Figure 1 (above) Labeled satellite view of North Abydos focused on the North Cemetery Middle Cemetery and the processional wadi In red are the approximate

locations of excavation areas from early twentieth century expeditions Garstang 1907 is the unpublished Ptolemaic-Roman period cemetery in the processional wadi The

Osiris temple is the origin point for the processions to Umm el-Qarsquoab Includes material copy 2007 DigitalGlobe Inc All Rights Reserved Labels by T Landvatter

Figure 2 (below) Example of Greek grafti in the Seti I temple Photograph by T Landvatter





The Abydos Ritual LandscapeAbydos is one o the most important sites in Egypt as the burialplace o the first pharaohs o the united Egyptian state and thecenter o the cult o the god o the dead Osiris (see OrsquoConnor2009) Te site is complexconsisting o cemeteries set-tlements and ritual spaces

divided into two main sec-tions South and North Aby-dos North Abydos (fig 1) isin turn divided into the Mid-dle Cemetery and the NorthCemetery separated romeach other by a wadi whichleads to the area known asUmm el-Qarsquoab where theEarly Dynastic royal tombsare located While mortuaryactivity was initially restricted

to royal burials in Umm el-Qarsquoab the rest o the site wasgradually opened to privateunerary activity beginning inthe later Old Kingdom Tiscan be seen or example inthe late Old Kingdom mor-tuary landscape centered onthe monumental mastabaso Weni the Elder and Iuuexcavated by the AMC Proj-ect (see Richards 2002 2007Richards and Herbich 2005)

A major shif occurredduring the Middle Kingdomwhen the tomb o the FirstDynasty pharaoh Djer inUmm el-Qarsquoab had been iden-tified as the tomb o OsirisDjerrsquos tomb then becamethe ocus o annual proces-sions rom the Osiris templethrough the wadi with atten-dant large-scale deposition oofferings A large private vo-

tive zone developed consist-ing o cenotaphs dedicated tothe god Osiris outside Osirisrsquomain temple at the beginningo the processional route Tewadi became sacred spaceand construction and burialwithin it was expressly orbid-den as recorded in the Neer-hotep stele o the 13th Dynasty(Leahy 1989) Abydos hadalso become prominent in the

rhetoric o death throughout Egypt with tomb paintings depict-ing and texts describing a ldquojourney to Abydosrdquo o the deceased tobe with the god Osiris

Abydos received near-continuous royal patronage rom the

Middle Kingdom onward

(see again OrsquoConnor 2009)Tere are multiple monumen-tal buildings rom both theMiddle and New Kingdomssuch as the tomb o Senwos-ret III (r 1870ndash1831 983138983139983141)the royal pyramid complex oAhmose (r 1550ndash1525 983138983139983141)the Osiris emple complexconstructed by Seti I (r1294ndash1279 983138983139983141) and twotemples built by Ramesses II

(r 1279ndash1213 983138983139983141) In theTird Intermediate Periodhigh officials and royals weresill buried and commemo-rated at the site such as princeIuput o the 22nd Dynasty(945ndash715 983138983139983141) and princessPaabtomeri o the 25th Dynas-ty (747ndash656 983138983139983141)

From the seventh century983138983139983141 through the end o thePtolemaic period Abydos

Figure 3 (above) Satellite view of the Middle Cemetery with results of the AMC Project geophysical survey overlaid Blue

boxes represent excavation units of the AMC Project The 2011ndash12 excavation area is closest to the wadi

Includes material copy 2007 DigitalGlobe Inc All Rights Reserved

Figure 4 (below) Plan of the AMC 2011ndash12 excavation area showing the three contiguous architectural agglomerations

Areas A B and C GIS by G Compton with additions by T Landvatter





maintained its importanceas a ritual center and its

landscape continued to develop Abydos still receivedstate-level patronage suchas the construction o a newOsiris temple by the pha-raoh Nectanebo (r 380ndash362983138983139983141) in the 30th Dynastylikely on the site o the pre- vious Osiris temples Tereis also evidence o Ptolemaicroyal interest in Seti Irsquos templecomplex An inscription in a

oundation deposit attributedto the reign o Ptolemy IV(r 221ndash205 983138983139983141) is associ-ated with the construction oa monumental stone gatewayo the Seti temple enclosure(Petrie 1902a) Ptolemaic vo-tive deposits have also beenound associated with a struc-ture along the processionalroute out rom the Osiris temple (Pouls-Wegner 2011) Tequantity o offerings at Umm el-Qarsquoab also increased dramati-

cally with great numbers omass-produced vessels dating

rom the eighth to the secondcenturies 983138983139983141 indicatingthat the tomb o Djer con-tinued to be the ocus o cult(Budka 2010)

Despite the continuing o-cus on Umm el Qarsquoab at thistime this was also a period ochange Beginning in the LatePeriod and continuing intothe Ptolemaic Seti Irsquos templecomplex which includes both

the temple proper and the so-called ldquoOsireionrdquo ndash a subterra-nean cenotaph built immedi-ately behind the main templendash became a site o pilgrimageTe temple complexrsquos statusas a center o pilgrimage is at-tested by the great quantitieso graffiti ound throughoutboth structures (fig 2) Te

earliest graffiti at the Osireion date to the 21 st Dynasty around1000 983138983139983141 Pilgrimage activity at the Seti temple itsel seems

Figure 5 (above) View of Hypogeum 1 with components labeled Photograph by T Landvatter

Figure 6 (below) Plan of Hypogeum 1 with vaults labeled showing the location of limestone cofns

Original GIS by G Compton with additions by T Landvatter





to begin in the fifh century 983138983139983141 with graffiti particularly inGreek but also in Phoenician Carian Aramaic and the Cypriotscript (Perdrizet and Leebvre 1919 Rutherord 2003) ouristsrom all over Upper Egypt visited the temple steadily rom thistime up through the Ptolemaic and Roman periods Te Setitemple was well-known as an oracular center first associatedwith Osiris then Serapis and then ultimately the god Bes

Te increased attention paid to the Seti temple as opposed tothe original Osiris temple complex was accompanied by a shifin the ritual landscape Tis is most evident in the blocking o theprocessional wadi by a cemetery excavated by Garstang in 1907(Abdalla 1992) Tis cemetery was never ully published but ap-pears to date to either the late Ptolemaic or Roman periods Te

obstruction o the wadi likely marked the end o some 1800 yearso ritual processions up to Umm el-Qarsquoab using this route andthereore was a significant change Tere is however a secondmajor processional route leading rom the Seti temple to theso-called ldquosouth hillrdquo near Umm el-Qarsquoab (Effland and Effland2010) It is possible that the Seti temple rather than the originalOsiris temple became the primary ocus or cult by the Romanperiod (Pouls-Wegner 2011) and consequently the processionalroute originating there may have increased in significance aferthe closing off o the wadi

The 2011 and 2012 AMC ProjectExcavation SeasonsTe immediate and most general aim o the AMC Projectrsquos twoseasons was to add to our knowledge o the later post-New King-dom periods o Abydos by excavating a number o graves whichdated rom the Late to the Roman periods and by working to-wards an understanding o what constituted ldquotypicalrdquo elite uner-

ary treatments at Abydos during this time More specifically theproject had two main research questions first to investigate howmortuary practices at the site related to the ritual landscape dur-ing the Late Ptolemaic and early Roman periods and second toexplore what social cultural religious and political actors mayhave shaped mortuary practice at Abydos

Te AMC Project chose to excavate an area o the MiddleCemetery along the processional wadi based on patterns seen inlate nineteenth and early twentieth century excavation data ce-ramic survey and geophysical survey all o which indicated thatthere was extensive Late and Ptolemaic period activity in or nearthat area Late and Ptolemaic material at Abydos was recordedby nearly all excavations prior to the current American and Ger-man missions in particular the excavations o Petrie Navilleand Garstang in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centu-ries (Petrie 1902 Peet 1914 Abdalla 1992) Tough the precise

Figure 7 View of Vault B from its entrance Photograph by T Landvatter





Figure 8 (above) Close-up of inscribed cofn lid from Vault B Figure 9 (below) Fragments of the cofn lids showing the names of their

occupants (highlighted) Harsiese (r-s3-3st) is on the left and Nesqaishuty (Ns-

q3j-šwty) on the right Photographs by T Landvatter

Figure 10 (above) Box of shabtis in situ Photograph by T Landvatter

Figure 11 (below) Decorated wood fragments of a shabti box This box is a

different example than that in g 10 but it has identical decoration

Photograph by E Platte





locations o many o these early excavations remain unknownthe areas which yielded extensive Late and Ptolemaic remainsappear to have been close to the processional route and wadi (seeagain fig 1)

A ceramic survey conducted by the AMC Project also showedan increased percentage o Late to PtolemaicRoman wares rela-tive to Old Kingdom wares near the wadi indicating probable

activity o that time period in the area Te extent o activitynear the wadi was revealed by the extensive geophysical surveyconducted in the Middle Cemetery between 2002 and 2009 byomasz Herbich or the AMC Project (fig 3) Much o what wasrevealed in the geophysical survey o this area seems similar to

the typical ldquoLaterdquo tomb types that are described in the early ex-cavation reports (see eg Petrie 1902b on Cemetery G and Peet1914 on Cemetery E) Te geophysical survey also showed thatthe area along the wadi contained a range in architectural types

rom smaller tombs to monumental enclosures with largerstructures tending to be closer to the wadi

Six excavation units (see again fig 3) were laid out over thecourse o two seasons revealing a dense agglomeration o mud-brick unerary architecture that can be divided into three dis-tinct areas Areas A B and C (fig 4) Tese divisions are basedon architectural stratigraphy soil stratigraphy in the MiddleCemetery is nearly non-existent due both to early modern ex-cavations that heavily disturbed the site and the nature o thesand-soil matrix wo large structures termed Hypogeum 1 andHypogeum 2 ormed the core o Area A Area B consisted o arange o small unerary architecture including mudbrick vaults

mudbrick-lined pits meant or multiple interments and mud-plaster suraces this architecture likely post-dates Area A AreaC also consists o a range o unerary architecture and may alsopost-date Area A

Area A yielded the most significant remains given the re-search questions o the project Hypogeum 2 which postdatesHypogeum 1 was badly robbed to the point that its structural

integrity was compromised and it could not be saely investigat-ed Hypogeum 1 was well-preserved Tough the structure wasrobbed in antiquity it does not seem to have been excavated inthe early twentieth century A significant portion o the uneraryassemblage remained intact which would not be expected i this

structure had been subject to early excavation techniquesHypogeum 1 (figs 5 and 6) is large approximately 10 m on

a side and is broadly similar to other Late Period to Ptolemaictombs identified by excavators such as Petrie and Peet Te struc-

ture consists o the hypogeum itsel with three parallel pitched-brick vaults a orecourt a platorm and a superstructure wallPitched-brick vaults such as Hypogeum 1 are noted as commonin Peetrsquos report on the later period vaults in Cemetery E andelsewhere (Peet 1914) Similar to other ldquolaterdquo vaults reported byPeet and Petrie Hypogeum 1 may have supported a mastaba-likestructure or perhaps a dome

Te broadly ldquolaterdquo attribution based on the architecture isconfirmed by the ceramic assemblage rom within the struc-ture which contained nearly no examples o pottery that coulddate beore the Late Period Ceramic finds were similar to thoseound in other Ptolemaic contexts in Abydos In addition the

Figure 12 Shabtis from the box shown in g 10 Photograph by E Platte





presence o what was preliminarily identified as an EgyptianAmphora ype 3 suggests activity in this tomb at least throughthe late first century 983138983139983141 to early first century 983139983141 Tere will bea ull treatment o the ceram-ics in a uture study season

Te other contents oHypogeum 1 are consistent

with the ceramic chronologyVault A was nearly complete-ly robbed and barren exceptor large disturbed deposit omummified cats near the en-trance However the interioro Vault B ndash the main burial vault (fig 7) ndash contained atleast five human burials andour monumental limestonecoffins the largest o whichwas 34 m long Te lids o the

two rearmost coffins were in-scribed (fig 8) Tough bro-ken into about 130 pieces andnot yet reconstructed the in-scriptions are complete nam-ing the two initial occupantso the tomb both o whomare identified as priests Har-siese (H r-s3-3st ) son o his mother Isetweret (3st-Wrt ) andNesqaishuty (Ns-q3j-šwty ) son o Harsiese (fig 9) At least ini-tially then Hypogeum 1 appears to have served as a communaltomb or a amily o priests Te unerary assemblage rom VaultB is also extensive including boxes o worker figurines (shabtis)

(figs 10ndash12) small wooden stelae (fig 13) aience vessels andthe remains o inscribed interior wood coffins Fragments oPtah-Sokar-Osiris statues which were common in elite burialassemblages in the Late and Ptolemaic periods were also ound(fig 14) All these classes oobjects are typical or Lateand Ptolemaic elite burials

Vault C (fig 15) containedat least 19 human burialsIn addition to the remainso bead nets which werecommonly used as mummy

decoration there were smallalcon figurines which mayhave been meant to standalone or may have been parto a canopic or shabti box andragments o a stone and glasseye inset or a mask A largeamount o painted mummywrappings (fig 16) was oundin this vault all o which is similar to Ptolemaic and Roman stylesknown rom other sites Just outside o the entrance to Vault C alarge deposit was discovered which appears to be the ejected con-

tents o the entire vault including natron balls and embalmingmaterials used in the mummification process at least one lime-stone coffin multiple ceramic coffins and a number o whole

or reconstructable vessels (fig17) Te majority o the ves-sels appear to be consistentwith ceramics rom other

Ptolemaic contexts Toughthe burials are less monumen-tal and elaborate than those inVault B they were still quiterich evidenced on one mum-my by the application o gild-ing directly to its bandages tocreate armlets bracelets andnipple covers

The AMC Excavationsin Context

Hypogeum 1 is one o a ewPtolemaic-period tombs atAbydos excavated using mod-ern recording techniques andis thereore key to our under-standing o this period at thesite Based on initial analy-sis o the tomb architecture

ceramic assemblage and the types and variety o grave goodsound the construction o Hypogeum 1 can be dated to the earlyPtolemaic period or the latter-part o the Late Period perhapsaround the 30th Dynasty Ceramic evidence indicates that depo-sition o burials or other activity continued through the Ptol-

emaic period and possibly into the early Roman A uture studyseason is planned ocusing on Hypogeum 1 including a ullstudy o the ceramic material a more thorough bioarchaeologi-cal study o the human remains and epigraphic work on the in-

scriptions Once the inscrip-tions are reconstructed therewill be more clarity as to theoundation date o the tombthe occupantsrsquo places o ori-gin and titles and potentialconnections to other elites inthe area

Hypogeum 1 confirms thepattern seen in other excava-tion data and the AMC Proj-ectrsquos ceramic and geophysi-cal surveys that elite burialpractice during the Late andPtolemaic periods was o-cused to some extent on thearea adjacent to the proces-

sional wadi Hypogeum 1 is situated on a high point overlook-ing the wadi with little apparent obstruction rom other tombsIn the geophysical survey the largest structures tend to abut the

Figure 14 Fragment of the horn of a Ptah-Sokar-Osiris statue


Figure 13 Wooden stele in situ with painted ankh Photograph by T Landvatter





wadi with smaller structuresurther away (see again fig

3) Elite status then seemsto have been expressed notonly through elaborate gravearchitecture and tomb assem-blages ndash as could be seen withthe material in Hypogeum1 ndash but also through asso-ciation with the ritual land-scape constructing a tombnear the processional wadi associated the occupants othat tomb and their amily

with the prestige o the Osiriscult Smaller structures as inAreas B and C o the AMCProject excavation area tendto cluster around larger struc-tures showing a desire oless-elite individuals to be as-sociated with the prestige othe monumental tombs

Tere are also some clear differences between the burial as-semblage in Hypogeum 1 and other reported Ptolemaic burialsat Abydos Te wealth o material rom Hypogeum 1 is in stark

contrast to what was oundor example in E422 an in-

tact tomb excavated by Peet(Peet 1914) Tere were al-most no reported grave goodsrom that tomb other thansimple limestone coffins andcartonnage mummy casesTe stark difference betweenHypogeum 1 and E422 onlyemphasizes the potential vari-ety in Ptolemaic period mor-tuary practice at Abydos

A Shifting LandscapeIt is clear that well into thePtolemaic period the veryold ritual landscape o Aby-dos ocused on the proces-sional wadi was maintainedand elites such as the priestsHarsiese and Nesqaishuty se-lected their burial locations in

relation to it Te processional wadi was still considered sacredspace association with which conerred some level o prestigeIndeed desire or burial locations near the wadi may have helped

Figure 15 (above) View of Vault C from its entrance Photograph by T Landvatter

Figure 16 (below) Example of painted mummy wrappings from Vault C with a depiction of a jackal Photograph by E Platte





maintain its ritual importance Elites had a vested interest inkeeping the wadi open and maintaining the ritual processions

originating at the Osiris temple since the prestige o the wadiwas derived rom entrenched cultural meanings attached to itsgeography and elites defined themselves in part by associatingthemselves with this prestige through tomb construction

Given the long-standing importance o the processional wadi or both ritual practice and elite identity the significance o itsclosure cannot be overstated Increasing pilgrimage to and ritualactivity associated with the Seti temple in particular the devo-tion o Greeks and other oreigners seems to be accompanied bya decrease in activity associated with the original Osiris templecomplex and thereore the processional wadi (Pouls-Wegner2011) Te Ptolemaic-Roman cemetery excavated by Garstang in

1907 in thewadi

should be interpreted in this context With in-creasing attention paid to the Seti temple complex in particularby non-Egyptians came a decisive shif in the ritual landscapeo Abydos overall Te wadi was no longer inviolate and wasnow open to burial Tis changed not only the ritual landscapeo Abydos but potentially patterns in mortuary practice as wellSince the processional wadi was no longer sacred space it wasnot as prestigious and so likely was no longer as prominent inthe construction o elite identity through mortuary practice

Hypogeum 1 must have been constructed beore the wadi lostits significance but this tomb and the 2011ndash12 AMC Project ex-cavation area as whole dates to around the time when the shif inthe ritual landscape occurred Te chronology o the shif in the

landscape is not ully understood as o yet ndash whether it was sud-den or gradual ndash nor is diachronic change in the spatial distribu-

tion o mortuary activity during the Late and Ptolemaic peri-ods Our understanding o the Abydos landscape and mortuarypractice in these later periods is only beginning to develop andwill continue to be refined as more material is excavated and oldexcavations are examined in more detail But it is clear that dur-ing the Ptolemaic period Abydos underwent significant change

AcknowledgmentsI am grateul to the Ministry o State or Antiquities o Egypt andits then-director Dr Mohammed Ibrahim and Dr MohammedIsmail Khaled director o oreign missions or granting permis-sion or this project I am indebted to the American Research

Center in Egypt (ARCE) or its support I also thank Universityo Michiganrsquos Abydos Middle Cemetery (AMC) Project and itsdirector Janet Richards or allowing me to conduct this researchunder the AMC Projectrsquos aegis Tis fieldwork would not havebeen possible without the support o a National Science Founda-tion Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant (BCS Proposal1038765) an International Research Award rom the Interna-tional Institute at the University o Michigan and a GraduateStudent Research Award rom the Rackham Graduate School atthe University o Michigan I would like to thank again Proes-sor Richards as well as Seth Button Claudia Chemello HenryColburn Geoff Compton Suzanne Davis Christian KnoblauchPeter Lacovara Elizabeth Platte Heather unmore and Korri

Figure 17 The contents of Vault C piled outside of the vault This material likely was deposited here during the robbing of the tomb in antiquity

Photograph by T Landvatter




ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tomas Landvatter received his PhD in Classical Art and Archaeology rom the University oMichigan and is currently Visiting Assistant Proessor in the Department o Classics at Kalama-zoo College His primary research ocuses on the archaeology o identity and cross-cultural in-teraction in Egypt during the Late Ptolemaic and Roman Periods as well as interaction betweenEgypt and other ancient Mediterranean societies A specialist in mortuary archaeology he hasworked at Abydos with the University o Michiganrsquos Abydos Middle Cemetery Project or severalseasons concentrating on the post-New Kingdom remains at the site


urner who all participated in the project I would also like tothank the MSA inspectors assigned to the AMC Project or the2011 and 2012 seasons Mr Sayyed Mohammed Abd el-Rahimand Mr Mahmoud Mohammed Amer

ReferencesAbdalla A 1992 Graeco-Roman Funerary Stelae rom Upper Egypt

Liverpool Liverpool University PressBudka J 2010 Te Use o Pottery in Funerary Contexts during the

Libyan and Late Period A View rom Tebes and Abydos Pp

22ndash72 in Egypt in ransition Social and Religious Development o

Egypt in the First Millennium BCE eds L Bareš F Coppens and

K Smolaacuterikovaacute Prague Czech Institute o Egyptology

Effland A and U Effland 2010 ldquoRitual Landscaperdquo und ldquoSacred Spa-

cerdquo ndash Uumlberlegungen zu Kultausrichtung und Prozessionsachsen in

Abydos MOSAIKjournal 1127ndash58

Leahy A 1989 A Protective Measure at Abydos in the Tirteenth

Dynasty JEA 7541ndash60

OrsquoConnor D 2009 Abydos Egyptrsquos First Pharaohs and the Cult o Osi-

ris London Tames amp HudsonPeet E (1914) Te Cemeteries o Abydos II Egyptian Exploration

Fund 33 London EES

Perdrizet P and G Leebvre 1919 Les graffites grecs du Memnonion

drsquoAbydos Paris Berger-Levrault

Petrie WMF 1902a A Foundation-Deposit Inscription rom Abydos

JHS 22377

1902b Abydos I Egyptian Exploration Fund 22 London EES

Pouls-Wegner M -A 2011 Votive Deposits o the Ptolemaic-Period in

North Abydos Cahiers de la ceramique Egyptienne 9415ndash36

Richards J E 2002 ext and Context in Late Old Kingdom Egypt

Te Archaeology and Historiography o Weni the Elder JARCE

3975ndash102

2007 Te Archaeology o Excavations and the Role o ContextPp 313ndash19 in Te Archaeology and Art o Ancient Egypt Essays

in Honor o David B OrsquoConnor eds Z Hawass and J Richards

Cairo SCA

Richards J E and Herbich 2005 Te Loss and Rediscovery o the

Vizier Iuu at Abydos Magnetic Survey in the Middle Cemetery

Pp 141ndash49 in Festschrif Manred Bietak ed E Czerny ViennaDenkschrifen der Gesamtakademie

Rutherord I 2003 Pilgrimage in Greco-Roman Egypt New Perspec-

tives on Graffiti rom the Memnonion o Abydos Pp 171ndash89 in

Ancient Perspectives on Egypt eds R Matthews and C Roeme

London UCL Press




Tomas Landvatter

BURIAL PRACICES AND RIUALLANDSCAPES A POLEMAIC ABYDOS

Te 2011 and 2012 Seasons of the

Abydos Middle Cemetery Project

he Late and Ptolemaic periods o Egyptian history (664983138983139983141 to 30 983138983139983141) were politically socially and cultur-ally tumultuous his time saw both the inal resurgence

o the indigenous Egyptian state and its subjugation to oreignrule his same period was one o the most dynamic in Egyptianhistory as Egypt became urther integrated into wider Mediter-ranean networks and saw the inlux o large oreign populations

irst Greek mercenaries and traders during the 26 th Dynastyand then immigration on a larger scale under the Ptolemieswhen Egypt was again an independent state and empire In

such a context o intense cross-cultural interaction and politicalupheaval we would expect that personal and social identitiesbe contested and renegotiated as individuals were conrontedwith change in old social and political structures as well as thecreation o new ones

From an archaeological perspective the material remainso mortuary practices are particularly useul or the analysis ochanges in social structures and identities Mortuary remains aredense with social inormation since unlike many archaeologicaldeposits a burial is nearly always an intentional deposition andis treated according to certain rules and within certain boundar-ies which a given society deems appropriate Burials are ofen

specifically marked to reflect identities such as age gender andsocio-economic status through the treatment o the body theburial architecture or the inclusion o specific pieces o uner-ary equipment

In order to examine such changes in social structures andidentities in Egypt during the Late and Ptolemaic periods I field-directed an excavation sub-project in 2011 and 2012 as part othe University o Michiganrsquos Abydos Middle Cemetery (AMC)Project under the overall direction o Proessor Janet Richardsocused on the unerary remains o the Late and Ptolemaic peri-

ods As a cemetery site continuously in use rom ca 3700 983138983139983141to the Arab conquest in the seventh century 983139983141 Abydos is idealor the study o shifing social identities over time Te mate-rial culture and unerary landscape o Late and Ptolemaic-periodAbydos has only recently become the ocus o sustained modernarchaeological excavation and publication It appears that wellinto the Ptolemaic period individuals exhibited elite status part-ly through an explicit association with the other monumentsgeographic eatures and landmarks which shaped ritual practiceat Abydos Yet at some point during the Ptolemaic period a reori-entation o the ritual landscape caused a shif in the ways by whichpeople exhibited their elite status through mortuary practice

A view of the entrance to the desert cliffs at Abydos Photograph by T Landvatter

































































































































1907 in thewadi












ABOUT THE AUTHOR

















Fund 33 London EES




JHS 22377






3975ndash102



Cairo SCA







London UCL Press
































































































































1907 in thewadi












ABOUT THE AUTHOR

















Fund 33 London EES




JHS 22377






3975ndash102



Cairo SCA







London UCL Press



ABOUT THE AUTHOR

















Fund 33 London EES




JHS 22377






3975ndash102



Cairo SCA







London UCL Press

abydos no periodo ptolomaico

Documents