EGYPTIAN
ARCHAEOLOGY
EGYPTIAN ARCHAEOLOGY Bulletin of The Egypt Exploration Society www.ees.ac.uk
The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the aims or concerns of the Egypt Exploration Society Editor Jan Geisbusch Editorial Advisers Peter Clayton David Jeffreys John J Johnston Chris Naunton Alice Stevenson John Taylor Advertising Sales Jan Geisbusch Egypt Exploration Society 3 Doughty Mews London WC1N 2PG Phone: +44 (0)20 7242 1880 Fax: +44 (0)20 7404 6118 E-mail: advertising@ees.ac.uk Distribution Phone: +44 (0)20 7242 2268 E-mail: orders@ees.ac.uk Website: www.ees-shop.co.uk Published twice a year by The Egypt Exploration Society 3 Doughty Mews, London WC1N 2PG Registered Charity, No. 212384 A Limited Company registered in England, No. 25816 Original design by Jeremy Pemberton Set in InDesign CS6 by Jan Geisbusch Printed by Page Bros Ltd, Mile Cross Lane, Norwich, Norfolk NR6 6SA © The Egypt Exploration Society and the contributors. No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior permission of the publishers.
ISSN 0962 2837
Medinet Habu: the blockyard team with Coptic architectural fragments. See p. 14. Photograph: © The Medinet Habu Fragment Project.
Number 46
Spring 2015
Editorial Egyptian Archaeology 46 is the first issue since Patricia Spencer has passed the journal’s editorship on to me, and it was with some trepidation that I picked up the baton after such a long and successful tenure. Even so, delving for the first time into the technical and creative intricacies of producing EA has been great fun, too. You will possibly notice some changes. Layout looks a little different, having allowed myself to experiment with space and text flow - a small mark, perhaps, of things to come as we continue to think about the journal’s shape and direction. You will also, I certainly do hope, notice that we’ve added volume, going from 44 to 48 pages. I’m very happy to start - and close - this issue with articles on recent discoveries, in Abydos, Saqqara and near Beni Suef respectively. The first of these, a chapel of the Eleventh Dynasty pharao Nebhepetre Montuhotep II, has been described by the archaeologists leading the excavation - Ayman Damarany, Yasir Abd el-Raziq and Ashraf Okasha - as one of the most important discoveries of the past few years. Another stand-out article, I feel, is the piece by Aiman Ashmawy and Dietrich Raue, as it highlights not just Egypt’s archaeological wealth, but also, importantly, the great threats this heritage is facing. Jan Geisbusch EES Patrons for whose most generous support the Society is very grateful: C. T. H Beck, Barbara Begelsbacher, Eric Bohm, Raymond Bowker, Andrew Cousins, Martin R. Davies, Christopher Gorman-Evans, Richard A. Grant, Annie Haward, Michael Jesudason, Paul Lynn, Anne and Fraser Mathews, Anandh Indran Owen, Lyn Stagg, John Wall and John Wyatt. If you would like to become an EES Patron, please contact Carl Graves: carl.graves@ees.ac.uk Cover: Detail of a wall painting at the Villa of Serenos, Amheida (see. p. 23). Photograph by Chris Kleihege, courtesy of Excavations at Amheida, New York University. 1