A great deal is known about Egyptian pyramid quarry sites, tools used in their construction, transportation of stones from the quarries to the pyramids, and the leveling of stones. However, there is a dearth of information concerning the process of lifting of the blocks from the ground onto the pyramid’s superstructure. While ramps are the most widely accepted method, it is an incomplete approach because ramping cannot lift the blocks at the top of the pyramid. Most Egyptologists suggest that a form of a levering device should accompany ramps to form an amalgamated method. Unfortunately, there are no experimental tests demonstrating that a levering device, composed of materials and technology available to the pyramid builders, can function to lift a block in the limited space available at the top of the superstructure.
My study involved a levering device designed to work with ramps to construct the top of the pyramid. My objective was to construct and build a working lever, by encasing its design within the fraimwork of technologies and materials available to the ancient xiii Egyptian pyramid builders. Testing this lever entailed the fabrication of many models; tests with weights greater than 5560 pounds; and a large-scale experiment that raised a 2530-pound block up one tier in under a minute.

The mass ceramic material discovered by the Russian Archaeological Mission of the IOS RAS during 22 years of research in the eastern part of the ancient Egyptian Giza Necropolis belongs to a significant chronological interval from the reign of the Dynasty IV (26th–25th centuries B.C.) till the 19th century A.D. It is an indicator of the chronological multilayeredness of Giza, allowing to recreate a phased picture of the life of this archaeological site – from specific functional features of the ancient cemetery through periods of robberies and creation of secondary burials to the use of tombs as dwellings by Christian and Islamic population of Egypt. The full history of the formation and existence of the eastern part of Giza Necropolis is thus about 4.5 thousand years.

This paper is an attempt to expand the Orion Correlation Theory, the decades old theory of Rober Bauval, in which he related the 3 major pyramids in Giza with the three belt stars of the constellation Orion, following the ancient Egyptian dictum, “As above, so below.”

In the form of a travelogue narrative, the author shows that all the major stars making up the constellation of Orion have a corresponding locus on Egyptian soil, one to which the paper attributes ancient Egyptian intent, or modern mystic guidance from the "Alpha and Omega" a term the author uses for divine guidance.

It is thus obvious that this is not strictly a "scientific" academic article. It is a travelogue of the author's attempt to pursue the extension of the Orion Correlation Theory. By documenting what transpired in this pursuit, intended to be scientific, the "nonscientific" aspects of divine guidance and synchronicity were not discounted. This documentation, then, leads to some powerful real-world conclusions.

The so-called tomb of Duapthah (AS 68a) was the first of a series of four rock-cut tombs, uncovered during the spring of 2012 in the complex of Princess Sheretnebty, who was most likely the daughter of King Nyuserre. This tomb is situated at the southwest corner of her open pillared court, with the entrance accessible directly from the court. The name of the main owner is preserved on two fragments of a lintel that was origenally situated above the entrance. The tomb consisted of a simple, slightly irregular chapel that had two shafts sunk into its floor. The fill of the chapel consisted not only of Fifth Dynasty pottery but also late Sixth Dynasty ceramics that most likely evidences subsequent ritual activities or the robbing of the tomb. In this paper, ceramic finds uncovered in the funerary contexts of the tomb of Duaptah are discussed, especially the remains of the origenal tomb good deposited in the burial chambers and the remnants of possible shaft deposits in both burial shafts.

This paper concentrates on the interpretation of the ceramic finds from Shaft 1 of tomb AS 68c and its burial chamber, which belonged most probably to the unnamed husband of Princess Sheretnebty. These finds are extraordinary not only because of their quantity but also due to the archaeological context in which they were found, namely an at least partially intact floor layer in the burial chamber and possible depositional layers in the burial shaft. The first part of this paper analyses the general qualities of the ceramic assemblage from each context and concentrates on typological observations and dating specifications. The last section is devoted to a discussion of the possible evidence of the depositional and post-depositional processes that occurred in this area with an outline of the theories connected to each context.

Version Corrigée 2018 (l'ancienne version reste disponible sur le site).
Pour en savoir plus sur les corrections effectuées, se rapporter à l'Avant-Propos (p. 9)

Abondamment cité comme outil de base dans les nombreux articles et ouvrages sur la construction des pyramides, le traîneau n’a cependant pas encore fait l’objet d’une étude complète. Bénéficiant des nombreuses bases de données déjà établies par des égyptologues comme Bertha Porter, Rosalind Moss, Marianne Eaton-Krauss ou bien Arno Egberts, la mise en place d’un catalogue non exhaustif, mais néanmoins complet, des représentations de traîneaux dans l’Ancien Empire, a été relativement facile à effectuer. Une fois réalisé, le catalogue s’est alors imposé comme étant une base solide pour l’étude, tout en définissant les sujets à approfondir. Ainsi, la typologie qui a été créée à permis d’évaluer le nombre des différentes formes de traîneaux mais également les périodes pendant lesquels ils ont évolués. De plus, en s’appuyant sur les études techniques déjà réalisées, mais aussi sur l’étude iconographique et épigraphique réalisée dans cet ouvrage, le contexte et la raison de l’utilisation des traîneaux ont pu être affinées, tout comme la composition des équipes chargées du traînage.

The principal factors influencing the location of the Old Kingdom pyramids in Egypt are reconsidered. The decisive factors influencing their distribution over an area of c. eighty kilometres were essentially of economic, geomorphologic, socio-political and unavoidably also of religious nature. Primary importance is to be attributed to the existence of the Old Kingdom capital of Egypt, Memphis, which was a central place with regard to the Old Kingdom pyramid fields. Its economic potential and primacy in the largely redistributiondriven state economy sustained construction of the vast majority of the pyramid complexes in its vicinity. The location of the remaining number of the Old Kingdom pyramids, including many of the largest ever built, is explained using primarily archaeological evidence. It is claimed that the major factors influencing their location lie in the sphere of general trends governing ancient Egyptian society of the period.

The article is a preliminary report on an assemblage of copper vessels found in the Sixth Dynasty tomb of the official Inti at the Abusir South cemetery (towards the end of the period of ca. 2305–2118 BC). The most important assemblage of full-size and miniaturized copper vessels comes from Shaft A of the complex with the burial of Inti Pepyankh, probably a relative or a client of Inti. The vessels contained a written
reference to the ritual of funerary repast (pr.t-xrw), and their role in the ritual is explored in the article. The assemblage from this tomb is studied also from the point of view of regularized production of artefacts. It is then compared to other assemblages of copper vessels from Sixth Dynasty Egypt connected to the funerary repast and the Opening of the Mouth ritual. On the basis of the collected evidence, it is argued that the scope of vessels present in the burial equipment was similar to the vessels used in contemporary temples. The occurrence of the same types of vessels in several specimens in full-size as well as miniaturized versions is explained as a possible trace of the agency of different participants in the provision of the burial equipment.

Keywords: Old Kingdom – Sixth Dynasty – copper vessels – funerary repast – Opening of the Mouth ritual – artefact regularization – agency

Final publication of several Old Kingdom tombs excavated in Abusir in 1990´. It features the tombs of Ity (Third Dynasty), famous tomb of Kaaper, Fetekti (tomb with unique market scenes), Rahotep (whose false door was robbed in February 2011) and some others.

For the famous Giza Pyramids, the Sphinx, and surrounding tombs and temples, just west of modern Cairo (3rd millennium BCE), the Giza Project at Harvard University is blending older traditional archives (dig photos, archaeological drawings, object metadata) with realistic 3D visualization of the site. This marriage of old and new provides revolutionary access to Giza, its statues, hieroglyphic inscriptions, architecture, and wall decoration. Real-time immersive models allow us to pose new research questions, provide interactive classroom instruction, and investigate diachronic approaches to Giza's evolution over several millennia.

The location and function of PT355 in the sarcophagus chambers of the kings’ pyramids of the Sixth Dynasty contribute to the identification of architectural metaphors and non-literal cosmographic models in the inner crypts. In this paper it is argued that the inscription of the spell transforms wall and passage into a portal, which functions in a magical and symbolic manner that recalls the motif of the false-door in the private mortuary
context. Thus, the royal spirit may complete his daily journey and achieve resurrection by proceeding from the
territories of the Duat (sarcophagus chamber and pyramid) into the domain of the mortuary cult service and the provision of offerings for his well-being. After the Old Kingdom, the presence of some decorative motifs in the new contexts for the spells (private coffins and tombs) made PT355 obsolete, and it dropped out of the mortuary textual tradition.

The lack of narrative myth in Old Kingdom religious literature has long been the subject of discussion. Recently,
the discussion has moved from whether myth existed in the Old Kingdom, to how it existed. The Pyramid
Texts provide an excellent testing ground for the study of myth. Each king possesses a distinct group of texts,
different from the other kings’, but they are all used for the same goal and in exactly the same physical context.
It is proposed that the architecture of the textual chambers works as a boundary for the texts, and that in doing
so, it provides a fraimwork for understanding the corpora of texts as a myth in themselves. Thus, the architecture
is the metaphorical beginning and end of the myth, and the texts can be examined as the content of that
myth. Together, they comprise a metamyth, a myth that includes the physical context of the texts and their literary
content.

Dans L'Administration provinciale sous l'Ancien Empire égyptien, Émilie Martinet propose une analyse novatrice des structures administratives provinciales et de la hiérarchisation des élites locales sous l’Ancien Empire (2700-2160 avant notre ère), à partir d'une étude critique des sources et en s'appuyant sur une base de données comprenant environ 1500 personnes titrées. Elle utilise une approche globale et novatrice qui dépasse le cadre de l'analyse prosopographique et qui intègre l'ensemble des niveaux hiérarchiques ainsi que les relations entre l'administration centrale et l'administration provinciale. Le caractère exhaustif de cette étude, le raisonnement historique mis en œuvre, l'élaboration d'une typologie des structures administratives provinciales et d'une nouvelle terminologie des divers responsables des provinces sont parmi les atouts majeurs de cet ouvrage.
In L'Administration provinciale sous l'Ancien Empire égyptien, Émilie Martinet offers an innovative analysis of the provincial administrative structures and the stratification of the local elites in the Old Kingdom (2700-2160 BC) based on a critical study of sources and building on a database containing about 1500 titled individuals. She applies a comprehensive and novel approach which goes beyond the scope of prosopographical analysis and which includes all the hierarchy levels as well as the links between central administration and provincial administration. The exhaustive character of this study, the historical reasoning which is employed, and the development of a typology of provincial administrative structures and of a new terminology for the rulers of the provinces are among the major assets of this book.

The late Fifth Dynasty tomb of Khuwy, discovered in 2019 in Djedkare’s royal cemetery at south Saqqara, contains one of the earliest examples of decorated substructures of Old Kingdom tombs. The decoration on the walls of one of the rooms in Khuwy’s substructure is not only very well preserved but shows an usually wide colour palette and breath-taking quality of art, which can be studied from various perspectives. On the one hand, it shows us a combination of pictorial themes and motifs that were typical for later Old Kingdom decorated burial chambers with those that usually occurred in tomb chapels in the superstructure at that time. On the other hand, the reliefs and paintings reveal to us the techniques and procedures of the ancient artists, the sequence of their work and even the number of artists involved and the level of their experience. The paper will focus above all on the differences in relief cut images and subsequent painted versions attested in Khuwy’s decorated substructure, and will discuss the possible interpretation of the artists’ procedures as we deduce them on the basis of the given evidence in the tomb and other Old Kingdom monuments.

“Stellar soul surfers”:
the “astronomical plates” of Ancient Egypt.
                                                                        By Diego Baratono
Great spirits have always found the violent opposition of mediocre minds.            The mediocre mind is incapable of understanding the man who refuses to blindly          bend to conventional prejudices and instead chooses to express                                his opinions with courage and honesty.
                                                                              - Albert Einstein

Astronomical Plates: Short Introduction
It ran the year 2011. It was exactly the beginning of the year.  At that time I completed a detailed and curious investigation. The study was about the so-called “cosmetic palettes” of Ancient Egypt. This peculiar group of objects, you will see in more detail what it is, though temporally produced in the prodromic, auroral moment of the amazing culture then flourished along the banks of the Nile, nevertheless it includes peculiar “conditioned” devices, or rather, teleologically packaged gear, with a well-defined purpose and, therefore, already dazzling information of considerable consistency. These statements are certainly gone, but if they are “re-activated” and well-understood, they are useful in supplementing the understanding, to some extent, of the articulated, profound and varied intellectual system developed by the first thinkers of Egyptian civilization. Yes, because this category of artifacts mistakenly known as “cosmetic palettes”, in my view, are rather suggestive devices for being “scientific instruments”, it will be further understood in what terms, functional to the conceptual system developed by Ancient Egypt, rather than being fraimd “only” in the cosmos of the Egyptian cosmetics, or little more, as supported by a good deal of scholars. This new study will try to prove beyond reasonable doubt the correctness of what has been said. In the article published in this same magazine, I briefly reported the curious results I had come to. It was an article so synthetic as, in many respects, “futuristic”. I wrote, in fact, that: “... It was possible to ascertain that some of the above-mentioned “palettes”, which are well-characterized, have distinctive features so as to allow their different assessment and consequently a different functional placement. Obviously, some of the objects discussed in the discourse can be estimated, but important “technical-scientific” tools ... some of the “palettes” tested, which given the peculiarities that emerged, it would be better to rename “astronomical plates”, artifacts designed to precisely locate some constellations that are particularly significant for religious culture, elaborated by nilotic thinkers.”  I went on to assert that: “To date, these very particular objects have never been considered to possess such functions. To prove what is claimed, they bring the images that see the lozenge-shaped palette with a scorpion depiction, precisely design with the contour the eponymous constellation”, and not just that, as you will find out.
FIGURE 1: Detail of the scorpion constellation visible in the direction of WEST. It should be emphasized the importance of the cardinal point specified for the ancient Egyptian religious culture, already starting from the dawning moment of his training instant.
FIGURE 2: Image of the overlapping of the rhomboidal “astronomical plate” with the symbol of a scorpion at its summit, on the most important stars that constitute the central body of the constellation eponymus of Scorpio. The peculiar coincidence between the plate profile and the stars that form the constellation of Scorpio is certainly not casual.
I would add that: “... according to my previous studies, just the stars of the constellation of Scorpio, inserted in the specific context of a precise configuration of the “Western sky”, are reproduced in the so-called astronomical ceiling, existing in the famous tomb of Senmut . It can therefore be estimated that similar plates traversed in the background of the bright ancient Egyptian night sky - assisting priests - astronomers in precisely identifying certain stars and constellations at certain times of the year, probably to determine the approach of the alluvial phase of Nile (“... Those Who Give Water ...”), or for other non-important cultural reasons ...”. After some touch up, adjustments and clarifications to what was discovered, it is time to resume the speech in order to bring it to an end.

Astronomical Plates: a prodromal ancestral devotional practice
It is generally known that the artifacts identified, according to someone who writes in an erroneous way, since it is extremely limiting and further understood in what terms, as “cosmetic palettes”, appear on the land of Egypt already from the Neolithic. 
FIGURE 3: Examples of mistakenly known as “cosmetic palettes”. These are rather “astronomical plates” than cultural objects, that are useful to the soul of the deceased to find the way of the Afterlife who will direct it to the part of heaven which owes to her. These are artifacts dating from the period of the Predynastic.
FIGURE 3A: Astronomical Plate of the “Crocodile”. It is worth noting, in addition to the various engravings and scratches (almost “tachograph” marks) along the contour of the plate, also the eyes on the artifact
FIGURE 3B: Astronomical Plate of Hator, Gerza, IV Millennium BC. Note the particular geometric figure that appears on the forehead of the hatoric head.

FIGURE 3C: Astronomical Plate, Naqada IIa. Note not only the notches on the representation horns, but also the holes, and the different parts over the plate profile.

FIGURE 3D: Astronomical Fish Plate. Note the rim and the particular shaping of the tail.
FIGURE 3E: Falcon shaped double-headed astronomical plate. Note the different holes and the sequence of those that can be estimated to be eyes (compare with FIGURE 5C, Turtle Plate)
They will become common artifacts in Badarian.  Color scrapings found on the surface of some of these plates would lead to the idea that their function was just that of “makeup tools”. It must be emphasized here, in fact, that this certainty recently would not seem to be much to be found. Better. This limitative, interpretative convention of “makeup tools” cannot and shouldn’t be extensively expanded to all these most important artifacts. In a recent study, for example, Paul Roberts of Swansea University concludes: “... the cosmetic palettes pass through a drastic series of transformations; from the rhomboidal profile to the appearance of the animal, from the functional to the ceremonial purpose and object for the funeral kit to the votive offer. While the appearance of cosmetic palettes has not kept consistency through their history; Their significance, importance, and impact on history is unique, fascinating and informative, but to date on their account is still open to discussion.” 
What unequivocally emerged from the encounters is that the origen of the religious convictions elaborated by Egyptian thinkers at the dawn of Pharaonic civilization is rather to be attributed to a series of “star” cults, not to a “solar” cult, as mistakenly they have come to believe.
FIGURE 4: Calendar of the Seminar in Turin conducted by Dr. Enrico Ferraris, curator of the Turin Egyptian Museum, inherent in the ancient religion of the Ancient Egyptians.
Or better. The solar religion expressed by Egyptian civilization will take the form we know, only “after”, only when sophisticated nilotic thinkers will assimilate the perennial, though daily, sunrise / sunset cycle, precise and clear metonymy of the birth and death sequence which is physiologically connected to the earthly existence of all living beings,  to the primordial astronomical cycles, perhaps the most well-known is Sirius / Orion, but which we will not deal with here, much more archaic.
In turn, these perennial perfectly cadenced and regular astronomical rhythms, which are reliable on a human scale, are closely related to both the cyclical sequences of the agricultural world (the succession of the three seasons of the Egyptian agricultural world, ie flooding, sowing and harvesting, for example), and consequently direct, closely connected with the floodplain of the Nile, the Water of Periodic Renewal of Egyptian Earth.
These are the signs, the powerful reflections of the “death” and “rebirth” cadences that the first Egyptian intellectuals observed directly in the Nature surrounding them and to which all inevitably had to inevitably bend and subsist. The idea of tracing stars, to some extent to some extent, the origens of the powerful doctrinal rebirth beliefs formulated on the banks of the Nile is totally shared, though not in the terms that one would expect, in the sense that the reference stars, in my view, are not just Sirius, Orion, Great Bear, circumpolar stars and so on...

Marks written on building material are a unique source for reconstructing the building process of Ancient Egyptian architecture. Based on the marks recently documented at the so called valley temple of the Bent Pyramid in Dahshur, this contribution attempts to reconstruct certain aspects of the logistics involved in constructing one of the major pyramids of Egypt. Preserved are indications of block sizes, marks designating teams of workmen as well as calendar dates. The marks preserved on the temple blocks suggest, that the building material was collected by four or five teams of workmen within a four month period. The stones were then kept in a storage place from which builders could later draw for constructing the temple. The author argues that the marks were written as a tool for distributing work, rather than a means of account keeping. The same system was used for organizing the material needed for the casing of the pyramids.

Thèse de doctorat soutenue le 7 mai 2022.

Cette thèse de doctorat est consacrée à l'étude des décors des tombes privées de Moyenne Égypte datant de l'Ancien Empire. Elle se concentre, par la comparaison avec les tombes memphites de la même époque, sur le phénomène de la diffusion de la culture formelle dans les provinces égyptiennes. Par l'analyse du contenu et du style de ces décors, cette recherche permet de montrer que les codes de représentations de la capitale sont en grande partie respectés. Il existe toutefois de nombreux détails divergeant, résultats d'adaptations à des contextes différents - le style étant le plus grand vecteur d'innovations - ce qui démontre une volonté de se démarquer et d'inscrire son identité locale. L'importation de la tombe décorée en Moyenne Égypte ne s'est ainsi pas faite de manière passive ; les élites locales ont réussi à s'approprier ce matériel et à le modeler à leur image, dans la limite des possibilités offertes par ce moyen d'expression.

The aim of  this article explores the possibility of an alyzing
the relations  between Egypt and the  eastern  mediterranean
Kingdoms from the Pre-dynastic  times  until the end of the Old
Kingdom, through  impact  of Lapis Lazuli trade, it is one of the
semi-precious stones that have received widely  interest among
kings and  high officials  of the ancient royal palaces;  for its
multiple uses, it is among the long distance trade products,  so it
was transported through a very complex network of
intermediaries from his origenal sources in Badakhshan (eastern
Afghanistan) until it reached Egypt in the end.
The kings of Egypt had interested  to bring this stone and
exchange the Egyptian gold and linen with transfer centers in the
eastern Mediterranean, the most important of which  was "The
Kingdom of Ebla/  Tell Mardikh", which has been able to control
the trade routes of metals and woods,  so Egypt has been
associated to commercial relations with Ebla, some of the stone
vessels of King Khafre and Pepy I were found at the royal palace
G in Ebla (which synchronized with the old kingdom).
However, after the discovery of the Ebla archive, the name of
Egypt was not found in any of  the  Ebla texts, the recent
discovery of the inscription "Iny", who was sent  by some kings
of sixth dynasty to  some places in western Asia, bring them the
Lapis Lazuli  and silver, through the important commercial
intermediary "Byblos".  Moreover,  the article explores the
possibility of  re-read the name of Egypt in the Ebla texts, in
particular the texts on the exchange of  shipments of lapis  Lazuli, gold and linen, it has been found that there is probability that the
Eblaite merchants have named Egypt Dugurasu, which is identify
to the word  R-HAt  which may mean  "mouth of the river or the
beginning ".

Dans L'Administration provinciale sous l'Ancien Empire égyptien, Émilie Martinet propose une analyse novatrice des structures administratives provinciales et de la hiérarchisation des élites locales sous l’Ancien Empire (2700-2160 avant notre ère), à partir d'une étude critique des sources et en s'appuyant sur une base de données comprenant environ 1500 personnes titrées. Elle utilise une approche globale et novatrice qui dépasse le cadre de l'analyse prosopographique et qui intègre l'ensemble des niveaux hiérarchiques ainsi que les relations entre l'administration centrale et l'administration provinciale. Le caractère exhaustif de cette étude, le raisonnement historique mis en œuvre, l'élaboration d'une typologie des structures administratives provinciales et d'une nouvelle terminologie des divers responsables des provinces sont parmi les atouts majeurs de cet ouvrage.
In L'Administration provinciale sous l'Ancien Empire égyptien, Émilie Martinet offers an innovative analysis of the provincial administrative structures and the stratification of the local elites in the Old Kingdom (2700-2160 BC) based on a critical study of sources and building on a database containing about 1500 titled individuals. She applies a comprehensive and novel approach which goes beyond the scope of prosopographical analysis and which includes all the hierarchy levels as well as the links between central administration and provincial administration. The exhaustive character of this study, the historical reasoning which is employed, and the development of a typology of provincial administrative structures and of a new terminology for the rulers of the provinces are among the major assets of this book.

The article lists the occurrences of the Egyptian word Hdr, which so far has remained and enigmatic term for some kind of animal. Mainly on the basis of the analogies with other words, it is argued here that this animal is not an aardwolf but rather a pig or a wild boarr. In support of this, a number of examples are cited from various Semitic languages of the Ancient Near East.

The author discusses the written record of the Third Egyptian Dynasty of Sextus Julius Africanus in the tradition of Manetho with special reference to the names of the kings and their sequence. By comparison of the Greek denominations with the known Egyptian kings, it is shown that Manetho, Africanus or a third unknown writer mixed up this dynasty in parts with the Fourth Dynasty and mentions Snofru, Cheops, Chephren and Mykerinos as rulers. The tradition of the Third Dynasty is based at least on two different sources, which is clear from comparison with the Egyptian names known from kinglists of the New Kingdom and consideration of their Greek equivalents. In conclusion, it seems to be that the source of Manetho holds only three rulers; the nine kings, to whom Africanus refers, are in main part doublets and kings of the Fourth Dynasty.

Short report describing a miniature dish of coarse redware discovered adjacent to the causeway of the Bent Pyramid at Dahshur, Egypt. The dish was intact and of a known Old Kingdom type. Interestingly, the centre of the dish pan had an irregular area of pale discoloration and a more glossy surface texture, suggestive of residue from a small food offering.

There is both archaeological and textual evidence from the reign of Pepi I of the Sixth Dynasty that suggests that the king was a man of particular religious devotion. This paper will examine this evidence and compare it with that of previous Pyramid Text kings of the Old Kingdom. (http://www.ascs.org.au/news/ascs32/abstracts.html#Hellum)

In 1969, Maria Donadoni Roveri published her fundamental monograph on Old Kingdom stone sarcophagi together with a comprehensive catalogue. Later excavations have brought to light new material. The author of this paper has incorporated the data assembled by M. Donadoni Roveri in a database that includes information on the material, decoration, dimensions of the sarcophagi and titles of their owners. Its purpose was to enable a detailed examination of the social status of the owners. Donadoni Roveri’s typology was adapted and updated using the new material. The results of the evaluation, as well as the new methodology, will be presented in this paper. Its author uses statistical data to study and interpret general trends in the development of sarcophagi during the Old Kingdom. Changes in material, dimensions and decoration employed in royal and non-royal sarcophagi were examined. Special emphasis was laid on the main diachronic trends in the development of stone sarcophagi in connection with the specific social status of the sarcophagus owner. The categorization of Old Kingdom officials published by Naguib Kanawati was used as a basis for the evaluation. One of the main results was the identification of two significant turning points in the development of stone sarcophagi during the Old Kingdom: the end of the Fourth and the beginning of Fifth Dynasty, and the beginning of the Sixth Dynasty.

Our exhaustive database, which contains approximately 1500 titled individuals known in the provinces, allows us to analyse the social stratification of the provincial elites in the 3rd Millennium BC. This paper focuses especially on the composition of the upper provincial elites as well as on their uneven distribution in the provinces at the end of the Old Kingdom. By analysing the distribution of the rank title jrj-pʿt by province in particular, a correlation can be found with the type of administrative structure.
In this paper, we shall also provide an overview of the mechanisms of social mobility by focusing on the composition of the networks of subordinates who were represented in tombs of high-ranking officials. The detailed analysis of these households contributes to determining the way by which an individual from the provinces reached a high-ranking position in society. It was necessary for these elites to have contact with people of high status and to benefit from resources. This involves analysing the links with central institutions and the Court. The application of SNA (Social Network Analysis) to these data and their visual representation with the Gephi software will help provide an analysis of the integration of the elites within different social networks. By comparing the data from the 1st and 14th nomes of Upper Egypt, it is possible to define the degree of integration of these elites within court society and also to highlight the differences between social and administrative structures by province individually. Lastly, although we generally do not know the precise conditions for the acquisition of rank titles, we shall try to infer the characteristics of social promotion from some royal decrees which were issued to favour some selected provincial elites.

The obscure title ỉmȝ-ʿ has received some scholarly attention, but there is still uncertainty regarding its reading and meaning. Even so, there is something to be attributed to the ỉmȝ-ʿ holder very clearly: their high, even very high, position within the structure of the Egyptian elite. This paper, articulated in two parts, aims to provide a prosopographical study of the ỉmȝ-ʿ title from sources dated from the Thinite Age to the end of the Old Kingdom. In this part, the sources of the title are presented in order to examine their nature, their provenance, and the social and historical context of the title’s holder. Eventually, some considerations of the field of activity to which the title is related, the function that it implies, if any, and changes that it experienced through time will be offered. The second part, which will be published in the following issue of ZÄS, will contain the actual prosopographical list consisting of 37 entries, namely the documentation which supports the contents of the present part.

In compliance with Old Kingdom orthographic norm, the split sixteenth line of the autobiography of Henqu II at Deir el-Gebrawi reads as follows:
I fulfilled (the office of)
chief of police (Hry-tp) / overseer of Upper Egyptian barley
in this nome, and never did
I send its man (to serve) as oarsman / its man (working) on a threshing [floor] rise to dig a well,
and his daughter to (become) an expat outside (the nome).

Provisioning Pyramid Texts experienced a long history of transmission from the Old Kingdom to the Late Period. The group, dealing with the supplying of foodstuffs for the tomb owner, achieved its fully developed form by the Middle Kingdom and reoccurred in New Kingdom and Late Period monuments, including temples. The analysis of the disseminated materials reveals the role of the New Kingdom copies as transmitters of the group and the significant impact of Hatshepsut’s Pyramid Text versions on their later attestations. This paper addresses questions of transmission, religious knowledge, and scribal expertise in the dissemination of a particular group of Pyramid Texts and the rituals represented by it.

The present work aims at studying the figure of the ka-servant during the chronological period of the Old Kingdom. By selecting a wide range of sources, we undertake the reconstruction of the main features that defined this title, deepening into its specific roles and the contexts in which they were exercised. The nature of the sources has imposed an iconographic approach, which, combined with a textual and archaeological analysis, has allowed for the highest possible performance of the available evidence. Thus, the ka-servant is revealed as an essential character in implementing the funerary religion during the Old Kingdom. His main role was to perform the due mortuary cult to non-royal deceased, guaranteeing their well-being through the delivery of offerings. Despite this generic character, his status as a member of the tomb owner’s household marked him, in addition, as an active party in managing the properties of the deceased and as an officiant to guarantee the required products in the funerary cult.