This volume introduces latest research on the necropolis of ancient
Asyut and a broad spectrum of different topics. It opens with a deep
insight in the long history of the ancient town of Asyut and its
different functions throughout history, followed by a contribution
highlighting the connections between the city and the oases of Kharga
and Dakhla via the Darb el Arba'in, the ancient caravan route through
the Western Desert. Research on the temple of Wepwawet, chief deitiy of
Asyut, closes the section on the ancient town itself. Turning to the
necropolis on Gebel Asyut al-gharbi, an as yet unpublished tomb of a
high official of the late 11th/early 12th Dynasty is presented, followed
by contributions on material culture including an in-depth analysis of a
statue head found during recent fieldwork, an iconographical study on
the depiction of wedjat-eyes on Asyuti coffins of the First Intermediate
Period and the Middle Kingdom; the detailed analysis of a hitherto
unpublished coffin and a study on the "Book of the Two Ways" inscribed
on another coffin from Asyut. Objects discussed include wooden models
and their correlation with wall decoration, latest finds of pottery
offering trays and first results of the examination of Asyuti stone
offering tables. New Kingdom and Late Period finds are discussed in an
article with new information on ushebtis from the collections of Sayed
Bey Khashaba and the Museo Gregoriano in Citta del Vaticano, and in a
typological analysis of faience chalices with a focus on recent finds of
The Asyut Project. The volume closes with a hitherto unpublished copy of
spell 72 of the Book of the Dead that is inscribed on the early
Ptolemaic mummy cartonnage of Padiamun found during fieldwork and an
article that details Christian tomb stelae and the special local Asyuti
formulae used for inscribing them.
