Oxbow Classics in Egyptology Series

Facsimile edition of the 1972 reissue of Flinders Petrie’s 1914 pioneering typological catalogue of Egyptian amulets, one of a number of such catalogs to be reissued in this new series. Remarkably, though it can be criticized in points of detail emanating from more recent research, it remains unsurpassed in its comprehensive description, typological classification, and interpretation. While an absence of reasoned argument for the dating of his various groups is a weak point of Petrie’s study from the point of view of modern scholarship, his attention to detail and careful consideration of typology and potential meaning, borne of decades of observation, means that this, and the other catalogs in the series, remain as invaluable reference books for Egyptologists. Based on examination of his own extensive collection of Egyptian artifacts, Petrie presents a typologically ordered catalog divided into seven main groups defined on the basis of interpretation rather than subject: amulets of ‘similar,’ i.e., relating to body parts; power; property; protection; human-headed; animal-headed; and animal gods. Each class of object is described along with its varieties: material, distribution, position within burials, its chronological position as defined by Petrie himself, and its meaning interpreted. Collections containing examples are listed and hundreds of objects are presented in photographs and a selection of burial associations illustrated by coffin plans.

Facsimile edition of the 1974 reissue of Flinders Petrie’s 1917 pioneering typological catalog of Egyptian name-scarabs and cylinders, one of a number of such catalogs to be reissued in this new series. The beetle form of amulets are common finds on Egyptian sites but examples with engraved names represent a small proportion of the total. Over 240 different royal persons are named among the various major museum collections. Petrie here illustrates and discusses over 1600 examples in his own collection together with a selection of inscribed steatite cylinders. He discusses the religious aspects of scarabs and their magical use, their varieties, materials and manufacture, and presents a chronological discussion with fully illustrated catalog of both line drawings and photographs.

Facsimile edition of the 1972 reissue of Flinders Petrie’s 1914 pioneering typological catalog of Egyptian Shuabtis, one of a number of such catalogs to be reissued in this new series. Shuabtis, funeral statuettes made of stone or timber, were frequently encountered in early tomb and cemetery excavations. Petrie identified and describes a chronological sequence of development from simple statuettes emphasizing the head, which appear to be substitutes for real heads that were often removed from the body, through to later detailed forms that he recognized as substitutes for the mummy. He presents a discussion of the formula used in the inscriptions, their royal and sacred affinities, and identifies examples of additional texts. The examination of forms, formulaic inscriptions, materials and dating evidence is accompanied by transliteration of names, illustrated inscriptions, and over 650 photographed statuettes.

This facsimile reissue of Flinders Petrie’s extensive catalog of buttons and scarabs describes and illustrates over 1500 examples, along with an appendix on additions to the ‘Scarabs and Cylinders’ volume published earlier. In keeping with his other object catalogs, Petrie devises object classifications based on form with an attempt at dating their sequences. He describes the back of the objects, materials, their designs and inscriptions, and offers ideas on their meanings. Particular attention is paid to animal and human representations and those possibly of gods. He also identifies several local series.

Facsimile of volume of detailed catalog prepared by Flinders Petrie on artifacts largely collected from his Egyptian explorations of a series of glass stamps of Egyptian manufacture that were used from the Roman to Abbasid period variously as tokens, counters, weights, or attached to glass cups as indications of measure. Various categories are identified and described, makers’ names discussed, and weight standards considered. Over 700 stamps are illustrated both as photographs and transcribed line drawings.

Facsimile of volume of detailed catalogs prepared by Flinders Petrie of ancient weights and measures based on examination of over 4000 Egyptian weights within his collections. Eight standards have been identified and are described. The text discusses forms, multiples and fractions of standard weights, materials, and evidence for the adoption of different standards. A much smaller collection of steelyards, measures of capacity, lineal measures, and balances is also described and illustrated.

Facsimile edition of the 1974 reissue of Flinders Petrie’s 1921 description and catalog of pre-dynastic, prehistoric artifacts from Egypt. Draws together evidence from various excavations and surveys undertaken by himself and others to present a fully illustrated, detailed catalog of recovered artifacts of flint, other stone, clay, pottery, ivory/tusk and bone, metalwork, wood, shell and glass. He attempts to establish relative dating sequence based on a combination of object typologies and grave associations, combined with the then-latest geological and sedimentological information, concluding that the material covered a period from around 10,000–5000 BC. Objects are described by material and form, set within his established chronological framework.

Facsimile edition of the 1974 reissue of Flinders Petrie’s 1917 pioneering typological catalog of Egyptian metal, wooden and composite tools and weapons, one of a number of such catalogs to be reissued in this new series. The volume is arranged by category, first of general tools, including axes, chisels and knives, and then weapons, such as daggers and spears. This is followed by sections on woodworking (artisans') and builders’ tools, personal items, agricultural equipment and a range of domestic items. Within each category, sub-categories are defined, described and discussed and the full range is illustrated as outline drawings and photographs across 79 plates. The catalog addresses questions of chronology, typological development, and distribution, and provides a limited discussion of comparable material from outside Egypt.

Facsimile edition of the 1974 reissue of Flinders Petrie’s fully illustrated 1927 description and catalog of personal and everyday Egyptian and Roman objects in his collections. Jewelry items include necklaces, bracelets, rings, and earrings, many made from precious metals and/or incorporating gemstones or beads. Toilet items include mirrors, combs, kohl pots, and sticks. Magic wands, manufactured to provide protection and carved from bone and ivory are described, along with examples carved as hands and found in pairs. Board games are represented by playing pieces and gameboards relating to a number of known games. Toys, writing equipment, fragments of furniture, walking sticks and basketry are all cataloged.

Hailed as a sumptuously produced and finely illustrated outstanding contribution to ancient Egyptian studies, this facsimile reprint of Patrick Houlihan’s 1986 comprehensive study makes a welcome return in the Oxbow Classics in Egyptology series. Animals of all kinds are amply illustrated in Egyptian art, none more so than birds, in both secular and religious contexts and in hieroglyphic scripts. A great variety of bird species has for millennia made twice yearly migrations passing over Egypt, which is also an important overwintering area for many. These migrant birds, together with indigenous species were an abundant and easily exploited source of food for ancient Egyptians, for domestication and status display. Tomb scenes displaying birds provided as food for the deceased are abundant, as are procession scenes of offering with bearers bringing gifts of fowl. Many birds also had religious associations. Houlihan provides a systematic and unparalleled survey of all the bird life depicted by the ancient Egyptians in art and hieroglyphic writing, some 72 species (plus bats), with a list of known mummified species, and discussions on their religious and secular associations and many illustrations. Their present-day distributions are compared with that known from the time of the Pharoahs. A checklist of the birds of modern Egypt is provided by Steven Goodman.

Flinders Petrie undertook excavation and survey of ancient Egyptian towns in the Faiyum oasis, south-west of Cairo, in 1888–90. The work included opening of a pyramid at Illahun and excavation of a nearby cemetery, excavation and planning of over 2000 chambers of the city of Kahun, excavation of a Ptolemaic cemetery at Gurob, and work at the temple site at Medinet Gurob. This facsimile volume presents brief descriptions of the work with a focus on the artifacts and inscriptions recovered and recorded with an attempt to establish a chronology of occupation in the oasis. The entrance to the pyramid at Illahun, its peculiar structure and exploration of its various internal passages and chambers are described, including the sepulchre containing the red granite sarcophagus of Usertesen II, accompanied by a table of offerings. A series of nearby tombs produced a wealth of artifacts associated with burials, wooden coffins and cartonnages, including glazed objects, amulets, scarabs, beads, silver cowries, carved and inscribed wooden objects and statuettes. At Kahun the complete surviving plan of the ancient town revealed a regular layout thought by Petrie to be the work of a single architect. He identified the acropolis, at least eight great houses, dwelling houses, rubbish heaps, and storerooms arranged along numerous narrow ‘workmen’s’ streets with drainage channels. Much evidence for construction materials and techniques and house fittings, wall plaster and paint was recovered. Portable objects included decorated pottery, some of it imported; pottery trays of offerings; stonework; wooden carvings; flint sickles and knives; inscribed stelae; a variety of copper tools; scarabs and clay seals; stone weights and many tools, including several workshop groups. A family tomb in the cellar beneath one house contained 12 coffins, each containing several bodies with grave offerings buried in succession, two baby boxes and a heap of offerings. At Gurob, the plan of the main temple and surrounding enclosures, within which were contained most of the houses, was established and an outline of its history determined. An unusual practice of burning personal belongings in pits beneath the houses was identified and the groups of objects and inscriptions discussed. The nearby cemetery was also investigated with pit-like tombs producing undecorated coffins but finely painted cartonnages, badly decomposed papyri and a few funerary objects. A discussion of the wider urban landscape concludes the narrative. There are specialist reports on the papyri and stone implements.

Facsimile edition of the 1974 reissue of Flinders Petrie’s 1921 corpus of prehistoric pottery and slate palettes from pre-dynastic, prehistoric Egypt. The pottery corpus was produced separately to accompany the catalog of Egyptian artifacts in the volume Prehistoric Egypt and comprises hundreds of line drawings illustrating the shapes, forms and types of decoration. It was intended to be a ‘graveside’ aid for use during excavation, with the intent that it be used with record cards to classify and date pottery that could then be returned to the grave. The corpus of palettes updated Petrie’s original classification published Ballas and Naqada, to include many new finds and refine the typology and sequence.

First published in 1979 this facsimile edition of Jeffrey Spencer’s comprehensive study provides a detailed account of the brick architecture of ancient Egypt. Part I provides introductory information on brick manufacture, early use of brick in Egypt and explains the corpus of brick bonding systems. Part II provides an account of the surviving brick buildings, discussed by type, with special reference to technical and structural matter. Part III presents an examination of the constructional techniques employed at different periods for various purposes. A discussion of the kinds of bricks used, their sizes, and bonding is included.

Tell el-Amarna is the modern name for the ancient Egyptian city of Akhenaten, situated in a bay of hills formed by the cliffs of the eastern desert about halfway between Cairo and Luxor. The city was founded in the 14th century BC by the Pharaoh Akhenaten to be a royal palace for himself and his wife Nefertiti, the capital of all Egypt and the center of the state cult of the Sun God in the form of Aten (sun disc), which became an obsession of the Pharoah. The city contained temples, palaces, state buildings and great private mansions, but was abandoned by Akhenaten’s successor, his son Tutenkhamen, and the city was demolished, never to be re-inhabited. This volume presents a detailed, illustrated catalog of the many statues, statuettes, reliefs, inlays and inscriptions recorded and collected by Flinders Petrie, together with glass and faience objects and moulds. Part II provides a summary of developments in royal names and titles with a discussion on research into names and evidence of royal status.