Abydos

Originally published between 1902 and 1904 for the Egypt Exploration Fund, this three-volume set of reports documents the excavations begun by the pioneering archaeologist Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie (1853-1942) at one of ancient Egypt's most sacred sites, the necropolis at Abydos. These reports follow on from the findings that Petrie published in The Royal Tombs of the First Dynasty (1900) and The Royal Tombs of the Earliest Dynasties (1901), both of which are reissued in this series. Volume 3 was produced by Petrie's younger colleagues, Edward Russell Ayrton (1882-1914), Charles Trick Currelly (1876-1956) and Arthur Weigall (1880-1934). The report includes chapters on the tombs of Senusret III and Ahmose I. More than sixty pages of plates illustrate the discoveries, which range from simple flint implements to elaborate stelae. A chapter by Alan Gardiner (1879-1963) sheds light on the inscriptions.