Cultural Expression in the Old Kingdom Elite Tomb considers the material and immaterial culture left behind by the ancient Egyptian elite in their tombs starting some 5000 years ago. The book intends to understand this culture reflecting the intention of the ancient Egyptians. All these intentions are now inaccessible to us, a paradox indeed.

The third volume of reports on the excavations of noblemen’s tombs from the Kushite Period This is the third and final volume in the Tombs of the South Asasif Necropolis series dedicated to the ongoing work of the Egyptian–American South Asasif Conservation Project, under the auspices of the Ministry of Antiquities and directed by Elena Pischikova. The project was founded in 2006 to restore and reconstruct the early Kushite tombs of Karabasken (TT 391) and Karakhamun (TT 223) and the Saite tomb of Irtieru (TT 390). Tombs of the South Asasif Necropolis: Art and Archaeology 2015–2018 focuses on the conservation work in the tomb of Karakhamun and new discoveries in the tomb of Karabasken, which include the burial chamber of Karabasken, its monumental granite sarcophagus found in situ, and the Twenty-sixth Dynasty chapel and burial compartment of Padibastet built in the pillared hall of the tomb of Karabasken. Discussion of finds includes canopic jars, stelae, pottery, and animal bones among many others. Ongoing art historical research is reflected in the chapters on the artistry of the decoration of the tomb of Karakhamun and its uniquely preserved twenty-one-square grid. This volume also introduces new research on the name and titles of Irtieru. Contributors: Abdelrazk Mohamed Ali, Ramadan Ahmed Ali, Mariam Ayad, Louise Bertini, John Billman, Marion Brew, Julia Budka, Katherine Blakeney, Dieter Eigner, Hayley Goddard , Erhart Graefe, Kenneth Griffin, Salima Ikram, Fathy Yaseem Abd el Karim, Ezz El Din Kamal El Noby, Elena Pischikova, Manon Shutz

In The Iconography of Family Members in Egypt’s Elite Tombs of the Old Kingdom, Jing Wen offers a comprehensive survey of the depiction of family members and provides a new perspective to explain its meaning.

In this interdisciplinary study, Leire Olabarria examines ancient Egyptian society through the notion of kinship. Drawing on methods from archaeology and sociocultural anthropology, she provides an emic characterisation of ancient kinship that relies on performative aspects of social interaction. Olabarria uses memorial stelae of the First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom (ca.2150–1650 BCE) as her primary evidence. Contextualising these monuments within their social and physical landscapes, she proposes a dynamic way to explore kin groups through sources that have been considered static. The volume offers three case studies of kin groups at the beginning, peak, and decline of their developmental cycles respectively. They demonstrate how ancient Egyptian evidence can be used for cross-cultural comparison of key anthropological topics, such as group formation, patronage, and rites of passage.

What is presented here is a preliminary crystallization of thinking about questions, problems, and aspects that presented themselves during research into the iconography of Old Kingdom elite tombs in the so-called Leiden Mastaba Project (LMP), started in 1980 for teaching advanced students. Since the Egyptian culture has been given shape mainly in connection with the residences of the kings, the elite tombs of the Memphite area only were incorporated into the database. The original paper database consists of individual files on each tomb, giving a plan, wall scheme, a concise description of each sub-theme and its accompanying texts (if present). For details on the set-up, the original questions, the intention and some preliminary results on the partially collected material in 1985, see Van Walsem, Mastaba project. The core of this essay is a combination of and an elaboration of two former lectures by the author entitled: "Some un(der)exposed aspects in the study and interpretation of mastaba scenes" and "Religious iconography of Ancient Egypt: methodological and theoretical problems".

Tomb Painting and Identity in Ancient Thebes, 1419-1372 BCE examines the style, iconography, and symbolism of painting in all extant private Theban tomb chapels decorated during the reigns of Thutmose IV and Amenhotep III. The book studies the ways in which pictorial imagery functioned on behalf of the dead in the afterlife, presented their identity to the living, and revealed underlying religious developments with important societal implications. Various aspects of the pre-Amarna Theban tomb are explored, from the tomb's purpose as a creative and commemorative vehicle for the deceased to the placement and functional properties of its imagery. The book also discusses the different styles of painting in the chapels of state and religious officials and how these styles reveal workshop organization and "patronage" practices in Thebes. The majority of the book is dedicated to the iconography of the functioning image in the tomb chapel, its reception, and its purpose as a bridge between what was represented and what was signified, between the mundane and the sacred, and between the living and the dead. Particular attention is paid to the iconography on the "western" back walls of the transverse hall in T-shaped tomb chapels, walls that held aesthetic, cultic, and symbolic significance to the ancient Egyptians. On these walls as well as the northern or southern long wall in rectangular tomb chapels, iconography and text commemorated the deceased's personal and professional identity, projected this identity into the hereafter, and contained key components for the tomb owner's rebirth. The eternal well-being of the deceased was secured through the iconography of gift giving that also mirrored religious trends that permeated society. Tomb Painting and Identity in Ancient Thebes, 1419-1372 BCE addresses Theban tomb painting and its underlying creative and commemorative properties as a medium of regeneration, preservation, and display on behalf of the tomb owner and the world of which he was a part.