A Giza Cemetery Excavation: Life in an Egyptian Cemetery

FAIN: RZ-20321-98

Howard University (Washington, DC 20059-0001)
Ann Macy Roth (Project Director: September 1997 to April 2004)

To support excavation and interpretation of state officials' tombs from the Old Kingdom (2600-2250 B.C.) in the cemetery at Giza, Egypt.

During the Egyptian Old Kingdom period (2600-2250 BC), the extensive cemetery of officials around the Great Pyramid at Giza was the site of diverse religious, economic, and recreational activities. Unfortunately, early excavators removed most of the evidence for these activities without recording it, in their eagerness to clear the tombs and to reveal their art treasures and texts. The proposed excavation of a small area of the cemetery where the fill over and around the tombs and chapels was left intact will use the techniques of modern settlement archaeology to analyze and reconstruct life in the Giza cemetery during the Old Kingdom and later periods. The material uncovered by the excavation will advance our understanding of Egyptian tomb architecture, decoration, and construction, of mortuary beliefs, and of social organization and administration. The results of the work will be published as a volume of the Giza Mastabas series by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.