Tell el-Dabʿa XVII

In the course of the long lasting excavations by Manfred Bietak in the Hyksos capital Avaris in the eastern Nile delta, pits were discovered in the context of temples, houses and tombs. They were filled with pottery vessels and some of them with animal bones as well. These deposits can be divided into two groups in terms of their contents: those with relics of offering meals, which also in part involved burning rituals and the ritual breakage of vessels, and those with symbolic fillings in the form of miniature vessels. In the present publication consisting of two volumes, one focus lies on the analysis of the pottery vessels, as the exploration of ceramics is still a considerable desideratum in Egyptology. Another focal point is the analysis of the pits' contents in their contexts. The evaluation of the cultural contexts of these offering practices are also considered, which are all the more important in a town like Avaris consisting of Egyptians and a Near Eastern population at the same time.