Denkschriften der Gesamtakademie

This volume is the result of a comprehensive analysis of one of Tell el-Dabʿa's residential areas, the ancient Avaris, one of the largest cities of the Eastern Mediterranean in the second millennium BCE. The presentation of the domestic architecture and material culture aims at reconstructing the socio-economic setting of one neighborhood (F/I) of the site and its inhabitants. On the basis of the theoretical foundations and methodological considerations from the field of household archaeology,...

This monograph presents the archaeological material that was found during the first years of the excavations in Ras Shamra-Ugarit led by C. F. A. Schaeffer. The catalogue is the result of a multidisciplinary collective research project in which numerous specialists from a wide range of disciplines participated, many of them being members of the Syrian-French archaeological mission in Ras Shamra-Ugarit. Over the years, up until the armed conflict broke out in 2011, a huge number of finds were...

175 years of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW). To mark this occasion, the OeAW is presenting its “new history of the Academy” in three volumes. The history extends from the time of its founding in 1847 in the Habsburg monarchy to the immediate present, interweaving the history of the institution with the history of research practice and the changing academic landscape in Austria and Europe. The presentation is based on newly accessed sources in Austrian and foreign archives, and is...

Tell el-Dab’a gained importance by its identification with Avaris, capital of the Hyksos and the Delta residence of the Ramessides. After the silting up of the Pelusiac Nile branch at the end of the Ramesside Period this important town was abandoned and disappeared from world history. Largely unknown is the fact that after the re-activation of the Pelusiac branch in the Late Period a large town of over 100 ha developed at this strategically important place. This settlement mirrors the...

This volume is the second in a series of monographs presenting the results of the ERC project "AcrossBorders" on the island of Sai in Sudan. Findings from excavations and surveys in various areas of the Egyptian town are used to reconstruct life in the New Kingdom (c. 1530–1070 BC). The architecture, the material culture, but also the geology, botanical remains and animal bones are analysed. Overall, the findings presented here for the first time not only emphasize the important role of Sai in...

The current volume presents the final excavation report of three late Middle Kingdom settlement layers at the site of Tell el-Dab‘a in the Egyptian Nile delta. These settlement layers comprise a number of dwellings, which belonged to non-elite people judging by their size and remaining inventories, who lived in the marsh-like environment in the north of Egypt in the late Middle Kingdom (ca 1830–1700 BC). Beside the mud brick architecture typical for ancient Egyptian housing, storage facilities...

With the overall topic “Tradition and Transformation in Ancient Egypt” we tried to invite scholars working in different fields to discuss (dis)continuity of traditions and consequent cultural transformation. The main aim was to stimulate research and an exchange of ideas and to build bridges for a variety of disciplines within Egyptology. The first impression given by the ancient Egyptian culture is that of continuity and long-lasting stability. In fact, we can observe very different kinds of...

This collection of studies on palaces in Ancient Egypt is the result of a conference organised by the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the University of Würzburg and the Egypt Exploration Society from 12th to 14th of June 2013 in London. The result is a compilation of information – archaeological and textual – one can resort to in order to develop strategies to understand architectural and functional variations and recognise schemes of building canons for palaces in Ancient Egypt. In addition, the...

The present volume is the first in a series of monographs dedicated to the results achieved by AcrossBorders, a European Research Council Project (Austrian Academy of Sciences and Ludwig Maximilian University Munich). With its so-called Egyptian temple town and adjacent pyramid cemeteries, Sai Island is one of the prime examples for settlement policy of New Kingdom Egypt (c. 1530-1070 BC) in Upper Nubia (northern Sudan) and is the focus of this project. New fieldwork and multi-layered research...

This volume presents the outcomes of the European Science Foundation workshop “Sea Peoples” Up-to-Date. New Research on Transformations in the Eastern Mediterranean in the 13th–11th Centuries BCE, which took place in November 2014 at the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna. It offers up-to-date research on the Sea Peoples phenomenon during the so called “crisis years” at the end of the Bronze Age. This period encompasses dramatic changes in the political and cultural landscape of mainly the...

New fieldwork in Egyptian settlements in Upper Nubia (Northern Sudan) – mainly Amara-West, Sesebi and on Sai Island – is geared to improve our fragmentary knowledge of the settlement and population structure as well as the material culture of this area during the New Kingdom. This publication presents the results of the building research undertaken on Sai Island in course of the START and ERC project “AcrossBorders” under the directorship of Julia Budka. The orthogonally planned town on Sai...