Old Kingdom Elite Tombs

Bibliography about Old Kingdom elite tombs and iconography, with links to online content where available. The list is frequently updated, but let me know if you’re missing something! Use Ctrl + F (Cmd + F for Mac users) to search within this page.

See also: Tombs per site


Databases

General

Classics

Conference proceedings: Abusir and Saqqara

  • Barta, M. and J. Krejčí (eds), Abusir and Saqqara in the year 2000 (2000).
  • Coppens, F. (ed.), Abusir and Saqqara in the Year 2001 (2002). Contents
  • Bárta, M., Coppens, F. and J. Krejčí (eds), Abusir and Saqqara in the Year 2005 (2007). Contents
  • Bárta, M., Coppens, F. and J. Krejčí (eds), Abusir and Saqqara in the Year 2010 (2011). Contents
  • Bárta, M., Coppens, F. and J. Krejčí (eds), Abusir and Saqqara in the Year 2015 (2017). Contents

Other conference proceedings

Festschriften

  • Callender, V.G. et al. (eds), Times, Signs and Pyramids: Studies in Honour of Miroslav Verner (2011).
  • Demarée, C., Stuart, A.J. and Verschoor, V., Imaging and Imagining the Memphite Necropolis: Liber Amicorum René van Walsem (2017). Preview
  • Jánosi, P. and Vymazalová, H. (eds), The Art of Describing: The World of Tomb Decoration as Visual Culture of the Old Kingdom. Studies in Honour of Yvonne Harpur (2018).
  • Woods, A., McFarlane, A. and Binder, S. (eds), Egyptian culture and society: Studies in Honour of Naguib Kanawati (2010).

Digital methods

Dating and development

Theoretical

  • Baines, J., On the status and purposes of ancient Egyptian art, Cambridge Archaeological Journal 4 (1994), 67-94.
  • Brunner-Traut, E., Aspective, in: Schäfer, Principles of Egyptian art (1974).
  • Groenewegen-Frankfort, H.A., Arrest and movement (1951), chapter 2. Preview
  • Hartwig, M.K., A companion to ancient Egyptian art (2015). Preview
  • Junge, F., Vom Sinn der ägyptischen Kunst. Am Beispiel des Alten Reichs, in: 5000 Jahre Ägypten: Genese und Permanenz pharaonischer Kunst (1983), 43-60.
  • Panofsky, E., Studies in Iconology (1939).
  • Schäfer, H., Principles of Egyptian art (1974).
  • Weeks, K.R., Art, word, and the Egyptian world view, in: Egyptology and the social sciences (1979), 59-81.

Interpretative

Scene types and details

Decorated burial chambers

Autobiographies

Architectural elements

Statues

Funerary equipment

Pottery

Social aspects

Tomb preparation

Other aspects

Mastaba chapels in museums

  • Brunner-Traut, E., Die altägyptische Grabkammer Seschemnofers III. aus Gîsa (1977).
  • Gamer-Wallert, I., Von Giza bis Tübingen: Die bewegte Geschichte der Mastaba G 5170 (1998).
  • Gamer-Wallert, I., Die bewegte Geschichte der Mastaba Seschemnofers III. (G 5170), Sokar 9 (2004), 28-34.
  • Junker, H., The Offering Room of Prince Kaninisut (1931).
  • Kayser, H., Die Mastaba des Uhemka: Ein Grab in der Wüste (1964).
  • Lythgoe, A.M. and Ransom Williams, C., The Tomb of Perneb (1916).
  • Mogensen, M.P., Le mastaba égyptien de la Glyptothèque Ny Carlsberg (1921).
  • Mohr, H.Th., The mastaba of Hetep-her-akhti: Study on an Egyptian tomb chapel in the Museum of Antiquities Leiden (1943).
  • Onderka, P., The Tomb of Unisankh at Saqqara and Chicago (2009).
  • Ransom Williams, C., The Decoration of the Tomb of Per-neb (1932).
  • Roeder, G., Die Mastaba des Uhemka im Pelizaeus Museum zu Hildesheim (1927).
  • Simpson, W.K., The offering chapel of Sekhem-ankh-ptah in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (1976).
  • Simpson, W.K., The offering chapel of Kayemnofret in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (1992).
  • Walle, B. van de, Le mastaba de Neferirtenef aux Musées Royaux d’Art et d’Histoire à Bruxelles. Notice sommaire (1930).
  • Walle, B. van de, La chapelle funéraire de Neferirtenef (1978).
  • Ziegler, C., Le Mastaba d’Akhethetep (2007).
  • Zorn, O. and Bisping-Isermann, D., Die Opferkammern im Neuen Museum Berlin (2011).

Other objects in museums and private collections

PhD dissertations