Papers by Elena Tiribilli
Egitto e Vicino Oriente, 2022
This article presents a heterogeneous group of objects found in the shafts no. 10 and 18 of the t... more This article presents a heterogeneous group of objects found in the shafts no. 10 and 18 of the tomb of Khunes during an archaeological survey at Zawyet Sultan. The items under discussion can be grouped in three broad typological categories: copper alloy figurines, amulets, and funerary equipment. As none of these objects were found in primary archaeological
contexts, it is impossible to determine their original provenance. The analysis of the artifacts shows that they belong to a broad but defined timeframe, ranging from the Late to the Ptolemaic Period. This paper aims to present data for all of the objects found in the shafts no. 10 and 18 of the tomb of Khunes and to identify parallels in other collections, in order to show and compare artefacts of the people who lived at ancient Hebenu. This specifically concerns the artifacts from previous excavations at Zawyet Sultan by Raymond Weill, now preserved at the Louvre Museum in Paris and the Joseph-Denais Museum in Beaufort en Vallée.
Archaeopress, 2022
The report outlines the results of the survey conducted in autumn 2018 on four sites in the Behei... more The report outlines the results of the survey conducted in autumn 2018 on four sites in the Beheira governorate: Kom el-Ghasuli, Abdu Pasha, Kom el-Magayir, and Kom el-Mahar. The work of the Durham University–Egypt Exploration Society mission was carried out as part of the Delta Survey
Project (EES).
RISE – Ricerche italiane e scavi in Egitto 8, 2021
In 2015 the joint archaeological mission led by Richard Bussmann of the University of Cologne, an... more In 2015 the joint archaeological mission led by Richard Bussmann of the University of Cologne, and by Gianluca Miniaci of the University of Pisa, with the cooperation of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, began an archaeological project at the site of Zawyet Sultan (ancient Hebenu), located in Middle Egypt, about 8 kilometres south of the modern city of el-Minya. The core of the archaeological area includes the remains of a small early Old Kingdom step pyramid, extensive debris of a Greco-Roman settlement, an enclosure wall, a fragmentary stone ramp dating back to the New Kingdom/Roman Period, and rows of Old and New Kingdom rock-cut tombs belonging to the local and provincial elite. The main aims of the project are to outline the ancient topography of the site in order to better understand its spatial organisation and the interaction between the pyramid, the settlement, and cemeteries throughout a long period of time (ca. 3500 BC-900 AD). This article presents the preliminary results of the fieldwork carried out at the site in 2015, 2017, 2019 and the still ongoing archive and museum investigation related to the material coming from the past excavations at the site of Zawyet Sultan.
Studi Classici e Orientali, 2020
The archaeological site of Zawyet Sultan (Middle Egypt), corresponding to the ancient Egyptian to... more The archaeological site of Zawyet Sultan (Middle Egypt), corresponding to the ancient Egyptian town of Hebenu, the capital of the sixteenth administrative district of Upper Egypt during the Old Kingdom (ca. 2700-2200 BC), has the great potential to shed light on the life of a provincial community over a long period of time (ca. 3500 BC-900 AD) and to explore an ancient Egyptian settlement together with the cemeteries of its inhabitants. From 2015 the joint archaeological mission of the University of Cologne, the University of Pisa and the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities began an archaeological project at Zawyet Sultan in order to understand better the topography of the site and to establish the relations between the different areas within it. The paper presents the preliminary results of the surveys carried out at the site so far, with a special focus on the work accomplished by the Laboratorio di Disegno e Restauro (LADIRE) on behalf of the German- Italian-Egyptian mission in spring 2019. The aim of the mission was mainly to carry out a topographical survey of the entire site using a dual-frequency differential satellite receiver (GNSS) and to realise a 3D model of the tomb of Khunes (ca. 2320-2300 BC) through photogrammetry.
Göttinger Miszellen, 2020
This paper assembles for the first time two fragments, Bologna Museo Archeologico KS 1840 and Cai... more This paper assembles for the first time two fragments, Bologna Museo Archeologico KS 1840 and Cairo Egyptian Museum JE 42880, which originally belonged to the same statue. While the upper part of the statue, Bologna KS 1840, is already known from several publications, the
lower part, Cairo JE 42880, remains so far unpublished. The texts from both are reassembled here, analysed and discussed. The naophorous statue belonged to an individual named Wahibre, who very likely lived at the end of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty in the western Delta of Egypt.
Indeed, Wahibre and his parents held during their life several specific regionally sacerdotal titles related to the Fourth (Hm nTr N.t-Jh.t), Fifth (xrp-Hw.wt (N.t); Hm nTr Hr aA m Hw.t-N.t (?); xnd (n.t) Rs-N.t), Sixth (Hm ¡r wr-wAD.tj), and Thirteenth (Hm nTr Hapj) provinces of Lower Egypt
Egyptian Archaeology, 2019
In spring and autumn 2018, the EES Delta Survey, in collaboration with Durham University, investi... more In spring and autumn 2018, the EES Delta Survey, in collaboration with Durham University, investigated 14 little-known selected sites of the central and western Delta belonging to Kafr el-Sheikh and Beheira governorates. Israel Hinojosa-Baliño, Elena Tiribilli and Penelope Wilson describe the main results of the most recent EES fieldwork which aimed to reconstruct the history and the ancient environment of remote sites around Lakes Mareotis and Burullus.
Egitto e Vicino Oriente, 2018
The first section of this paper focuses on two unpublished objects: a faience plaque constituted ... more The first section of this paper focuses on two unpublished objects: a faience plaque constituted by seven pieces (E 32591) and one shabti (E 32787), both currently preserved at the Louvre Museum, Paris, and belonging to the same owner, the renep-priest Horemheb, son of Ankhpakhered. The objects are dated back to the beginning of the Late Period (c. 664-600 BC). The priest Horemheb, son of Ankhpakhered, is already known from several other shabtis: six of them belong to a private collection and have been recently published; another several shabtis have been offered for sale at auctions and they are scattered across private collections. The second section of the paper attempts to gather and update all the available documentation related to the specific sacerdotal renep-title in the Third province of Lower Egypt. Finally, from the analyses of the sources, the paper aims to shed new light on the specific sacerdotal renep-title and its relationship with other sacerdotal titles, administrative and religious offices, often connected to the Western Delta region.
Among the wide range of ‘geographic procession’ types, scholars have identified the so-called ‘pe... more Among the wide range of ‘geographic procession’ types, scholars have identified the so-called ‘pehu processions’, which represent the personification of the marshlands of the nomes of Upper and Lower Egypt. The first attestations of ‘pehu processions’ are carved on the north side of the Red Chapel in Karnak, on the temples of Ramses II at Luxor and Abydos, and on the temple of Seti I on the west bank of Thebes. The toponyms here used do not follow any precise geographical arrangement. Among these representations of pehu, there is the pehu called ‘Hp (Sn) (?)’. According to Lacau and Chevrer, the reference to Hp (Sn) would have pointed out to the marshland of the 7th nome of Lower Egypt, though without any substantial argument for such an association.
Three inscriptions, recorded on the Ptolemaic statue YPM 264191, on the Cairo sarcophagus of Tjaihorpata (CG 29306), and on the coffin of Padikhonsu (unknown accession number and place of conservation), present a spelling of a toponym (Hp.wy/HpHp), which seems to be located in the maritime area of Delta. The analysis of the titles and toponyms of these texts has shown the missing link between the later spelling Hp.wy/HpHp and the pehu of New Kingdom Hp (Sn), thus sustaining the hypothesis of Lacau and Chevrier.
Archaeopress Egyptology , 2017
The region corresponding to the Western Harpoon province (7th nome of Lower Egypt) lacks systemat... more The region corresponding to the Western Harpoon province (7th nome of Lower Egypt) lacks systematic archaeological exploration – including surveys – and an in-depth study; most of the available documentation related to this province comes from the so-called ‘cult-topographical manuals’, mainly dated to the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. The hierogrammateis were in charge of sketching mythological and religious geographies, playing a key role in the formation, development and ‘administration’ of the conceptual space inside the imaginary of the ancient Egyptian society. This paper aims at mapping all the topographical elements, cities, multiple canals, rural territories, and marshlands, which constituted the religious topographical map of the Western Harpoon as imagined by the hierogrammateis.
Among the wide collection of the bronze figurines preserved at the Petrie Museum, UC 8033 represe... more Among the wide collection of the bronze figurines preserved at the Petrie Museum, UC 8033 represents Osiris with an iconography rarely attested: the representation on the back of a falcon with a sun disc and with wings wrapping the body of the figure. Unfortunately, the figurine is unprovenanced and no other information are preserved in the museum. This paper presents also five other Osiris figurines (1- BM EA 24718; 2- Brooklyn Museum, inv. no. 39.93; 3- MMA 56.16.2; 4- CG 38270; 5- Statuette from a private collection – unknown location –), which show close parallels
in iconography, design, and composition with UC 8033. Furthermore, the peculiar iconography of the falcon on the back is not exclusively used for Osiris, but it is in use also for other statuettes, mainly representing goddesses, such as Neith and Isis, and high social rank women, such as
the famous statue of Karomama (Louvre N 500). The chronological range of UC 8033 seems to be circumscribed to the time between the Third Intermediate Period and the early Twenty-six Dynasty.
Inserto mensile in lingua italiana del Quotidiano Le Progrès Égyptien dedicato alla cultura e all'attualità culturale
Current Research in Egyptology 2015. Proceedings of the sixteenth annual symposium, University of Oxford, United Kingdom April 15-18, Oxford 2016, p. 124-40
Preliminary results of the 2015 survey at the site
Egitto e Vicino Oriente, 2014
SnT-nfr.t, literally “the Beautiful Foundation”, was one of the most important religious center i... more SnT-nfr.t, literally “the Beautiful Foundation”, was one of the most important religious center in the VII nome of Lower Egypt. It is attested in several geographic inscriptions of the Ptolemaic and Roman Period. Scholars are aware of a single source that testifies SnT-nfr.t toponym before the Ptolemaic Period: the coffin of Onurisnakht, “priest of Amon-Ra, lord of SnT-nfr.t”, dated to the IV century BC and now preserved in the Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien. The stela Louvre IM 4018 (A) from Serapeum in Memphis, belonging to Pedihoremheb and his brother Horo, is the key to backdate the attestation of the toponym SnT-nfr.t to the VI century BC. Indeed, the stela, dated to the 4th year of the reign of Darius I (518 BC), mentions a toponym SnT and provides a strong link with the god Ha, since Udjahorresenet, the father of Pedihoremheb, is stated to be a priest of Ha. Three other documents support the identification of the lemma SnT as an abbreviated form of SnT-nfr.t and connect it with the VII nome of Lower Egypt: B) three geographical texts (Edfu I 331, 16, papyrus Carlsberg 182, Dendera X, 86, 5) and the gold scarab Louvre E 10697, bearing the title Hm nTr HA aA nb Imnt.t, “priest of Ha, the great, lord of West”, show that the god Ha is the main god in the VII nome; C) a geographic inscription, engraved on the second western
chapel of Osiris at Dendera (Dendera X, 118, 9-10), proves that the toponym SnT-nfr.t is used for the name of a demon of the VII nome of Lower Egypt; D) a geographic inscription, engraved on the chapel of Sokar at Edfu (Edfu I, 194, 2), places the demon’s name as attested in Dendera inscription beside the abbreviation ¤nT. They clearly refer to the same toponym, SnT-nfr.t/¤nT and they connect it to the Western Harpoon province.
Egitto e Vicino Oriente, 2012
PhD Thesis by Elena Tiribilli
Talks by Elena Tiribilli
This paper aims to present the preliminary results of an on-going research project hosted by the ... more This paper aims to present the preliminary results of an on-going research project hosted by the University of Cologne (Germany) entitled “An archaeology of the subordinate élite in Old Kingdom Egypt: museum objects and social analysis at Hebenu (Zawyet Sultan)”. The research project aims to explore the social life of the lower-ranking élite at Zawyet Sultan (Middle Egypt) and to reconstruct the local settlement through the re-contextualisation of artefacts, coming from the cemeteries excavations carried out by Raymond Weill in the 19th century, and today preserved in different museum collections. The site of Zawyet Sultan corresponds to the ancient Hebenu, the capital of the 16th province of Upper Egypt. Hebenu has been chosen as the research-program case-study because it offers an excellent opportunity to explore an ancient Egyptian settlement together with the cemeteries of its inhabitants and has the potential to shed light on the life of a provincial community over a long period of time. The project adopts an interdisciplinary approach, with the aim to create a relation between the artefacts, their archaeological context, and their social relationships within the landscape (local/regional context). This line of research will enable a more realistic sociological reconstruction of the subordinate élite of the site and also a comparison with neighbouring sites (e.g. Beni Hassan, Assiut, Deir el-Bersha, Asyut).
Neue Forschungen in NRW , 2020
The talk aims to present the summative outcomes of the research project called “MAP: Inside the M... more The talk aims to present the summative outcomes of the research project called “MAP: Inside the Mind of Ancient People: the tangible and constructed landscape of the western Delta in the Late Period (664-332 BC)” carried out at Durham University from 2017 to 2019. The project deals with the analysis of a particular category of priests, called "specific sacerdotal officials", who started proliferating in the private documentation during the Late Period (664-332 BC).
The paper aims at presenting the summative outcomes of the research project called “MAP: Inside t... more The paper aims at presenting the summative outcomes of the research project called “MAP: Inside the Mind of Ancient People: the tangible and constructed landscape of the western Delta in the Late Period (664-332 BC)” carried out at Durham University (2017-2019). The project deals with the analysis of a particular category of priestly titles, who lived and operated in the western Delta (2nd-07th nomes of Lower Egypt) and started proliferating in the private documentation during the Late Period (664-332 BC). The role of these officials is often unclear, although they played a key role in shaping the religion, the political and social geography of the Delta at that time. The term “titres spécifiques” was coined for the first time by Jean Yoyotte and Herman De Meulenaere to point out this category of sacerdotal titles, usually linked to local deities and/or rituals connected to specific regions.
The final aim of the paper is to shed new lights on identity of these officials, who lived and operated in the western Delta, comparing the private documentation with the texts of sacred geography and showing an entangled web of close connections and interactions with the territory and politics of the time.
The paper aims to present the results of the regional survey at Kafr el-Dawr province, western De... more The paper aims to present the results of the regional survey at Kafr el-Dawr province, western Delta, carried out under my direction (Durham University, UK), in the framework of the Delta Survey Project (Egypt Exploration Society). The survey took place in November and December 2018 and was supported by the British Academy through the Egypt Exploration Society (EES) and by Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship.
The survey focused its investigations on four selected sites in the area around Kafr el-Dawr: Kom el-Ghasul (EES number: 362; SCA number: 100131), Abdu Pasha (EES number: 621; SCA number 100147); Kom el-Magayir I (EES number: 395; SCA number: 100133) and II (EES number: 697; SCA number: 100134); and Kom el-Mahar (EES number: 398; SCA number: 100167). The aim of the survey was to document each site through photographic record, topographic mapping, pottery recording and magnetic survey. The survey has shown the almost complete losses of several of these ancient sites, which nowadays are mainly used as agricultural land or as modern cemeteries. A magnetic prospection was carried out on three sites and at the site of Kom el-Mahar it has revealed several structures. The pottery study has shown that the sites date from the Ptolemaic Period to Late Roman Period, and were most likely to have been abandoned around the time of the Arab Invasion (7th AD).
Uploads
Papers by Elena Tiribilli
contexts, it is impossible to determine their original provenance. The analysis of the artifacts shows that they belong to a broad but defined timeframe, ranging from the Late to the Ptolemaic Period. This paper aims to present data for all of the objects found in the shafts no. 10 and 18 of the tomb of Khunes and to identify parallels in other collections, in order to show and compare artefacts of the people who lived at ancient Hebenu. This specifically concerns the artifacts from previous excavations at Zawyet Sultan by Raymond Weill, now preserved at the Louvre Museum in Paris and the Joseph-Denais Museum in Beaufort en Vallée.
Project (EES).
lower part, Cairo JE 42880, remains so far unpublished. The texts from both are reassembled here, analysed and discussed. The naophorous statue belonged to an individual named Wahibre, who very likely lived at the end of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty in the western Delta of Egypt.
Indeed, Wahibre and his parents held during their life several specific regionally sacerdotal titles related to the Fourth (Hm nTr N.t-Jh.t), Fifth (xrp-Hw.wt (N.t); Hm nTr Hr aA m Hw.t-N.t (?); xnd (n.t) Rs-N.t), Sixth (Hm ¡r wr-wAD.tj), and Thirteenth (Hm nTr Hapj) provinces of Lower Egypt
Three inscriptions, recorded on the Ptolemaic statue YPM 264191, on the Cairo sarcophagus of Tjaihorpata (CG 29306), and on the coffin of Padikhonsu (unknown accession number and place of conservation), present a spelling of a toponym (Hp.wy/HpHp), which seems to be located in the maritime area of Delta. The analysis of the titles and toponyms of these texts has shown the missing link between the later spelling Hp.wy/HpHp and the pehu of New Kingdom Hp (Sn), thus sustaining the hypothesis of Lacau and Chevrier.
in iconography, design, and composition with UC 8033. Furthermore, the peculiar iconography of the falcon on the back is not exclusively used for Osiris, but it is in use also for other statuettes, mainly representing goddesses, such as Neith and Isis, and high social rank women, such as
the famous statue of Karomama (Louvre N 500). The chronological range of UC 8033 seems to be circumscribed to the time between the Third Intermediate Period and the early Twenty-six Dynasty.
chapel of Osiris at Dendera (Dendera X, 118, 9-10), proves that the toponym SnT-nfr.t is used for the name of a demon of the VII nome of Lower Egypt; D) a geographic inscription, engraved on the chapel of Sokar at Edfu (Edfu I, 194, 2), places the demon’s name as attested in Dendera inscription beside the abbreviation ¤nT. They clearly refer to the same toponym, SnT-nfr.t/¤nT and they connect it to the Western Harpoon province.
PhD Thesis by Elena Tiribilli
Talks by Elena Tiribilli
The final aim of the paper is to shed new lights on identity of these officials, who lived and operated in the western Delta, comparing the private documentation with the texts of sacred geography and showing an entangled web of close connections and interactions with the territory and politics of the time.
The survey focused its investigations on four selected sites in the area around Kafr el-Dawr: Kom el-Ghasul (EES number: 362; SCA number: 100131), Abdu Pasha (EES number: 621; SCA number 100147); Kom el-Magayir I (EES number: 395; SCA number: 100133) and II (EES number: 697; SCA number: 100134); and Kom el-Mahar (EES number: 398; SCA number: 100167). The aim of the survey was to document each site through photographic record, topographic mapping, pottery recording and magnetic survey. The survey has shown the almost complete losses of several of these ancient sites, which nowadays are mainly used as agricultural land or as modern cemeteries. A magnetic prospection was carried out on three sites and at the site of Kom el-Mahar it has revealed several structures. The pottery study has shown that the sites date from the Ptolemaic Period to Late Roman Period, and were most likely to have been abandoned around the time of the Arab Invasion (7th AD).
contexts, it is impossible to determine their original provenance. The analysis of the artifacts shows that they belong to a broad but defined timeframe, ranging from the Late to the Ptolemaic Period. This paper aims to present data for all of the objects found in the shafts no. 10 and 18 of the tomb of Khunes and to identify parallels in other collections, in order to show and compare artefacts of the people who lived at ancient Hebenu. This specifically concerns the artifacts from previous excavations at Zawyet Sultan by Raymond Weill, now preserved at the Louvre Museum in Paris and the Joseph-Denais Museum in Beaufort en Vallée.
Project (EES).
lower part, Cairo JE 42880, remains so far unpublished. The texts from both are reassembled here, analysed and discussed. The naophorous statue belonged to an individual named Wahibre, who very likely lived at the end of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty in the western Delta of Egypt.
Indeed, Wahibre and his parents held during their life several specific regionally sacerdotal titles related to the Fourth (Hm nTr N.t-Jh.t), Fifth (xrp-Hw.wt (N.t); Hm nTr Hr aA m Hw.t-N.t (?); xnd (n.t) Rs-N.t), Sixth (Hm ¡r wr-wAD.tj), and Thirteenth (Hm nTr Hapj) provinces of Lower Egypt
Three inscriptions, recorded on the Ptolemaic statue YPM 264191, on the Cairo sarcophagus of Tjaihorpata (CG 29306), and on the coffin of Padikhonsu (unknown accession number and place of conservation), present a spelling of a toponym (Hp.wy/HpHp), which seems to be located in the maritime area of Delta. The analysis of the titles and toponyms of these texts has shown the missing link between the later spelling Hp.wy/HpHp and the pehu of New Kingdom Hp (Sn), thus sustaining the hypothesis of Lacau and Chevrier.
in iconography, design, and composition with UC 8033. Furthermore, the peculiar iconography of the falcon on the back is not exclusively used for Osiris, but it is in use also for other statuettes, mainly representing goddesses, such as Neith and Isis, and high social rank women, such as
the famous statue of Karomama (Louvre N 500). The chronological range of UC 8033 seems to be circumscribed to the time between the Third Intermediate Period and the early Twenty-six Dynasty.
chapel of Osiris at Dendera (Dendera X, 118, 9-10), proves that the toponym SnT-nfr.t is used for the name of a demon of the VII nome of Lower Egypt; D) a geographic inscription, engraved on the chapel of Sokar at Edfu (Edfu I, 194, 2), places the demon’s name as attested in Dendera inscription beside the abbreviation ¤nT. They clearly refer to the same toponym, SnT-nfr.t/¤nT and they connect it to the Western Harpoon province.
The final aim of the paper is to shed new lights on identity of these officials, who lived and operated in the western Delta, comparing the private documentation with the texts of sacred geography and showing an entangled web of close connections and interactions with the territory and politics of the time.
The survey focused its investigations on four selected sites in the area around Kafr el-Dawr: Kom el-Ghasul (EES number: 362; SCA number: 100131), Abdu Pasha (EES number: 621; SCA number 100147); Kom el-Magayir I (EES number: 395; SCA number: 100133) and II (EES number: 697; SCA number: 100134); and Kom el-Mahar (EES number: 398; SCA number: 100167). The aim of the survey was to document each site through photographic record, topographic mapping, pottery recording and magnetic survey. The survey has shown the almost complete losses of several of these ancient sites, which nowadays are mainly used as agricultural land or as modern cemeteries. A magnetic prospection was carried out on three sites and at the site of Kom el-Mahar it has revealed several structures. The pottery study has shown that the sites date from the Ptolemaic Period to Late Roman Period, and were most likely to have been abandoned around the time of the Arab Invasion (7th AD).
During the Late Period (664-332 BC) priests started canonizing and regionalizing the sacred geography of Lower and Upper Egypt. In the same period a particular category of priestly titles, the so called ‘specific sacerdotal titles’ (term coined by Jean Yoyotte and Herman De Meulenaere), started proliferating in the preserved sources. Nonetheless, the role of these officials is rather obscure although it highly influenced the religious, human and social geography of the Delta.
The paper aims at presenting the preliminary results of the ongoing research project called “MAP: Inside the Mind of Ancient People: the tangible and constructed landscape of the western Delta in the Late Period (664-332 BC)” carried out at the University of Durham. The final aim is to analyse the specific sacerdotal titles in the Late Period, comparing the private documentation with the texts of sacred geography, in order to shed new lights on identity of this people, and in turn on the geography of western Delta.
The aim of the paper is to design a socio-religious space for the Western Harpoon (VII province of Lower Egypt), through the analysis of these specific sacerdotal titles in the Late Period Egypt, examining published and unpublished private documents, in comparison with the texts of sacred geography.
The aim of the paper is to explore the relationship between the west and the east Harpoon (in archaeology and philology), in order to explore the movement of these two nomes across time, in real geography, and inside the theological imaginary of the people (priests), who re-designed the religious topography of the Delta.
Chapter 1: Gods as men
Chapter 2: Goddess as woman
Chapter 3: Human beings
Chapter 4: Sacred animals
Chapter 5: Animals with a human head
Chapter 6: Group figurines
Chapter 7: Figurines in Hellenistic and later styles
Chapter 8: Fragments and loose parts of figurines
change brought about through the transformations in the Eastern
Mediterranean as a whole and contacts with new cultures from the
Levant and Aegean. The workshop aims to investigate the complex
settings around the religious personnel who operated in the cities
of the Western Delta in particular and understand their relationship
with Memphis and other centres in Upper and Lower Egypt.
The workshop gathers a group of experts on the first millennium BCE
in order to explore the relationship between the Egyptian priests
and the geographical territory, religious geography and politics of
the time.