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Hans-Ake Nordstrom. The West Bank Survey from Faras to Gemai I: sites of Early Nubian, Middle Nubian and Pharaonic Age (British Archaeological Reports International series 2650; Sudan Archaeological Research Society [...]

The Abydos North Cemetery is the location of the Early Dynastic royal funerary enclosures built by the kings who were buried at Umm el-Qaab. Excavations in the western part of the North Cemetery in 2004-05 revealed two enclosures dated to the reign of Aha. Continued use and reuse of the area over millennia led to a complicated archaeological picture, much of which is being clarified by analysis of the excavated ceramics. This article is a preliminary report on the architecture found in 2004-05 and the initial study of the ceramics during that season and an additional study season in 2007-08. The two 1st Dynasty enclosures were surrounded by subsidiary graves. The pottery associated with these graves consisted primarily of wine and beer jars, with some fragments of cylinder jars. Inside one of the enclosures were the reasonably well preserved remains of a building to accommodate cultic offerings, and in the interior of this chapel were found several crude offering bowls. Subsequent use of the North Cemetery, West, was entirely mortuary. The next dated use occurred in the late Old Kingdom/First Intermediate Period through the early Middle Kingdom. This period is represented extensively in the ceramic record, though only from mixed contexts. Shaft tombs that may date to this period were discovered but could not be completely excavated. Further shafts are of a type associated with the New Kingdom; however, no pottery of this period was found. The final architectural phase is represented by a large mud brick tomb with three subterranean vaults that may date to the Ptolemaic period. Relatively intact deposits of Ptolemaic ceramics were found at two of the entrances to this tomb. One vault of the tomb had been reused in Late Roman times as a dwelling; the other two vaults have not yet been completely excavated. Ceramics dating from the Late Period through the Late Roman period were extensive in the area, though with the exception of the entrances to the vaults and the reused vault these were in disturbed contexts. The integrated study of architecture and ceramics is proving a fruitful approach to the complexities of the North Cemetery, particularly in connection with its post-Early Dynastic history. This work is ongoing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]