Arabic: أم القعاب | |
 General view of area, showing littering of pots | |
  Shown within Northeast Africa  Umm El Qa'ab (Egypt) | |
| Location | Egypt |
|---|---|
| Region | New Valley Governorate |
| Coordinates | 26°10.5′N 31°54.5′E / 26.1750°N 31.9083°E |
Umm El Qaʻāb (sometimes romanised Umm El Gaʻab, Arabic: أم القعاب) is an archaeological site located at Abydos, Egypt.[1] Its modern name, meaning "Mother of Pots", refers to the mound made of millions of broken pieces of pots which defines the landscape. Umm el Qa'ab contains evidence that the site is the cemetery for Egypt's predynastic proto-kings along with rulers of the 1st and 2nd dynasties. In addition to early royal tombs, evidence also suggests a link between the site, the cult of Osiris, and Osiris' annual festival.
The cemetery was likely founded during the Naqada I period (4,000 BCE) as evident from the tomb structures, pottery, and seal impressions excavated from the site. The location continued as a royal cemetery through the First Dynasty (2,950-2,775 BCE) and ended with the burial of only the last two kings of the Second Dynasty, Peribsen and Khasekhemy (2,650 BCE).[2]
The Pre and Early dynastic royal cemetery at Umm el-Qa'ab became a site of veneration and cultic practice beginning in the Middle Kingdom (1,938 BCE) and stayed in use for 1,500 years until the Ptolemaic Dynasty (305-30 BCE).[3]
The tombs of this area were first excavated by Émile Amélineau in the 1890s and more systematically by Flinders Petrie between 1899 and 1901.[4] Since then the area has been excavated repeatedly by the German Archaeological Institute since the 1970s, which has allowed for a thorough reconstruction of the original layout and appearance of these tombs.[4]
- ^ Toby Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, Routledge, 1999
- ^ Kemp, Barry J. (December 1966). "Abydos and the Royal Tombs of the First Dynasty". The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology. 52: 13–22. doi:10.2307/3855814. JSTOR 3855814.
- ^ O'Connor, David B. (2011). Abydos: Egypt's first pharaohs and the cult of Osiris. New aspects of antiquity (1. paperback ed.). London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 978-0-500-28900-6.
- ^ a b Shaw, Ian. The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. p. 67. Oxford University Press. 2000. ISBN 0-19-280458-8