IFAO

Publication of ten Coptic ostraca by a group of Egyptian students under the direction of the authors. They include three devotional exercises, four letters, two legal texts and one ­accounting document. They originate, except for one or two, from the Theban region.

After 50 years of research on the historical record and archaeology of the site of Kerma (Sudan) which go back to the origins of African history, we are now able to evaluate the discoveries. The two ancient cities of Kerma and Dukki Gel supply rich documentation, suggesting influences associated mainly with Egypt, but also with « Central Sudan ». From the Old Kingdom onward, the Nubian populations, along with inhabitants of several southern countries, tried to repel the pharaonic armies. Monumental constructions show the remarkable development of the indigenous architecture and, during the Egyptian conquest of the building techniques of the Empire, adapted it to an African environment. The main chronological phases presented here were identified thanks to the pottery of the early New Kingdom and of the Kerma cultures.

This text presents current research on the western facade of the Second Pylon of the Temple of Amon in Karnak. Indeed, as of 2017, an on-going epigraphic study is being conducted on the hundreds of sandstone blocks that originally formed the west facade of the building and which are now stored on the northern and southern benches. The present investigation sets out all the data (historiographical and field data) collected on this monument as well as the first results relating to its decorative program and its construction/decoration chronology.