IFAO

One of the most explored issues in Egyptology is “the tomb” in its being the micro-cosmos of the individual in both society and the afterlife. Tombs have been approached from a textual and visual perspective by investigating their artistic facets, their architectural layout, their funerary equipment. However, a weak point of tomb analysis is the tomb topography. This is a very promising field of investigation, particularly when we consider the striking differences in the planning of the three main cemeteries of the Memphite necropolis - i.e. Saqqara, Abusir and Giza - in the time span taken into account in this conference, i.e. the fifth dynasty. By combining analysis of the natural environment with landscape phenomenology (visibility, accessibility, position, interrelation), the conference will finally move to the main theoretical question: “May spatial patterns of tomb location reveal aspects of the nature of early court society in Egypt that are not accessible through the written and visual sources?”

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