Wooden Models from Asyut
Monika Zöller-Engelhardt
Wooden model grave goods represent one of the largest and most important groups of grave goods from the late Old Kingdom until the end of the Middle Kingdom.
In Asyut wooden models form the characteristical element of grave goods of the First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom: the city was one of the centers for the production of exquisite wooden models, as numerous high quality artworks in collections around the world prove – e.g. the two battalions of model soldiers from the tomb of Mesehti or the finds from the tomb of Nakhti.
During the field campaigns of 2004 and 2005, the Asyut Project Team discovered a large amount of wooden model material in the rock-cut tombs of the local nomarchs Iti-ibi (Tomb III, N12.1) and Khety II (Tomb IV, N12.2). Especially rich were the finds from the side chambers of the four shafts inside of Tomb III, which contained numerous fragments of wooden model figures, scenes and boats, alongside with a considerable amount of wooden model tools and weapons in the side chamber of Shaft 3.
For the most part the original position and function of the fragmentary material of Tomb III could be identified and assigned and can now give an idea of the previously unknown multitude and quality of the initial grave good equipment.
The recent wooden model finds considerably contribute to the knowledge about Asyut during the First Intermediate Period by getting a clearer picture of the elaborated craftsmanship of the region and by also increasing the insight into the specific burial customs at that time.
For full text, see:
Monika Zöller-Engelhardt, "Wooden Models from Asyut's First Intermediate Period Tombs", in: Seven Seasons at Asyut: First Results of the Egyptian-German Cooperation in Archaeological Fieldwork, The Asyut Project 2, Edited by Jochem Kahl, Ursula Verhoeven and Mahmoud El-Khadragy, Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden, 2012, pp. 91-104.