Dayr al-Barsha Volume II. First Intermediate Period Restoration of Old Kingdom Tombs

This is the second volume of the final reports of the mission of the
K.U.Leuven in Dayr al-Barsha (Middle Egypt). This volume is dedicated to
the Old Kingdom rock tombs that are mainly located on the south hill of
the site. First a general introduction to this necropolis is given,
together with a history of the research in this area. While most of the
rock tombs are undecorated, there are several that do contain reliefs and
inscriptions, all of which are published here for the first time in
facsimile drawings and provided with transcriptions and translations. The
title strings of the persons buried at Dayr al-Barsha are then compared to
the title strings encountered in contemporary tombs at nearby al-Shaykh
Said. In five Old Kingdom tombs at Dayr al-Barsha and four at al-Shaykh
Said, restoration inscriptions were left by a First Intermediate Period
nomarch named Djehutinakht, son of Teti. These inscriptions are published
in facsimile for the first time, and the importance of these texts is
discussed in relation to the chronology of the nomarchs of the First
Intermediate Period and early Middle Kingdom in the Hare Nome. Finally,
the Old Kingdom tombs at Dayr al-Barsha that contain one of these
restoration texts, were excavated in search for the meaning of this
restoration. The archaeological reports regarding these tombs are
presented, and the discovery of the intact tomb of Henu provides the best
insight in what the restoration by Djehutinakht encompassed.