A facsimile edition of the 1974 reissue of Flinders Petrie’s fully illustrated 1927 description and catalogue of personal and everyday Egyptian and Roman objects in his collections. Jewellery items include necklaces, bracelets, rings, and earrings, many made from precious metals and/or incorporating gemstones or beads. Toilet items include mirrors, combs, kohl pots, and sticks. Magic wands, manufactured to provide protection and carved from bone and ivory are described, along with examples carved as hands and found in pairs. Board games are represented by playing pieces and gameboards relating to a number of known games. Toys, writing equipment, fragments of furniture, walking sticks and basketry are all catalogued. This volume is part of a new series comprising facsimile re-issues of typological catalogues produced between 1898 and 1937 by W. M. Flinders Petrie, based on his vast collection of Egyptian artefacts. Mostly excavated by Petrie during many seasons of campaign in the latter years of the 19th and early decades of the 20th century, these artefacts now reside in the Petrie Museum at University College, London. Long out of print, the catalogues were re-issued in facsimile by publishers Aris & Phillips in the 1970s alongside newly-commissioned titles, based on more recent examination of elements of the Petrie Collection by contemporary experts. The Oxbow Classics in Egyptology series makes a selection of these important resources available again in print for a new generation of students and scholars.

Facsimile edition of the 1974 reissue of Flinders Petrie’s 1917 pioneering typological catalogue of Egyptian name-scarabs and cylinders, one of a number of such catalogues to be reissued in this new series. The beetle form of amulets are common finds on Egyptian sites but examples with engraved names represent a small proportion of the total. Over 240 different royal persons are named among the various major museum collections. Petrie here illustrates and discusses over 1,600 examples in his own collection together with a selection of inscribed steatite cylinders. He discusses the religious aspects of scarabs and their magical use, their varieties, materials and manufacture, and presents a chronological discussion with fully illustrated catalog of both line drawings and photographs. This volume is part of a new series comprising facsimile re-issues of typological catalogues produced between 1898 and 1937 by W. M. Flinders Petrie, based on his vast collection of Egyptian artefacts. Mostly excavated by Petrie during many seasons of campaign in the latter years of the 19th and early decades of the 20th century, these artefacts now reside in the Petrie Museum at University College, London. Long out of print, the catalogues were re-issued in facsimile by publishers Aris & Phillips in the 1970s alongside newly-commissioned titles, based on more recent examination of elements of the Petrie Collection by contemporary experts. The Oxbow Classics in Egyptology series makes a selection of these important resources available again in print for a new generation of students and scholars.

This is a facsimile edition of the 1972 reissue of Flinders Petrie’s 1914 pioneering typological catalogue of Egyptian Shabtis, one of a number of such catalogues to be reissued in this new series. Shabtis, funeral statuettes made of stone or timber, were frequently encountered in early tomb and cemetery excavations. Petrie identified and describes a chronological sequence of development from simple statuettes emphasising the head, which appear to be substitutes for real heads that were often removed from the body, through to later detailed forms that he recognised as substitutes for the mummy. He presents a discussion of the formula used in the inscriptions, their royal and sacred affinities, and identifies examples of additional texts. The examination of forms, formulaic inscriptions, materials and dating evidence is accompanied by transliteration of names, illustrated inscriptions, and over 650 photographed statuettes. This volume is part of a new series comprising facsimile re-issues of typological catalogues produced between 1898 and 1937 by W. M. Flinders Petrie, based on his vast collection of Egyptian artefacts. Mostly excavated by Petrie during many seasons of campaign in the latter years of the 19th and early decades of the 20th century, these artefacts now reside in the Petrie Museum at University College, London. Long out of print, the catalogues were re-issued in facsimile by publishers Aris & Phillips in the 1970s alongside newly-commissioned titles, based on more recent examination of elements of the Petrie Collection by contemporary experts. The Oxbow Classics in Egyptology series makes a selection of these important resources available again in print for a new generation of students and scholars.

This volume discusses the main excavations at Neolithic Çatalhöyük East undertaken from 2009 to 2017. The site is well known because of its large size, elaborate symbolism and wall paintings, and long history of excavation. This volume covers the last period of excavation directed by Ian Hodder in the North and South Areas of the site. It also describes the work conducted in the GDN Area on the later phases of occupation.The main aim of these excavations was to understand the layout and social geography of the settlement (both houses and open areas) and to situate the elaborate art and symbolism within a secure architectural and depositional context. Excavation and conservation methods are described and the campaign of geophysical prospection is described. Considerable focus is placed on detailed dating using Bayesian modeling that alters significantly our understanding of the organization of the settlement. New light is thrown on the degree of contemporaneity of buildings and on the continuities and breaks in house occupation and in the site as a whole. A fuller understanding has also been reached of the variability of houses and burials and of how these variations relate to social differentiation. The descriptions of excavated units, features and buildings incorporates results from the analyses of animal bone, chipped stone, groundstone, shell, ceramics, phytoliths, micromorphology. The integration of different types of data and of different voices within the excavation team mimics the process of collaborative interpretation that took place during the excavation and post-excavation process.

The Hay archive of Coptic manuscripts consists of seven fragmentary sheets of leather bearing spells for divination, protection, healing, personal advancement, cursing and the satisfaction of sexual desire. Purchased from the heir of the Scottish Egyptologist and draughtsman, Robert Hay (1799–1863), the manuscripts arrived at the British Museum in 1868. Since they were first published in the 1930s, they were understood to be the work of a single copyist writing around AD 600 in the Theban region of Upper Egypt. The present volume has confirmed, nuanced or challenged these assessments on the basis of scientific analysis and close study of the manuscripts. Prompted by the urgent conservation needs of the corpus, this study seeks to provide a model, integrated approach to the publication of ancient texts as archaeological objects by providing a full record of provenance and collection history; scientific analysis; conservation approach and treatment; a new complete edition and translation of the Coptic texts; and an extended discussion of the cultural context of production. Written on poorly processed calf, sheep and goat skin, the manuscripts were copied by multiple non-professional writers in the 8th–9th centuries. Employing a striking combination of ancient Egyptian, Graeco-Roman, biblical and extra-biblical motifs, their contents represent a Christian milieu making use of the mechanics of earlier ‘magical’ practice in a period well after the arrival of Islam.

This fifth volume of Abu Salabikh Excavations is the definitive account of the excavation of two large domestic residences at the Early Dynastic III city at Abu Salabikh, in south Iraq 15 km to the north of Nippur. It describes and illustrates the houses and their contents, in particular the intramural burials, with coverage of the human osteology, and botanical, zoological and micromorphological studies.

This fifth volume of Abu Salabikh Excavations is the definitive account of the excavation of two large domestic residences at the Early Dynastic III city at Abu Salabikh, in south Iraq 15 km to the north of Nippur. It describes and illustrates the houses and their contents, in particular the intramural burials, with coverage of the human osteology, and botanical, zoological and micromorphological studies.

This fifth volume of Abu Salabikh Excavations is the definitive account of the excavation of two large domestic residences at the Early Dynastic III city at Abu Salabikh, in south Iraq 15 km to the north of Nippur. It describes and illustrates the houses and their contents, in particular the intramural burials, with coverage of the human osteology, and botanical, zoological and micromorphological studies.

Hugo de Reede (1929-2019), artist and archaeological illustrator has worked in Syria for many years. Gripped by the Gilgamesh Epos and the philosophy narrated in the epic, he created a pictorial book, re-telling the account of Gilgamesh and the eternal mystery of death. The style of drawing in the book suits the regional art in a remarkable manner and with a humorous touch that is fitting for the region’s storytelling tradition.

Kelly Eads joined the 101st Airborne Division soon after 9/11, his experience reflecting the patriotism and commitment of so many young men and women who responded to the attack. He deployed to Iraq twice with the 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment. Early in their deployment to Iraq, the 2nd Battalion brought the fight directly to the enemy by setting up patrol bases in the local areas where they lived and operated. Soon they built a reputation for themselves, becoming known to the enemy as the Black Hearts—The 502nd had been distinguished on the battlefield by black hearts on their helmets since World War II. Their Scout Platoon became known as Painted Guns due to their practice of camouflaging their rifles. During Eads’ deployments, the battalion would experience thousands of Improvised Explosive Devices and firefights. They would spend countless hours in blistering 120-degree desert heat, controlling roads and preventing enemy freedom of movement; and would dedicate months to hunting enemy mortar teams and terror cells. With the help of Dan Morgan, an Infantry officer who deployed multiple times to Iraq and Afghanistan as a commander and operations officer, Eads takes the reader on a rollercoaster of combat experiences during the hunt for the most violent terrorist in Iraq, Abū Muṣʻab Zarqāwī, bringing to life the painstaking and horrid details of combat in a sectarian war. He tells the story of the soldiers’ camaraderie, built through adversity, and the love of family that sustained them.

Cyprus was a thriving and densely populated late antique province. Contrary to what used to be thought, the Arab raids of the mid-seventh century did not abruptly bring the island’s prosperity to an end. Recent research instead highlights long-lasting continuity in both urban and rural contexts. This volume brings together historians and archaeologists working on diverse aspects of Cyprus between the sixth and eighth centuries. They discuss topics as varied as rural prosperity, urban endurance, artisanal production, civic and private religion and maritime connectivity. The role of the imperial administration and of the Church is touched upon in several contributions. Other articles place Cyprus back into its wider Mediterranean context. Together, they produce a comprehensive impression of the quality of life on the island in the long late antiquity.

Ancient Egyptian elites invested immense cultural and economic efforts in preparing for their afterlives. However, the diversity of choices open to them is often overlooked. These choices included tomb size, tomb location, and architectural design, as well as tomb decoration, and the selection of certain grave gifts. Their choices depended on financial means, but also on contemporary fashion, among other factors. Ancient sites were visited by the living to commemorate and rejuvenate human ancestors and the gods, as individual acts or as part of large-scale processions. They also visited cemeteries because of new building activities, or to visit already-ancient monuments. The daily interactions of the living with their ancestors and gods are traceable in the evidence of lived religious practices, the transmission of texts and images, and the processes which shaped the landscape. Older monuments and stories remained accessible, and the ongoing use of the site created a palimpsest landscape, showing the results of millennia of human activity. These results of past activities could hold special significance for later generations, but new meanings often supplanted older interpretations.Building on the success of Perspectives on Lived Religion, Perspective on Lived Religion II presents the results of a conference held in Cairo, September 29th – October 1st 2019, and kindly funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) Vidi Talent Scheme, as part of the Leiden University research project “The Walking Dead at Saqqara: The Making of a Cultural Geography”. The papers presented here are written by both well-established and more recent Egyptologists, and examine examples of human agency at various sites in ancient Egypt, such as Saqqara, Thebes, Abydos, and Pi-Ramesse. These case studies examine which traditions were followed, disputed, and negotiated by whom and where in ancient Egypt, as well as discussing the modern perception of some of these traditions.

The most significant and by far largest collections of Zaydi manuscripts are housed by the many public and private libraries of Yemen, an endangered cultural heritage tradition, currently at risk due to the conflict and warfare in Yemen. The contributions brought together in this volume address a wide spectrum of aspects concerning Yemeni manuscript cultures, with some focusing on their history and present state within Yemen and others discussing the collections of manuscripts of Yemeni provenance in Europe and elsewhere.

This volume combines the most up-to-date discoveries and perspectives of Near Eastern Neolithic lithics by leading international archaeologists. It presents the proceedings of the 9th International Conference of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic Chipped and Ground Stone Industries of the Near East, hosted at the University of Tokyo, Japan in 2019 (PPN9-Tokyo). The book places emphasis on regional perspectives to evaluate the Near Eastern Neolithic. Current research indicates that the earliest farming societies of the Near East developed in interaction with neighbouring hunter-gatherer societies, that either coexisted with them for long periods or soon assimilated to the Near Eastern farmers. Understanding these contrasting processes sheds new light on identifying the Neolithisation practices of the 'core' regions in the Near East itself. The 39 papers in this volume include contributions on the Iranian Zagros, the Caucasus, and Central Asia, a region whose Neolithic archaeological records are far less well understood but which enrich our understanding of the first farming societies of the Near East.

Tell Ahmar – also known as Masuwari, Til Barsib and Kar-Shalmaneser in the first millennium BCE – was first inhabited in the sixth millennium during the Ubaid period, and progressively developed to become a regional centre, and in the eighth and seventh centuries, a provincial capital of the Assyrian empire. Remains from the third millennium (a temple and a funerary complex), the second millennium (an administrative complex and well-preserved houses) and the first millennium (an Assyrian palace and elite residences) are particularly impressive. The book offers an archaeological and historical synthesis of the results obtained by the excavations of François Thureau-Dangin (1929–1931) and by the more recent excavations of the universities of Melbourne (1988–1999) and Liège (2000–2010). It presents a comprehensive and diachronic view of the evolution of the site, which, by its position on the Euphrates at an important crossroads of ancient communication routes, was at the heart of a game of cultural and political interference between Mesopotamia, the Mediterranean world and Asia Minor.

With America's War on Terror and the subsequent democracy experiments in Afghanistan and Iraq having turned into geopolitical disasters, the US military campaign in alliance with the Kurdish forces in Syria is one of the few success stories. Military experts and politicians in Washington, DC, judge the intervention against ISIS in Syria as the nation's most successful campaign since WWII, based on the overwhelming military victory, the functioning Kurdish civilian governing structures that followed the fighting, the extremely light military footprint and the strong link to Kurdish partners many political analysts. However, since neither these experts nor many journalists were on the ground during the fighting, they struggle to explain exactly how this particular operation turned into a just war. The authors, however, were there. Between the three of them, they fought for over two years with the Kurdish forces. They participated in all the large Kurdish operations against the Islamic State between late 2014 and mid-2016. The endured a muddy archaic trench warfare, witnessed the first waves of decisive US and British airstrikes against ISIS, and experienced the impact America had on the battlefield. Later, when American, British and French Special Forces were deployed at the frontlines, the authors worked closely with those teams when they evacuated hundreds of wounded from the battlefield together. Based on the authors' unique insights, this book analyses America's war in Syria and structures the intervention into different phases including the secretive build up and the ultimate destruction of the ISIS Caliphate.