Imaging and Imagining the Memphite Necropolis: Liber Amicorum Rene van Walsem

“Imaging and Imagining the Memphite Necropolis’ is a mixture of

archaeological, literary and iconographic studies, all relating to the

representation, visualization and reconstruction of the material culture

and art of the ancient Egyptian burial grounds of the city of Memphis

through time.
This Liber Amicorum is offered to Rene van

Walsem on the occasion of his retirement. He has been lecturer in

Egyptology at Leiden University since 1979 and was joint field director

of the Dutch archaeological mission at Saqqara from 1999 until 2007. The

volume contains twenty-four articles written by academics from around

the world, all of whom have been part of, and have been influenced by,

Rene van Walsem’s extensive professional career.
The contributions

are divided into five themes: Material Culture - Finds at the

Necropolis, relating amongst others to the (Anglo-)Dutch excavations

of the New Kingdom tombs of Horemheb, Maya & Merit, Meryneith, and

others, at Saqqara; Epigraphy - Texts and History, highlighting

some surprising textual material connected to Saqqara; Theoretics -

Religion and Theory of Egyptology, dealing with the material culture

of ancient Egypt in particular, art history in general, and the

scientific methodology applicable to both fields; Mastabas - Scenes

of Daily Life, revolving around the interpretation of iconographic

programmes in Old Kingdom elite tombs of the Memphite Area, including

the necropoleis of Giza, Abusir, Saqqara, Dashur and Meidum; Funerary

Equipment - Coffins and Stolas, focussing on coffins and specific

iconographic details.
Touching upon the different subjects to

which Rene has made important contributions, the authors imagine new

interpretations, and offer images of the Memphite necropolis in various

epochs.