The Treasure of the Egyptian Queen Ahhotep and International Relations at the Turn of the Middle Bronze Age (1600–1500 BCE)

The burial of Queen Ahhotep represents one of the most significant finds in Near Eastern Archaeology. A gilded coffin and a trove of magnificent jewels and objects belonging to a queen named Ahhotep was discovered at Dra Abu el-Naga, in Western Thebes by Auguste Mariette in 1859 along with a sumptuous group of jewels and elaborately decorated ceremonial objects. Many of the objects associated with the burial bore the names of Kings Ahmose and Kamose of the end of the Second Intermediate Period and the beginning of the New Kingdom and reflected the influence of the Aegean and of Nubia. The treasure caused a sensation when it was exhibited in Paris in 1867 at the International Exhibition and helped Mariette to convince the government of Egypt that a national museum should be built. Despite its importance, the treasure has never been fully published and much new research on the various aspects of the find have not been collected into a combined study until now. This volume, following a conference on the subject at the annual meeting of the American Society of Overseas Research (ASOR) in Denver on November 17, 2018, has assembled scholars from the world over and details the circumstances of the treasure’s discovery, its history of display and publication, both the technical and artistic aspects of the individual elements of the material, a review of the history and burial practices of the period and how Ahhotep and the treasure fits into them.