Zawyet Sultan au Louvre: écrire l’histoire d’un site archéologique de Moyenne Egypte par la collection du musée parisien

The article aims at introducing the collection of objects coming from Zawyet Sultan preserved in the Musée du Louvre at Paris, and the museological issues related to it. Zawyet Sultan, probably the ancient Hebenu, capital of 16th nome of Upper Egypt, is located in Middle Egypt (Menya) and it has been almost continuously in use from the Predynastic (Naqada II) to the Islamic Period, both as cemetery and as settlement; its main phase of development corresponds to the Old Kingdom. The topographical overview of the site and the history of its archaeological exploration aim at contextualising the excavations of Raymond Weill at the site in 1912, 1913, 1929, 1933. A large part of the objects (ca. 311) from his excavations at Zawyet Sultan entered the Louvre collection in three different lots (1912 = E 11297 to E 11333; 1913 = E 11437 to E 11515; 1992 = E 26835 to E 26851). The collection of the Louvre provides an unparalleled opportunity for studying the material culture of a regional site through all its phases and ages.