The Australian Centre for Egyptology (Macquarie University) Teti Cemetery Project at Saqqara

Excavations at Saqqara, Egypt (WSG84 29.875278,31.221667), conducted in 1996 by a joint mission of the Australian Centre for Egyptology and the Supreme Council of Antiquities, found a stratified cemetery of modest burials north-east of the pyramid of 6th Dynasty king Teti (date of reign c. 2345– 2323 BC). The burials and coffins rested on, or were cut into, the structures of earlier built tombs of the New Kingdom (c. 1550–1069 BC) and even earlier mastabas of the Old Kingdom (c. 6th Dynasty 2394–2184 BC). The burial ground dates from the First Intermediate Period to the Late Period, representing a snapshot of over 1600 years of local people of all ages, including infants. In particular, the mid-18th Dynasty cemetery component is a unique opportunity to study the burial customs and population of Memphis from a discrete chronological horizon dating to c 1430–1390 BC. The clarity of the stratigraphy, the variety of burial customs present, the well-preserved human remains, and the tight dating of the material, fills an important lacuna in our knowledge of the lower classes of ancient Memphis who formed the majority of the population.

The publication project is directed by Dr. Karin Sowada.