The Mortuary Temple of Senwosret III at Abydos.

• Author: Leprohon, Ronald J.
• Position: Book review

The Mortuary Temple of Senwosret III at Abydos. Publications of the Pennsylvania-Yale-Institute of Fine Arts/NYU Expedition to Egypt, vol. 8. By JOSEF WEGNER. New Haven and Philadelphia: PEABODY MUSEUM OF YALE UNIVERSITY and UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA MUSEUM OF ARCHAEOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY, 2007. Pp. xli + 418, plates. $170. [Distributed by the David Brown Book Co., Oakville, CT]

What a magnificent volume this is! Here is the story of the re-discovery of the mortuary complex of Senwosret III at South Abydos by the Pennsylvania-Yale-Institute of Fine Arts/NYU Expedition to Egypt under its director, Josef Wegner. Note that this volume only presents the mortuary temple and its subsidiary production area, as well as the tomb compound itself. The attached workmen's village to the east of the temple is inevitably mentioned throughout the book, but a full treatment of the settlement must wait for the author's final report.

A short review such as this cannot possibly do justice to the wealth of material contained in the present publication. Wegner has masterfully presented the site's architectural features, their original construction and eventual dismantling, as well as the full decorative program of the mortuary temple; an analysis of the epigraphic material and its administrative significance; a treatment of the cultic acts found in mortuary temples; and a thorough examination of the royal tomb, its antecedents, and subsequent developments in the early New Kingdom. Throughout, comparative material from other Middle Kingdom sites is given, which shows how Senwosret III's architects worked within the conventions of their time.

The first part of the book contains an introductory chapter that presents a history of the research at the site from the early twentieth century to the current excavations since 1994, along with a description of the site. We learn that Senwosret III first built his pyramid at Dahshur, followed by his subterranean tomb at South Abydos, with the natural pyramid-shaped mountain that towered over the tomb rendering the building of a new pyramid unnecessary. The mortuary temple that stood on the northern end of the site close to the floodplain reminds us of an Old Kingdom valley temple, but comparison with Senwosret II's earlier mortuary complex at Lahun makes it clear that, by the Middle Kingdom, traditional valley temples had been supplanted by mortuary temples set far apart from the burial site. The next section reminds us that the cardinal points mentioned in the book are the actual ones, as opposed to the "local" directions usually cited in scholarly discussions of the site. Thus, what is often called "local west," e.g., the expected direction from the mortuary temple to the tomb, will properly be called the southern end of the site.

Chapter 1 details the full mortuary complex of Senwosret III, including the workmen's settlement. The full...