Acknowledgments

The idea of this book began as notes for my course at Boston University, the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt. Much of the book was written while I was on sabbatical leave in 2002-3, and I would like to thank the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Boston University for approving this leave so that I could spend the year writing and doing research at the University of Toronto. While in Toronto, Edward Keall, then Head and Senior Curator of the Near Eastern and Asian Civilizations Department of the Royal Ontario Museum, provided assistance in using the museum libraries. The late Nicholas Millet, with whom I first studied Egyptian archaeology, very graciously assisted me in the Egyptian Department library of the ROM. Larry Pavlish and Roelf Beukens gave me a very informative tour of the Isotrace Radiocarbon Laboratory at the University of Toronto and later provided information for this book on radiocarbon dating.

I am especially grateful to John Baines of the University of Oxford for all of his comments and assistance - and cheerful encouragement - which greatly helped to improve the book manuscript. His encyclopedic knowledge of ancient Egypt and relevant references - and his readiness to provide not only information but also his prodigious insights - are much appreciated.

As the book took shape, Bruce Trigger of McGill University provided support and encouragement - with which he has been so generous since he was on my PhD dissertation committee at the University of Toronto. I am grateful to him for the time and thoughtfulness that he put into reviewing the book chapters - and his many helpful comments and suggestions.

Emily Moss of Harvard’s Tozzer Library was helpful with information about references. My Boston University colleague Chris Roosevelt cheerfully provided quick answers about terms in Roman archaeology. A long conversation with Jack Josephson in New York gave me helpful directions on what to focus on in the chapters on the Late and Greco-Roman periods. For questions on Nubian archaeology, Andrea Manzo of the University of Naples “l’Orientale” - my colleague of so many field seasons in Ethiopia and Egypt - was helpful with references and knowledgeable insights. The many discussions I have had in the field with Rodolfo Fattovich, co-director with me of excavations at Aksum, Ethiopia, and Mersa/Wadi Gawasis, Egypt, have enriched my knowledge of fieldwork methodology, while at the same time not losing sight of the broader cultural context.

Xx Acknowledgments

At Blackwell Publishing, Jane Huber provided enthusiastic support from the inception of this book - and ongoing facilitation of what turned out to be a much bigger book than I had anticipated. In the process, Jane has not only impressed me with her great skill as an editor/manager, but she has also become a good friend. Editorial Assistant Emily Martin was very helpful and thorough in all aspects of illustration research. I am also grateful to Donald Ryan of Pacific Lutheran University for the idea of including a glossary of terms.

The end result of this book is of course my own responsibility. Although there may be gaps in the evidence discussed because of the book’s very broad scope, I hope that it will be useful and informative as an introduction to the impressive remains of ancient Egypt.

As a child, I was taken to the Egyptian collection in the Field Museum in Chicago, where I saw a small faience amulet of a cat and her two kittens that filled me with a sense of wonder. That is where this book really began 50 years ago - and the wonder of ancient Egypt is still with me.