Archaeological Discoveries at the Temple of Ramesses II in Abydos : Vol. 2: Old Kingdom Wall, Papyri, Ostraca, and Leather Remains

The second volume in a three-part study of excavations at the Ramesses II Temple in Abydos (2017–2025), presenting discoveries spanning over 3,000 years. Featuring evidence from the Old Kingdom to the early Arab period, it sheds light on settlement history, economy, texts, and exceptionally preserved leather finds.

This book is the second volume of a three-volume study presenting the remarkable archaeological discoveries made over nine excavation seasons (2017–2025). The work was conducted under the direction of Dr. Sameh Iskander at the Ramesses II Temple in Abydos, under the auspices of New York University-Institute for the Study of the Ancient World. The findings span more than three millennia of history. The volume begins with the recent discovery of a massive Old Kingdom mud-brick wall, which offers important new insights into the ancient landscape of Abydos and the location of its early town. Covering much later periods as well, the book also presents multifaceted discoveries from the Greco-Roman era through the late antique and early Arab periods. These materials provide valuable evidence for economic history, festival songs, letters, and legal contracts preserved on papyri and ostraca written in Demotic, Greek, Coptic, and Arabic. The volume also discusses the unprecedented large well-preserved leather remains that make them some of the most important and remarkable leather discoveries in Egypt to date.