gems, glyptic, engraved gems, agate, cameo, intaglio, amethyst, Egypt, amethyst mines

This book, written by an Egyptian scholar who studied at the Universities of Paris and Liverpool, presents the first full and authoritative edition of the important inscriptions and graffiti from the ancient Egyptian amethyst mines at Wadi el-Hudi, located some 35 km out in the desert southeast of Aswan and the Nile Valley. It brings together in one volume all the texts first edited in pioneering fashion by the late Professor Ahmed Fakhry in 1952, those studied earlier by Alan Rowe, and several more identified recently. In this first volume, all the texts are presented in clear, standard hieroglyphs, with a full apparatus of textual notes, translations, and line-by-line commentaries. These make the material reliably accessible to anyone interested in ancient mining, exploration, Egyptian history and the language of the Middle Kingdom, and the organization of ancient expeditions. Accompanied by a brief yet comprehensive synthesis of Middle Kingdom mining enterprises and nine detailed indexes, this work will remain an indispensable handbook of its kind.