The major part of the contributions were presented at the German Egyptological conference at Krems, September 1994, under the title Egypt and its Neighbours . Papers in this volume include: Die Ausgrabungen von Dair Abu Fana in Agpyten in den Jahren 1991-93 ( Helmut Buschhausen ); Zur Rezeption Agyptischer Motive in der Minoischen Freskenkunst ( Stefan Hiller ); Ein Dromedar aus der Ramses-Stadt ( Edgar B. Pusch ); Was Opium known in the 18th Dynasty in Egypt? An examination of Materials from the Tomb of the Chief Royal Architect Kha ( Norman G. Bisset, Jan G. Bruhn et al ).

This volume presents ten preliminary reports or outlines of new research relating to contacts between ancient Egypt and the Near East. These discuss: two ancient Near Eastern temples with bent axis in the eastern Nile Delta; 2003 excavations in a palace near Ezbet Helmi which revealed Aegean-influenced Egyptian wall-paintings; the chronology of Chocolate on White-Ware' from the Levant; the occurrences of the Cypriot ceramic Base-Ring Ware at Tell el-Dab'a; the identification of pumice and volcanic ash from archaeological sites in the eastern Mediterranean; the significance of the Crown Goddess in the Early Dynastic period; a very recently discovered letter from the archive of Ramses II; the first appearances of Kamares Ware in the Levant; foreign Egyptology in Egypt; the depictions of the Battle of Kadesh at Abydos. Three of the well-illustrated papers are in German, the rest in English. The introduction is in both languages.

The volume is dedicated to the results of a recent excavation in Qantir, Egypt, carried out by the Pelizaus Museum Hildesheim under the direction of Edgar Pusch with Arne Eggebricht, which identified the town with Piramesse, the Delta residence of the 19th Dynasty. The site is particularly notable for its royal stable complex, which would have held about 500 horses, and the remains of Rameses II's palace. The volume also examines the unusual pottery vessels and the evidence for glass technology. The archaeology and the artefacts are illustrated and the results of the magnetometer survey are presented in detail. The book is accompanied with a large fold-out plan of the excavation. The text is predominantly in German.

A volume composed mostly of papers from a symposium held in 1993 at which evidence of contact between these two regions was discussed. The main focus was on Bietak's recent discoveries at Ancient Avaris of possibly Minoan frescoes and artefacts, though evidence from different sites is taken into consideration. The contributors' list comprises many of the foremost names in Bronze Age Mediterranean scholarship: P. P. Harpar, D. Arnold, F. Arnold, S. Allen, J. Aruz, M. Bietak and N. Marinatos, P. Janosi, V. Karageorghis, J. A. MacGillivray, M. J. Mellink and M. C. Shaw, and discussions were chaired by M. Wiener. An important collection of articles for anyone studying these regions.

A study of the construction and layout of the Queens' pyramids, and the ways in which their features changed over progressive dynasties.His research is detailed, with much supporting evidence by way of dating and comparison. Individual pyramids are considered, and this is then followed up by an architectural consideration, and the specifically cultic features of the different layouts.

The Austrian excavations over the past thirty years at the Tell el-Daba site have revealed that it is by far the largest and the oldest Middle Bronze Age site in the Eastern Delta. Beginning in 1966 and resumed after a break between 1970 and 1974, some fifty excavation and research seasons have led to the accumulation of an enormous amount of material dating from the Twelfth Dynasty to the Late New Kingdom. Most of the investigated strata belong to the Late Middle Kingdom and the Hyksos Period. The wealth of material finds that have been gained from this site is legendary, not least amongst these are the ceramics, which are analysed in this study. The book begins with a general introduction listing the scope of the publication and continues with clay materials, vessel terminology, the various parts of the vessels and descriptive abbreviations. Section II deals with the pottery from the Late Middle Kingdom to the beginning of the Hyksos Period and comprises a general corpus of Egyptian and imported Levantine pottery from the time of the Late Twelfth and Thirteenth Dynasties. The volume presents the first detailed discussion of the co-existence between the culture of Ancient Egypt during the Late Middle Kingdom and the Second Intermediate Period with the Syro-Palestinian Middle Bronze Age culture. Section III contains an analysis of the Hyksos pottery that developed in the North-Eastern Delta from a explicitly localized blending of Egyptian and Middle Bronze Age traditions. Outside of the Memphis-Fayum region, and, to a lesser extent, Elephantine, pottery of the Second Intermediate Period is but poorly known, thus the publication of this material is a distinct addition to our knowledge of the regional styles that developed during this period. In both sections all the vessels are grouped typologically, thus allowing the reader a quick overview of how certain forms develop over time, the more so since they are all clearly illustrated on a user-friendly scale.

This volume in the series includes contributions on the Middle Kingdom, scarabs, synchronization between Egypt and the Levant in the Early Bronze Age I, and Minoan paintings. Essential for anyone who wants to keep up to date with modern thought on Egyptology.