Finds of a Late Period Egyptian Bronze Caster Workshop – Current research on an unparalleled group of artifacts

Abstract

The Egyptian Museum of Bonn University (Germany) houses a unique collection of bronze casting workshop materials from the Qubbet el-Hawa necropolis, opposite
from modern Aswan. They were discovered in 1969 by members of the Bonn excavation team under Elmar Edel in tomb QH 207. This tomb dates back to the end of the Old Kingdom (2347-2216 BC). It was reused during the Late Period  (664-332 BC) for several burials of members of the local Elephantine priesthood. The aforementioned artifacts belong to the latest burial (»Bestattung 1«), but their specific archaeological context has not been recorded in detail. Nevertheless, they enable Egyptologists, conservators and natural scientists alike to thoroughly study the technology of Bronze casting in the Late Period for the first time using a wide range of modern methods of analysis.