Siegelabrollungen und Rollsiegel der Stadt Elephantine im 3. Jahrtausend v. Chr.

Elephantine Island is the largest of the Aswan area islands, and is one of the most ancient sites in Egypt. The sealing material of the town of Elephantine was uncovered and collected by the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut in Cairo (DAI-German Institute) in the years 1972-1991 in 15 archaeological missions. With its more than 1600 objects, it is one of the most important and biggest corpora of its kind that has ever been found in an urban context from the Early Dynastic (Middle/Late Second Dynasty) and from the very beginning of the Old Kingdom (Third Dynasty). Study of the material has led not only to the establishment of a very differentiated typology, but also assisted with the determination of the characteristics of different sealing methods and traces of the materials found on the backs of the seals. The insights given to the trade and storage of goods in the town of Elephantine are considerable.