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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Interested in supporting our work? Our 2026 fundraiser continues! Link in bio to donate. . #ancientegypt #archaeology #excavation #conservation #temple

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

This design was influenced by a desire to use both Upper/Lower Egyptian forms in one complex, although there are many unknowns without more analysis! Our work will result in a modern, geo-located survey & a plethora of data, that will help us to understand this marvel’s design and use better.

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

. Ahmose I constructed a unique mortuary complex at Abydos either intended as a tomb or cenotaph for his body after death. One component of this complex shifted the likely Funerary Temple, used for the cult worship of the dead king, to the desert cliffs.

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

🧵 🏺What exactly is the Terrace Temple? . With the Temple being a focus of our 2026 Winter season, we figured this was an important question to address.

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Yes! We’re happy you would find that useful! Stay tuned 🥰

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Are you an ASP supporter in the Worcester area and looking for a way to spend an evening? ASP Associate Director Emily Smith-Sangster is giving the AIA Michel and Nelly Abemayor Fund for the Study of Egyptian Art and Archaeology Lecture at Holy Cross this Monday at 6:30pm. All are welcome!

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

This is a monumental undertaking (photo recreates the approximate placement and scale in the western cliffs) but we can’t wait to get started. Interested in helping us with this work? Consider a tax deductible donation (see link in bio). Every dollar helps us to continue our work in South Abydos.

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

This is why we’re excited to move onto another phase of our planned 2026/27 season - the re-excavation of the Terrace Temple! With modern excavation techniques and recording, we hope that this will be the first chapter in an in depth study and restoration of the monument.

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

🧵 Ever woefully frustrated by the lack of information in Currelly’s excavations of the Ahmose Terrace Temple? Or is this a unique experience? 😅 His plan is gorgeous (attached), but there’s so much more to learn.

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

We will be back next week with more about our 2026-2027 season, so stay tuned!

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Not a fan of META, no stress! Our primary fundraising platform, Givebutter, can be accessed at our website (abydossouth.org). Your financial support makes all the difference in furthering our understanding of the Egyptian past at South Abydos.

abydossouth.org

The Abydos South Project – Fieldwork at the site of south Abydos, Egypt

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

We are happy to announce that, as a verified nonprofit, ASP can now be selected as a beneficiary when you host a fundraising campaign on Facebook or Instagram. Please consider us when selecting a nonprofit for your birthday fundraisers and around the holiday season(s).

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Join us on instragram for a little chat with Dr. Smith-Sangster about the scanning project portion of our upcoming season: www.instagram.com/reel/Dcq2hHy...

instagram.com

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Create an account or log in to Instagram - Share what you're into with the people who get you.

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

These items are often found in mortuary contexts, as well as ritual contexts, commonly associated with the TIP and Late periods. Click the attached images see an example of one such corn mummy from the Metropolitan Museum of Art (59.98a-d).

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

The mud plus the grains created a perfect package of rebirth potentiality, that was made even more effective through its Osirian identity. These mummies were often given masks, and are usually placed within wooden or ceramic coffins.

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

A corn mummy doesn’t actually contain corn, but does contain grain! These items, sometimes referred to as mud Osiris figures, grain mummies, or germinating Osirises, are ritual items that were constructed of a primary material (often mud) with grain seeds placed inside.

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

🏺🧵As we continue our focus on our scanning project we figured it was about time we answer the question that’s been raised a few times: what is a corn mummy?

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

🏺Happy International Archaeology Day from the entire ASP team! Our archaeologists form the core of our team, and we’re so proud of their work behind the scenes (and in front of the cameras!). Here’s to many more years of (re)discovery!

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Want to know more? Us too! Help support our 2026/27 season by sharing or donating towards our project (link in bio).

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

While we’re still searching for a perfect comparative example, the seal seems to be djed pillar motif. Symbolic personal seals were common in the SIP and New Kingdom, meaning this item was very carefully labeled before being buried.

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

🧵🏺Continuing our focus on the mud Osiris, this week’s #fridayfinds are the mud seals found on the item. In addition to the two secured to the mud item, another seal, featuring the same motif, was also found in the fill between the offering dish and the coffin lid.

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Want to help with this project? Consider donating to the project fundraiser on our website (link in bio). Touch base later this week for a discussion with Dr. Smith-Sangster about what we’re hoping to achieve with the scanning project.

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

at the bottom, the mud “figure” seen in the photo! The figure is slightly humanoid and was sealed with two in situ mud seals. We’ve taken to calling this a mud Osiris, but we’re hoping the planned CT scan during the 2026/7 season will reveal a little more 👀

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

🧵 What was inside the mini coffin featured last post? After carefully opening the coffin we found an excess of sand (We, of course, collected the sand for future study) and then…

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Stay tuned! A friendly reminder that if you would like to fund our work, a link to make a tax deductible donation can be found on our website (link in bio).

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

🧵The coffin is made of two pieces: a lid with a lip rising on one end, and the body of the coffin. As you can see in the photo, the item was interred with an offering dish above it too! What was inside and what are our plans?

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

🧵What was the shrouded item in our fundraiser post, and what exactly do we have planned for the Fall season? We think it only appropriate to spend this week’s #Fridayfind starting to answer those questions. The item was a small ceramic coffin, found just below the surface in the Ahmose cemetery.

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Reposted by The Abydos South Project (ASP)

Emily Smith-Sangster, PhD @essegyptologist.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

ASP is kicking off its first ever fundraiser to help support our work in South Abydos! As a 501c3 donations are tax deductible. Please consider donating or sharing with a friend.

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Any little bit helps, and if you can’t donate, we would love if you could share our project with someone who is interested in Egypt and archaeology. All donors will receive record of their donations for tax purposes.

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

This is where we need your help though - as a publicly funded 501c3 nonprofit, we rely on donations from viewers like you to fund our excavations. To facilitate this, we’re also launching a 2026 fundraiser that can be accessed directly on our website (link in bio).

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

We received a lot of guesses about what connected the three items/sites introduced last week - yes they’re all in Abydos, but that wasn’t the connection! We’re happy to announce that the connecting fascia between these things is that they will all be the focus of our Winter 2026/2027 season!

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

These three things have something very important in common. Any guesses? Stay tuned for an ASP announcement coming soon!

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

The first image has the artificial light source held straight on, but scroll to see what adjusting that light to the right can do in terms of making the relief visible!

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

For this week’s #FridayFind we’re spotlighting this incredible stela fragment found quite early in our first survey season. While visually remarkable, and a fantastic datapoint, it’s also a great piece to use to demonstrate the value of raking light in our work and photography.

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

🧵 While we only found two fire dog fragments, they’re a highlight of our non-funerary corpus!

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

🧵 Fire dog is a nickname given to these ceramic vessels due to their visual appearance: almost like a dog with long ears, a snout, and two eyes (our ears are broken). These vessels were likely used to hold and evenly heat other vessels, possibly for cooking.

The same fire dog from the front with a scale.

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

We’re sorry for neglecting you all on Bluesky! We had some trouble with our account, but are happy to report that it’s back in operation! In honor of this (and our weekly #FridayFind) we bring you this fire dog, recovered from the dump on site: 🧵

A photo of a fire dog from the side, with a scale

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 19/04/2026

2/2 Photo captions: 1: The pyramid of Tetisheri 2: Architectural features near the Ahmose Cemetery 3: Sunrise over Ahmose 4: The tombs of Umm el-Ga’ab 5: Relief from the Osirion 6: The Osirion 7: The Temple of Seti 8: An entrance to the Shunet #abydos #pyramid #ancientegypt #unesco #archaeology

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 19/04/2026

1/2 On the occasion of International Day for Monuments and Sites there’s no better place to be than Abydos. From the pyramids of south Abydos, to the Shunet in the north - and everything in between - ASP is honored to be part of the deep historical milieu of this incredible site.

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

Will you be attending ARCE in Denver this year? If you are, you’ll have the chance to hear Tony Crosby speak on his work at Tetisheri - we highly suggest putting it in your calendar now!

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

Originally rediscovered in our sampling season in October 2022, this week’s #fridayfind is a remarkable stone statuette found within a fill context near the Ahmose Cemetery. Note the emphasized frontally and verticality, two stylistic characteristics of Egyptian statuary.

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

🌞 It’s finally warming up for our ASP team members in the US, but nothing beats that warming sunrise over Abydos 🌞

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

Afaf also happens to be one of the kindest, funniest people you could ever hope to work with, and we feel so blessed to have her as part of our ASP family!

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

and she has helped Dr. Emily especially in investigating the Ahmose cemetery. You may also recognize her from the Netflix Documentary Unknown: The Lost Pyramid.

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

Afaf has worked everywhere! She is under great demand by projects all over the country. From Saqqara and Luxor to Minya and Dahshur and Kom Ombo and Naqada (phew!) and of course in Abydos. ASP was so happy to be able to grab any time we could with Afaf,

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

Afaf graduated with a BA and an MA from Cairo University, and she now is the head of the Bioarcheology Department of the Antiquties sector in MoTA. Afaf has extensive teaching experience, she has many publications, and she has lectured in Egypt and abroad.

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

🧵ASP #SundaySpotlight is back with the lovely and brilliant Afaf Wahba! Afaf is a bioarchaeology specialist, meaning she studies skeletal remains to illuminate such incredible detail about people from the past, bringing them to life in distinctive and compelling ways.

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

Are those the Beatles crossing Abbey Road? Not quite! It’s a procession of gods preserved for all eternity in this striking mud seal. Can you spot any specific gods? Drop your thoughts in the comments 🤗

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 22/02/2026

A belated #fridayfinds post, or, what’s quickly becoming Friday Faience Finds! Today we have fragments of a faience vessel decorated (in part) with a lotus motif. The blue color and lotus imagery combined to create a Nilotic image that drew to mind the fecundity of the Nile and its environs.

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The Abydos South Project (ASP) @abydossouthproject.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

The ASP would like to wish a Ramadan Mubarak to all those who celebrate ✨

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