A pioneering Egyptologist, Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie (1853–1942) excavated over fifty sites and trained a generation of archaeologists. These three illustrated excavation reports, now reissued together, were originally published in 1898, 1901 and 1908 in collaboration with other experts. They focus on the cemeteries at Deshasheh, Abadiyeh and Hu (the latter known also as Diospolis Parva), and Athribis. Light is shed on the major discoveries, such as large quantities of beautifully preserved Neolithic linen, the 'pan graves' of semi-nomadic settlers, and a tomb featuring an early relief of Egyptians besieging a fortified Near Eastern town. Most significantly, these reports reflect Petrie's development of sequence dating, which influenced the use of seriation as a relative dating method in archaeology. Petrie wrote prolifically throughout his long career. Many of his other publications - for both Egyptologists and non-specialists - are also reissued in this series.
