Umm el-Qa'ab
| Arabic: أم القعاب | |
General view of area, showing littering of pots
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 Shown within Egypt
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| Location | Egypt |
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| Region | New Valley Governorate |
| Coordinates | 26°11′N 31°55′E / 26.183°N 31.917°E |
Umm El Qa`āb (sometimes Umm El Ga'ab, Arabic: أم القعاب) is the necropolis of the Early Dynastic kings at Abydos, in Egypt. Its modern name means 'Mother of Pots', as the whole area is littered with the broken pot shards of offerings made in earlier times. The cultic ancient name of the area was (w-)pkr or (r3-)pkr 'District of the poker-tree' (unidentified species) or 'Opening of the poker-tree' (Coptic: upoke), belonging to t3-dsr 'the secluded/cleared land' (necropolis) or crk-hh 'Binding of Eternity' (Coptic: Alkhah).
The area was a site of veneration and worship for the Ancient Egyptians, and by the time of the Middle Kingdom at least one of the royal tombs was excavated and rebuilt for the 'priests' (religious persons dedicated) of the god Osiris.
The tombs of this area were first excavated by Émile Amélineau in the 1890s and more systematically by William Matthew Flinders Petrie between 1899-1901. Since then the area has been excavated repeatedly by the German Archaeological Institute since the 1970s, which has allowed for a thorough reconstruction of the original layout and appearance of these tombs.
Known as Cemetery B, this area contains the Early Dynastic tombs of the Pharaohs of the First dynasty of Egypt and the last two kings of the Second Dynasty.
The last two kings of the Second Dynasty returned to be buried near to their ancestors - they also revived the practice of building mud-brick funerary enclosures nearby.
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Wikipedia