Animals in Religion, Economy and Daily Life, of Ancient Egypt and beyond

The International Symposium on Animals in Ancient Egypt, the Middle Nile and their hinterlands (ISAAE) was founded with the aim to trigger a meaningful dialogue between peers coming from different research fields, who share an interest in the interactions between animals and humans in ancient Egyptian and Nubian societies, thus fostering a useful exchange of data, techniques, and methods, which will widely contribute to advance the stateof-the-art on the topic. The first two previous editions of the ISAAE, hosted by the Musée de Confluences in Lyon and the American University in Cairo, offered significant progress and inspiration in this field. The Third Symposium was hosted at the University of Naples “L’Orientale” (UniOr) from 15th to 17th June 2022. The ISAAE3 was organized by the Department of Asian, African and Mediterranean Studies (DAAM) of the UniOr in partnership with the American University in Cairo. The main objective of the ISAAE3 was to provide an insight into the role of animals in Ancient Egypt and beyond, from the 5th Millennium BC to the 7th century AD, to report on the most recent advancements in this field, to pave the way for future research, and to identify potential challenges. The three intensive days of meetings and discussions provided a valuable opportunity to exchange and update theoretical and field research topics, as well as technical issues related to modern research technologies. Scholars from all over the world (Europe, United States, Egypt, Japan, Australia) have addressed a plethora of animal-related topics: archaeozoology, slaughter, 10 Preface mummification and related modern preservation-restoration techniques, funerary practices, religion, terminology and writing, arts and crafts, nutrition, economy and resources exploitation. These studies have been carried out also applying ground-breaking technologies and advanced methodologies, such as 3D imaging, CT-scans, radiography, radiocarbon dating, as well as a variety of chemical analyses. This volume collects the results of these investigations, thereby broadening our knowledge on the role of animals in religion, economy and daily life of ancient Egypt, and beyond.