Photographs by Patrick Chapuis, Carole Fritz, and Gilles Tosello, plans by Patrick Deleuze, drawings by William Schenck. 220 pages, 100 illustrations (plans, drawings, photos).

Inaugurating a series entitled The Tombs of the Bubasteion at Saqqara, this publication is devoted to tomb Bub. I.20, created for the lady Maïa, which was discovered in November 1996. In this book, Alain Zivie does not content himself, as in earlier works, with presenting a clear and elegant new reference work to the scholarly community and to all those with a passionate interest in the Amarna episode and the reign of Tutankhamun. The “discoverer” of Maïa has in fact spent the intervening years attempting to understand this historical personage who emerged from the darkness of oblivion, this “grand lady” whose obvious femininity and sensual allure, as well as the respect she was accorded by those around her, are obvious throughout the tomb. Painstaking study of the decoration and texts, as well as a consideration of the tomb in its context, have gradually led him to original thoughts and to surprising conclusions regarding Maïa’s identity.