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We know little of Mutnofret’s origins. She is called “king’s wife” but never “king’s daughter,” so her father was not a king. By contrast, Ahmose is called “king’s principal wife” and “king’s sister,” though she too is never called “king’s daughter.” This last fact was disregarded for a long time by Egyptologists, because it did not fit into their ideas relating to royal succession.
See Victor Goodside, “Why Is a Bilbil Called a Bilbil?” BAR 14:01.
See Claire Epstein, “Before History: The Golan’s Chalcolithic Heritage,” BAR 21:06.
Ossuaries were used for secondary burials. In primary burials, the deceased was simply placed in a permanent grave. In secondary burials, the bones of a corpse were reinterred a year or so after the primary burial. Usually this involved placing the bones in a rectangular box, made of stone or clay, about 2 feet long (the length of the longest bones in the body).
Inscriptions that mention either the year of a church’s dedication or the year of death of the person buried in the church provide dates for the settlement. The churches are typically cross-shaped with domes supported (though in rock-cut architecture, “supported” is used only figuratively) by four columns or piers. This design is commonly found in the 10th and 11th centuries throughout the Byzantine Empire.
