Comp. by: K.VENKATESAN Stage: Proof Chapter No.: 17 Title Name: Scottetal Date:26/5/17 Time:12:31:07 Page Number: 302 CHAPTER SEVENTEEN MIDDLE AND NEW KINGDOM SEALING PRACTICE IN EGYPT AND NUBIA: A COMPARISON Stuart Tyson Smith University of California, Santa Barbara ABSTRACT The use of seals for both administrative and private purposes to secure rooms, containers, and correspondence reached a high point in the Middle Kingdom, attested by the variety of private and institutional name and pattern seals and the use of complex systems including counterstamping. By comparison, sealing in the New Kingdom seems far simpler, with large assemblages like Malqata the exception, the abandonment of counterstamping and private-name seals, and a shift and apparent simplification in the different seal types used. This chapter compares and contrasts sealing during the two periods, suggesting both taphonomic and administrative reasons for the apparent shift in practices. I INTRODUCTION Sealing was a fundamental part of administration in both the Middle and New Kingdom periods. The use of seals and sealings for both official and private purposes to secure and authenticate rooms, containers, and correspondence reached a high point in the Middle Kingdom, attested by the variety of private and institutional name and pattern seals, the sheer size of the assemblages, and the use of complex systems including counterstamping. By comparison, sealing in the New Kingdom seems far simpler, with the abandonment of private- name seals, an apparent simplification in the different seal types used with the 302