THE PRINCIPAL AIM of this study is to assemble and discuss whatever is known of Dendera from the beginning of Egyptian history up to the point, in the Eleventh Dynasty, when the succession of nomarchs and overseers of priests can no longer be followed. In a very real sense it is only at this point that the Old Kingdom chapter of Dendera's history can be consideredclosed. The second object is to examine this evidence in terms of what is known about the other provinces of Upper Egypt, and particularly their administration.The material relating to the Denderite nome covers the period concerned more continuously and completely than that of any other one of the Upper Egyptian provinces with the exception of the Thinite nome. Unfortunately the inscriptions from the Dendera cemetery, which constitute the essential part of the evidence, are often piecemeal and incomplete, a circumstance that has undoubtedly obscured their importance and that, at thesame time, makes a detailed examination all the more necessary. The discussion of this evidence, which takes up by far the larger part of the present study, deals with each of thenomarchs and principal officials in turn, considering: (1) the relative dating, (z) the titles and those parts of the biography which concern the titles, (3) remaining statements of biographical interest, (4) the position of the stones, their character, and their relation to one another, (5) the relationship of the owner to other persons, as concluded from one ormore of the foregoing considerations.