One of the great frustrations of research into the Old Kingdom period in Egypt is the difficulty of accurately dating the tombs of officials that provide so much of our information. Various methods of dating have been proposed, but none have proved infallible. In the presentvolume, Nadine Cherpion deduces criteria by which these tombs can be dated based on an analysis of details in their decoration.Cherpion distinguishes sixty-four features that she concludes can be used as criteria in dating a tomb to within a few reigns. She has wisely selected many of these features from the scene of the tomb owner seated at a table of offerings, which occurs in almost every decorated tomb from the earliest periods to the end of the Old Kingdom. Her criteria thus apply to the broadest possible selection of tombs. In French language.