Dans les pas d'Imhotep

Parmi les multiples vies d'Audran Labrousse, celle de l'architecte-archeologue doit retenir toute notre attention. Homme de terrain insatiable, il parcourt les chantiers de fouille depuis un demi-siecle, sillonnant le Proche-Orient et l'Afrique de l'est avec son regard aiguise et un sens inne des monuments et des civilisations qu'il cotoie. De Suse e Sedeinga, de Petra a Jerusalem, il observe, analyse, et recense les vestiges des multiples societes qui se sont succede dans ce croissant si fertile au carrefour de l'Afrique et de l'Asie. Fort de cette erudition qui le caracterise, c'est a Saqqyra qu'il trouve le mieux a exercer ses talents d'architecte et d'homme de terrain. La rencontre avec Jean Leclant et Jean-Philippe Lauer le convainc de consacrer ses efforts a la restitution des vestiges monumentaux qui font le renom de cette necropole royale. Directeur pendant quarante ans des fouilles de la necropole de Pepy Ier, il met au jour le complexe de ce roi et les ensembles des reines qui lui sont associes. Cet ouvrage se veut a l'image de ce travailleur infatigable. Ses amis et collegues presentent ici un temoignage de reconnaissance et lui offrent un ensemble de contributions qui toutes rendent hommage a l'oeuvre entreprise, par des etudes archeologiques et d'histoire, des presentations de monuments ou d'objets inedits provenant pour l'essentiel de la vallee du Nil. Among Audran Labrousse's many lives, that of the architect and archaeologist must be the focus of our attention. An insatiable hands-on man, he has been travelling through excavation sites for half a century, criss-crossing the Near East and East Africa with his sharp eye and an innate sense of the monuments and civilizations he encounters. From Susa to Sedeinga, from Petra to Jerusalem, he observes, analyses and inventories the remains of the many societies that have succeeded one another in this very fertile crescent, at the crossroads of Africa and Asia. With this erudition that characterizes him, it is in Saqqara that he found the best way to exercise his talents as an architect and a man of action. His meeting with Jean Leclant and Jean-Philippe Lauer convinced him to devote his efforts to the restitution of the monumental remains this royal necropolis is famous for. As the Director of the excavations of the necropolis of Pepy I for forty years, he uncovered the complex of this king and the several queens associated with him. This book is intended to reflect the image of this indefatigable worker. His friends and colleagues hereby present a token of their gratitude and offer him a set of contributions, all of which paying tribute to the work undertaken, through archaeological and historical studies, presentations of monuments or unpublished objects, mainly originated from the Nile Valley.