Acknowledgements
The origin of this book goes back to 2008 in an epistolography class taught by John Darnell at Yale University. While we only read a few Letters to the Dead, it was enough for me to pick this intriguing topic for my dissertation, which was later revised into this book. I am deeply grateful for the encouragement, guidance, and support of Joe Manning, John Baines, Christina Geisen, Thomas Schneider, Steve Davis, and last but not least Tony Spalinger, who nurtured my interest in Egyptology from my very first class as an undergraduate. I thank them from the bottom of my heart. Many thanks also to Siobhan Quinlan, and to friends and colleagues who helped and supported me along the way.
I’d also like to acknowledge these Egyptologists who readily shared resources and permitted me to reproduce their images: Ilona Regulski, Jochem Kahl, Nicola Harrington, Antonio J. Morales, Pascal Vernus, and Peter Der Manuelian. Thanks go to the curators and staff at the universities, museums, institutes, and at Art Resource who assisted me with image copyright permissions, and to the William K. and Marilyn M. Simpson Endowment for Egyptology at Yale University for covering the reproduction costs of some of the images.
Lastly, I’d like to thank my husband who is supportive no matter what, my mother who always knew I could do it, and Blossom and Daisy who are always there to provide some much-needed doggy therapy when times got tough.