Re-excavating Beni Hasan: A Dataset of Archaeological Objects from the Lower Cemetery Held in Museum Collections (Garstang Excavations, 1902–1904)

Following John Garstang's excavations of the lower cemetery at Beni Hasan, Egypt (1902–1904), the recovered objects were distributed across multiple institutions under the distribution of finds arrangement typical of the period, leaving the assemblage scattered with no unified record. This dataset brings those dispersed holdings back together, compiling 2,120 object records currently held across the Garstang Museum of Archaeology (University of Liverpool), the Ashmolean Museum (University of Oxford), the Cairo Egyptian Museum, the World Museum Liverpool, and other institutions. Each record documents registration number, holding institution, tomb number, object type, material, dimensions (height, length, width, in cm), and chronological attribution. Objects are primarily dated to the Middle Kingdom (c. 2055–1650 BCE), with some material from the First Intermediate and Late Periods, and span categories including coffins, wooden models, pottery vessels, figurines, and personal ornaments. Compiled from museum catalogues and visits, and provided in open CSV format under FAIR principles, this dataset supports research on Middle Kingdom funerary culture, museum collection distribution, and the post-excavation dispersal history of Beni Hasan material.