In 1989, under the co-directorship of David P. Silverman (Curator-in-Charge, Egyptian Section), the University Museum began epigraphic work at the tombs of the nomarchs (local governors) at the site of Bersheh, a major provincial cemetery of the First Intermediate Period and Middle Kingdom (2130-1630 B.C.). A joint expedition with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the University of Leiden focused on the tomb of the nomarch Nehri (Tomb 7). The results of this season's works were published in Bersheh Reports I.