Head of ancient Egyptian antiquities explains why he thinks claims by two German amateurs concerning the construction date of the Great Pyramid are wrong
by Nevine El-Aref , Wednesday 27 Nov 2013
In response to the alleged stealing of samples from the Great Pyramid by two German amateur archaeologists, Egypt's antiquities ministry issued a press release Wednesday discrediting all findings by the German pair.
The archaeologists took a piece of Khufu's cartouche from a small compartment above his burial chamber and smuggled it to Germany for study, the Ancient Egyptian section of the Ministry of State of Antiquities (MSA) reported.
The results announced by the two Germans cast doubt on the construction date of the Great Pyramid and consequently the Pharaoh for which it was built.
The results suggest that the pyramid was built in an era preceding Khufu's reign. It also suggests that the Pyramid is not the burial place for a king but a centre of power.
Mohamed Abdel Maqsoud, head of the ancient Egyptian department, asserted in a press release on Wednesday that a multitude of scientific research from the past two centuries shows that the Great Pyramid belongs to King Khufu, the second king of the fourth dynasty, and that it was built during his reign to be used as his royal burial place for eternity.
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Wednesday Weekly # 11
Welcome to the Wednesday Weekly, your weekly dose of links to Egyptology news, articles, blogs, events and more.
THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN
By Brenda Wang:
Penn Museum live: saving mummies
http://www.thedp.com/article/2013/11/in-the-artifact-lab-conserving-egyptian-mummies-penn-museum
DEMONTHINGS - ANCIENT EGYPTIAN DEMONOLOGY PROJECT
The Demon Blog by Dr. Kasia Szpakowska:
Ancient Egyptian Chariot pulled by griffins
http://www.demonthings.com/chariot-griffins/
IN THE ARTIFACT LAB
New blog entries:
Looking inside our falcon mummy
http://www.penn.museum/sites/artifactlab/2013/11/21/looking-inside-our-falcon-mummy/
Flippin' coffins
http://www.penn.museum/sites/artifactlab/2013/11/23/flippin-coffins/
HAIR AND DEATH IN ANCIENT EGYPT
by María Rosa Valdesogo Martín
Open Reflections on Cutting and Offering Hair in Ancient Egypt
http://hairanddeathinancientegypt.wordpress.com/2013/11/21/open-reflections-on-cutting-and-offering-hair-in-ancient-egypt/
Shaking, Pulling, Cutting and Offering the Hair in Ancient Egypt Funerals
http://hairanddeathinancientegypt.wordpress.com/2013/11/25/shaking-pulling-cutting-and-offering-the-hair-in-ancient-egypt-funerals/
HARVARD GAZETTE
by Alvin Powell:
'Wonderful things', indeed
http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2013/11/who-can-resist-a-mummy/
AL-AHRAM WEEKLY
Article by Ati Metwaly:
Nefertiti's foster home
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/News/4691/47/Nefertiti%E2%80%99s-foster-home.aspx
Article by Nevine El-Aref:
Restoring the Egyptian Museum
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/News/4690/47/Restoring--the-Egyptian--Museum.aspx
DAILY NEWS EGYPT
Article by Joel Gulhane:
Siwa: Sun, sand and springs
http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2013/11/21/siwa-sun-sand-and-springs/
BBC HISTORY
Game: Make a mummy
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/egyptians/launch_gms_mummy_maker.shtml
DISCOVERY NEWS
by Rossella Lorenzi:
Weird Facts About King Tut and His Mummy
http://news.discovery.com/history/ancient-egypt/weird-facts-about-king-tut-mummy-131122.htm
HAMPSTEAD AND HIGHGATE EXPRESS
Article by Tom Marshall:
Heritage: Hampstead resident Sir Flinders Petrie measured the pyramids of Giza and laid the foundations of Egyptology
http://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/heritage_hampstead_resident_sir_flinders_petrie_measured_the_pyramids_of_giza_and_laid_the_foundations_of_egyptology_1_3032036
THE CAIRO POST
By Abdallah Salah:
Pharaonic tomb discoverd in Aswan
http://thecairopost.youm7.com/news/42351/news/pharaonic-mummies-found-with-robbers-in-aswan
AHRAM ONLINE
by Nevine El-Aref:
Penalties imposed on two amateur German archaeologists
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/87435/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/Penalties-imposed-on-two-amateur-German-archaeolog.aspx
'WONDERFUL THINGS'
New blog of the Griffith Institute, University of Oxford:
Can you see anything?
http://blog.griffith.ox.ac.uk/?p=23
FORBES
by Christian de Vartavan:
Value for 'Money' in Ancient Egypt
http://www.forbes.am/am/featured/2D61H6JWR9K9I7KA
AMERICAN RESEARCH CENTER IN EGYPT
Qurna Site updates:
http://arce.org/conservation/Qurna/q/q03
http://arce.org/conservation/Qurna/q/q05
http://arce.org/conservation/Qurna/q/q14
THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN
By Brenda Wang:
Penn Museum live: saving mummies
http://www.thedp.com/article/2013/11/in-the-artifact-lab-conserving-egyptian-mummies-penn-museum
DEMONTHINGS - ANCIENT EGYPTIAN DEMONOLOGY PROJECT
The Demon Blog by Dr. Kasia Szpakowska:
Ancient Egyptian Chariot pulled by griffins
http://www.demonthings.com/chariot-griffins/
IN THE ARTIFACT LAB
New blog entries:
Looking inside our falcon mummy
http://www.penn.museum/sites/artifactlab/2013/11/21/looking-inside-our-falcon-mummy/
Flippin' coffins
http://www.penn.museum/sites/artifactlab/2013/11/23/flippin-coffins/
HAIR AND DEATH IN ANCIENT EGYPT
by María Rosa Valdesogo Martín
Open Reflections on Cutting and Offering Hair in Ancient Egypt
http://hairanddeathinancientegypt.wordpress.com/2013/11/21/open-reflections-on-cutting-and-offering-hair-in-ancient-egypt/
Shaking, Pulling, Cutting and Offering the Hair in Ancient Egypt Funerals
http://hairanddeathinancientegypt.wordpress.com/2013/11/25/shaking-pulling-cutting-and-offering-the-hair-in-ancient-egypt-funerals/
HARVARD GAZETTE
by Alvin Powell:
'Wonderful things', indeed
http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2013/11/who-can-resist-a-mummy/
AL-AHRAM WEEKLY
Article by Ati Metwaly:
Nefertiti's foster home
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/News/4691/47/Nefertiti%E2%80%99s-foster-home.aspx
Article by Nevine El-Aref:
Restoring the Egyptian Museum
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/News/4690/47/Restoring--the-Egyptian--Museum.aspx
DAILY NEWS EGYPT
Article by Joel Gulhane:
Siwa: Sun, sand and springs
http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2013/11/21/siwa-sun-sand-and-springs/
BBC HISTORY
Game: Make a mummy
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/egyptians/launch_gms_mummy_maker.shtml
DISCOVERY NEWS
by Rossella Lorenzi:
Weird Facts About King Tut and His Mummy
http://news.discovery.com/history/ancient-egypt/weird-facts-about-king-tut-mummy-131122.htm
HAMPSTEAD AND HIGHGATE EXPRESS
Article by Tom Marshall:
Heritage: Hampstead resident Sir Flinders Petrie measured the pyramids of Giza and laid the foundations of Egyptology
http://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/heritage_hampstead_resident_sir_flinders_petrie_measured_the_pyramids_of_giza_and_laid_the_foundations_of_egyptology_1_3032036
THE CAIRO POST
By Abdallah Salah:
Pharaonic tomb discoverd in Aswan
http://thecairopost.youm7.com/news/42351/news/pharaonic-mummies-found-with-robbers-in-aswan
AHRAM ONLINE
by Nevine El-Aref:
Penalties imposed on two amateur German archaeologists
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/87435/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/Penalties-imposed-on-two-amateur-German-archaeolog.aspx
'WONDERFUL THINGS'
New blog of the Griffith Institute, University of Oxford:
Can you see anything?
http://blog.griffith.ox.ac.uk/?p=23
FORBES
by Christian de Vartavan:
Value for 'Money' in Ancient Egypt
http://www.forbes.am/am/featured/2D61H6JWR9K9I7KA
AMERICAN RESEARCH CENTER IN EGYPT
Qurna Site updates:
http://arce.org/conservation/Qurna/q/q03
http://arce.org/conservation/Qurna/q/q05
http://arce.org/conservation/Qurna/q/q14
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Value for ‘Money’ in Ancient Egypt
by Christian de Vartavan
Years ago in Paris, as we were having at home an elegant Christmas dinner, I saw my father silent and with an enigmatic smile playing with the very large Ptolemaic stater he had just offered himself. These magnificent coins, which rarely survive in gold and silver but usually in bronze, are truly pleasant to handle because of their large size (42 mm), heavy weight (72gm) and soft patina. As I dared inquire of the reasons of his smile he softly responded, but with a larger grin: ‘Do you realize that two thousand years ago a soldier could have paid an Alexandrian prostitute with this coin?’. [Silence – laugh!]. Well, considering the Empire wide reputation and skills of Alexandrian ladies of the time, I thought that the legionnaire might have had value for money and at a time when there was parity between the weight of the coin and its metal value? But did he? I mean… did the value of the coin suffice to match the service provided? Or did it need more coins of the same?
Value for money. The point is that until the Greeks introduced coins in Ancient Egypt around the mid first millennium before Christ and formalized their first mint under Alexander’s reign (320 BC) or Ptolemy I around 290 BC, there was no money - i.e. metal coins even less paper notes – as we understand it today. The Ancient Egyptian economy was based on barter and hence ‘value for money’ meant something completely different. It is hard for us today to imagine an economy without exchangeable currencies, but the fact is the pharaonic civilisation fared extremely well for more than three millennia without them. And not only did it fare extremely well but it developed an extremely sophisticated economic model which time and time again not only proved itself efficient, but allowed pharaohs to build empires. How?
Years ago in Paris, as we were having at home an elegant Christmas dinner, I saw my father silent and with an enigmatic smile playing with the very large Ptolemaic stater he had just offered himself. These magnificent coins, which rarely survive in gold and silver but usually in bronze, are truly pleasant to handle because of their large size (42 mm), heavy weight (72gm) and soft patina. As I dared inquire of the reasons of his smile he softly responded, but with a larger grin: ‘Do you realize that two thousand years ago a soldier could have paid an Alexandrian prostitute with this coin?’. [Silence – laugh!]. Well, considering the Empire wide reputation and skills of Alexandrian ladies of the time, I thought that the legionnaire might have had value for money and at a time when there was parity between the weight of the coin and its metal value? But did he? I mean… did the value of the coin suffice to match the service provided? Or did it need more coins of the same?
Value for money. The point is that until the Greeks introduced coins in Ancient Egypt around the mid first millennium before Christ and formalized their first mint under Alexander’s reign (320 BC) or Ptolemy I around 290 BC, there was no money - i.e. metal coins even less paper notes – as we understand it today. The Ancient Egyptian economy was based on barter and hence ‘value for money’ meant something completely different. It is hard for us today to imagine an economy without exchangeable currencies, but the fact is the pharaonic civilisation fared extremely well for more than three millennia without them. And not only did it fare extremely well but it developed an extremely sophisticated economic model which time and time again not only proved itself efficient, but allowed pharaohs to build empires. How?
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Heritage: Hampstead resident Sir Flinders Petrie measured the pyramids of Giza and laid the foundations of Egyptology
by Tom Marshall
Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie was a Victorian explorer who measured the Pyramids at Giza, laid the foundations for Egyptology – the study of ancient Egypt – and was the first biblical archaeologist in Palestine.
His insatiable curiosity led him to unearth how ancient civilization lived, worked and functioned. He discovered the world’s oldest portraits and evidence – through inscriptions – of written communication between Egyptian hieroglyphics and the Semitic alphabet. Another find was Kahun Gynaecological Papyrus, the oldest known medical text. He once stumbled across a stone slab with what is believed to be the earliest Egyptian reference to Israel.
His sense of precision was top drawer. Aged 19 he measured Stonehenge with 100 per cent accuracy and was said to know the exact distance between his eye and the tip of his finger.
In the field he was remembered as an eccentric and would dig in the nude, but dress suitably for formal luncheon in his tent. In order to maximise efficiency – on location – he often drew his findings with both hands at the same time, wielding a pencil in each. A forward thinker, he established archaeology as a science by painstakingly documenting his findings. He built a camera from scratch, a contraption that would become famous as the “biscuit-tin camera” and probably took the earliest extant group of pinhole photographs.
At home in Hampstead he would discuss and develop his beliefs in eugenics with his good friend and neighbour, the statistician Karl Pearson (1857–1936). His mission was to preserve and understand artefacts rather than simply pilfer, purloin and profit and once wrote that, “spoiling the past has an acute moral wrong in it”.
Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie was a Victorian explorer who measured the Pyramids at Giza, laid the foundations for Egyptology – the study of ancient Egypt – and was the first biblical archaeologist in Palestine.
His insatiable curiosity led him to unearth how ancient civilization lived, worked and functioned. He discovered the world’s oldest portraits and evidence – through inscriptions – of written communication between Egyptian hieroglyphics and the Semitic alphabet. Another find was Kahun Gynaecological Papyrus, the oldest known medical text. He once stumbled across a stone slab with what is believed to be the earliest Egyptian reference to Israel.
His sense of precision was top drawer. Aged 19 he measured Stonehenge with 100 per cent accuracy and was said to know the exact distance between his eye and the tip of his finger.
In the field he was remembered as an eccentric and would dig in the nude, but dress suitably for formal luncheon in his tent. In order to maximise efficiency – on location – he often drew his findings with both hands at the same time, wielding a pencil in each. A forward thinker, he established archaeology as a science by painstakingly documenting his findings. He built a camera from scratch, a contraption that would become famous as the “biscuit-tin camera” and probably took the earliest extant group of pinhole photographs.
At home in Hampstead he would discuss and develop his beliefs in eugenics with his good friend and neighbour, the statistician Karl Pearson (1857–1936). His mission was to preserve and understand artefacts rather than simply pilfer, purloin and profit and once wrote that, “spoiling the past has an acute moral wrong in it”.
Saturday, November 23, 2013
‘Wonderful things,’ indeed
Wide fascination with ancient Egypt has long history, specialist says
By Alvin Powell, Harvard Staff Writer
Britain’s Lord Carnarvon asked famed archaeologist Howard Carter what he saw as he first peered into King Tut’s tomb.
“Wonderful things,” Carter supposedly replied.
Carter would eventually catalog thousands of objects from the tomb of Tutankhamun, the boy king, including some of archaeology’s most recognizable artifacts. The 1922 find sparked a craze for all things ancient Egypt, but that was just the latest wave of “Egyptomania” to wash over the world, according to Bob Brier, a Long Island University senior research fellow and Egyptologist with a particular expertise in mummies.
The phenomenon started in force more than 200 years ago, Brier says, with Napoleon Bonaparte’s 1798 invasion of Egypt, where he defeated a Mamluk army in a battle fought near Cairo, within sight of the pyramids. French rule of the country wouldn’t last long, collapsing after British Admiral Horatio Nelson destroyed the French fleet days later in the Battle of the Nile.
But Napoleon did not go away empty-handed. His gains included the records of more than 100 artists, engineers, and scientists who, as the fighting raged, collected, drew, and documented the natural and manmade wonders of Egypt. The publication of their work in France fed a curiosity that hasn’t faded. According to Brier, it flows largely from three spheres of interest: mummies, the mystery of hieroglyphics, and the allure of a lost civilization, epitomized by Carter’s discovery of Tut’s tomb.
Thursday, November 21, 2013
'Meat Mummies' Kept Egyptian Royalty Well-Fed After Death
By Stephanie Pappas, Senior Writer | November 18, 2013
Care for some ribs? The royal mummies of ancient Egypt apparently did, as a new study finds that "meat mummies" left in Egyptian tombs as sustenance for the afterlife were treated with elaborate balms to preserve them.
Mummified cuts of meat are common finds in ancient Egyptian burials, with the oldest dating back to at least 3300 B.C. The tradition extended into the latest periods of mummification in the fourth century A.D. The famous pharaoh King Tutankhamun went to his final resting place accompanied by 48 cases of beef and poultry.
But meat mummies have been mostly unstudied until now. University of Bristol biogeochemist Richard Evershed and his colleagues were curious about how these cuts were prepared. They also wondered if the mummification methods for meat differed from how Egyptians mummified people or pets.
The team analyzed four samples from meat mummies archived at the Cairo and British museums. The oldest was a rack of cattle ribs from the tomb of Tjuiu, an Egyptian noblewoman, and her courtier Yuya. The beef dates back to between 1386 B.C. and 1349 B.C.
Care for some ribs? The royal mummies of ancient Egypt apparently did, as a new study finds that "meat mummies" left in Egyptian tombs as sustenance for the afterlife were treated with elaborate balms to preserve them.
Mummified cuts of meat are common finds in ancient Egyptian burials, with the oldest dating back to at least 3300 B.C. The tradition extended into the latest periods of mummification in the fourth century A.D. The famous pharaoh King Tutankhamun went to his final resting place accompanied by 48 cases of beef and poultry.
But meat mummies have been mostly unstudied until now. University of Bristol biogeochemist Richard Evershed and his colleagues were curious about how these cuts were prepared. They also wondered if the mummification methods for meat differed from how Egyptians mummified people or pets.
The team analyzed four samples from meat mummies archived at the Cairo and British museums. The oldest was a rack of cattle ribs from the tomb of Tjuiu, an Egyptian noblewoman, and her courtier Yuya. The beef dates back to between 1386 B.C. and 1349 B.C.
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Egypt: Italian technology to save Egyptian museum papyri
High tech instruments part of cooperation project
(ANSAmed) - CAIRO, NOVEMBER 18 - Italian technology will allow the restoration and preservation of thousands of very delicate papyri at the Egyptian museum in Cairo.
The initiative was presented on Monday morning during a ceremony at the museum attended by Gianpaolo Cantini, director general for the cooperation for development, Egyptian antiquities minister Mohamed Ibrahim, Italian ambassador Maurizio Massari and the museum's director Tarek el Awadi. It is part of the 'commodity aid' programme of Italian cooperation.
High tech instruments in particular provided by Italtrend Spa and produced by Bresciani Srl, which will play a role in saving the museum's secular papyri, were shown during the ceremony. They are a laser and a portable instrument. The laser, an Italian-made groundbreaking tool in the preservation of artwork, uses non-invasive technology to clean very delicate and sensitive surfaces and allows not to use chemical products. The spectrometer is used for chemical-physical measurements and to analyze material without the extraction of samples.
In order to save and preserve the precious papyri of the Egyptian museum, a low-pressure table with a humidifier to restore paper documents has been provided together with ten humidifiers and thermometers and five climatic chambers to preserve the findings to recreate the same condition as in the tombs where the papyri were found.
They were also especially planned for the museum overlooking the famous Tahrir square, one of the busiest in Cairo, and were made with special gas filters against pollution.
The initiative in favour of the Egyptian antiquities ministry is part of a programme of aid which aims to import to Egypt high tech Italian products and train specialized personnel in a number of sectors.
The programme which spans almost two decades was agreed in 1994, kicked off in 1996 and has funded until today the importation of Italian goods worth 37 million euros. The instalment for the Egyptian museum has a value of 300,000 euros.
(ANSAmed)
Source: http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/culture/2013/11/18/Egypt-Italian-technology-save-Egyptian-museum-papyri_9638580.html
(ANSAmed) - CAIRO, NOVEMBER 18 - Italian technology will allow the restoration and preservation of thousands of very delicate papyri at the Egyptian museum in Cairo.
The initiative was presented on Monday morning during a ceremony at the museum attended by Gianpaolo Cantini, director general for the cooperation for development, Egyptian antiquities minister Mohamed Ibrahim, Italian ambassador Maurizio Massari and the museum's director Tarek el Awadi. It is part of the 'commodity aid' programme of Italian cooperation.
High tech instruments in particular provided by Italtrend Spa and produced by Bresciani Srl, which will play a role in saving the museum's secular papyri, were shown during the ceremony. They are a laser and a portable instrument. The laser, an Italian-made groundbreaking tool in the preservation of artwork, uses non-invasive technology to clean very delicate and sensitive surfaces and allows not to use chemical products. The spectrometer is used for chemical-physical measurements and to analyze material without the extraction of samples.
In order to save and preserve the precious papyri of the Egyptian museum, a low-pressure table with a humidifier to restore paper documents has been provided together with ten humidifiers and thermometers and five climatic chambers to preserve the findings to recreate the same condition as in the tombs where the papyri were found.
They were also especially planned for the museum overlooking the famous Tahrir square, one of the busiest in Cairo, and were made with special gas filters against pollution.
The initiative in favour of the Egyptian antiquities ministry is part of a programme of aid which aims to import to Egypt high tech Italian products and train specialized personnel in a number of sectors.
The programme which spans almost two decades was agreed in 1994, kicked off in 1996 and has funded until today the importation of Italian goods worth 37 million euros. The instalment for the Egyptian museum has a value of 300,000 euros.
(ANSAmed)
Source: http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/culture/2013/11/18/Egypt-Italian-technology-save-Egyptian-museum-papyri_9638580.html
Wednesday Weekly # 10
Welcome to the Wednesday Weekly, your weekly dose of links to Egyptology news, articles, blogs, events and more.
LUXOR TIMES
New blog entries:
New findings at Tuthmosis III Mortuary temple, Akhnaton was found too!
http://luxortimesmagazine.blogspot.nl/2013/11/new-findings-at-tuthmosis-iii-mortuary.html
Five statues heads with crowns found in Armant temple
http://luxortimesmagazine.blogspot.nl/2013/11/five-statues-heads-with-crowns-found-in.html
HAIR AND DEATH IN ANCIENT EGYPT
by María Rosa Valdesogo Martín
Open Reflections on Shaking Hair in Ancient Egypt
http://hairanddeathinancientegypt.wordpress.com/2013/11/14/open-reflections-on-shaking-hair-in-ancient-egypt/
Open Reflections on Pulling Hair in Ancient Egypt
http://hairanddeathinancientegypt.wordpress.com/2013/11/18/open-reflections-on-pulling-the-hair-in-ancient-egypt/
EGYPTIAN'S
New blogposts by Timothy Reid:
Island of Isis: Philae, Temple of the Nile
http://tim-theegyptians.blogspot.nl/2013/11/island-of-isis-philae-temple-of-nile.html
New Discoveries at the Mortuary Temple of Thutmosis III
http://tim-theegyptians.blogspot.nl/2013/11/new-discoveries-at-mortuary-temple-of.html
IN THE ARTIFACT LAB
Let's focus on the eyes
http://www.penn.museum/sites/artifactlab/2013/11/12/lets-focus-on-the-eyes/
X-ray excursion
http://www.penn.museum/sites/artifactlab/2013/11/14/x-ray-excursion/
DISCOVERY NEWS
by Rossella Lorenzi
King Tut Death by Chariot? Not So Fast
http://news.discovery.com/history/ancient-egypt/king-tut-death-by-chariot-not-so-fast-131112.htm
DAILY NEWS EGYPT
Ancient Egypt meets Google Glass in Italy
http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2013/11/13/ancient-egypt-meets-google-glass-in-italy/
THE TELEGRAPH
by Richard Spencer
Tutankhamun's sister goes missing
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/10449689/Tutankhamuns-sister-goes-missing.html
AHRAM ONLINE
Egypt plans ambitious renovation for Cairo museum
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/44/86606/Heritage/Museums/Egypt-plans-ambitious-renovation-for-Cairo-museum.aspx
Five heads of ancient royal statues discovered in Armant Temple, near Egypt's Luxor
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/86669/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/Five-heads-of-ancient-royal-statues-discovered-in-.aspx
LIVESCIENCE
New article by Owen Jarus:
Pyramid-Age Love Revealed in Vivid Color in Egyptian Tomb
http://www.livescience.com/41237-love-revealed-in-egypt-tomb.html
and one by Stephanie Pappas:
'Meat Mummies' Kept Egyptian Royalty Well-Fed After Death
http://www.livescience.com/41285-egyptian-meat-mummies.html
EPOCH TIMES
by Paul Darin:
Curious History: Ancient Egyptians May Have Traded With the New World
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/358318-curious-history-ancient-egyptians-may-have-traded-with-the-new-world/
ANCIENT EGYPT AND A MAPLE LEAF
Blog entry by Thomas Greiner:
Lectures: Enter the Temple: A Learning Journey into Ancient Egypt's Great Sacred Spaces
http://thomasgreiner.com/2013/11/12/lectures-enter-the-temple-a-learning-journey-into-ancient-egypts-great-sacred-spaces/#more-1168
VICEANDVIRTUEBLOG
Erotic Explorations: Victorians Abroad
http://viceandvirtueblog.wordpress.com/2013/11/18/erotic-explorations-victorians-abroad/
ANSA MED
Egypt: Italian technology to save Egyptian museum papyri
http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/culture/2013/11/18/Egypt-Italian-technology-save-Egyptian-museum-papyri_9638580.html
HAVARD GAZETTE
By Valerie Vande Panne:
Nefertiti as sensual goddess
http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2013/11/nefertiti-as-sensual-goddess/
BOOKREPORTER
Egyptomania: Author Bob Brier Recommends His Top Ten Books on Ancient Egypt
http://www.bookreporter.com/features/special-feature/egyptomania-author-bob-brier-recommends-his-top-ten-books-on-ancient-egypt
GIZMODO AUSTRALIA
by Pavithra Mohan:
How Ancient Embalmers Pulled The Brains And Guts Out Of Mummies
http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2013/11/how-ancient-egyptian-embalmers-pulled-the-brains-and-guts-out-of-mummies/
TETISHERI
New blogentry by Julia Thorne:
New Egyptology book releases: October 2013
http://www.tetisheri.co.uk/3/post/2013/11/new-egyptology-book-releases-october-2013.html
LUXOR TIMES
New blog entries:
New findings at Tuthmosis III Mortuary temple, Akhnaton was found too!
http://luxortimesmagazine.blogspot.nl/2013/11/new-findings-at-tuthmosis-iii-mortuary.html
Five statues heads with crowns found in Armant temple
http://luxortimesmagazine.blogspot.nl/2013/11/five-statues-heads-with-crowns-found-in.html
HAIR AND DEATH IN ANCIENT EGYPT
by María Rosa Valdesogo Martín
Open Reflections on Shaking Hair in Ancient Egypt
http://hairanddeathinancientegypt.wordpress.com/2013/11/14/open-reflections-on-shaking-hair-in-ancient-egypt/
Open Reflections on Pulling Hair in Ancient Egypt
http://hairanddeathinancientegypt.wordpress.com/2013/11/18/open-reflections-on-pulling-the-hair-in-ancient-egypt/
EGYPTIAN'S
New blogposts by Timothy Reid:
Island of Isis: Philae, Temple of the Nile
http://tim-theegyptians.blogspot.nl/2013/11/island-of-isis-philae-temple-of-nile.html
New Discoveries at the Mortuary Temple of Thutmosis III
http://tim-theegyptians.blogspot.nl/2013/11/new-discoveries-at-mortuary-temple-of.html
IN THE ARTIFACT LAB
Let's focus on the eyes
http://www.penn.museum/sites/artifactlab/2013/11/12/lets-focus-on-the-eyes/
X-ray excursion
http://www.penn.museum/sites/artifactlab/2013/11/14/x-ray-excursion/
DISCOVERY NEWS
by Rossella Lorenzi
King Tut Death by Chariot? Not So Fast
http://news.discovery.com/history/ancient-egypt/king-tut-death-by-chariot-not-so-fast-131112.htm
DAILY NEWS EGYPT
Ancient Egypt meets Google Glass in Italy
http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2013/11/13/ancient-egypt-meets-google-glass-in-italy/
THE TELEGRAPH
by Richard Spencer
Tutankhamun's sister goes missing
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/10449689/Tutankhamuns-sister-goes-missing.html
AHRAM ONLINE
Egypt plans ambitious renovation for Cairo museum
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/44/86606/Heritage/Museums/Egypt-plans-ambitious-renovation-for-Cairo-museum.aspx
Five heads of ancient royal statues discovered in Armant Temple, near Egypt's Luxor
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/86669/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/Five-heads-of-ancient-royal-statues-discovered-in-.aspx
LIVESCIENCE
New article by Owen Jarus:
Pyramid-Age Love Revealed in Vivid Color in Egyptian Tomb
http://www.livescience.com/41237-love-revealed-in-egypt-tomb.html
and one by Stephanie Pappas:
'Meat Mummies' Kept Egyptian Royalty Well-Fed After Death
http://www.livescience.com/41285-egyptian-meat-mummies.html
EPOCH TIMES
by Paul Darin:
Curious History: Ancient Egyptians May Have Traded With the New World
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/358318-curious-history-ancient-egyptians-may-have-traded-with-the-new-world/
ANCIENT EGYPT AND A MAPLE LEAF
Blog entry by Thomas Greiner:
Lectures: Enter the Temple: A Learning Journey into Ancient Egypt's Great Sacred Spaces
http://thomasgreiner.com/2013/11/12/lectures-enter-the-temple-a-learning-journey-into-ancient-egypts-great-sacred-spaces/#more-1168
VICEANDVIRTUEBLOG
Erotic Explorations: Victorians Abroad
http://viceandvirtueblog.wordpress.com/2013/11/18/erotic-explorations-victorians-abroad/
ANSA MED
Egypt: Italian technology to save Egyptian museum papyri
http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/culture/2013/11/18/Egypt-Italian-technology-save-Egyptian-museum-papyri_9638580.html
HAVARD GAZETTE
By Valerie Vande Panne:
Nefertiti as sensual goddess
http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2013/11/nefertiti-as-sensual-goddess/
BOOKREPORTER
Egyptomania: Author Bob Brier Recommends His Top Ten Books on Ancient Egypt
http://www.bookreporter.com/features/special-feature/egyptomania-author-bob-brier-recommends-his-top-ten-books-on-ancient-egypt
GIZMODO AUSTRALIA
by Pavithra Mohan:
How Ancient Embalmers Pulled The Brains And Guts Out Of Mummies
http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2013/11/how-ancient-egyptian-embalmers-pulled-the-brains-and-guts-out-of-mummies/
TETISHERI
New blogentry by Julia Thorne:
New Egyptology book releases: October 2013
http://www.tetisheri.co.uk/3/post/2013/11/new-egyptology-book-releases-october-2013.html
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
How Ancient Embalmers Pulled The Brains And Guts Out Of Mummies
by Pavithra Mohan 15 November 2013
We’ve unearthed mummy upon mummy from Egypt, the oldest dating back to 3500BC, but one thing has remained a bit of a mystery: what does the mummification process actually entail from a surgical point of view? How did they remove the brains, guts, and other vital organs — what tools did they use and how did they train for it? One anthropologist thinks he’s found out.
Much like a 46-million-year-old mosquito fossilised mid-meal, Egyptian mummification has long provided us embalmed snapshots of an ancient way of life. Just last week, we found out why King Tut’s mummy had not been preserved in the most kingly fashion: his body seemingly experienced ignition inside its sarcophagus due to a flammable cocktail of oxygen, embalming oils, and combustible linens.
One myth of mummy-making has long appealed to our, or perhaps just my, gross sensibilities: mushy brain parts were usually removed from Egyptian mummies and flushed out through the nose, we’ve been told. And that’s not all: more often than not, they were disemboweled and rid of their internal organs as well, to stop decomposition.
In a paper published in the December 2013 issue of the Journal of Archaeological Science, Dr. Andrew Wade at the University of Western Ontario investigated the literal ins and outs of organ-removal techniques. Wade looked at films and forensic scans from a sample of 50 human Egyptian mummies, noting that there were two main methods of both excerebration (brain removal) and evisceration (body organ removal). Occurrences of brain and organ removal actually increased over time, as mummification was expanded to non-royals.
Monday, November 18, 2013
Nefertiti as sensual goddess
Lecturer details research suggesting more complex role for Egyptian queen
By Valerie Vande Panne, Harvard Correspondent
In history, the Egyptian Queen Nefertiti is depicted as a powerful, independent woman. Her bust, on display at the Neues Museum in Berlin, is one of the most reproduced works of ancient Egypt.
But Jacquelyn Williamson, visiting lecturer on women’s studies and Near Eastern studies and women’s studies in religion program research associate at Harvard Divinity School (HDS), suggests that Nefertiti wasn’t quite who people imagine she was, and eventually was revered as something of a sex goddess.
Nefertiti is “often represented as a powerful and independent figure,” said Williamson, and has a “reputation as being a uniquely strong queen.”
“I expected images of her smiting the heads of the enemies of Egypt, an act usually reserved for the king,” said Williamson, who has identified a temple that she believes was the queen’s. “She is shown in the tombs of the elite at Amarna at a natural height to the king.”
Amenhotep IV became king when Egypt was wealthy and its empire was strong, covering territory from as far north as Syria to as far south as Sudan. He worshipped the sun god Re, whose visible manifestation in the daytime sky was known as the Aten. He gave this god prominence. When Amenhotep took the throne, he became Akhenaten, or “one who is effective for the Aten.”
By Valerie Vande Panne, Harvard Correspondent
In history, the Egyptian Queen Nefertiti is depicted as a powerful, independent woman. Her bust, on display at the Neues Museum in Berlin, is one of the most reproduced works of ancient Egypt.
But Jacquelyn Williamson, visiting lecturer on women’s studies and Near Eastern studies and women’s studies in religion program research associate at Harvard Divinity School (HDS), suggests that Nefertiti wasn’t quite who people imagine she was, and eventually was revered as something of a sex goddess.
Nefertiti is “often represented as a powerful and independent figure,” said Williamson, and has a “reputation as being a uniquely strong queen.”
“I expected images of her smiting the heads of the enemies of Egypt, an act usually reserved for the king,” said Williamson, who has identified a temple that she believes was the queen’s. “She is shown in the tombs of the elite at Amarna at a natural height to the king.”
Amenhotep IV became king when Egypt was wealthy and its empire was strong, covering territory from as far north as Syria to as far south as Sudan. He worshipped the sun god Re, whose visible manifestation in the daytime sky was known as the Aten. He gave this god prominence. When Amenhotep took the throne, he became Akhenaten, or “one who is effective for the Aten.”
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Museum Pieces - Shabti of Akhenaten
Shabtis were intended to perform work that the deceased was called upon to do in the afterlife. More than two hundred shabti fragments inscribed for Akhenaten are known, and their existence suggests that belief in the afterlife and certain aspects of traditional funerary practices survived during the Amarna period. However, Akhenaten's shabtis are inscribed only with the king's names and titles, not the standard shabti text.
Quartzite, fine-grained, white
H 12.78 cm, W 8.1 cm, D 5.7 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Egyptian - Oriental Collection
Inv AE_INV_10166
Sources: http://www.khm.at/en/visit/collections/egyptian-and-near-eastern-collection/selected-masterpieces/?cHash=dfb045333efd096a1ea1afd262c4a608
http://bilddatenbank.khm.at/viewArtefact?id=316945
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Pyramid-Age Love Revealed in Vivid Color in Egyptian Tomb
By Owen Jarus, LiveScience Contributor | November 15, 2013
She was a priestess named Meretites, and he was a singer named Kahai, who performed at the pharaoh's palace. They lived about 4,400 years ago in an age when pyramids were being built in Egypt, and their love is reflected in a highly unusual scene in their tomb — an image that has now been published in all its surviving color.
The tomb at Saqqara — which held this couple, their children and possibly their grandchildren — has now been studied and described by researchers at Macquarie University's Australian Center for Egyptology. Among the scenes depicted is a relief painting showing the couple gazing into each other's eyes, with Meretites placing her right hand over Kahai's right shoulder.
Such a display of affection was extraordinary for Egypt during the Pyramid Age. Only a few examples of a face-to-face embrace survive from the Old Kingdom (2649 B.C. to 2150 B.C.), the time period when the couple lived and pyramid building thrived, said Miral Lashien, a researcher at Macquarie University. "I think that this indicates very special closeness," Lashien told LiveScience in an email.
She was a priestess named Meretites, and he was a singer named Kahai, who performed at the pharaoh's palace. They lived about 4,400 years ago in an age when pyramids were being built in Egypt, and their love is reflected in a highly unusual scene in their tomb — an image that has now been published in all its surviving color.
 |
Inside a tomb dating back to the age of the Pyramids in Egypt held this image, an embrace between a priestess and her husband, a singer in the pharaoh's palace. The image has been recorded by researchers in full color.
Credit: Photo by Ms. Effy Alexakis, copyright Macquarie University Ancient Cultures Research Centre |
Such a display of affection was extraordinary for Egypt during the Pyramid Age. Only a few examples of a face-to-face embrace survive from the Old Kingdom (2649 B.C. to 2150 B.C.), the time period when the couple lived and pyramid building thrived, said Miral Lashien, a researcher at Macquarie University. "I think that this indicates very special closeness," Lashien told LiveScience in an email.
Friday, November 15, 2013
Tutankhamun's sister goes missing
Alert issued after 'Daughter of the Pharaoh Akhenaten' - Tutankhamun's sister - is stolen alongside hundreds of other exhibits in Egypt
By Richard Spencer, Mallawi, Egypt
Egypt has issued an international alert for the return of an exquisite statuette of Tutankhamun's sister, stolen with hundreds of other exhibits when a museum was looted amid clashes between police and Islamists this summer.
The carved limestone figurine of "A Daughter of the Pharaoh Akhenaten", dating from the 14th Century BC, has not been found since the destruction in August of the Mallawi City Museum in central Egypt.
 |
| Photocredit: The Telegraph |
Experts fear that under the cover of days of riots it was stolen to order. It was Mallawi's prize exhibit, and due to be transferred to a new museum currently being built nearby to honour the family of Akhenaten, one of Egypt's most celebrated and unusual pharaohs as well as Tutankhamun's father.
During the riots in the town which followed the violent dispersal of protests in Cairo on Aug 14 and the killing of hundreds of Islamist supporters of the president, Mohammed Morsi, looters walked off with everything that could be carried from the museum - around 1,000 pieces in all.
More than 600 have been returned or seized by police. But hundreds of fine pieces, including a collection of Greek gold coins, statues of ibises, the birds still common to the region which were held in reverence in pharaonic times, and the figure of the princess have still not been recovered.
Some archaeologists believe the raid may have been orchestrated with her statue in mind. Relics of the Akhenaten era, source of the most celebrated finds of ancient Egypt, fetch the highest prices on the international black market and families of antiquities smugglers are known to operate in the area.
"I think the looters knew what they were taking," said Monica Hanna, an Egyptian archaeologist prominent in the campaign to prevent the desecration of its historic sites.
Thursday, November 14, 2013
King Tut Death by Chariot? Not So Fast
by Rossella Lorenzi
King Tutankhamun’s death is a mystery which may never be solved, says a new study on the best-known pharaoh of ancient Egypt.
The study indirectly dismisses a recent theory which ascribed King Tut's demise to a horrific chariot accident. According to the claim, which was detailed on Sunday in a new British documentary, the high-speed chariot crash would have smashed the boy king's rib cage and many of his internal organs, including his heart.
"It is not the first time that this mode of death has been mentioned," Salima Ikram, professor of Egyptology at The American University in Cairo, told Discovery News.
"I wonder how could they say his internal organs were crushed. We won't know until the canopic jars housing his organs are examined," she said.
Frank Rühli, Head of the Centre for Evolutionary Medicine at the University of Zurich in Switzerland, agreed.
"Moreover, the mechanism of explanation for the accident is not fully provable," Rühli told Discovery News.
According to the researchers, the diagnosis of trauma caused by a chariot accident is one of the many hypothesis about King Tut's death for which not enough evidence can be found.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Wednesday Weekly # 9
Welcome to the Wednesday Weekly, your weekly dose of links to Egyptology news, articles, blogs, events and more.
DR. MGNH
New blog:
A female administrator in ancient Egypt
http://drmgnh.wordpress.com/2013/11/06/a-female-administrator-in-ancient-egypt/
HAIR AND DEATH IN ANCIENT EGYPT
by María Rosa Valdesogo Martín
Secular Mourning vs. Ritual Mourning. An Egyptian Custom.
http://hairanddeathinancientegypt.wordpress.com/2013/11/07/secular-mourning-vs-ritual-mourning/
Data Collection on Mourning Hair in Ancient Egypt
http://hairanddeathinancientegypt.wordpress.com/2013/11/11/956/
EGYPT AT THE MANCHESTER MUSEUM
Study Day 08/02/2014: Sons of Osiris - Men in Ancient Egypt
http://egyptmanchester.wordpress.com/2013/11/07/study-day-08022014-sons-of-osiris-men-in-ancient-egypt/
Study Day 23/11/13: South Asasif Conservation Project in Context
http://egyptmanchester.wordpress.com/2013/11/10/study-day-231113-south-asasif-conservation-project-in-context/
AHRAM ONLINE
by Nevine El-Aref
Egyptian government deploys armed guards at remote temple sites
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/85915/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/Egyptian-government-deploys-armed-guards-at-remote.aspx
Egypt recovers 90 stolen antiquities from Israel
http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/86032.aspx
EGYPTOLOGICAL
Check out new updates:
http://egyptological.com/
THE SOCIETY FOR THE STUDY OF EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES
Tentative schedule for The SSEA/SÉÉA's Annual General Meeting weekend, Jan 9-12, 2014
http://www.thessea.org/news.php#249
HAARETZ
by Julia Fridman
How a Canaanite goddess conquered ancient Egypt
http://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/.premium-1.557382
THE BRITISH MUSEUM
Recruitment information:
Curator: Egyptian Written Culture
You will be responsible for undertaking research and documentation on the collection of inscribed material from ancient Egypt, and expected to develop research programmes and seek external funding to support these. A primary focus will be the significant collections of papyri and ostraca (hieratic, demotic), but the post holder will also have the opportunity to work across other inscribed material in the collection. The curator will also be expected to place Egyptian written culture within a broader context of writing across other cultures.
More info:
https://atsv7.wcn.co.uk/search_engine/jobs.cgi?SID=amNvZGU9MTM4MDk3MSZ2dF90ZW1wbGF0ZT02NzImb3duZXI9NTAyNzczNSZvd25lcnR5cGU9ZmFpciZicmFuZF9pZD0wJnJlcXNpZz0xMzg0MTcxNjU2LTQ5ZGU2YjdmYzAyYWJjZWE4MGQ2MmFhN2MwY2I0YWZmYTAyZGNhZGY
EGYPTIAN'S
New blogpost by Timothy Reid:
A Burnt Tutankhamun
http://tim-theegyptians.blogspot.nl/2013/11/a-burnt-tutankhamun.html
LUXOR TIMES
New additions to the blog:
Two New Kingdom statues discoverd at Montu temple in Armant
http://luxortimesmagazine.blogspot.nl/2013/11/two-new-kingdom-statues-discovered-at.html
"The Revival of the Egyptian Museum"
http://luxortimesmagazine.blogspot.nl/2013/11/the-revival-of-egyptian-museum.html
HERITAGE DAILY
Egypt - Past and Present
http://www.heritagedaily.com/2013/11/egypt-past-and-present/99576
DR. MGNH
New blog:
A female administrator in ancient Egypt
http://drmgnh.wordpress.com/2013/11/06/a-female-administrator-in-ancient-egypt/
HAIR AND DEATH IN ANCIENT EGYPT
by María Rosa Valdesogo Martín
Secular Mourning vs. Ritual Mourning. An Egyptian Custom.
http://hairanddeathinancientegypt.wordpress.com/2013/11/07/secular-mourning-vs-ritual-mourning/
Data Collection on Mourning Hair in Ancient Egypt
http://hairanddeathinancientegypt.wordpress.com/2013/11/11/956/
EGYPT AT THE MANCHESTER MUSEUM
Study Day 08/02/2014: Sons of Osiris - Men in Ancient Egypt
http://egyptmanchester.wordpress.com/2013/11/07/study-day-08022014-sons-of-osiris-men-in-ancient-egypt/
Study Day 23/11/13: South Asasif Conservation Project in Context
http://egyptmanchester.wordpress.com/2013/11/10/study-day-231113-south-asasif-conservation-project-in-context/
AHRAM ONLINE
by Nevine El-Aref
Egyptian government deploys armed guards at remote temple sites
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/85915/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/Egyptian-government-deploys-armed-guards-at-remote.aspx
Egypt recovers 90 stolen antiquities from Israel
http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/86032.aspx
EGYPTOLOGICAL
Check out new updates:
http://egyptological.com/
THE SOCIETY FOR THE STUDY OF EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES
Tentative schedule for The SSEA/SÉÉA's Annual General Meeting weekend, Jan 9-12, 2014
http://www.thessea.org/news.php#249
HAARETZ
by Julia Fridman
How a Canaanite goddess conquered ancient Egypt
http://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/.premium-1.557382
THE BRITISH MUSEUM
Recruitment information:
Curator: Egyptian Written Culture
You will be responsible for undertaking research and documentation on the collection of inscribed material from ancient Egypt, and expected to develop research programmes and seek external funding to support these. A primary focus will be the significant collections of papyri and ostraca (hieratic, demotic), but the post holder will also have the opportunity to work across other inscribed material in the collection. The curator will also be expected to place Egyptian written culture within a broader context of writing across other cultures.
More info:
https://atsv7.wcn.co.uk/search_engine/jobs.cgi?SID=amNvZGU9MTM4MDk3MSZ2dF90ZW1wbGF0ZT02NzImb3duZXI9NTAyNzczNSZvd25lcnR5cGU9ZmFpciZicmFuZF9pZD0wJnJlcXNpZz0xMzg0MTcxNjU2LTQ5ZGU2YjdmYzAyYWJjZWE4MGQ2MmFhN2MwY2I0YWZmYTAyZGNhZGY
EGYPTIAN'S
New blogpost by Timothy Reid:
A Burnt Tutankhamun
http://tim-theegyptians.blogspot.nl/2013/11/a-burnt-tutankhamun.html
LUXOR TIMES
New additions to the blog:
Two New Kingdom statues discoverd at Montu temple in Armant
http://luxortimesmagazine.blogspot.nl/2013/11/two-new-kingdom-statues-discovered-at.html
"The Revival of the Egyptian Museum"
http://luxortimesmagazine.blogspot.nl/2013/11/the-revival-of-egyptian-museum.html
HERITAGE DAILY
Egypt - Past and Present
http://www.heritagedaily.com/2013/11/egypt-past-and-present/99576
Monday, November 11, 2013
How a Canaanite goddess conquered ancient Egypt
Brought over by mysterious conquerors and fused with a local deity, the nameless goddess was a kinder, gentler - and yellow - goddess.
By Julia Fridman
Upon entering the tomb of King Thutmosis III, its excavator was greeted by a scene he hadn't expected. In addition to the typical stiff, repetitive funerary imagery of the time, the innermost sanctum of the burial chamber had a simple image of the Pharaoh suckling on a breast protruding from a tree.
The association of a tree of life with a major goddess had been all but unknown in Thutmosis’ 18th Dynasty Egypt (1479 BCE to 1425 BCE). But they were very well known in Canaan and the broader Levant.
Nude goddesses and tree symbolism began appearing as early as the Neolithic period, some 12,000 years ago in the north of Israel. Artifacts including scarab seals, jewelry, and clay figurines were found at important sites such as Lachish, Megiddo, Beit Shean, Gezer, and Nahariya, to name just a few.
By the time of the Middle Bronze Age, 4,000 years ago, they were commonplace in funerary, household and temple contexts – in the Levant. Not in Egypt.
By Julia Fridman
Upon entering the tomb of King Thutmosis III, its excavator was greeted by a scene he hadn't expected. In addition to the typical stiff, repetitive funerary imagery of the time, the innermost sanctum of the burial chamber had a simple image of the Pharaoh suckling on a breast protruding from a tree.
The association of a tree of life with a major goddess had been all but unknown in Thutmosis’ 18th Dynasty Egypt (1479 BCE to 1425 BCE). But they were very well known in Canaan and the broader Levant.
Nude goddesses and tree symbolism began appearing as early as the Neolithic period, some 12,000 years ago in the north of Israel. Artifacts including scarab seals, jewelry, and clay figurines were found at important sites such as Lachish, Megiddo, Beit Shean, Gezer, and Nahariya, to name just a few.
By the time of the Middle Bronze Age, 4,000 years ago, they were commonplace in funerary, household and temple contexts – in the Levant. Not in Egypt.
Friday, November 8, 2013
Egyptian government deploys armed guards at remote temple sites
Guards to boost security at Wadi Al-Sebua temple near Aswan
by Nevine El-Aref , Friday 8 Nov 2013
The Ministry of State for Antiquities has started to provide security in remote archaeological areas which were left without guards after the 2011 revolution.
Ten ministry security guards at the Wadi Al-Sebua temple area on Lake Nasser, south of Aswan, were armed with guns on Friday, in order to tighten security measures at the remote site.
Antiquities minister Mohamed Ibrahim said the step was important for preventing further looting attempts.
He denied reports that the Wadi Al-Sebua area had been recently subjected to looting, saying that only electricity cables and lamps used to illuminate the site at night had been stolen.
Wadi Al-Sebua, or the Valley of the Lions, is the name given to a Nubian temple built by King Ramses II at the end of his reign (1279 -1213BC).
It was one of the temples that was dismantled and removed from its site in the 1960s to make way for the reservoir that would accompany the Aswan High Dam. The temple took its name from an avenue of sphinxes that decorates its entrance.
The temple originally consisted of a set of three pylons, but only two survive. The first, which led to the avenue of sphinxes, is no longer there, but the second, which leads into a forecourt decorated by statues of Ramses II and the third, which leads to a second courtyard supported by columns decorated by images of Ramses as Osiris, are still extant.
The hypostyle hall and inner sanctuary that follow these courtyards were carved into the bedrock.
Close by Wadi Al-Sebua is Dakka Temple, which was built much later during the Ptolemaic era.
Source: http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/85915/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/Egyptian-government-deploys-armed-guards-at-remote.aspx
by Nevine El-Aref , Friday 8 Nov 2013
The Ministry of State for Antiquities has started to provide security in remote archaeological areas which were left without guards after the 2011 revolution.
Ten ministry security guards at the Wadi Al-Sebua temple area on Lake Nasser, south of Aswan, were armed with guns on Friday, in order to tighten security measures at the remote site.
 |
| Photocredit: Ahram Online |
Antiquities minister Mohamed Ibrahim said the step was important for preventing further looting attempts.
He denied reports that the Wadi Al-Sebua area had been recently subjected to looting, saying that only electricity cables and lamps used to illuminate the site at night had been stolen.
Wadi Al-Sebua, or the Valley of the Lions, is the name given to a Nubian temple built by King Ramses II at the end of his reign (1279 -1213BC).
It was one of the temples that was dismantled and removed from its site in the 1960s to make way for the reservoir that would accompany the Aswan High Dam. The temple took its name from an avenue of sphinxes that decorates its entrance.
The temple originally consisted of a set of three pylons, but only two survive. The first, which led to the avenue of sphinxes, is no longer there, but the second, which leads into a forecourt decorated by statues of Ramses II and the third, which leads to a second courtyard supported by columns decorated by images of Ramses as Osiris, are still extant.
The hypostyle hall and inner sanctuary that follow these courtyards were carved into the bedrock.
Close by Wadi Al-Sebua is Dakka Temple, which was built much later during the Ptolemaic era.
Source: http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/85915/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/Egyptian-government-deploys-armed-guards-at-remote.aspx
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Wednesday Weekly # 8
Welcome to the Wednesday Weekly, your weekly dose of links to Egyptology news, articles, blogs, events and more.
AHRAM ONLINE
by Nevine El-Aref
Alexandria's Graeco-Roman Museum to reopen within 18 months
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/44/85144/Heritage/Museums/Alexandrias-GraecoRoman-Museum-to-reopen-within--m.aspx
Giza plateau mastaba block fell, restoration to start Sunday
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/85406/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/Giza-plateau-mastaba-block-fell,-restoration-to-st.aspx
Stolen Ancient Egyptian shrine recovered
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/85488/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/Stolen-Ancient-Egyptian-shrine-recovered.aspx
AL-AHRAM WEEKLY
by Nevine El-Aref
The necropolis opens
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/News/4486/47/The-necropolis-opens.aspx
IN THE ARTIFACT LAB
New blog entry:
First step for the heads
http://www.penn.museum/sites/artifactlab/2013/10/30/first-step-for-the-heads/
HAIR AND DEATH IN ANCIENT EGYPT
by María Rosa Valdesogo Martín
S3mt: Hair and Mourning, Evil and Udjat Eye
http://hairanddeathinancientegypt.wordpress.com/2013/10/31/s3mt-hair-and-mourning-evil-and-udjta-eye/
Mourning Women and Mourning Hair in Ancient Egypt Funeral
http://hairanddeathinancientegypt.wordpress.com/2013/11/04/mourning-women-and-mourning-hair/
AWOL - THE ANCIENT WORLD ONLINE
New addition to the blog:
Excavations in Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt
http://ancientworldonline.blogspot.nl/2013/10/excavations-in-dakhleh-oasis-egypt.html
UCL MUSEUMS & COLLECTIONS BLOG
New blog entry:
From the Field to the Museum and Back Again
http://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/museums/2013/11/01/from-the-field-to-the-museum-and-back-again/
EGYPTIAN'S
New blogposts by Timothy Reid:
Naukratis
http://tim-theegyptians.blogspot.nl/2013/10/naukratis.html
Erosion on the Giza Plateau
http://tim-theegyptians.blogspot.nl/2013/11/erosion-on-giza-plateau.html
LUXOR TIMES
New addition to the blog:
3-tons block has fallen but will be in place tomorrow
http://luxortimesmagazine.blogspot.nl/2013/11/3-tons-block-has-fallen-but-will-be-in.html
LIVESCIENCE
New article by Owen Jarus:
Mummy's Colorful Collar Found in Egyptian Tomb
http://www.livescience.com/40955-mummy-collar-found-in-egyptian-tomb.html
CALGARY SSEA
Lecture: The Amarna Period
Description:
Continuing the History of Ancient Egypt brings us to the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty, to Amenhotep III, his heretic Aten-worshipping son Akhenaten, and the Amarna Period. The Amarna Era was a time of dramatic changes in religion, culture and Egyptian art, and was followed by an equally wrenching reversion to the traditional Amon worship.
Date: 7:30 – 9:00 pm, 06-Dec-2013
More info:
http://www.calgaryssea.ca/2013/11/04/lecture-the-amarna-period/
JOYCE FILER
New additions to her site:
Science Week at the British Museum
http://joycefiler.wordpress.com/2013/10/31/science-week-at-the-british-museum/
http://joycefiler.wordpress.com/2013/11/01/science-week-at-the-british-museum-2/
THE SCOTSMAN
by Frank Urquhart
Egyptian mummy at Perth museum 'named'
http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/heritage/egyptian-mummy-at-perth-museum-named-1-3174867
AHRAM ONLINE
by Nevine El-Aref
Alexandria's Graeco-Roman Museum to reopen within 18 months
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/44/85144/Heritage/Museums/Alexandrias-GraecoRoman-Museum-to-reopen-within--m.aspx
Giza plateau mastaba block fell, restoration to start Sunday
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/85406/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/Giza-plateau-mastaba-block-fell,-restoration-to-st.aspx
Stolen Ancient Egyptian shrine recovered
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/85488/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/Stolen-Ancient-Egyptian-shrine-recovered.aspx
AL-AHRAM WEEKLY
by Nevine El-Aref
The necropolis opens
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/News/4486/47/The-necropolis-opens.aspx
IN THE ARTIFACT LAB
New blog entry:
First step for the heads
http://www.penn.museum/sites/artifactlab/2013/10/30/first-step-for-the-heads/
HAIR AND DEATH IN ANCIENT EGYPT
by María Rosa Valdesogo Martín
S3mt: Hair and Mourning, Evil and Udjat Eye
http://hairanddeathinancientegypt.wordpress.com/2013/10/31/s3mt-hair-and-mourning-evil-and-udjta-eye/
Mourning Women and Mourning Hair in Ancient Egypt Funeral
http://hairanddeathinancientegypt.wordpress.com/2013/11/04/mourning-women-and-mourning-hair/
AWOL - THE ANCIENT WORLD ONLINE
New addition to the blog:
Excavations in Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt
http://ancientworldonline.blogspot.nl/2013/10/excavations-in-dakhleh-oasis-egypt.html
UCL MUSEUMS & COLLECTIONS BLOG
New blog entry:
From the Field to the Museum and Back Again
http://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/museums/2013/11/01/from-the-field-to-the-museum-and-back-again/
EGYPTIAN'S
New blogposts by Timothy Reid:
Naukratis
http://tim-theegyptians.blogspot.nl/2013/10/naukratis.html
Erosion on the Giza Plateau
http://tim-theegyptians.blogspot.nl/2013/11/erosion-on-giza-plateau.html
LUXOR TIMES
New addition to the blog:
3-tons block has fallen but will be in place tomorrow
http://luxortimesmagazine.blogspot.nl/2013/11/3-tons-block-has-fallen-but-will-be-in.html
LIVESCIENCE
New article by Owen Jarus:
Mummy's Colorful Collar Found in Egyptian Tomb
http://www.livescience.com/40955-mummy-collar-found-in-egyptian-tomb.html
CALGARY SSEA
Lecture: The Amarna Period
Description:
Continuing the History of Ancient Egypt brings us to the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty, to Amenhotep III, his heretic Aten-worshipping son Akhenaten, and the Amarna Period. The Amarna Era was a time of dramatic changes in religion, culture and Egyptian art, and was followed by an equally wrenching reversion to the traditional Amon worship.
Date: 7:30 – 9:00 pm, 06-Dec-2013
More info:
http://www.calgaryssea.ca/2013/11/04/lecture-the-amarna-period/
JOYCE FILER
New additions to her site:
Science Week at the British Museum
http://joycefiler.wordpress.com/2013/10/31/science-week-at-the-british-museum/
http://joycefiler.wordpress.com/2013/11/01/science-week-at-the-british-museum-2/
THE SCOTSMAN
by Frank Urquhart
Egyptian mummy at Perth museum 'named'
http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/heritage/egyptian-mummy-at-perth-museum-named-1-3174867
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Mummy's Colorful Collar Found in Egyptian Tomb
By Owen Jarus, LiveScience Contributor | November 05, 2013
A collar with "almost pristine" colors that would have been worn by a mummy has been discovered in small pieces in an Egyptian tomb in Thebes and put back together again.
People in ancient Egypt wore collars called "wesekhs" made of beads when they were alive. This painted collar is made of a different type of material called cartonnage (a plastered material) and was meant to be worn by a mummy after death. A clay seal found near the collar suggests that it was worn by the mummy of a wealthy undertaker.
Dating back around 2,300 years ago and found in modern-day Luxor, the collar is painted in a vivid array of colors, designs and images that show elements of ancient Egyptian religion. The god Horus is signified by two falcons wearing red sun-disk crowns on the top corners, while at top center is a human-headed bird (called a "Ba" bird) that represents, in essence, the immortal soul of the deceased mummy.
Additionally, in the center of the design, there is a drawing of a golden shrine with two goddesses, possibly the sisters Isis and Nephthys, facing a deity in the center that may be the jackal-headed Anubis. The collar is about 8.7 inches (22 centimeters) high (not including the falcons) and about 16.5 inches (42 cm) in width. Near the bottom of the collar lotus blossoms are shown flourishing.
A collar with "almost pristine" colors that would have been worn by a mummy has been discovered in small pieces in an Egyptian tomb in Thebes and put back together again.
 |
| Photocredit: Susan Redford |
People in ancient Egypt wore collars called "wesekhs" made of beads when they were alive. This painted collar is made of a different type of material called cartonnage (a plastered material) and was meant to be worn by a mummy after death. A clay seal found near the collar suggests that it was worn by the mummy of a wealthy undertaker.
Dating back around 2,300 years ago and found in modern-day Luxor, the collar is painted in a vivid array of colors, designs and images that show elements of ancient Egyptian religion. The god Horus is signified by two falcons wearing red sun-disk crowns on the top corners, while at top center is a human-headed bird (called a "Ba" bird) that represents, in essence, the immortal soul of the deceased mummy.
Additionally, in the center of the design, there is a drawing of a golden shrine with two goddesses, possibly the sisters Isis and Nephthys, facing a deity in the center that may be the jackal-headed Anubis. The collar is about 8.7 inches (22 centimeters) high (not including the falcons) and about 16.5 inches (42 cm) in width. Near the bottom of the collar lotus blossoms are shown flourishing.
Monday, November 4, 2013
Stolen Ancient Egyptian shrine recovered
Limestone Ancient Egyptian shrine (or naos) found in residential home in Mit Rahina town
by Nevine El-Aref , Sunday 3 Nov 2013
Tourism and Antiquities Police have recovered a stolen limestone naos (shrine) hidden inside a residential home in Mit-Rahina town in Al-Badrasheen city, south of Cairo.
Antiquities Minister Mohamed Ibrahim said the ministry's archaeological committee had confirmed the naos is authentic and dates from the Old Kingdom.
It includes four statues of persons fixed on four bases engraved with hieroglyphic verses from The Pyramid Texts. The first statue is 16 cm tall and depicts a standing figure wearing a black wig. The second is 19.2 cm tall and features a person wearing a coloured wig, while the third statue is 9.2 cm in height and may be of a child wearing a coloured wig. On his chest is engraved line of hieroglyphics. The fourth statue is 16.4 cm tall and depicts a person with a black wig.
Aly El-Asfar, deputy head of the Ancient Egyptian department at the ministry, said the statues could be of the same person different during stages of life. The naos is now under investigation to discover its original location and whether it was dug illegally.
The possessor of the naos is now being held in custody and is being investigated, he said.
by Nevine El-Aref , Sunday 3 Nov 2013
Tourism and Antiquities Police have recovered a stolen limestone naos (shrine) hidden inside a residential home in Mit-Rahina town in Al-Badrasheen city, south of Cairo.
Antiquities Minister Mohamed Ibrahim said the ministry's archaeological committee had confirmed the naos is authentic and dates from the Old Kingdom.
It includes four statues of persons fixed on four bases engraved with hieroglyphic verses from The Pyramid Texts. The first statue is 16 cm tall and depicts a standing figure wearing a black wig. The second is 19.2 cm tall and features a person wearing a coloured wig, while the third statue is 9.2 cm in height and may be of a child wearing a coloured wig. On his chest is engraved line of hieroglyphics. The fourth statue is 16.4 cm tall and depicts a person with a black wig.
Aly El-Asfar, deputy head of the Ancient Egyptian department at the ministry, said the statues could be of the same person different during stages of life. The naos is now under investigation to discover its original location and whether it was dug illegally.
The possessor of the naos is now being held in custody and is being investigated, he said.
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Museum Pieces - Figure of Monkey Seated on Ovoid Base
 |
| Photocredit: Brooklyn Museum |
Throughout Egyptian history, monkeys were enjoyed for their playful, whimsical behavior. This blue faience example holds a ball or piece of fruit; in antiquity, it wore a metal earring, indicating that it represented a household pet. Because they had to be imported over great distances at considerable expense, the possession of monkeys indicated the owner's wealth and social status.
Medium: Faience, glazed
Reportedly From: El Amarna, Egypt
Dates: ca. 1352-1336 B.C.E.
Dynasty: late XVIII Dynasty
Period: New Kingdom
Dimensions: 2 1/8 x 1 1/8 x 1 9/16 in. (5.4 x 2.8 x 4 cm) (show scale)
Museum Location: This item is on view in Egypt Reborn: Art for Eternity, Amarna Period, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor
Accession Number: 48.181
Credit Line: Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
Rights Statement: Creative Commons-BY
Caption: Figure of Monkey Seated on Ovoid Base, ca. 1352-1336 B.C.E. Faience, glazed, 2 1/8 x 1 1/8 x 1 9/16 in. (5.4 x 2.8 x 4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 48.181. Creative Commons-BY
Catalogue Description: Blue glazed figure of monkey seated on ovoid base. Body in the round, head at right angles to shoulders, ears pierced, hands extended grasping unidentified object supported by one foot and resting on base. Condition: Intact. Glaze slightly worn on front of body.
Source: http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/3524/Figure_of_Monkey_Seated_on_Ovoid_Base
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