Amun-Ra Egyptology Blog

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Wednesday Weekly # 86 Summer Edition

Welcome to the Wednesday Weekly, your weekly dose of links to Egyptology news, articles, blogs, events and more!

We're back with the Wednesday Weekly Summer Edition, with all the links you may have missed this summer!

AHRAM ONLINE

A part of Tutmosis Karnak column arrives home from London
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/134591/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/A-part-of-Tutmosis-Karnak-column-arrives-home-from.aspx

Egypt's Mons Claudianus archeological site to be developed into a museum
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/41/134277/Heritage/GrecoRoman/Egypts-Mons-Claudianus-archeological-site--to-be-d.aspx

Naqada tombs uncovered in Egypt's Daqahliyah
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/134767/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/Naqada-tombs-uncovered-in-Egypts-Daqahliyah.aspx

The tomb of the 26th dynasty ruler of Upper Egypt uncoverd in Assassif, Luxor
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/139265/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/The-tomb-of-the-th-dynasty-ruler-of-Upper-Egypt-un.aspx

Is the Sekhemka statue lost for good?
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/139175/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/Is-the-Sekhemka-statue-lost-for-good.aspx

Germany offers € 50,000 grant to help restore Tutankhamun's mask
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/139431/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/Germany-offers-%E2%82%AC,-grant-to-help-restore-Tutankhamu.aspx

THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

"Window on a lost world": rediscovered papyri at UBC shed light on ancient Egypt
http://news.ubc.ca/2015/07/06/window-on-a-lost-world-rediscovered-papyri-at-ubc-shed-light-on-ancient-egypt/

SCIENCE & SCHOLARSHIP IN POLAND

Poles discovered a unique 6.5 thousand years old burial in Egypt
http://scienceinpoland.pap.pl/en/news/news,405679,poles-discovered-a-unique-65-thousand-years-old-burial-in-egypt.html

Rare find of Polish scientists in Egypt
http://scienceinpoland.pap.pl/en/news/news,405745,rare-find-of-polish-scientists-in-egypt.html

THE ANCIENT WORLD ONLINE

Egyptian Obelisk Tracker

http://ancientworldonline.blogspot.nl/2015/07/egyptian-obelisk-tracker.html

Open Access Journal:Papyrus (Dansk Ægyptologisk Selskab)

http://ancientworldonline.blogspot.nl/2010/06/open-access-journal-papyrus.html

LUXOR TIMES

Astonishing archaeological discoveries help rewriting the history of the Ancient Egyptian harbour

http://luxortimesmagazine.blogspot.nl/2015/07/astonishing-archaeological-discoveries.html

Exclusive: new excavations in Valley of the Kings
http://luxortimesmagazine.blogspot.nl/2015/07/exclusive-new-excavations-in-valley-of.html

American archaeologists discover inscribed steles at ancient mining site
http://luxortimesmagazine.blogspot.nl/2015/07/american-archaeologists-discover.html

Egyptian archaeologists discover human remains and pottery
http://luxortimesmagazine.blogspot.nl/2015/08/egyptian-archaeologists-discover-human.html

IN THE ARTIFACT LAB

Exploring the painted surface of three coffin fragments
http://www.penn.museum/sites/artifactlab/2015/07/03/exploring-the-painted-surface-of-three-coffin-fragments/

Treating Nespekashuti’s coffin
http://www.penn.museum/sites/artifactlab/2015/07/11/treating-nespekashutis-coffin/

A closer look at our stola coffin lid
http://www.penn.museum/sites/artifactlab/2015/07/27/a-closer-look-at-our-beautiful-stola-coffin-lid/

High tech/low tech
http://www.penn.museum/sites/artifactlab/2015/08/01/high-techlow-tech/

The right tools for the job
http://www.penn.museum/sites/artifactlab/2015/08/17/the-right-tools-for-the-job/

Nespekashuti: aesthetic, ethical, and practical considerations
http://www.penn.museum/sites/artifactlab/2015/08/29/nespekashuti-aesthetic-ethical-and-practical-considerations/

EGYPT CENTRE, SWANSEA

Scantily clad dancers again - red in tooth and claw!

http://egyptcentre.blogspot.nl/2015/07/scantly-clad-dancers-again-red-in-tooth.html

Daemons 'playing drums', mummy bandages and sky journeys
http://egyptcentre.blogspot.nl/2015/07/daemons-playing-drums-mummy-bandages.html

Early dynastic Status Symbols- stone in funerary contexts
http://egyptcentre.blogspot.nl/2015/08/early-dynastic-status-symbols-stone-in.html

Now here's another weird thing!
http://egyptcentre.blogspot.nl/2015/08/now-heres-another-weird-thing.html

A happy looking Bes
http://egyptcentre.blogspot.nl/2015/08/a-happy-looking-bes.html

Professor George Kerferd
http://egyptcentre.blogspot.nl/2015/08/professor-george-kerferd.html

ACROSSBORDERS

Small steps forward into the terrain of settlement archaeology in Egypt & Nubia
http://acrossborders.oeaw.ac.at/small-steps-forward-into-the-terrain-of-settlement-archaeology-in-egypt-nubia/

We proudly present: Bavarian recruitment
http://acrossborders.oeaw.ac.at/we-proudly-present-bavarian-recruitment/

Two scarabs from tomb 26
http://acrossborders.oeaw.ac.at/two-scarabs-from-tomb-26/

Some thoughts on the Legitimization of Pharaonic Power in Nubia
http://acrossborders.oeaw.ac.at/some-thoughts-on-the-legitimization-of-pharaonic-power-in-nubia/

Nubian household pottery on Elephantine and its potential
http://acrossborders.oeaw.ac.at/nubian-household-pottery-on-elephantine-and-its-potential/

New administrative support for AcrossBorders
http://acrossborders.oeaw.ac.at/new-administrative-support-for-acrossborders/

AMERICAN RESEARCH CENTER IN EGYPT

2015 ARCE Conservation Field School Graduates

http://www.arce.org/news/2015/07/u158/2015-arce-conservation-field-school-graduates

New USAID Mission Chief Visits ARCE Projects

http://www.arce.org/news/2015/07/u159/new-usaid-mission-chief-visits-red-monastery

AERA

Lost Egypt exhibit at the Durham Museum

http://www.aeraweb.org/news/lost-egypt-exhibit-at-the-durham-museum/

Reflectance Transformation Imaging of Objects in Giza
http://www.aeraweb.org/news/rti/

2015 Area AA-South: Preliminary Results
http://www.aeraweb.org/news/preliminary-report-area-aa-south/

Mit Rahina 2015: MA Applications Open
http://www.aeraweb.org/news/mit-rahina-2015-ma-applications-open/

ANCIENT EGYPTIAN ANIMAL BIO BANK

Sacred Spaces at the Sackler
https://ancientegyptbiobank.wordpress.com/2015/07/14/sacred-spaces-at-the-sackler/

Eight weeks until Gifts for the Gods opens at Manchester!
https://ancientegyptbiobank.wordpress.com/2015/08/14/eight-weeks-until-gifts-for-the-gods-opens-at-manchester/

ANCIENT ORIGINS

The Battle of Pelusium: Psychological warfare leads Persians to victory
http://www.ancient-origins.net/history-important-events/battle-pelusium-psychological-warfare-leads-persians-victory-003367

Rediscovered Papyri Fragments Provide Charming Insight into Everyday Life in Ancient Egypt
http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/rediscovered-papyri-fragments-provide-charming-insight-everyday-life-020426

Four 6000-Year-Old Tombs with Child Burials Uncovered in Egypt
http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/four-6000-year-old-tombs-child-burials-uncovered-egypt-003429

Polish Archaeologists Discover Rare Gift from Father of Cleopatra
http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/polish-archaeologists-discover-rare-gift-father-cleopatra-003432

Experts discover traces of rare artificial pigment on Egyptian mummy portraits and panel paintings
http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/experts-discover-traces-rare-artificial-pigment-egyptian-mummy-portraits-020506

Discovery of high official tomb points to reuse of tombs and burial goods in Ancient Egypt
http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/discovery-high-official-tomb-points-reuse-tombs-and-burial-goods-ancient-020508

BEYOND BONES

Egyptian Nefertiti replica ends in a bust: 'Ugly' statue brews social media storm
http://blog.hmns.org/2015/07/egyptian-nefertiti-replica-ends-in-a-bust-ugly-statue-brews-social-media-storm/

Cat Imposter: Guess what x-rays reveal about our feline mummy 'fake-out'
http://blog.hmns.org/2015/07/cat-imposter-guess-what-x-rays-reveal-about-our-feline-mummy-fake-out/

Female Leaders, Ancient and Modern: Kara Cooney on Hatshepsut, gender, and power
https://blog.hmns.org/2015/07/female-leaders-ancient-and-modern-kara-cooney-on-hatshepsut-gender-and-power-in-her-book-and-lecture/

BROOKLYN MUSEUM

Women of color
http://brooklynmuseum.tumblr.com/post/123463623602/of-all-the-joys-of-strolling-through-the

Sarcophagus Lid of Pa-di-Djehuti
http://brooklynmuseum.tumblr.com/post/123725627575/this-900lb-limestone-sarcophagus-lid-of

This coffin holds the remains of an ancient cat
http://brooklynmuseum.tumblr.com/post/127234058499/this-coffin-holds-the-remains-of-an-ancient-cat

Globalization is not a new phenomenon
http://brooklynmuseum.tumblr.com/post/127478411537/globalization-is-not-a-new-phenomenon-a

THE CAIRO POST

Foreign archaeological missions resume excavating Upper Egypt after 13-year ban
http://www.thecairopost.com/news/158350/culture/foreign-archaeological-missions-resume-excavating-upper-egypt-after-13-year-ban

35 Greco-Roman artifacts seized in illicit digging attempt in Alexandria
http://www.thecairopost.com/news/158784/culture/35-greco-roman-artifacts-seized-in-illicit-digging-attempt-in-alexandria

3,500 year old Egyptian mummy shows earliest death of heart failure
http://www.thecairopost.com/news/165374/culture/3500-yr-old-egyptian-mummy-shows-earliest-death-of-heart-failure

PLOS ONE

Shedding New Light on the 18th Dynasty Mummies of the Royal Architect Kha and His Spouse Merit
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0131916

BRITISH MUSEUM BLOG

Linking cultures: Sudan, Egypt and Nubia at the British Museum
http://blog.britishmuseum.org/2015/09/01/linking-cultures-sudan-egypt-and-nubia-at-the-british-museum/

AMARNA PROJECT BLOG

The role of Nefertiti
http://amarna-project.blogspot.nl/2015/08/the-role-of-nefertiti.html

DR. ZAHI HAWASS

Discoveries made at Tell El-Farkha by the Polish mission
http://www.drhawass.com/wp/discoveries-made-at-tell-el-farkha-by-the-polish-mission/

New discoveries made by Polish mission at Berenike on the Red Sea coast
http://www.drhawass.com/wp/new-discoveries-made-by-polish-mission-at-berenike-on-the-red-sea-coast/

A New Angle on the Great Pyramid
http://www.drhawass.com/wp/a-new-angle-on-the-great-pyramidby-andrew-bayuk/

EES MINUFIYEH SURVEY

Ceramics from the Old Kingdom mastaba tomb
http://minufiyeh.tumblr.com/post/126490255001/ceramics-from-the-old-kingdom-mastaba-tomb

Into the last full week
http://minufiyeh.tumblr.com/post/127462833946/into-the-last-full-week

EGYPT AT THE MANCHESTER MUSEUM

Investigating Animal Mummies (I): Crocodiles at Hawara
https://egyptmanchester.wordpress.com/2015/07/16/investigating-animal-mummies-i-crocodiles-at-hawara/

KELSEY MUSEUM

Ugly Object of the month-August

Here we have two not-so-lovely, but oh-so fascinating, Egyptian hawk mummies.
https://kelseymuseum.wordpress.com/2015/09/01/ugly-object-of-the-month-august/

PENN MUSEUM BLOG

Sealings, Snakes, and Sacred Lakes: A Report from the 2015 Summer Season at Abydos - Part 1
http://www.penn.museum/blog/world/egypt-2/sealings-snakes-and-sacred-lakes-a-report-from-the-2015-summer-season-at-abydos-part-1-paul-verhelst/

POPULAR ARCHAEOLOGY

Unusual use of blue pigment found in ancient mummy portraits
http://popular-archaeology.com/issue/summer-2015/article/unusual-use-of-blue-pigment-found-in-ancient-mummy-portraits

SOUTH ASASIF CONSERVATION PROJECT BLOG

July in South Asasif Part I
https://southasasif.wordpress.com/2015/08/08/july-in-south-asasif-part-i/

July in South Asasif Part II
https://southasasif.wordpress.com/2015/08/10/july-in-south-asasif-part-iihttpssouthasasif-files-wordpress-com201508image0031-jpgw225/

Discovery of Padibastet
https://southasasif.wordpress.com/2015/08/31/discovery-of-padibastet/

THE EGYPTIAN HISTORY PODCAST

Episode 50: Between two worlds

Political and Personal crisis in 1776
http://egyptianhistory.libsyn.com/episode-50-between-two-worlds

Episode 51: Everywhere and nowhere

Invisible Kings of Dynasty 13
http://egyptianhistory.libsyn.com/episode-51-everywhere-and-nowhere

UCL RESEARCHERS IN MUSEUMS

Question of the week: Are there any objects depicting Queen Nefertiti at Petrie museum?
http://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/researchers-in-museums/2015/07/22/question-of-the-week-are-there-any-objects-depicting-queen-nefertiti-at-petrie-museum/

CHRIS NAUNTON

The tomb of Nefertiti, concealed in within Tut's?
http://chrisnaunton.com/2015/08/16/the-tomb-of-nefertiti-concealed-within-tuts/

Monday, August 31, 2015

The tomb of the 26th dynasty ruler of Upper Egypt uncovered in Assassif, Luxor

The tomb of the 26th dynasty vizier of Upper Egypt discovered in South Assassif on Luxor's west bank

By Nevine El-Aref

Within the framework of the South Assassif Conservation Project on Luxor's west bank, an Egyptian-American stumbled upon a 26^th dynasty tomb that belongs to the vizier of Upper Egypt, Badi-Bastet.

Mahmoud Afifi, the head of the Ancient Egyptian Antiquities Department, explained that the tomb was found inside the tomb of Karabasken, who was Thebes' ruler and the fourth priest of Amun during the 25^th dynasty (TT 391).

"Such a find highlights that Badi-Bastet reused the tomb," he pointed out.
Afifi went on to say that the archaeological survey carried out recently on the court of Karabasken tomb shows that several architectural designs and paintings were made especially for Badi-Bastet as it bode well to his fine and important position in the governmental echelon.

"Badi-Bastet could be buried in a shaft inside the court or in a main burial chamber of Karabasken tomb," the head of the mission Elena Pischikova suggested. She asserted that further cleaning of the tomb's different sections and the continuation of the archaeological survey would definitely reveal more secrets of the tomb.

"It is a very important discovery," the Minister of Antiquities Mamdouh Eldamaty told Ahram Online. He explained that the discovery has shed more light on the architecture and design of tombs of top governmental officials during the Saite period, especially the 26^th dynasty.

Studies carried out on Badi-Bastet's different titles reveal that he was one of the grandsons of Babasa, a nobleman whose tomb is located east of Assassif (TT279).

The South Assassif Conservation Project started in 2006 when the two Kushite tombs of Karabasken (TT 391) and Karakahamun (TT 223) and the early Saite tomb of Irtieru (TT 390), were re-discovered there. These tombs have never been properly cleaned, studied and restored but now within the framework of the project they will be preserved.

Source: http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/139265/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/The-tomb-of-the-th-dynasty-ruler-of-Upper-Egypt-un.aspx

Sunday, August 30, 2015

Ancient Mummy Has Oldest Case Of Heart Failure

By Rossella Lorenzi

The oldest case of acute decompensated heart failure has been found in 3,500-year-old mummified remains, a research team announced at the international congress of Egyptology in Florence.

Consisting of just a head and canopic jars containing internal organs, the remains were found in a plundered tomb by the Italian Egyptologist Ernesto Schiaparelli in 1904 in the Valley of the Queens, Luxor, and are now housed at the Egyptian Museum in Turin.

They belong to an Egyptian dignitary named Nebiri, a “Chief of Stables” who lived under the reign of 18th Dynasty pharaoh Thutmoses III (1479-1424 BC).

“The head is almost completely unwrapped, but in a good state of preservation. Since the canopic jar inscribed for Hapy, the guardian of the lungs, is partially broken, we were allowed direct access for sampling,” Raffaella Bianucci, an anthropologist in the legal medicine section at the University of Turin, told Discovery News.

She investigated the mummified remains with researchers from the Universities of Turin, Munich and York.

Detailing the findings at the conference, Bianucci reported that Nebiri was middle aged — 45 to 60 years old — when he died and that he was affected by a severe periodontal disease with massive abscesses, as revealed by Multidetector Computed Tomography (MDCT) and three dimensional skull reconstruction.

The scans showed there was a partial attempt at excerebration (removal of the brain), but a considerable amount of dehydrated brain tissue is still preserved. Linen is packed in the inner skull, eyes, nose, ears, mouth and even fill the cheeks.

Looking for Queen Nefertiti

Does the ancient Egyptian Queen Nefertiti rest in the tomb of the Boy King Tutankhamun, as a British Egyptologist has claimed, asks Nevine El-Aref

The beautiful Queen Nefertiti, wife of the monotheistic King Akhenaten and her son-in-law the golden Boy King Tutankhamun, has always perplexed archaeologists.

Nefertiti acquired unprecedented power during the first 12 years of the reign of her husband Akhenaten. She occupied the throne alongside her husband and appeared nearly twice as often in reliefs as Akhenaten during the first five years of his reign. She continued to appear in reliefs even when, in the twelfth year of Akhenaten’s reign, she disappeared from the scene and her name vanished from the pages of history.

Some think she either died from plague or fell out of favour, but recent theories have denied this claim. Four images of Nefertiti adorn Akhenaten’s sarcophagus, not the usual goddesses, indicating that her importance to the pharaoh continued up until his death and disproving the idea that she fell out of favour. It also shows her continuous role as a deity or semi-deity with Akhenaten.

Shortly after her disappearance, Akhenaten took a co-regent to the throne. The identity of this person has created speculation. One theory says it was Nefertiti herself in a new guise as a “female king,” like the female pharaohs Sobkneferu and Hatshepsut who ruled the country for several years.

Another theory introduces the idea of two co-regents, a male one called Smenkhkare and Nefertiti under the name of Neferneferuaten. Some scholars believe that Nefertiti became co-regent with her husband, and that her role as queen consort was taken over by her eldest daughter Meritaten.

Although her iconic bust, now on display at the Neues Museum in Berlin, was unearthed in an artist’s workshop at Tel Al-Amarna in 1912 by German archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt, neither her tomb nor mummy have yet been unearthed. As for the Boy King Tutankhamun, his mysterious death, lineage and health have seen many controversies and debates.

Unravelling the animal mummies of Ancient Egypt

Creepy exhibition reveals what lies beneath the bandages of cats, crocodiles and jackals offered to the Gods

By Sarah Griffiths for MailOnline

From bandaged crocodiles to cats entombed in wooden effigies, a new exhibition seeks to unravel the mystery of animal mummies.

The ancient Egyptians carefully prepared the mummies in their millions as votive offerings to the gods.

Now, thousands of years after they were made, the exhibition will reveal the contents of these unusual mummies using X-rays and CT scans to the public.

The Gifts for the Gods exhibition at Manchester Museum will explain the background behind what today seems like a bizarre religious practice, in the context of life in ancient Egypt.

While many people may imaging Ancient Egypt to be a sandy wilderness, it was a country of lush grassland and a taxidermy exhibit will show what the mummified animals would have looked like when they were alive.

The strangest one to go on display is a jackal mummy which was found to contain fragments of human bone.

But Lidija McKnight, Research Associate at the KNH Centre for Biomedical Egyptology at the University of Manchester told MailOnline: ‘The ancient Egyptians mummified just about every animal they could find from cats and dogs, to fish, crocodiles, rodents, birds and baboons.

‘Perhaps the more surprising are the mummies which don’t contain animals themselves, or which contain more than species wrapped together.’

What lies beneath?

A tantalising clue to the location of a long-sought pharaonic tomb

NOTHING has inspired generations of archaeologists like the discovery in 1922 of the treasure-packed tomb of Tutankhamun. What if another untouched Egyptian trove lies buried, not in a distant patch of desert, nor even nearby amid the overlapping tomb-shafts of Luxor’s Valley of the Kings, but instead just a millimetre’s distance from plain view?

This is the dramatic hypothesis of a just-published paper by Nicholas Reeves, a British Egyptologist who co-discovered an undisturbed Egyptian tomb in 2000, and who is at the University of Arizona. His key evidence is disarmingly simple, and in fact free to see on the internet in the form of photographs published by Factum Arte, a Madrid- and Bologna-based specialist in art replication that recently created a spectacular, life-sized facsimile of Tutankhamun’s tomb, intended for tourists to visit without endangering the original.

What Mr Reeves found in these ultra-high-resolution images, which reveal the texture of walls beneath layers of paint in the original tomb, was a number of fissures and cracks that suggest the presence of two passages that were blocked and plastered to conceal their existence. One of these would probably lead to a storeroom; its position and small size mirror that of an already-uncovered storeroom inside the multi-chambered tomb. The other, bigger possible doorway in the north wall of Tutankhamun’s burial chamber suggests something much more exciting.

There are several oddities about Tutankhamun’s tomb. It is small compared with others in the valley. The objects found in it, while magnificent, seemed hurriedly placed and were found to be largely second-hand; even the boy-king’s famous gilded funerary mask sports the strangely unmanly feature of pierced ears. The tomb’s main axis is angled to the right of the entrance shaft, an arrangement typical of Egyptian queens rather than kings.

Ancient Egyptian Mummies Embalmed With Unusual Recipes

By Rossella Lorenzi

Unusual embalming recipes have been identified on two ancient Egyptian mummies, according to new international research.

The study investigated the 18th Dynasty mummies of the royal architect Kha and his wife Merit, a couple who were believed to have undergone a short and poor mummification -- if no mummification at all -- despite their relative wealth at death.

Indeed, their internal organs were not removed and placed in canopic jars, as generally occurs in classical royal 18th Dynasty artificial mummification.

Surprisingly, the researchers discovered that all internal organs – brain, thoracic and abdominal organs, eyeballs as well as ocular muscles and nerves -- were in excellent state of preservation after some 3,500 years.

"Both individuals underwent a relatively high quality of mummification, fundamentally contradicting previous understanding," Frank Rühli, Stephen Buckley, Joann Fletcher, Raffaella Bianucci, Michael Habicht, Eleni Vassilika and colleagues wrote in the journal PLOS ONE.

"Elucidated ‘recipes,’ whose components had anti-bacterial and anti-insecticidal properties, were used to treat their bodies," the researchers added.

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