Damqatum 4, Fall 2008

CEHAO (in PDF format)

The CEHAO (Centro de Estudios de Historia del Antiguo Oriente) is a a center focused on the history of the Ancient Near East (including Egypt). In this edition the top article is "Karnak, Mendes and Thirty Years in Egyptology: An Interview with Alicia Daneri Rodrigo" by Virginia Laporta:

It is a pleasure to interview Dr. Alicia Daneri Rodrigo, one of the most important scholars in the Argentinean Egyptology. After a successful career of more than thirty years in Egyptology, making research in so important sites as Karnak and Mendes (with the University of Toronto and later the Pennsylvania State University), Daneri retired from her posts at the University of Buenos Aires, University of La Plata and CONICET (National Research Council). However, she is still actively involved in the research and the training of graduate students.

There is also a very short article entitled "Graffiti and Cultural heritage" which looks at the vexed topic of damage caused by tourists to ancient monuments in Egypt:

Ancient and rare rock art in remote locations in the Western and Eastern deserts were also desecrated. On a recent survey of the Red Sea were noted many defacements on rock art that had been free of any graffiti only two years ago, when David Rohl made his recent survey of the area. Many contemporary analysts and even art critics have begun to see artistic value in some graffiti and to recognize it as a form of public art. However, it is only socially acceptable in certain places, and these places are not on the monuments of our ancestors. The defiling of monuments should be seen as a crime against our past and cultural heritage.

See the above page for the entire newsletter, in PDF format.