Mapping ancient Egyptian sites

archaeology-news.org

Hundreds of viper trails covered the sand before them. The Egyptologists could only hope that the serpents themselves were long gone as they made their way off the ancient desert road towards the limestone cliffs.

First to reach the wall, Dr John Coleman Darnell of Yale University, was surprised to find the surface covered with rough hieroglyphic inscriptions in apparently random patterns. What did they mean?

His past experience in the field led Darnell to think the markings were graffiti. The wall was close enough to an ancient campsite to serve as the common latrine for drivers, merchants and guards. The inscriptions, over 500 counted so far, were the ancient equivalent of writing on the bathroom wall. Darnell was the first person to see that graffiti in possibly 5000 years.

Using standard archaeological methods to measure, record and interpret the inscriptions on this wall could be the work of an entire career, by itself. But Professor Darnell’s plan wasn’t to use conventional techniques in this survey. His team was packing a technological edge that would make quick work of this fascinating new find.

When most people think of Egypt, the Great Pyramids, the Sphinx, Queen Cleopatra, King Ramses II and, of course, the boy king Tutankhamen, spring to mind. In the popular imagination, thanks to explorers like John Carter and classic films such as The Ten Commandments and Cleopatra, Egypt is renowned as an ancient land of mystery whose roots run back to the foundations of human civilisation. It is the Egyptologists who dedicate themselves to uncovering the hidden past of this glorious land.

An author of several books on Egyptology, including Tutankhamun’s Armies, with Colleen Manassa (J. Wiley and Sons, 2007), Professor Darnell is the co-director of the joint Thebian Desert Road Survey and Yale Toshka Desert Survey.

Darnell’s team is working in a harsh environment in the Western Desert, which lies to the west of the Nile in Egypt, Libya and north western Sudan. About 700,000 square km in area, the temperature can rise to over 40 degrees in the midday heat and drop towards zero at night.

See the above page for the full story.

Musée du Louvre Launches Online Database in English

Art Museum Journal (Stan Parchin)

Paris' Musée du Louvre announced today the launch of its first-ever English-language version of Atlas, its free-of-charge online collections database. Supported by €300,000 in grants raised by American Friends of the Louvre, it goes live tomorrow morning.

Some 22, 000 works of art, accompanied by high-resolution images and information about their specific locations within the museum, are now described in English on the Louvre's Web site.

Needless to say the Egyptian department has a presence in the database! See the above page for the full story.

Egyptian Grand Museum worthy of the Pharaohs

The National (Digby Lidstone)

It took about 20 years to build the Great Pyramid of Giza, archaeologists believe. It will take about the same amount of time for the Grand Egyptian Museum to be completed.

Given the scale of the project, it is not entirely surprising. Conceived in 1992, the US$550 million (Dh2.02 billion) museum is an undertaking worthy of the Pharaohs: a vast, stone-roofed structure that will extend from the edge of the Giza plateau across an area the size of 11 football pitches. The museum will house more than 100,000 ancient artefacts, chief among which are the contents of King Tutankhamen’s tomb.

“Egypt’s heritage is very important for its tourism, and so although we have to protect it, we also have to sell it in some way,” says Professor Alaa al Din Shaheen, the dean of Cairo University’s faculty of archaeology and a member of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

With a project manager due to be announced this month, tendering due in September and a new opening date set for 2013, the museum project cannot come too soon for Cairo. Tourism is integral to the Egyptian economy, with receipts from visitors growing four-fold over the past decade to reach more than $11bn last year. The industry accounts for 11 per cent of Egypt’s GDP.

See the above page for the full story.

Teaching by learning first hand

The Times Tribune (Carl Keith Greene)

A memo from Corbin Superintendent Ed McNeel sent a pair of teachers from the city middle school on a trek along the Nile this summer.

Melissa Evans and Michele Anderson took the challenge — they applied for and received the grant that would take them to the land of camels, caravans and Cleopatra.

From June 26 to July 8, they and other teachers toured the Nile Valley in Egypt from Alexandria to near the border with Sudan, experiencing the historical and modern cultures of the nation.

The trip was paid for by a grant from the Fund for Teachers, a non-profit organization that seeks to enrich “the personal and professional growth of teachers” through first-hand experiences across the globe.

Evans explained that one of the criteria of the grant is that the teachers write a thematic unit that connects in some way to the subjects being taught in their classes. Evans teaches science and Anderson, mathematics.

And from the trip they brought back to share “lots of understanding and knowledge of their culture and the contributions they have made to the world,” said Anderson.

They also learned how Americans have misconceptions of the life of people in Egypt. And through that learning, the pair can help people to know that Egyptians, though different, are typical, peaceful Muslims and are not to be feared, but embraced.

“They were kind to us and we never had a reason to be afraid,” Evans said. “They are good, family-oriented people. Everyone in the family works. It’s a survival situation.”

She said by experiencing the trip, she and Anderson can help make Egypt more real for the students.

“You can read and read and know (about a place) but to experience it is different. What we wanted was an experience,” she said.

“There are not a lot of cultural experiences for the (school) children. To see it first hand and bring it back and share with the students can help them to understand a small piece of the rest of the world,” Anderson added.

The trek started in Cairo, literally across the street from the pyramids and Sphinx, the tombs of Egyptian kings.

See the above page for the full story.

Book Review: Ramesside Inscriptions. Translations. Vol. 5

Bryn Mawr Classical Review (Review by Peter C. Nadig)

K. A. Kitchen, Ramesside Inscriptions. Translations. Vol. 5, Setnakht, Ramesses III and Contemporaries. Malden, Mass./Oxford: Blackwell, 2008. ISBN 9780631184317.

The Liverpudlian Egyptologist and emeritus Kenneth A. Kitchen is one of the leading authorities on the Ramesside Period, the 19th and 20th Dynasties of New Kingdom Egypt (ca. 1292- 1070 BC). His opus magnum is the Ramesside Inscriptions (KRI) in eight volumes -- a painstaking compilation of inscriptions, graffiti, papyri and ostraca.1 The original edition completed in 1990 after 21 years primarily renders the hieroglyphic text of these sources in Professor Kitchen's own hand. In recent years he has begun to add two supplemental series to the original edition: Series A: Translations and Series B: Annotations (RITANC). The latter is to provide a bibliography, introductions, and a compact commentary. Five out of seven volumes of the translation series and two of the annotation series have so far been published. The book under review is No. V in the translations series and concerns the rule of the early twentieth dynasty kings Setnakht (1187-1185 BC) and his son Ramesses III (1185-1154 BC).2 It covers all the texts in the original hieroglyphic edition in KRI V. Since a corresponding annotation volume is still in preparation, this book therefore does not contain any explanatory notes or commentary. Like in the original volume a lengthy table of content -- which also includes the source references -- precedes an abbreviations and sigla list as well a short preface. A brief introduction to this volume's theme has been added. The text has marginal references to the pages of the hieroglyphic edition. Due to its size the table of contents can only be rendered in a concise form below, yet it provides a fair glimpse of the immense variety of the texts covered here. At the end of the book detailed indexes list the sources in museums and collections, papyri, ostraca, graffiti and private tombs in western Thebes.

The bulk of these texts derive from the huge mortuary temple of Ramesses III in Medinet Habu in western Thebes, one of the best preserved buildings from that period. It fills more than half the book.

See the above page for the full story.

Book Review: Cleopatra The Great

Yorkshire Post (Chris Bond)

Cleopatra The Great, The Woman Behind the Legend by Joann Fletcher. Published in paperback by Hodder

MENTION the name Cleopatra to most people and it's likely to conjure images of a sultry Elizabeth Taylor draped over Richard Burton's Marc Antony, or Shakespeare's tragic queen who took her own life with an asp.

Hollywood and the Bard helped cement Cleopatra's legend as a femme fatale whose dangerous liaisons almost brought the Roman empire to its knees. But over the centuries fact and fiction have become blurred, something Joann Fletcher wanted to separate.

The Barnsley-born historian and archaeologist spent five years researching and writing Cleopatra The Great, The Woman Behind the Legend, in a bid to debunk some of the myths surrounding one of history's most iconic figures.

See the above page for the full story.

Book Review: Household and Family Religion in Antiquity

Bryn Mawr Classical Review (Reviewed by David Elton Gay)

John Bodel, Saul M. Olyan (ed.), Household and Family Religion in Antiquity. The Ancient World: Comparative Histories. Blackwell Pub. ISBN 9781405175791

Household and Family Religion in Antiquity is a volume of essays that grew out of a 2005 conference at Brown University. The purpose of the book and the conference, the editors explain in their introduction, is "to advance our understanding, both contextually and comparatively, of a distinct and widespread ancient religious phenomenon--household and family religion--within a number of discrete cultural and historical settings of Mediterranean and West Asian antiquity." (p. 1) To achieve this end the editors brought together a range of scholars to discuss "the phenomenon of household and family religion in a number of different cultural contexts: Second Millennium West Asia (Mesopotamia, Emar, Nuzi, Ugarit); First Millennium West Asia (including Israel); Egypt; Greece; and Rome." (p. 1)

On the positive side the essays, which range from relatively brief summaries like Barbara Lesko's "Household and Domestic Religion in Ancient Egypt" (pp. 197-209) to detailed surveys, like Rainer Albertz's "Family Religion in Ancient Israel" (pp. 89-112), are generally sound introductory statements of the current situation in their respective fields concerning the study of family and household religion. The essays all follow a similar format, which aids in making comparisons, and are accessible to both the non-specialist scholar and general reader. Though the editors do provide a comparative essay by way of conclusion, comparison is little used elsewhere: the primary focus of these essays is on case studies of the particular cultural group and time covered in the individual essay rather than on the comparative study of the materials.

That said, it must also be noted that the book could have been much more. The main problem with the book is its failure to address the previous literature on household and family religion.

See the above page for the full story.

Hawas opens three ancient mosques in Damietta governorate

Egypt State Information Service

Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Zahi Hawas opened in Dammietta Monday three ancient mosques.

Restoration works on the three mosques began five years ago with a total cost of 57 million EGP.

The three mosques are Amr Bin Al-Ass which is considered the second mosque built in Egypt and Africa which was established but the high level of subterranean water resulted in the closure of the mosque for more than 30 years.

Photo - Overview of Taposiris Magna

drhawass.com

A photograph showing a great overview of the site. Includes two links to other Taposiris Magna images. Click on the image below to go to the full-sized photograph.

Travel: Cairo an open air museum

Otago Daily Times (Morgan Hewland)

Cairo is a crazy city, where drivers make six lanes out of a four-lane road, spend more time looking in their mirrors than at the way ahead, and alert other drivers to their presence by a series of horn toots, one short, two long, and others each with their own meaning.

It is where the Nile resembles an open sewer in parts, and where handcarts, donkeys and fat-tailed sheep make other city roads look like farm tracks.

It is where the locals are experts in removing from the unsuspecting tourist his every last Egyptian pound, by any means possible.

And yet it is a wonderful, exciting city with enormous history, and where the Step Pyramid of King Zoser can be found, built some 5000 years ago, preceding those at Giza and the pyramid built by Cheops by many centuries.

See the above page for more.

Online publication: Excavation in Egypt at Tell el-Balamun

British Museum

The fourth volume in the series of final reports for this project is entitled Excavations at Tell el-Balamun 2003 – 2008. It is available to download here in PDF format. The file is low-resolution for on-screen viewing. Users who want to receive a high-resolution version suitable for printing should email:

aspencer@thebritishmuseum.ac.uk

Contents of the volume, Excavations at Tell el-Balamun 2003 – 2008:

* Preface
* Bibliography
* The Roman Street
* The subsidiary temple of Nekhtnebef (Temple B)
* Additional details of the excavation of Temple B
* A Brick temple of the Third Intermediate Period
* A barque-station of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty (Temple E)
* Miscellaneous work, 2003-2006
* A brick platform of the Thirtieth Dynasty
* The magnetic survey (with T Herbich)

Download the full project report (7.6Mb)

Download cover for the project report (2.2Mb)

Results from earlier years, which may include previous work on some of the monuments included in the final volume, have been published as paper book editions through the British Museum Press and are listed at the foot of the Introduction page.

OFF TOPIC - Hadrian's Timber Wall

Theoretical Structural Archaeology (Geoff Carter)

I've been a fan of the above site for a long time. Geoff has been exploring Hadrian's Wall and has posted a fascinating piece about a vast timber wall which was apparently an earlier version of the later famous stone wall, now one of Britain's most desirable hikes.

Between Hadrian’s Wall and the ditch to north, archaeologists have found three lines of double postholes running parallel to the Wall, which may represent an early timber 'Wall', albeit temporary, comprising a box rampart and the ditch. This was almost certainly the largest structure timber ever built in this country, its full extent is not known for certain, but it was quite probably 117 km long, and would have required an estimated 2.5 million trees.

The evidence for these double postholes, often referred to as ‘cippi pits’, had been picked up in several excavations, and was compiled by Paul Bidwell of Tyne and Wear Museums (TWM) Archaeology, who were responsible for several of the excavations, [1]. His paper sought to set the evidence in the wider context of other Roman frontiers, and drew on Julius Caesar’s Account of the Gallic war, [De Bello Gallico],[2], particularly the siege of Alésia, in reaching his conclusion that these postholes represented ‘obstacles’ on the berm, probably sharpened wooden entanglements, similar to the ‘cippi’ referred to by Caesar. We shall return to these arguments, and Caesar, later, but it is clear that I consider term 'obstacles’ to be somewhat underselling this remarkable structure.

See the above for the full story. With lots of diagrams, photographs, maps, plans and illustrations.

Daily Photo by Bob Partridge

The facade of the Temple of Ramesses II
Abu Simbel


Copyright Bob Partridge,
Editor of Ancient Egypt Magazine, with my thanks

No update re exploration of the Pyramid of Khufu

Thanks to everyone who has emailed asking if I've heard anything about the examination by robot of the Pyramid of Khufu at Giza which was supposed to take place on the 26th of this month. Unfortunately I'm in the same position as the rest of you - I've had no information on the subject. But I'll post something the moment I hear anything.

The original announcement that the invesitgation was to take place was posted on the Egypt State Information Service website (thanks to Brian Donovan for the link).

KV 5 Update

Theban Mapping Project (Kent Weeks)

Thanks very much to Kate Phizackerley's "News from the Valley of the Kings" blog for the information that Kent Weeks has published a brief 2009 update on the clearing of KV 5, the tomb of the sons of Ramesses II. It is available on the Theban Mapping Project website. If you're not familiar with the tomb it is worth looking at the page just to see the site plan - remarkable!

The same page has Weeks's article Developing a Management Plan For Egypt's Valley of the Kings (Summer 2008).

Funding for Egypt related projects from the EES

Egypt Exploration Society

The EES is advertising that funding is now available for successful applicants. See the following two links for details:

Excavations Fund 2009
Centenery Awards 2009

COSI's trip to Egypt

CMB Magazine

Egypt. It’s a place frozen in time, a land of magnificent monuments to humankind’s enduring accomplishments. Glamour, romance, mystery and grandeur set the tone for this country in northeast Africa. Pencil in majestic pyramids, the Sahara desert and the Nile, the longest river on Earth, and you have a destination unlike any other on our planet.
Egypt is known for the Pyramids of Giza and the Valley of the Kings, but what lies still undiscovered? A group from Columbus was about to embark on a mission that forever changed their lives.

COSI, the Center of Science and Industry, has worked on an exhibit for the last five years called Lost Egypt: Ancient Secrets, Modern Science about Egypt and archeology. A year ago they started asking, how can we convince people to care about what life was like more than 4,000 years ago? They ended up finding the answer to that question on the shores of the Nile.

Three COSI staff members, Kate Storm, Carli Lanfersiek and Josh Kessler, along with WOSU videographer Cindy Gaillard, traveled to Egypt to interview archeologists and Egyptologists. They also brought Egypt’s magical charm and secrets to life through video and photography. And who better to photograph the ancient architectural perfection than world-renowned Columbus-based architecture photographer Brad Feinknopf. This was a shoot unlike any other that Feinknopf encountered.

Travel: Enjoying Egypt during Ramadan

Jane Akshar's Luxor News blog

Ramadan in 2009 will start on Friday, the 21st of August and will continue for 30 days until Saturday, the 19th of September.

Ramadan is a great time to visit a Muslim country. don't forget Egypt isn't just about antiquities but also about the people and the culture. Over 80% of the population are Muslims the rest being Coptic Christians and even the most lax and laid back make a special effort during Ramadan

Effects on tourist visiting sites - none what so ever, drink what you like, eat what you like, smoke what you like. I think it is nice not to smoke in a car when the driver is fasting but actually I think it nice not to smoke in a car full stop. Some drivers are very macho about their fasting and like to show how strong willed they are.

Effects on tourist in hotels - none what so ever, often the Christian staff do day time and Muslims night so don't assume everyone you see is fasting

Availability of alcohol - reduced during Ramadan although this is generally sold by Christians it does stop during Ramadan and strict Muslims will not handle it. 5* hotels are not affected.

Effects on tourists non tourist sites, banks, etc these often keep different hours during Ramadan generally closing for Iftar (the sunset meal) so just remember to go early in the day.

See the above page for the rest of Jane's excellent advice.

Oriental Institute Museum Audio Guides

The Oriental Institute blog

The Oriental Institute has released a set of audio tours of the collections on display in the Museum.

You can download them ahead of time and play them on your own iPod as you walk through the Museum, or you can check out iPods at the Suq at no charge to members, and for a fee of $5.00 for non-members.

The first group of tours includes:

* Highlights of the Collection
* The Ancient Middle East in the Time of Tutankhamun
* A Kid's Tour of Ancient Egypt
* The Bible and the Ancient Middle East (coming soon)

Other tours are under development.

* Audio Tour Guide, in Adobe Portable Document Format (pdf)

See the above page for the active links.

What is a pharaoh and why not call him a king?

examiner.com (Diana Gainer)

The "Word Geek" generally prefers calling a spade a spade. But the ancient king of Egypt was called a pharaoh for a reason. Nobody else’s king was a pharaoh. This word comes from a real and actual Egyptian word. The English version comes from Latin Pharao by way of Greek, also Pharao (with a macron or long sign over the “o”), via Hebrew par’oh, which also had a long “o.” The Hebrew version came from the original Egyptian which was written without vowels, transcribed pr’3. The Word Geek realizes that the last letter looks like a number, but that’s more or less the conventional way of representing a throaty sound called a glottal stop, which English has in the middle of “uh-oh.” Egyptian had three different kinds of glottal stop, actually, with the apostrophe and the apparent number three representing two of them. Originally, there would’ve been some vowels around those four consonants, making them pronounceable, so that the word probably sounded a lot like the Hebrew word above.

Anyway, the Egyptian expression means “great house, big house.” The first bit, pr, means “house” and the part with the two glottal stops means “big” or “great.” Originally the phrase referred to the palace where the king lived. But eventually it became a metaphor for the fellow who lived in that big house. That’s a lot like Americans speaking of the President by saying the White House said or did thus and so.

See the above page for the full story.

Anniversary of the discovery of the Rosetta Stone

Philosophy of Science blog (David Petersen)

Thanks very much to David for letting me know that I had missed the anniversary of the discovery of the Rosetta Stone on 19th July :-) Never mind. Have a look at David's blog above for a summary of its discovery and significance. Here's an extract:

Today, 210 years ago the Rosetta Stone [196 BC] was discovered and Thomas Young and Jean-François Champollion around 1822 began to decipher ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs based on comparative adjacent languages of Egyptian Demotic and classical Greek.
The Writer's Almanac

It was on this day in 1799 that French soldiers discovered a slab of rock — about 4 feet high and 2 and half feet wide, 11 inches thick and weighing 1,700 pounds, and containing some writing in three different languages — at a port town on Egypt's Mediterranean Coast.

What they found was the Rosetta Stone, and the three scripts were ancient Greek, demotic, and hieroglyphics. Scholars could read and understand the ancient Greek. The second script, demotic, was an Egyptian language that was spoken and written at the time that the Rosetta Stone was carved in 196 B.C. It shared similarities with Coptic Egyptian, which was spoken widely until the 17th century A.D. (not so long before the discovery of the Rosetta Stone), had a strong literary tradition, and used an adapted Greek alphabet for writing — all things that proved useful in understanding bits and pieces of the Demotic script.

But Egyptian hieroglyphics had been a "dead" language for nearly 2,000 years. All around Egypt there abounded pyramids and temples with thousands of hieroglyphic characters carved into the walls, but no one could figure out what the inscriptions meant.

The Rosetta Stone presented scholars with an opportunity to be able to decipher the hieroglyphic language. It took nearly a quarter century of steady scholarship to solve the puzzle.

You can never get near the thing at the British Museum. It is always surrounded by huge gaggles of tour groups with their tour leaders.

Book Review: In the Valley of the Kings

Washington News (Review by John M. Taylor)

Like many book reviews this is much more of a summary of the contents of the book than a commentary on the book's contents and quality.

In the Valley of the Kings: Howard Carter and the mystery of King Tutankhamun's tomb.
By Daniel Meyerson
Ballantine Books

Mariners sail wine-dark seas in search of new continents. Mountaineers climb forbidding heights because "they are there." But what prompts archaeologists to spend their lives digging in some of the world's least inviting areas, where failure and despair are far more prevalent than fortune and glory?

The answer is a complex one, and every contradiction was to be found in the career of Howard Carter, who gained fame when he discovered the fabulous tomb of Egypt's King Tut. Carter -- a nervous, driven workaholic -- is the subject of "In the Valley of the Kings," a short, insightful biography by Columbia University historian Daniel Meyerson. . . .

See the above page for the full story.

Interview: Five questions to the Mummy Doctor

Discovery Magazine

Pathologist Frank Rühli scaled back his medical practice in 2005 to pursue an obsession with mummies. Since then he has used advanced imaging to perform autopsies on the long-dead and has played a key role in investigating the mysterious deaths of famous mummies, from King Tut to Ötzi the Iceman. Rühli currently directs the Swiss Mummy Project and works at the Institute of Anatomy at University Hospital Zurich.

Why examine patients who have been dead for thousands of years?
I look at skeletons and mummies and try to find special cases of illness. It’s part of the desire to know more about diseases, including how and when they evolved.

When did you know you wanted to study ancient mummification?
Ever since I was 6 years old, I have been infatuated with ancient Egyptian culture. I even wrote my M.D. thesis on an Egyptian mummy. In 2005 the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities invited me to Cairo to analyze the CT scans of King Tut.

See the above page for the full story.

Exhibitions: CSI Ancient Egypt and I Want My Mummy

Wayne Independent

Four of the Wayne County Libraries, in association with The Outreach Lecture program of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, will host two programs called: “CSI: Ancient Egypt” and “I Want My Mummy”.

Described as exciting and family-friendly library programs, they will be held on July 29th and July 30th and presented by Dr. Stephen R. Phillips. The Outreach Lecture program is funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

“CSI: Ancient Egypt” is essentially Forensics 101. In an effort to learn more about the physical aspects of humankind, both past and present, anthropologists developed methods and techniques to evaluate human skeletal remains, techniques that apply in modern forensic (criminal) investigations. Using cases from his own research, Dr. Phillips’ lecture introduces the audience to those scientific methods and techniques through digital images of actual human bones from ancient Egypt, some as old as the pyramids themselves. Participants will learn basic steps in determining a female from a male, younger from older, and what the bones can tell about the person. A highlight of the program is a re-examination of a possible 3,300 year-old murder case. The program is appropriate for middle school aged children through senior citizens.

“I Want My Mummy” is appropriate for children and teens age 6 and up.

See the above page for more.

New Book: La Tombe De Maia

Hypogées

La Tombe de Maia Mere Nourriciere du Roi Toutankhamon et Grande Du Harem
par Alain Zivie.

Photographies de Patrick Chapuis, Carole Fritz et Gilles Tosello, plans de Patrick Deleuze, relevés de William Schenck. 220 pages dont 100 d'illustrations (plans, dessins, photos).

Inaugurant une série intitulée Les tombes du Bubasteion à Saqqara, cette publication est consacrée à la tombe Bub. I.20, destinée à la dame Maïa, qui fut découverte à Saqqara en novembre 1996.

Avec cet ouvrage, Alain Zivie ne se contente pas de livrer à la communauté scientifique et à tous ceux qui se passionnent pour l’épisode amarnien et le règne de Toutankhamon, une nouvelle publication de référence claire et élégante, à l’image de ses précédents ouvrages. En effet, le « découvreur » de Maïa a également consacré ces années à comprendre qui fut ce personnage historique surgi de la nuit et de l’oubli, cette « grande dame » dont la féminité évidente et le charme sensuel, mais aussi le respect dont elle était entourée, transparaissait à travers toute la tombe. Une étude minutieuse des décors et des textes et une mise en perspective de l’hypogée dans son contexte lui ont ainsi progressivement permis de mener une réflexion originale et d’aboutir à des conclusions surprenantes touchant à l’identité de Maïa.

Caracara Edition vous offre la possibilité de commander directement l'ouvrage en vous faisant bénéficier de conditions privilégiées (prix en souscription : 50 euros, prix public : 65 euros).
PARUTION DU LIVRE PRÉVUE FIN NOVEMBRE 2009
Le bon de souscription est disponible ci-dessous.

Pour commander ce livre :
http://www.hypogees.org/visuels/livres/bon_de_souscription.pdf

Exhibition: Egypte Quotidienne

Bibliothèque Municipale du Trocadéro

Thanks to Jean-Louis Pagès for letting me know that an exhibition for children is to be held in Paris, France from the 15th of September to the 18th of October. It will be held in a small public library, the Bibliothèque Municipale du Trocadéro.

The aim of the exhibition will be to depict everyday Egyptian life as it is lived today ("Egypte quotidienne") for kids visiting public french libraries, to give them the taste of what Egypt is like and to enable them to discover more about it.

Left Coast Summer Hardback Sale

Left Coast Press

Most of these are not relevant to Egyptology but some of them look at archaeological methodologies and ideas as a whole, which might be of interest to some of you. I've left the entire list as it was sent to me in case some of you have archaeological interests outside Egyptology.

This is one of those publisher problems that can be good for people like you. Because of the way our printers work, we must print a minimum quantity of books with library binding. Unfortunately, library purchases are rapidly shrinking below that minimum. So we end up with extra library copies sitting in our warehouse. What if we were to offer these to you at a 75% discount, making them even less expensive than if you were buying the paperback? The books don’t have a pretty cover, but the contents are identical and the library binding will survive a lot more office moves and coffee spills than the paperback.

If you’re interested, here are the rules:

-Offer available on WEB, FAX or PHONE ORDERS:
www.LCoastPress.com.
Phone 800 426-3797
Fax 520 621-8899


-Offer only available on orders placed through our US distributor, U Arizona Press, not our international distributors.
-You MUST put in the discount code L039 at checkout to receive the discount.
-Sale lasts until August 15, 2009.
-Limited quantities of these titles. Hardcover editions only.
-Contact us with any questions, explore@lcoastpress.com
Mitch Allen, Publisher

******************************************************************************

Archaeology and Women: Ancient and Modern Issues (Hamilton, Whitehouse, Wright) 978-1-59874-223-7 hbk
Regular $79.00, Now $19.75
www.lcoastpress.com/book.php?id=53

Archaeology Is a Brand! The Meaning of Archaeology in Contemporary Popular Culture (Holtorf) 978-1-59874-178-0 hbk
Regular $89.00, Now $22.25
www.lcoastpress.com/book.php?id=78

Archaeology Matters: Action Archaeology in the Modern World (Sabloff) 978-1-59874-088-2 hbk
Regular $79.00, Now $19.75
www.lcoastpress.com/book.php?id=137

Archaeology of Religion: Cultures and their Beliefs in Worldwide Context (Steadman) 978-1-59874-153-7 hbk
Regular $89.00, Now $22.25
www.lcoastpress.com/book.php?id=227

Body and Image: Explorations in Landscape Phenomenology 2 (Tilley)
978-1-59874-313-5 hbk
Regular $89.00, Now $22.25
www.lcoastpress.com/book.php?id=189

Envisioning Landscape: Situations and Standpoints in Archaeology and Heritage (Hicks, McAtackney, Fairclough) 978-1-59874-281-7 hbk
Regular $79.00, Now $19.75
www.lcoastpress.com/book.php?id=93

Heads of State: Icons, Power, and Politics in the Ancient and Modern Andes (Arnold, Hastorf) 978-1-59874-170-4 hbk
Regular $89.00, Now $22.25
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Protecting Catalhoyuk: Memoir of an Archaeological Site Guard (Dural, Hodder) 978-1-59874-049-3 hbk Regular $79.00, Now $19.75
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Daily Photo by Bob Partridge

Facade of the temple of Ramesses II
Abu Simbel, Lake Nasser

Copyright Bob Partridge,
Editor of Ancient Egypt Magazine, with my thanks

Alexandria - Looking for the queen

Global Arab Network (Edward Lewis)

Situated on a spit of land between the Mediterranean and Lake Mariout some 45km west of Alexandria, Taposiris Magna was renowned in antiquity for its temple, founded in the third century BC and dedicated to the cult of Osiris, the Egyptian god of the underworld, and his wife Isis. The name means the “great house of Osiris”. “This is undoubtedly a funerary temple. It is a grand temple, a temple that linked the dead to another world,” explains Dr Altalhawy. “This is not a common archaeological site; it is a very important one.”

Today, Taposiris Magna has been left behind as the surrounding area undergoes dramatic change. Vast Lego-like resorts line the coast. On the roadside near the temple, vendors sell watermelons, oblivious to the potential of what lies nearby. There are no signs or paths to the complex. Without specific directions or a knowledgeable driver, you could easily miss it. Yet it is precisely this isolation that has ensured Taposiris Magna’s preservation.

After the modest archaeological discoveries of downtown Alexandria, the temple of Osiris is an impressive sight. Within its towering white brick walls, several structures are identifiable, ranging from Ptolemaic chambers to Byzantine chapels. Heads of columns lie on the temple floor and an intricate water system of narrow channels surround a small sacred lake. Scattered everywhere are the unmistakable shapes of amphora bases or handles sticking out of the sand alongside countless shards of sun-bleached pottery.

“Everywhere we work, everywhere we dig we find something,” Dr Altalhawy says.

One of the team’s most important discoveries is a temple dedicated to Isis, the Egyptian deity with whom Cleopatra is closely associated.

See the above page for the full story.

Digital Information and Communication Technology Used in New Exhibition Organized by the Louvre

Art Daily

The "Louvre - DNP Museum Lab" is a joint project, begun by the Musée du Louvre and Dai Nippon Printing (DNP) in 2006, which seeks to offer new approaches to artworks. Three portraits of women from Roman-Egyptian antiquity (2nd century A.D.) will be on show for the final presentation in the first phase of this project. Alongside original works, multimedia mediation using digital information and communication technology will allow viewers to discover the specific features of these paintings, as well as of the portrait art developed by Egyptian artisans in the 2nd century A.D. at a time when three civilizations were coming together. The insights provided will enable visitors to gain an in-depth understanding of the works exhibited.

Artworks on display
The artworks that are displayed in this presentation are Ancient Egyptian portraits created in the 2nd century A.D. during the period of Roman domination. They belong to a group commonly known as "Fayum portraits". Painted on wood during the models' lifetimes, they were fixed to their mummies when they died. Around a thousand images of this type are known to exist to date, found buried among grave goods and protected by Egypt's dry climate; today they are among the oldest known examples of portraits painted on wood using the encaustic* technique. These works, the fruit of a hybridization of Egyptian funerary rites, the Greek technique of encaustic painting, and the Roman tradition of realistic portraits, reflect the cultural blend prevalent in Egypt at the time. Among the three works on display, the portrait known as "L'Européenne" is one of the major artworks in the Louvre's collection in the quality of its execution and the beauty of the woman's features.

See the above page for the full story.

There was once a man

Al Ahram Weekly (Jenny Jobbins)

It has recently been making something of a comeback, but generally speaking the performance art of storytelling has been on a slow decline ever since the invention of the printing press and the consequent rise in literacy enabled the average person to grow closer to the written word. Yet storytelling, the art of retelling an often well known and much loved poem, fable, cautionary tale, love story or heroic epic, has enthralled and entertained audiences in every corner of the globe since mankind first realised the profound power and consequence of imagination.

English folk and fairy tales begin with the words, "Once upon a time..." In ancient Egypt, a phrase commonly used was "There was once a man..." Egyptologists have discovered many of the stories, often written in poetic form, that were widely known in ancient Egypt. How, though, were these tales disseminated amongst a population of which few knew how to read?

Fortunately, history has bequeathed to us a rich literary heritage that includes not only the poems and stories themselves but also visual descriptions, most of them from coffin paintings and tomb models and reliefs, of private and public recitals. Most of these images -- but by no means all -- are of recitals being given by lector priests whose sacred words were suitable for the after world. The reciters were professionals, whether these lector priests reciting liturgical texts or entertainers called in to perform at public festivals or private banquets. Presumably many of them were the celebrities of their day, and like actors in our time they knew how to pull a crowd.

When and where were these recitals performed, and who made up the audience? R. B. Parkinson conjours the scene in his erudite and entertaining book Reading Ancient Egyptian Poetry: Among Other Histories, published this Spring by Wiley-Blackwell and available through the American University in Cairo Press. Parkinson invites us to imagine a recital at the Middle Kingdom garrison town of Abu, on the edge of Lower Nubia, which is taking place at the palace of Sarenput, the mayor of the town and the "Confidant of the king".

See the above page for the full story.

Egyptology suffering in Israel

Haaretz.com

Israel currently has a great many professors of law and business administration, but very few professors of Egyptology. The few students who want to learn about hieroglyphics or the history of Pharaonic Egypt are often forced to make do with the single lecturer, at most, who specializes in this field at each university.

Because of the lack of students and faculty positions, Egyptology, Assyriology, classics and African studies are on the verge of disappearing from the world of academia here.

This week, the nation's universities announced a new initiative aimed at enabling "unpopular" fields of study to continue to exist in an era of budget cuts: four joint programs in which students will take classes from lecturers at several different universities.

Thus an Egyptology student would spend one semester, or one day a week, at Tel Aviv university, and the next he would go to Haifa University or the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The four programs are in ancient Near East languages and culture, Africa studies, Latin in the Middle Ages, and Jewish culture in the ancient world.

See the above page for the full story.

Egyptian Museum Celebrates 40 Years of Japanese Excavations in Egypt

Giza Archives Blog

With photos.

In recent years, the Egyptian Museum, Cairo, under the direction of Dr. Wafaa el-Saddik, has mounted a number of important exhibitions highlighting the discoveries of foreign excavations working in Egypt. This month, it is the Japanese who are honored. Dr. Sakuji Yoshimura has worked in Egypt for forty years, and made many valuable contributions to our knowledge of ancient Egypt. On the blog page of SCA director Dr. Zahi Hawass, you will find a statue of a lion with the cartouche of Khufu. Dr. Yoshimura’s particular interest is Giza and the Great Pyramid. And the best may be yet to come, as his team has been entrusted with raising and restoring the second boat of Khufu.

See the above page for the full story.

Journal: ArtMuseumJournal.com

ArtMuseumJournal.com

Many thanks to Stan Parchin for forwarding details of his exciting new project:

ArtMuseumJournal.com launched on July 25, 2009 and provides an online resource about museums, exhibitions, publications for art history professionals, students and enthusiasts.

July 25th 2009 marked the debut of ArtMuseumJournal.com, a web site devoted to information about museums, their permanent installations and special exhibitions as well as developments in the history of art and related disciplines.

Team AMJ's approach is unique among Internet resources in its interdisciplinary approach to world civilizations and their art. The Web site's staff is well-versed in the history, art and languages of various cultures across time.

ArtMuseumJournal.com offers:

• important news about museums, curators and their accomplishments;
• profiles of museums, permanent installations and galleries;
• expert previews and reviews of special exhibitions, books and catalogues;
• reports about object restoration, conservation and repatriation;
• in-depth descriptions of individual artworks;
• recent developments in archaeology and Egyptology; and
• bibliographies of current and classic scholarly literature.
  

Future articles include: a profile of Emory University's Michael C. Carlos Museum: a description of Egyptian artifacts at the British Museum; reviews of the exhibitions Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul and Amsterdam/New Amsterdam: The Worlds of Henry Hudson; and a feature on Roman portrait sculpture.

Join us in our exciting exploration of world art.

Stan Parchin
Publisher and Editor-in-Chief
ArtMuseumJournal.com

Interview: Unwrapping Brooklyn's mummies

Archaeology Magazine

On June 23, 2009, a team from the Brooklyn Museum supervised by Edward Bleiberg, curator of Egyptian, Classical, and Ancient Middle Eastern Art, and Lisa Burno, Head Objects Conservator, transported four mummies from Brooklyn to North Shore University Hospital for CT scans. Drs. Jessie Chusid, Amgad Makaryus, and Karen Lisk of North Shore volunteered their time and services to scan four of the oldest patients they had ever encountered. The mummies on board were from various periods dating from the Third Intermediate Period (1064-656 B.C.) to the Roman Period (30 B.C.-A.D. 395). The trip was smooth and the CT scans went without trouble. The scans produced vast amounts of data to be sorted and analyzed, but even immediate, preliminary readings of the scans revealed some very unusual discoveries. Pasebakhaemipet, a Theban "prince" of the 21st dynasty, had a reed in his throat (1070-945 B.C.). "Lady" Hor of the 22nd Dynasty was identified as a man after 70 years of misidentification (712-664 B.C.). Thothirdes also of the 22nd Dynasty had also been misidentified as a woman, while the fourth, an unnamed first-century Roman period mummy still had some brain left in him. Bleiberg discussed the Brooklyn Museum's fascinating mummies and their CT scans with ARCHAEOLOGY's Morgan Moroney. He described what's been learned so far and the future plans for the scans, while emphasizing the importance of non-intrusive mummy unwrappings, the open exchange of scholars, excavating in museum storerooms, and public outreach.

See the above page for the full story.

Book Review: Ramesside Inscriptions

Bryn Mawr Classical Review (Review by Peter C. Nadig, Freie Universität Berlin)

K. A. Kitchen, Ramesside Inscriptions. Translations. Vol. 5, Setnakht, Ramesses III and Contemporaries. Malden, Mass./Oxford: Blackwell, 2008. Pp. xxiv, 523. ISBN 9780631184317.

The Liverpudlian Egyptologist and emeritus Kenneth A. Kitchen is one of the leading authorities on the Ramesside Period, the 19th and 20th Dynasties of New Kingdom Egypt (ca. 1292- 1070 BC). His opus magnum is the Ramesside Inscriptions (KRI) in eight volumes -- a painstaking compilation of inscriptions, graffiti, papyri and ostraca.1 The original edition completed in 1990 after 21 years primarily renders the hieroglyphic text of these sources in Professor Kitchen's own hand. In recent years he has begun to add two supplemental series to the original edition: Series A: Translations and Series B: Annotations (RITANC). The latter is to provide a bibliography, introductions, and a compact commentary. Five out of seven volumes of the translation series and two of the annotation series have so far been published. The book under review is No. V in the translations series and concerns the rule of the early twentieth dynasty kings Setnakht (1187-1185 BC) and his son Ramesses III (1185-1154 BC).2 It covers all the texts in the original hieroglyphic edition in KRI V. Since a corresponding annotation volume is still in preparation, this book therefore does not contain any explanatory notes or commentary. Like in the original volume a lengthy table of content -- which also includes the source references -- precedes an abbreviations and sigla list as well a short preface. A brief introduction to this volume's theme has been added. The text has marginal references to the pages of the hieroglyphic edition. Due to its size the table of contents can only be rendered in a concise form below, yet it provides a fair glimpse of the immense variety of the texts covered here. At the end of the book detailed indexes list the sources in museums and collections, papyri, ostraca, graffiti and private tombs in western Thebes.

See the above page for the full story.

Magazine: Current World Archaeology, Egypt Special

Current World Archaeology

Many thanks to lovely Mark Morgan for sending me the following information.

The August/September issue of Current World Archaeology is devoted to Egypt. Over the years, some of the greatest discoveries in this extraordinary land have been made by members of the Egypt Exploration Society (EES).

We report from North Saqqara, where some of their most remarkable discoveries have been uncovered. Indeed, it is there, in the shadow of the Pyramid of King Djoser ( shown on the front cover), that they have found a cemetery dedicated not to mummified people but to mummified animals. Then, we travel across the country, wherever the EES has been at work: from deep,dark catacombs to remote, abandoned hill-tops, their members have been uncovering the secrets of this very ancient land.


THE EES
EGYPT EXPLORATION SOCIETY: Celebrating 125 years of discovery.

SAQQARA
THE TOMBS OF TUTANKHAM'S PEOPLE: Seeking Saqqara's New Kingdom tombs.

NORTH SAQQARA
CULTS, CACHES AND CATACOMBS: The animal necropolis.

DELTA
EGYPT'S LOST CITIES: The Delta Survey.

SAIS
THE ROYAL CITY OF SAIS: Revealing the Delta's secrets.

OXYRHYNCHUS
READING HISTORY: The papyri of Oxyrhynchus.


READERS WRITE
Robinson Crusoe; Roman latrines; oldest calendar; SOS Bulgaria; in praise of Africa.

WORLD NEWS
Latest on archaeological news, discoveries and scientific research.

DIGGING DEEPER
News extra from Brian Fagan.

EGYPT: Editor of Ancient Egypt magazine, Bob Partridge, reflects how the country has changed over the 30 years he has been visiting.

ON SITES ONSIGHTS: On site at Luxor Temple.

LISTINGS: Exhibitions on Egypt from around the world; and an Egyptian themed photography competition .

REVIEWS
Exhibition The Carnarvon Exhibition at Highclere Castle.
Books Abydos: Egypt's First Pharaohs and the Cult of Osiris; The British Museum Dictionary of Ancient Egypt.

GREAT DISCOVERIES
Tell-el-Amarna The city of Pharaoh Akhenaten explained.


To order your copy of Current World Archaeology, call us on 08456 44 77 07 or go to our website by clicking on www.world-archaeology.com and subscribe today

Senet - an ancient Egyptian game of the soul

examiner.com (Diana Gainer)

The ancient Egyptian Senet (snt in hieroglyphs, which means “passing”) is a game for two players, requiring a board with 3 rows of 10 squares each – sort of like a checkerboard cut off short. Each player tries to be the first to send his or her little “men” around all 30 squares and off the board. This is rather like the point of Parcheesi. The second – or last – across and off the board is not just a rotten egg, as we say in English, but doomed! Egyptians took this game very seriously indeed. More on that later.

Players each get 5 “men” (although originally they got 7). To be able to tell them apart, these playing pieces need to be different colors, theoretically black and white. However, the version the Word Geek purchased was made of wood and the “white” ones are not painted at all, which makes them a pale, woody color. The “black” ones are painted green. The Egyptians couldn’t distinguish between blue and green with their ancient language but they definitely had a separate word for “black,” a word they used to describe their own country, kmt, namely, “the black land.” The “great green,” on the other hand, was the Mediterranean Sea, not a land at all.

Anyway, there is a set path for these little “men,” half of which resemble the nondescript pawns of the average chess game and half of which are more like the castles but minus crenelation. They must go from top left, down 10 squares, then up the middle row of 10 squares, and then back down the 3rd row of 10 squares. This sort of back and forth path, when applied to reading or writing ancient texts, is called boustrophedon, from the Greek description of how the ox plows.

These playing pieces (and the human players) hope that they are heading to the Egyptian version of Paradise, unification with the sun, Mr. Ra or Re, because playing Senet is a way of deciding what will happen to the players’ soul (or souls, since people had 2 in those days) in the Land of the Dead. So, stay alert! You wouldn’t want to lose your ka (or ba).

See the above page for the full story.

Don't forget that you can play Senet online at Ben's All About Egypt website.

. .

Online article: Left-handed Kings?

nicholasreeves.com

Left-handed Kings? Observations on a Fragmentary Egyptian Sculpture, Nicholas Reeves. In Studies on Ancient Egypt in Honour of HS Smith (ed. A Leahy and J Tait) (London, 1999), pp. 249-254

The sculpture

The fragment of an Egyptian statue illustrated in figs. 1-3 was acquired in London over two decades ago and is now in private ownership. The original find-spot is reputed to have been Thebes. Sculpted in white limestone, now discoloured in places, the fragment measures 14.5 cm in height, 11.2 cm across and approximately 7.7 cm from front to back (2). The rear of the figure preserves the remains of a broad dorsal pillar 6 cm or more in width and originally 1.8 cm deep. The surface of the pillar is abraded, and it cannot now be established whether it ever carried an inscription.

The subject is a king, originally shown wearing the nemes-headcloth of which only the left-hand lappet now remains. The surface of this lappet is rather worn: relatively long and rounded, just covering the nipple and with its inner edge evidently running parallel to its (lost) counterpart (3), its stripes are indicated by a close-set series of rounded grooves (4). The lower edge of the fragment preserves the remains of a belt with linear (`Bandmuster`) decoration (5), traces of which are still visible on a small section behind the figure`s surviving (left) arm (fig. 3). A `loop` or `tab` which protrudes to the left of the navel (itself damaged) indicates that the kilt originally worn by the king was of the triangular-fronted variety. Evidently, therefore, the complete figure was represented standing, some 60 cm or more in height, with one foot advanced in the usual manner (6).

Apart from the nemes-lappet and vestiges of the kilt, the torso is naked and without accoutrement. Its surviving portions are sensitively carved, if somewhat restrained in matters of anatomical detail, with prominent pectoral muscles and a taut stomach.

See the above page for the entire article.

Daily Photo by Bob Partridge

. .

Approaching Abu Simbel, Lake Nasser

Copyright Bob Partridge,
Editor of Ancient Egypt Magazine, with my thanks

Hatshepsut in Berlin a fake?

Earth Times

An Egyptian bust acquired at vast expense by a Berlin museum over two decades ago may be a forgery, according to the German news magazine Der Spiegel on Sunday. The bust in brown granite of female Pharaoh Hatshepsut, who ruled Egypt for 22 years, is one of the draws at the German capital's Egyptian Museum, and is only outshone by the limestone bust of exquisite Queen Nefertiti.

The magazine said scientists at the Technical University of Berlin had discovered the Hatshepsut stone was rich in the minerals magnesite and siderite.

No other bust from the Nile region was made of such rock, suggesting that the 16.5-centimetre-high figure might be a modern fake, according to the magazine.

adn.es

Una de las obras más valiosas del Museo Egipcio de Berlín, la cabeza de la faraona Hatshepsut, podría ser una falsificación, según un informe realizado por la Universidad Técnica de Berlín, que con ello alimenta una sospecha que circula desde hace tiempo entre los círculos de expertos.

Según el citado documento, del que informa el semanario alemán "Der Spiegel" en su edición de mañana, hay muchos indicios que apuntan a que la escultura egipcia no es de "granito pardusco" como se describe en el catálogo sino de un material hasta ahora desconocido en esculturas del Nilo.

En las pruebas realizadas se ha hallado una sustancia que podría caracterizarse de "sintética", algo que en la industria de la construcción se utiliza como argamasa o gres calcáreo.

Hija de Tutmosis I, esposa de Tutmosis II y madrastra de Tutmosis III, Hatshepsut, cuyo nombre significa "la unidad de Amón delante de los nobles", fue la reina-faraón que gobernó durante más tiempo (1502-1482 a.c.) en el Antiguo Egipto.

Su momia fue descubierta hace tan sólo dos años en el tercer piso del Museo de Antigüedades Egipcias de El Cairo, donde fue identificada gracias al análisis de una muela.

Comparada tan sólo con Cleopatra, fue la primer mujer que reinó en el Nilo hace 3.500 años y bajo su reinado se construyeron cuatro de los obeliscos más altos de Egipto o el complejo de templos funerarios Deir-el-Bahari.

IOL

Asked for comment, Dieter Wildung, the recently retired director of the museum, said he had not been aware of the scientific study.

The museum reportedly paid 1 million marks (R5.9 million) to buy the statue in 1986 from Robin Symes of Britain but Wildung declined to confirm its price.

"The purchase was long before my time," said Wildung, who became head of the museum in 1989 and retired two weeks ago. He criticised the media for "sneakily" going public with the report without clearance from the museum.

Hatshepsut died in 1458 BC. The Berlin museum has been criticised by Cairo officials for refusing to give Nefertiti's bust, regarded as a national treasure, back to Egypt. -

See the above pages for more.

Investigations at Amheida

Live Science (Rob Goodier)

A trench that was cut through collapsed mud bricks and the compacted debris of buildings leveled centuries ago is revealing a dusty scene of roof-topped streets in ancient Amheida, a city marooned on an oasis deep in Egypt’s western desert.

The latest in a chain of archaeological discoveries in a site that dates back at least 5,000 years, the covered streets are a glimpse into rural life under the Egyptian sun.

At Amheida, archaeologists led by Roger Bagnall at New York University have sifted through the remains of a settlement far removed from the thoroughfares of the Nile Valley. The site is in the Dakhleh Oasis, 500 miles (800 kilometers) from Cairo and 185 miles (300 kilometers) from Luxor, a religious and political hub of ancient Egypt.

The archaeological work has yielded a treasure trove of art and writing. Through this rural lens, archaeologists are shifting their notions of education in ancient Egypt during the Greek and Roman empires. And they have noticed deep connections between powerful central governments and the outposts in the oases.

Bagnall described the latest discoveries at a conference in Manhattan last month.

See the above page for the full story.

Exhibition: Carnarvon, Highclere Castle, UK

Discovery Channel News (Rossella Lorenzi)

Lord Carnarvon, the man who funded the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun and died five months later in mysterious circumstances before he could actually see the mummy's face, was a superstitious man who wore the same lucky bow tie all his life.

Such anecdotes are part of a unique exhibition at Highclere Castle, home of the Carnarvon family since the architect of London's Houses of Parliament built it in the 1840s.

Rising in the Berkshire countryside south of Newbury, England, the castle kept many secrets on its own. For more than 60 years, its walls concealed an important chapter of the King Tut search: a cache of Egyptian antiquities, excavated by George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon and his colleague and employee, Howard Carter in the years leading up to the discovery of the treasure-filled tomb.

"My grandfather was superstitious and did not want to talk about Egypt, so he took the Egyptian collection out of sight. It remained hidden away in a cupboard between two rooms down below the cellars for some 65 years. We found it after his death in 1987," George, the current earl -- the eighth -- told Discovery News.

See the above page for the full story.

New Book: Oncology and Infectious Diseases in ancient Egypt

Heartfelt congratulations to Paula on the publication of her first book, which is available from various online suppliers.

Oncology and Infectious Diseases in ancient Egypt: The Ebers Papyrus? Treatise on Tumours 857-877 and the cases found in ancient Egyptian human material by Paula Veiga. Paperback, 100 Pages, published 2009. VDM Verlag Dr. Muller Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG. ISBN 9783639166835.

This is the result of previous information and more research done at Manchester in 2007-2008, at the KNH centre.

This work focuses on pathogenic elements found in the Ebers papyrus: a series of prescriptions that are believed to be the remains of a "book of tumours" which deals with what appear to have been benign ganglionic masses, polyps, sebaceous cysts, varicose veins and aneurysms. Discussion of this Treatise on Tumours (paragraphs 857-877) includes the previous probable identification of a disease, the analysis carried out to date by several Egyptologists, and my own interpretation which combines the linguistic approach adopted by these scholars in the past, and the medical observations of scientists in more recent years: in total we have descriptions of neoplasias versus swellings. This work also includes some references to the plants mentioned as treatments for the illnesses described in the 21 paragraphs of the Papyrus? last section on tumours (what it is now thought to be oncological concerns) taking into account the problem of translation, since some plants are still unidentified today.References are made to material evidence found in Egyptian mummies in several sites revealing the presence of a tumour.

About the Author
Researcher of ancient Egypt since 2002 with a 'previous life' on Tourism and Hotel Management.I learned also about ancient writings and peoples around Egypt. This present work on cancer in ancient Egypt acknowledges also the importance of what happens in Egypt today regarding health issues, allowing the possibility for preliminary conclusions.

Egyptian gallery at Putman Museum to be renovated

Quad-City Times

The Putnam Museum's most iconic gallery is about to undergo a renovation, and officials at the Davenport venue want the public's help in giving it a new name to go with the new look.

The Egyptian Gallery has housed two mummies since the 1960s and is slated to reopen Aug. 22 with several updated components, including new flooring, lighting and mummy cases, plus a touch-screen video monitor that features results from the CT scans of the mummies performed at Genesis Medical Center in Davenport two years ago.

Spellbound in Brooklyn

Archaeology Magazine (Morgan Moroney)

Egyptian magic was much more than hocus-pocus

Housed in a small gallery off the Brooklyn Museum's Egyptian wing is "Magic in Ancient Egypt: Image, Word, and Reality," an exhibition on view until October 8, 2009. Highlighting 20 objects from the museum's collection, it emphasizes how magic and religion, magic and science, even magic and health care, were inseparable in ancient Egypt. Despite its small stature and lack of videos or interactive computer displays, which sometimes overwhelm artifacts in exhibitions nowadays, "Magic" was an enjoyable presentation of a fascinating subject.

For the Egyptians magic, known as heqa, was neither scary nor strange, good nor evil, but a force present in nearly every aspect of their lives. For example, the exhibit examines the power of images. In the home, gods were worshiped as protective deities through depictions such as two representations on display here, both of the god Bes, guardian of children and pregnant women. One is an 18th Dynasty relief (1549-1298 B.C.), the other a Third Intermediate Period statue (1064-656 B.C). Magical amulets, such as an Eye of Horus (wadjet eye) on display, were worn for protection against evil and disease. Amulets were also wrapped in mummies to safeguard the deceased and heal incisions made by embalmers during mummification. The exhibit also presents an 18th Dynasty ancestral bust, an example of images of deceased family members kept in the home and in funerary chapels, and appealed to by the living for help in their daily lives.

See the above page for the full story, with photographs.

New online articles at Francesco Raffaele's website

Late Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt (Francesco Raffaele)

Thanks to EEF for the information that Francesco has updated his website with some new articles.

Jean-Loïc Le Quellec, Dirk Huyge: "Rock art research in Egypt, 2000-2004", in: Paul G. Bahn, Nathalie Franklin, Matthias Strecker (eds), News of the World, Oxbow Books, Oxford, 2008, 89-96. [PDF 600Kb]

Jean-Loïc Le Quellec: "Can one 'read' rock art? An Egyptian Example", in: Paul Taylor (ed.), Iconography without Texts, Warburg Institute (Warburg Institue Colloquia 12), London, 2008, 25-42. [PDF 900Kb]

Bernadette Menu: "La notion de MAÂT dans l'idéologie pharaonique et dans le droit égyptien", in: B. Anagnostou-Canas (ed.), Dire le droit: normes, juges, jurisconsultes. Actes du colloque International de l’Institut d’Histoire du Droit (Paris, 4 et 5 novembre 2004), Ed. Panthéon-Assas, Paris, 2006, 33-43 [PDF 590Kb]

Bernadette Menu: "Réflexions d'une historienne égyptologue", in: Transeuphratène 31, 2006, 95-100 [PDF 290Kb]

Bernadette Menu: "L'expérience historique au service de l'anthropologie du droit. L'exemple de l'égyptologie juridique", in: Cahiers d'anthropologie du droit, 2004/4, 289-94 [PDF 1,1Mb]

Gabor Takacs: "The Law of Belova in Work", in: Rocznik Orientalistyczny 51/2, 1998, 115-128 [PDF 3Mb]

L. Labridy, F. Silpa: "Aegyptio-Graphica V. Un pluriel archaïque sur un vase Decorated du Nagada IIC", in: Cahiers Caribéens d'Egyptologie 10, 2007, 43-47 [PDF 260Kb]

J.P. Gourdine: "Contribution de la biologie moléculaire du gène à l'étude du passé de l'humanité. Cas de l'Afrique ancienne et moderne", in: CCdE 9, 2006, 5-19 [PDF 320 Kb]

Oum Ndigi: "L'expression des cardinaux et des ordinaux en égyptien et en basaa", in: Discussions in Egyptology 33, 1995, 57-72 [PDF 540Kb]

Barbara Adams: "Decorated sherds from renewed excavations at Locality 6, Hierakonpolis", in: CCdE 3/4, 2002, 5-27 [PDF, 1200 Kb]

Alain Anselin: "Réflexions autour des noms égyptiens de l’oeil - à propos de découvertes archéologiques récentes dans le delta",
in: Apuntes de Egiptologia 3, 2007 [PDF, 569Kb]

Alessandro Suzzi Valli: "Chieftaincy oggi. Il caso del Ghana" (unp.) PDF (142Kb): http://www.anse-egypt.com/articles/Suzzi-Valli_Chieftaincy.pdf

Alain Anselin: "Notes pour une lecture des inscriptions des Colosses de Min de Coptos", in: CCdE 2, 2001, 115-136 (PDF)

Stan Hendrickx: "Autruches et flamants - les oiseaux représentés sur la céramique prédynastique de la catégorie Decorated", in: CCdE 1, 2000, 21-52 (PDF)

Dmitry Proussakov: English Summaries of two of his monographies (orig. in russian)

Looking for undiscovered treasures

Earth Times

Excavations in Egypt could reveal numerous valuable treasures, a German expert said on Wednesday, ahead of an Egyptology conference taking place in the German city of Muenster at the weekend. "In Egypt there is a lot more in the ground than people think," said Erhart Graefe, the director of the Egyptology Institute at the University of Muenster.

In recent weeks alone, excavations in the Valley of the Kings revealed new graves, Graefe told the German Press Agency dpa.

The Egyptologist ruled out new discoveries on the scale of Tutankhamun, but said the Mediterranean Sea could hold significant finds.

"In recent years there have been big underwater operations," Graefe said. "There's a lot more to be found," the researcher added, referring in part to the sunken royal city near Alexandria.

See the above page for the full story.

Kent and Susan Weeks - Living on a Dahabiya

New York Times

Kent Weeks and his wife, Susan Weeks, spend most of their waking hours in a 130-room tomb called KV 5 in the legendary Valley of the Kings, the site of many tombs. And at the end of the work day, they come home to a place only slightly less unusual.

The couple lives on a 25-meter-long (85-foot-long) dahabiya, a houseboat moored along the banks of the Nile in this southern Egyptian city of around 400,000, known in ancient times as Thebes. Their closest neighbors are the mummies in the Mummification Museum next door.

“Archaeologists often live on boats because the sites are near the river,” said Dr. Weeks, 67, an Egyptologist. He captured worldwide headlines in 1995 with the announcement that KV 5 had been the burial chamber for the sons of Rameses II and sprawled deeper into the desert hillside than anyone had suspected.

The couple, who have lived in Egypt for much of the last 43 years, first lived on a dahabiya in the 1960s while working with the Unesco team trying to save historic sites after the construction of the Aswan Dam.

The boats, which resemble traditional Arab sailing vessels, became popular more than a century ago when as many as 450 were used for the tourist trade. Only four or five remain from the period and “this handful survived because they had metal hulls,” Dr. Weeks said. “The rest were sunk to get rid of vermin.”

See the above page for the full story.

Archaeologists or anthropologists wanted

Past Preservers

A new television series for the History Channel is seeking an Archaeology or Anthropology Expert/Professor AND several student Archaeology or Anthropology majors or recent graduates! (Please do NOT submit if you are only an enthusiast.)

This expert and the students will be a part of a small team that will travel to several digs in Egypt with the legendary Dr. Zahi Hawass. (If the expert and/or the students have experience in Egyptology even better, but this is not a requirement.)

This series will be the adventure of a lifetime! There is also pay to be negotiated. And the time commitment is roughly October 2009 through February 2010. We understand this may seem like a long time frame for some professionals and students, but it is an opportunity unlike any other!

If this sounds like you, please email Nigel Hetherington for the auditioning instructions and if you are not currently on the Past Preservers talent database, please send a current CV, including your date of birth, nationality, and mention of any previous experience working in the media, along with a photograph of you, to nigel@pastpreservers.com

Please note if you have applied previously to this appeal, you can reapply and your application will be considered again


Nigel J. Hetherington M.A
Owner & Founder

Past Preservers
UK Mobile: +44 (0) 798 250 4194
Egyptian Mobile: +20 (0) 10 346 1169
Belgium Mobile +32 470 561572
US Mobile: +1 347 334 9938

Skype ID: pastpreservers
www.pastpreservers.com

Past Preservers Blog
http://pastpreservers.blogspot.com

Early photographs of Egypt

Don McCullin Selects

Thanks to David Petersen for this link, which shows some excellent early photographs of Egypt and elsewhere. The one on the right is a Francis Frith photograph of Kom Ombo.

On a recent visit to the National Media Museum, to coincide with the opening of a major exhibition of his work, Don made a personal selection of photographs from the museum's collection . . . revealing how these sites were recorded by earlier photographers such as Francis Frith and Maxime Du Camp.

New Book: Abusir XIII

Czech Institute of Egyptology

Abusir XIII. Abusir South 2: tomb complex of the vizier Qar, his sons Qar Junior and Senedjemib, and Iykai Hardbound, 364p. with many illus and b/w photos, 43 col pls. (Czech Institute of Egyptology 2009)
ISBN-13: 978-80-87025-21-5
ISBN-10: 80-87025-21-0

List of authors: Miroslav Barta, Ales Bezdek, Viktor Cerny, Salima Ikram, Petr Kocar, Roman Krivanek, Martina Kujanova, Petr Pokorny, Colin Reader, Zdenka Suvova, Petra Vlckova.


The current volume is the first of three planned publications dedicated to the 1995-2002 discovery of the Sixth Dynasty complex of the vizier Qar and his sons, officials who lived during the reigns of Teti - Pepy II. The report provides a full record of the tombs of the vizier Qar, his sons Qar Junior, Senedjemib and Tjenti, and Iykai. In addition, there are chapters on the geology and geophysical survey of Abusir South as well as the faunal, floral, and human remains discovered in the tombs.

The second volume will contain the full publication of the tomb complex of Inti with chapters on faunal remains and on the restoration of individual tombs belonging to the family. The final volume is to document numerous unique finds discovered during the excavation of the tombs, which together provide a great deal of information about the cemetery's development down to the First Intermediate Period.

This tomb complex provides a vast array of evidence with respect to architecture, decoration, tomb equipment, administrative titles and personal names. The fully preserved and decorated cult chapel of the vizier, his decorated burial chamber, and several groups of finds from individual burial chambers-among them hundreds of copper implements, imitations of foreign vessels, cult tools, copper vessels, etc. stand out as particularly important.

The current publication illuminates the lives of the ancient Egyptian administrative elite in Memphis at the end of the Old Kingdom. Their richly decorated tombs and lavish burial equipment demonstrate the care with which they approached the afterlife as well as their bold attempts to emulate the tomb complexes of even higher status elites. At the same time, faunal and floral remains provide new evidence on the depredation of the natural environment that contributed to the ultimate demise of the Old Kingdom state.

Sample, don't trample

The Scientist (Bob Grant)

Historical, archaeological, and paleontological artifacts are precious. And often preciously small: a 500-millimeter fossil fragment, 2 milligrams of charcoal from a prehistoric fire. Decoding the chemical composition of a material—especially things like bone, shell and teeth—can yield a wealth of information about the organism and time to which it belonged. But often studying something means dismantling it, and the thought of grinding some part of these tiny treasures into a fine powder for analysis makes museum curators cringe.

In a lab at the Smithsonian Institution's Museum Conservation Institute in early spring, scientist Odile Madden fingers tortoise shell hair combs and samples of elephant tusks. She explains that one technique can differentiate between an object made out of ivory from an engendered elephant species and one made from cow horn, for example.

Raman spectroscopy can peer into the molecular interstices of many materials, fingerprinting their composition and the nature of their chemical bonds in great detail without harming the object it's probing. Other nondestructive techniques, such as infrared spectroscopy, analyze molecular structure with less resolution. "Infrared spectroscopy can tell you that you have a protein. It can't tell you if you have keratin, which is the protein of horns and hair and turtle shells," Madden says.

See the above page for the full story.

More re Birmingham mummy

Newspost Online

The murder mystery of a 1,700-year-old Graeco-Roman mummy has deepened, with CT scans revealing that a ‘metallic’ object stuck in its neck is in fact one of three or four fragments lodged in the base of the skull.

According to a report by Sky News, the 1,700-year-old mummy was scanned along with two other Egyptian mummies from Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, in a quest for more information on the circumstances surrounding their deaths.

The scans were arranged by Bob Loynes, previously an orthopaedic consultant at Mid-Staffs Hospital, UK, and a keen Egyptologist.

In the past, it has been necessary to unwrap mummies to carry out investigations, but this risky process can now be avoided.

“The opportunity to help with the further investigation of these mummies was a very exciting one for me,” Loynes said.

“The CT Scans have shown amazing details, which have produced as many questions as they have given answers,” he added.

Scans of the second mummy, that of Padimut, priest of the goddess Mut and probably of the 21st Dynasty (1085-935 BC), showed evidence of high quality mummification, including removal of the brain and plates in front of the eyes.

See the above page for the full story.

Tutankhamun's "other" name

examiner.com (Diana Gainer)

The Word Geek managed to see King Tut at the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco this past weekend, thanks to her very generous sisters. A previous column discussed this former pharaoh’s main name, namely Tutankhamun (or Tutankhamen, if one prefers that spelling), and how it used to be Tutankhaten. This time around, the discussion will focus on his other name, the one he took when he ascended to the throne of Upper and Lower Egypt. This is the one which is written with a circle, a scarab beetle, three little prongs, and a large half circle with the flat part on top. Having been to the exhibit, the Word Geek is puzzled by this no longer and got to see it many times really big, so her bad eyesight is no longer a problem. Neither is her lack of access to her good Egyptian dictionary, which had previously caused her to read the last sign incorrectly.

This second name or throne name of Tut’s is Nebkheperure. The neb tidbit is that big half-circle which is written last due to its total lack of prestige. The kheper or hpr (and the “h” really ought to have a scoop beneath it) is the name of the dung beetle. That is to say, the scarab! He was a minion of the sun disk or else an avatar, depending on who is telling the story. The three little prongs are the “u” (or “w” if one wishes to be slightly more accurate), sometimes a sign of a plural, but perhaps not in this case, since there’s only one Tut. The circle at the beginning of this name was not supposed to have lines across it as depicted in an earlier version seen by the Word Geek, in which case it would be the same sound that the beetle’s name started with. No, it’s the sun god, Ra (or actually just the first letter with a superfluous vowel so it’s pronounceable, Re). It should ideally be a red circle with a dot in the middle, sort of a belly button. Since it’s a deity’s name, it gets to go first. And since the beetle is a deity’s minion, he gets to go in second place. But poor, old nb is nothing but perhaps an old basket and is thrown in last, even though it’s actually pronounced first. So it goes with the irregularity of Egyptian hieroglyphs.

See the above page for the full story.

Zerzura Club

Zerzura Club

Thanks to Giancarlo Negro for letting me know that the new website for the "Zerzura Club" is now online at the above address in Italian and English. Work is still in progress.

Daily Photo by Bob Partridge

There are lots more posts to come, from the last couple of weeks, but I thought that that was probably enough for one day!

Facade of the temple of Nefertari and Ramesses II
Abu Simbel, Lake Nasser


Copyright Bob Partridge,
Editor of Ancient Egypt Magazine, with my thanks

Blog updates

I have my father staying with me for the next week. I thought I'd find the time to update the blog but we seem to have filled every second of every waking day with plans, so it looks very unlikely that I'll get the chance to blog in the next few days. Apologies! I'll do some updates if I find a spare hour or two.

All the best
Andie

Audio interview with Fred Wendorf

The Archaeology Channel

We are pleased to present an audio interview with Dr. Fred Wendorf, a principal figure in the history of American archaeology and for decades the leading researcher in the prehistory of northeastern Africa. This interview, titled Desert Days after the title of his recently published memoir, is the latest feature on our nonprofit streaming-media Web site, The Archaeology Channel
(http://www.archaeologychannel.org).

Dr. Wendorf came of age and began his career during a formative period in American archaeology. But after leaving his permanent mark on the development of archaeology in the American Southwest and the United States, he essentially founded the study of the prehistoric eastern Sahara, beginning with the Aswan Dam Project in the Nile River Valley. His life, nearly ended by a bullet on a WWII battlefield in Italy, has included an archaeological research career spanning six decades and an unsurpassed record of seminal contributions. His recently published book, Desert Days: My life as a Field Archaeologist, is a record not only of a life, but of an epoch in the history of archaeology on two continents.

Guided by Dr. Wendorf’s book, this interview covers a wide array of topics, including his role in the creation of the first truly large contract archaeology projects in the United States, his momentous and very fruitful decision to launch a field expedition in the Nile River Valley against the wishes and advice of others, and the contributions of his research toward the understanding of human cultural development. Personal anecdotes combine with long considered assessments to paint a genuine picture of his life and career and the era they have spanned.

You will need Real Player or Windows Media Player to play this interview.

Ethiopian and Egyptian Art at the Walters Art Museum

examiner.com

The Walters Art Museum has one of the largest collections of Ethiopian art outside of Ethiopia. The collection of Ethiopian Art at the Walters Art Museum is exhibited with those of Byzantium and Russia in a permanent gallery devoted to the art of the Orthodox world. The Ethiopian collection of art is very large and rivals the Byzantium and Russian collections.

The art features pieces predominantly from the Coptic church and highlight the ancient Chrisitian church. Steeped in a rich history, these pieces tell the tale of traditions of Christianity that go back centuries. The collection is permanently at the Walters Art Museum so you are welcome to drop in and view it anytime.

The Egyptian art collection features sculptures, jewelery, items from everyday use in ancient Egypt, and coffins. The entrance to the exhibit is impressive, with two large statues 'guarding' the entrance.

See the above page for the full story.

Book Review: The Court and Court Society in Ancient Monarchies

Bryn Mawr Classical Review (Reviewed by Rolf Strootman)

A. J. S. Spawforth (ed.), The Court and Court Society in Ancient Monarchies. Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007.

The book under review is the result of a workshop held in 2004 in Newcastle, where seven scholars met to discuss and compare seven royal courts in different cultures and periods: the Achaemenid, Argead Macedonian, and Sassanid, early and late imperial Roman, Han Chinese and New Kingdom Egyptian. What these courts have in common, is that they formed the cores (with the exception of pharaonic Egypt) of imperial states.1 The Court and Court Society in Ancient Monarchies first of all aims at analyzing the political functioning of ancient imperial courts in a comparative perspective. It is furthermore an attempt to assign to the royal court a more central place in the study of ancient states (most of which were, after all, monarchical states) by making use of recent scholarship concerning the court in the early modern period. Ever since the seminal works of Jürgen von Kruedener (1973) and notably Norbert Elias (1969),2 historians studying the cultural and political history of Europe after the Middle Ages have understood the pivotal importance of the court for the functioning of monarchical states, and the number of publications is substantial. In the study of ancient states, the court has played a far less central role.

Given the prevalence of monarchy in the political history of the Ancient World, it is remarkable that royal courts have received such limited attention.

The chapter on New Kingdom Egypt is by Kate Spence, entitled 'Court and palace in ancient Egypt: The Amarna period and later Eighteenth Dynasty', pp. 267-328.

New Book: Archaeology of Religion

Left Coast Press

Archaeology of Religion: Cultures and their Beliefs in Worldwide Context by Sharon R. Steadman

Steadman fills an empty niche in the offerings on how archaeology interprets past religions with this useful textbook. The book includes case studies from around the world, from the study of Upper Paleolithic religions and of shamans in foraging societies to formal religious structures in advanced complex societies of Mesopotamia, Egypt, India and the Andes. Steadman also includes key contemporary religions--Christianity, Islam, Buddhism among others--to provide an historical and comparative context. This is an ideal text for an Archaeology of Religion course or classes that include a significant component on "past religions," as well as for general readers.

See the above page for details.

Exhibition: Tutankhamun in Indianapolis

examiner.com

By the time of Tutankhamun’s birth, Egypt had been a superpower for nearly two centuries. The nation itself had been formed about 1,600 years earlier, and the great pyramids at Giza were already ancient edifices at more than one thousand years old. Modern scholars generally divide the history of Egypt into periods and dynasties – families of monarchs that ruled and influenced Egyptian civilization. These monarchs would eventually become to be known as “pharaohs,” a word that literally translates as “Great House,” in reference to the king’s palace. While these mighty rulers helped significantly mold and shape this great culture, most people fail to remember the names of the “high kings” of ancient Egypt. Some may then seem to think it strange that Tutankhamun, a short-lived king, is the name that conjures up the image of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh today. Interestingly enough, the popularity of King Tut, as he is most commonly known, can be better attributed to the discovery of his nearly intact tomb by Howard Carter in 1922 and the thousands of marvels that this discovery provided than anything intrinsic of the young king’s reign. It is for these reasons that society now thinks of Tutankhamun as Egypt's most famous pharaoh.

See the above page for more.

Daily Photo by Rick Menges

Staying with the Amarna period,
thanks to Rick for this lovely pair at the Brooklyn Museum.
Read more about the Soldiers in Chariot relief on the Museum's website.
Copyright Rick Menges, with my thanks

More re garrison found in Egypt’s eastern Delta

eTurboNews (Hazel Heyer)

This is an older story, but the above site only seems to have picked up on it yesterday. Given that there's absolutely no other news around (or none that I can find) I've posted it for anyone who might have missed it first time round. It is a good summary.

In Egypt, an ancient fortified garrison town from the time of King Psmatik I was discovered at Tell Dafna in the Ismailia governorate.

A Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) archaeological mission in Ismailia revealed the remains of a military town dating back to the 26th Dynasty (ca. 664-625 B.C.), at the site of Tell Dafna, between the El-Manzala Lake and the Suez Canal, 15km northeast of the city of western Qantara.

The northeast Delta held a special role in ancient Egypt. The area was a major hub for trade with the east. It was also the location of an ancient military and trade route known as the Ways of Horus connecting Egypt with the East. The area was used as a strategic position by the Late Period kings (ca. 747-525 B.C), especially those of the 26th Dynasty in order to defend the eastern borders of Egypt from invaders.

Dr. Zahi Hawass, secretary general of the SCA, said King Ramesses II of the 19th Dynasty (ca. 1279-1212 BC) chose the site of Tell Dafna to put up a fortress town on Egypt’s eastern border in order to repulse Egypt’s enemies. The newly discovered fortress indicates that King Psmatik I (ca. 664-610 BC) also built additional fortifications here.

Dr. Mohamed Abdel Maksoud, head of the Central Department of the Lower Egyptian Antiquities and the director of the mission, said that the newly discovered fortress covers an area of about 380×625m, while the enclosure wall is about 13m in width. It is considered to be the largest fortress ever discovered in the eastern Delta.

The team also revealed a large mud brick temple consisting of three halls, a group of storage magazines at the eastern and western sides of the temple and a small mud brick palace, with eight rooms, located at the northeast end of the temple.

See the above page for the full story.

Daily Photo by Tony Marson

Amarna
North Tombs
Copyright Tony Marson, with my thanks

Protecting the Valley of the Kings

drhawass.com

I always say that the Egyptian monuments will be completely destroyed in less than 100 years if tourism isn’t managed properly. Tourism is the number one threat to the Egyptian antiquities.

In Egypt we have started many important site management projects in order to protect the monuments, and I have published many articles about my ideas. When I became Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, we initiated site management projects at Abu Simbel, the Unfinished Obelisk in Aswan, Edfu, Kom Ombo, the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut’s Temple in Luxor, and at Dendera. We are currently finishing site management projects at Giza and Saqqara, as well as working at Tell Basta, and San el-Hagar (Tanis), and this week we have completed our project at Pompey’s Pillar in Alexandria.

In order to have a high quality site management program it is important to have a means of protecting the site, an educational introduction within a visitor’s centre, well-trained personnel, a programme for restoration and conservation, and, outside of the site, facilities for tourists, such as cafeterias, a bazaar, and clean bathrooms.
The Valley of the Kings is a special case. Here, tourists concentrate on visiting certain tombs – especially the tombs of Tutankhamun, Ramesses VI, and Horemheb – while others are hardly visited at all, even though the valley contains sixty-three tombs in total. This means that some tombs need added protection, while others need to be closed completely in order to save the ancient paintings.

We are currently installing lighting in the Valley of the Kings so that people will be able to visit the tombs in the evening. This will help to protect the paintings because it allows us to spread the tourist visits out over the course of the day – they will need to make reservations for the morning, early afternoon or evening. This will allow the tombs to escape from the extra heat and moisture that builds up in them over the course of the day.

Three special tombs are so important and beautiful that they need to be carefully protected: the tombs of Tutankhamun, Nefertari and Seti I. The latter two are currently closed to the public to help preserve them. In order to allow visitors to Luxor to still see the paintings in these beautiful tombs, yet still keep them closed, we contacted Adam Lowe of Factum Arte. He is currently making detailed high-resolution copies of the tomb scenes using laser scanners. The images that these scanners create look almost exactly like the original paintings.

See the above page for the full story, with photos.

Fiction Review: Amelia Peabody

examiner.com (Faith Acker)

An Englishwoman in Egypt: Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody novels July 10, 4:33 PM In my previous review, I briefly mentioned the Amelia Peabody detective novels, a marvelous series of mysteries that certainly deserve more than a one-line accolade. Written by acclaimed American novelist Elizabeth Peters, the eighteen books in the Amelia Peabody series describe the life of their title character, her family, and their friends. Although the early books occasionaly skip a few years in the saga of Amelia's life, each book usually describes one archaeological season in nineteenth- or twentieth-century Egypt, where Amelia and her husband Emerson excavate tombs, usually in the well-known Valley of Kings. Elizabeth Peters' PhD in Egyptology is evident from the knowledge she brings to descriptions of tombs and artifacts, so that the books are both interesting and informative.

I began the series in media res, with The Last Camel Died at Noon, the sixth book in the series, when the Emersons' precocious son Ramses is already of age and in which the family find themselves stranded and trapped first in the desert and then in a primitive Egyptian society significantly isolated from their comfortable nineteenth-century world. I would not recommend this book to first-time readers of the Peabody sagas, as the sudden explosion of characters and the sight fantastical tilt of this novel are a little extraordinary for Peters' work. Instead, begin at the beginning, The Crocodile on the Sandbank, or any of the novels immediately following (Ramses as a small child is infinitely entertaining).

See the above page for more.

Meresamun on Facebook

Meresamun Facebook page

Sometimes, just sometimes, I think that the freedom to communicate on such a global scale leads some of us to do things about which we should have thought twice. The mummy Meresamun now has a Facebook page, and I really have to wonder why. On the other hand "she" has over 1000 friends, so someone somewhere must be doing something right. You have to add her as a friend to find out more about her. I am only on Facebook, against all my better instincts, in order to keep up to date with distant friends who have jumped on the site's bandwagon, and I cannot see myself adding a virtual mummy as a friend. But do let me know if she has any fascinating gems of wisdom or news to impart. Enjoy!

Sad News: Jean Yoyette

ouest-france.fr

Jean Yoyotte, professeur honoraire au Collège de France et l'un des égyptologues les plus connus au monde, est décédé le 1er juillet à Paris à l'âge de 81 ans, a annoncé sa famille.

Titulaire de la chaire d'égyptologie du Collège de France, Jean Yoyotte est l'auteur de plusieurs ouvrages consacrés à l'Egype ancienne, dont, en collaboration, un Dictionnaire de la civilisation égyptienne (1959) et un Bestiaire des pharaons (2001). Il a aussi dirigé, de 1965 à 1985, les fouilles archéologiques du site de Tanis, l'un des sites archéologiques les plus importants du nord-est de l'Egypte, connu notamment pour ses tombes royales. Une grande exposition intitulée "Tanis, l'or des pharaons", dont Jean Yoyotte avait rédigé le catalogue, a été organisée en 1987 au Grand Palais à Paris.

Daily Photo by Tony Marson

Amarna Boundary Stone
Copyright Anthony Marson, with my thanks

Exhibition: Pharaohs for all ages

Al Ahram Weekly (Nevine El-Aref)

Last week, residents of Indianapolis fell under the spell of the art and history of ancient Egyptians as the "Tutankhamun, The Golden King and The Great Pharaohs" exhibition opened its doors to the public. Streets, kiosks, restaurants and hotel forefronts were decorated with huge Egyptian and US flags, as well as posters of some of the stunning objects featured in the exhibition -- among them the exquisite gold canopic coffinette of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, a limestone head of the monotheistic ruler Akhenaten, a marble statue of Queen Hatshepsut, and a colossal seated statue of Pharaoh Sobekhotep of the Middle Kingdom.

At the forefront of the Children's Museum of Indianapolis (CMI), where the exhibition is taking place, stands a colossal replica statue of the necropolis deity Anubis greeting visitors as they pass through an ancient Egyptian-style gate guarded by two athletic-looking bodyguards wearing the ancient nemes head dress and a short white gown tied at the waist with a coloured belt decorated with lotus flowers.

After crossing the museum garden, which is decorated with gypsum replicas of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, visitors are taken back in time to the life, death, faith and afterlife of those innovative Pharaohs of ancient Egypt.

Strains of oriental music filled the evening air of the CMI's reception hall, where women and men, girls and boys dressed as Pharaohs, courtiers, servants, priests and deities roam about guiding visitors to the different sections of the "Tutankhamun, the Golden King and the Great Pharaohs" exhibition.

"Now, come, travel back in time. See where and how these rulers lived," beckons the deep voice of Hollywood's Indiana Jones, aka Harrison Ford, while a two-minute video accompanies the narrative. When the screens go quiet, massive double limestone-coloured doors, edged by a pair of carved columns decorated with lotus flowers, swing open into a labyrinth of seven galleries displaying 130 splendid ancient Egyptian artefacts from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, many of which have never left home before. These objects focus on the splendour of the Egyptian Pharaohs, their function in the earthly and divine worlds, and what kingship meant to the Egyptian people. Fifty of the pieces are from Pharaoh Tutankhamun's tomb while the rest feature the treasures of his ancestor rulers from the pyramid builders' era through the Late Period.

See the above page for the full story.

Sahara Journal volume 20

Sahara Journal

Contents of volume 20 (published June 2009) 224 pages, 305 black and white illustrations, 37 colour plates


Papers

Rudolph Kuper: A Paradise off Rules?

Savino di Lernia and Marina Gallinaro: The Rock Art of the Acacus Mountains (SW Libya), between originals and copies (abstract)

Azhari Mustafa Sadig: Preliminary Observation on the Neolithic Settlement Patterns in Central Sudan (abstract)

Heiko Riemer: A potsherd from northwest of Abu Minqar and the dispersal of Sheikh Muftah pottery in the Western Desert of Egypt (abstract)

Maria Carmela Gatto, Morgan De Dapper, Merel Eyckerman, Rainer Gerisch, Hannah Joris, Claire Newton and Stan Hendrickx: Landscape reconstruction of the Predynastic site at Nag el-Qarmila (Upper Egypt)
(abstract)

Adriana Scarpa Falce: Borou Sud 06, quadri di un’esposizione (conca di Ouri, Tibesti nord-orientale, Ciad) (abstract)

A. José Farrujia de la Rosa, Werner Pichler and Alain Rodrigue: The colonization of the Canary Islands and the Libyco-Berber and Latino-Canarian scripts (abstract)

Ulrich W. Hallier et Brigitte C. Hallier: L’ « époque des Chasseurs Anciens » dans la Tassili-n-Ajjer (Algérie du Sud) (abstract)



Sections

Amenti / Ament / Amentet

Jean Daniel Degreef: The Jebel Uweinat relief of Mentuhotep II: a jubilee scene?

Julien d’Huy: New evidence for a closeness between the Abu Râ’s shelter (Eastern Sahara) and Egyptian beliefs

Giancarlo Negro: Segnalazione di nuovi siti d’arte rupestre nel Great Sand Sea egiziano – Seconda parte

Lorenzo De Cola, Maria Emilia Peroschi e Flavio Cambieri: Osservazioni su un dipinto in ocra rossa nel Deserto Occidentale egiziano

Marta Guzzafame, Francesco Marino and Nicola Pugno: The Libyan Desert Silica Glass as a product of meteoritic impact: A new chemical-mechanical characterization


Documenti rupestri / Documents of rock art / Documents rupestres

Stan Hendrickx and Maria Carmela Gatto
A Rediscovered Late Predynastic-Early Dynastic royal scene from Gharb Aswan (Upper Egypt)

Fabio Maestrucci e Gianna Giannelli
Amakamak, il riparo degli uomini-sciacallo (Tassili-n-Ajjer settentrionale, Algeria)

Aldo Boccazzi e Donatella Calati
Tre siti d’arte rupestre del Tibesti nord-orientale

Alec Campbell and David Coulson
Afar II

Maarten van Hoek
Egyptian temple petroglyphs

Brigitte C. Hallier
The warriors of Wadi Oumashi (western central Tassili-n-Ajjer, South Algeria)

Ulrich W. Hallier et Brigitte C. Hallier
Grossesse et naissance au Néolithique (et pensées sur l’évolution de l’art rupestre)
(Sefar et Tin Tazarift, Plateau de Tamrit, Tassili n’Ajjer, Algérie du Sud)

Mark Borda
Survey of an unnamed plain in Egypt’s Western Desert


Documenti preistorici /Prehistoric documents /Documents préhistoriques

Jean-Loïc Le Quellec, Bertrand Poissonnier et Alexandre Livingstone-Smith
Une nouvelle meule ornée au Messak (Libye)

François Soleilhavoup et Roland Foessel
Un objet à produire des sons dans le Chalcolithique de Mauritanie

Alain Rodrigue
Alain Rodrigue
Découverte fortuite d’une céramique campaniforme près de Sidi Cherkaoui (Gharb, Maroc)

Friedrich Berger
An area with aligned stones in the Western Desert of Egypt

Monumenti preislamici / Pre-Islamic Monuments / Monuments préislamiques

Fiorenza Ferretti
Una“tomba reale” nel wadi In Aramas (Libia, Messak)


Scritture / Writings / Écritures

Werner Pichler and Jean-Loïc Le Quellec
Considerations on the sign≈ and the problem of its interpretation in Tifinagh inscriptions

New gallery at the Oriental Museum, Durham, UK

Oriental Museum

The Oriental Museum in Durham (part of the University of Durham) has opened a new gallery featuring Egyptian art.

Opened on the 10th July 2009, the display includes both familiar objects and items that have never previously been on display.

There is some brief information about the Egyptian collections on the museum's website.

The Ancient Egyptian collections at Durham Univerisity are some of the finest in the UK and include a number of world famous and unique objects.

Since 2008 the main Eygptian gallery at the Oriental Museum has been closed to allow for a major tour of Japan. The tour has now returned to Durham and we have used this opportunity to create a completely new gallery designed to showcase the highlights of this important collection.

The new gallery opens to the public for the first time this July. Even if you are a regular visitor to the Oriental Museum there will be plenty to see as the new gallery includes objects never seen on display in the UK before.

The university is apparently happy with the above-mentioned exhibition's tour of Japan.

Commodity Online

A 12-month touring exhibition in Japan displaying a range of ancient Egyptian artefacts - including a number of gold pieces - has been deemed a success for one UK University.

Durham University's Oriental Museum sent the exhibition on a tour that resulted in the collection being seen by nearly 200,000 Japanese visitors, the Journal reports.

Among the items on display were a number of tiny gold amulets, unique ancient jewellery and a gilded gold and painted mummy face mask.

The museum earned £60,000 in revenue that has been put into redecorating its Egyptian gallery, which will reopen to the public after a two-year closure tomorrow (July 10th) with an array of old and new exhibits.

"Closing the gallery and undertaking the tour of Japan has given us the time and funding to undertake vital conservation on delicate objects, which we are now able to display to the public for the first time," commented museum curator Craig Barclay.

See the above page for the full story.

Daily Photo by Tony Marson

Tel el-Amarna

This photo captures the basic fact of the ancient town today that
there's almost nothing left to see in the landscape. A remarkable thought.
But archaeologists have brought the town back to life on paper.
To find out more about the site have a look at the excellent Amarna Project website.


Copyright Anthony Marson, with my thanks

Kom Firin report

British Museum

The report on the 2008 expedition to Kom Firin (season 7) by Dr Neal Spencer is now available to download in PDF format (nearly 10kb) at the above page. The report is descriptive and, apart from the excellent cover photographs is not accompanied by photographs or illustrations. The main sections look at the Ramesside complex and the Citadel.

One of the fascinating sections, which comes right at the end, is a discussion of the faunal remains:

Louise Bertini undertook analysis of all of the faunal bone recovered between 2002 and 2008; the following represents a brief summary of some of her key conclusions. The faunal material, consisting of 3705 bone fragments, was in good condition for a Nile Delta site. All bone fragments were examined, with information being recorded for each on its taxon, element, portion, side, age, evidence for butchery marks, being worked, gnawed, burn marks, and breakage patterns. Fish bones were not part of the study, though the majority appear to be Nile Catfish (Synodontis and Clarias), followed by Nile Perch (Lates niloticus) and Tilapia.

Pigs are by far the most commonly identified species at Kom Firin, making up 44.1% of the total number of identified specimens. The ratio of pigs to sheep/goat is 4:1 and the ratio of pigs to cattle is: 6:1. These are very peculiar ratios, as a more typical pig to sheep goat ratio is between 1:1 and 1.5:1. This may reflect lower status occupation levels, for example of Third Intermediate Period occupation over the abandoned Ramesside temple, or in the dense occupation area in the northeast area of the enclosure (where pig to sheep/goat ratios reached 10:1). Cattle bones were also found, particularly in the Third Intermediate Period occupation levels above the Ramesside temple, but also from within the temple itself, perhaps reflecting the ancient offering cult. Equid remains (donkeys and horses) were also found with some frequency (262 fragments).

For more information about the site see:
The British Museum Kom Firin page
A full set of Project Reports on the BM website
Notes about the recording system used on komfirin.org
A couple of additional photographs on www.komfirin.org

Científicos checos estudian momias con tomografía computarizada

Radio Praha (Kateřina Oratorová)

Thanks to Amigos de la Egiptologia for this link. I had a look to see if they covered the same story in their English language section but couldn't find it. With photographs.

Rough Translation of the first part:

Would you think it is impossible to combine medicine with Egyptology? Well, you would be wrong. As part of a science project recently launched in the Czech Republic, these two disciplines come together to provide new insights to historians and doctors. It has been the dream of historians for centuries to be able to study the mummies of Ancient Egypt without affecting their integrity. Now the dream is becoming a reality in the Czech Republic. Náprstek Museum of Prague and the Municipal Museum of Moravská Třebová have recently launched a project that uses the latest medical technologies in the study of mummified bodies. In the first phase, ten Egyptian mummies underwent CT scans, which can be studied without harming the body. Doctors have taken thousands of images that are now being analyzed, said the medic Lubica Oktábcová. "Each mummy was divided into segments, each 0.5 millimeters thick, and all these segments were photographed. So you can imagine how many pictures we took. In total, we made 3,000 pictures, which are currently being examined, "said Oktábcová. The aim of this study is to find out details about the origin of the mummies and the type of life and the probable causes of death for people whose bodies were brought to the Egyptian preservation techniques. The project is a continuation of work pioneered in the 70s.

¿Creen que es imposible unir la medicina con la egiptología? Pues, están equivocados. En el marco de un proyecto científico inaugurado hace poco en la República Checa, estas dos disciplinas se dan la mano para brindar nuevos conocimientos a historiadores y médicos.

Estudiar las momias del Antiguo Egipto sin afectar su integridad ha sido el sueño de todo historiador durante siglos. Ahora el sueño se vuelve realidad en la República Checa.

El Museo Náprstek, de Praga, y el Museo Municipal de Moravská Třebová han lanzado hace poco un proyecto que aprovecha las últimas tecnologías médicas en el estudio de los cuerpos momificados.

En la primera fase del proyecto, diez momias egipcias fueron sometidas a la tomografía computarizada, que permite estudiar los cuerpos sin dañarlos. Los médicos han sacado miles de imágenes que ahora se están analizando, explicó la médica Lubica Oktábcová.

“Cada momia fue dividida en segmentos, cada uno de 0,5 milímetros de grosor, y todos estos segmentos fueron fotografiados. Así que pueden imaginar cuántas imágenes sacamos. En total, hicimos unas 3.000 fotografías, que actualmente se están estudiando”, sostuvo Oktábcová.

El objetivo del estudio es descubrir detalles sobre la procedencia de las momias, así como el tipo de vida y las probables causas de muerte de las personas cuyos cadáveres fueron sometidos a las técnicas de conservación egipcias.

El proyecto es una continuación del trabajo realizado en los años 70 por el científico checo Evžen Strouhal, quien utilizaba en sus investigaciones la radiología.

Durante los últimos 40 años las tecnologías médicas han avanzado bastante. Así que los científicos de hoy disponen de muchos más detalles. Además del esqueleto, pueden estudiar restos de tejidos o, por ejemplo, los objetos escondidos entre las capas de la momia.

More re ongoing discoveries at Cairo Museum

Egypt State Information Service

Minister of Culture Farouq Hosni said a new trove has been found at the western area of the Egyptian Museum. The new find was discovered while workers were carrying out renovation works. Three days prior, the workers discovered another trove which included rare artifacts.

Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Dr. Zahi Hawas said the new trove included nine artifacts, an offering table of limestone, stone with hieroglyphic inscriptions and a cobra that dates back to the Ramses Dynasty.

Items from Durham visit Japan

JournalLive

THE Japan tour saw a mummy from Durham University’s Oriental Museum undertake the longest journey in his 2,300-year history.

The mummy, thought to be a priest aged 50 to 60 from Akhmim, has probably been in the North East since the 19th Century. X-rays have shown it has an artificial lower arm and hand. Conservators worked on the mummy to prepare him for the year-long tour of Japan.

Also taken down and packed was a 3,000-year-old Egyptian granite obelisk from the Duke of Northumberland’s collection.

See the above page for a few more details.

Daily Photo by Anthony Marson

Edfu

Thanks to Tony Marson for sending me a batch of photos some time ago, which re-appeared like a genie in my Inbox recently. Here's one to add to Bob's Edfu series - a lovely shot of one of the sections of the monument being professionally cleaned.


Copyright Anthony Marson, with my thanks

Mummy Murder Mystery Deepens After Scans

sky.com (David Crabtree)

With photograph of scan.

Amazing new pictures have been released of attempts to unravel a 1,700-year-old murder mystery.

But even state-of-the-art 21st century techniques have been foiled by the case.

Three Egyptian mummies from Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery were scanned in a quest for more information on the circumstances surrounding their deaths.

Museum staff wanted to learn more about a 'metallic' object in the neck of a Graeco-Roman mummy, discovered on x-rays in 1995, with suggestions it may have been an arrow-head.

Instead, the scans have revealed the object is in fact one of three or four fragments - probably metal - lodged in the base of the skull.

So the mystery remains.

The scans were arranged by Bob Loynes, previously an orthopaedic consultant at Mid-Staffs Hospital, and a keen Egyptologist.

In the past, it has been necessary to unwrap mummies to carry out investigations, but this risky process can now be avoided.

Mr Loynes said: "The opportunity to help with the further investigation of these mummies was a very exciting one for me.

"The CT Scans have shown amazing details, which have produced as many questions as they have given answers."

Scans of the second mummy, that of Padimut, priest of the goddess Mut and probably of the 21st Dynasty (1085-935 BC), showed evidence of high quality mummification - including removal of the brain and plates in front of the eyes.

See the above page for the full story.

Hawass on breaking the monopoloy on foreign discoveries in Egypt

Amigos de la Egiptologia
Source: adn.es

Rough translation:

Egypt has ended the traditional monopoly of foreign experts on archaeological excavations in the country and has managed to promote their own archaeologists, working in twenty missions today. Zahi Hawass, the president of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (CSA), added that until recently "were the only foreigners involved in the excavation of the remains Islamic, Coptic and Pharaonic. Now we have 17 missions (archaeological), plus three others who work with me," Hawas was speaking to reporters after inaugurating a symposium on the work in the field of Egyptian experts. At the headquarters of the Supreme Council of Antiquities archaeologists, researchers and students gathered for two days to discuss the work being carried out on archaeological sites, and to thank and reward the expertise and professionalism of those workers who are retiring. Hawas said that another function of the CSA is "to send abroad to students and recent graduates to learn with the best experts in the antiques world to know and work in the excavations of Egypt."

Egipto ha terminado con el tradicional monopolio de los expertos extranjeros en las excavaciones arqueológicas del país y ha logrado promocionar a sus propios arqueólogos, que trabajan en veinte misiones en la actualidad. Así lo manifestó hoy en El Cairo el presidente del Consejo Supremo de Antigüedades (CSA), Zahi Hawas, quien recordó que hasta hace poco "los extranjeros eran los únicos involucrados en las excavaciones de los restos islámicos, coptos y faraónicos".

"Ahora tenemos 17 misiones (arqueológicas), además de otras tres que trabajan conmigo", dijo Hawas a los periodistas después de inaugurar un simposio sobre la labor en este campo de los expertos egipcios.

En la sede del Consejo Supremo de Antigüedades se reunieron hoy arqueólogos, investigadores y estudiantes para analizar durante dos días el trabajo que se lleva a cabo en los sitios arqueológicos, además de para agradecer y premiar la profesionalidad de aquellos expertos y trabajadores que se jubilan.

Hawas explicó que otra de las funciones del CSA es "enviar al extranjero a los estudiantes y a los recién licenciados para que aprendan con los mejores expertos del mundo a conocer las antigüedades y el trabajo en las excavaciones de Egipto".

See the above page for more (including comments in response).

High-tech imaging reveals hidden past in ancient texts

Physorg

It might simply look like a smudge, but even the slightest stain on the ancient writing surface of papyrus could obscure a revelation of a past civilization. Now, with the advent of high-tech imaging, some of those secrets could reveal fascinating insights into everyday life of early Egyptian, Greek and Roman societies.

For the last four weeks, a team of national researchers and scholars examined dozens of papyri among the thousands of papyrological pieces in the University of Michigan collection. Using multi-spectral imaging, the Ancient Textual Imaging Group—led by acclaimed papyrology expert Stephen Bay of Brigham Young University—examined ancient text written on papyrus that had become illegible because they are stained, discolored and faded. Recording through a range of filters, the technology captures high-resolution color images, making clear the layers of text hidden beneath words and letters written on levels of papyrus.

The Ancient Textual Imaging Group, based at Brigham Young, is conducting a two-year venture to record illegible papyrus documents from historically significant U.S.-based collections. The project is supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Throughout July, scholars and students at the Papyrological Institute, hosted by U-M, will examine the newly recorded images, aiming to piece together a picture of a world that until now has been hidden. Findings from the newly enhanced images of the papyri will be released as early as August.

"These new images give us insight into the writing and life of generations existing two, maybe three generations before the readable text was written," said Arthur Verhoogt, U-M associate professor of papyrology and Greek studies.

See the above page for the full story.

Exhibition: Wild About Egypt

Coningsby Gallery
Jackie Garner Egypt Project

Thanks to Jackie Garner for the invitation ot the Coningsby Gallery to see her exhibiton of paintings exploring wildlife in ancient Egyptian art. The exhibition includes original watercolours, acrylics and pastels as well as limited edition prints and greetings cards.

The exhibition is open to the public from Sunday 12th July to Friday 17th July from 10am to 7pm, and on Saturday 18th July frm 10am to 1pm (private view only on 14th July 6pm to 9pm).

The Conginsby Gallery is at 30 Tottenham Street, W11 4RJ, telephone 020 7636 0164.

Unfortunately I am going to be away throughout that week but if anyone else is going and wishes to review the exhibition I would be glad to post it here.

Daily Photo by Bob Partridge

Last of the photographs from Edfu. It has been terrific to see such a great selection form one site.

Edfu

Copyright Bob Partridge,
Editor of Ancient Egypt Magazine, with my thanks

Another cache found in the Egyptian Museum

The Egyptian Gazette

I'm not sure whether this is the same cache referred to a couple of days ago or a new one. Some of the details seem similar but there is additional information.

Egyptian archaeologists have unearthed another cache near the Western gate of the National Museum in Cairo, Culture Minister Farouq Hosni said yesterday.

Zahi Hawass, the secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said that the cache contained a table made of limestone, a fragment of a slab with hieroglyphic inscriptions, some stones, and the base of a pharaonic pillar, which date back to the pharaonic period around 1,300 years BC.

"This type of slab was quite widespread during the era of the Pharaohs, who used it to mark a special occasion,” Hawass said. “The slab shows the head of a cobra," Hawass said, adding that foreign archaeologists were in the habit of burying antiquities they had considered 'useless' in the Museum's garden. The antiquities will be analysed, said Hawass, who has been supervising a project for giving a facelift to the Museum.

The project, which is near completion, includes upgrading the museum and adding new, showrooms, meeting rooms, a library, a bookshop and a cafeteria.

Interview with Kara Cooney

You Tube

Late Late Show Craig Ferguson interview with Egyptologist Kara Cooney.

Berlin’s Neues Museum Announces Grand Re-Opening

Travel Video News

After more than 60 years in ruins, the Neues Museum (New Museum) on Berlin’s Museum Island is scheduled to re-open its doors on October 16, 2009. The re-opening completes the decade long, 200 million Euro restoration project, marking the third major milestone in the overall restoration of the five renowned museums that make up the UNESCO world heritage site, Museum Island.

The Neues Museum will once again house the archaeological collections of the Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection, the Museum of Pre- and Early History, as well as works from the Collection of Classical Antiquities. The most prominent feature of the exhibit, the bust of Egyptian Queen Nefertiti, described as “the world’s most beautiful woman,” will be centrally and prominently displayed in the north cupola of the building. The bust was first exhibited at the Neues Museum in 1924 and evacuated from the structure in 1939. Additional artifacts including the burial chambers of Metjen, Merib and Manofer will also be available to view as free-standing elements.

See the above page for more.

Lyon’s sumptuous Textile Museum is a feast for the eyes

Digital Journal

Includes Pharaonic Egyptian and Coptic textiles.

This wonderful museum owns over 2 million examples of fine textiles, from silk to synthetics, and from 25 centuries Before Christ until today. They come from all over the world and represent one of the two biggest textile collections in existence.

The City of Lyon has long been associated with textile production, and its silk industry became a part of the city’s life-blood at the beginning of the 1800’s with the introduction of newer and faster methods of production invented during the industrial revolution.

The Textile Museum was opened to the public in 1864, and its administration was later taken over by Lyon’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who moved it to its present location in 1946. The building used to be the Governor of Lyon’s residence.

There is every kind of textile possible to be seen in its exhibitions, silk, of course, but also Pharaonic Egyptian, Oriental,Coptic, Persian and Byzantines to mention just a few.

TAG 2009, Durham University 17th - 19th December, Call for papers

Just in case there are any theoretical Egyptologists out there:

Session title: Living on the edge: scrutinising suburbs

Session Abstract:

‘Suburban (adj) - of or characteristic of a suburb: suburban life. contemptibly dull and ordinary: Elizabeth despised Anne’s house-proudness as deeply suburban’ (OED).

Where there are cities and towns, there are suburbs. The modern, Western connotations of the word ‘suburban’, however, mask the realities and diversity of suburban experiences across time and space. This session invites papers which present thoughts on and evidence for the material realities of ‘life on the edge’ of settlements from all periods and all parts of the globe. For example, what is a suburb? Who lived and/or worked in suburbs and how and why did they do so? Is there evidence for social and economic differentiation or distinction? Do a suburbs have a distinct archaeological signature or an internally dynamic ‘identity’ in comparison to town and country? What role did the suburbs play in the functioning of settlements? What does a decline in suburban settlement indicate? Detailed study of the development of suburbs, on the edges of urban sites, can present an index of economic growth as well as of aspirations and investment by individuals and institutions. Who was responsible for suburban growth? Can we make inferences about control, subversion, exploitation, inclusion and exclusion in urban societies? Some of these questions break new ground; others have been considered before. This thematic session aims to explore some of the universals and differences in the (sub)urban experience, and to bring together urban archaeologists studying different places, periods and types of evidence from varied theoretical perspectives in debate which is, hopefully, far from ‘contemptibly dull’.

We are please to invite proposals for papers which should include your name, institution, paper title and an abstract of 200 words. Please be reminded that your abstract should specify your contribution to archaeological theory.

The deadline for proposed papers is 30th September 2009. Please submit your proposal to both the session organisers.

Organisers:
Dr Abby Antrobus, Suffolk County Council Archaeological Services abby.antrobus@suffolk.gov.uk
Andrew Agate, University College London, a.agate@ucl.ac.uk

Daily Photo by Bob Partridge

Temple of Edfu

Copyright Bob Partridge,
Editor of Ancient Egypt Magazine, with my thanks

UN nuclear agency helps unlock secrets of mummies

IAEA

Was King Tut really murdered? Did the Great Pharoah Ramesses II die from a disease of the spine? The answers to these age-old mysteries are locked inside Egyptian mummies. Today, they are being unravelled through the modern science of "paleoradiology".

Paleoradiology uses nuclear technologies such as X-rays, computed tomography (CT), and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to study artefacts, skeletons, mummies and fossils. Many museums worldwide use the nuclear technologies to discover otherwise hidden details that piece together historic puzzles.

Dr. Rethy Chhem, Director of the IAEA Division of Human Health, has read more than 150,000 skeleton studies in clinical practice and is an expert on the use of paleoradiology. He says the science is a key that gives radiologists insights into former lives of mummies, uncovering details such as the sex, age of death and illnesses.

Dr. Chhem cites the case the Pharoah Ramesses II in which x-rays helped solve historical questions. One question asked through the ages was whether Ramesses II really had ankylosing spondylitis, an arthritic disease inflicting the spine. The x-rays revealed that Ramesses did not have a disease of the spine, Dr. Chhem says, noting that this fits well with his biography describing him as a great warrior.

X-ray technology has been around since 1896, and CT since 1979. Advances since then make the technologies increasingly exact, and quick. Newer prototypes of computed tomography can give additional insights, including both about the well-being and nutrition of ancient mummies.

See the above page for the full story.

More re return of Mummy to Stonyhurst College, Yorks, UK

Lancashire Telegraph

A 2,500-YEAR-OLD Egyptian mummy has been returned to Stonyhurst College after more than 30 years.

The remains of the unidentified young boy, aged five or six, left the Clitheroe Catholic boarding school in the 1970s for testing at Man-chester University and the mummy was later placed in an exhibition.

Stonyhurst College has now installed special facilities to preserve the mummy and it has been allowed to return to its former home.

The mummy, which belongs to the college, at Hurst Green was discovered by a Jesuit missionary and archaeologist in 1850.

The missionary is believed to have worked at, or had links to, the traditional Jesuit school and donated the mummy on its discovery.

It has been part of Manchester Museum’s world- famous collection of Egyptian artefacts and, over the last 30 years, a series of forensic science investigat-ions, including scans and X-rays, have been carried out to learn more about the boy’s health and living conditions.

See the above page for the full story.

Forthcoming: Early Christian Books in Egypt Roger S. Bagnall

What's New in Papyrology

For the past hundred years, much has been written about the early editions of Christian texts discovered in the region that was once Roman Egypt. Scholars have cited these papyrus manuscripts--containing the Bible and other Christian works--as evidence of Christianity's presence in that historic area during the first three centuries AD. In Early Christian Books in Egypt, distinguished papyrologist Roger Bagnall shows that a great deal of this discussion and scholarship has been misdirected, biased, and at odds with the realities of the ancient world. Providing a detailed picture of the social, economic, and intellectual climate in which these manuscripts were written and circulated, he reveals that the number of Christian books from this period is likely fewer than previously believed.

Bagnall explains why papyrus manuscripts have routinely been dated too early, how the role of Christians in the history of the codex has been misrepresented, and how the place of books in ancient society has been misunderstood.

The above page includes a link to the first chapter, in PDF format, and a table of contents.

News from the Petrie Museum, London, UK

Friends of the Petrie

Thanks to Jan Picton, Friends of the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology for an update about the Museum, as follows:

The 'Excavating Egypt' exhibition is back from the US. Our most iconic items are home again at the Petrie and what a joy it is to see them. The little Nubian servant girl, the Bes spoon, the bead-net dress.... and many others. If you've forgotten what they looked like, come and see for yourselves. We also received fresh copies of the wonderful exhibition catalogue and they are for sale in the shop.

Many of the objects loaned for the exhibition were conserved by Renee Stein at the Michael C Carlos Museum at Emory University, Atlanta - for example the wonderful little pair statue of an unknown couple now have clean noses, and 'blinky' has regained an eye. We were shown the results during Peter Lacovara's talk at the AGM. Peter curated the exhibition for the American tour and he reported record attendance at all venues.

Full details of the AGM will be reported in the next Magazine, but
briefly:

- We reported the departure of Carolyn Perry as Museum Manager. However, Carolyn will maintain her links with the museum as she joins the Friends' committee.

- During Carolyn's period in office the museum has been repainted, air-conditioning installed, we have gained a new permanent private entrance with video-phone entry and, most importantly, our own high-tech teaching room in what was the study area outside the museum. All of these are major improvements instigated by Carolyn's tenacity and negotiating skills! The improvements are even more welcome as:

- UCL has been unable to raise the necessary funds to continue with the Institute for Cultural Heritage as originally proposed and the site will now go to an income generating department. A feasibility study is underway to see if the Petrie can still be incorporated into the new building but in a smaller space - the decision should be made by the end of the summer.

- The Friends have received two very generous legacies of ten thousand pounds each from Felicity Kerr and Frank Birch. Both legacies will be used for suitable commemorative projects.

- As always, Friends' supported conservation continues in the museum - including an exciting internship which should result in many of our organic objects being conserved. Full details in the Mag.

We enjoyed a great Summer Party on a wonderful sunny summer evening. The room looked empty as everyone tried to stay on the balcony!

It is somewhat devestating that the finance has not been raised to move the Petrie Musem into new premises worthy of its quality, scope and the sheer quantity of its wonderful objects.

Book Review: The Illustrated Guide to the Coptic Museum and Churches of Old Cairo

The Illustrated Guide to the Coptic Museum and Churches of Old Cairo by Gawdat Gabra, The American University in Cairo Press, 2007

A lovely book. As well as being a gallery by gallery guide to the museum, with some fine photographs, it is a very useful introduction to Coptic art and heritage even if you're not visiting the Coptic Museum or the churches of old Cairo.

The Coptic Museum was damaged in the 1992 earthquake and had to be closed for a long period, only re-opening in 2006. This glossy and well written guide was brought out to serve as an authoritative guide to the contents of the museum. Because the galleries are organized by category of objects each chapter of the guide effectively introduces the reader to a new class of objects and their implications. Details of individual items are used to discuss the themes.

The Introduction explains the origins of the word "Copt" and looks at how the term has been used in the past and how it is used today. A quite short but excellent history of Coptic Christianity is provided, detailing the impacts of different peoples, rulers and religions on the urban and rural Copts. This is followed by an extremely handy chronological listing of the main dates of note, which forms something of a narrative in its own right and is a useful reference. A history of the Coptic Museum is the next chapter. As with other great museums in Egypt, it has a fascinating past and the chapter looks at the impact of individuals like Maspero and Marcus Simaila on the recognition of Coptic heritage and the development of the museum.

The next section of the book is organized gallery by gallery, starting with a plan of the ground floor. The first gallery is dedicated to masterpieces divided into three different themes which are repeated in the remaining galleries. Photographs and descriptions are provided of three examples. From then on the galleries are arranged into different themes. For example, gallery 3 focuses on relief sculpture, gallery 4 on the legacy of ancient Egypt as exemplified in objects with the looped cross (ankh), gallery 5-9 on early monasticism - and so on. In each case there is a good introductory text and this is followed by descriptions of objects which help to elaborate the ideas expressed. There are 26 galleries in all, so there is a lot of information to be gained.

The final chapter looks at the churches of Old Cairo. These are covered in brief, but are accompanied by plans and photographs.

Finally there is a useful Glossary, a list of further reading, a list of illustrations and an index.

If you are interested in Coptic heritage this book is an excellent introduction and has some gorgeous photographs.

Daily Photo by Bob Partridge

Temple of Edfu

Copyright Bob Partridge,
Editor of Ancient Egypt Magazine, with my thanks

Monuments discovered in Egyptian Museum

Egypt State Information Service

Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni said Saturday 4/7/2009 that during working in the project of developing the Egyptian Museum, a monument cache was discovered near the western door's stair in the western part of the Egyptian Museum in el-Tahrir.

The Minister said the cache is part of four other parts of a broken inscription that contain limestone hieroglyphic writing. It was divided into two parts with some hieroglyphic signs.

Dr. Zahi Hawass, the Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said that he believed that these monuments were buried in the past in this place through the Egyptian Museum archeologists when they were transferring the monuments from the archeological sites to the museum for storage.

Hawass pointed out that the Museum archeologists were examining the ancient monuments to bury the artificial pieces but these genuine ones were buried by mistake.

Exhibition: Tutankhamun in San Francisco

Santa Cruz Sentinel (Tina Baine)

In 1978, at age 23, I stood anxiously waiting in a long line outside the Los Angeles County Museum for my chance to see relics from King Tut's tomb. It certainly wasn't common in the 1970s for artifacts to generate concert-ticket-length queues, let alone record-breaking museum attendance. But King Tut was a cultural phenomenon like no other. From 1976-79, nearly 8 million Americans viewed "The Treasures of Tutankhamun" during sold-out tours at each museum it appeared -- including the de Young in San Francisco. Passions ignited for all things Egyptian -- especially the boy king himself -- unleashing a consumer phenomenon that included jewelry, clothing, dance moves, songs and even hairstyles.

The American frenzy for ancient Egypt wasn't unique to the '70s, however. In 1922, English archaeologist Howard Carter launched the first wave of Tutmania when he originally discovered the long-forgotten tomb of King Tut. For the next decade, photographs of the objects that emerged had a wide ranging influence on America, from product advertisements cigarettes and soap, to automobiles the Scarab, to Hollywood movies "The Mummy", to art and architecture Art Deco.

Last week, I avoided the long lines I experienced 30 years ago by attending the press preview of "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs"at the de Young Museum. I photographed the refreshment tables featuring pyramid-shaped vanilla yogurt on crackers, and cream cheese-stuffed dates looking very much like tiny coffins.

I listened to various dignitaries, including the famed Egyptian scholar/explorer Zahi Hawass, discuss the importance of the exhibit to San Francisco and Egypt, since proceeds from the exhibit will go not only to the museum, but also back to Egypt to further its efforts to excavate and preserve antiquities. According to Hawass, Egypt never saw a dime from the 1970s U.S. tour. And I lingered over each item in the exhibit itself.

Now that I've seen this amazing exhibit and done a bit of reading, I'd like to take a stab at answering that nagging question: Why is the West so fascinated by the world of the pharaohs?

See the above page for the full story.

Photos of Meroe

Sudanwatch blog

Lovely photographs by Sudanese photographer Vit Hassan of Meroitic Nubia. Thanks Kat.

Daily Photo by Bob Partridge

Temple of Edfu

Copyright Bob Partridge,
Editor of Ancient Egypt Magazine, with my thanks

Quick update from Gurob

Bloomsbury Academy

Thanks to Lucia Gahlin for highlighting the following news from Gurob (with photo):

Ian Shaw, Director of the Gurob Harem Palace Project (GHPP) in Egypt.

Following another successful season at Medinet el-Gurob in April Ian updates us:

We continued to work on the first comprehensive map of this large New Kingdom palace, town and multi-period necropolis, using the latest GIS software. We re-excavated areas of the town site, revealing traces of at least one kiln possibly used for working glass during the New Kingdom. Among the more unusual surface finds this season were a faience scaraboid of a duck with its head reversed; a fragment of a late 18th-Dynasty blue glass vessel with feathered design in yellow, black and white; a small tile decorated with a fish in cream and brown glaze (pictured here) similar to those found at Amarna; two ‘lady on a bed’ figurines; and two fragments of shabtis (one in faience and one of Nile silt clay).

If you would like to find out more about this fascinating project or make a donation to it, or perhaps arrange to make an exclusive visit to the site during the 2010 season, contact Ian Shaw (ishaw@liv.ac.uk) or Jan Picton (j.picton@ucl.ac.uk).

Report on the Mummies’ Trip to the Hospital

Talking Pyramids (Vincent Brown)

With photos.

Brooklyn Museum’s trip to the hospital with four of their mummies yesterday was an event not to be missed. Many of us all over the world were able to ‘tune in’ via popular social networks such as Flickr and Twitter.

Shelley Bernstein, Brooklyn Museum’s technology geek, delivered a running commentary with photos as the four mummies were taken from the museum to the North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset.
Tina determines the best route
The innovative use of the micro-blogging platform Twitter not only allowed many to follow the event step by step, but also allowed others to jump in and add their own two cents worth.

As Tina puzzled over a fold-out street map to determine what the best route was that should be taken, one observer Ian suggested Shelly help Tina by using the GoogleMaps application on her iPhone instead. Apparently Tina wanted a real map so Shelley checked the current state of the traffic on the iPhone instead.

Here’s one of her tweets:

brooklynmuseum: Figuring out good route to bring mummies into hospital #mummyCT

In no time at all word had spread all over the world as more people came on to Twitter to follow the event. Others were able to do so because all of messages, or ‘tweets’ as they are known as, had the keyword “#mummyCT” added to them. Others wanting to engage also used that keyword, or ‘hashtag’.

See the above page for the full report from Vincent.

New Book: The Oxford Handbook of Papyrology

What's New In Papyrology

By Roger Bagnall

Description
Thousands of texts, written over a period of three thousand years on papyri and potsherds, in Egyptian, Greek, Latin, Aramaic, Hebrew, Persian, and other languages, have transformed our knowledge of many aspects of life in the ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern worlds. The Oxford Handbook of Papyrology provides an introduction to the world of these ancient documents and literary texts, ranging from the raw materials of writing to the languages used, from the history of papyrology to its future, and from practical help in reading papyri to frank opinions about the nature of the work of papyrologists. This volume, the first major reference work on papyrology written in English, takes account of the important changes experienced by the discipline within especially the last thirty years.

See the above page for the full story.

Egyptologist Christine Lilyquist retires from the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Egypt Then and Now

Stan Parchin has provided details on Ben's site about the career of Christine Lilyquist, who has just retired from the Met.

Christine Lilyquist, Lila Acheson Wallace Research Curator in Egyptology at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, retired after 38 years of extraordinary service at Manhattan’s prestigious Fifth Avenue institution.

Lilyquist received her B.A. in English Literature from Pomona College (1962). The California native subsequently earned her M.A. (1965) and Ph.D. (1971) in ancient Egyptian and Near Eastern art and archaeology from New York University’s world-renowned Institute of Fine Arts.

In 1970, Lilyquist was appointed The Met’s Assistant Curator of Egyptian Art. Promoted to Curator in 1974, she greatly heightened public interest in ancient Egyptian civilization through her systematic modernization of the museum’s first-floor northern galleries. Lilyquist’s introduction of study rooms made many of the museum’s previously hidden artifacts visible to the public for the first time. Illuminated tables explained to visitors the intricacies of Egyptian history, art and culture.

See the above page for the full story.

Photo: Mosaic in the New Library of Alexandria

drhawass.com

Here's the caption but go to the above page to see the photograph - well worth seeing.

This fragment of a mosaic floor, showing a dog alongside an overturned bronze jug, was found during the construction of the New Library of Alexandria. It is now part of the library’s museum. The mosaic is extremely detailed; the dog’s red collar can clearly be seen and the artist has carefully modelled the reflection of light on the bronze jug. It likely dates to the Second Century BC

Exhibition: 'Excavating Egypt' shatters art museum records

LexGo (Mary Meehan)

With nearly 13,000 visitors, the exhibit Excavating Egypt buried previous attendance records at The Art Museum at the University of Kentucky and could help attract funding for other blockbuster exhibits.

The exhibit, which ran March 22 to June 14, drew four times as many visitors as the most recent major exhibit at the museum.

Some 500 and 700 people routinely came to the museum on Fridays, when admission was free, said the museum's director, Kathy Walsh-Piper.

The exhibit offered an intimate glimpse into life in ancient Egypt, with 221 ranging from exotic golden funeral masks to a stone rat trap. It was the most extensive display of Egyptian objects ever to come to Central Kentucky.

See the above page for the full story.

Understanding Egyptian art

Luxor News Blog (Jane Akshar)

Thanks very much to lovely Jane for posting an essay about the conventions of 2 dimensional Egyptian art. She gave it to one of her guests to review before she submitted it for her Egyptology course. The guest said that she found it really helpful to read before she visited the tombs so Jane thought that she would give a section of it a wider audience. Here's a very short extract, but see the above page for the entire essay.

It is important when looking at Egyptian wall paintings to remember what we are looking at. This is not some pretty picture to cheer up a tomb but it had a vital and significant purpose . To provide for the deceased in the after life. The artist could not experiment or he might destroy the whole purpose of what he was trying to achieve. Art as, defined by European standards , did not exist, the decoration of the tomb had a specific function and, as such, artistic considerations were not important. According to Aldred (1980 p15) the artist “… represented not what could be seen transiently, but what he expected to exist for perpetuity, symbols rather than images”.

This does not mean the tombs are devoid of beauty but rather should be viewed with an unprejudiced eye. The tomb craftsman used two dimensional art to fully represent what he was trying to show. It was ‘fit for purpose’; indeed it was more than that as some of the small vignettes are testimony to skill to the largely unknown craftsman. Indeed “to represent was, in a way, to create” (Robins 1997 p12) so they needed to represent the clearest picture of the object or figure, so it was instantly recognisable.

Exhibition review: Tutankhamun in Indianapolis

IBJ (Lou Harry)

The current show, organized by National Geographic, Arts and Exhibitions International, and AEG Exhibitions, with cooperation from the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, features more than 100 artifactss, drawn from Tut’s tomb itself and other sites. And, ass in other cities, it is likely to provoke rage in many critics, historians and art aficionados. As with top TV shows, Broadway blockbusters, and top-40 songs, the snobbish question arises: Can something this popular be of real value?

My answer after visiting the show is, of course. Because when you get past all the politics (there’s a lot associated with this show and with archeological shows in general), there remain the objects themselves: a wide array of glorious items in pristine condition. The gold of the Funeral Mask of Psusennes I shines ethereally. The colors of the Collar of Neferuptah are rich and vibrant.

There’s also the rush of history they bring—the big-picture feeling of the sands of time slipping through our fingers. More powerful, for me, than the golden treasures was the Colossal Statue of Arkenaten, with its missing limbs and damaged torso seeming like the perfect metaphor for our attempts to hang onto history as the elements (and our baser instincts) wear it away.

The cinematic tone to the entryway and the star-appeal of Harrison Ford assisting with the audio narration (which I highly recommend using) both enhance and diminish the experience. At times, I yearned for the silence that must have met archeologist Howard Carter when, after years of searching, he first entered Tut’s chamber of wonders. (For the record, I attended on a sparsely populated media day, before the ticketed crowds arrived. Your noise level will no doubt be higher.)

See the above page for the full story.

Update - GlyphStudy Hieroglyph Courses 2009

A quick reminder that if you are intersted in learning hieroglyphs, free of charge, you can do so with the GlyphStudy group which is kicking off a new set of mutual-help courses this month. Here's the latest email from wonderful Karen at GlyphStudy:

Just a reminder that we are going to start our 2009 sections soon and you should sign up if you are interested. 3 new study sections starting this July, one for Hoch, one for Allen, and one for Collier and Manley's introduction to Hieroglyphs. This is an amazing opportunity, we have had two new moderators sign on for duty ( : so take advantage of this opportunity while it is available. Our group should be stronger than ever.

Each group will have its own homework posting site on Yahoogroups, and the section moderator's will send those out after you sign up as a participant for a given section.

IF YOU ARE NOT CURRENTLY SUBSCRIBED TO GLYPHSTUDY, YOU WILL NEED TO RESUBSCRIBE
and to do that contact Karen at kmotc@swbell.net

I would love to hear from all of you and hear how your studies are progressing, do tell me if you are returning this summer or if you are no longer studying but still following the list and hoping to return.

As usual, all discussion will take place on our main GlyphStudy discussion list.

Here are the 3 sections, please make note of the required textbooks, and the email addresses for your moderators, so you can contact them to request admission to a section. If you have any questions feel free to post the section moderators,
Bob Manske or Angela Mann, or for general inquiries, Karen at kmotc@swbell.net

For the homework group invites--make sure to check your spam folders if you don't receive an invitation within one week of signing up for a section

best,
Karen your mod

DETAILS ABOUT EACH OF OUR NEW SECTIONS BELOW...


#1. Hoch 2009 section: using

Middle Egyptian Grammar (SSEA Publication) (Plastic Comb)by James Hoch This text runs $49 at Amazon USA but you can receive a discount if you order from Oxbow books directly. To receive the discount you will need to mention AEL (the discount is through our old parent group AncientEgyptianLanguage and not GlyphStudy-so say AEL)
http://www.oxbowbooks.com/ChooseCurrency.cfm/ESA/|bookinfo.cfm|ID|54772

The Hoch group will start on July 12th, the first homework will be due on July 26th.

You will need to have the book in hand to work with the course. You will not need to purchase Hoch's sign list. I will have study guides available and have also started to develop a web-site where things like vocabulary lists, grammar summaries, sign lists, and the like will be maintained in addition to the study guides and collation materials that will also be available on GlyphStudy.

Anyone who is interested in the Hoch group should send an e-mail to me at
manske_r @ yahoo . com (delete the spaces around the @ sign and the period - otherwise it won't reach me) stating your interest in taking the course.

Put "HOCH" in the subject line, that will be helpful.

I'll use the return address to send the formal invitation to you to join the group.

Some of you have already expressed your interest - and I will try to get invitations to you, but to insure that I do, please send a note to me at the address listed above.

**********************************

#2 Collier and Manley 2009 section

You will need to purchase a copy of How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs: A Step-by-Step Guide to Teach Yourself, Revised Edition by Mark Collier and Bill Manley. These are reasonably priced at Amazon and you can even acquire a used or remainder copy through Amazon Sellers at a discount

I will be using the 2004 reprint of Collier & Manley's 'How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs: A step by-Step Guide to teach yourself '. If you have an edition prior to 2003, you may find that it has a few errors in it (particularly in the answers to the exercises!) - but I don't think you should find this a significant problem.

Collier and Manley is a beginner's book - it introduces you to hieroglyhs.

It concentrates on funerary inscriptions; it uses stelae from the British Museum for examples and exercises.

By the end of the book you should be able to visit Egypt (or a museum) and read the basic inscriptions.

I started with Collier and Manley and, as I was hopeless with languages, and found it a very good introduction.

A rough estimate to complete the course is 18 months.

The study group will start on the 12th July with the reading of Chapter 1.

The first homework will be due 26th July.

Timetables, details of where and how to post homework, etc. will be published in the next couple of weeks.

I hope that everyone will do all the exercises -starting with all the exercises for chapter 1 in one go, but spreading the exercises out over more than one week after that.

If there is anyone who would liketo join, please send me an email to
manna1@btopenworld.com putting 'C&M 2009' in the subject box.


********************************************

#3 Allen 2009 section

You will need to purchase a copy of James P. Allen's Middle Egyptian: An introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs.

I will be using the 2004 print of James P. Allen's 'Middle Egyptian - An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs'. However, the date of your copy should not matter.

A 2009 Allen Group will start on the 12th July with the reading of chapter 1 (you will not need to submit homework for this chapter).

Timetables, details of where and how to post homework, etc will be published in the next couple of weeks. I will be running this group on a similar basis to previous Allen groups - there will be a week to read a chapter and the first homework for the chapter will be due at the end of the following week. After the first three lessons we will slow down the pace and increase the reading time to two weeks, and even three weeks reading for the final chapters of the book.

The exercises will be spread over several weeks; each of you will receive an allocated 2/3 exercises each week, so that each exercise should be completed by at least three people.

If you would like to join this Group, please send me an email to manna1@btopenworld.com - putting Allen 2009 in the subject box.

Hawass talking about Mark Lehner

drhawass.com

With photographs.

My great friend Mark Lehner has been working at Giza for the past thirty years. During this time he has written many scholarly articles and published important books on the pyramids. He is one of the most respected Egyptologists in the world and a professor at the University of Chicago.

I first met Mark at a party in 1974. He was in Egypt studying Anthropology for a year at the American University in Cairo. He was a quiet man, but we got talking and he told me that he was interested in Egyptology, so I invited him to my office at the pyramids to talk. At this time I was a young archaeologist, only twenty-seven years old. As we got to know each other, Mark told me that he had come to Egypt from North Dakota with a scholarship from the Cayce Foundation. Edgar Cayce was a famous American psychic who would enter trances and diagnose illnesses; he would then suggest prescriptions to cure these illnesses. One day, in a trance, Cayce announced that in a previous life he had lived in Atlantis, and that when the island sank he took the technology of the Atlanteans to Egypt where he buried the records of his people in a box below the right paw of the sphinx. This room became known as the Hall of Records. I did not share Mark’s beliefs, but I still respected him and we became friends.

In 1975 Hugh Lynn Cayce, Edgar Cayce’s son, came to Egypt and Mark introduced us. He and more than 300 supporters went to meditate in the Great Pyramid, and, although I and other archaeologists gave them lectures on the history of the pyramids and the sphinx, we did not manage to change their minds. Mark, however, had learnt a lot about the history and archaeology of Giza by this time and was starting to question his beliefs.

See the above page for the full story.

Daily Photo by Rick Menges

Standing figure of an ibis
Wood, silver, gold, and rock crystal
Brooklyn Museum

Details of the ibis, including a video about it, can be found on
a dedicated page on the Brooklyn Museum website.

Copyright Rick Menges, with my thanks

Ancient military town dating back to 26th Dynasty discovered in Ismailiya

drhawass.com

With photos

Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosni, announced today that a Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) archaeological mission in Ismailia Governorate has revealed the remains of a military town, dated to the 26th Dynasty (ca. 664-625 B.C.), at the site of Tell Dafna, between El-Manzala lake and the Suez canal, about 15km northeast of the city of western Qantara.

The northeast Delta held a special position in Egypt; the area acted as a major centre for trade with the east, and was also the location of an ancient military and trade route known as the Ways of Horus, which connected Egypt with the East. The area was used as a strategic position by the Late Period kings (ca. 747-525 B.C), especially those of the 26th Dynasty, in order to defend the eastern borders of Egypt from invaders.

Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the SCA, stated that King Ramesses II of the 19th Dynasty (ca. 1279-1212 BC) chose the site of Tell Dafna to erect a fortress or fortified town at Egypt’s eastern border in order to repulse Egypt’s enemies. The newly discovered fortress shows that King Psmatik I (ca. 664-610 BC) also built fortifications here.

Dr. Mohamed Abdel Maksoud, Head of the Central Department of Lower Egyptian Antiquities and the director of the mission, said that the newly discovered fortress covers an area of about 380×625m, while the enclosure wall is about 13m in width. It is considered to be the largest fortress discovered in the eastern Delta.

The mission also discovered a large mudbrick temple, consisting of three halls. There is also a group of storage magazines at the eastern and western sides of the temple. A small mudbrick palace was also discovered at the northeast side of the temple, consisting of eight rooms.

Furthermore, the mission discovered a group of drainage networks for rain water inside the ancient structures, consisting of pottery tunnels that end with a group of pottery vessels buried vertically in the sand to a depth of about three meters.

Egypt State Information Service

Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni said an archeological mission discovered the remnants of an ancient military town in the governorate of Ismailiya.

The discovered military town dates back to the 26th Dynasty (664-625 BC).

It was found in Tel Defna between Al-Manzala Lake and the Suez Canal.

The area had been chosen by king Rameses II to avoid attacks from the eastern borders.

In addition, the area was used as crossing point by trade convoys coming from east . The discovered military city belongs to king Ibsemalik I.

Tomb of Horemheb open

Luxor News Blog

Thanks very much to lovely Jane Akshar for posting that the tomb of Horemheb (KV57) has been re-opened in the Valley of the Kings. I have always wanted to see it. Luxor is looking very tempting this winter!

Jane also reports that it looks as though excavations will be beginning again at KV55.

Egyptian mummy returns to Stonyhurst

ICN

A 2,500 year old Egyptian mummy, discovered by a Jesuit missionary and archaeologist in 1850, has returned to Stonyhurst College in Lancashire.

Since the 1970s the remains of the unidentified young boy, aged five or six, have been cared for at Manchester Museum.

It has been part of the museum’s world famous collection of Egyptian artefacts and, over the last 30 years, a series of forensic science investigations including scans and x-rays have been carried out, to learn more about the boy’s health and living conditions.

Now Stonyhurst College has the necessary facilities in place for conservation of the mummy, so it has recently returned to its former home.

The mummy has created a lot of interest with the pupils.

The relic will now be part of a display in the Long Room, which is dedicated to the study of science, the natural world and human anthropology.

See the above page for more.

Help requested from Osirisnet

Osirisnet

Thierry Benderitter has emailed to let newsletter subscribers know that the server hosting Osirisnet crashed a few days ago. They have done our best to restore all the data. but if you find missing pages or images, corrupted data, or dead links, please let the Osirisnet team know:
osirisnet@osirisnet.net

Common Plants of the Western Desert of Egypt

Common Plants of the Western Desert

Introduction

Western Desert is a harsh environment for plant growth. The hot summer (sometimes above 50°C) and the extreme daily temperature fluctuations in winter (from above 30°C in the day to below zero at night) contribute to this. Of course, rainwater is extremely rare item there. Heavier downpour may occur only once in decades. Nevertheless, when it does occur, the rainwater quickly penetrates the permeable sand to a depth beyond the root zone. The seeds of only few plants succeed in germinating under such conditions.

In large tectonic depressions, oases were formed where artesian water reach the surface. Over a long history of human settlement the local biota was severely affected by humans. Inside oases, land was transformed into cultivated fields and orchards. As the result, it is difficult to ascertain what natural vegetation had been there before human interference. After reaching the surface and irrigating agricultural land, the water drains to lowest level of the oasis floor, where it forms pools or lakes. Because of high evaporation, this water becomes highly saline. Wetlands and salt marches that form around pools and lakes are rich in vegetation and, together with cultivated fields and often stabilised sand dunes, are the main features of inhabited land.

In Egypt, about 700 plant species commonly occur. According to the most recent analysis (Boulos 1999 - 2005), the total number of vascular plant species in Egypt is 2075. Substantial part of this diversity is confined to wettest regions - Mediterranean, Sinai Peninsula, and Gebel Elba, a mountain range that supports Acacia woodland. While not counting its northern Mediterranean fringe, Western Desert is the poorest regions in the country in terms of plant diversity.

More re Belfast mummy Takabuti

NewsLetter

Takabuti – a mummy from the 7th century BC – was brought back to its home inside the Ulster Museum on Monday as part of the preparations for the building's re-opening later in the year.

The mummy has been given a new spot in the newly-refurbished museum – which has been closed for almost three years – as a centrepiece of a display exploring life and death in ancient Egypt.

As well as discovering Takabuti's secrets, visitors will learn more about the process of mummification, the gods worshipped by the ancient Egyptians and some of their customs and practices.

The mummy – probably the best-known object featured in the museum – is one of the first major items to be returned as curators begin putting together all the exhibitions in time for an autumn re-opening.

Over the next few months, thousands of items will be making their return trip to the museum.

See the above page for the full story.

La madre de Tutankhamon podría ser Beneretmut, la hermana pequeña de Nefertiti

Teleprensa

A theory that the mother of Tutankhamun could be the younger sister of Nefertiti, Beneretmut.

La I Jornada de Egiptología en Almería, organizada por la Asociación de Amigos de la Alcazaba, concluyó con la tesis de que la madre del faraón Tutankhamon podría ser Beneretmut, la hermana pequeña de Nefertiti. Esta fue una de las conclusiones más importantes a las que se llegó en esta actividad, que se celebró ayer en el Museo Arqueológico de Almería, y que se realizó gracias a la colaboración de la Consejería de Cultura, de la Asociación Andaluza de Egiptología (ASADE) y del propio Museo Arqueológico de Almería.

La conferencia sobre la identidad de los padres de Tutankhamon fue impartida por Juan de la Torre Suárez, presidente de ASADE y miembro de la Asociación Internacional de Egiptólogos. Así, bajo el título "¿Quién era la madre de Tutankhamon?", De la Torre repasó quiénes podrían ser las madres de un faraón del que se tienen muy pocos datos, y que murió a los 19 años.

El presidente de ASADE partió del hecho que el padre de Tuntanhamon fue Ajenaton. A partir de esta tesis fue descartando a las posibles madres, como a la reina Nefertiti, esposa de Ajenaton, ya que no tuvo hijos varones. De la Torre también declinó las hipótesis de que pudiera ser la esposa secundaria Kiya, que sólo aparece en las representaciones con sus hijas, o a la hija mayor de Ajenaton y Nefertiti, que no tenía la edad necesaria para quedarse embaraza.

See the above page for the full story.

Met Vets Grab Buyouts

ArtInfo

The art world has gotten slammed by the recession and the Metropolitan Museum of Art is not immune.

Ninety-six members of the Met’s staff accepted an offer of voluntary retirement, part of a wider staff reduction that also will cut employees by layoff and attrition and bring the payroll down by 357 positions, to 2,200. The museum’s Met Matters biweekly newsletter, which is sent to staff, names those who took buyouts. Many had served the museum for decades, and all had been there for at least 15 years and were older than 55.

The list includes Christine Lilyquist, curator in Egyptology, 38 years and Susan Allen, associate research curator, Egyptian art, 16 years.

Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections Vol 1/3

UAIR
UAIR (subscriptions)

The latest issue of the boisterously named Journal of Egyptian Interconnections is now available.

Contents:

"A Cuneiform Legal Presence in 'The Report of Wenamun'?" By James Elliott Campbell;

"Applying a Multi-Analytical Approach to the Investigation of Ancient Egyptian Influence in Nubian Communities: The Socio-Cultural Implications of Chemical Variation in Ceramic Styles"
By Julia Carrano, Stuart T. Smith, George Herbst, Gary H. Girty, Carl J. Carrano, Jeffrey R. Ferguson;

"The Aamu of Shu in the Tomb of Khnumhotep II at Beni Hasan" By Janice Kamrin;

"A Devastated Foreign Landscape Depicted in Luxor Temple" By Danielle Phelps;

Recent books, reviews, and upcoming conferences.

TV: Egyptologist pulls together threads woven through ancient civilizations

UCLA Today

In 2560 BC, the ancient Egyptians built the Giza Pyramid. Nearly 2,700 years later and some 7,700 miles away, the Aztecs erected a similarly imposing pyramid.

A coincidence? Or the result of secret contact between two disparate cultures? Evidence, perhaps, of the intervention of aliens?

Kara-Cooney-b and w-portrait.si“Believe me, I’ve heard it all,” said Kara Cooney, laughing. Formerly with the Getty Research Institute, she recently joined the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Culture and the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology.

But where others may break into the theme song for “The Twilight Zone,” the Egyptologist goes one step beyond and offers a more rational viewpoint. In a new six-part series scheduled to air this summer on the Discovery Channel, Cooney lays out reasonable explanations for parallels in religious and burial traditions and settlement patterns across a range of cultures with no documented previous contact with each other.

In "Out of Egypt," she expertly traces themes and variations on six traditions across 12 cultures and 10 countries. In addition to the proliferation of pyramids, Cooney looks at the prevalence of the belief in the devil, intermixing of religion and violence, burial traditions, use of religious relics and certain social repercussions of city life.

See the above page for more.

Did Hebron disappear?

aish.com ( Rabbi Leibel Reznick)

Cites the "Amarna letters".

We do not have to bother speculating whether or not Hebron existed in the Late Bronze-Early Iron Age. There is very conclusive evidence that it did.

One of the more famous set of ancient inscriptions is known as the Egyptian Amarna Letters. They came to light through the peculiar serendipity that lies behind many archaeological finds. In 1887, an Egyptian woman was digging for compost near the city of El-Amarna, 190 miles south of Cairo. In the earth, she discovered some 350 small clay tablets with curious, wedge-shaped writing on them. Hoping to sell them for a tidy sum, she brought the tablets to several antiquities dealers, only to be told they were worthless fakes. Many of the tablets were destroyed, yet a few specimens came to the attention of E.A. Wallis Budge of the British Museum. Almost immediately, he recognized them as genuine tablets written in Akkadian cuneiform, the language of Babylon, the lingua franca of the 14th century BCE. They turned out to be missives sent from various vassal kings to the 14th century BCE pharaohs Amenhotep III and Akhenaten along with copies of the pharaohs' responses. Amenhotep III and Akhenaten were Late Bronze Age pharaohs.

Culture Minister approves program to train museum staff

Egypt State Information Service

Culture Minister Farouk Hosni gave the go-ahead for a program to train museum secretaries and antiquities inspectors nationwide.

The project, in tandem with UNESCO, aims to train young archaeologists, said Zahi Hawwas, the Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

Hawwas added that a museum is currently being established in cooperation with the UNESCO to provide training for all museum staff.

"A project for training is also being implemented at the Coptic Museum in cooperation with the Germans," he added.

Daily Photo by Rick Menges

Amarna princess

Brooklyn Museum

Copyright Rick Menges, with my thanks