Amarna Royal Tombs Project in the Valley of the Kings

News from the Valley of the Kings (Kate Phizackerley)

Kate has posted some videos from the Valley of the Kings taken in the early 2000s by the Amarna Royal Tombs Project. Well worth a look.

La oniromancia y la astrología en el Antiguo Egipto

Tendencias21

Publico unas pequeñas notas a propósito de la oniromancia y la astrología en Egipto. Salen de mi libro 'Los Magos del Antiguo Egipto'. Muestran como, al menos desde los siglos XV-XIII a. C. Egipto las gentes ya estaban preocupadas por los mensajes divinos recibidos en sueños y por la adivinación del porvenir

Photos of flooding at the Osirion 1998-2003

Luxor News Blog

Thanks to Jane Akshar and Richard Sellicks for a great selection of photographs of the Osirion at Abydos from 1998-2003, showing different water levels at the site.

Climate change during Dynastic Egypt?

AFP (Christophe de Roquefeuil)

As world experts grapple with ways to contain global warming, researchers gathered in Egypt are seeking answers from the country's pharaonic past to help tackle environmental problems of the present.

Blessed with incomparable archaeological wealth, Egypt is the most populous Arab nation and the number of inhabitants is expected to more than double by 2050 to 160 million, according to estimates.

The effects of climate change have long been neglected in this large North African country which largely depends on the fertile Nile Delta to feed its growing population amid concerns about land erosion.

A three-day conference opened on Sunday with experts hoping to understand how the ancient Egyptians, who were capable of erecting the famous Giza pyramids, dealt with climate change.

Online: Oriental Institute "News and Notes"

Oriental Institute

News and Notes, the quarterly publication produced for members of the OI has an archive from 1990 to 2001 which is available free of charge to non-members. There's a table of contents available for each issue. Some of the articles are quite detailed. An example is the 2001 article Hatshepsut: Wicked stepmother or Joan of Arc, by Peter F. Dorman.

Online paper: The Aswan area at the dawn of Egyptian history

Academia.edu

The Aswan area at the dawn of Egyptian history
Maria Carmela Gatto
Egyptian Archaeology

With maps and photos.

Among recent discoveries made by the Aswan-Kom Ombo Archaeological Project those dated to the Predynastic and Early Dynastic Periods are particularly intriguing, revealing insights on the complexity of the rising Egyptian society at its southern frontier, as Maria Carmela Gatto reports.

The First Cataract is the borderland between Egypt and Nubia. As might have been expected, and contrary to what the ancient Egyptians always wanted to show, the archaeological record found in the region highlights a stable and long-term presence of Nubian people. In the Predynastic Period Egyptians and Nubians were highly integrated and might even have created a sort of mixed culture, where the Nubian element was, however, less prominent than the Egyptian one.

A rescue excavation (due to pressure from modern overbuilding) of a Predynastic settlement and associated cemetery in Nag el-Qarmila, just north of Wadi Kubbaniya, is revealing this mixed cultural evidence (see also EA 30, pp.6-9). The settlement consists of a relatively small village heavily damaged by sebakhin activities and modern structures. It is located on the northern side of a small valley, partly placed on top of the Late Pleistocene Wild Nile deposit, and partly on sand connected with a sort of bay, which was formed by the summer Nile flooding in the inner part of the valley. The archaeological deposit found in situ is dated to N(aqada)IC-IIA (c.3700 BC) while a younger phase, dated to NIIC-IIIA2 (c.3600-3200), is found on the surface. The stratigraphy consists of superimposed seasonal occupation layers with hearths, postholes, in-situ pots, and plastered pits. For the NIC-IIA phase C14 dates (3800-3700 BC) fit perfectly with the pottery chronology. At the periphery of the village, towards the bay, the burial of an infant was found on the sand. Similar evidence was a common feature at other Predynastic sites, such as Adaima.

Book Review: Cleopatra: A Biography

Bryn Mawr Classical Review (Reviewed by Josiah Osgood)

Duane W. Roller, Cleopatra: A Biography. Women in Antiquity. Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.

Cleopatra is a familiar name today for one reason above all: Shakespeare. But so memorable is the character that he created, it is hard, even for historians, to escape his influence. And to a large degree they must anyway rely on the same source that Shakespeare did, the Antony of Plutarch, whose Cleopatra is perhaps less paradoxical than Shakespeare’s, but still surprising. It was not, for instance, Cleopatra’s beauty (Plutarch writes) that was so striking, as one might have expected, but her conversation. A master manipulator, she can trick the reader almost as much as she does the simple-minded Antony. But the biggest surprise is the deep love that Cleopatra does finally feel for Antony at the end of her life. She comes to his grave and laments over it—a lament probably made up by Plutarch himself on the model of Greek tragedy. She wants to be with Antony in death.

Certainly there was a relationship between Antony and Cleopatra, as there had been earlier between Cleopatra and Caesar, and these were defining events in her life. But there were two very practical aspects to them that later accounts, including Plutarch’s, underplay or neglect altogether.

Book Review: Antony and Cleopatra

Washington Times (Review by Gary Anderson)

ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA
By Adrian Goldsworthy
Yale University Press, $35, 480 pages

Antony and Cleopatra, the names conjure up a variety of images that include Roman military might, eastern decadence and a pair of tragic star-crossed lovers.

Some of that is actually accurate, but much of it is romanticized fiction. In his latest study of the Roman world, Adrian Goldsworthy takes on the task of separating truth from fiction, and he does a good job of it.

For those not familiar with the background story, the entire book revolves around the lead-up to the assassination of Julius Caesar and the ensuing struggle for his legacy. Marc Antony was one of Caesar's most trusted lieutenants. Octavian Caesar was his nephew, adopted son and heir. Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, was Caesar's mistress and bore him a son. All three started as allies in the struggle to avenge Caesar's death and to wrest what was becoming the Roman Empire out of the hands of his killers.

Predictably, once this was accomplished, the victors fought over the spoils.

Photo for Today - Walters Art Museum

Apologies for the lack of posts over the last week - I've had technical problems. All sorted now.

I'm talking in Plymouth on October 2nd about the archaeology of the Eastern Desert. If you are a member of PADES and are attending I hope to see you there!

Copyright Rick Menges, with my thanks

WM-EG023

(TOP) Relief of People in Boats
Artist: Anonymous (Egyptian)
Date (Period): ca. 2370-2345 BC (Old Kingdom)
Medium: limestone, red pigment
Measurements: 13 3/4 x 10 3/4 in. (34.9 x 27.3 cm);
framed: 16 1/2 x 13 x 1 3/8 in. (41.9 x 33 x 3.5 cm)

Item Description
Two partially preserved boating scenes remain on this relief block from a private tomb chapel. The lower scene shows the stern of a large rowing boat with two men each manning a large steering oar. Immediately following the first boat is the prow of a second boat. It is decorated with an animal figurehead (hedgehog). Above is another partially preserved boat showing only the heads of her crew above the railing and the feet of the pilot or look-out.

(BOTTOM) Model of a River Boat
Artist: Anonymous (Egyptian)
Date (Period): ca. 2050 BC (Middle Kingdom)
Medium: wood with cloth and paint
Measurements: 9 7/16 x 3 15/16 x 22 7/16 in. (24 x 10 x 57 cm)

Item Description
Twelve oarsmen, a helmsman, and a pilot, or look-out, ferry their passenger, the tomb-owner. Such models were associated with religious beliefs, as they symbolized the journey of the deceased to Abydos, the traditional burial place of Osiris, lord of the afterworld. The tomb-owner is clothed with a shroud and is shown with a blue beard. This boat was probably placed in the tomb to assist the deceased in navigating the Nile of the underworld. Typically, models of passenger ships found in Middle Kingdom tombs occur in pairs. One to travel south, equipped with a sail, as the wind in Egypt blows constantly from north to south, and the other (as this model shows) propelled by rowers aided by the Nile's current, to travel north.

Saqqara fragments returning to Egypt

Egypt Daily News

Pieces of an ancient Egyptian necropolis that was pillaged in 1999 have been found in Spain by an expert in Middle Eastern antiquities who spotted them in a shop, Spanish police said Wednesday.

The eight pieces of limestone carry hieroglyphic inscriptions dating from the third century BC, police in the northeastern city of Barcelona said in a statement.

They were discovered by an expert from Barcelona University's department of Middle Eastern antiquities.

He spotted them in an antique shop and noticed they "bore inscriptions that made him suspect they came from" the Saqqara burial ground in the ancient Egyptian capital of Memphis, which was pillaged in 1999, the statement said.

BBC News

Pieces of an ancient Egyptian necropolis which were pillaged from Egypt in 1999 have been discovered in an antiques shop in Spain.

A Middle Eastern expert spotted the eight fragments of limestone after recognising the inscriptions, Barcelona police said.

The pieces are inscribed with hieroglyphics dating from the 3rd Century BC.

They will now be returned to the Egyptian government.

The artefacts were looted from the Saqqara burial ground in the ancient Egyptian capital of Memphis, south of Cairo, in 1999.

El Pais

With many thanks to Alan H. Hart for the link and the translation.

Hace unos años, el egiptólogo Josep Cervelló conoció a Imephor, que allá por el 2.200 antes de Cristo fue sumo sacerdote en Menfis, al sur de El Cairo. Cervelló lideró una prospección arqueológica en un yacimiento cercano a la necrópolis egipcia de Saqqara. Pero un violento saqueo, en 1999, frustró la excavación y el investigador tuvo que limitarse al estudio de inscripciones, que resultaron únicas.

Los caprichos del destino han propiciado el reencuentro (simbólico) de Imephor y Cervelló. Una alumna de su máster en egiptología vio ocho fragmentos de piedra calcárea a la venta en el escaparate de un anticuario de Barcelona. La chica se limitó a contar que eran "muy majas", pero el profesor sospechó que podían ser las piezas robadas en Saqqara, y que él conoce como nadie. A Cervelló no le costó "ni un segundo" saber que los fragmentos provenían del yacimiento que visitó en Egipto y donde, tras un estudio minucioso, alumbró el nombre de Imephor.


(The Egyptologist Josep Cervello has known about Imephor, who was a priest of Memphis about 2200 BC, ever since he led an archaeological dig on a site near the necropolis of Saqqara. However in 1999 the site was ransacked, frustrating the excavation and limiting the study of some unique inscriptions. By chance Imephor and Cervello have met again. A former student of Cervello saw 8 fragments of lime stone for sale in the shop window of an antique dealer in Barcelona. She limited herself to saying that they were very attractive but her professor suspected that they were the pieces robbed from the dig in Saqqara. Cervello did not need more than a second of study to know that the fragments were the missing pieces and, after a thorough study, shed light on Imephor.)

Minufiyeh - back at work after Eid

EES Minufiyeh Survey

Having spent a relaxing few days down south, we returned to Shibin el-Kom yesterday afternoon to prepare ourselves for the last two weeks of the season. Our train ride took a laborious 13 hours - but we all enjoyed the feast and felt refreshed upon our return! Today saw the start of preparations for the backfilling of the trench. As with previous seasons and other trenches, it is never a straightforward matter. Having managed to negotiate a good deal for the mashama (the cover for the trench), we also had to buy 100 empty rice sacks in order to fill with sand and place alongside standing mud-brick walls/raised areas, in order to avoid danger of them collapsing through weight from above once the sand is returned to the trench. Once the sand bags were in place, then the workers poured some sand on them, over them, and on top of some of the more fragile - if very large - bricks, again to minimise any deterioration.

Materialising the mummy

The Star (Bob Rae)

A HI-TECH South Yorkshire company has breathed new life into Egypt's best-known mummy. It all began when an exhibition of treasures from the tomb of the Egyptian boy king Tutankhamun started a word tour, scheduled to end in New York.

Organisers of the US leg of the tour were keen to add an exciting additional feature to the exhibition by displaying a replica of Tutankhamun's body in its funeral wrappings, which isn't allowed out of Egypt.

They approached Gary Staab, an expert in making models of natural history and prehistoric subjects, and that led to industry-leading prototyping and additive manufacturing specialist Materialise becoming involved.

Materialise often works with leading companies in the aerospace, automotive and medical technology industries, so it is used to fulfilling challenging contracts, but had never recreated a mummy before.

It began by importing CT scans of Tutankhamun's mummified body into advanced software running on computers at its UK operations, based at the Advanced Manufacturing Park, in Rotherham.

Abu Rawash

drhawass.com

With photo.

The pyramid of Djedefre is located in Abu Rawash, about eight kilometers north of Giza. Djedefre, the son of Khufu, ascended the throne after his father’s death. We know that Djedefre was Khufu’s heir because his name was found in cartouches on the limestone blocks covering the boat of Khufu. Djedefre, the first pharaoh to bear the title ‘Son of Re’, chose this location for his tomb in order to be closer to Heliopolis, the center of the Sun Cult. It has also been suggested that Djedefre’s move from the necropolis of Giza to Abu Rawash may have taken place in order to reduce the risk of destruction. Recent excavation of the site has proved that there was no destruction of the site during the Old Kingdom.

There is evidence to suggest that the original construction of Djedefre’s pyramid was for a step pyramid that was completed during his reign. The Swiss expedition that worked on the site believed that the angle of the pyramid was 52 degrees. The pyramid was surround by a wall, and its funerary temple was built using mud brick. The workmen’s shops were built on the north end of the wall, and there was a boat pit on the south side. The pyramid had a long causeway that stretched out for about 1700m. The pyramid of Djedefre is a quarter of the size of the pyramid of Khufu, but the height of the Abu Rawash plateau is 20m higher than the Giza Plateau. The Swiss expedition discovered a pyramid of a queen, located to the southeast of the main pyramid. In addition to the many excavation projects, the SCA is developing a site management plan for Abu Rawash. (Photo: SCA)

Father or brother of Alexander the Great?

Live Science (Stephanie Pappas)

A cremated male skeleton in a lavish ancient Greek tomb is not Alexander the Great's half-witted half-brother, according to a new study.

The research reignites a 33-year-long debate over whether the burned bones found in the tomb belong to Alexander the Great's father, Philip II, a powerful figure whose years of conquest set the stage for his son's exploits, or Alexander the Great's half-brother, Philip III, a figurehead king with a less successful reign.

The researchers argue that a notch in the dead man's eye socket is consistent with a battle wound received by Philip II years before he died, when an arrow pierced his eye and left his face disfigured. They also dispute claims by other scientists that the bones show signs of having been buried, exhumed, burned and re-interred — a morbid chain of events that would fit with what is known about the murder and burial of Alexander the Great's half-brother and successor, Philip III Arrhidaios.

The study is unlikely to settle the debate over whether the body is Philip II's or Philip III's, which has raged since the treasure-filled tomb was excavated in 1977. But identifying the tombs' occupants would complete the last chapter in at least one royal couple's sordid life story.

Peter Der Manuelian

The Harvard Crimson

It was in his fourth grade history class that Peter Der Manuelian ’81—Harvard’s first Egyptology professor in over 60 years—first became enamored with the splendor of ancient Egypt.

“You know how you battle against school all your youth?” he asked, sitting in his office in the Semitic Museum.“I remember that being the first time I was actively interested in something—the scale of Egypt, the monuments, the beauty of the language, the art styles.”

Raised in the Boston area, Der Manuelian says he feels lucky to have grown up in a city with a museum whose ancient Egyptian collection is as extensive as the Museum of Fine Arts’s. When he matriculated at Harvard, he ended up concentrating in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, the same department in which he currently teaches. His thesis was on Amenhotep II, an athletic New Kingdom pharaoh he describes as “the world’s first super jock.”

This fall, Der Manuelian, who had been teaching at Tufts University, is offering a new General Education course, Societies of the World 38, “Pyramid Schemes: The Archaeological History of Egypt.” So far, 165 students have enrolled in the course. Der Manuelian said he expects to teach the course, along with several other more specialized classes, for the next few years.

Photo for Today - Walters Art Museum

Copyright Rick Menges, with my thanks

Tomb of Karakhamun found by Egyptian-American team

drhawass.com

Press Release, with photographs.

An Egyptian-American expedition has found the burial chamber of a priest named Karakhamun (TT223). The tomb dates to Dynasty 25 (c. 755BC) and was uncovered during conservation and restoration work on the west bank of Luxor.

Farouk Hosny, Minister of Culture, announced this discovery today and added that the restoration work of this tomb is part of a much larger initiative, known as the South Asasif Conservation Project (ACP). The el-Asasif area is a very important site, which contains nobles’ tombs from the New Kingdom as well as the 25-26th Dynasties.

Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), said that the team found the burial chamber of Karakhamun at the bottom of an 8m deep burial shaft. The chamber is in very good condition and contains beautifully painted scenes. The entrance to the chamber is decorated with an image of Karakhamun and the ceiling is decorated with several astrological scenes, including a depiction of the sky goddess Nut.

The leader of the expedition, Dr. Elena Pischikova, said that the tomb of priest Karakhamun was discovered in the 19th century in an unstable condition. It continued to deteriorate, and only parts of it were accessible to visitors in the early 1970s. It later collapsed and was buried under the sand. Dr. Pischikova’s team rediscovered the tomb in 2006 and has been carrying out conservation work since then. She believes that the tomb of Karakhamun could be one of the most beautiful tombs from Dynasty 25 because of the preservation of the color and the unique quality of the scenes.

Photographs from Wadi Hammamat

Egyptian Monuments (Su Bayfield)

Thanks very much to Su Bayfield for the link to her latest collection of photographs, this time of engravings from the Wadi Hammamat. The Wadi Hammamat, the road link between Qift and Quesir which bisects the Eastern Desert, is one of the most fascinating places to visit in Egypt. I have been there several times and it was lovely to see Su's excellent photographs and read the accompanying descriptions.

The Wadi Hammamat was visited from Predynastic times onwards and in the Pharaonic period was used for quarrying stone and as a route from the Nile to the Red Sea. It is still dotted with Roman watch posts which sit on the hill tops that border the wadi.

Exhibition: Tutankhamun - His Tomb and his Treasures

Tutankhamun Manchester

Thanks to Bob Partridge for sending me the above link. An exhibtion of reconstructions of three of the chambers of the tomb of Tutankhamun which has travelled throughout Europe is now visiting Manchester, opening on the 22nd October 2010. If you're in the area a trip to Manchester could also include a visit to the Manchester Museum's excellent Egyptian collection as well as the collections at Bolton, Liverpool and Macclesfield. I guess that I'll be going to stay with my father in Chester at some time in the not too distant future! Runs til 27th Feb 2007.

Three of Tutankhamun's tomb chambers have been reconstructed true to the originals and their dimensions, so that visitors receive an authentic impression of the space. Over 1,000 replicas of the most important objects, fashioned by the best Egyptian craftsmen, can be admired there. The information about the culture and spiritual world of the ancient Egyptians - their funerary cult, their gods, their dynasties, their mysterious hieroglyphic script - has been prepared and presented with state-of-the-art multimedia technology. The centrepiece is of course Tutankhamun. Eighty-eight years after its discovery, the tomb of Tutankhamun is opened once more - and you can be there!

A visit to Pabasa and the Assasif Tombs

Luxor News Blog (Jane Akshar)

Thanks to Jane for sharing photos from her recent visit to Pabasa and the tombs of Assasif. They look wonderful. I am out in Luxor at Christmas so I'll try and get in a visit!

Whilst buying tickets to Hatshepsut’s temple at Deir el Bahri you may have noticed the sign giving ticket prices for the Assasif Tombs. Next time don’t ignore them they are well worth a visit. The Assasif is a very rich area for archaeologists and there are teams working at Petamenophis, Harwa and Puimra.