Egyptology News for March 14th - 16th 2013

From @egyptologynews.  Happy St Patrick's Day for tomorrow!

Open Air Museum. Temple of Tod.

Bobblehead no more: finishing the falcon mummy conservation treatment. With photos. Penn Artifact Lab http://bit.ly/ZZL2Kx

RT @SakhmetK Report on findings of two visitor surveys about using mobile devices in museums. Digital Media at V&A http://bit.ly/YtSAnt

#ForeignBodies Exhibition visitor information can be found here: http://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/researchers-in-museums/foreign-bodies/ … Trail maps will be uploaded very soon! @UCLMuseums

More photos from the discovery of the remains of battle against the Hyksos. Luxor Times http://bit.ly/WNV8zy

Important discoveries at Tel Habuwa dig in Delta shed light on campaign by Ahmose I against the Hyksos Ahram Online http://bit.ly/XfABia

Surprising, but NBC says that for the 1st time the Pyramids of Giza + Sphinx will be lit green on St. Patrick’s Day. http://nbcnews.to/WLDc8E

Call for abstracts. Origins5 conference 13-18 Apr 2014 (Predynastic and Early Dynastic) Cairo 2013. Full details at http://bit.ly/ZHD19L

RT @TheSSEA Monica Hanna's photos of destruction at World Heritage Site Dashur http://bit.ly/Zcs9ml  + Antinoupolis http://bit.ly/Yi1OkA

RT @wzzw Oriental Stone: New entry on UCLA's free online Encyclopaedia of Egyptology http://escholarship.org/uc/item/4xk4h68c …

Via Kimberley Freeman ‏@Kim0006
The launch of #foreignbodies in UCL's North Cloisters was AMAZING! Well done @ResearchEngager ! pic.twitter.com/U69c9K66LR

Middle East in Early Prints and Photographs (NYPL Digital Gallery). 1000s of prints, photos from 17th-20th Cs. AWOL http://bit.ly/Zcs9ml

The Coptic blog has just been resumed by Howard Middleton-Jones with updates on Coptic themes. Coptic News + Archive http://bit.ly/YewLcv

Travelers in the Middle East Archive. Digital archive emphasising travels to Egypt in 19th and early 20th Cs. AWOL http://bit.ly/16y3qNO

Short article (from Feb, but I missed it). Musical Apes:Can Baboons Play the Harp? By Gemma Angel. UCL http://bit.ly/Z26vOx

New Book (French): Laurent Bricault "Les cultes isiaques dans le monde gréco-romain" Les Belles Lettres http://bit.ly/15QWr0V

Kings and Queens and the case of the pink hippo? Review of the LGBT event at the Petrie, by Chris Webber. UCL http://bit.ly/YyMjqQ

New Book: Ancient Egyptian Administration ed. Juan Carlos Moreno García. Looks comprehensive but very expensive. Brill http://bit.ly/SbttGS

Summary of University of Basel 2013 season at the undecorated non-royal tombs in the side valley leading to KV34.Past Horizons http://bit.ly/10PJgdP

In Spanish. Egyptian state subsidies withdrawn, but as at Aswan excavations continue at Oxyrhynchus. La Vanguardia http://bit.ly/XybJrN

Via Campbell Price ‏@EgyptMcr
Tea and cake for #ComicRelief @McrMuseum today - and GINGERBREAD SHABTIS! pic.twitter.com/rkqn0WxIDx

Landscaping the entry to the open-air museum was the theme of the Aswan International Sculpture Symposium. Ahram Wkly http://bit.ly/14xRp78

Further to my previous post re the 2013 Amheida/Trimethis report, find out more about the project from their homepage http://www.amheida.org/

Amheida/Trimithis (Dakhleh Oasis) 2013 season report, Jan 20th-Feb 14th. Directed by Roger Bagnall. PDF New York Univ http://bit.ly/WK2nIN

Travel in the Fayoum, rich in contrasts. Sun-baked desert valleys, frigid lakes and lush farmland. Daily News Egypt http://bit.ly/Z6p1s6

During excavations in the Kings’ Valley University of Basel researchers found one of world’s oldest AE sun dials. http://bit.ly/X9Jfid

End of the season post from the Temple of Mut team, from their dig diary, with loads of great photos. Brooklyn Museum http://bit.ly/YnmbPr

Egyptology News for 12th and 13th March 2013

From Twitter @egyptologynews.  
Where on earth is this year going??  I cannot believe that it is mid-March already.



End of the season post from the Temple of Mut team, from their dig diary, with loads of great photos. Brooklyn Museum http://bit.ly/YnmbPr

Further to my previous, keep an eye on the #Save_antinoupolis hashtag if you want to follow this story.

More much-needed publicity about the damage inflicted by looters upon Antinoupolis and other sites. Worldcrunch http://bit.ly/ZIZjZY

Conferencia: Religión y prácticas mágicas. El poder de los amuletos y hechizos contra los poderes maléficos. Ushebtis http://bit.ly/XJrA4I

Book Review: S.Ruzicka, Trouble in the West: Egypt and the Persian Empire, 525-332 BCE. Oxford Univ Press 2012. BMCR http://bit.ly/10H62op

Video: The biggest exhibition of Egyptian artifacts to be taken around this country will be displayed in Bristol. ITV http://itv.co/WlleHM

Curator’s Diary 13/3/13: Early Photographs of a Prince’s Journey in Egypt. Egypt at the Manchester Museum. http://bit.ly/12Ptq8l

Via Rene Nieuwenhuizen ‏@ReneNieuw
Shape-Shifting Jesus Described in Ancient Egyptian Text - http://po.st/Eg5xGK

Cemetery Holds Proof of Hard Labor. Akhenaten's capital was no paradise for many adults, children. National Geographic http://bit.ly/YnqIS5

QR codes and “Tales of Things” at the Petrie Museum by Andie Byrnes. @PetrieMuseEgypt UCL Museums + Collections Blog. http://bit.ly/Y9l46T

New Book: Wadi Sura, Cave of Beasts, A rock art site in the Gilf Kebir (SW Egypt). R. Kuper. Heinrich Barth Institut http://bit.ly/YamjQc

RT @eloquentpeasant All objects in the Ancient Egypt gallery in National Museums Scotland are now available online http://bit.ly/13SJjKt

RT @NealSpencer_BM A beautiful, little known, granite statue of Ramses II has gone on display Room4 @britishmuseum. http://twitpic.com/cat7w0

Worrying article about prospects for geo-tourism in NewValley (oases). Fails to consider the damage already inflicted http://bit.ly/Y9q88e

Em Hotep Digest vol. 02 no. 09: Pharaoh Snefru’s Pyramids. http://bit.ly/W9Fayq

UNESCO visits Cairo to discuss threats to archaeo sites and the possibility of a regional centre for World Heritage. http://bit.ly/W7m0sY

Pharaon Magazine (in French) is now available in PDF format for 5 € per issue. http://pharaon-magazine.fr/catalog/ebooks/pdf-pharaon …

New Book: Djekhy and Son. Ordinary businessmen from ancient Egypt. By Caryll Faraldi, AUC.Egyptian Gazette http://bit.ly/ZwG5FE

Via Dan Snow ‏@thehistoryguy
If you watched the Syria programme, here's my article about the threat to the precious heritage of the country: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21702546 …

The latest Museum Books catalogue is out now, in PDF: http://www.museumbooks.demon.co.uk/lists/list36.pdf …

Egyptology News for March 11th 2013

Reposted from Twitter ‏@egyptologynews.

Rock art sites and rich archaeological site dating back more than five hundred thousand years found in NE Sudan. PAP http://bit.ly/10F4Pl3

In N.Sudan archaeologists have found remains of early Homo sapiens settlements c.70 thousand years old. naukawpolsce http://bit.ly/XkyT4F


Via Chris Naunton ‏@chrisnaunton
Not good news- the Roemer-Pelizeaus Museum in Hildesheim, Germany is in bad financial straits... http://fb.me/11WWYMbNm

Via Margaret Maitland ‏@eloquentpeasant
Poll about threatened closure of Roemer-und Pelizaeus-Museum, 3rd largest Egyptian collection in Germany (scroll down) http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=de&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hildesheimer-allgemeine.de%2F …

Institute of Archaeology Annual Conference 20-21 May. 'Forming Material Egypt' call for papers now announced. UCL http://bit.ly/14LccUL

Project to revive Al-Muizz Street to be launched to reverse post-revolution deterioration of key sites. Ahram Online http://bit.ly/14O7TrR

More re clogged arteries in mummies. http://phys.org/news/2013-03-ancient-mummies-clogged-arteries.html

Even without modern-day temptations people had clogged arteries some 4,000 years ago, according to mummy research. WP http://wapo.st/Zxgtfa

Journal of Greco-Roman Christianity and Judaism 8 (2011-2012). http://www.sheffieldphoenix.com/showbook.asp?bkid=211 …

More Sekhmet statues unearthed at Amenhotep III's temple in Luxor. Ahram Online http://bit.ly/Y4MB9q

Via Alice Williams ‏@alicewilliams86
Great new article by Debbie Challis @poisonchallis on curating the exhibition 'Typecast: Flinders Petrie and Francis Galton': http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09647775.2012.754627 …

Via Campbell Price ‏@EgyptMcr
Every object tells a story - What do hieroglyphs mean? http://wp.me/sfm2O-2093  http://wp.me/pfm2O-xL

Write-up of Manchester Museum event "Every object tells a story – What do hieroglyphs mean?". Seshat Journal http://bit.ly/Y4ZVe1

Mar 10 Anna K. Hodgkinson Anna K. Hodgkinson ‏@Udjahorresnet1
This is NOT exactly what happened at Amarna last week... http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/66211.aspx

Via HistoryoftheAncient ‏@historyancient
Article: “Lost City” of Tanis Found, but Often Forgotten http://historyoftheancientworld.com/2013/03/lost-city-of-tanis-found-but-often-forgotten/ …

Call for papers: The Institute of Archaeology Annual Conference 20-21 May on the topic of 'Forming Material Egypt' http://bit.ly/14LccUL

Via EEF. Careless fieldwork activities in Lahun may have resulted in destruction of burials and theft of coffins. http://bit.ly/10ssSjm

Egyptology News March 8th - 10th 2013

Copied from @egyptologynews.  Not a lot of news over the last few days, but some very disturbing and upsetting news about continued looting of sites.


Via EEF. Careless fieldwork activities in Lahun may have resulted in destruction of burials and theft of coffins. http://bit.ly/10ssSjm

Hawass says Egypt faces permanent loss of heritage unless President controls illegal development, looting. TheExpress http://bit.ly/Y76D24

Monica Hanna has warned that Antinoupolis is being destroyed by residents amid government failure to protect it. http://bit.ly/WSRwae
More re the distressing damage to the site of Antinoupolis, with photos. Kristian Strutt http://bit.ly/XZJOOT

Research and development in a museum context? It is one of the big themes at #MuseumNext Amsterdam - http://www.museumnext.org/2010/blog/rd-for-museums

Dimensions of Ancient Egypt. Newly developed virtual reality 3-D reconstructions of Karnak. Harvard Gazette http://hvrd.me/13M0Q7p

Looking at the past analysis of Philadelphia's museum mummy PUM1, first autopsied in 1972. With archive photos. http://bit.ly/X7otWb

New book: Hieroglyphic Egyptian. An Introduction to the Language and Literature of the Middle Kingdom by D.L.Selden. http://bit.ly/ZzmCp4

A 'teaser' page for upcoming film about "Cleopatra's Needle" on London's Embankment. If you like close-ups of stone, that is. http://eyeontheneedle.wordpress.com

The website for the ongoing project Egyptian Coffins in Provincial Collections of the UK Project is up: Bristol Univ. http://bit.ly/YgRs3u

A closer look at the stela of Nakhtmontu and its gilded Egyptianizing frame commissioned by the Prince of Wales: http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/collection/18052/egyptian-style-frame

Archaeology, palaeontology, history and oasis culture in Bahariya Oasis. Ahram Online http://bit.ly/WYv6K9

The mummy named Padihershef that lives in the Ether Dome at Massachusetts General Hospital has undergone analysis. http://bo.st/Zl4Dog

Stone Age Skeletons Unearthed In Libya's Sahara Desert Spotlight Gender Divide Huffington Post http://huff.to/13I6XsX

Via @portableant: Job: Project Curator: Archaeology, The British Museum, UK, England, London http://bit.ly/Zk5LZr

Via @alicewilliams86. New Book: Museums and Communities. Curators, Collections and Collaboration. Bloomsbury http://bit.ly/12ziECU

More re analysis of Qubbet el-Hawa remains. Even Egypt’s Ancient Rulers Suffered From Hunger And Disease. redOrbit http://bit.ly/15BDOhq

900KM Project: grappling with Egypt’s baffling urban condition. Cairobserver http://bit.ly/X1KG85

Egyptology News for the 6th and 7th March 2013

Copied from @egyptologynews. Most recent news is at the top.


Via Chris Naunton ‏@chrisnaunton. To see what stands to be lost at Antinoupolis see the wonderful images in the Antin Foundation Newsletter #1: http://kdstrutt.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/oracle001.pdf …

Salima Ikram has posted on Facebook to say that Sheikh Abada, ancient Roman Antinouplis, Middle Egypt, is being destroyed systematically at http://www.facebook.com/groups/239832019441502/ …

Exhibition: Secret Egypt: Unravelling Truth from Myth, from 30th March – 1st June at Inverness Museum and Art Gallery http://bit.ly/Xssd2h

Yorkshire historian Joann Fletcher uncovers the lives of ordinary people in Ancient Egypt in a new TV documentary. http://bit.ly/14pRnhG

Czech Egyptologists uncover 400 prehistoric burials in Sabaloka mountains in C.Sudan. Prague Monitor http://bit.ly/15zAcfR

Today is World Book Day. What work of history had the greatest impact on your life, why? History Today's Facebook page http://on.fb.me/13HgEru

Bodies in Aswan tomb reveal premature deaths. Short piece re findings from Qubbet el-Hawa Tomb 33. Past Horizons http://bit.ly/ZqLoaE

Conferencia: Los rituales funerarios. Las concepciones en torno a la muerte y la vida en el más allá.Spain. Ushebtis http://bit.ly/VJOXLe

Egypt and Italy cooperate to document the history of a forgotten site, Kom Al-Ahmer, in the Delta. Daily News Egypt http://bit.ly/10aAUgy

Very interesting thoughts from Kristian Strutt at the end of the Antinoupolis season. Well worth a read. http://bit.ly/YC9f8b

A touring exhibition, featuring Bolton Museum’s famous Egyptology collection, is set to open in China next week. http://bit.ly/Zt8FZu

Via @SakhmetK. Video: Making Many. Investigations into mass production of shabtis using 3D imaging (4.29 mins) http://bit.ly/12wh0BW

A year old but I don't recall seeing it: The Spring 2012 issue of Aeragram re Memphis excavations is available in PDF http://bit.ly/XTS7dY

Via David Lightbody. Article on problems with DNA interpretation that apply to Egyptology too http://bit.ly/13J8n23

EES events listing for Spring 2013. Some great topics: http://www.ees.ac.uk/events/index.html …

Interview re a technical study of a child sarcophagus. Penn Museum Artifact Lab http://bit.ly/YdOBIx

Video that aired yesterday a.m. on the BBC about the current state of tourism in Luxor. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21681367 …

Via @SakhmetK Pottery App Now Turns Virtual Creations Into The Real Deal using 3D printing http://cultm.ac/109hZCY

Via Amesemi ‏@Amesemi
Online archive for Egyptian stamps is launched | Egypt Independent http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/online-archive-egyptian-stamps-launched

Via Gwyn Ashworth-Pratt. Video: A Game Engine Based Visualisation of the Queen Meresankh III Mastaba at Giza (2.15) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaULTton-ZY …

La homosexualidad en los tesoros del antiguo Egipto (about LBGT week). Ushebtis http://bit.ly/167JJvO

Authorities foil encroachment on Egypt's Tel Al-Amarna archaeological site. Ahram Onlline http://bit.ly/WHkmdq

In Spanish. Looking for a solution for the long term preservation of Nubian temple of Debod (now in Madrid). AVAAZ http://bit.ly/15vUVBt

Egyptology News for the 4th and 5th March

Copied from @egyptologynews.  Most recent at the top.

In Spanish. Looking for a solution for the long term preservation of Nubian temple of Debod (now in Madrid). AVAAZ http://bit.ly/15vUVBt

A report that says Egyptian antiquities officials have confirmed that a pipe has burst inside the Khufu boat museum. http://bit.ly/13BjZIG

Book available for pre-order: The Survey of Memphis VI. Kom Rabi'a: the late Middle Kingdom settlement (levels VI-VIII) by Lisa Giddy. EES http://bit.ly/WGHgBV

Read about the iPad app "Tour of the Nile" developed by the Petrie Museum 3D project, available free of charge. http://petriemuseum.com/blog/ton/

Video: Petrie 3D Cartonnage Conservation. Excellent demonstration of conservation in progress and the info obtained. http://bit.ly/13DTN0h

Via Jane Akshar: Valley of Kings reopened this afternoon http://nblo.gs/IUCDh

Further to my previous, all British Museum Studies in Ancient Egypt and Sudan (BMSAES) papers are online, free. http://bit.ly/TlUCUu

Free online article: The Middle Kingdom Stelae Publication Project. By Detlef Franke. BMSAES 1 (2002), 7-19. http://ow.ly/ilRIN

Two WC students are working to conserve 3,000-year-old mummy Ti-Ameny-Net and its coffin for display. The Collegian http://bit.ly/VyXrVI

Em Hotep Digest vol. 02 no. 08: Magic in Ancient Egypt http://bit.ly/Ws8aCD

Amid declining tourist numbers, cash-strapped bazaar owners in Luxor block roads to West Bank sites. Ahram Online http://bit.ly/Z8EhST

Mummification Museum lecture notes: Ptolemaic Coins in Thebes by Thomas Faucher. Thanks to Jane Akshar. Luxor News http://bit.ly/WFEmTx

Conference: Household Studies in Complex Societies: (Micro) Archaeological and Textual Approaches. Oriental Institute http://bit.ly/10FiH9B

Free online article: Tomb and social status: The textual evidence. Nicole Alexanian (2004) http://bit.ly/13l5PLw

News for 3rd March 2013

Yesterday's news from the world of Egyptology, copied over from Twitter.


Via Kristian Strutt ‏@kdstrutt: Antinoupolis Project blog. Visit to the Via Hadriana, Deir El Sombat and rock-cut coptic church http://kdstrutt.wordpress.com

Via Maria Nilsson ‏@DrMariaNilsson:  Book Review: The Murder of Cleopatra http://rogueclassicism.com/2013/03/02/rcreview-the-murder-of-cleopatra/

Egyptian minister and German foundation sign MoU to complete database for Akhenaten Amarna museum in Minya. allAfrica http://bit.ly/Za3lKH

Nothing to do with Egypt, but very cool! Desert finds on Arabian Peninsula challenge horse taming ideas. BBC http://bbc.in/XClkIa

Not specific to Egypt but relevant: Agriculture and parting from wolves shaped dog evolution, study finds. Physorg http://bit.ly/13htPzg

Stone Tools in the Paleolithic and Neolithic Near East. A Guide. J.J. Shea, State University of New York, Stony Brook http://bit.ly/160XXPa

Available to read online: World Archaeology at the Pitt Rivers Museum: a characterization (with 3 chapters on AE). http://bit.ly/eZvAwV

The last week of the Saqqara.nl dig diaries: http://www.saqqara.nl/news/mission-digging-diary/2013-digging-diaries/2013-03-01 …

Linking Things on the Web: Pragmatic Examination of Linked Data for Libraries Museums + Archives. Library of Congress.http://bit.ly/ZcI4jw

TV (UK): Ancient Egypt: Life and Death in the Valley of the Kings. 9pm BBC2 15th March 2013. C21 Media http://bit.ly/XiLIuc

The latest email update from Barry Kemp and Anna Stevens with a few of the photos that were attached. Egyptology News http://bit.ly/YWvVBj

Article about excavation and restoration at Theban Tomb 39 in Luxor. With lovely photographs. Past Horizons http://bit.ly/WiotSB

The Limestone quarries in the Theban Mountains, with photographs. Sirius Project http://bit.ly/12lqzDJ

New book available for pre-order: Late Roman Glassware and Pottery From Amarna and Related Studies. Faiers, J. EES http://bit.ly/WAmN7e

Comprehensive website, in Spanish, about Heracleópolis Magna (Nen-nesu). Plenty of maps and photos. http://bit.ly/M7R6gb

Book review: 3 volumes on the Popes of Egypt from the beginning of the Church ending at end of 2011. Montreal Review http://bit.ly/XzQ3rq

Treasures in the wall: The story of the Lewis-Gibson Genizah Collection of Hebrew manuscripts from Cairo. New Yorker http://nyr.kr/Z32KJs

Mummification Museum Lecture notes - Amenhotep on the hill (and the pyramid of a vizier as well). Luxor News blog http://networkedblogs.com/IQmbV

Almost a ghost story from Manchester curator Campbell Price: The mystery of the spinning statuette. http://bit.ly/XTfKTR

Finaliza la quinta campaña de excavaciones arqueológicas de la Univ de Jaén en Qubbet el-Hawa (Asuán). Ushebtis http://bit.ly/Vp2rMv

Conferencia: El proyecto Djehuty y los secretos de la necrópolis tebana. Ushebtis http://bit.ly/Zcxbhw

Egyptian Minister Hopes for Improvement of Tourism Ties with Iran. FARS News http://bit.ly/WjE18m

More Arsinoe: Researchers vow to prove remains found in Turkey ARE those of Cleopatra's murdered sister. Daily Mail http://bit.ly/Xb8DYv

How to find postgraduate funding - good advice from @Swanseauni recruitment officer Mark Skippen. http://gu.com/p/3e35k/tw 

Via Alice Williams ‏@alicewilliams86. Details of the Friends of the Petrie Museum's new photo competition 'In and Out of the Nile Valley' - closes 1st May. http://www.ucl.ac.uk/FriendsofPetrie/pdfs/PMF_Photo_Comp_2013_poster.pdf …

Egyptology News 25th February - 2nd March 2013

Copied from @egyptologynews.  Apologies that this is such a long post.  I've been up to my ears in work and haven't had time to do much.  But this covers the period between 25th Feb and 2nd March, in no particular order as usual.


At the core of it: a Late Palaeolithic workshop, Wadi Kubbaniya, Upper Egypt. K.M. Banks & J.S. Snortland Antiquity http://antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/banks335/

Experts doubt that the bones unearthed in 1904 in Turkey, belonged to Arsinoe IV, Cleopatra's half-sister. CS Monitor http://bit.ly/WpxG63

Restoration Centre to be established at the Grand Egyptian Museum. Daily News Egypt http://bit.ly/13eIivP

Job: Egypt Exploration Society, London, UK. Publications Manager http://ees.ac.uk/news/news/212.html …

The mastaba of Neferherenptah at Saqqara ("The Bird Tomb") is now on wonderful Osirisnet at http://bit.ly/VUKpAL

New Digital Publication: Aksum and Nubia: Warfare, Commerce, and Political Fictions in Ancient Northeast Africa. AWOL http://bit.ly/YJcqtK

Photographs of the shoes found in Luxor temple. Discovery News http://bit.ly/YIclZq

Antiquities ministry rejects finance ministry proposal to rent Egypt's famous sites to tourism companies Ahram Online http://bit.ly/ZRkvRV

Lost and Found: Ancient Shoes Turn Up in Egypt Temple. Live Science http://bit.ly/13fKN1i

Spotlighting Fake Antiquities with Record Keeping Laws, quoting case of fake AE statue. Cultural Heritage Lawyer http://bit.ly/VlEoOk

The little-known archaeology of Gharb Aswan, Upper Egypt. Per Storemyr's Archaeology and Conservation blog http://bit.ly/YFP2v9

Statue of Champollion criticized by Egypt 135 years after it was placed in Collège de France in Paris. Ahram Online http://bit.ly/15YgRWY

Environment: Climate change and water mismanagement parch Egypt http://bit.ly/13QTivj

Em Hotep Digest vol. 02 no. 07: Daily Life in Ancient Egypt. http://bit.ly/Xx5ZLW

Article: The Egyptian Fortress in Jaffa. With photogrpahs. Popular Archaeology http://bit.ly/13uWH7n

First Vatican Coffin Conference. Vatican Museums, with Musée du Louvre, Paris and Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden http://bit.ly/14cKGPS

Last week of excavation at the Temple of Mut, Karnak, with lots of photos. Brooklyn Museum http://bit.ly/Xvdxhp

Job: Egypt Exploration Society in London UK is looking for an enthusiastic and well-organised Office Manager http://bit.ly/15gSdPZ

New Book: Images of Ancient Nubia. With slideshow. Oxford University Press http://bit.ly/YJ8XeS

The Man Who Thought Like A Ship - author writing about the background to a book, looking at an Egyptian ship model http://bit.ly/13ko2Jk

Aerial photography at Malqata as the dig closes for the season: http://imalqata.wordpress.com/2013/02/25/balloons-over-malqata/ …

Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections 5:1 is a special issue regarding seafaring and maritime interconnections http://bit.ly/jBBHdJ

To celebrate 50th anniversary of the film Cleopatra, the restored premiere version is released on Blu-ray. comingsoon http://bit.ly/ZIxd1w

Book review by Tim Reid: Abu Simbel. By William MacQuitty. G.P. Putnam's Sons 1965. http://bit.ly/Yfj3ok

Very sad attack on the lovely 1910 Villa Casdagli in Cairo. Cairobserver http://bit.ly/YJ77uw  More photos here: http://bit.ly/13vvRMc

Karnak Hypostyle Hall Project: Website now includes photo coverage of all Hypostyle Hall interior wall scenes. http://www.memphis.edu/hypostyle/

Egyptian mummy's elaborate hairstyle revealed in 3-D, a style that may have been inspired by Roman empress. NBC News http://nbcnews.to/Y5jZZI

Applications are invited to TVAES 2013 Donation Fund (for AE field work, research, epigraphy and conservation). http://bit.ly/Wn8Nx6

The 27th International Congress of Papyrology in 2013 will be held in Warsaw. 29th July to 3rd August. Details are at http://bit.ly/ZUd5gO

I was very glad to attend the Margaret (Peggy) Drower memorial evening at the @PetrieMuseEgypt last week. Great speakers and great stories.

Call For Papers - new, peer-reviewed Birmingham Egyptology Journal. http://birminghamegyptology.co.uk/

Job: Herbert Thompson Lecturer in Ancient Egyptian Language. University of Cambridge. http://bit.ly/ZFYdCB

New book: Seth – A Misrepresented God in the Ancient Egyptian Pantheon? by Philip John Turner. Archaeopress http://bit.ly/ZxvoV2

Bones found in Turkey are thought by archaeologist to be those of Cleopatra's half-sister. Newsobserver http://bit.ly/15LLfDJ

 

Work at Amarna in February 2013

The latest email update from Barry Kemp and Anna Stevens, with a few of the photographs attached to the email:

We are not far from the halfway point in the first, two-month part of the spring season, and making good progress with the three main tasks set for this period.

The first is the continued re-examination of the front part of the Great Aten Temple. We are continuing to remove the large Pendelbury dump that lies over the mud-brick pylon and also obscures the view of the temple from the road. A long stretch of the pylon is now revealed, including more of its mud-brick threshold and access ramps. The dump has produced its crop of sculpture fragments, including a fine piece of indurated limestone (resembling marble) carved with hieroglyphs and made to be inlaid into another kind of stone.

Further into the temple area and along its axis, the work began with the clearance of another stretch of Pendlebury's trench along the axis. Two sets of gypsum-lined basins surrounding an offering space, first exposed in 1932, have survived remarkably well. They had been remade several times over. One of them had been partly filled in by Pendlebury with unwanted fragments of sculpture which have now been added to our extensive collection. At the higher level of the later temple floor, a simpler basin, also lined with gypsum, has also survived. Although very close to the modern ground level, the mud floor behind it, that Pendlebury did not excavate, has also survived well, and contains at least one more set of gypsum-lined troughs surrounding a rectangular area that has not been revealed before.

The front part of the temple, therefore, was the site of activities that involved the pouring of water on a sufficiently regular basis to necessitate periodic renewal of the gypsum linings. It was also a practice that was retained when the temple was rebuilt and its ground level was raised.

Further still along the axis, into the temple front, lie two conspicuous rectangles of gypsum concrete that seem to have been massive foundations for sets of huge columns that stood in front of the stone pylon. The top of one of these rectangles has now been cleaned. The gypsum surface onto which limestone blocks had been laid, leaving their impressions behind, is in better condition than expected and is in the course of being re-planned.
The curious insets around the edges, especially on the east where they would have fronted the pylon, turn out to have originally been filled with limestone blocks, presumably to create extra-strong foundations to support unusually heavy weights. Large sculptures come to mind.

The concrete podium was built as a series of compartments, the lower parts filled with a calcareous gravel. A closer study will add further to our knowledge of Amarna building techniques.

Pendlebury's plan shows it surrounded by gypsum foundations at the foot of a trench. The foundations bore the impressions of stone blocks, that belong to a surrounding retaining wall for the concrete and might not have risen to ground level. Stretches of this feature also remain although long parts were probably destroyed even when Pendlebury excavated the trenches. Banked against the outside of these walls is a complex stratigraphy that relates to the building of the later-phase temple. This is in the process of being elucidated. A hieratic jar label of regnal year 12 found in debris beneath the level of the temple's final floor is a useful pointer to when, in Akhenaten's reign, the major enlargement of the temple took place.

At the same time that the re-excavation is taking place, the small team of builders from El-Till is busy setting out the outlines of the stone building, the gypsum foundations of which were uncovered last year. There are two main components to this. The first is the marking of the positions of around twenty columns. Our method is to create flat circular pads, 10 cm high, from white cement, standing on square foundations of small, local stone blocks. When the scheme is finished and a layer of sand is spread over the interior of the building, all that will be visible is a few centimetres of their height. The other component is the laying of a single course of stones along the lines of the original walls. To do this we have taken delivery of blocks made in the limestone quarries of Tura, just outside Cairo. They include corner blocks carved with prominent circular mouldings. In length and width the blocks copy the dimensions of the talatat-blocks from which the original walls were built. But we have increased the depth (from 23 to 26 cm) to be the same as the width, partly to increase the choice of surface that we can display and partly to compensate for the sand and dust that will quickly blow in and around the building. When finished, the interior will be filled with sand to within a short distance of the top, hinting at the higher floor level that the building original possessed.

The inspection of the interior of the column at the Small Aten Temple, that was mentioned in the last bulletin as scheduled to take place, showed that, in the nearly twenty years that have passed since it was put up, the internal ironwork that holds it together has seen very little deterioration. This is a tribute to the skill with which Simon Bradley designed and built it. Nevertheless, to make sure it has a long life, two of our workmen cleaned the surfaces and gave them two coats of red oxide paint. That done, Simon and a local carpenter worked together to create a thick, robust wooden cap that is now securely bolted over the top of the column.

The outside of the column has generally weathered in quite a pleasing way.

The one part that shows deterioration is a wide panel with a flat surface let into the side that, on the original, showed Akhenaten and Nefertiti worshipping the Aten. Simon had originally given this a different finish to the rest of the column, providing it with a coat of smooth plaster. This has been cracking and falling off over the last few years. Simon's current task is to remedy this.

We have until the end of March to complete the season's work at the temples. Then the second major part of the programme for 2013 will commence. This is a return to the South Tombs Cemetery for a further excavation.

It remains, once again, to thank our supporters, who make the work at Amarna possible.

26 February 2013

Barry Kemp/Anna Stevens