News from 21st to 24th February 2013

Copied from Twitter @egyptologynews

Free article: The Calendars of Ancient Egypt. By R.A. Parker. University of Chicago Press, 1950. Hist.of the Anc.Wrld http://bit.ly/Wkz6yM

A thorough reflection reveals a long-forgotten link between the foundation of Granada (Spain) and Cairo. Ahram Online http://bit.ly/YOopGf

Mystery fibres on the painted coffin of Tawahibre. Penn Artifact Lab http://bit.ly/WjKtqO

3D Petrie exhibition in the news: "Where Science meets Heritage at UCL-Qatar." UCL http://bit.ly/W2gY2i

Virtual Autopsy at British Museum in last few days: British Museum http://bit.ly/UK2hJN

Karnak: Where the digital age meets ancient Egypt. By Andrew Lawler. Humanities magazine http://1.usa.gov/WhuKbE

Disappearing heritage of Sudan,1820-1956: Photographic and filmic exploration in Sudan 17th Jan–30th Apr 2013. Durham http://bit.ly/4t44h4

Lady Wallis Budge Junior Research Fellowship in Egyptology. University of Oxford http://bit.ly/13fdrPI

Obituary: André et Etienne Bernand, jumeaux, égyptologues et morts le même jour http://bit.ly/Vz3E2x

Egypt Salfists forced to cancel preaching event at ancient Pharaoh temple. Al Arabiya http://bit.ly/11ZCmYb

Book review by Valentino Gasperini: Jaime Alvar, Los cultos egipcios en Hispania. Bryn Mawr Classical Review. http://bit.ly/W2Bgsq

AE blue pigment used 5,000 years ago is giving modern scientists clues toward the development of new nanomaterials http://bit.ly/Yo4sX1

BBC interview with Professor Dimitri Laboury re the newly discovered Vizier's tomb with its small pyramid in Luxor. http://bbc.in/UR3Z1x

Ancient Worlds: Mummy exhibition in Manchester. Click link at bottom of page to see more pages and pics on the story. http://itv.co/XOx4JE

Trabajos en las excavaciones en la Tumba Tebana 39, Luxor: un complejo que funcionó como lugar de peregrinaje http://bit.ly/ZBAa7D

High Definition Surveying (HDS) at Malqata.. HDS scanning is a relatively new tool in surveying. iMalqata dig diary http://bit.ly/YJzgzS

The annual report on Abu Simbel solar event. Al Masry Al Youm. http://bit.ly/15czCoi

Wood-turning in Manchester and Ancient Egypt. Report with photos re Geoff Killen's AE wood-turning demonstration http://bit.ly/ZoCH1b

Old projects, new projects. Brooklyn Museum team back at the Temple of Mut, updating their dig diary. Lots of photos. http://bit.ly/YQ7hP5

Amara West dig diary: a kaleidoscope of life and death in Egyptian Kush http://bit.ly/Yig7Z5

What's the use of a PhD? Can we remake the humanities PhD to have better job prospects? Megan McArdle The Daily Beast http://thebea.st/YFxhhe

Book Review by Tim Reid: Sunken Egypt: Alexandria. Franck Goddio, Andre Bernand. Periplus Publishing. Egyptians blog http://bit.ly/YpK1KZ

Pigmento de la era faraónica puede ayudar a la nanotecnología. Prensa Latina http://bit.ly/UXbHHg

Via Willeke Wendrich ‏@wzzw. Two new and related articles in the UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology: The Akh and the Northern Bald Ibis (Akh-bird). http://escholarship.org/uc/nelc_uee

Via Kate Wong ‏@katewong. Check out @hpringle's spectacular cover story on the evolution of human creativity in the March @sciam http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-origin-human-creativity-suprisingly-complex …

Via Kasia Szpakowska ‏@SakhmetK. Another Egyptology position! http://www.ku.dk/english/available_positions/vip/ …

Via Chris Naunton ‏@chrisnaunton. Two Egyptological jobs going in Copenhagen: http://www.offentlige-stillinger.dk/sites/cfml/kbhuni/kbhuniVis.cfm?plugin=1&englishJobs=Yes&nJobNo=211129&nLangNo=2 … and http://www.offentlige-stillinger.dk/sites/cfml/kbh

News for 20th February 2013

Copied from Twitter @egyptologynews.


Via HistoryoftheAncient ‏@historyancient: Article: Karnak: Where the digital age meets ancient Egypt http://ow.ly/hRYnP

Remains of a mud-brick pyramid-shaped tomb cover belonging to vizier Khay (reign of Ramesses II) found. Ahram Online http://bit.ly/XpfNVe

Creating a pointcloud for a 3D model of houses in E13, Amara West, using a process called ‘Structure from Motion’. http://bit.ly/XpiM00

Via @chrisnaunton. New book in German - the personal memories of the former Director General of the Egyptian Museum http://bit.ly/Wan9f7

Durham Univ. 3–4 March 2013 2-day international conference, The Construction of Time in Antiquity. lutz.doering [at] http://durham.ac.uk

Missed this a couple of wks ago: Campbell Price's Texts in translation #10: The Stela of Hesysunebef (Acc. No. 4588) http://bit.ly/WfXftd

Penn Artefact Lab: A step a-“head”: improving storage for our mummified heads http://bit.ly/YArZCt

Curator's Choice: Sue Giles on a toy from a child's grave at Bristol's King of Egypt show. Culture24 http://bit.ly/Y6J22a

Discovery of Luxor tomb of Vizier Khay, “the First Royal Herald of the Lord of the two lands” announced. Luxor Times http://bit.ly/15uCVYY

Avenue of the Sphinxes in Luxor, fully illuminated at night for the first time. Lots of photos. Luxor Times http://bit.ly/11UOj1m

Amara West 2013: scarabs – for life and death. http://bit.ly/ZdA8Pw

Via Alice Williams ‏@alicewilliams86:
Fab new book on World Archaeology at the Pitt-Rivers, with fascinating chapters on the Egypt & Sudan collections: http://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/world.html

Book Review - Americans in Egypt, 1770-1915 http://collectingegypt.blogspot.com/2013/02/book-review-americans-in-egypt-1770-1915.html …

Upstairs, Dowstairs: contrasting palace life and village life at excavations in Malqata http://bit.ly/Y6rumN

New Book: Leatherwork from Qasr Ibrim (Egypt). Part I: Footwear from the Ottoman Period. André J. Veldmeijer 2013 http://bit.ly/WPfWmR

News for 17th, 18th and 19th February 2013

Copied from @egyptologynews. It has been a busy few days, so apologies for the late posting, but here's the news round-up.


Oriental Inst.News and Notes (PDF). 6 pages on Demotic Dictionary + small piece on Statue of Liberty's ties to Egypt http://bit.ly/WMOFBl

Egypt Exploration Society Centenary Awards 2012 providing funding for research at Saqqara and in Khartoum http://ees.ac.uk/news/news/210.html …

Replicas of famous objects from the tomb of Tutankhamun on display at Lord Carnarvon's Highclere Castle. Daily Mail http://bit.ly/WTJdyh

In Spanish: Analysis of 200 mummies and skeletons from Aswan paints a picture of deprivation, not opulence. ABC.es http://bit.ly/WKuP9P

My review of "Digital Egypt: Museums of the Future" (@3DPetrie) has been added to the Petrie Museum's blog today. http://bit.ly/Y1V10W

Photo slideshow of dunes, rock formations and rock art in the Western Desert http://bit.ly/11SkvSY

Cotsten Inst of Arch annual review "Backdirt" with article "Coffin Reuse in the Twenty-First Dynasty" by K. Cooney. http://bit.ly/Y5wdU7

Grand Egyptian Museum will receive 5 objects of King Tut’s collection after returning to Egypt. Luxor Times http://bit.ly/Xm5fpN

Amara West 2013 dig diary: getting to grips with this year’s villa. British Museum http://bit.ly/YCFnGk

Retrospective field diary (posting now from January's work) of excellent EES Theban Harbours and Waterscapes Project. http://eestheban.tumblr.com

Jane Akshar's notes from the Mummification Museum lecture: José Galán – Update from the Spanish Mission. Luxor News http://bit.ly/ZcNBHm

Another photo story recording the project to rescue statues of Amenemhat III. Luxor News Blog http://bit.ly/YvW0Vb

Photo story showing emergency project to save 2 colossal statues of Amenhotep III at his funerary temple. Luxor Times http://bit.ly/XKcF5y

Finding the northern end of the Palace of the King. iMalqata dig diary http://bit.ly/15q4QcG

Em Hotep Digest vol. 02 no. 06: Jean-François Champollion http://bit.ly/ZbeKdL

Hierarchy of Women within Elite Families. Iconographic Data from the Old Kingdom. V. Vasiljević. Hist.of the Anc.Wrld http://bit.ly/152OZ2w

Issue 10 of free online journal i-Medjat, edited by the Unité de Recherche-Action Guadeloupe. TOC and PDF at http://bit.ly/YuWJpD

Video showing reconstruction of the monuments of Biahmu in the Faiyum by Ben Baker and Chris Kirby. YouTube http://bit.ly/152OF3U

Was Cleopatra murdered? Author talking about her version of the classic story. No reviews seen yet. Huffington Post http://huff.to/151P729

Vast robber pits around the 4,000-year-old Black Pyramid of Amenemhat III, metres deep. Triblive http://bit.ly/YDiMJy

Truth of Tutankhamun curse removed from myth. Times of Malta http://bit.ly/UCcsW8

News for 16th February 2013

Copied from my Twitter account @egyptologynews, in no particular order


Today is the 90th anniversary of the opening of Tutankhamun's tomb by Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter. The Telegraph http://bit.ly/12QKidm

A New Kingdom jigsaw puzzle from Malqata: reconstructing a pottery vessel and a bone disc. iMalqata dig diary http://bit.ly/XP0PuK

The new volume of The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology (EES) is now out (vol. 98, 2012). The Table Of Contents is at http://www.ees.ac.uk/userfiles/file/JEA98-Contents.pdf …

The head of the Egyptian antiquities ministry believes that archaeology and tourism will bounce back. NBC Science http://nbcnews.to/Xa5RC0



Digital Egypt: Museums of the Future:


I had a brilliant afternoon volunteering at the Petrie Museum's Digital Egypt event today. I'll be writing it up on the Museum's blog v. soon.If you're interested in the digitizing of archaeology in museums you might check out @3DPetrie on Twitter, charting the museum's digi work. If you're on Facebook, here's my initial enthusiastic blurb re the Digital Egypt event at the Petrie (under the pic). http://on.fb.me/12ufxvd

News for 15th February 2013

Copied from Twitter @egyptologynews - in no particular order

Via Kasia Szpakowska ‏@SakhmetK: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, offering a summer position for a research associate in Egyptian art: http://bit.ly/WN52j5

The first week of the Brooklyn Museum's dig diary in the Karnak area, with lots of great photographs http://bit.ly/Xc3g9u

American Soc. Papyrologists invites papers for "Culture and Society in Greek, Roman and Byzantine Egypt" Chicago 2014 http://bit.ly/WMXMDS

More news from the Amara West dig diary: "What a difference a day makes." http://bit.ly/11KMbZP

Man finds stuffed cat in attic is 2,000-year-old Egyptian mummy. IBN Live http://bit.ly/XIanrn

Live webcams will be placed in Egypt's major tourist areas to show the true conditions of the country. ANSAMed http://bit.ly/X9kd5u

This guide to the old Ashmolean Egypt galleries shows the old Victorian cabinets, themselves a bit of museum history. http://bit.ly/Ad7cXm

iPad app: "Tour of the Nile" introduces Petrie Museum and uses Augmented Reality to explore artefacts in 3D. iTunes http://bit.ly/12Qxx2G

Petrie Museum Object Analysis e-Learning Resource gives ability to analyse objects in 3D and to generate a catalogue http://bit.ly/TkFYPr

Al Ahram Weekly article re Hatshepsut’s Netery Menu chapel opening at Karnak and restoration of Amenhotep III colossi
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/News/1449/17/New-glories-of-the-New-Kingdom.aspx

News for 14th February 2013

Happy Valentine's Day!

News copied from Twitter @egyptologynews


The ARCE has announced the launch of its new Luxor West Bank Archaeological Field School for local MSA/SCA inspectors http://bit.ly/X6jHVT

Article about the building of the replica of a New Kingdom chariot for a television show. ARCE http://bit.ly/Uk7e1a

New on the EES Publishing Blog: "Hasiballah Saqqara photos 1909-1988" with photos. http://bit.ly/14V3OnD

Interesting article looking at the role of spiritual leaders in rural communities a generation ago. Al Ahram Weekly http://bit.ly/14RitjS

A 48 hour tour of the heritage of some of the New Valley oases during a forum on sustainable tourism. Al Ahram Weekly http://bit.ly/XrnYAW

Forthcoming titles from the AUC include three Egyptology, two Coptic studies titles and one about Old Cairo heritage. http://bit.ly/X8u2Q8

Diana Craig-Patch talks about roof collapse at the Malqata excavation, west bank Luxor. iMalqata Dig Diary http://bit.ly/WrzNIB

New book: Gold and Gold Mining in Ancient Egypt and Nubia. R.Klemm and D.Klemm (Geoarchaeology in the Eastern Desert) http://bit.ly/XbqZES

Jane Akshar's notes from the Mummification Museum Lecture, Luxor: Joint Expedition to Malqata. Luxor News Blog http://bit.ly/Viy3SH

Routine archaeo survey in one of Alexandria’s most densely populated areas revealed Graeco-Roman tombs. Ahram Online http://bit.ly/YgdIMu

As the project comes to completion: "Demotic Dictionary unveils culture of ancient Egypt." University of Chicago. http://bit.ly/14sMNlF

Official denial of problems at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo by Minister of Antiquities Mohamed Ibrahim. allAfrica http://bit.ly/VgdXuQ

As the value of the Egyptian pound continues to fall, a look at mosques shown on LE and piastre notes. Cairobserver http://bit.ly/VeYPO6

Amara West 2013 dig diary: faience production in the town? http://bit.ly/YtgSvh

Greco-Roman tombs have been discovered at Gabbari necropolis in Alexandria. Luxor Times http://bit.ly/VWxP0E

News from 13th February 013

Copied from @egyptologynews


The Oriental Institute Electronic Publics. Initiative has made several new Egyptology publications available as PDFs: http://oi.uchicago.edu/news/

I had missed that the Djehuty dig diary is back online for 2013, with several weeks already published (in Spanish): http://www.excavacionegipto.com/diario/2013/diario13.jsp.html …

Apologies if I've posted this before, but excellent if you are interested in Gilf Kebir: Wadi Sura project reports: http://bit.ly/QseTE4

Super photo from 1920s Port Said. National Geographic. http://bit.ly/12zZKpZ

Em Hotep Digest vol. 02 no. 05: Ancient Egyptian Gods, Myths, and Legends. http://bit.ly/15cWeWB

Disputed St Louis Art Museum Ka Nefer Nefer mask settlement terms to be discussed on appeal. Cultural Heritage Lawyer http://bit.ly/WmSTQ6

Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology database images are now available under Creative Commons license C BY-NC-SA 3.0 http://bit.ly/ooecxi

Slightly off-topic but interesting. Ancient languages reconstructed by computer program. BBC http://bbc.in/11Dy0pC

The Ptolemaic temple of Qasr Al Agouz on Luxor’s west bank is to open next week. With 3 photos. Ahram Online http://bit.ly/SJxEYb

Book: O.E. Kaper. Colours of the Oasis: Artists and the archaeology of Dakhleh Oasis. Only available from publisher http://bit.ly/XzJG4f

News from 12th February 2012

Copied from my Twitter @egyptologynews account


Preserving one of Egypt’s most efficient ecosystems: The mangrove. Egypt Independent http://bit.ly/12J7hqI

Amara West excavations 2013: the past as seen in photos from a photographic kite flown over the site. British Museum http://bit.ly/VSDSDl

Malqata dig diary: One enigmatic feature of the site is a huge area over 72,000sq.m that is a vast deposit of potsherds http://bit.ly/Y7jf68

Eleventh International Congress of Egyptologists, Bibliotheca Alexandrina 13th-20th September 2013 http://bit.ly/PBKUIi

A Roman statue head has been repatriated to Egypt from Brazil. With photo. Luxor Times http://bit.ly/YUTTLC

Not news, just a short article on the AE city of On (Heliopolis), but might be of interest to some. Daily News Egypt http://bit.ly/YQFcJw

Job opening: Herbert Thompson Lecturer in Ancient Egyptian Language, University of Cambridge, Department of Archaeology http://bit.ly/14QLgow

Digital Archaeology. Uncovering the “A New Look at Ancient Egypt” website after years of neglect. http://bit.ly/YSgkRw

Free online: The Goddess Hathor and the women of ancient Egypt. Danielle Basson. MPhil, University of Stellenbosch http://bit.ly/YaIoP7

French archeologist Michel Wuttmann found dead in his Cairo apartment, investigators suspect foul play. Washington Post http://wapo.st/12J4oGt

Barry Kemp and his team have resumed work at Amarna. Their email newsletter is copied here: http://bit.ly/V2hWeb

Amara West Dig Diary 2013: the latest from Cemetery C. British Museum http://hvrd.me/WUYD3o

Speaking at Harvard, Egyptologist Marc Gabolde offered different interpretation of Tut DNA evidence. Harvard Gazette http://hvrd.me/WUYD3o

Brown University's Abydos Dig has uncovered a skeleton in the North Cemetery, among other finds. Brown Daily Herald http://bit.ly/X1sGYy

Amarna 2013 begins

2013 STARTUP

It has proved possible to resume fieldwork at Amarna. Barry Kemp and a small team traveled to the expedition house on Wednesday, January 30th and began work on site on Saturday, February 2nd, with 20 local workmen, mostly from El-Till and regularly employed by the expedition.

The main work for the next two months is a resumption of the re-excavation and restoration at the Great Aten Temple, concentrating again on the front part. Areas adjacent to those examined in the spring of 2012 have been marked out, on the south and east, and the cleaning of surface deposits begun, already revealing a strange feature uncovered earlier by Pendlebury, a gypsum-lined trough surrounding a rectangular area and belonging to the temple's final phase. Removal of the large Pendlebury dump over the brick pylon has also been resumed. Further east a start has been made on cleaning the surface of the two pedestals of thick gypsum concrete that measure about 10 x 15 metres and stood in front of the stone entrance to the temple and probably acted as foundations for very large columns. They are covered with the impressions of stone blocks that will require much patient planning to record in sufficient detail.

Thanks to the good offices of Nicholas Warner, the first delivery arrived today of limestone blocks from the quarries at Turah, outside Cairo, of much better quality than those we have bought in the past, from local quarries. These will be used for the final layer that will mark the positions of the walls of the Platform Building the foundations of which were uncovered last year.

We have also chosen this year to carry out an inspection and maintenance of the column in the Small Aten Temple that the expedition (then under the auspices of the Egypt Exploration Society) erected in 1994, on the initiative of architect Michael Mallinson. It has since become a familiar landmark. The column is hollow, and formed of panels fixed to a central iron lattice-work tower. It needs to be inspected from the inside. To this end, scaffolding is being erected around the column. Simon Bradley, who built the column in 1994, has returned to carry out the inspection and any necessary maintenance.

Much of the funding for this season's work comes to the Amarna Trust from the Big Give Christmas Challenge, to which so many of you responded. Many thanks again for your generosity on this and on other occasions.

The further plan for the spring is that another month of excavation will be carried out at the South Tombs Cemetery in April, to be followed by a return of the Arkansas University anthropology field school which will study the human remains.

4 February 2013

Barry Kemp/Anna Stevens


--
Support the work of the Amarna Project at:
http://new.thebiggive.org.uk/project/greatatentemple

News for 11th February 2013

Copied from @egyptolognews (Twitter)

Cleopatra's World - Lecture Series free to listen to on iTunes, with some very good names - http://itun.es/i6J25cj

Kasia Szpakowska Kasia Szpakowska ‏@SakhmetK
So pleased that "Companion to Women in the Ancient World" won a PROSE Award for Professional & Scholarly Excellence! http://bit.ly/WUcSW9

Lorna Richardson Lorna Richardson ‏@lornarichardson
What are your archaeological Internet habits? Where/how do you look for info about #archaeology? https://opinio.ucl.ac.uk/s?s=22070  Please RT/share!

More re restoration of newly discovered colossi of Amenhotep III. Ahram Online http://bit.ly/WEYcvO

Ancient Nubia: African Kingdoms on the Nile (AUC) wins professional (PROSE) ceremony in Washington. Daily News Egypt http://bit.ly/YRm0Lu

RT @historyancient: Free online: The role of the chantress in anc. Egypt. Suzanne Ostine. PhD Thesis, Univ Toronto 2001 http://bit.ly/12G8NtG

New on Osirisnet: The Old Kingdom tomb of Irukaptah at Saqqara, also called Khenu. http://bit.ly/Y60ZM4

Mummification Museum Lecture notes by Jane Akshar - The tomb of Panehsy, TT16. Lecture by Suzanne Onstine. Luxor News http://bit.ly/YR71Bu

The 1928 Italian-built El Shinawy Palace in Mansoura will be converted into an antiquities museum. Luxor Times http://bit.ly/X2fm34

New Book: The Signs of Which Times? Chronological and Palaeoenvironmental Issues in the Rock Art of Northern Africa. http://bit.ly/Z55Thq

Sad News: Obituary of geologist Rushdi Said who has died at the age of 93. Egypt Independent http://bit.ly/U5aFJ5

Saving the twin statues of Amenhotep III in Kom El Hetan, West Bank, Luxor. With photos. Luxor Times http://bit.ly/XpWttM

Book Review: D. Wengrow, What makes Civilization? The Ancient Near East and the Future of the West, 2010. Rosetta 11 http://bit.ly/Z53W4v

More re Hatshepsut limestone chapel that will be put on display for the 1st time at Karnak's open air mus. Ahram Online http://bit.ly/XpVkCx

Article about Frédéric Cailliaud's early 19thC accomplishments as explorer and scientist in Egypt. Saudi-Aramco World http://bit.ly/Vls5Q8

The villa of Kevork Ispenian, Giza, was looted and destroyed despite being on Egypt’s heritage list. Al Ahram Weekly http://bit.ly/YIyXar

Via @ArcEgyptologist. A roundup of some of the most notable new Egyptology books from 2012. Amun-Ra Egypt http://bit.ly/155FIaS

Book: M.F. Ayad, Coptic Culture: Past, Present and Future, 2011. Papers from a conference. http://bit.ly/WT4OVH  Bryn Mawr Classical Review

Neal Spencer Neal Spencer ‏@NealSpencer_BM
@susiezgreen launching photography kite above 3200-year old town of Amara West.  http://twitpic.com/c2ikv3

Stories from W/E 10th February 2013

Taken from my @egyptologynews Twitter account:

Free online paper: Architectural Conservation of an Amun Temple in Sudan. T. Sweek, J.R. Anderson, S. Tanimoto. JCMS. http://bit.ly/12DJGrE 
    
Queen Hatshpsut’s Netery-Menu has been reconstructed at Karnak, open to public by the End of February. Luxor Times http://bit.ly/122kScQ
    
David Lightbody has added a piece about the new find of 35 Sudanese pyramids with inner circles on his Arkysite blog http://bit.ly/YikC2y

Osteogenesis imperfecta in skeletal remains of foetus from Romano-Byzantine cemetery, Dakhleh Oasis. Past Horizons http://bit.ly/WXouc8

Book Review by Tim Reid: "Eternal Egypt: Masterworks of Ancient Art from the British Museum" E.R. Russmann. Egyptians http://bit.ly/V8disI

The iMalqata dig diary is being updated: "A Celebration Fit for a King: Amenhotep III's Heb Sed festival." iMalqata http://bit.ly/VLuJBT

Slightly older article, but in case you missed it from 30th Jan: Searching for lost royal city in Nubia. Past Horizons http://bit.ly/WyRaaV

Temple of Mut dig diary is online for the new season: "Back at Mut – How things have changed!" With pics. Brooklyn Mus. http://bit.ly/VKkusd

Proyecto de la UJA en Egipto "peligra" por la supresión de ayuda del Gobierno. Europa Press http://bit.ly/U1jtiT

Reviews of the British Film Institute's "Digging the Past" in 3 parts: http://bit.ly/SAbkBw, http://bit.ly/WAIY7i, http://bit.ly/11huHUF

Early Third Intermediate Period tombs with grave goods found at Mortuary temple of Amenhotep II on west bank. Al Shorfa http://bit.ly/XltGqk

Lovely review from @egyptologynews of @poisonchallis and I at @bfi having a great deal of fun in the name of research! http://petriemuseum.com/blog/the-british-film-institute-and-petrie-museum-presentation-digging-the-past-3/ …


30 Jan françois tonic françois tonic ‏@francoistonic
@egyptologynews little news about Karakhamon et South Asasif (in french sorry) http://goo.gl/FVo1Z

Leiden excavations at Saqqara: Dig diary, week 3: 2nd - 8th February 2013. A Name for the Anonymous Tomb...saqqara.nl http://bit.ly/VMdUS6

Em Hotep Digest vol. 02 no. 04: Dedicated to Barbara Adams best known from Hierakonpolis Expedition and Petrie Museum http://bit.ly/Y3vmBF

Amara West: The life of a field ceramicist is certainly never dull, though perhaps sometimes repetitive. With photos. http://bit.ly/XUnjIs

Archeologists excavating near Luxor have found a wooden sarcophagus believed to belong to a 5-yr old. Huffington Post http://huff.to/VHsWh3

35 small pyramids, along with graves, have discovered clustered closely together at Sedeinga in Sudan.Yahoo News. http://yhoo.it/Yauz1U

Mini-pyramids of of Kush: Archaeologists discover 35 burial chambers in Sudan desert with fascinating links to Egypt http://bit.ly/VLW15J

Ahram Online traces the footsteps of Egyptian and Sudanese history in the capital, Khartoum. http://bit.ly/YN8JUu

Ancient Rome In Libya: A Suppressed History Resurfaces After Revolution. With photos. IBT http://bit.ly/WRvGXp

Very short piece about fire breaking out at Karnak Temple. More will doubtless be forthcoming. Al Arabiya http://bit.ly/12BZH18

Happy New Year

A Happy New Year to all. Hoping that 2013 will be a great one for everyone.

Happy Christmas

Thank you to everyone who stills follows Egyptology News via Twitter.  

Particular thanks, also, to everyone who was so supportive when Egyptological was hacked. I'll keep you posted about where we are with it, during January.

 

Update regarding problems with "Egyptological"

Kate and Andrea are very sad to announce that Egyptological will be unavailable for the forseeable future.  It has been targeted by a professional hacking group as part of an onslaught on Egypt-related web sites during the current unrest in Egypt.

Although we have been in negotiations with the hackers, which seemed to be going well, they have now announced their intention of resuming hostilities against us.  They apparently see Egyptology sites such as ours as representing a form of political threat.

Until we have been able to assess the level of damage inflicted upon our backup solution, and have been able to devise a new strategy for the future security of Egyptological, our site will remain unavailable.  We do not expect it to be recovered until the end of January.

Please be aware, however, that we are fully committed to restoring Egyptological to its former state, together with the latest unpublished edition of the Magazine, and we are investigating the possibility of publishing a temporary archive at an earlier date.

We recommend that anyone with similar web sites should upgrade their own security arrangements, as you may now be interpreted as representing a political or religious affiliation.

Kind regards from both of us

Andrea Byrnes and Kate Phizackerley
Egyptological

Autumn field school at Amarna

The latest news update from Professor Barry Kemp, from the Amarna Project.

On October 14th the current Amarna field school began to assemble, five overseas students and seven SCA inspectors (drawn mostly from the Middle Egypt region) converging on the Amarna expedition house. The theme of the field school is survey, both in the mapping and planning sense and through the appreciation of human impact on the landscape. Amarna is ideal for these purposes, offering a variety of reasonably clear examples and opportunities for instruction. This year's venue for instruction in planning and profile drawing, using a total station, basic measuring and drawing tools and aerial photography from the expedition's helium photography balloon is the Great Aten Temple, and more particularly one of the broad spreads of gypsum concrete on which are marked the outlines of large numbers of offering tables. The weekly exercises in archaeological landscape appreciation take in the South Tombs Cemetery, the area of the city around the house of Thutmose, the Stone Village and the tomb of Panehsy and surrounding territory. Evening lectures and visits to other sites complete the programme.

The field school is run in conjunction with the Institute for Field Research (IFR) of California (info@ifrglobal.org) and with the agreement of the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt and in particular with the support of Dr Abd el-Rahman El-Aidi. We are grateful to Dr Hans Barnard, Gwil Owen and Miriam Bertram for volunteering their services as instructors.

The clearing of the gypsum surface of the first court of the temple has revealed a surprising fact. The area is surrounded by an embankment of dusty sand, about 1 metre high, with a thick capping composed of gypsum concrete that is the remains of the floor that originally spread across the entire temple. The sides of the embankment have slumped over the years. In the course of cleaning back the edges it has become clear that it contains fragments of fine sculpture and pieces of carved inlays in darker stone.
The fragments include pieces in indurated limestone (evidently from a large and ornate architrave), travertine, granite and quartzite. We must conclude that, before the final phase of the temple was completed, fine pieces of sculpture were no longer needed and were thoroughly broken up.

On October 22nd and 23rd the expedition was honoured by a visit by the British ambassador, James Watt, and his wife, Amal.

The field school is scheduled to run until November 15th. From October 28th, it will overlap with the start of the next season of excavation at the South Tombs Cemetery, directed by Dr Anna Stevens.

The attached picture shows the group writing landscape description above the South Tombs Cemetery.

The latest Amarna update from Anna Stevens and Barry Kemp

Amarna, Autumn 2012

Fundraising news: the Big Give Christmas Challenge

We are delighted to report that we have reached the 'Œpledge target' for the Big Give Christmas Challenge appeal in support of conservation work at the Great Aten Temple.

What does this mean? It means that donations made online in the week beginning December 6 will now be matched, partly from our pledges and partly from external funding sourced by the Big Give. In effect, online donations can be doubled during the December fundraiser.

Thank you so much to those supporters who offered pledges: it is a great start to the campaign.

You can find out more about the Christmas Challenge at:

http://new.thebiggive.org.uk/projects/view/17049?search=56a6a48d-1564-4a5f-b613-f486df90768c
And please do consider offering a small donation online in December. Every donation makes a real difference to the work that we can achieve on site.

Autumn season underway

The dig house at Amarna was reopened last week for the beginning of the Autumn field season. The house is currently occupied by a team of volunteers who are transferring the paper records of the artefacts excavated at Amarna since 1979 into an electronic database. After a week and a half of work, around 6000 object records have been digitised, of a total of around 24000. Most of the 6000 objects have come from the excavations in the late 70s and early 80s at the Workmen's Village, and it has been fascinating to revisit these finds. We are aiming to reach the mid-point of the records by the time we leave, at the end of next week, by which time we should be working with the object records of excavations in the Central City and at Kom el-Nana in the late 1980s. A further season of digitising will then be needed in 2013.

This is the first step in creating an integrated online archive of the artefacts, environmental and biological remains, house plans, and other records for Amarna ­ the Amarna Digital Atlas. We hope that, one day, everyone will be able to better explore and study the archaeology of Amarna online.

Thanks are due to our volunteers - Ashley Hayes, Megan Paqua, Melanie Pitkin and Reinert Skumnes -­ for all of their hard work. It is so rewarding to see the written records compiled by many object registrars over the years transferred into a form that can be far more easily searched.

Next up will be a field school in survey techniques, running from mid-October until mid-November, and an extended season of excavations at the South Tombs Cemetery, which will include illustration work and further conservation of the wooden coffins. The season will finish just before Christmas, so it is a busy time ahead.

We will keep you updated with progress of the season and you can also follow us, and view pictures of the work, at:
https://www.facebook.com/amarnaproject

Anna Stevens/Barry Kemp

EES webinar

EES webinar AUTUMN 2012
The Good, The Bad & The Ugly: Cultural Property and the antiquities trade in Egyptology
Saturday 29 September 2012, 1 - 4pm (including a break)

This is an online event; join the EES at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/ees-events

This ‘webinar’ will be broadcast live on the web, via USTREAM, in order to allow virtual participation and discussion online (via USTREAM, Twitter, Facebook or email) and thereby engage with the widest possible audience.

The seminar will examine how academics, museums, and the legal antiquities trade interact, and can facilitate the study of objects which pass into private hands; the importance of provenance in preventing the sale of forged and looted antiquities, and the processes of diligence and compliance which reinforce this. The discussion will cover case studies of good and bad practice, successes and failures, and discuss ways in
which more productive relationships might be fostered in future.

The discussion will exclude issues of the ethics of trading antiquities and the looting of archaeological sites, and will be chaired by the Society’s Director, Dr Chris Naunton.

The panellists will include: Professor David Gill, Professor of Archaeological Heritage at University Campus Suffolk and author of influential blog Looting Matters (http://lootingmatters. blogspot.co.uk/); Madeleine Perridge, Head of the Antiquities Department at Bonhams Fine Art Auctioneers and Valuers; Marcel Marée, Assistant Keeper in the Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan, British Museum; Heba Abd el-Gawad, PhD Student in Egyptology, University of Durham and recipient of an EES Centenary Award in 2012.

How to Participate:
We welcome questions for the panel, comments and discussion points, all of which can also be submitted on the day or in advance to contact@ees.ac.uk. In order to participate in the discussion on the day, please go to http://www.ustream.tv/channel/ees-events, and follow the links to ‘Check-In and Chat’. This will allow you to connect via your UStream account (if you have one) or via Twitter or Facebook. You can also participate by tweeting @TheEES (you will need a Twitter account), or by posting on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Egypt-Exploration-Society/124272554326913?ref=hl

All comments and questions are welcome

EIGHTH ANNUAL PETRIE BOOK AUCTION

The 2012 Petrie book auction has just started.  If you have previously registered to receive the list you should have already received this notification and the first list from Petrie Books and you do not need to register again.  If you are a new member, or would like to register for the first time, or have changed your email address just send an email with 'subscribe' to:  petriebooks@ijnet.demon.co.uk.  Thank you for subscribing to the Petrie book auction - remember that you can 'unsubscribe' at any time.

The email auction will culminate on the evening of 12 October with a live auction. The auction is open to all and will be held at the Petrie Museum, Malet Place WC1. Viewing from 6.00, auction starts at 6.30

The complete list is sent out with starting prices on all volumes inviting bids (BID?).  As bids come in the bid is listed with the bidder's initials alongside, e.g. GBP  10 (JP).  TO BID, please either cut and paste title with your bid added, or give me the book number(s) and your bid. Please don't return the entire list
- unless you're bidding on everything!  Regular updates on the state of the bidding will be sent out. All bids should be sent to petriebooks@ijnet.demon.co.uk

Closing date for email bids will be Wednesday 10 October. All bids will be carried forward to the evening of 12 October.  No books will be sold before that date so that Friends and others not on email will have a chance to participate.

At the end of the bidding process the highest email bidders will be invited to submit a final ceiling-price which will ONLY be used - in increments -  if he/she is outbid on the evening.

We reserve the right to withdraw, cancel, or change the rules if it all gets too complicated.

If you wish to cancel your receipt of any further auction information just send an email with 'auction delete' in the header and we won't bother you again.

After the auction successful bidders will be contacted with the amount owed for their books.

All prices will be plus postage, payable in advance in GB pounds by cash, UK cheque, or overseas bankers cheque drawn on a UK bank, (or Post Office Giro-cheques from Europe are reasonably priced, or postal orders) so please bear that in mind when making your bid. Sorry, but we don't have the facilities to accept direct credit card payment although we can accept payment via PAYPAL. Books can be collected from the Museum by prior arrangement.


The complete list sent to you will include the starting prices on all volumes inviting bids (BID?).  As bids come in the bid is listed with the bidder's initials alongside, e.g. GBP 10 (JP). TO BID, please either cut and paste the title with your bid added, or give me the book number(s) and author and your bid. Please don't return the entire list - unless you're bidding on everything!

Regular updates on the state of the bidding are being sent out, inviting new rounds of bidding.

New books may be added to the auction.

Email bidding will close on the 10th October before the live auction on the 12th October. Instructions for final bids will be sent out closer to the time.

All bids should be sent to petriebooks@ijnet.demon.co.uk

2012 AUCTION CATALOGUE
from the donated libraries of Phyllis Grierson, Peggy Drower and others

The updated auction list is now out - if you have signed up you should now have received it.

Friends of the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology Petrie Museum Malet Place London WC1E 6BT

Could ancient Egyptians hold the key to 3D printed ceramics?

** UWE Bristol**

Press Release

Could ancient Egyptians hold the key to 3D printed ceramics? 

A 7,000 year old technique, known as Egyptian Paste (also known as Faience), could offer a potential process and material for use in the latest 3D printing techniques of ceramics, according to researchers at UWE Bristol.

Professor Stephen Hoskins Director of UWE’s Centre for Fine Print Research  and David Huson, Research Fellow, have received funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) to undertake a major investigation into a self-glazing 3D printed ceramic, inspired by ancient Egyptian Faience ceramic techniques.  The process they aim to develop would enable ceramic artists, designers and craftspeople to print 3D objects in a ceramic material which can be glazed and vitrified in one firing.

The researchers believe that it possible to create a contemporary 3D printable, once-fired, self-glazing, non-plastic ceramic material that exhibits the characteristics and quality of Egyptian Faience.

Faience was first used in the 5^th Millennium BC and was the first glazed ceramic material invented by man. Faience was not made from clay (but instead composed of quartz and alkali fluxes) and is distinct from Italian Faience or Majolica, which is a tin, glazed earthenware. (The earliest Faience is invariably blue or green, exhibiting the full range of shades between them, and the colouring material was usually copper). It is the self-glazing properties of Faience that are of interest for this research project.

Current research in the field of 3D printing concentrates on creating functional materials to form physical models. The materials currently used in the 3D printing process, in which layers are added to build up a 3D form, are commonly: UV polymer resins, hot melted 'abs' plastic and inkjet binder or laser sintered, powder materials. These techniques have previously been known as rapid prototyping (RP). With the advent of better materials and equipment some RP of real materials is now possible. These processes are increasingly being referred to as solid 'free-form fabrication' (SFF) or additive layer manufacture. The UWE research team have focused previously on producing a functional, printable clay body.

This three-year research project will investigate three methods of glazing used by the ancient Egyptians: ‘application glazing’, similar to modern glazing methods; ‘efflorescent glazing’ which uses water-soluble salts; and ‘cementation glazing’, a technique where the object is buried in a glazing powder in a protective casing, then fired. These techniques will be used as a basis for developing contemporary printable alternatives

Professor Hoskins explains, “It is fascinating to think that some of these ancient processes, in fact the very first glazed ceramics every created by humans, could have relevance to the advanced printing technology of today.  We hope to create a self-glazing 3D printed ceramic which only requires one firing from conception to completion rather than the usual two. This would be a radical step-forward in the development of 3D printing technologies. As part of the project we will undertake case studies of craft, design and fine art practitioners to contribute to the project, so that our work reflects the knowledge and understanding of artists and reflects the way in which artists work.”  

The project includes funding for a three-year full-time PhD bursary to research a further method used by the Egyptians, investigating coloured ‘frit’, a substance used in glazing and enamels. This student will research this method, investigating the use of coloured frits and oxides to try and create as full a colour range as possible. Once developed, this body will be used to create a ceramic extrusion paste that can be printed with a low-cost 3D printer. A programme of work will be undertaken to determine the best rates of deposition, the inclusion of flocculants and methods of drying through heat whilst printing.

This project offers the theoretical possibility of a printed, single fired, glazed ceramic object - something that is impossible with current technology.

Editor’s notes

Project title

The project: “Can Egyptian Paste Techniques (Faience) Be Used For 3D Printed, Solid Free-form Fabrication of Ceramics?” has received funding of £ 385,672 from the Arts and Humanities Research Council for the three year research project.

The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funds world-class, independent researchers in a wide range of subjects: ancient history, modern dance, archaeology, digital content, philosophy, English literature, design, the creative and performing arts, and much more. This financial year the AHRC will spend approximately £98m to fund research and postgraduate training in collaboration with a number of partners. The quality and range of research supported by this investment of public funds not only provides social and cultural benefits but also contributes to the economic success of the UK. For further information on the AHRC, please go to: www.ahrc.ac.uk 

Stephen Hoskins is the Hewlett Packard Professor of Fine Print and Director of the Centre for Fine Print Research at UWE Bristol. Apart from being a practising printmaker, his primary areas of research are; the potential of 3D printing and related digital technologies for the arts, plus the tactile surface of the printed artefact and its consequences for digital technology. His latest book 3D Printing for the Visual Arts (Technology That Crosses Both Art and Industry) is due to be published by Bloomsbury in early 2013. 

David Huson is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Fine Print Research leading research in the field of 3D rapid prototype printed ceramics. He has given over sixteen peer reviewed conference papers at international conferences, including three focal papers at the IS&T Digital Fabrication Conferences 2007, 2008, 2009. David will moderate the NIP28/Digital Fabrication 2012 roundtable on 3D print in Quebec in September 2012. He has an extensive industrial background, working in research and development in the ceramics industry for 20 years as a ceramic engineer, and as company director for Enoch Wedgwood Ltd, Infrared International Engineering, Phoenix Ceramics and the Moira Pottery Co. 

Amarna Fund Raising - the Big Give Christmas Challenge

Thanks to your support, the JustGiving appeal to raise money for the next stage of the conservation of the Amarna Period coffins from the recent excavations has reached its target. The conservators will resume their work at Amarna in the latter part of the year.

THE BIG GIVE CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE

We are delighted to announce that the Amarna Trust has been accepted into the Big Give 2012 Christmas Challenge, with a project to raise funds for the conservation of the Great Aten Temple:

http://new.thebiggive.org.uk/project/greatatentemple

The Big Give Christmas Challenge is an annual matched-funding event in which online donations from the public are matched with pledges from major Trust supporters and funding from external philanthropic bodies ('Charity Champions'). This project will be the focus of our fundraising for the rest of 2012.

The Challenge has two phases. Phase I requires us to collect pledges from our major supporters (we may contact some of you individually about this).

Phase II is a period of online donation, beginning December 6th. During this time, online donations are matched with money drawn from pledges and Charity Champion Funds, until the latter are exhausted. An online donation of £5- becomes £10-; a £50 donation becomes £100, and so on. We have set ourselves a target of £8000- in online donations.

* We write to ask: if you are thinking of offering support to the Amarna Trust in what remains of 2012, please consider making a donation during the December online donation phase. It is a chance to make your donation go further.

We will send out a reminder closer to the time!

HORIZON

The next issue of the Horizon newsletter (no. 11) is about to go to press.

FIELDWORK

We plan to open the expedition house in late September for the start of a three-month autumn season.

Summer greetings to you all and thanks again for your continuing support - Barry Kemp