We are delighted to welcome you to Egyptological and hope that you will enjoy the articles, reviews, reports and our other great content. When we post each new edition this page will introduce the articles in the Journal and Magazine sections.
If you are a writer or photographer and would like to see your work on Egyptological we would love to hear from you. Similarly, if you are interested in volunteering for editorial, proof reading or moderating roles you will be very welcome! You can find out more from our Participate pages.
Andrea and Kate
Editorial: Egyptological Magazine Edition 5
We aim to bring you a new edition of the Magazine every two or three months but Edition 5 is published less than 6 weeks after Edition 4 as Egyptological goes from strength to strength.
Headlining this edition, experienced writer Barbara O’Neill demonstrates a new talent as a journalist. Her interview of Dr Joyce Tyldesley of the University of Manchester will be of huge interest to many. Dr Tyldesley talks about the new Manchester Diploma of Egyptology. So far as we understand, this is a world first being the first Diploma of Egyptology offered entirely through the medium of distance learning, making it accessible to students worldwide. If that wasn’t enough, Barbara presents another article that is about Egyptian headrests. I saw the exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum which inspired Barbara to write about headrests and was delighted to receive an article on such a fascinating subject.
Two other regulars writers have further pieces in their areas of interest. From Brian Alm we have the most recent article in his well-regarded series on Egyptian religion. Covering the significance of the design of both Old Kingdom pyramids and New Kingdom royal tombs, it is bound to be immensely popular. In the week which has seen the BBC screening in the UK of the documentary about the life and career of Flinders Petrie, Garry Beuk taps the interest in early 20th Century Egyptologists with the second half of his article about Arthur Weigall. It is sad that the careers of many distinguished Egyptologists finish on a down beat. I have been reading about Muhammed Zakaria Goneim whose career ended tragically. As Garry reveals, Weigall’s career had a somewhat ignoble end.
There is a growing recognition that experts in other scientific disciplines can extend our understanding of Ancient Egypt, for instance through forensic science, DNA testing or hydrology. It is a delight to welcome new writer William Williams who reviews a book by Dr Geraldine Pinch on Egyptian mythology. Williams takes precisely this multi-disciplinary approach reviewing Pinch’s book not just in the context of Egyptology but also within the context of its standing as a philosophy text. I confess to a certain ennui when it comes to Egyptian mythology but Williams has convinced me that I should buy Dr Pinch’s book.
My co-editor Andrea Byrnes has led many tours into the Egyptian deserts and I persuaded her to write about one of her passions – the remote Gilf Kebir. The resulting article stands fair to become the ‘go to’ for anybody wanting an introduction to this unique location. My own contribution is more modest with an article about child birth, although it contains a few surprises …
There are also a number of other reviews. Andrea has summarised the recent Petrie documentary; I have reviewed some books about the Valley of the Kings; there is a review of Blackwell’s ‘Companion to Ancient Egypt’, and another on a travel guide to the Oases of the Western Desert.
Finally, we have some new photo albums: the second half of Heidi Kontkanen’s recent photographs of the Valley of the Kings and a set of rock art photographs taken in the Mestekawi-Foggini cave, as a companion to Andrea’s article on the Gilf Kebir.
New content will continue to appear regularly. I have scheduled another photo album for publication on 10th April and more are in the pipeline. Nonetheless, it is a constant challenge to maintain the flow of new material. We would very much appreciate submissions from new writers, both experienced and novice. Egyptological is both a wonderful showcase for your writing or photographs, and a very easy, indeed friendly, place for anyone inexperienced in publishing their work.
By Andie
Congratulations on the latest issue! Hopefully I’ll have some photos to contribute soon. I’ve got 1100 of them to go through that I just took.
James
Andie Congratulations to you and to Kate for resparking a senior citizens lifetime interest in Egyptology. The articles in Egyptolocical are superb. Oh to be young again!
Grant
Grant, what a lovely thing to say! Thank you – sincerely appreciated. Andie xx
I just learned of your new web-based ‘Egyptological’ journal from an announcement at EEF advising your Dec. 2011 issue was available. I just posted an announcement at Yahoo based Thoth-Scribe in case other members would like to check out your website. I took the time to read ‘Who is king Scorpion’. I’m glad to see more resources on the internet about ancient Egypt.
Thank you Jack, both for your comments and for announcing us on Thoth-Scribe.
Best
Andrea
I enjoy reading your articles and do put them on my Yahoo group site, Egypt and Beyond.
I have one published children’s book “Tombs, Temples and Thrones”, which is three short fictional stories about Queen Ahhotep as a young teen…(‘Tepi” in the stories).
Congratulations on your new enterprise.
Congratulations to you both, Andie & Kate. I have been a big fan of egyptology.blogspot.com and kv64.info for many years, and this new venture looks very promising. I wish you the very best.
Thanks Brian. Your good wishes are most welcome.
Best, Andrea
Good Afternoon Kate and Andie. There’s quite a buzz about regarding this site, so i look forward to viewing it in full swing.
I have a growing photo collection which i have accrued from visits to UpperEgypt, British Museum, Bristol and Birmingham Museums & Highclere Castle.
What’s mine is yours. If it wasn’t for KV64.info i would not have my own blog (Kates’ blog was a big influence to me) – so always happy to repay the favour.
Stuart Tyler
Hello Stuart. Good to hear from you, as ever. We will doubtless be calling on you for help with images, particularly the ones from the regional collections at Bristol, Birmingham and Highclere for which I certainly don’t have any photographs of my own and I don’t think Kate has either. I hope that you Hatshepsut Project is still going from strength to strength.
Thanks Stuart, that’s kind – although you might feel I have shared an enthusiasm with you which eats up endless amounts of time. And yes, we would love some photos in due course.
You might like to put together an album of a dozen Hatshepsut images for now – and maybe a short piece of text – and we can post up a photo album and link it back to the Hatchepsut project? People love images and it would be a way of showing them off and highlightling the work you have been doing.
Best
Kate
For some reason i seem to have missed the above comment, Kate. I will have to subscribe to comments by email to see if that helps.
In response to: “although you might feel I have shared an enthusiasm with you which eats up endless amounts of time”
Yes, indeed it does eat up time. I am busier now than i have ever been in my life, but this is probably the happiest i have ever been too, so the Hatshepsut Project may end up being a lifetime’s work. I certainly hope so- i already have a number of mini-projects in the pipeline.
I will get some photos together, as suggested and also some text and i will get back to you.
I can see that you guys are working at a pace. Just ensure you two don’t burn yourselves out. Stop for a nice glass of wine every now and again!!!
Stuart
Well done Andie and Kate,
A new site dedicated to the land of Kemet is always welcome as it is indicative of the ever increasing interest in the history and culture of the Ancient Egyptians.
I hope to contribute in some small way as the site developes, in the meantime all the very best in your venture which I am sure will be educational, interesting and a great place to meet and greet.
Hello Ray. We have had a good response which, as you say, is an excellent indication that the Ancient Egyptian past continues to fascinate. We will be very glad to welcome you if you wish to contribute in any way – just get in touch with us when you have a feel for how you might want to get involved.
Thank you for your good wishes. Do stay in touch. Andie
Congratulations Andie and Kate on getting your magazine launched. I know you have been working on it for some time.
I have been impressed with some of the material I have seen previously, including Kate’s analyisis of the DNA reports on the Royal Mummies, of course.
I hope to be able to provide some articles for future issues, if you are interested.
I hope too subscribers can share some photo resources etc. Here is something I’m looking for – a photo of the stone Shabti figure from KV58 (in the Valley of the Kings), which Geoffrey Martin tells me was on display in the Cairo Museum in a cabinet of selected ‘choice’ items, upstairs near the front. He says it was one of the cabinets recently broken into – but we don’t know if the shabti was taken/damaged.
Best regards
Dylan
Hello Dylan. Thanks very much for the kind words. Kate in particular has worked absolute wonders with the build of the site and continues to work on development for our future plans. Her keyboard is doubtless beginning to feel the strain!
We would be very pleased to receive articles from you for future issues. We both know your work well and would very much welcome your contribution.
I will post your request for information about the shabti on our Discussion page (in the Colloquy section).
Kind regards
Andie
Thank you for this great new site
Thank you Paul. We are developing it all the time and hope that people will find it useful as new articles and information start to appear.
WELCOME8