Egyptologically Speaking: Dr Maria Nilsson on Gebel el Silsila
In the beginning: I discovered Gebel el Silsila by accident one could say. Back in 2007, when still a doctoral student, I visited Egypt to study relief scenes depicting Queen Arsinoë II. At the time the convoy system was still in use for those who wished to travel by car. Visitors were permitted just an hour in each temple before being rushed off to the next. So John (Dr. John Ward) and I travelled from Aswan to Edfu in a felucca instead, which allowed us the time we required in each temple. As we sailed up the Nile our captain informed us that a Pharaonic site was coming up and asked us if we wished to stop there to have a look. My first thought was that stopping there would mean a delay in an already tight schedule. But then again who was I to say “no” to a site embedded in the most gorgeous setting with cenotaphs and stelae casting their reflections on the Nile? Of course we agreed to go ashore! [more…]
The Significance of the Crossed Arms Pose in the New Kingdom – Part 1
Amongst the many miracles through which delicate objects are preserved from ancient Egypt down into modern times, perhaps the most remarkable is the survival of the mortal remains of a virtually complete sequence of New Kingdom rulers. These kings, along with a number of queens and lesser royalty – who date from the end of the Seventeenth Dynasty through to the start of the Twenty-Second Dynasty – are generally referred to as the Royal Mummies, and were for the most part recovered from the Royal Cache of 1881 (in tomb TT320), and the Second Royal Cache of 1898 (in tomb KV35, the tomb of Amenhotep II). [more…]
Labib Habachi. A Life to Know…. Part 1
The story of Labib Habachi was predictable (Figure 1). For centuries Egyptians suffered from the prejudicial views of foreigners arriving in their country. Some came in search of treasure, others in pursuit of knowledge and many simply to pass time because they had the wealth to do so. Half-hearted efforts were made by a few to train Egyptians as excavators, such as when a University was opened in 1869 in Bulaq. Lacking support and adequate funding it proved unsuccessful, closing its doors in less than five years. [more…]
By Garry Beuk
Replicating the tomb of Tutankhamun. Conservation and sustainable tourism in the Valley of the Kings
The closure of the tomb of Tutankhamun, to be replaced by an exact facsimile, has been much reported in the UK media and highlights a number of issues and raises some interesting questions. Although this is largely a discussion about the tomb of Tutankhamun, the tomb cannot be discussed in isolation and is put into the wider context of conservation issues across the royal cemeteries of the West Bank and broader globally-relevant issues of sustainable tourism. [more…]
Book Review: Traveling Through the Deserts of Egypt
By Andrea Byrnes. Published on Egyptological, Magazine Reviews. 18th April 2013 Traveling Through the Deserts of Egypt. From 450BC to the Twentieth Century Edited by Sahara Abdel-Hakim and Deborah Manley American University in Cairo Press, 2009 Hardback, ISBN 978977 416 313 5 Introduction Traveling Through the Deserts of Egypt is a book of excerpts [more…]
An Exploration of the term ‘inw’ from the Early Dynastic Period to the New Kingdom
By Barbara O’Neill. Published on Egyptological, Magazine, Edition 8. 18th April 2013 Introduction: The term inw has been described as ‘vexatious’ in its complexity, touching as it does on a range of intricate subjects outside the scope of this article. The following article does not claim to cover all aspects of inw. A reading [more…]
Marianne Brocklehurst and the West Park Museum, Macclesfield – Part 1
By Andrea Byrnes. Published in Egyptological, Magazine Edition 8, 18th April 2013 Introduction Marianne Brocklehurst was the daughter of a wealthy Victorian silk manufacturer (figure 1). On the one hand she was, by all accounts, charming, bright, and full of curiosity, with a love of travel and history. She was articulate, an engaging writer [more…]
Book Review: Dawn of Egyptian Art
By Andrea Byrnes. Published on Egyptological, Magazine Reviews. 18th April 2013 Dawn of Egyptian Art Edited by Diana Craig Patch The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York ISBN 978-1-588-460-6 ISBN 978-0-300-17952-1 Introduction The United States has been blessed with two exhibitions about the Predynastic recently: Before The Pharaohs at the Oriental Institute in Chicago [more…]
The goddess Neith in the Early Dynastic period
By Andrea Byrnes. Published in Egyptological, In Brief, 18th April 2013 The goddess Neith was one of Egypt’s oldest deities, very well documented from the Early Dynastic period, when Egypt was first brought together as a unified country. She is very familiar from later periods, particularly in the New Kingdom and Third Intermediate periods. [more…]
Revisiting Heqanakht
By Barbara O’Neill. Egyptological Magazine, Edition 8. April 18th 2013 Introduction The following article developed out of an earlier research project on Heqanakht and the society in which he lived (http://bit.ly/SgPsFZ). Heqanakht’s papyri are now owned by The Metropolitan Museum of New York, and although permission to publish images of the papyri arrived too [more…]