Early Dynastic Baboon Figurines by Sarah Preece
These are photographs of a set of baboon figurines in the British Museum taken by Sarah Preece. (Sarah is primarily a nature and potrait photographer so she loved these little figures. They are small, maybe just a couple of inches tall, maybe 3″.) The group dates to the 1st or 2nd Dynasty and were found [more…]
By Sarah Preece
Ethnic origin of Ramesses I?
A question from Derek Martin. Is there any evidence that Ramesses I could have could have had a degree of Hyksos ancestry? Ramesses I was born in Avaris, the old Hyksos capital, his father’s name was Seti (the Hyksos chose the Egyptian God Set, because he was closest to their own God Ba’al) and he [more…]
Islamic items from Egypt in the Tareq Ragab Museum, Kuwait. By Barbara O’Neill
The Tareq Ragab Museum, Kuwait opened in 1980 primarily to house a vast private collection of Islamic art and calligraphy. Dar El Cid (Image 1) the exhibition hall of the museum is home to a rare, privately-owned set of David Roberts Lithographs of Egypt, Nubia and the Holy Land. While its focus is [more…]
Tomb of the Overseer of the Treasury Maya, Saqqara, by Kate Gingell
Editor’s Note: The team resp0nsible for the excavation and restoration of the tomb have provided an excellent summary of both Maya and his tomb on the Saqqara.nl website. In the administration of Tutankhamen, Maya was a contemporary of the General Horemheb, who later became Pharaoh, and both were involved in stabilising Egypt following the [more…]
By Kate Gingell
Tomb of Horemheb, Saqqara, by Kate Gingell
Editor’s Note We are most grateful to Kate Gingell for supplying us with a short series of photographs that she took at Saqqara. Her photos from the tomb of Horemheb are lovely. Horemheb was an important army general of the 18th Dynasty who became the last pharaoh of that dynasty, following Tutankhamen and [more…]
By Kate Gingell
Serabit el-Khadim by Francis Lankester
Editor’s note: Serabit el-Khadim, in south-west Sinai, was a turquoise and copper mine exploited from the Predynastic period onwards. Most of the surviving remains, including mining shafts and tunnels, inscriptions carved into the surrounding rocks, stelae and a temple complex date to the Middle and New Kingdoms. The main deity of the [more…]
Question about healthcare facilities
We’ve had a query from andrea@hydeinc, who works in healthcare facility design and would like to know if any healtchare facilities have been identified from Ancient Egypt and how they wre laid out. She is particularly interested in floor plans and what sort of access to daylight and water were provided, with a view to [more…]
By Andrea Hyde
Exhibition spotlight: ‘Before the Pyramids’ at the Oriental Institute
The following short article provides a virtual tour of some of the items on show in the recent exhibition from the Oriental Institute Museum’s 2011 exhibit, Before the Pyramids: The Origins of Egyptian Civilization, at the University of Chicago. [more…]
By Brian Alm
Tombs at Djanet (Tanis) by Francis Lankester
A second set of photographs by Francis Lankester from Djanet, this time capturing the tombs at the site. [more…]
Tomb K64 in the Valley of the Kings – The Story as it Broke
This brief article was written on 15th January when the discovery of Tomb KV64 in the Valley of the Kings was formally announced. Please refer to the Addendum of 18th January for the latest news, which also corrects some of the orginal report. The tomb was announced in Luxor by Mansour Boraik in Luxor and [more…]
Djanet (Tanis) by Francis Lankester
Editor’s Comment: Our thanks to Francis, who wrote the article Who Is King Scorpion?, for the above set of photographs of Djanet ( – hold the cursor over the hieroglyphs to view them) , more commonly known by its Greek name Tanis. Located in the eastern Delta, Tanis was particularly important during the Third [more…]
Paneb – “The All Round Bad Guy”
In Joyce Tyldesley’s Judgment of the Pharaohs, Tyldesley makes several references to an individual at Deir el-Medineh named Paneb, whom she describes evocatively as “the all round bad guy” (2000, p.127). In this short article, I have brought together some of the misdemeanours outlined in a letter known as Papyrus Salt 124 (BM 10055) for a closer look at this colourful character. [more…]
Lecture Review: Dancers, Donkeys, and Dirt: New Discoveries from the Time of the Black Pharaohs from South Asasif, Egypt
Dr Pischikova recently gave a fascinating lecture on the rediscovered Twenty-fifth Dynasty early Kushite tomb of Karakhamun (TT 223) in the South Asasif necropolis, situated in Luxor’s West Bank. The lecture took place on 24th November 2011 in the Friends of the Egypt Centre in Swansea, south Wales (U.K.). [more…]
Help researching Ankhesenamum
I have been an armchair egyptologist for over 50 years. I have two main interests in Egyptology; Ankhesenamum and Tutmania. As a psychologist, I have long been interested in the impact of the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun as a social and cultural phenomenon and as an aspect of popular culture to the present [more…]
Valley of the Kings from the Theban Hills by Heidi Kontkanen
A set of photographs of the Valley of the Kings near Luxor taken in December 2011. These days there is a photography ban in the Valley of the Kings so these were taken from the Theban Hills looking down into the valley. There is a second set to follow in a couple of weeks. There [more…]
A very happy New Year
We hope you have enjoyed Egyptological throughout 2011. Why not celebrate the New Year by writing an article for Egyptological? Add it to your New Years Resolution list :-) Wishing you all the best for 2012. Andrea and Kate [more…]
By Andie
Minor Menu Changes to Egyptological Site
As the site matures we are trying to make the ever-increasing amount of content easy to find. Over the next few months expect a few changes to various pages to try to make Egyptological even better and both quicker and easier to use. In today’s change, we have removed Colloquy from the menu (although the [more…]
By Kate
Editorial – Journal Edition 2 and Magazine Edition 3
Welcome to our latest editions of the Journal and Magazine sections. There is a great mixture of topics, which we hope will provide something for everyone. In the Journal section Etienne Vande Walle has contributed more of his research into the legal terminology of Ancient Egypt, this time focusing on the significance of two titles [more…]
By Andie
Comparison of the stelae of wsrimn (Fisher Collection, Detroit) and of ddwsbk (Louvre C240 and BM566) of Dynasty XII
Abstract
The 12th Dynasty (Middle Egytian) judicial system was surprisingly modern in its approach and composition, but our knowledge is assembled by a process of deduction. Most of the key evidentiary sources are testimonial stelae which list the titles held by senior officials during their lifetimes. The nature of an individual’s role in the judicial process can be postulated from the combination of titles held, in turn allowing a picture of the overall operation of kingly justice to emerge. “The paper considers the titles and history of two such individuals, comparing and contrasting the titles they held to build a picture which reveals the existence of investigative judicial processes. [more…]
Who Is King Scorpion?
Abstract
The ‘Scorpion’ Mace-head is one of the most significant objects from the main deposit at Hierakonpolis. Unlike the Narmer Mace-head, it is not a complete mace-head but only part of one. Apart from the dominant figure after whom the palette is named, the surrounding scenes are partial; however excellently these have been conserved. This makes the object even more enigmatic and difficult to interpret than usual in the context of the development of Early Dynastic royal iconography. [more…]
This article re-examines the evidence and suggests an alternative identification for King Scorpion. [more…]