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Abstracts from Current Research Conference in Egyptology 2012
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CRE XIII Abstracts
Panel A1- Wednesday 28th
March
The Sphinx: Evolution of a Concept
Colin Reader, [email protected]
The current author has previously proposed an Early Dynastic date for the original construction
of the Great Sphinx. Whatever date is attributed to the building of the Great Sphinx of Giza
however, there is one issue that is seldom addressed – that is the origins of the sphinx as a
concept. On the basis that the sphinx represents a synthesis of various elements (the lion, the
sun god and the institution of pharaoh) this paper explores the archaeology of the Early
Dynastic Period to identify the means by which these originally distinct elements evolved to
form the concept of the sphinx.
The Encircling Protection of Horus
David Lightbody, University of Glasgow, [email protected]
This paper will outline my continuing research into protective architectural symbolism from
tombs and temples involving the royal falcon Horus with the shen ring. Over the last year I have
followed several research paths that opened up due to contacts I made at the CREXII
conference in Durham. One of these contacts led to the translation of part of the Berlin
Hieroglyph Dictionary of Erman and Grapow into English for the first time, and the subsequent
tracing of a primary textual source quoted in the dictionary that included the word shen in its
symbolic architectural context. The source of the relevant text turned out to be a spell/prayer
of protection for the royal tombs and temples, and by understanding the context of the text we
can better understand the words and meanings the symbols carried within it. The second line of
enquiry led to the identification of a line of text high up on the encircling enclosure wall of the
Temple of Horus at Edfu. The presentation will attempt to illustrate and explain the
architectural context of these words and texts, and show what the symbolism meant to the
ancient Egyptians.
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Khufu's second boat project , difficulties and wishes
Afifi Rohim Afifi, Independent Scholar, Chief Inspector of Antiquities of the Giza Plateau, Project
Supervisor of Khufu second boat project, [email protected]
The precise history and function of the ‘Giza solar boats’ has puzzled Egyptologists and
Historian's since their initial discovery in 1954. Some have called the ship a ‘solar barque’ - a
ritual vessel designed to ferry the resurrected king with the sun god Ra across the heavens;
while others assert that it was a funerary barge, to carry the body of the king to Giza for burial.
In 1987, National Geographic recorded footage inside the closed boat pit at the Giza plateau
which showed that the remaining disassembled boat was badly in need of urgent conservation
treatment and repair. In 2009 The Supreme Council of Antiquities, together with Waseda
University from Japan launched a joint mission to restore and reassemble the second Khufu
boat.
This paper will showcase the current work of Egyptian and Japanese archaeologists as they
attempt to rediscover, restore and re-assemble the second Khufu solar boat. This remarkable
vessel is the last remaining solar boat requiring reassembly within Egypt, making this project a
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the team. What successes have been reported this season?
What are the problems and difficulties facing the team in subsequent seasons? How do they
plan to make the boat sail again?
Panel A2- Wednesday 28th
March
Innovative Strength of the Middle Kingdom Tomb Decoration – The MeKeTRE Project
Lubica Zelenkova Hudakova, University of Vienna, [email protected]
The interdisciplinary project MeKeTRE (‘Middle Kingdom Tomb Relief Evolution’) is carried out
by the Institute for Egyptology in cooperation with the Department of Distributed and
Multimedia Systems of the Vienna University. The art-historical research is concentrating on
Middle Kingdom reliefs and paintings from the tombs of the officials with the focus on the
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change and innovation of their content in comparison to the Old Kingdom. The published two-
dimensional representations are being collected, classified into themes, scenes and motives,
annotated and made public on the web in the MEKETREpository. The repository enables to
describe the individual tombs or fragments as well as the particular themes and provide them
with bibliographical references and media such as drawings or photographs. It seeks to become
a reliable tool for researchers not only from the Egyptological community.
The paper aims to demonstrate both aspects of the project. On the one hand, it should present
the current state of the repository with its data and functionalities. On the other hand, the
research should be exemplified on the scenes dealing with bread-baking and brewing. From the
Old Kingdom, more than 60 illustrations of these scenes are known whereas from the First
Intermediate Period and Middle Kingdom less than a third is attested. Nevertheless, by
analysing the depicted activities and individual figures and objects (such as saddle querns,
bread moulds, hearths etc.), innovations and alterations in the iconography can be traced.
Cataloguing the Images of Life Six Feet Under: a Comparison of Tomb Decoration Patterns
between Old Kingdom Egyptian Tomb of Mereruka and Han Chinese Tomb No.1 of Dahuting
Tzu-Hsuan Maxime Huang, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, [email protected]
The tomb of Mereruka and the tomb no.1 of Dahuting are the best preserved and most
elaborate among their contemporaries to date. The delicacy and complexity of their visual
patterns in wall decoration is also representative of their time. An investigation into the two
sets of patterns helps to better comprehend their resemblances and divergences of the areas of
the artistic layouts of cultural custom regarding funeral practice, visual composition and
narrative, and socio-religious values. My current study on these two cases, as a launching phase
for my PhD research, at first practices a formalistic and quantitative approach so as to acquire
an overview in terms of spatial structure, human figures among compositions, gender, and
patterns of thematic arrangement. Then the study would carry the observation and analysis
into a comparison of spatial structure-functionality-theme relationship by examining the visual
dynamic distribution of the two sets of tomb wall decorations. Last, the study would re-
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examine the methodology of analyzing visual composition by emphasizing human figures as the
essential factor when decoding and recognizing the narrative patterns on a thematic level.
The distribution and dating of Egyptian false doors and funerary stelae of the First
Intermediate Period
Melanie Pitkin, Macquarie University, Sydney, [email protected]
The false door, later replaced by the stela, can be continuously seen in the archaeological
record from the end of the Old Kingdom to the beginning of the Middle Kingdom. It can be
traced across sites in Upper and Lower Egypt and across each of the major phases of rule from
the Memphites to the Herakleopolitans and the Thebans. Yet, most studies to date have only
considered the false door and stela within the parameters of individual sites or localised regions
(for example, Dunham and Brovarski’s studies at Naga ed Deir, Fischer’s study at Dendera and
Dawood’s study of the Memphite necropolis). There has been little attempt to try and date
false doors and stelae across both time and place. But, what we can in fact find by doing this is
the potential to determine a benchmark for dating other events and material culture of the
First Intermediate Period, as well as clearer patterns in artistic, administrative and social
developments. The purpose of this paper is therefore twofold. Firstly, it will present the
preliminary findings from a site distribution survey conducted of approximately 500 Egyptian
false doors and funerary stelae believed to date to the First Intermediate Period (reigns of Pepy
II - Mentuhotep II) and secondly, it will explore the results of applying a set of dating criteria to
a representative range of these.
Panel B1- Wednesday 28th
March
The Garstang Project: An Integrative Collections Review
Claire Ollett, University of Liverpool, [email protected]
The Garstang Project is a collaborative project between the Garstang Museum of Archaeology
at the University of Liverpool, Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery, Kendal Museum and
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Towneley Hall Museum and Art Gallery in Burnley. The project was funded and supported by
Renaissance North West as part of its Effective Collections Review Scheme.
These museums’ collections were known to contain significant numbers of objects from the
excavations of John Garstang in Egypt and therefore were identified as potential beneficiaries
of an integrative collections review. The Garstang excavation records and photographic archive,
which are housed at the University of Liverpool, were utilised and proved invaluable in
identifying objects from Garstang’s excavations which had been donated to the museums but
which often had limited or no accompanying details regarding provenance and other contextual
information.
This paper will outline the initial aims of the project, the methodologies employed and the
various outcomes which go beyond just developing an enhanced knowledge of the collections.
Pharaonic culture in the Arabic Middle Ages
Joost Kramer, University of Leiden, [email protected]
When we think about Egypt’s Middle Ages and its interaction with the pharaonic monuments
our thoughts are inevitably drawn to the raiding of tombs to obtain objects for sale or building
materials. But there is more to it. Ever since the ninth century AD Arabic scholars wrote
increasingly on ancient Egyptian culture; in his Kitab al-Buldan [Book of the countries] the Iraqi
litterateur al-Jahiz compiled a list of thirty world wonders, twenty of which to be found in
Egypt. On the other hand, medieval Muslims knew ancient Egypt first and foremost through the
Quran, from e.g. the story of Moses, a ruthless tyrant. Depictions in temples of deities and
human beings were difficult to incorporate within Islam. In short, medieval Egyptians had a very
ambiguous view of the pharaonic past.
In this paper, which discusses a largely neglected area in Egyptology and Arabic studies, I will
examine several Arabic scholars, both from Egypt and abroad, and focus on their accounts. I will
show how a variety of themes was applied in those accounts and how the pharaonic past was
incorporated and used in Islamic Egypt.
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Too many bilbils in New Kingdom Egypt? Implications of documentation and publication of
early excavations in Egypt
Henning Franzmeier, Freie Universität Berlin, [email protected]
An abundance of foreign pottery seems to cover New Kingdom cemetery sites across Egypt;
Cypriote base ring juglets or red lustrous wheelmade ware spindle bottles of 18th
Dynasty date
are virtually omnipresent and are found in any publication of a cemetery site. But is there really
so much imported pottery in relation to domestic pottery?
My reassessment of the 1920/21 excavations at Sedment in Middle Egypt has led to the
conclusion that there is a strong imbalance between the number of published, documented and
preserved examples of foreign pottery in comparison to Egyptian pottery. Of the pottery
vessels that are either published or present in museum collections, almost 16% are of Cypriote
origin; however, when all existing documentation is taken into consideration, such as
unpublished notebooks and tomb cards, this frequency reduces to 9.7%. Moreover the
accuracy of the available documentation is also often questionable, pointing to an even lower
percentage. The same holds true for the percentage of imported pottery found in tombs, as
tombs containing this particular object group were included in publications over tombs without.
The inclusion of all available information can therefore lead to completely new sets of data and
new paths of interpretation. Thus, through this paper, I want to encourage a widespread critical
reassessment of old excavations in order to obtain a stable evidence base.
New Discoveries from the Middle Kingdom
Mohammed Youssef Ali, Independent Scholar, Chief Inspector of Dashur and Lisht,
As the Chief Inspector of Dashour and Lisht I have been presented with many challenges
regarding the management of my site and its security ongoing in post revolutionary Egypt.
Unfortunately many archaeological sites in Egypt were attacked by looters pre and post the
January revolution. Looters targeted tombs and storage magazines in order to remove
artefacts and used the period of unrest to commence a campaign of illegal digging and site
encroachment on open sites such as Giza, Saqqara, Abusir, Dashour and surrounding areas. In
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February 2011 one such example brought to my attention involved a pair of inscribed blocks
illegally removed and being fought over by two groups of looters digging to the east side of the
Amenemhat I pyramid. With the assistance of the Army we were able to secure the site, arrest
the looters and recover two hitherto unknown inscribed blocks from the mortuary complex of
Amenemhat I. This paper will present an overview of the issues we have faced at Dashour
during this period, how we have addressed the challenges we have faced and present the
discovery of these very important inscribed blocks which without our intervention may have
lost their archaeological context and remained unknown to Egyptology.
Panel B2- Wednesday 28th
March
The Problem with Neferusi: Its location and importance within the Oryx Nome
Carl Graves, University of Birmingham, [email protected]
The important town of Neferusi was certainly located within the region of Beni Hasan in the
16th Upper Egyptian Nome, however successive attempts to locate its modern position have
proven unsuccessful. More recent methods of satellite imagery and ideas relating to Nile
migration could help clarify this problem. Thereafter placing our knowledge of the Oryx Nome
during the late First Intermediate Period and Middle Kingdom into its correct geographical
context.
Neferusi features in texts from the early Middle Kingdom through to the Third Intermediate
Period and takes a prominent role within the region and its relationship with Hermopolis.
Although it was never clarified as a Nome capital it was clearly an important town for the
Nomarchs buried at Beni Hasan. A greater understanding of this town will help our perception
of Middle Egyptian politics during the period mentioned above.
This paper forms part of my PhD research about the society of the 16th Upper Egyptian Nome.
While I do not aim here to realise a solution to the issue of Neferusi’s location I aim simply to
introduce to the argument new methods of settlement location and attempt to narrow down
the options available to us.
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Rock Stelae and Sacred Landscapes in the Eastern Desert during the Ramesside Period
Anna Garnett, University of Liverpool, [email protected]
The stone and mineral reserves of Egypt’s Eastern Desert were extensively exploited by mining
and quarrying expeditions during the New Kingdom. During this time, particular desert sites
were identified as being especially sacred and as such were subsequently transformed by the
construction of royal cult temples and shrines, which were often integrated into pre-existing
sacred landscapes. The presence of constructed religious space in the Eastern Desert primarily
demonstrates the interest of the king in the key desert routes, quarries and mines; however
several such loci, including Wadi Hellal and Wadi Mia, also preserve rock-cut stelae authored by
certain eminent Ramesside officials. This paper will address the nature of these stelae and the
background and particular motivations of their authors, while also questioning the extent to
which the stelae can be considered representative features of the transformation of the
Eastern Desert landscape during the New Kingdom.
Agents of Construction: The Territoriality of Ancient Egyptian Graffiti and Modern Functional
Parallels
Marina Wilding Brown, Yale University, [email protected]
The territorial nature of ancient graffiti, long assumed to be one of the key motivations for the
creation of both rock-art and rock-inscriptions, remains poorly understood for the ancient
Egyptian record. The considerable research into the rock-art of other communities, both
ancient and historical, contextualizes the territoriality of a given rock-art tradition within the
greater landscape of (cross-) cultural interactions. The ancient Egyptian graffiti record is unique
in that it exhibits the concomitant persistence of inscriptional and figurative graffiti, originating
from a single cultural group, spanning a common geographic territory. Nevertheless, a chasm
exists between investigations into Predynastic rock-art and studies of Dynastic rock-
inscriptions. Huyge’s examination of the Predynastic rock-art record of Elkab includes a critical
analysis of four key motivations governing the creation of rock-art and concludes that religion
and ideology form the most likely motivating factors in ancient Egypt.
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This paper contends that territoriality was another key motivating factor for both the
Predynastic and Dynastic graffiti traditions in ancient Egypt. Recent research on functional
parallels between ancient and modern graffiti traditions provides a new framework in which
graffiti do not serve merely to mark territorial boundaries but work actively to create territory.
Late Period Regionalism in Ancient Egypt: a Comparative Analysis of 25th
and 26th
Dynasty
Coffins from Thebes and Akhmim
Allison Williams, University of Liverpool, [email protected]
Material culture provides the archaeologist with tools for investigating ancient human activity.
Coffins, as funerary objects, held significance to the ancient Egyptian society. They were vessels
of the afterlife and eternal houses to hold the preserved body, which contained a newly
rejuvenated soul inside. During a time of political fragmentation, the Third Intermediate Period,
this material culture began to exhibit changes. Regional areas began to feature stylistic changes
that reflected their newly altered political and social relations. In this paper I investigate and
conclude that there was regional variation on coffin iconography during the 25th
and 26th
Dynasties in ancient Egypt. I furthermore explore the idea that the presence of regional
variation on coffins was primarily due to the lack of craftsman migration, which came about
through the decentralization of a political authority. By using comparative analysis on each of
my two sites, I identify the similarities and nuanced differences that occurred between Thebes
and Akhmim. By setting the scene through contextualization and examination of coffins
through history, one can start to piece together just how important these artefacts are.
Through this I interpret political and social change in Late Period Egypt.
Panel C1- Wednesday 28th
March
Royal festivals in cultural memory studies
Gabrielle Heffernan, University of Birmingham, [email protected]
How did cultural memory develop within Egyptian communities? And how could it be used to
create bonds between the people and the state, thus forming a sense of ‘national’ identity and
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a community centred around state ideology? The talk will discuss this issue by analysing images
of festivals within private tombs from the early Nineteenth Dynasty at Thebes, focussing on
images of festivals in which statues of the king played a key role. It will look at the people
depicted in these scenes (namely priests, ‘musicians’, boatmen and observers), analysing what
their involvement in such events tells us about the place of the pharaoh in local tradition and in
the wider society. These images will also enable a discussion about the importance of ‘active’
remembering in sociological theory. Finally the discussion will consider whether there was a
fundamental difference between the king as a person (whose direct interaction with the public
is only occasionally alluded to) and the king as an image (such as statues which ‘participated’ in
festivals), and how this may have affected the cultural memory of the people who witnessed
such events.
Beyond the grave: New Kingdom tombs at Saqqara, Egypt, as shrines of cultural memory
Nico Staring, University of Leiden, [email protected]
The way people view their past affects how they treat its remains. Why did people preserve
what they did and destroy other remains? How did the ancient Egyptians view their own past
and what effect did their knowledge of the past have on their behaviour?
This presentation concentrates on the New Kingdom necropolis in Saqqara, Egypt, and its elite
tombs from the late 18th
to 20th
Dynasties, c. 1400-1100 B.C. The use, re-use and reception
(history) of material remains from the past by later generations within this man-made mortuary
landscape will be analysed. The added value for the use of memory studies, adapted from social
sciences, will be demonstrated.
Access to the Divine in New Kingdom Egypt: Royal and public participation in the Opet
Festival
Kelly Accetta, University of Cambridge, [email protected]
This paper, which is based on my master’s dissertation, assesses the ability of the public to gain
direct physical and spiritual access to their divinities, viewing this as a reflection of power and
society. It also considers the purpose of public performative festivals in the New Kingdom. I
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focus on the New Kingdom’s Opet Festival, one of the most important processional festivals of
the god Amun, and the opportunities for physical interaction with the god, such as oracular
consultation, viewing of the divine barque, and ability for proximity to the pharaoh himself.
Reliefs of the festival, produced by the state in Karnak and Luxor Temples, are analyzed with
emphasis on figural design, events portrayed, and location in an attempt to understand the
purpose of this extended access to the divine. I also consider the physical landscape in which
the festival occurred to understand the potential for public interaction with the gods, by
reconstructing potential ceremonial routes and viewing spaces as they evolve throughout the
New Kingdom.
I conclude that, in addition to their role in renewing the pharaoh’s unique connection with the
gods, the festivals enhance the pharaoh’s standing with his people by allowing them greater
access to the divine.
Panel C2- Wednesday 28th
March
Reproducing human limbs: prosthesis, amulets and votive objects in Ancient Egypt
Alessandra Colazilli, University of Sapienza, [email protected]
Ancient Egyptians usually made use of amulets with apotropaic and propitious function. Part of
these objects were used to simulate body limb with magical and medical purpose because they
were considered as substitutes for a missing or diseased part of human body. They could be
worn as pendants to have protection or buried with the deceased to supply the missing part
and to be reanimated magically after death. Missing limbs could also be replaced by an artificial
one to restore the mummy because only a well preserved body was a guarantee of eternity.
Amulets in the form of human limbs and duplicates of such parts were also used to increase
their function and ability. Exemplars of wooden penis, ears etc. from Egyptian temples show
their importance within rituals. Their presence inside tombs is justified by Egyptian belief in
afterlife as mirror of daily life. Finally, sculpted feet, hands and other limbs were donated as
votive objects to thanks gods for recovery or ask for health.
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The purpose of the paper is to show meaning and function of such amulets and votive objects
during life and afterlife, within Egyptian religion and rituals, without failing to scan sacred texts
and literature.
Skeletal Health in Early Egypt: the Effects of Cultural Change and Social Status
Sarah Musselwhite, University of Cambridge, [email protected]
This study investigates the effects of state formation and social status on the health of several
early Egyptian populations, using data collected from skeletal remains. Population health has
frequently been shown to correlate with political, economic and social change in past societies.
Here, the frequencies of three skeletal stress markers known to reflect health—cribra orbitalia,
porotic hyperostosis and linear enamel hypoplasia—were measured in 179 individuals from six
Predynastic and Early Dynastic populations. The social context of each population was
reconstructed through examination of excavation reports. When viewed temporally, the results
suggest that overall health improved after the initial introduction of agriculture into Egypt,
probably due to dietary diversification. A subsequent decline in health is suggested in the later
Predynastic, possibly due to the negative effects of increasing population density caused by
urbanisation. Closer investigation of individuals buried in the elite Cemetery T at Nagada and
around the First Dynasty royal funerary enclosures at Abydos suggests that high social status
did not always confer good health in early Egypt. The integration of methods from both
Egyptology and Biological Anthropology has allowed a deeper understanding of how the
processes of state formation affected society on the level of local populations.
The applicability of modern forensic anthropological techniques to ancient Egyptian skeletal
remains
Emily Marlow, University of Manchester, [email protected]
Much of what is known about ancient Egyptian civilisation is derived from the study of
mummified or skeletonised human remains. Age at death and sex are two of the most
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biologically basic and important characteristics about an individual, and are essential
components of the palaeodemographical study of fertility, disease, diet, or mortality. These
parameters are traditionally determined by morphological or metric assessment of the
skeleton. However, techniques for estimating both sex and age at death are prone to error as a
result of several different biases, notably population differences in body size, skeletal
proportions, and rates of skeletal development, maturation and degeneration. In addition,
most popularly-used techniques were formulated using modern population samples, and their
accuracy in archaeological contexts may not have been tested. This paper will present
preliminary results arising from data collected from skeletal remains curated at the Peabody
Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University. The sample consists of adult
individuals from Predynastic period Keneh, Old Kingdom period Giza, Middle Kingdom period
Sheikh Fanag. Analyses will focus on the percent accuracy of modern sex determination
techniques, temporal and geographic patterns of sexual dimorphism, and the development of
population-specific sex determination methods using discriminant function analysis.
Panel A1- Thursday 29th
March
The lion in Pre- and Early Dynastic Egypt – power and glory?
Lyn Stagg, Independent Scholar, [email protected]
Several important studies have been undertaken in which the lion in Ancient Egypt (and
elsewhere in the ancient world) has been placed within the elite and royal milieu mainly on
iconographic and textual grounds (for example: Davis 1981; Schweitzer 1948; De Wit 1980).
Some of these representations are monumental in scale. Additionally many of the much smaller
objects have usually been interpreted as ‘gaming pieces’ (Kendall 2007) rather than as amulets.
Some of this material dates from the pre-and Early dynastic periods of Egyptian history, and
was discovered in the very early period of excavation in Egypt or in very disturbed contexts, or
both. A re-evaluation of this material endeavours to place a new interpretation on some of the
early representations, in particular, concentrating on material discovered during the last 30 or
so years of excavation in Egypt.
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Bushes, undergrowth: the word Sfnw in Egyptian texts
Flavie Deglin, University of Lille III Charles-de-Gaulle, [email protected]
My research about wooded areas led me to study the word Sfnw. This term, which wasn’t
recorded in the Wörterbuch, was mentioned in several texts from the New Kingdom to
Ptolemaic period. It covers an environmental reality and Egyptologists tend to translate it as
“bushes” or “undergrowth”.
Through the analysis of these documents, this paper aims at bringing more details about this
kind of vegetation, its conception in the popular imagination and its use for a clearer
understanding of the Egyptian landscape.
Control of the Wild as Elite Funerary Activity in the Predynastic
Francis Lankester, University of Durham, [email protected]
Hunting riverine and desert animals is seen on pottery in graves from as early as Naqada I.
Hunting with dogs is prominent on C-Ware and in rock-art. It is probable that elite groups in
centres such as Hierakonpolis and Mahasna hunted in the desert, and that the combination of
human, hunting and boat petroglyphs is linked to funerary activity in the Nile Valley. I contend
that it constituted a necessary means of continuing life after death. Although the hunting
theme appears to decline on D-Ware, it is clear that this is more apparent than real. Control of
the wild through hunting and capturing continues in to the Naqada III and dynastic period,
remaining a key activity in tomb scenes.
Panel A2- Thursday 29th
March
Analysis of the Early Dynastic Naqada Royal Tomb Assemblage
Hayley Meloy, University of Liverpool, [email protected]
In 1904 Garstang undertook a one-day investigation of the Naqada Royal Tomb, which had
previously been excavated by De Morgan in 1897 and Borchardt in 1898. Garstang uncovered
hundreds of objects left in the rubbish piles of these previous excavations, 200 of which are
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now housed in the Garstang Museum, Liverpool. The tomb itself has been dated to the
beginning of the First Dynasty, and for a time was considered to be the tomb of the legendary
King Menes. It is now generally connected to a royal lady, Queen Neithhotep, who was
associated with King Aha and may indeed have been co-regent with this earliest of kings. The
tomb itself is now lost but the analysis of the surviving objects (which include clay sealings,
flints, stone vessel fragments, ivory objects and objects of personal adornment) has the
potential to shed light on the interred queen and the changes unification brought to ancient
Egypt, specifically in the case of burial customs and domestic and foreign trade. This paper will
serve as an introduction to this tomb assemblage and a discussion of some of the techniques
currently being employed in the analysis of the Garstang Museum’s Naqada Royal Tomb
collection.
Children of Sorrow: Infants and Juveniles in Ancient Egyptian Funeral Processions
Emily Millward, University of Birmingham, [email protected]
As part of a larger study into the gestures of mourning in ancient Egypt this paper aims to study
the images of children within funeral processions. Research into adult mourners in ancient
Egypt is incomplete and, as a result, the study of children in mourning has also been neglected.
A series of decorative images from various tombs can help to understand the gestures of grief
that Egyptian children portrayed. Were they similar to the gestures adopted by their adult
counterparts? How did they interact with their fellow mourners and what does their presence
within the procession tell us about mourning in ancient Egypt? In considering these points a
picture of mourning in ancient Egyptian funeral processions can be established and the facets
of emotion and performance within mourning can begin to be assessed.
The Stela of Nebet-Kebeny CG 34117
Maha Yehia, University of Menofiya, [email protected]
The stele of Nebet-Kebeny was found at Luxor but probably comes from Abydos and is kept
now in Cairo Museum CG 34117. The stela is made of fine white limestone. It is finely
carved, round-topped and measures 66.5 x 41 cm. The subject matter of the text inscribed on
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the stela under discussion is overwhelmingly dominated by the funerary offering formula
addressed to the gods of the west and the high religious titles of the owner’s family members.
The stela is to be considered funerary where Wepwawat and Anubis in the form of two
jackals stretched on their plinth facing each other, both labeled Wepwawat lord of Abydos
and Anubis lord of the west.
The stela is divided into four sections: The first section is the protection symbol; the second
is the first scene; the third is the second scene, and the fourth is the main text
In this study I will discuss each section separately to shed light on the contents (scenes and
texts) of the stela.
Panel B1- Thursday 29th
March
Sex Object or Equal Partner? The Role of Women as portrayed in ancient Egyptian Love
Poems
Renate Fellinger, University of Cambridge, [email protected]
Ancient Egyptian love poems (dating to the New Kingdom) and women have been the focus of
scholarly attention for more or less a century. However, most scholars investigating these areas
have denied that the love poems reflect ancient society and practice. This paper challenges this
point of view and examines what the love poems can contribute towards the study of the role
of women in society via phenomenology. This comprises the idea that love poems represent
literary landscapes which were created by the authors’ own perceptions and experiences of
contemporary life.
Besides a brief discussion of certain issues (such as authorship or audience of these poems), this
paper predominantly focuses on three criteria. These are regarded by the presenter as
comprising the underlying framework on which the poems were constructed by the poets: the
freedom of speech, movement, and action of women as portrayed in the poems. These
freedoms are deemed essential for the determination of the role and position of women in
society.
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The results of this investigation show that women were fairly equal to men regarding these
three criteria. The considerable amount of freedom as reflected in the poems may imply that
women were prominent members of society.
The role and position of Old Kingdom royal women in times of power transition
Reinert Skumsnes, Independent Scholar, [email protected]
The aim of this paper is to highlight the role and position of Old Kingdom royal women in
periods of power transition, and to suggest that certain royal women provided their spouse
with the necessary legitimacy to rule, either as a result of several king’s son’s (sA-nswt)
aspiring to the throne, or the lack of royal blood, and thus providing a strong link between
dynasties. The reason for royal women to have married their brothers, or other close family
members, was to keep the royal family small and exclusive, while at the same time following
the example of the gods, marrying their siblings, creating precedence for kingship. My goal is
not to bring back the heiress theory, a theory that in itself is made by modern Egyptologist,
but rather to argue that the right to the throne of ancient Egypt could be passed on in many
different ways. It could be patrilineal, matrilineal and fratrilineal, and they could
overlap as well as function simultaneously. The point is that we have to acknowledge each
case as individual; Some queens and princesses might have played an important role while
others did not, and naturally (although perhaps to a lesser extent) the same was the case for
their male counterparts.
Gender and Power Relations: A Revision of the role of Queenship during the coregency of
Hatshepsut and Tuthmose III (c. 1479-1458 BC)
Virginia Laporta, University of Buenos Aires, [email protected]
The lack of male heirs to the throne of Egypt is closely related to the new role of Queenship
during the very beginning of the Eighteenth Dynasty (c. 1550-1292 BC). I shall examine this new
role through the royal figure of Hatshepsut (c. 1479-1458 BC), a queen descendant of the
18
Ahmoside as well as the Thutmoside royal lines, who altered her position of regent queen of
the underage Thutmose III to become a co-ruler “king”. Nevertheless, she was usually
represented as the only king. Thus, I consider the royal unique figure splits and the male Horus
–Thutmose III– resulted to be shadowed by the presence of a female enthroned king,
Hatshepsut. Traditionally considered as usurpation and taken of advantage from the
queen/king –and co-ruler– over the underage male king, I consider the situation can be
analyzed from another perspective. Thus, I propose to revise the co-regency of Hatshepsut and
Thutmose III through gender analysis and a review of the established power relationships based
upon two major research strategies: (1) a theoretical analysis of the cultural concept of gender
and the construction of power relations, and (2) a re-examination of surviving evidence
(textual, iconographic, and architectonic) related to Hatshepsut`s role of Queenship.
All Made Up? A re-examination of the function of 'cosmetic spoons'
Kathryn Howley, Brown University, [email protected]
Although prevalent in collections, Egyptian ‘cosmetic spoons’ have received little attention in
scholarly literature. Few spoons come from excavated contexts and none show evidence of
having contained cosmetics, while their shape seems unsuitable for cosmetic application.
Nonetheless, museums overwhelmingly label these spoons as ‘cosmetic’ and exhibit them with
other cosmetic equipment.
A literature review was undertaken to ascertain the basis for the identification of these objects.
No supporting archaeological evidence was found. Rather, early publications stress the
feminine nature of the spoons’ decoration, and therefore associate them with the ‘feminine’
activity of applying cosmetics. Moreover, plainer spoons are not identified in excavation reports
as cosmetic spoons, as they are not identified as having ‘feminine’ qualities. There is no clear
reason to retain the original identification of these objects as ‘cosmetic’ spoons.
Temple offering scenes often depict incense being offered by spoon. Objects matching the
appearance of these spoons exist in several museum collections, though classified as cosmetic
spoons. I propose that the function of ‘cosmetic’ spoons was more likely to be offering, and
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present the possibility that the functions of Egyptian ‘minor arts’ have been identified on the
basis of the cultural biases of archaeologists rather than archaeological evidence.
Panel B2- Thursday 29th
March
Cultural Hybridity as a Model for Cultural Change in New Kingdom Nubia: a reassessment of
Egypto-Nubian relations
Paul van Pelt, University of Cambridge, [email protected]
‘Egyptianization,’ understood in its simplest form as the spread of what was Egyptian at the expense of
what was not, is the dominant concept for the analysis of cultural change in New Kingdom Nubia. This
paper - building on recent critiques of the similar model of ‘Romanization’ - attempts to demonstrate
that ‘Egyptianization’ is a simplistic and outmoded model of cultural change, especially when applied to
the majority populations of Egypt’s foreign territories. It sets out by discussing the theoretical
shortcomings of ‘Egyptianization’ and the ideological presuppositions that have coloured its past
reconstructions in ancient Nubia. A new theoretical approach is suggested that benefits from the
sociological insights of ‘cultural hybridity’. Whilst theories of ‘Egyptianization’ implicitly assume a
unidirectional transfer of culture from Egypt to its foreign territories, an emphasis on hybridization
processes acknowledges a more complex view in which cultural change can be multidirectional, atavistic
and situational. The worth of the model is demonstrated through two detailed case studies, focusing on
representations of ‘Egyptianized’ Nubians in Egyptian art (e.g. Heqanefer) and burial customs in Lower
Nubia respectively. These case studies highlight the emergence of new, highly differentiated social
formations incorporating new cultural logic and new configurations of power, influencing Egyptians and
Nubians alike.
Egyptian imitations of Mycenaean stirrup jars
Birgit Schiller, Humboldt University of Berlin, [email protected]
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Since the beginning of excavations in Egypt and Nubia, not only original Mycenaean pottery was
found but also imitation vessels. The Mycenaean stirrup jar is a transport vessel that contained
(perfumed) olive oil. At the same time Egyptian imitations appeared it is also documented that
olive trees were cultivated in Egypt itself.
Until now, I have been able to collect 20 faience stirrup jars (+ 2 forgeries), four of ‘Egyptian
Alabaster’ and 11 of clay. The faience stirrup jars bear not only traces of abrasion but it is also
confirmed by scientific examination that they actually contained an oily substance. I have
determined the capacity of some of these faience stirrup jars.
Although scientific examination has not been done, it is likely that clay imitations stirrup jars
contained oil as well. In Palestine one single vessel similar to Egyptian ones came to light.
Possibly it is an import from Egypt.
The aim of my paper is not only to present these vessels and their distribution in Egypt and
Nubia in the New Kingdom but also to discuss the economic impact.
Greek or Egyptian, please make up your mind: Ptolemy II multi-cultural presentations
Heba Abd el- Gawad, University of Durham, [email protected]
The first three Ptolemies have been usually praised for being „propaganda machines‟, this is mainly
attributed to how they perfectly „accommodated‟ to Egyptian traditions and managed to find common
cultural and religious values to bind together the peoples of their kingdom. Ptolemy II, in particular,
offers a distinctive case study for Ptolemaic media manipulation and image making. For during
Philadelphus’ reign cultural specific ideologies were fused into dynastic symbols uniting the whole
kingdom. Moreover, Ptolemy II’s visual display of power has even extended beyond the territories of his
own kingdom to the various overseas dependencies and allies.
Yet, how did Ptolemy II use the various visual and literary presentation medium to create a
multi-cultural ‘Ptolemaic sphere’? Do we find innovations in Philadelphus’ multi-faced
presentations or did it simply follow traditional conventions? How systematic were such
presentations and to what extent were they affected by the geographical location? How
successful were Ptolemy II’s presentations among his intended audience and what impact did it
have on the whole of the Ptolemaic dynasty? This paper will aim to resolve these issues through
a multi-disciplinary examination of some visual and literary evidence of Ptolemy II, in an
21
attempt to shed more light on what should be classified as a ‘trademark’ of the Ptolemaic
dynasty.
HALF AN ITERU ONWARD! The “Mycenaean Brigade” at Amarna: Egypt, the Aegean and Late
Bronze Age warfare
Alexandros Giannakoulas, University of Oxford, [email protected]
The diffusion of new military technology during the Late Bronze Age not only changed radically
the way war was waged, but had also significant social and ideological implications in the whole
Eastern Mediterranean, such as the ascent of a class of war specialists and the spread of a
warrior ethos. Moreover, this period witnessed an unprecedented international circulation of
technical skills, artistic motifs and ideas.
The aim of this paper is to outline how one may study the interaction between Egypt and the
Bronze Age civilizations of the Aegean in relation to warfare, as one example of a specific area
of cultural activity. This requires a multi-disciplinary approach and use of material of very
diverse types. A papyrus from Amarna (BM EA 74100), featuring individuals possibly equipped
as Aegean warriors, is one among several proposed pieces of evidence for military interaction
of some kind, such as an exchange of mercenaries.
After briefly reviewing the available material, I assess whether instances such as the Amarna
papyrus should be better understood as part of a broader circulation of subjects and motifs in
the context of an at least partly shared military ethos, rather than as direct evidence for events.
Panel C1- Thursday 29th
March
Cry and Silence: Rethinking the Nature of man-god communicative Language
in Ancient Egypt
Amr Omar, The American University in Cairo, [email protected]
In ancient Egypt, Cry and Silence should be defined in relation to each other, as both terms are
not represented in direct contrast in much Egyptological literature. Silence has been
traditionally considered as one of the requirements in or near the realm of Dead, the access to
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temples, and the gate-of-giving-Justice, whereas the concept of ‘Raising the Voice’ within these
abodes is perceived as ‘bwt’. Nevertheless, Cry, in the sense of ‘Raising the Voice’ is not wailing,
as this paper intends to argue, which the ancient Egyptians perceived as forbidden behaviour.
Contrarily, abundance of the textual evidence, from the New Kingdom, concerning the
meanings and uses of ‘Cry’ in human interaction with the divine entities in scared places as a
communicative power, through which the ancient Egyptian entreats his god to intercede and
act on his behalf according to his needs, hopes and even fears. The deities in these sources not
only ‘hear’ the ‘cry’, but ‘come from afar’ at the person who cried out. This presentation will
demonstrate how far ‘cry’ and ‘silence’ formed an effective binary polar communication
medium, and the ancient Egyptian was in a position to select from to approach the divine
sphere.
Coping with Uncertainty: the Use of Faith in New Kingdom Egypt
Daniel Potter, University of Liverpool, [email protected]
One problem inherent in the nature of life itself is the uncertainty of the future, as mere
mortals we cannot know what tomorrow has in store for us and can only prepare for any
amount of possibilities. As such, humans have applied different aspects of religious belief,
philosophy and thought in order to reduce the impact of such uncertainty on daily life. This
paper aims to assess the application of faith in the New Kingdom as a means of coping with
such uncertainty. Specifically, examining textual sources in which the individual shows some
application of faith in context, in order to deal with the uncertain nature of the future and the
afterlife. These sources include a number of the Late Ramesside Letters in which the writer
proclaims that “Tomorrow is in the hands of the god”, a number of New Kingdom funerary
inscriptions which frame wishes for the afterlife within an epistemic conditional phrase and
corroborating sources from other textual spheres. These sources will be analysed grammatically
and through the utilization of elements of the pragmatic tradition within linguistics to see how
these individuals encoded their beliefs in Ancient Egypt.
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The Ears Stelae Chronological Partition: for a New Understanding of the Personal Piety
Development
Nathalie Toye, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Paris, [email protected]
Thanks to recent work on the iconography of ears in royal portraits, we have been able to
date more precisely a number of uninscribed ears stelae. This reveals that the ears stelae date
mostly to the eighteenth dynasty, before the expansion of the personal piety during the
Ramesside period.
We point out that most ears stelae do not appear during the nineteenth dynasty, and by
contrast with the eighteenth dynasty there was a strong decrease in their presence -by more
than half.
If the corpus of ears stelae is extended to include all items that mention the god who
listens, it is possible to clarify this surprising chronological partition. It appears that the
epithets related to listening, sDm nH.t, sDm spr.wt were preferred in the nineteenth dynasty to
the sketch of the ear. From that moment onwards, the ears stelae are progressively
abandoned. We notice the use of new epithets related to the development of private oracular
practices, jy n aS n=f, or jy nxrwnaSn=f, which mean that the God listened to a request, because
he answered it.
Panel C2- Thursday 29th
March
Technological Innovations in the 2nd Mill. B.C. in Egypt: a theoretical model for the use and
distribution of new technologies and materials
Heike Wilde, University of Heidelberg, [email protected]
I would like to present the main results of my investigations concerning technological
innovations in the 2nd
Mill. B.C. in Egypt.
The introduction, development and expansion of three innovative technologies, glass
manufacturing, metallurgical techniques used to produce tin-bronze and the introduction of the
horse drawn chariot are typical examples for advances in the Bronze Age society, Egypt being
part of it. Investigating this exciting period in two consecutive studies (MA thesis and doctoral
24
thesis) led me to propose a "classification system" which can be applied to the introduction and
development of new techniques or materials as mentioned above, consisting of three
successive phases, beginning with the "Primärphase" (a "get-to-know-phase") in which the first
contact with the new material is predominant. The second one "Sekundärphase" is an
"experimental phase" in which the characteristics and advantages of the materials are fully
recognized. Distinctive for the third one, "Expansivphase" is a kind of serial production in which
a previous prestigious character of the goods might have been lost.
In the second study, focusing on typical crafts connected with prestigious goods such as
precious metalworking and faience, the social cultural conditions for adapting or refusing
technological innovations were pointed out.
The Khopesh: A New Kingdom saga of trade, interconnectivity and adaption of technology.
Sarah Shepherd, University of Exeter, [email protected]
Gods and Kings are frequently shown on the walls of tombs and temples armed with swords
and various forms of weaponry. Temple reliefs at Karnak, Luxor, Abu Simbel and Medinet Habu
attest to the might and power of the Egyptian armies. Soldiers are depicted being issued with
arms and actively engaged in combat by slaying the enemies of Egypt either by stabbing or
throat cutting with knives and swords. Actual examples of weaponry were occasionally included
amongst the burial equipment of royalty or officials such as the two Khopesh examples known
from the burial of Tutankhamun. The earliest depictions of the soldier and the sword are found
at the temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el Bahri where duelling soldiers are also shown with a short
form of the Khopesh. Khopesh (ḫpš) is the Egyptian name of the Canaanite "sickle” sword and
during the New Kingdom the sword was manufactured as a result of the technological
innovations adopted during the rule of the
Hyksos. This paper will demonstrate the author’s efforts to understand the construction and
subsequent development of the sword and its contribution towards the Bronze Age arms race.
Two Steps Forward, One Step Back? Our Understanding of the Egyptian Verbal System
Rob Persson, University of Oxford, [email protected]
25
This paper will explore a central issue in the study of the Egyptian language: The respective
place of morphology and syntax in the verbal system. In Lingua Aegyptia 16 (2008) Sami Uljas
argued that we should consider how a verb is formed and appears (morphology), and be wary
of considering how and where it is used in a sentence (syntax). Uljas’s argument is essentially
the following:
-Some irregular verbs have variable morphological sDm=f forms (eg ir > irr),
-These variable morphological sDm=f forms reflect different grammatical forms (eg plain form
> imperfect),
- Regular verbs generally have invariable morphological sDm=f forms (ie sDm),
- We cannot generalise that the grammatical forms found in irregular verbs was also present in
regular verbs.
This paper will challenge the last point, both with regards to its validity and its ramifications.
This is a critical issue for us because it not only affects our translations, but also how we
understand a core part of Egyptian (the verb).
Panel D1- Thursday 29th
March
Tomb Security in the Early Dynastic Period
Reg Clark, University of Swansea, [email protected]
Following the unification of Egypt, the emergence of an increasingly stratified society and a
powerful elite during the Early Dynastic Period saw a progressive increase in the size of both
their tombs and the wealth of their contents, in both royal and private contexts. Unfortunately,
this attracted tomb robbers and as a consequence led to the development of ever more
complex tomb security measures to thwart them. This paper traces some of the main
developments from the reign of Iry-Hor up until the end of the Second Dynasty, and seeks to
demonstrate that a great deal of early tomb architecture was driven by the need to protect the
tomb rather than religious or monumental considerations.
Amarna erasures in Theban tombs and the question of monotheism
26
Paal Steiner, University of Bergen, [email protected]
Iconoclasm is defined as intentional desecration of art based on religious principles or faith. The
term is historically closely linked to monotheism, which is associated not only with belief in one
god, but also with an understanding of all other deities as false gods, and consequently with the
persecution of polytheistic religion.
King Akhenaten’s “monotheistic” experiment is one of the more well studied episodes of
Egyptian history, yet the material remains of the period’s destructive persecution of religious
imagery has yet to be fully examined. This paper presents the results of an initial study of the
persecution of names and images of the Egyptian pantheon in published Theban tombs, as a
contribution to a more complete investigation of the iconoclastic movement.
The study demonstrates the selective nature of the persecutions, in that primarily
representations of deities and institutions of the Karnak temple are erased. Thus, iconoclasm as
a means for monotheistic intolerance does not seem to imply a general persecution of all other
gods. These findings indicate the importance of a reassessment of Amarna-religion as a
monotheistic iconoclastic movement.
Panel D2- Thursday 29th
March
Figured ostraca from Deir el-Medina and their relationship to material culture
Joanne Backhouse, University of Liverpool, [email protected]
At CRE XII I discussed the iconography of a particular genre of image found on figured ostraca
from Deir el-Medina, ‘scènes de gynécées,’ which include images of women on beds, both with
and without children and in pavilions. This paper will consider the relationship between these
pieces and contemporaneous material culture. I will consider the three-dimensional female
figurines found at Deir el-Medina, and then assess the context, distribution, and iconography of
‘women on beds figurines’ found throughout New Kingdom Egypt. I will also consider the
broader question of when does an image become an object in its own right.
In order to explore the dialectical relationship between image and object, and how each aids
our understanding of the other, I will use the mirror as an example. It is depicted frequently on
27
the figured ostraca under consideration and on a limited number of figurines. Furthermore,
during the New Kingdom the female form was incorporated into mirror handles, epitomising
the association of the female form and the mirror. Again I will examine the context,
distribution and iconography of these pieces, to further our understanding of the figured
ostraca.
Symbolising identity: identity marks in Deir el-Medina ostraca
Daniel Soliman, University of Leiden, [email protected]
In early as well as in modern civilisation, a writing system may exist along a system that makes
use of graphic signs without direct phonetic values. In ancient societies we find seal emblems,
pot marks, and so on. Like writing, marking systems are important conveyors of identity, but
they have not been systematically studied. In Ancient Egypt such signs are often identity marks.
They convey ownership or production information.
At Deir el-Medina, the workmen were represented by individual marks on ostraca, in graffiti,
and on various objects from the workmen’s settlement and tombs. Several hundred ostraca
inscribed with these marks constitute a separate category within the administrative
documentation of the necropolis. A four-year research project at Leiden University will examine
these marked ostraca.
Part of the research is involved with how exactly the marks were used in the community of Deir
el-Medina – in addition to writing, and tries to place the marks in their historical and functional
context. Moreover, an attempt will be made to date the corpus of marked ostraca as precise as
possible. In this talk, the project will be introduced. Some of the difficulties of the research will
be explained, and initial results will be presented.
Panel A1- Friday 30th
March
Mehet-ouret in the royal funerary texts
Loriane Bussien, University of Geneva, [email protected]
My PhD research field is on the goddess Mehet-ouret and her seven words (Tsw/DAisw).
28
We find attestations of her presence in sources from the Old Kingdom till the Greco-Roman
period, mainly in funerary texts such as the Pyramid Texts, Coffin Texts and Books of the Dead
and other documents but I will focus only on those corpuses for my presentation.
Mehet-Ouret is attested several times in the Pyramid Texts, mainly as a place: a place of trial
between Horus and Seth ; a place where the creation of the world takes place or as a support of
the first birth of the sun god. She also has the important function of the flood and by extension
of a provider of offerings for the deceased.
These prerogatives are known in the Coffin Texts as well, but another important field is added
to her functions which is the power of creation by words (Tsw). She is also considered since that
time as the eye of Ra what will link her to different important goddesses.
The tradition of Books of the Dead carries further on those aspects of Mehet-ouret and we can
also notice stronger bonds with Hathor and a “newcomer” of the New Kingdom, Ta-ouret.
Who or what is Werethekau? A problematic inscription (UC 16639)
Ahmed M. Mekawy Ouda, University of Cairo, [email protected]
The main purpose of this paper is to investigate an unpublished limestone block of unknown
provenance at the Petrie Museum (UC 16639) and to identify the identity of Werethekau
mentioned in the inscription. Petrie did not record when or where he found this block; the
context of this object, as a central and identifier feature for the archaeological discipline, is lost
(Johnson 1999, 107). Petrie’s archive does not refer to the date of acquisition. No one knows
whether this artefact was bought by Petrie, whether he excavated it or obtained it by the
division policy from 1884-1922. I will focus on the following questions: What does this object
represent? To which period does it date? What does the name of Werethekau stand for? Is it an
epithet for a goddess or does it stand for a material object (broad collar, red crown, white
crown, double crown, vulture, and cobra)? A further point to clarify is whether this object
represents the goddess Werethekau, who is frequently associated with the coronation of the
king. The discussion also introduces the discipline on which I rely for the identification of the
object and its chronology.
29
Did Min really need all those lettuces?
Pauline Norris, University of Manchester, [email protected]
Min is one of the most ancient of the Egyptian gods and, since early in the Dynastic Period, he
was associated with the lettuce plant: currently accepted to be Lactuca sativa L. The lettuce
appears to have been offered to the god because the Egyptians perceived the plant to be an
aphrodisiac. But did they and if so, why? The connotation of ‘aphrodisiac’ appears to have
been accepted into the literature without much question and may be a modern interpretation
imposed on Egyptian thought.
The properties and uses of L. sativa L. in Egyptian and other relevant cultures are compared and
interpretations of ‘aphrodisiac’ and ‘fertility’ considered. The reputation of the lettuce as an
aphrodisiac and Min’s need for such stimulation is re-evaluated in the light of the findings
which form part of on-going research.
Panel A2- Friday 30th
March
What is the Tale of Woe?
Luke McGarrity, University of Birmingham, [email protected]
At the last CRE, I gave a paper discussing some of the issues I had encountered in my research
concerning the translation and understanding of the Tale of Woe, also known as the Moscow
Literary Letter or P.Pushkin 127. In this next paper I will discuss the results of the second stage
of my research into this complex and unique text. I will present the results of applying a
theoretical framework to determine the degree of fictionality of the text, including the study
into its intertextuality with popular examples from the corpus of wisdom literature; finally
enabling me to define the Tale of Woe in terms of genre and the aims of its composition.
Identifying and Recording the Book of the Dead in the Second Pillared Hall of the Tomb of
Karakhamun
Kenneth Griffin, University of Swansea, [email protected]
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Excavations by the South Asasif Conservation Project within the tomb of Karakhamun (TT 223),
under the direction of Elena Pischikova, have shown that the tomb was extensively decorated
with a variety of religious texts including the Book of the Dead. During the past excavation
season, with the support of a Centenary Award from the Egypt Exploration Society, a project
was undertaken to identify and record the various chapters from the Book of the Dead as found
within the Second Pillared Hall of the tomb. In this paper I will examine a selection of these
texts, including chapters 15, 50, 57, and 104. This includes detailing the methods employed in
the identification of the texts, a process that is greatly accelerated by the use of a variety of
online resources such as the Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae (http://aaew.bbaw.de/tla/), as well
as the recording of the texts via digital epigraphy.
A Tale of Two Suppressions: Reinterpreting Papyrus Mayer A and the So-called ‘War of the
High Priest’ during the Reign of Ramesses XI
Kim Ridealgh, University of Swansea, [email protected]
The ‘War of the High Priest’ is commonly used by scholars today to refer to a suppression of the
High Priest of Amun Amenhotep by the Viceroy of Kush Panehsy during the reign of the last
Ramesside king, Ramesses XI. The exact date of this event is debatable, but it likely occurred
around Regnal Year 17 or 18 of Ramesses XI (c. 1089–1088 BCE). The sources that document
the ‘War of the High Priest’ are limited and may imply two separate suppression periods.
Papyrus Mayer A has traditionally been interpreted to suggest that the suppression of
Amenhotep behind the great temenos wall of Medinet Habu lasted nine months, whilst an
inscription in the Tuthmoside chapel at Karnak may suggest an additional suppression lasting
eight months. This study will add to the existing debate on the ‘War of the High Priest’ in two
different ways. Firstly, by re-examining the terminology surrounding the event, and secondly,
by reassessing the length of the suppression period via a paeolographic study.
Panel B1- Friday 30th
March
The recorded Solar Eclipse of Nectanebo I
Rosalind Park, Independent Scholar, [email protected]
31
Prior to the Hellenistic Period, Egyptian priests were coyly mute in the matter of recording sky
phenomena. Almost completely absent from surviving records is any reference, by way of myth,
text or art-work to the observation of a solar eclipse. The universal ‘ill omen’ cachet regarding
eclipses, seems to have led to the belief and practice of not speaking of, much less
memorializing, such events.
This paper reveals that, in striking contrast to the usual rule, a solar eclipse which passed over
the Western Nile Delta appears to have been commemorated in the royal inscriptions on twin
stelae, located in Naukratis and Thonis-Herakleion, requiring Greeks to pay import duty. The
(Julian) date of this eclipse, 5 November 380 BCE, falls within two days of the Egyptian date
inscribed on both stelae, presumably near the accession of the occult-loving King Nectanebo I.
He seemingly reinterpreted the ‘bad omen’ tradition to foretell that his reign would be one of
beneficence. The potential discovery of a previously unrecognized astronomical event should
invite a re-examination of abnormal hieroglyphs on the Naukratis Stela, and may reconcile
scholars to the apparent intermingling of ideologies of Egyptian scientific reticence, and the
contrasting openness of Greek astronomical theories, in the 4th
century BC.
Dates and Precursors of the Opet Festival
Masashi Fukaya, University of Oxford, [email protected]
Textual records relating to the dates of the Opet Festival are better attested than those of other
religious events. In this paper, it is presented how the dates of this feast were determined and
subsequently fixed to the civil calendar by examining some lunar dates and the seasonal cycle,
particularly of the Nile. It is evident by calculation that Thutmose III started this festival on a
new moon day in year 23. From the Ramesside Period onwards, the initial day appears to have
been fixed to II Akhet 19, probably in association with the high rise of the Nile. This day was
regarded as the day of the Opet Festival in the Roman Period. The author further attempts to
explore three pre-New Kingdom rites, which might have been the precursors of this feast,
namely the Mentu Festival, ‘Taking the River’ (Ssp itrw) and ‘Pouring the Sand’ (xnp Sa).
Chronology of the Egyptian New Kingdom revisited
32
Rita Gautschy, University of Basel, [email protected]
Egyptian chronology of the 2nd millennium BC is essential not only for Egypt, but also for the
Levantine, Syria, Mesopotamia and the Aegean. The local chronologies of the different regions
are interwoven by documented synchronisms and archaeological finds. The standard
chronology of the Egyptian New Kingdom nowadays is based on two lunar data from the times
of Ramesses II. On the other hand Assyrian chronology is well known from 1400 BC onwards
due to the Assyrian King List which is regarded as the most reliable available chronological
source. However, the chain of arguments linking together the chronologies of different regions
in Mesopotamia, the Levantine, Syria and Egypt via synchronisms seemingly all depend on the
lunar data of Ramesses II. Since lunar data are liable to observational errors of one day which in
succession lead to possible absolute chronologies differing by 11, 14 or 25 years, the standard
chronology of New Kingdom Egypt and the evaluation of the synchronisms documented
especially in the Amarna correspondence are worth a reinvestigation. I’ll present the results of
such a re-evaluation and their chronological implications.
Panel B2- Friday 30th
March
The role of the Iwn-mwt.f in the New Kingdom monuments of Thebes
Steven Gregory, University of Birmingham, [email protected]
It has become standard practice, in modern scholarship, to afford the epithet ‘priest’ to those
bearing such titles as wab, Xry-Hb(t), Hm-nTr , sm, and Iwn-mwt.f ; although no word in the
original texts appears to justify the use of such an appellation. It seems likely that the context of
surviving references to those officials – most being in a funerary setting or in monumental
architecture usually designated temple, chapel shrine, or having similar sacerdotal connotation
– has had some influence. However, the classification of the monuments is itself questionable
as, in ancient Egypt, there was no clear distinction between matters sacerdotal and matters
secular and themes decorating the buildings in question in fact reflect the political ideology of
the Pharaonic state, particularly as it relates to the office of kingship, rather than a religious
doctrine. It is this distinction which informs the present study which focuses on one of the
33
aforementioned classes of official, the Iwn-mwt.f; concluding that in this case the epithet
‘priest’ may be particularly unfortunate in that the character portrayed is not a servant of the
gods, but rather itself an aspect of deity fundamental to the ideology of ancient Egyptian
kingship.
‘Would that I accompany him, this excellent marshman!’: an analysis of the Marshman
(sxty) in Middle Egyptian literature
Simon Hawkins, University of Swansea, [email protected]
In the corpus of Middle Egyptian literature there is often reference to a class of person known
as a sxty. This word has been variously translated as marshman, peasant, and marshdweller
by different scholars, but the exact role and standing of this class of people in Egyptian society
is often difficult to attribute. By far the most well known of the texts which makes reference to
the marshman is The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant, the main character of which is a marshman.
Even in this one text the exact role and standing of the character is complex and contradictory,
with the character being simultaneously lowly and eloquent in a manner befitting the highest
elites in that society. The situation is muddied further by references in other texts, such as The
Pleasures of Fishing and Fowling, where being a marshman is a situation to be aspired to, and
contrary to the image of the lowly marshman found in The Eloquent Peasant. This paper will
seek to explore the nature of the marshman through their appearances in Middle Egyptian
literature and try to better understand their complex relationship with Egyptian society.
The Medjay leaders of Ancient Egypt
Rune Olsen, University of Copenhagen, [email protected]
Before the New Kingdom the Medjays were an ethnic group from Lower Nubia. By helping
Kamose and Ahmose in the war against the Hyksos the Medjays settled in Egypt proper and
were later given the responsibility of guarding the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings. They
have often been regarded as a police force in the modern sense of the word. However, apart
from no longer being ethnic Medjays, this paper seeks to re-evaluate that thinking by drawing
attention to the leaders of the Medjay, the so-called ‘Chiefs of Police’, and their duties,
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functions and daily life as they are preserved in the textual corpus and tomb decorations. The
bulk of information comes from Deir el-Medina and the Theban West Bank, from the 19th and
20th Dynasties. For instance, the Medjay leaders played a crucial role in helping the workers of
Deir el-Medina in their strike against Ramesses III, the first recorded strike in the world. In
contrast they only play a small part in the investigation of the robberies of royal tombs under
Ramesses IX. Why does a ‘Chief of Police’ not play a more active part in such investigations?
Panel C1- Friday 30th
March
Ancient Egyptian funerary figurines – an alternative paradigm
Sharyn Volk, University of Melbourne, [email protected]
The spell evident on many figurines, and the presence of agricultural implements and baskets,
is generally accepted to support the assumption that the statuettes represented substitute
workers for their owners in the afterlife. This interpretation may not sufficiently recognise the
multiplicity of symbolic layers embedded in the figurines. One of the tasks referred to in the
spell is that of moving sand (Š ˤ y), explored by many scholars within a range of theoretical
frameworks, but still without consensus as to its significance. Consideration of the symbolic
relevance of the sand, and examination of the other attributes of the figurines, reveals
potential alternative meanings worthy of further investigation. Prior to their evolution as
ushebtis in the Late Period, the figurines fulfilled a role beyond simply acting as agricultural
workers in the afterlife. This study proposes that an alternative meaning encoded in these
figurines may indicate that they functioned as objects of ritual importance at a defining
moment in the ancient Egyptian lifecycle, contributing to the transition from the earthly life to
the afterlife, and the Osirification of the deceased.
Votive Shabtis of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty
Meg Gundlach, University of Swansea, [email protected]
Shabtis were used as votive offerings from their inception in the Middle Kingdom. During the
artistic renaissance of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty, the Theban high elite resurrected not only the
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old customs of shabti production, but also the commission of shabtis for extra-sepulchral
locations. Such dignitaries as Pedamenope, Harwa, Montuemhat, and Wedjarenes are all
known to have used votive shabtis throughout Egypt, and all are present near the burials of the
contemporary Divine Adoratrice at Medinet Habu. This talk will discuss the use of votive shabtis
in the Kushite dynasty, their owners, and the locations at which they were deposited.
The Late Period shabti group of Iufaa
Jurgen Van Oostenrijk, Independent Scholar, [email protected]
The Late Period shabti group of Iufaa was found at Abusir in 1995 by the team of the Czech
Institute of Egyptology of the Charles University in Prague, directed by Prof. dr. Ladislav Bareš.
It was transported to the Egyptian Museum where the 408 statuettes are still housed today.
The shabti group is unique since it is the only group that is still complete. I will be fortunate
enough to study this shabti group in January and February of 2012 on an iconographic and
palaeographic level. The iconographic features of these shabtis will be classified according to
the typology as created by Hans Schneider in 1977. The inscriptions on the statuettes will be
investigated in order to reconstruct the number of artisans that worked on them. The
preliminary results pertaining to the construction process of this group of funerary statuettes
will be reviewed in this lecture.
Panel C2- Friday 30th
March
A survey of some unpublished Roman demotic papyri in the collection of the Austrian
National Library, Vienna
Luigi Prada, University of Oxford, [email protected]
This paper will present the results of a survey of unpublished demotic texts in the papyrus
collection of the Austrian National Library in Vienna, one of the largest of its kind.
In particular, the papyri here discussed are fragments of literary and semi-literary texts that
stem from the Fayum and date to the Roman Period. Special attention will be devoted to a
group of divinatory texts, including manuals on oneiromancy, astrology, and other forms of
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omens. Most of them were written in the same scribal milieu (possibly by the same scribe), and
could be the remains of what originally constituted a large collection on this subject.
Kerma Culture? Regional variation in the funerary practice of Bronze Age Nubia c.2500-1500
B.C.E.
Ruth Humphreys, The University of Leicester/The British Museum,
The Kerma ‘Kingdom’(modern Northern Sudan) represented the development of the first
documented state-level society in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite its obvious significance, not least
as an important neighbour, trading partner and rival of Pharonic Egypt, we are only just
beginning to be able to appreciate many fundamental aspects of its development.
Following the conclusion of Merowe Dam
Archaeological Salvage Project (MDASP) in the fourth cataract region and with new work in the
Kerma heartlands of the Dongola Reach it is now possible, for the first time, to assemble an
archaeological profile representing the known extent of the Kerma ‘culture’ which potentially
stretched from the 1st
to upstream of the 4th Nile Cataracts.
In this paper I will present a chronological overview and comparison of Kerma funerary culture
across a selection of large cemetery sites from Kerma’s cultural ‘heartlands’ (2nd
Cataract-
Northern Dongola Reach) and adjoining areas, including the 4th
cataract periphery. I will discuss
my ongoing PhD research which includes the use of ceramic data to compile regional
chronologies of funerary deposits for the first time in Bronze Age Nubia. This research aims to
improve our general understanding of the general chronological development of Kerma
‘culture’ as well as providing the first in depth study regarding its local and regional variability.
The Vernacular of the Letters to the Dead
Julia Hsieh, Yale University, [email protected]
The Letters to the Dead are a small group of private epistles written to deceased individuals. As
most of these letters are contemporaneous with the Coffin Texts (late Old Kingdom to Middle
Kingdom), they provide an important alternative avenue of insight into the ancient Egyptian
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perceptions of the afterlife that is independent of the canonical religious (and possibly esoteric)
literature of the Coffin Texts. Furthermore, these Letters to the Dead are sent by and
addressed to (mostly) untitled individuals; therefore, they are essentially first-hand glimpses
into the private mortuary beliefs of the average Egyptian. Previous scholarship discusses the
similarities and differences between these letters and the Coffin Texts only in terms of the
thematic, ritualistic, and general contextual framework, usually concluding that the Letters to
the Dead appeared to exhibit similar concepts to certain Coffin Text spells. However, a
comprehensive analysis of the vocabulary and grammatical constructs employed in these
letters reveal that the senders actively employed vernacular congruent to the Coffin Texts.
Thus, these seemingly curt and simple missives demonstrate that aspects of the religious
ideology of the educated elite and literati embodied by the Coffin Texts also resonate in the
beliefs of the private Egyptian individual.
