cited sources » city sources (Expand Search), limited sources (Expand Search), printed sources (Expand Search)
life sources » life forces (Expand Search), glose sources (Expand Search), life stories (Expand Search)
The Journey of Muhammed Bey al-Alfi to London: An Eye-Opening Journey /
:
Through close analysis of a wide array of archival sources like Foreign Office Records and War Office Records as well as diverse contemporary sources like chronicles, memoires, correspondences, and press, this article provides an investigation of the journey of the Mamluk chief Muhammad bey al-Alfi to London in 1803 on behalf of the Mamluk beys of Egypt. It seeks to illuminate the various aspects of this journey was shrouded in obscurity and left out of the prevailing historical narrative. The paper also highlights the underlying motives of this journey as well as its implications on the Mamluk institution. It also outlines the diplomatic, economic and social activities that Alfi bey conducted there. It argues that this journey was truly an eye-opening experience if not a life-altering one for Alfi bey. Evidently, it had a lasting impact on him and helped him to articulate a new political vision by its end. As a result, he returned back Egypt with a recipe for its progress and a full determination to initiate an entire political makeover. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.5913/jarce.53.2017.a006
The Gendered Individual in Funerary Papyri of the Ptolemaic and Roman Periods /
:
In the magical texts provided to Egyptians to transition to the afterlife, the mythological precedent set by the rebirth of Osiris created gendered theological principles, which remained central to funerary beliefs throughout Egyptian history. At the point of mummification, the body of the deceased, male or female, temporarily took part in the Osirian rituals and was transformed. As restrictive guidelines for the use of texts started to fall away in the Third Intermediate period, and even more so in the Graeco-Roman period, there were many new, appropriate ways to connect a funerary text to a single person. This article addresses how ancient scribes accommodated allusions and adapted religious content to the text’s owner more extensively in later periods. Rather than the basic grammatical changes found in pharaonic sources, later scribes inserted gendered mythological references and biographical material as textual alterations to create personalized documents for either gender. They creatively pushed the boundaries of individualization as far as possible, but remained within the idealized context of funerary beliefs. Instead, they differentiated male or female gender roles to accentuate the character of the deceased only where appropriate without jeopardizing access to the next life.
Military Duties and an Assassination Plot: The Extra Dimension Found in Ancient Egyptian Letters /
:
While current and previous research has provided considerable information regarding ancient Egyptian military campaigns, equipment, rank, and custom, this has come primarily from reliefs, inscriptions and military scribal documents. The personal touch found in private correspondence gives an extra dimension to these visual representations and official documents. This added aspect is evidenced in the following selection of letters from the Ramesside and Late Ramesside periods. Those from the Ramesside timeframe provide first-hand information about the responsibilities of a soldier’s life in society when not involved in active service. They give insight into these duties and into the actual people involved, together with their personalities and issues. Still in a military context are four pieces of correspondence from a high-ranking general, dated to the Late Ramesside period. The first is concerned with care for the wounded. The other three are regarding an assassination plot involving the killing of two policemen and the means by which his recipients are to carry this out. This study, by its analysis and discussion of these pieces of personal correspondence, will illustrate the extra dimension such letters can provide–their importance as primary sources of societal and historical information that would otherwise remain unknown. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.5913/jarce.54.2018.a014
Crutched Pharaoh, Seated Hunter: An Analysis of Artistic Portrayals of Tutankhamun’s Disabilities /
:
Academic and popular sources alike regularly refer to Tutankhamun as “disabled” at the time of his death, citing artistic representations from the items in his tomb to back up such claims. This group of objects has been said to depict the young king seated while hunting and using a staff as a walking aid seemingly highlighting the presence of a leg-based disability. This narrative of the image depicting the truth of Tutankhamun’s physical condition has publicly become accepted as fact with images of the seated king even being used in the advertising for the touring exhibit “Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh” to suggest Tutankhamun’s “fragile constitution.” A comparison of these depictions to historical representations of kings hunting and using staffs of authority, however, suggests that these depictions of Tutankhamun were part of a traditional iconography utilized by Tutankhamun’s artists, not to highlight his disability, but instead to situate his image within the artwork of kings of the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms. This study, thus, works to dispel the pervasive myth of the existence of artistic representations of a disabled Tutankhamun, while providing a basis for understanding the true nature of the representation of disability in Egyptian art. Furthermore, this work urges Egyptologists to avoid relying on physical remains to “decipher” mortuary artwork. Such a change in method can only lead to a better understanding of the purpose of the depicted body within the mortuary context and its role as separate but complementary to the physical body in New Kingdom thought.