Book Reviews /
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Susanne Deicher and Erik Maroko, eds. Die Liste: Ordnungen von Dingen und Menschen in Ägypten (Stefan Bojowald) Nadine Grässler. Konzepte des Auges im alten Ägypten (Stefan Bojowald) Lara Weiss, ed. The Coffins of the Priests of Amun Egyptian Coffins from the 21st Dynasty in the Collection of the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden (Aidan Dodson) Pål Steiner, Alexandros Tsakos, and Eivind Heldaas Seland, eds. From the Fjords to the Nile: Essays in Honour of Richard Holton Pierce on His 80th Birthday (Elizabeth Eltze) Bram Calcoen, in collaboration with Christiane Mu?ller-Hazenbos. TT 176: The Tomb Chapel of Userhat (Beth Ann Judas)P. Der Manuelian and Th. Schneider (eds.). Towards a New History for the Egyptian Old Kingdom (Antonio J. Morales)Peter Lacovara and Sue H. D’Auria, eds. The Mystery of the Albany Mummies (Melinda Nelson-Hurst)Wael Sherbiny. Through Hermopolitan Lenses: Studies on the So-Called Book of Two Ways in Ancient Egypt (Joshua Aaron Roberson)Jean Li. Women, Gender, and Identity in Third Intermediate Period Egypt (Amanda Jane Shaffery) doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.5913/jarce.54.2018.r017
Egypt - Temple of the Whole World, Studies in Honour of Jan Assmann.
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\'The intellectual heritage of Ancient Egypt\' - once wrote Jan Assmann - \'can hardly be said to have become part of our cultural memory. It is a subject of fascination, not of understanding.\' This fascination began when ancient Greek travellers started visiting Egypt, and continues unto this day, more often than not as a scholarly search for the oldest roots of our cultural memory. Jan Assmann's superb academic achievement undoubtedly represents the single most significant contribution to the modern understanding of Ancient Egypt, reaching far beyond the boundaries of Egyptology proper. The essays in this volume, all written by his friends and disciples, reflect the tremendous impact of his oeuvre on the scholarly world, encompassing not only Egyptological and related themes, but also central aspects of Judaeo-Christian identity such as monotheism and the historical events surrounding the recently discovered Diaspora temple of Yahu on the island of Elephantine.
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1 online resource. :
9789047402527
Regressus ad uterum : la mort comme une nouvelle naissance dans les grands textes funéraires de l'Égypte pharaonique (Ve-XXe dynastie) /
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"This work, stem[ming] from a doctoral dissertation, aims at demonstrating that referring to birth and its practical modalities is an essential aspect of Ancient Egypt's funerary beliefs. From the Pyramid Texts to the books of the afterlife in the New Kingdom, funerary writings of Egypt are full of allusions to post mortem fate viewed as second birth, which imitates more of less precisely the biological process of the first. Be he king or an ordinary man, the dead is carried in gestation by one or several divine mothers and is born again in the afterworld; there his umbilical cord is cut, he is washed, fed and cared for like a newborn child. Numerous mythical elements join the purely practical ones, thus reinventing the biological model and showing the intermingling of both the worldly and cosmic levels. thanks to this cyclic process, not only does the deceased access the hereafter, but he is also eternally alive there." -- Page [4] of cover.
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xi, 451 pages : illustrations ; 29 cm :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9782724707434
Hathor's alchemy : the ancient Egyptian roots of the hermetic art /
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Ever since alchemy first emerged in Graeco-Roman Egypt, alchemists have said their wisdom came from the pharaonic temples. Yet though the West has had unprecedented access to this hidden knowledge since the decipherment of hieroglyphs, ancient Egypt's connection with alchemy still remains obscure, doubted even by many. Focussing on the beautiful temples at Abu Simbel and Dendara, dedicated to the fiery serpent-eye goddess Hathor, this groundbreaking book explores for the first time the legacy left to alchemists by the pharaohs. It also goes deep into Ramesses VI's extraordinary tomb at Thebes to discover the secrets of growth and renewal guarded by Osiris and vivified by Hathor's copper love. Both metallurgical and mystical, these sacred secrets laid the foundations for the Hermetic art. The transmission initially came through Graeco-Egyptian and Jewish alchemists, then Islamic adepts, many of whom were Sufis belonging to an Akhmim alchemical lineage, until eventually Hathor's alchemy reached medieval Europe to inspire the 'rising dawn' tradition. And with a spiritual vision grounded in nature, it still has vital relevance for our world today.
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336 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 23 cm. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
0952423332
9780952423331
Palaeopathology in Egypt and Nubia : a century in review /
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The study of human remains from ancient Egypt and Nubia has captured the imagination of many people for generations, giving rise to the discipline of palaeopathology and fostering bioarchaeological research. This book contains 16 papers that cover material presented at a workshop entitled 'Palaeopathology in Egypt and Nubia: A Century in Review,' held at the Natural History Museum, London (August 29-30, 2012), which formed part of a three-year research project, 'Sir Grafton Elliot Smith: Palaeopathology and the Archaeological Survey of Nubia.' The papers explore the subject of palaeopathology from its beginnings in the early 1900s through to current research themes and the impact of technological development in the field.
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1 online resource : illustrations (black and white). :
Specialized. :
Includes bibliographical references. :
9781784910273 (PDF ebook) :
Faunal Remains from Excavations at the Menkaure Valley Temple (MVT-W), 2019 /
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In 2019, Ancient Egypt Research Associates (AERA) re-excavated the western third of the Menkaure Valley Temple (MVT), which was first excavated by George A. Reisner in 1908–1910. Thick, dark layers that contained material culture, including large samples of faunal remains, were found during the excavations. These dark layers were deposited by Reisner, as fill, in the western third of the MVT-W. The material culture in these dark redeposited layers, including the bone fragments, came from rooms and silos in the central courtyard of the MVT and represent the consumption remains from inhabitants of the MVT courtyard. We test the hypothesis that inhabitants in the MVT courtyard are dependents of the temple receiving their provisions as part of their rights established by royal decree. The majority of the bones came from cattle, with only three fish bones, and fifty-seven bird bones being identified; clearly cattle were the most significant food source. Most of the cattle were greater than 3.5 years of age. Forelimb fragments are over-represented and biased toward the right side. The sample of cattle probably represents the consumption of offerings. The diet of the inhabitants of the MVT courtyard differs from the diets of those inhabiting other parts of the Giza area. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.5913/jarce.56.2020.a002
Exalted Spirits: The Veneration of the Dead in Egypt through the Ages
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The exhibition was opened on the 9th of November, 2021 at The Egyptian Museum in Cairo and was followed by a three-day conference from the 10th to the 12th of November, 2021. This three-day conference, in partnership with The American University in Cairo (AUC) and the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (MoTA), covered the veneration of deceased figures in Egypt from the Pharaonic period up to current times, using the diverse evidence available in terms of texts, images, and lived traditions. The conference featured academic papers as well as panel discussions focusing on current practises related to the veneration of the dead and their origins, which may be traced back to ancient Egypt, and was aimed at both academic and non-academic participants. The former presented academic papers, while the latter (which included creatives from different fields) participated in panel discussions. Academic papers published in a peer-reviewed journal
Ancient Egyptian book of the moon : coffin texts spells 154-160 /
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"The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Moon proposes that Coffin Texts spells 154-160, recorded at around the beginning of the 2nd millennium BCE, form the oldest composition about the moon in ancient Egypt and, for that matter, in the entire world. The detailed analysis of these spells, based on a new translation, reveals that they provide a chronologically ordered account of the phenomena of a lunar month. It is argued that through a wide variety of mythological allusions, the separate texts--following an introduction which explains the origins of the month (spell 154)--describe the successive stages of the monthly cycle: the period of invisibility (spell 155), waxing (spell 156), events around the full moon (spell 157), waning (spell 158), the arrival of the last crescent at the eastern horizon (spell 159), and again the conjunction of the sun and the moon when a solar eclipse occurs (spell 160). After highlighting the possible lunar connotations of each spell, further chapters in the book investigate the origins of the composition, its different manuscripts preserved on coffins coming from Hermopolis and Asyut, and the survival of the spells in the later mortuary collection known as the Book of Going Forth by Day."--
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ii, 254 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm. :
Includes bibliographical references (pages 235-249) and index. :
1789691982
9781789691986
A selection of Ptolemaic anthropoid sarcophagi in Cairo /
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"The individually designed anthropoid sarcophagi of the Ptolemaic period (ca. 330-30 BCE) offer a particularly rich and varied repertoire of hieroglyphic inscriptions and religious scenes. Being at the end of a long tradition of funerary literature, many of the epigraphs on these objects are variations or reinterpretations of older texts that have been circulated and transmitted over millennia. Others are entirely new creations that provide insight into funerary beliefs of late ancient Egypt. The present volume is the second and last publication of a joint project between scholars from Cairo University and the University of Tübingen on Late and Ptolemaic period sarcophagi housed in the museums of Cairo. It includes the detailed publication of eighteen sarcophagi, which until now have only been known through brief descriptions. The facsimile drawings, detailed pictures, translations and commentaries presented here will allow scholars to approach this corpus with a broad range of research questions."--
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x, 421 pages, xxiii pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 29 x 23 cm. :
Includes bibliographical references. :
9781649031013
1649031017
Household studies in complex societies : (micro) archaeological and textual approaches : papers from the Oriental Institute Seminar Household Studies in Complex Societies, held at...
: xlii, 470 pages : illustrations (some color), maps (some color), plans (some color) ; 25 cm. : Includes bibliographical references. : 9781614910237
An ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead : the papyrus of Sobekmose /
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'The Book of the Dead of Sobekmose', in the collection of the Brooklyn Museum, New York, is one of the most important surviving examples of the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead genre. Such papyrus scrolls were composed of traditional funerary texts, including magic spells, that were thought to assist a dead person on their journey into the afterlife. This publication is the first to offer a continuous English translation of a single, extensive, major text that can speak to us from beginning to end in the order in which it was composed. The papyrus itself is one of the longest of its kind to come down to us from the New Kingdom, a time when Egypt's international power and prosperity were at their peak. This new translation not only represents a great step forward in the study of these texts, but also grants modern readers a direct encounter with what can seem a remote and alien civilization. With language that is, in many places, unquestionably evocative and very beautiful, it offers a look into the mindset of the ancient Egyptians, highlighting their beliefs and anxieties about this world as well as the next. The papyrus itself is reproduced in its entirety and the translation is prefaced by a fully illustrated introductory essay which, along with a brief chronology of ancient Egypt and a glossary guiding the reader through the religious and mythological terminology that they will encounter, grounds it in its historical context.
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Glossary of terms and names, and chronology. :
216 pages : color illustrations ; 26 cm. :
Bibliography : pages 205-207. :
9780500051887
The Archive of the Theban Choachyte Petebaste Son of Peteamunip (Floruit 7th Century BCE) : Abnormal Hieratic Papyrus Louvre E 3228 A-H /
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This book is the first ever edition of an abnormal hieratic business archive from the Louvre once kept by a mortuary priest in 7th century BCE Thebes (Egypt). In addition to providing a full edition of the eight texts from this unique - and partly unpublished - archive, the author also discusses points of Late Period history, law, economics, religion, grammar, and chronology. There is also a particular focus on abnormal hieratic palaeography, thereby turning this publication into a genuine handbook for the study of the most difficult script from Ancient Egypt that will serve students for the next hundred years, offering a unique insight into the ancient Egyptian abnormal hieratic and demotic legal traditions.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004459922
9789004459915
Processional and Chapel Oracular Practice in The Place of Truth /
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Standing in stark contrast to the relative wealth of evidence about royal and temple based oracles, there is little to give us some notion of the analogous oracular practices of private religion during the New Kingdom of Egypt. The surviving documentation suggests that private individuals could approach their gods for oracular advice during festival processions. However, based on the Deir el-Medina materials, I argue that in addition to processional oracles, chapel oracles were employed by the villagers as well, if not more largely by common people in ancient Egypt. At Deir el-Medina, the former was given by the patron of the village, the deified king Amenhotep I, and was employed in an official setting in order to solve legal disputes. In contrast, the less documented chapel oracles, which could be perhaps delivered by deities other than Amenhotep I, concerned mostly mundane affairs. In both cases, however, oracles were mediated by the priests servicing the gods. This paper seeks to bring together and examine two sorts of evidence that are usually dealt with separately. Firstly, it provides an analysis of the available written testimonies on oracular ostraca found at Deir el-Medina, and discusses their textual significance by showing who the petitioners were, what kind of questions they asked and what the structure of the questions was. Secondly, it examines the archaeological remains of the chapels connected with oracles at Deir el-Medina and the role of the “brotherhood” of priests associated with them. I conclude with some remarks about the mechanics of the chapel oracles in connection with the modalities of their reception and the status of belief and faith. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.5913/jarce.53.2017.a013
Nefertiti, queen and pharaoh of Egypt : her life and afterlife /
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During the last half of the fourteenth century BC, Egypt was perhaps at the height of its prosperity. It was against this background that the "Amarna Revolution" occurred. Throughout, its instigator, King Akhenaten, had at his side his Great Wife, Nefertiti. When a painted bust of the queen found at Amarna in 1912 was first revealed to the public in the 1920s, it soon became one of the great artistic icons of the world. Nefertiti's name and face are perhaps the best known of any royal woman of ancient Egypt and one of the best recognized figures of antiquity, but her image has come in many ways to overshadow the woman herself. 0Nefertiti's current world dominion as a cultural and artistic icon presents an interesting contrast with the way in which she was actively written out of history soon after her own death. This book explores what we can reconstruct of the life of the queen, tracing the way in which she and her image emerged in the wake of the first tentative decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs during the 1820s-1840s, and then took on the world over the next century and beyond. 0All indications are that her final fate was a tragic one, but although every effort was made to wipe out Nefertiti's memory after her death, modern archaeology has rescued the queen-pharaoh from obscurity and set her on the road to today's international status.
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xii, 172 pages : illustrations (some color), maps ; 25 cm. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789774169908
Tutankhamun, King of Egypt : his life and afterlife /
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"The spectacular discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922 has given him an afterlife that has all but eclipsed the young king's real career. This authoritative yet accessible book tells the story of Tutankhamun, from his own lifetime in the fourteenth century BC, down to modern times. It explores the various theories as to his parentage, his role in the 'counter-reformation' that followed the religious revolution of Akhenaten, and his premature death. It also looks at the monuments built during the king's reign, his key officials, and the arrangements made for his funeral. Moving forward in time, Tutankhamun, King of Egypt considers the way in which Tutankhamun was written out of official history. The story is then picked up again in the early nineteenth century AD when, with the first decipherment of hieroglyphs, Tutankhamun's name could once again be read, and the problem of his place in history considered by Egyptologists. Aidan Dodson traces possible solutions through the decades as more and more data came to light, culminating in the discovery of the king's tomb. Yet, dazzling as that discovery was, many matters regarding Tutankhamun remain obscure today, even with the aid of genetic data. Dodson also looks at how the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb brought about the first of many outbreaks of "Tut-mania," and explores some of its manifestations. Richly illustrated in full color throughout, this fascinating book by a leading Egyptologist will be essential reading for anyone interested in the life and enduring legacy of ancient Egypt's most famous king."--
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xiii, 202 pages : illustrations (some color), color maps ; 25 cm. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9781649031617
The craft of a good scribe. History, narrative and meaning in the 'First tale of Setne Khaemwas' /
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In The Craft of a Good Scribe , Steve Vinson offers a comprehensive study of the Demotic Egyptian First Tale of Setne Khaemwas (Third Century BCE), the first to appear since 1900. \'First Setne\' is the most important extant Demotic literary text, and among the most important fictional compositions from any period of ancient Egypt. The tale, which is by turns lurid, tragic and ultimately comic, deals with Setne's theft of a magic book written by the god Thoth himself, and subsequently Setne's punishment through a hallucinatory encounter with the ghostly femme fatale Tabubue. Vinson provides a new textual edition and commentary, and explores the tale's cultural background, its modern reception, and approaches to its interpretation as a work of literature.
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1 online resource (xiv, 356 pages) :
9789004353107 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.