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Polemical encounters : esoteric discourse and its others /
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In its historical development from late antiquity to the present, western esotericism has repeatedly been the issue of polemical discourse. This volume engages the polemical structures that underlie both the identities within and the controversy about esoteric currents in European history. From Jewish and Christian kabbalah through heretical discourse and interconfessional polemics in early modernity to the legitimization of esoteric identity in modern culture, the 12 chapters, accompanied by an editors' introduction, provide a cornucopia of relevant cases that are interpreted in a framework of polemical discourse and 'Othering'. This volume sheds new light on the ultimately polemical structure of western esotericism and thus opens new vistas for further research into esoteric discourse.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047431510 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Akhenaten Talatat Project Conservation
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Talatat blocks, possibly derived from the Arabic word talata meaning “three,” measure roughly three handspans long. Characterized by their Amarna style and smaller size compared to conventional building blocks, they are the result of King Akhenaten’s (1352-1336 BC) goal to urgently erect religious buildings for his “new supreme god” Aten, first in Thebes (ancient Luxor) and later the new city of Akhetaten in Middle Egypt. The talatat blocks were first discovered in the late 19th century and increasingly excavated from then onwards. There are currently approximately 60,000 known blocks, believed to be only a fraction of what exists.
The largest repository of talatat blocks resides in the Pennsylvania Magazine in the Karnak Temple complex in Luxor. The Magazine is directly adjacent to the west wall of the Khonsu Temple and stores approximately 16,000 blocks, the majority of which are sandstone (with a few limestone examples). Used to construct temples for the god Aten, the blocks were subsequently dismantled by Akhenaten’s successors, who reused them in other structures. Previously, from the late 1960s to the mid-1970s, the blocks were photographed and documented in situ by Akhenaten Temple Project staff, under the auspices of the Penn Museum (also referred to as the University Museum, Pennsylvania).
From 2008 to 2012, the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE) Akhenaten Talatat Project Conservation staff cleaned, conserved, photographed, and recorded approximately 16,000 talatat blocks in the Magazine. The blocks had sustained damage which included dangerously leaning stacks; collapsed stacks; dust and bird droppings due to gaps in the roof; hornets’ nests and damage caused by animal burrowing. Matjaž Kačičnik photographed the preliminary conditions of the 28 stacks in the Magazine before project staff proceeded with removing, cleaning, and conserving blocks; some of the shattered blocks were reassembled with steel pins. Documentation included the use of digital photography and database recording. After structural interventions that addressed damage incurred from animal activity and dust accumulation, the blocks were restored in the Pennsylvania Magazine.
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Conservation of the Akhenaten Talatat blocks in the Pennsylvania Magazine was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Agreement No. 263-A-00-04-00018-00 under the Egyptian Antiquities Project (EAP), and through the administration and facilitation of the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE).
Conservation and Documentation of the Tomb Chapel of Menna (TT 69)
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The Tomb of Menna, Theban Tomb number 69, is located in the Theban necropolis of Sheikh Abd el-Qurna in Luxor, Upper Egypt. The rock-cut tomb is famous for the completeness and superb quality of the paintings that adorn its walls. Structurally, the tomb chapel takes the form of an inverted T, with a forecourt, broad hall, and inner hall leading to a statue shrine. The painted decoration is organized symbolically along a central axis that reflected the deceased’s transition from the land of the living in the east to the land of the dead in the west. As such, the walls in the broad hall are concerned primarily with the official duties and celebrations of Menna’s life, while the walls in the long hall depict scenes of his transition to and life in the hereafter.
Menna was an elite official recognized and honored by King Amenhotep III with the Gold of Honor collar, a collar of golden disc-shaped beads, which he wears in most scenes. Menna’s official titles reveal that he was a Scribe, and Overseer of the Fields of the Lord of Two Lands and the Temple of Amun. These titles indicate that Menna administered both state and temple fields, which was an unusual occurrence in the 18th Dynasty. The Broad Hall Near Left wall, abbreviated as BHNL, is also known as the “Agricultural Wall,” and depicts some of Menna’s official responsibilities. Menna’s wife, Henuttawy, appears alongside him on most of the tomb’s walls and bore the titles of “Chantress of Amun” and “Mistress of the House.” Also notable is the intentional damage inflicted on Menna’s likeness in an act of damnatio memoriae, and later destruction to the name of Amun by the agents of Akhenaten.
The project, directed by Dr. Melinda Hartwig, set an unprecedented standard for the conservation and non-invasive documentation of ancient Egyptian tombs. Dr. Hartwig led an interdisciplinary team of experts that undertook the conservation, archaeometric examination, and digital recording of the tomb. The project resulted in an invaluable collection of high-resolution, digital images that were stitched together to create an exact copy of the tomb walls, which were then traced as vector drawings to create line drawings of the decoration. The collection also includes reports, slides, and digital images shot with raking light and ultraviolet light.
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The conservation of the Tomb of Menna was made possible with funding by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Agreement No. 263-A-00-04-00018-00 and administered by the Egyptian Antiquities Conservation Project (EAC) Agreement No. EAC-11-2007 of the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE). The Interuniversity Attraction Poles Program provided additional financial support.