Ancient Egypt - November - December 2020 - Masterpieces of Jewellery

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50
Volume 21, No.2
Issue Number: 122
November/December 2020
www.ancientegyptmagazine.com
Masterpieces of
Jewellery
Paddle
Dolls
Inside Dahshur
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CONTENTS
features ANCIENT EGYPT
November/December 2020
From the Editor
5
VOLUME 21, NO. 2: ISSUE NO. 122
Editorial comment from Peter Phillips
EDITOR: J. Peter Phillips

Email: editor@ancientegyptmagazine.com
6 Egyptological News
Summarised by Sarah Griffiths.
DEPUTY EDITOR: Sarah Griffiths
CONSULTANT EDITORS:
Paddle Dolls: Iconography and
Professor Emerita Rosalie David, OBE,
Identity
Dr Raymond Betz
12 Megan Clark makes a study of the ‘barbarous
looking’ Middle Kingdom artefacts.
STAFF CONTRIBUTORS:
Peter Robinson, Hilary Wilson
Gebel el-Silsila Through The Ages: 6
PUBLISHED BY:
The Ramesside Period Part 2: Quarrying
Ancient Egypt Magazine Ltd.
18 Maria Nilsson and John Ward explore the
229 Ayres Road,
Ramesside quarries and the Temple of Sobek
Old Trafford, Manchester,
and discover a unique blueprint for quarrying.
M16 0NL, UK
Tel: 0161 872 3319
Fax: 0161 872 4721
Eight Masterpieces of Ancient
24 Egyptian Jewellery Email: info@ancientegyptmagazine.com
Nigel Fletcher-Jones describes eight stunning
pieces created by the ancient craftsmen. ADVERTISEMENTS:
John Ireland: 0161 872 3319
SUBSCRIPTIONS:
Highlights of Manchester Museum: 25
Mike Hubbard: 0161 872 3319
30 Campbell Price discusses a substantial
wooden mallet found at Deir el-Bahri.
PRINTED BY:
Precision Colour Printing Ltd,
Haldane, Halesfield I,
Inside the Bent and Red Pyramids
Telford, Shropshire, TS7 4QQ, UK
32 Sean McLachlan takes us on a scramble into
the inner chambers of the Dahshur pyramids.
DESIGN AND SETTING:

Peartree Publishing and Design,
The Last Wealthy City of the Delta
56 Albert St, M11 3SU, UK
39 Ayman Wahby and Said Eltalhawy
excavate Graeco-Roman Tell Tebilla.
IT CONSULTANT: Andrew Shaw
FRONT COVER DESIGNED BY:

Pharaoh, Osiris and the Mummy
J. Peter Phillips
44 A new exhibition at Aix-en-Provence is
Main Image: A gold bracelet
photographed by Alain Guilleux.
possibly owned by Ramesses II.
Photo: Archivo White Star/
Araldo De Luca
Per Mesut: for Younger Readers
52 Hilary Wilson launches Christmas with gifts
regulars
of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
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Back Issues 63
Readers’ Letters 48 ISSN: 1470 9990
Book Reviews 58 Egyptology Society Details 66
ANCIENT EGYPT November/December 2020 3

Time-line MAP of EGYPT
Dynasties
Periods
28-30
RIGHT:
detailed map of
the Theban area
Maps
and Time-line
by Peter Robinson.
4 ANCIENT EGYPT November/December 2020

From the Editor
n my last Editorial, in AE121, I mentioned some of time this edition, AE122, will come out at the beginning
I the unexpected benefits of the restrictions to our lives of November, allowing it be a true ‘Christmas’ one and
caused by the Covid pandemic, and more have making my annual suggestion, that a subscription to the
become evident as time passes. The magazine makes an excellent
Manchester Ancient Egypt Society Christmas present, more relevant than
which I chair has, like all others in the ever! See page 62 for ways of ordering
UK, had to abandon live lectures for a gift subscription, or do so via our
the foreseeable future, and has been website. Appropriate to the season is
holding Zoom lectures instead. To our Hilary Wilson’s Per Mesut article on the
delight, the attendance at these has topic of ancient Egyptian sources for
much exceeded the normal atten- the gifts brought by the Three Wise
dance at our live events, and has Men. The article on ancient Egyptian
resulted in an increase in our mem- jewellery by Nigel Fletcher-Jones
bership numbers. Many people con- might inspire some readers to chose
fined to their own homes and unable presents for a loved one, though per-
to socialise with their friends have dis- haps none as stunningly beautiful as
covered new hobbies and interests – his choice. Despite their name, howev-
including Egyptology. er, the ‘paddle dolls’ described in
But there have been some down- Megan Clark’s article, with their reli-
tion of AE takes place initially on lap-

sides, too. In normal times, prepara- gious and sexual connotations, were
certainly not children’s toys.
top computers in my and Deputy It may not be possible at the
Editor Sarah’s homes. From there the moment to enjoy an overseas
files are gradually transferred, over a Christmas holiday, but we can perhaps
period of weeks, to a desktop machine enjoy the experience vicariously by
for the final preparation of the files to visiting the pyramids of Dahshur with
be sent to the printers. The need to Sean McLachlan, excavating a new
restrict travel to and from Manchester site in the Delta with our old friend
city centre to a minimum during the Ayman Wahby and his colleague Said
crisis has meant that the files have Eltahawy, or continue our exploration
ABOVE: The golden diadem of

been kept on the laptops until much of the history of Gebel el-Silsila
Sithatoriunet.
nearer the deadline. In the last- with Maria Nilsson and John Ward.
Photo: Archivio White Star/
minute rush to meet the print date And if covid restrictions are relaxed
for the last issue, the final version of Araldo De Luca before February, we might be able to
BELOW: The Steppe Eagle, the national
the article The Raptors of Ancient Gebel visit the exhibition in Aix-en-
bird of Egypt, although no longer
el-Silsila by John Wyatt was missed Provence photographed by Alain
resident
Photo: Sumeet Moghe CC BY-SA 3.0 via
and an earlier, unfinished, version in Guilleux. A pleasant dream!
Wikicommons Price Increases
which half a paragraph of text was
The last time the cover price of AE

missing, went to the printers. This
caused many of the references to the
illustrations later in the article to be was increased was ten years ago, in
to be out of synchronisation. February 2011, and since then the
26 in AE121, leading on to page 27,

The paragraph at the end of page costs of production and, particular-
ly, postage have been subject to
should read: annual inflation. In order to ensure
“Raptors belong to one of the the magazine’s financial viability,
three bird Orders, which have the Publishers have reluctantly
evolved from a common raptorial made the decision to increase prices
landbird ancestor: the largely diur- from this issue onwards. It continues
nal Accipitriformes and Falconi- to be the case that taking out a sub-
formes and the mainly crepuscular/nocturnal scription to the magazine (see page 62) represents a con-
Strigiformes. So far, 45 individual species have been iden- siderable saving compared with the purchase of individ-
tified as having occurred in ancient Egypt” ual copies, and the digital version of the magazine (see
I hope this has not spoilt your enjoyment of an excellent page 61) is also excellent value for money.
article too much.
Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh

Although the various ever-changing rules are prevent-
ing us from enjoying the company of family and friends,
Another indirect benefit of covid has arisen because of may I wish you all a peaceful and restful holiday season
JPP
our decision earlier in the year to delay publication of the and a Happy and Healthy 2021!
magazine by one month during lock-down. For the first

NEWS
A s Covid-related travel restric-
tions have prevented most inter-
national teams from excavating in
Egypt this season, only two major
discoveries have been announced in
Egypt this autumn, both made by
Egyptian teams.
Saqqara Coffin Cache

An Egyptian team working near the
Sacred Animal Necropolis at Saqqara
has discovered fifty-nine painted wood-
en coffins (this page and opposite) in three
burial shafts, in a communal burial for
Twenty-sixth Dynasty high priests and
court officials. Finds associated with the
burials include twenty-eight statues of
Ptah-Sokar, the god of the Saqqara
necropolis, a bronze statue of Nefertum
and large numbers of amulets, shabtis
coveries are described in AE120).

and other finds. (The team’s earlier dis-
SAQQARA COFFIN CACHE
ABOVE
A stack of coffins in situ.
CENTRE RIGHT
Some of the painted Twenty-
sixth Dynasty coffins on
display.
BOTTOM RIGHT
One of the coffins being
opened during a press briefing.

news
SAQQARA COFFIN CACHE
TOP LEFT
A stunning bronze statue of
Nefertum.
TOP RIGHT and CENTRE RIGHT

Close-up views of some of the
coffins.
LEFT
Prime Minister Moustafa
Madbouly opening one of the
sarcophagi in situ in the tomb.

news
Origins of Votive Animals
Vast numbers of birds and animals
were killed and mummified to act as
votive offerings in the late pharaonic
period. While there is evidence that
animals such as cats and crocodiles
were specially reared for this industry,
new research shows that ibis (see bot-
tom right) and birds of prey were
sourced from the wild. French
researchers carried out geochemical
analyses on twenty ancient bird
TUNA El-GEBEL PRIESTS’ TOMBS Tuna el-Gebel Priests’ Tombs

mummies from collections in Lyon.
The team found evidence for a high-
ABOVE: The intact burial of Djehuty
The Egyptian mission at site of Al- ly varied diet, suggesting the birds
Imhotep, high priest of Djehuty, with
his limestone sarcophagus surrounded
Ghuraifah at Tuna el-Gebel (Minya migrated seasonally into and out of
by faience shabtis.
Governorate) have made further Egypt, as opposed to being fed a
Twenty-sixth Dynasty discoveries in more homogenous diet in captivity. A
BELOW: Faience amulets from the
burial.
the communal tombs of the high separate genetic study supports this
priests of Djehuty (Thoth). The team theory, pointing to the mass hunting
BOTTOM: A stone scarab.
has uncovered a 10m-deep burial of wild birds rather than farming.
shaft leading to large chamber with
three niches covered by stone beams.
Inside they discovered the burial of
Djehuty Imhotep, high priest of
Djehuty and supervisor of the
thrones, found inside a limestone cof-
fin together with a group of amulets
and scarabs (above and left). [Read
eries in AE102, AE107 and

more about the team’s earlier discov-
AE119].
Intact Mummy Cells

A Brazilian team has been able to
mummy. The team, based in Sāo

identify intact cells in the body of a
Paulo, analysed bone and muscle tis-

sue from the jaw of a Late Period
VOTIVE ANIMALS
female mummy called Iret-Nefert
ABOVE: Howard Carter’s drawing of a

and discovered intact bone and red
Sacred Ibis from the Tomb of
blood cells. These presence of these
Khnumhotep II.
cells allows for more accurate DNA
BELOW: An ibis mummy from Saqqara

assessment and also demonstrates the
at the British Museum. Photo: JPP
efficiency of the mummification
process in preserving human tissue.

news
news
ABOVE: A display of Tutankhamun artefacts at the new

Hurghada Museum.
And finally…
Osiris-Rex grabs Bennu!
The American spacecraft named after an Egyptian god
has made contact with a 500m-wide asteroid named after
a mythical Egyptian bird. The Osiris-Rex craft has been
programmed to grab handfuls of dust and grit from the
surface of Bennu, and return them to earth for analysis.
ABOVE: Raphael’s Triumph of Galatea.

There will be a bit of a wait however – the spacecraft is
Photo: Peter1936F, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikicommons
currently 330 million km from Earth! Scientists are
expecting their delivery to land in September 2023.
Raphael’s Egyptian Blue SG

Except where indicated, all the images in the News section of
‘Egyptian blue’ is an artificial colour prized by the ancient
Mediterranean world, but knowledge of how it was pro- this issue of AE were provided by, and are copyright of,
duced was lost for centuries following the fall of the the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
Roman Empire. Now, scientific analysis of the famous
Raphael painting Triumph of Galatea (c. 1514) (above) has
revealed that this elusive pigment was used to create the
ANCIENT EGYPT Magazine?

striking blue colour of the sky and sea. It is thought the Having trouble getting your copy of
great Renaissance artist followed a recipe recorded by the
Roman architect Vitruvius, mixing sand with copper and Reserve your copy today by filling in your
saltpetre and then baking the mixture in a furnace to details on this form and handing it to your
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In Brief
local newsagent.
ANCIENT EGYPT magazine until further notice.

Please reserve/deliver a copy of the bimonthly issue of
• Artefacts from the Tutankhamun exhibition in

London forced to close early due to the Corona virus out- Title Mr/Mrs/Ms/other (please specify): ..............................
break have now returned to Egypt; twenty items are to go
on temporary display in the new museums at Hurghada First Name:.........................................................................
(see top right) and Sharm el-Sheikh, before being moved to Surname ...........................................................................
their new permanent display in the Grand Egyptian
Museum due to open in 2021. Address .............................................................................
• Conservationists have raised concerns for the integri-
ty of pyramids structures and loss of unexplored archae- ..........................................................................................
ological sites following the commencement of a new high- ...................................................Post Code ......................
ways construction project, as two large highways are
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Dahshur.

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Editor Book Offer, c/o Ancient Egypt Magazine Ltd.,

229 Ayres Road, Old Trafford, Manchester M16 0NL, U.K.
Readers’ Competition
If you recognise where in Egypt the photo on the left was
taken (by RBP), email or write to the Editor of AE before
17th December 2020 (addresses on page 3)
with your answer,
giving your full name and address.
One lucky reader will have his or her name

selected at random from all the correct
answers and will win a copy of Ancient
Egyptian Jewelry by Nigel Fletcher-Jones
(reviewed on p.58).
The name of the winner will be revealed in the
January/February 2021 edition of AE.
September/October 2020 Competition Winner
Congratulations to the winner of the competition that

appeared in the last issue of the magazine (AE121):
John Cooper of Colchester
who wins a copy of Fighting Pharaohs:

Weapons and Warfare in Ancient
Egypt by Robert B. Partridge.
The photo (right) is a view of the
Coptic Orthodox ‘Hanging Church’
in Cairo.

PADDLE DOLLS:
ICONOGRAPHY AND IDENTITY
Megan Clark investigates the “barbarous looking” Middle Kingdom

figurines
ABOVE: Two paddle dolls discovered in tombs in el-Asasif at Luxor, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photos: MMA
n his 1942 publication Excavations at Deir el-Bahari, Collections
I Herbert Winlock found a group of what he referred to

as “barbarous looking things, whittled out of thin paddles of
wood, gaudily painted, and with great mops of hair made of strings
Egyptology collections tend to be focussed in the
Northern Hemisphere due to the activity of Victorian
travellers and antiquarians who took artefacts from Egypt
of little beads of black mud ending in elongated globs.” These and presented them to paying organisations or private col-
“barbarous looking things” are what we now call paddle dolls. lections. Happily, for those of us based in the UK, large
Although you may agree with Winlock in believing numbers of paddle dolls are seen within British collec-
them to be vulgar, or perhaps even out of character with tions. No less than fourteen collections contain at least one
our expectations of Egyptian art, this is simply not the example of a paddle doll, with the largest numbers at the
case. Instead, what may be deemed as vulgar could be British Museum (see opposite top right) and Petrie Museum in
taken as ostentatious, and why not? If these figurines were London, the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge (opposite,
supposed to represent dancers of the cult of Hathor, as bottom left) and the Atkinson Museum in Southport (see
has been suggested, then it is only fitting that they are pages 16 and 17). There are also large numbers of them in
vividly decorated. North American and European collections.
Essentially, paddle dolls are simply figurines made of We see a split in the types of paddle doll found in these
wood, typically – although not always – embellished with collections: non-UK pieces are more commonly tied to
vibrant decorations, and traditionally containing strands specific tombs and sites whereas UK pieces are typically
of hair made of strings, beads, shells or clay globules. not linked to a site due to a lack of post-excavation
They are found in a very precise time period, with all recording by archaeologists in the eighteenth and nine-
known examples being currently dated to within a few teenth centuries. However, even in cases where the con-
hundred years of the Middle Kingdom. This has led to texts of dolls are unknown, by grouping pieces by donor
questions as to where the dolls fit into this time period and or collector we can highlight detailed shared characteris-
how they may have functioned within funerary settings. tics in their construction and decoration. This is exciting

LEFT: A wooden paddle doll from the Weston Park Museum in Sheffield which
displays vibrant black and red pigments, as well as a dotted girdle line.
Photo: Megan Clark
ABOVE: A British Museum paddle doll with mud bead hair attached by a loop
around the neck. Photo: Megan Clark
BELOW LEFT: An example on display at the University of Cambridge Fitzwilliam

Museum. Photo: SG
BELOW: A paddle doll from the Egypt Centre, Swansea which exhibits various
types of dot decorations representing the genital region, breasts and necklace,
as well as decorative cross-hatching. A frog motif has also been discovered on
the rear of the piece. Photo: Megan Clark
as these groupings could attest to a sin-
gle creator who may have crafted these
pieces as part of a small-scale industry.
The decorations and styles of the dolls
have clear overlap with universal
themes, but the individual decorative
traits may be evidence of the personal
preference of the creator, or even of the
object’s owner.

ABOVE: Khener dancers wearing vividly decorated clothing with patterns similar to those found on many paddle dolls.
Facsimile of a scene from the Tomb of Qenamun at Thebes.
Image: Norman De Garis Davies (1930) plate XLI A; MMA
Iconography the front and rear of the piece, the pattern extends down
The vast amount of imagery on the dolls is centred on the full length on the reverse, but stops short just above
geometric designs that appear to denote clothing such as the genital region on the front of the doll. Clearly, the fig-
dresses or tunics. Ellen Morris has discussed how these urines are displaying their pubic region to the viewer,
designs can be seen on both paddle dolls and on repre- with this area being the most distinguishable decoration
sentations of Khener dancers, on the figurines.
These professional performers have been attested in the It is not only the decoration on these Theban dolls that
record to around the same time period but, unlike paddle reflects a connection to Hathor; other objects found in
dolls, are not restricted to the Middle Kingdom, appear- tombs which contain these dolls also relate to Hathor.
ing in iconography dating from the Old Kingdom up These deposits contain mirrors, musical instruments and
until the New Kingdom. A particularly fine depiction of truncated figurines with the same type of vivid decora-
the Khener can be seen in TT93, the tomb of Qenamun tion as seen on paddle dolls. The truncated figurines, cut
(see the facsimile painting above), where we can see this troupe off at the leg, share a wide array of decorative features
adorned in vividly decorated clothing. The term with paddle dolls. The Ramesseum ‘Magicians’ group
is usually read as ‘to confine’, and researchers have sug- contains an exquisitely decorated paddle doll (opposite, top
gested that this group of dancers and musicians were right). It was found alongside the other types of truncated
possibly housed in the King’s own private residence. figurines (see opposite, top left) and among other items
The costumes of the Khener have similar patterns to including magical papyri, wands, ivory clappers and
those seen on paddle dolls, including chequering, hori- model food offerings. The figurines display features such
zontal registers, triangles, diamonds, lines denoting gir- as dot and lozenge tattooing and crossover beading, as
dles, necklaces and crossover beading. There is an well as the inclusion of necklaces and cowrie shell girdles.
emphasis on the pubic regions of the paddle dolls that is All of these features can also be seen with the same posi-
not apparent in tomb depictions of the Khener troupe; tioning and style on paddle dolls.
however Morris suggests that this emphasis could relate Two paddle dolls interestingly have cross markings on
to the Hathoric connection of the Khener troupe, harking their rear just above their girdle lines; this feature is also
back to the mythological story in which Hathor reveals only seen on truncated figurines found within the
her genitals to her father Ra in order to placate him. In Theban province. Angela Tooley groups these figurines
examples with decorations denoting garments on both under the term ‘Ramesseum Ladies’, tying this decora-

tive feature to the Theban region and
further fuelling the idea of regional
rebranding with site specific features.
Identity in North West

Collections
There are six paddle dolls in collections
in the North West of England which
both support and diminish Morris’
Khener troupe theory. Examples can be TOP LEFT
A faience truncated figurine
with tattoo markings and
found in the Liverpool World Museum,
emphasised genital area, from
the Manchester Museum and the
Atkinson Museum in Southport. The the Ramesseum ‘Magicians’
group, now in the Manchester
Museum.
dolls themselves vary considerably in
Photo: JPP
terms of their decorative features and
their state of preservation.
TOP RIGHT
The beautifully decorated
The Manchester doll (above, right) fits
paddle doll from the same
well with Morris’s argument, discovered
amongst a Theban collection and with Ramesseum group. Manchester
Museum. The design features
diagonal chequers, a vivid
the vivid decoration that ties it to this
pubic region and two bands
group. However, the Liverpool paddle
doll (left), found at Beni Hasan, is an denoting girdle lines
example with very little decoration. Photo: Megan Clark
LEFT
This could be in part due to preserva-
tion; however, it seems the piece was The Liverpool paddle doll has
very little decoration in
comparison with other paddle
unlikely to have ever displayed the vast
dolls, particularly those found
amount of patterning seen on a high
percentage of the other dolls. It appears in Theban tombs.
that the doll was originally decorated Photo: Megan Clark

ABOVE: Hair from a paddle doll. Although on display attached
to the Liverpool paddle doll shown on page 15, it is unsure
with a painted image of a necklace, and perhaps small
whether it belonged to that particular figurine as the skull
amounts of decoration around the genital region, but this
cap appears to have the incorrect attachment type and is too is sparse decoration compared to the majority of other
large. Photo: Megan Clark examples in the corpus. There is now some debate over
TOP RIGHT: A linen doll now in the Petrie Museum, UCL.
the hair piece (top left) currently displayed on the doll and
Photo: Courtesy of the Petrie Museum of Egyptian whether or not this originally belonged to the figurine, or
Archaeology, UCL was perhaps paired with the doll pre-burial, after excava-
BELOW: One of two paddle dolls (Goodison 249) at the
tion or when first displayed. The wig is made of linen
Atkinson in Southport. This example is similar in style to the coils, a feature that is not seen on any other paddle doll.
Manchester paddle doll shown on page 15.
Photo: Megan Clark
This could be an example of regional rebranding, as we
see dolls made entirely of linen at Beni Hasan (see above).
Alternatively, the hair may have been taken from another
type of figurine. The wig is a poor fit, containing a skull
cap which is entirely too big for the neck of the paddle
doll. The figure would be better suited to the coil which is
typically seen merely looping over the stub protruding
from the doll.
The Atkinson dolls also vary considerably in their style
and presentation, with Goodison 249 (left) extremely sim-
ilar in style to the Manchester doll, and hence also the
wider Theban group. However, Goodison 247 (opposite, top
left and right) is much more resonant of the style seen in the
Liverpool doll, with its lack of decoration and no clear
evidence that pigment existed on the doll previously. The
doll’s shape is also a far cry from the usual curvaceous and
sexualised shaping of most paddle dolls with their clearly
emphasised hips, nipples and genitals; the squared-off
shoulders and wide arms give an appearance more like a
door wedge than an object of beauty that invokes the
dance troupe of Hathor – the ultimate goddess of joy,
love, dance, music and of course sexuality.
So Morris’ Khener dancer theory is not supported by all
of the North West examples that vary in their style and
find location. Dolls from outside the Theban province
appear to be far more diverse, designed more around
individual interpretation than universal concepts and
practices.
Future Research
Clearly further research is needed to shed light on these
mostly elusive pieces. I am currently visiting collections in
the UK and worldwide to study numerous examples of
these figurines and to compile an overall study of paddle
dolls. I will continue to work on analysing their possible
types and functions in relation to their iconography and
identity, as well as arguing that Morris’s Khener dancer pro-

posal cannot be considered a universal
theory for defining the entire corpus. If
there are any examples of paddle dolls,
Further Reading
or even paddle doll hair pieces, that you
have come across on your travels or in
your own research, please do get in con- Morris, E. F. (2011) Paddle Dolls and
tact – I am always happy to include Performance. Journal of the American
more examples in my study! Research Center in Egypt, Volume 47,
Megan Clark
pp. 71-103. ABOVE LEFT
A second paddle doll from
the Atkinson in Southport.
Tooley, A. M. J. (2017) Notes on type 1
Megan is researching for a Ph.D. in Goodison 247 is more akin to
truncated figurines: the Ramesseum
the Liverpool doll shown on
Egyptology at the University of
ladies. Company of Images:
page 15, and lacks the
Liverpool, focussing on the global normally curvaceous shape of
Modelling the Imaginary World of
corpus of paddle dolls. Her previous most paddle dolls.
research includes assistance in child-
Middle Kingdom Egypt (2000-1500
Photo Megan Clark
birth and studies on Middle Kingdom
BC): Proceedings of the International
figurine types. She was awarded the ABOVE RIGHT
Conference of the EPOCHS Project held
EES’ Patron award in 2019 which she is The rear of the Goodison 247
18th-20th September 2014 at UCL,
using to fund international research doll with the hair made from
London, pp. 421- 456.
visits. If you wish to get in contact mud globules and fibre
shown suspended from a
about this research or anything
Winlock, H. E. (1942) In Search of the
loop slung over the neck of
discussed in this article, her email is:
Woman Pharaoh, Hatshepsut: Excavations
the doll.
hsmclark@liverpool.ac.uk
at Deir el-Bahri, 1911-1931. New York:
Kegan Paul. p.207. Photo: SG

GEBEL EL-SILSILA THROUGHOUT THE AGES:
PART 6 – RAMESSIDE QUARRYING
Maria Nilsson and John Ward revisit the Ramesside era at Gebel el-Silsila
to explore the quarries, the Temple of Sobek and a unique blueprint
of ancient quarrying.
ABOVE: Overview of the transportation route from Ramesside quarries Q31-32. Photo: Anders Andersson
BELOW: A photo of the barge images near the Ramesside Quay, highlighted in pen for clarity. Each boat has a cabin, while the
left-hand boat also has a small obelisk in front of the cabin. Photo and superimposed drawings: Maria Nilsson
ebel el-Silsila was a thriving quarrying communi- artefacts, which are situated on the central part of the
G ty during the Nineteenth Dynasty, and the site

contains a huge number of Ramesside monu-
East Bank. The first two (Q31-32) are open-faced quar-
ries embedded 300m into the mountain and are hidden
(AE121). In this issue, we are staying in the Nineteenth

ments, some of which we touched upon in our last article from view as they are surrounded by spoil heaps to all car-
dinal directions. In a way they can be seen as time cap-
Dynasty to look at some of the important quarrying sules for one of Egypt’s greatest periods of engineering
developments at the site. and ingenuity. The two quarries reach a height of some
Quarries
12-15m measured from the current ground level, and
have both been usurped in part by the early Roman quar-
Three main quarries have been confirmed as Ramesside ry workers. They are connected through their main
(GeSE Q31-33) based on epigraphy and archaeology/ access: a paved and raised transportation route adorned

with two stelae commemorating Sety I.
The pathway then meanders through
massive spoil heaps (see opposite, top) west-
wards towards their Nile-side quay.
There, at one of the site’s larger quays,
the Nile-side cliff face is decorated with
two illustrations of barges each depicted
with a cabin (opposite, bottom). The barge
on the left also has an obelisk. There is
a corresponding group of seven individ-
ually different vessels at the back of
Q32, presumably produced by the same
artist. These, however, are depicted
without cabins (top right).
The third quarry (Q33) excavated by
the team, is a shallow surface quarry sit-
uated on top of the hill (bottom right),
closer to the Nile (separated from the
river only by its massive spoil heap and
the Nile-side pathway), and just above
the location of the rare Late Period car-
touche of Apries. It appears to have
been abandoned in haste, after which
Ptolemaic and Roman spoil has buried
large parts of it, making it impossible to
estimate its original size. However, from
the size of the space preserved, c. 140
square metres, we have calculated that
the surface of that space alone provided
over a hundred larger blocks (generally
160-170cm long, c. 60cm wide, and 60-
70cm deep). The blocks were extracted
by means of trenching and were frac-
tured from the bedrock by the incision
of a string of 1.5 to 2cm-deep horizon-
tal chisel-cuts along the front base (shown
overleaf). A large central mark shows
where a lever was used for the final
break from the cliff. Furthermore, pre-
served footprints show how a block was
lifted by means of a counter-balanced
lever system (see model overleaf, top right)
which could be easily manoeuvred to
either side.
Stela M – A Unique Blueprint

of Ancient Quarrying
Located a few metres to the north of
Q33 is situated ‘Stela M’, which is a
royal monument issued by Ramesses II.
Today this once grand monument is
TOP RIGHT: A depiction of a barge from

inside quarry Q32. Photo: Maria Nilsson
CENTRE RIGHT: Evidence for the

extraction of a large drum from
Ramesside quarry Q31. Photo: John Ward
BOTTOM RIGHT: The shallow surface

quarry Q33 after excavation.
Photo: John Ward

lying on its side with the main panel fac-
ing downwards (as seen bottom left), having
fallen from its sandstone pedestal during
the same natural catastrophe that frac-
tured the Nile stelae. Topped by the tra-
ditional cavetto cornice and winged sun
disk, the main scene depicts an almost
eradicated Ramesses II standing before
the Theban triad. Behind the pharaoh
are two deities: an anthropomorphic
representation of Sobek, followed by the
goddess Nut. After several lines of
stereotypical dedicatory text, the main
text states that the stela was erected as a
royal decree, proclaiming the opening of
TOP LEFT: A drawing illustrating block

extraction at Q33.
TOP RIGHT: A small model of the counter-

balanced lever apparatus used in the
Ramesside quarry.
CENTRE LEFT: A string of white marks left

by heated chisels as they were hammered
into the sandstone block to create
a fracture.
ABOVE: Prepared blocks ready for

extraction.
Drawing, model and photos: John Ward
BOTTOM LEFT: The collapsed stela of

Ramses II. Photo Maria Nilsson

a new quarry for the king, for the bene- ical doctor attending an injured worker
fit of the Temple of Amun. (below, left). Below the scaffolding is seen
While the main scene and text are cer- a round-topped stela placed on a sledge ABOVE and BELOW
The right-side panel of the
Stela of Ramses II depicts the
tainly important, it is the pictorial scene pulled by numerous people (see below,
entire quarrying process. This
on the right-side panel that communi- right), on a slope that leads to a quay.
cates a more unique message. What can There the stela is seen loaded onto a upper section (above) shows a
round-topped stela being
dragged down a slope to the
best be described as a linear historical barge, with two more barges carrying
boats waiting at the quay (in
representation, in a left-to-right move- rectangular blocks below. The entire
ment and in very fine detail, the scene scene is controlled by two scribes and close-up below right), with the
scribe Hapy supervising. Above
the boat, a doctor tends to an
describes the entire quarrying process! the royal superintendent Hapy. The
injured worker (shown in detail
Starting at the upper register (shown same Hapy is later depicted as adoring
above), scaffolding erected against the the cartouches of Ramesses II (overleaf below left).
cliff is shown in the upper left corner, top right). Photos: Maria Nilsson
followed to the right by stone masons
working with chisels and mallets,
administrators/accountants, and a med-

ABOVE LEFT and RIGHT: Two scenes from the broken Ramesses II stela, with a depiction of a Sobek, sadly with face erased (left),
and the scribe Hapy adoring the cartouches of Ramesses II (right).
BELOW: The western part of the Temple of Sobek.
Photos: Maria Nilsson

TOP LEFT: A fragment of door frame from the Temple of
Sobek bearing the Horus name of Ramesses II (Ka-nakht
Mery-maat, “The strong bull, beloved of right, truth”.
Photo: Anders Andersson
LEFT: A fragment from the Temple of Sobek, showing the
lower part of the crocodile followed by his title “Lord of
Kheny”. Photo: Maria Nilsson
BELOW: Reis Shihad Mohammadin from the Gebel el-Silsila
team excavating at the Temple of Sobek.
Photo: Anders Andersson
the ruler and the crocodile lord. The sheer size of several
of the Ramesside fragments indicate a completed temple
of considerable size! The ongoing excavations will hope-
fully reveal more clues.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the Permanent Committee of
Foreign Missions for giving us permission to work at
Gebel el-Silsila, and equally A. Moniem Said, General
Director of Aswan and Nubia. The excavations have
been made possible by the financial support of National
Geographic Society, Gerda Henkel Stiftung, Längmanska
stiftelsen, Magnus Bergvalls Stiftelse, Lars Hiertas Minne,
TVAES, MEHEN, and private donors. Naturally, we are
grateful to our entire Silsila Team!
Maria Nilsson and John Ward

Maria Nilsson and John Ward of the Gebel el-Silsila
Project are regular contributors to AE magazine. In the
next issue, they are again joined by John Wyatt to
complete their survey of bird species at the site.
Temple of Sobek
issues (AE115 and 116) with reference to Thutmoside

The Temple of Sobek has been mentioned in previous
limestone features, and sandstone decoration from the

reign of Amenhotep III. It was however long known as
the ‘Temple of Ramesses the Great’ based on preserved
surface fragments that contained the name of the king.
Therefore it came as no surprise to us when we discov-
ered more sandstone fragments with written and pictori-
al details of a Ramesside artistic programme. Included
among the finds is a left side door frame fragment con-
taining the Horus name of Ramesses II (see top left), dis-
covered during the excavations of the ‘den of Sobek’ in
the western partition of the sanctuary. Two smaller frag-
ments each carry the king’s cartouches. Another impor-
tant find is a two-sided fragment (above), again from a
door, which carries the lower details of a crocodile laying
on a plinth (Sbk), followed by his epithet ‘Lord of Kheny’.
Yet another fragment shows the divine embrace between

EIGHT MASTERPIECES OF
ANCIENT EGYPTIAN JEWELLERY
Nigel Fletcher-Jones showcases some of the most stunning pieces
created by ancient Egypt’s master craftsmen.
ABOVE: The bracelets of Horus Djer, the earliest of the jewellery pieces selected by the author, dating to the Early Dynastic Period.
BELOW: Detail of the upper bracelet showing the serekh beads.
or many years, most of the visitors to the Egyptian For this article, I have chosen eight pieces of jewellery
F Museum in Cairo have been led to the familiar

glints of gold in the room at the rear of the first
floor devoted to the richest of Tutankhamun’s treasures,
from the original collection, some of which may be famil-
iar and some less so. Seven are currently in Cairo, with
one (the fly pendant) at Luxor Museum. None of them
and have missed the two small rooms to either side con- belonged to Tutankhamun!
The Bracelets of Horus Djer

taining finds from Tanis and jewellery from many other
Materials: Gold, turquoise, lapis lazuli, amethyst,

sites. The material from Tutankhamun’s tomb is in the
process of being moved, of course, and some of the other
Original location: Tomb O (Djer), Umm el-Qa’ab,

magnificent pieces housed in the Egyptian Museum will limestone
presumably follow, but for the moment it remains possi-
Period: First Dynasty, Early Dynastic Period, reign of

ble to see many of the masterpieces of ancient Egyptian Abydos (excavated by Petrie in 1901)
jewellery in one place.
Owner: An unknown queen?

Horus Djer (c. 3040 BC)
These bracelets (pictured above and left) date to the period

soon after the unification of Egypt, around 3100 BC.
They were found on a mummified arm hidden in the wall
of king Djer’s tomb, possibly by tomb robbers who did
not return to claim their prize.

The upper serekh bracelet is composed of twenty-nine Period: Twelfth Dynasty, Middle Kingdom. Reign of
beads of gold and turquoise showing a falcon perched Amenemhat II (c.1922–1878 BC) and Senusret III
Owner: Queen Khenemetneferhedjet Weret II, wife of

above a representation of a royal palace. The small rec- (1874–1855 BC)
tangles below the falcon may have been intended to rep-
resent the name of Djer. The pieces of this bracelet are Senusret III
marked on the bottom to show how they were intended to
be arranged. We now move forward in time to the Middle Kingdom,
The second bracelet is made of matching coiled gold with the bracelets and anklets of a Twelfth Dynasty queen
wire and grooved lapis lazuli beads. These elements are (shown below).
separated by gold and turquoise ball beads, and turquoise The twenty strings of tiny beads of the broad-patterned
disc beads. bracelets end with djed pillar clasps which are master-
Below this is an unusual bracelet composed of gold and pieces of composition. Each layer of the pillar consists of
amethyst hourglass-shaped beads (one is brown limestone) a triangle of carnelian pointing upward and surrounded
and lens-shaped turquoise beads, with a gold cap at one by small angled bars of turquoise. The space at the sides
end and gold reels at the other. The hourglass beads are is filled with minute triangles of lapis lazuli. At the narrow
held in place by thread wound around a double groove. neck of the trunk are four chased horizontal gold bars
The centrepiece of the final bracelet is a rosette (gold that connect with the framing gold end bars that lock by
foil over a core of material) in the form of a lotus seed- means of a tongue and groove. The gold spacer bars of
pod. To either side are polished and pierced turquoise the bracelet are formed of tiny barrel beads soldered
chips, hollow gold beads, and lapis lazuli spheres. together – three beads wide and twenty-two beads deep.
A Queen’s Bracelets and Anklets

The two anklets are similarly constructed, but have a
Materials: Gold, turquoise, carnelian, lapis lazuli

claw amulet hanging from the bottom. The top of the claw
Original location: Pyramid IX, funerary complex of

is made of narrow strips of turquoise and carnelian. Long,
curved pieces of carnelian form the body of the claw, with
Senusret III, Dahshur (excavated by Arnold, small pieces of lapis lazuli and turquoise to the sides. The
1994–95) tip of the claw is made of a tiny piece of lapis lazuli.
BELOW: The bracelets and anklets of a Twelfth Dynasty queen. The djed clasps are masterpieces of composition.

Diadem of a Princess
Materials: Gold, lapis lazuli, car-
Original location: Tomb of Princess

nelian, green feldspar
Sithathoriunet, funerary complex of

Senusret II, Lahun (excavated by
Period: Twelfth Dynasty, reign of

Petrie in 1914)
Senusret II (c. 1880–1874 BC),

Senusret III (c. 1874–1855 BC),
and Amenemhat III (c. 1855–1808
Owner: Princess Sithathoriunet,

BC)
daughter of Senusret II and proba-

ble wife of Senusret III
This lovely diadem (shown left) was prob-

ably intended to complement a wig used
only on ceremonial occasions. It consists
of a plain gold band joined at the rear.
At the front is a detachable rearing
cobra uraeus, with a lapis lazuli head,
garnet eyes set in gold, and a hood of
carnelian, turquoise, and lapis lazuli.
Around the band are fifteen inlaid
rosettes made up of bud shapes between
petals, alternating with seed-pods or sta-
mens. Both the pods and the petals are
inlaid with Egyptian faience, and the
petals are inlaid with carnelian. Three
hinged pairs of gold streamers fall from
the band, and tubular gold beads
threaded onto tresses would have com-
pleted the effect. To the rear, two
plumes stand up emerging from a
papyrus bud. These plumes are similar
to those found on the diadem of known
priestesses of Hathor, leading to the
suggestion that the princess – who
shares part of her name with the god-
dess – was also one of her priestesses.
[Find out more about the treasures of
AE87]
Sithathoriunet in Wolfram Grajetzki’s article in
ABOVE and RIGHT: The golden diadem of Princess Sithathoriunet (above) with the
uraeus and rosette shown in close-up (right).

An Oyster Pendant
Materials: Gold, carnelian,
Original location: Tomb of Princess

turquoise, lapis lazuli
Mereret, funerary complex of

Senusret III, Dahshur (excavated
Period: Twelfth Dynasty, reigns of

by de Morgan in 1894)
Owner: Princess Mereret, daughter

Senusret and Amenemhat III
of Senusret III
The art historian Cyril Aldred

(1914–91) once said of this pendant:
“this is technically the supreme masterpiece
from this period.” The pendant (shown
right) takes the form of a trimmed oyster
shell, the centre of which is made of a
single piece of carnelian. The magnifi-
cent cloisonné-work design incorporates
a lotus flower at the top, from which
flows a wreath of stylised flower petals
to either side. At the bottom, the pen-
dant is completed by three chevrons
picked out in turquoise, carnelian, and Karnak indicates that Ahhotep greatly
lapis lazuli. The piece originally hung assisted her son Ahmose in his battle
from a gold bead chain to which twenty- against the Hyksos by taking up arms
ABOVE
six small oyster shells were soldered at herself, for which she may have been
intervals. awarded this necklace of golden flies. The beautiful oyster pendant of
Princess Mereret, which would
have been worn to absorb the
Two other oyster pendants were found The wings of the flies are made from
protective magical properties of
among the jewellery of princess sheet gold upon which a second piece –
Mereret, and others were found with hammered into a mould to represent the amulet.
BELOW
Princess Khnemet and Princess the head and eyes – has been soldered.
The fly pendant necklace of
Sithathor. This is the finest example of Slots were then cut along the back to
the oyster shell amulet that was called in represent the body of the fly. These are Queen Ahhotep, possibly given
ancient Egyptian wedja – meaning said to flash as the wearer moves, cap- for valour in battle.
‘healthy’, ‘whole’, or ‘sound’. It seems to
have been worn mostly by women
(around the neck) in order to absorb
these specific properties.
A Fly Pendant Necklace

Materials: Gold, silver, bronze
Original location: Tomb of Queen
Ahhotep, Dra Abu‘l-Naga,
Thebes/Luxor (excavated by
Period: Eighteenth Dynasty, New

Mariette in 1859)
Kingdom, reign of Taa (c. 1560

BC), Kamose (c. 1555–1550 BC)
Owner: Queen Ahhotep, wife of

and Ahmose I (c. 1550–1525 BC)
King Taa of Thebes and mother of

Ahmose I
The first New Kingdom piece I have

chosen is a well-known necklace (see
right) currently in the Luxor Museum
and was found amongst the burial goods
of Queen Ahhotep. An inscription at

turing the iridescence of the living
insect. The flies attach to the loop-in-
loop chain by means of a small loop sol-
dered between the eyes of each fly. The
necklace closes by a clasp in the form of
a simple hook and eye fastener. [For more
about this necklace and the other treasures dis-
article in AE89]
covered in this burial, see Taneash Sidpura’s
A General’s Earring
Materials: Gold and glass paste
Original location: Tomb of
Horemheb, Saqqara (excavated by
Period: Eighteenth Dynasty reign of

Martin in 1977)
Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten, c.
1352-1336 BC) and Tutankhamun
Owner: General (later King)

(c. 1336-1327 BC)
Horemheb (reigned 1323-1295 BC)
Earrings came into general use during

the Second Intermediate Period and
New Kingdom. They were worn first by
women and later by men. By about
1400 BC, even the king had pierced
ears (though he was not usually depict-
ed wearing earrings). This item, thought
to belong to General Horemheb, was
probably made during the last days of
the reign of Akhenaten or during the
rule of Tutankhamun, before
Horemheb himself became king.
This earring (top left) is made of gold
and fastened to the lobe by a screw that
passed through two rings. A small gold
leaf piece in the shape of a broad collar
(wesekh) covers the join between the rings
and the body of the earring. Two circu-
lar bands, decorated with a V-shaped
design picked out in gold and blue glass,
surround the central image of the king
as a sphinx wearing the blue ‘war’
crown (khepresh), with a rearing cobra
uraeus, a broad collar, and the false
beard of a king. Soldered gold-granule
rings form a rim, the gap in-between
being filled with coloured glass paste.
The five lowest protrusions from the
earring probably served as attachments
for pendants.
Ramesses’s Bracelet
Materials: Gold, lapis lazuli
Original location: Bubastis, eastern
Period: Nineteenth Dynasty reign of

Nile Delta (discovered in 1906)
Owner: Possibly Ramesses II

Ramesses II (c.1279–1213 BC)

In 1906, railway workers dug up two
collections of ancient Egyptian artefacts
in Zagazig (in the Delta governorate of
Sharqia). Among the items recovered
was this magnificent pair of bracelets
bearing the cartouche of Ramesses II
(opposite, bottom). The bracelets may have
been a gift from Ramesses II to the tem-
ple of the goddess Bastet, or they may
have been part of a statue to Ramesses
II himself.
The main body of the bracelet is
formed by two hinged, gold half-cylin-
ders closed by a pin. On the upper side
lies a dome of lapis lazuli that serves as
the body of two sleeping ducks or geese,
who share a common tail. The gold
granule decoration around the stone –
triangles and bosses with a ring of gran-
ulation around them – is extremely fine.
There are larger granules around the
base of the body and on the flange, and
a rim resembling braided rope. Applied
gold wire forms part of the decoration
of the birds’ heads, and their common
shoulder is made of a sheet gold plate,
decorated with granules of gold, which
holds the stone in place at one end. The
tail is a similar sheet of gold joined to a
box embossed with the feather decora-
tion. The lower half of the bracelet is the Greek version of his name –
plain by contrast. The decoration con- Psusennes I). An inscription on another
sists of seventeen rows of round wires collar confirms that this necklace was
and ball beads crudely punched into the made for the king; however the deep
surface. blue ball midway down the left side of
Pasebkhanut’s Necklace
the necklace (as worn) is inscribed with
Materials: Lapis lazuli, gold

a three-line prayer in cuneiform in
Original location: Tomb of

which an Assyrian official asks his god,
Assur, to protect his daughter. The
Pasebkhanut I (Psusennes I), Tanis meaning of this inscription in this con-
Period: Twenty-first Dynasty, Third

(excavated by Montet in 1940) text is unknown.
Intermediate Period, reign of Nigel Fletcher-Jones OPPOSITE PAGE
TOP
Owner: Pasebkhanut I Nigel has worked as a publisher
Pasebkhanut I (c. 1039-991 BC)
The golden earring of
and writer in Amsterdam, Boston Horemheb, with a depiction of
and Cairo, and now lives in the king – possibly Akhenaten
Canterbury, Kent. He writes regu- or Tutankhamun - as a sphinx
My final piece dates to the Third
in the centre.
larly on the archaeology, art and
Intermediate Period, to a time when the
history of ancient Egypt. The eight BOTTOM
beautiful pieces of jewellery high-
king ruled from the Delta city of Tanis.
A gold bracelet with duck or
lighted here are featured in his
This collar (top right) is made of two
geese heads that was possibly
most recent book Ancient Egyptian owned by Ramesses II.
rows of fifty-six large spherical, or
Jewelry: 50 Masterpieces of Art and

slightly elliptical, balls of lapis lazuli.
Design (AUC Press) which is

The stone balls are graded in size, and
THIS PAGE
reviewed on page 58; you can win a
there are two additional golden balls
copy in our competition on ABOVE
(around a composite core) that form the
A lapis lazuli bead necklace
page 11.
bottom of the necklace. The clasp is
belonging to Pasebkhanut
(Psusennes I) but surprisingly
shaped on the top to resemble two more
incorporating one bead
gold beads, and is inscribed on the All images: Archivo White
underside with the name of Star/Araldo De Luca inscribed with a cuneiform
Pasebkhanut (more usually known by prayer to an Assyrian god.

Highlights of the Manchester Museum 25:
A Wooden Mallet
Campbell Price describes a tool once used by an ancient Egyptian

stone-mason, now in Manchester Museum’s collection.
hile far from being Manchester Museum’s most
W ostentatious object, this piece exerts a special

charm for visitors – in particular those that are
able to access the collections first-hand, in the stores,
without glass (see right).
There is something incredibly tractile about it.
Although of dessicated ancient wood, it still has consider-
able heft – being carved from the central solid part of a
log, to ensure stability – and it carries the deep indenta-
tions of countless strikes against a copper chisel. Most
strikingly, perhaps, the handle still has a surface sheen
that can only have been caused by handling. Indeed, this
mallet could still be used today – and exactly why it was

abandoned is unclear. Dozens of such tools (opposite, top)
were found during the course of digs organised by the
Egypt Exploration Fund (EEF, now Egypt Exploration
Society) between 1894 and 1910 at the Western Theban
site of Deir el-Bahri. Dominated by the temple of
Hatshepsut (opposite bottom), the site is also home to sever-
al other royal constructions and was intensively reused as
a sacred burial ground into the late Roman Period.
Among the EEF excavators, Henry Hall of the British
Museum – working under Swiss Egyptologist Edouard
Naville – recognised that these were not the tools of the
workmen who built the temples of Deir el-Bahri, but
rather those who came along centuries later in the
Ramesside Period to use these already antiquated struc-
LEFT: The wooden mallet found at Deir el-Bahri and now in

the Manchester collection
ABOVE: Campbell Price with the mallet in the Museum store.
Photos: Manchester Museum

LEFT
A similar mallet found at Deir
el-Medina, now in the Turin
Egyptian Museum.
Photo: SG
BELOW
Hatshepsut’s Temple at Deir el-
Bahri.
Photo: JPP
tures as a convenient source of worked ments for present purposes. Demolition

stone. This may have been at the insti- was almost as much of an undertaking
gation of Prince Khaemwaset, a well- as quarrying new stone, so the reuse of
known royal ‘restorer’ of monuments in stone seems to have been a deliberate
the name of his father Ramesses II, but choice. Objects like this mallet speak to
who also seems to have actively been the experience of ordinary people in
recycling masonry on a large scale. ancient Egypt in a way few others can.
Campbell Price
Ignoring the Middle Kingdom wis-
dom literature dictum ‘do not build of
Campbell is Curator of Egypt and Sudan
ruins’, reuse and recycling of stone was
at The Manchester Museum (the
not merely expedient, it may have been
thought to be a particularly effective to University of Manchester) and a regular
harness the ‘power’ of ancient monu- contributor to AE magazine.

Inside the Bent and Red Pyramids
at Dahshur
Archaeologist Sean McLachlan explores the interiors of two iconic ancient
Egyptian monuments.
ABOVE: Snefru’s ‘Red’ Pyramid at Dahshur.
n July of 2019, the Egyptian government reopened It turned out when I visited Dahshur I’d make my own
I the Bent and Red Pyramids at Dahshur. These two

important milestones in pyramid construction were
built by the Pharaoh Snefru, who founded the Fourth
“awkward acquaintances,” but not in the Red Pyramid.
Further work was done by Abdel Salam Hussein and
Ahmed Fakhry in the 1940’s and 50’s, and Italian archi-
Dynasty in c. 2613 BC. The pyramids, located 36km tects Maragioglio and Rinaldi in the 1960’s. After that the
south of Cairo, have been closed to the public for military took over the area and the pyramid field was put
decades. They mark an important phase of pyramid con- off limits to archaeologists and visitors alike. As recently
struction from the earlier Step Pyramid at Saqqara, to a as a year and a half ago I visited Dahshur and had to con-
flawed and eventually successful attempt to create a tent myself with walking around the pyramids and taking
smooth-sided true pyramid. photos from the outside, admiring how the sun played off
The pyramid field of Dahshur was first noted by trav- the reddish hue of the Red Pyramid’s core stones, taken
ellers in the seventeenth century, but not adequately from a quarry some five hundred metres to the west, and
described until John Shae Perring wrote about it in his wishing I could explore the interior.
Pyramids of Gizeh, part III, in 1839. He made a simple map So, on my second visit, it was with a sense of privilege
of the Red Pyramid’s interior with measurements. The and excitement that I entered the Red Pyramid.
The Red Pyramid

next to attempt to explore the Red Pyramid was Flinders
Petrie, but as he recalled in his 1883 work The Pyramids and
Temples of Gizeh, he didn’t get far. As every student of Egyptology knows, Snefru first built
“… some animal has a lair in the inner chamber; I did not dis- the Bent Pyramid (of which more later), but abandoned
turb it, being unarmed and miles from any help; and a pair of the work around the 30th year of his reign to work on the
hyaenas with a family might have proved awkward acquain- Red Pyramid, whose ancient name was “The Shining
tances.” One”. It has a slope of 43° 22’ and a base measurement

of 220 metres with a height of 105 that Snefru was still alive at this stage.
metres. The speed of construction hints that an
Most scholars believe Snefru was aging Snefru, frustrated by the delays of
buried here, but it is still not known if his failed Bent Pyramid, might have
the associated temples and causeway been anxious to get this pyramid fin-
were ever finished. The temples are ished in his lifetime.
Entering the Pyramid

incompletely studied and appear to be
hastily made of mudbrick with lime-
stone cladding, while the causeway and The entrance is on the north face (above
valley temple have never been found, if right) perpendicularly 28.65 metres
ABOVE RIGHT
indeed they ever existed. There is no above the base. It is not on the exact
The visitor entrance on the
subsidiary pyramid. When it comes to centre of the north face, but rather dis-
the pyramid field of Dahshur, science placed 3.81m east of the pyramid cen- north face of the Red Pyramid.
tre. The passage is 1.05m wide and
ABOVE LEFT
has a half century of excavations to
The long, steep and low-roofed
catch up on! 1.21m high, and angles down 27° 56’
This lack of subsidiary structures, and for 62.64m before levelling out (above passage down into the Red
apparent haste in construction, may left). This final figure includes the dis- Pyramid.
BELOW
hint that they were completed in haste tance the passage would have gone
by Khufu after Snefru’s death. Since the through the missing outer casing of the A Google Earth map showing
the relative positions of
Snefru’s Red and Bent Pyramids
Bent Pyramid has subsidiary pyramids, pyramid. These are the figures arrived
and the later Twelfth Dynasty
a causeway, and valley temple, perhaps at by Perring and Maragioglio and
it wasn’t considered necessary to repli- Rinaldi, and they have the entrance pas- Black Pyramid of Amenemhat
cate them here. sage level out with its floor, and the III.
Interesting features of the Red
Pyramid are the graffiti on the outside,
which have been removed for preserva-
tion. One found at the base commemo-
rates the laying of the western corner-
stone during the year of the fifteenth
cattle count of Snefru’s reign. Cattle
counts were held at irregular intervals,
so this could be anywhere between
Snefru’s 15th and 30th year of rule.
Indeed, the exact length of this
pharaoh’s rule has been a matter of
debate. Another inscription was found
thirty courses of stones higher and is
dated two to four years later than the
first graffito. This shows that construc-
tion was proceeding at a great pace and

INSIDE THE RED PYRAMID
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: The passage to the lower chamber; a steep staircase up to a corridor and a second chamber situated
8.6 metres up on the south wall; the chamber with graffiti; the corbelled vault.
.
.
. 34 ANCIENT EGYPT November/December 2020
floors of the internal chambers, on a
level with the pyramid base. Other
investigators have slightly different
measurements and set the floors of the
horizontal passage and chambers as
slightly above the pyramid base.
These arguments over measurements
seemed of secondary importance as I
stepped backwards down the stairways,
my six-foot frame bent at a painful
angle to keep me from smacking my
head against the ceiling. The walls are
made of single blocks laid at right
angles to the slope of the passage, with
some cut into a ‘U’ shape to form both
the floor and part of both walls.
Portions are relatively smooth while
other parts of the passage are roughly
hewn.
At the end of the sloping entrance
passage is a 1.3m-deep pit. Whether this
was a trial pit dug by tomb robbers, a
way to move larger objects through the
angle of the passageway, or a catchment Egyptian Antiquities Service to make
for rainwater is unknown. From there sure they don’t get worse.
the passage (opposite, top left) runs 7.3m, There is one significant difference
being 1.05m wide and 1.35m high, between the first and second chambers.
opening up into the first of the lower The second has a corridor set 8.6 metres
chambers. up on the south wall. Today there is a set
After clambering down the slope and of wooden stairs so that visitors can
hunching along the corridors, my body climb up it (opposite, top right). Sockets in
gave a cry of relief to finally be able to the corbelling that align with the floor of
stand upright, quickly followed by a cry this raised corridor show where a plat-
of wonder at where I had ended up – a form must have once stood. Oddly, the
magnificent corbelled chamber. first chamber also has sockets at the
Measuring 8.37 by 3.63m, the chamber same level. Does this hint at a second
has a finely preserved corbelled vault corridor, hidden by a stone block?
soaring to a height of 12.31m (see oppo- The passageway runs for 7.29m
site, bottom left). The walls are made of southwards to a third chamber, also cor-
large stone blocks tightly fitted to one belled like the first two. Slightly larger
another. The largest is an irregularly- than the first two at 8.35 by 4.18m with
shaped cap over the low entrance. The a maximum height of 14.66m, this is
floor has been covered in wood. Records widely interpreted as the burial cham-
show that the ancient floor is made up ber, although the scattered human
of blocks that are shorter than half the remains found inside, while being from
width of the chamber and the gaps in an older male and showing signs of
between are filled by precisely carved mummification (such as resin inside the
smaller blocks. The Italians noted that skull), could not be positively identified
some of the blocks are too large to have as those of the pharaoh.
been transported down the entrance The floor of the chamber was dug up
shaft. in antiquity, a great deal of the stone
From the southwest corner of the being removed. There is also a breach in
chamber a corridor with the same the north wall. Some Egyptologists the-
dimensions as the entrance corridor orize that robbers believed the treasure,
runs 3.18m to the northeast corner of a and perhaps the sarcophagus itself, were
second chamber with a corbelled vault, not located in the chamber itself but
ABOVE
having almost exactly the same dimen- buried under the floor. There is no evi-
The Red Pyramid, called ‘The
sions as the first. The monolithic stone dence that this was the case. So, like
over the entrance has serious cracks, with so much at Dahshur, we are left Shining One’ has slopes built at
and these are being monitored by the with a mystery. 43°22′.

ABOVE: The ‘Bent’ Pyramid of Snefru. The shape is a result of changing the angle of slope halfway up the structure.
BELOW LEFT: A passageway inside the Bent Pyramid
The Bent Pyramid and Snefru’s response to the finished result. It certainly
From the Red Pyramid I made the short walk to the Bent makes for an odd sight after the alluring Red Pyramid –
Pyramid (above), built by Snefru first. Much ink has been an ugly duckling of the pyramid world, but all the more
spilt on arguments over whether or not the pyramid’s intriguing for that.
shape is deliberate or an accident (as seems more likely), “Snefru is Shining in the South”, as it was called in
ancient times, has a base of 188m and a height of 105m.
The lower courses of the pyramid were built at an angle
of 54° 31’, but at about halfway up, the upper courses
veer off to a lower angle of 43° 21’. There is evidence
that Snefru originally wanted the angle to be 60 degrees
but quickly found that unmanageable, enlarged the base,
and switched to 54° 31’. That, too, became impractical.
The pyramid complex consists of an enclosure wall of
yellowish-grey local limestone, a satellite pyramid with a
base length of 53m and a height of 32.5m, a mortuary
temple, and a courtyard from which a causeway leads to
a valley temple.
Inside the Bent Pyramid

The Bent Pyramid is unusual in that it has two entrances,
one on the north face and one on the west. The entrance
open to the public is the north one, at a height of 11.33m
above ground level. From there I started a grueling back-
wards climb down a shaft that measures only a little more
than a metre high and runs at a sharp 28° 38’ angle for
12.6m before easing into a slightly less spine-cracking 26°
10’ angle for 66m. It’s a workout for the thighs, vertebrae,
and confidence. Claustrophobes need not apply.
With a profound sigh of relief, I emerged from the pas-
sageway and stood at full height. I was in a narrow hall-
way with a high corbelled ceiling located some 22m
below the base of the pyramid. Scaffolding fills much of

belled vault. In the south wall is a short passage that leads
to a vertical shaft that rises 15m before dead-ending at
two blocks.
At the south face of the vault of the lower room, 12.6m
above the floor, a passageway opens up into a horizontal
corridor of the upper system, the corridor being a few
metres above ground level. The passage has two vertical
blocking systems, each with a sliding block. One way, cur-
rently blocked, leads to the western entrance of the pyra-
mid, while the other leads to the upper vaulted chamber.
This chamber is in a poor state of preservation. A mass of
it (below), ruining the view but allowing access to an open- masonry that filled half the chamber has been mostly
ing 6.75m above the floor to the lower chamber. This removed at some time in the past without any adequate
chamber, an impressive 17.3m high, has a four-faced cor- record-keeping, and the four-faced corbelled vault went
through several phases of construction that have been
inadequately studied, while the final dressing was never
completed by the ancient masons. The room measures
5.26 by 7.97m, orientated north-south. The vault reaches
165m.
The function of the masonry mass inside the upper
chamber is unclear. A partially dismantled stair brought
me to the top of this mass, with a view down to the
cleared floor of the rest of the chamber, as well as a clos-
er view of the vaulting … a bit too close, for hanging
upside down from the vaulting were hundreds of bats.
They were apparently sleeping; they didn’t move much,
and none decided to leave their perches to fly around my
head. I was thankful for that.
Now it was time to go back up the north entrance pas-
sage, which was only slightly less gruelling on the way up
than it was on the way down. While I had arrived in the
early morning and had the Red Pyramid pretty much to
myself, now people were arriving and I had to awkward-
ly pass several coming down. One was a ten-year-old boy.
“What’s down there?” he asked me, all wide-eyed and
eager.
TOP LEFT: Stairs down from the upper vaulted chamber to the
upper corridor.
TOP RIGHT: A graffito by Perring in the upper corridor, which

he cleared out, reading “Discovered October 20, 1839”.
LEFT: Scaffolding and stairs allowing visitors to access the

lower chamber 6.75m above the floor.

ABOVE: The remains of the Mortuary temple attached to the Bent Pyramid.
BELOW LEFT: Surprise! Bats in the vaulting of the upper chamber.
“Lots of cool stuff. Wait until you see the final room. amids at Dahshur, the much-ruined twelfth pyramid of
There’s a surprise there.” Amenemhat III – the so-called Black Pyramid. Equipped
“Awesome!” he said, continuing cheerfully down and with a good hat and a bottle of water, because even in
unaffected by the low ceiling. December a long walk in the Egyptian desert can quickly
After enduring the cramped interiors of two pyramids, become tiring, I set out.
it was time for a brisk walk to one of the other major pyr- I quickly put Snefru’s pyramids behind me, entered a
shallow bowl in the terrain, then up a ridge on the other
side. The desert was littered with stone tools, potsherds,
and fragments of carved stone. This is not the case
around the Bent and Red Pyramids, the entire area hav-
ing been picked clean. Walking through this carpet of
ancient artifacts, it struck me just how rich the land was
in evidence of its past.
My thoughts were disturbed by a shout behind me. I
turned and saw a policeman waving his hands over his
head and shouting at me in English to come back. Sadly,
visiting the Black Pyramid is not currently allowed.
As I headed to the parking lot where my driver waited,
I saw the boy climbing out of the Bent Pyramid, grinning
from ear to ear. He was too far away to hear, but he was
bouncing up and down next to his parents and talking
about something, the excitement in his voice carrying
even from that distance.
Sean McLachlan
I think he liked the surprise.
Sean is an archaeologist and writer based in Madrid and

Oxford. He is the author of numerous books, including the
Masked Man of Cairo series of mystery novels.
All photos by the author.

The Last Wealthy City of the Delta
Ayman Wahby and Said Eltalhawy describe their recent excavations at
Tell Tebilla, one of the most important cities in the Delta during the first
millennium BC.
ABOVE: The remains of an ancient settlement at the north side of the Tell Tebilla excavation site.
BELOW: The site contains a large number of architectural blocks that were once part of tombs and chapels.
ell Tebilla was an ancient city located about 12km To visit Tell Tebilla, head east from Mansoura towards
T to the north of Mendes, just south of the modern

city of Dekernis in the Dakahlia Governorate (see
map overleaf, top). The city gained its importance in ancient
Mit Mahmoud until you reach Tanah, then take the left
side road through some small villages and farms, along a
modern canal, el Shaflak, which could mark the remains of
times due to its strategic location between the the defunct Mendesian branch of the Nile. You will pass
Mediterranean and two branches of the Nile. farms and some limestone blocks lying beside the canal
before reaching the 25 hectares of land which forms the
mound of Tell Tebilla. In the western corner you will find
a modern water filtration plant (see satellite image, ovelfeaf,
centre); then to the east there are many broken stones scat-
tered on the surface of the Tell (see left and overleaf, bottom)
which were once parts of the chapels and tombs of high
officials such as a commander of the army from Mendes.
Strategic Location
The history of Tebilla begins in the Old Kingdom, but it
was in the first Millennium BC that the city rose to promi-
nence, particularly from the Twenty-second through to
the Thirtieth Dynasties and during the Graeco-Roman
Period. Tebilla’s importance was based on its strategic
location, with a maritime port at the entrance to Lake
Manzala connecting it to the Mediterranean Sea, and

two or more harbours on the defunct
Mendesian branch and the Mansoura-
Damietta branch of the Nile; there is a
village near Tebilla known as ‘el-
Marsa’, which means harbour. These
ports enabled the inhabitants of Tebilla
to present and exchange their goods
and products with their neighbours in
the Nile Valley, especially with Mendes,
Thmouis (near modern day Tell el-
Timai) and Busiris (modern day Abu Sir
Bana). This trade made Tebilla very
wealthy and many of the élite from the
Twenty-second, Twenty-sixth and
Thirtieth Dynasties were by choice
buried here, near to the main cult cen-
tre of Osiris in the Delta – which we
could call the ‘Abydos of the North’.
Earlier Excavation Work

The whole area of Tell Tebilla is pri-
vate property; it is not part of the
Ministry of Antiquites’ sites, although it
has many archaeological features, and
numerous objects and building remains
TOP: A Google Earth map of the Eastern

Delta region showing the location of the
ancient city of Tell Tebilla.
CENTRE: An aerial view of the Tell Tebilla
site with the water treatment plant to the
west and modern settlement to the south-
east. Image: ©2020 Maxar Technologies
LEFT: Members of the team inspect some
of the archeological blocks scattered
across the site.

ABOVE: Ayman Wahby (left and right) and Said Eltalhawy (right) working on site.
have been discovered since the first attempt to study and The Canadian mission discovered the enclosure wall of
excavate the site in 1908 by Mohamed Shaban. The area the Sheshonq I temple, and many tombs and objects,
was then neglected for a long time until the SCA while the SCA team discovered a settlement at the north
(Supreme Council of Antiquities) began working there corner, with the remains of a number of houses that were
during the 1980s; unfortunately the team’s work is yet to burnt down during the Persian invasion (c. 525 BC), and
be published. a large sarcophagus dating to the Saite Period (c. 664-525
From 1999 to 2003 a joint Canadian-Egyptian mission BC). The most important discovery was made by a SCA
carried out work to save the site before the construction of team in 2014 – an intact tomb from the Twenty-sixth
a water filtration plant, which was built in 2004-2005 on Dynasty. It seems that Tebilla was particularly important
the site of an ancient temple. Limestone blocks found during the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, as is reflected by the dis-
during the construction refer to a temple built by king coveries made there from that period – for example a stat-
Sheshonq I of the Twenty-second Dynasty (c. 945-924 ue of an army commander called Nekhet son of
BC) and dedicated to the local god of the district, Osiris- Neskhonsu and Ta-dit, found by Mohamed Shaban in
Khes(a). Some of these blocks were found still in situ at the 1908 .
Recent Work
western side of the water plant, in a place that could be a
harbour leading to a small canal, connecting the site with
the Mansoura - Damitta branch of the Nile. The remains In 2017, Ayman applied to the Permanent Committee to
of stones extracted from the temple and left on the Tell renew the University concession at Tell el-Balamun, but
belonged to a naos of similar shape to the one at Mendes, they suggested that he worked instead at one of the ‘at
so I suggest the temple had a sanctuary with a naos of risk’ sites: Kom el-Khegan, Tell el-Moqdam and Tell
Osiris and side rooms dedicated to other gods related to Tebilla. He chose Tebilla and was given permission to
Osiris, such as Isis, Horus and Sobek, each with their own lead a joint mission from Mansoura University and the
granite shrine. Inspectorate of Antiquities of Daqahlia, with funding for
BELOW: The excavation area at the end of the 2018 season, showing the settlement of the Graeco-Roman Period.

ABOVE LEFT
A topographic map of Tell
the project from the Mansoura cleared, this eastern part was found to
Tebilla which shows the
University Research Fund. contain two empty rooms. To the south
different heights of the mound, The first season began on 11th of these rooms we found a rectangular
colour-coded with red as the cut about 2.80 metres by 1.50 metres;
highest point and blue as the
November 2018, running to 25th of
lowest.
December. We started work at the when we cleaned it, we found it led to a
ABOVE RIGHT
south-eastern corner of the Tell, cover- vaulted underground sealed tomb at a
A Bes jar discovered in the
ing an area of about 2450 square depth of about 2 metres below the sur-
pottery pit near Tomb 2. metres, and achieved a great deal during face level of Tombs 1 and 2 (see below,
BELOW LEFT
this short time. We created a topograph- left). This will be the subject of next sea-
The vaulted tomb which was
ical map of the site, and carried out a son’s work.
found underneath Tomb 2. This magnetic survey of 13 squares, each During cleaning of the street between
new discovery, possibly dating
to the Saite Period, will be the
measuring 40 x 40 metres. The result of Tombs 1 and 2, a number of complete
subject of next season’s study.
our work was the discovery of two Late and broken pottery objects were discov-
Period sub-élite tombs we called Tomb ered, while at the eastern corner of the
BELOW RIGHT
The skeleton of a man found in
1 and Tomb 2, with a street between open court we found a so-called pottery
Tomb 1, one of two Late
them and, to the south of the second pit with many pottery objects and frag-
Period/Early Ptolemaic tombs tomb, an open court which may have ments, together with a number of
discovered by the team. been a reception hall for public use. amulets. The pottery finds and the
Excavating the Tombs

shape of the tombs suggest they date to
between the end of the Late Period and
Tomb 1, measuring 13.5 metres wide the Early Ptolemaic Period, while the
and 14.70 metres long, was made out of vaulted construction possibly narrows it
mud brick and divided into two rooms. down to the Saite Period.
Finds
Five burials containing six skeletons
(four males – one shown below right – and
two females) were found in the first The result of our first season was the
room. Tomb 2, measuring 13.90 metres cataloguing of 193 objects, mostly pot-
wide by 12.80 metres long, also made of tery vessels and potsherds – for example
mud brick, was divided into two parts. two Bes jars (one shown above, right) found
The western part consisted of an open in very good condition in the pottery pit
court leading to two rooms. The rest of near Tomb 2. We found pots of many
the eastern part was still under the different shapes and materials, some
débris from old excavations. Once having a long neck with handles, others

Acknowledgements
made of faience and represented
Bastet, Horus, Min, Taweret, Sobek
(see top right), Ptah, Isis, Thoth, Bes, We would like to thank our colleagues
Hathor, Mai Hesa [or Mahes, the Randa Baligh, Mosad Salama, Hosni
Lion-god of Leontopolis and the son Gazala, Nehad Kamal, Heba Maher,
having a round bottom, and some of Bastet], the Djed pillar and Hanan el Naggar, Ibrahim Seada,
more elongated in shape, including Wadjet eyes. Other amulets, such as Sara El Emari, Rabab Abdel Hakim,
one with a hole near its base (shown Harpocrates, Osiris and the head of Shadi Omar, Ibrahim El Qasaby,
above) which was used to pour water Hathor, were made of bronze. Mohamed Gad, Zienab Dwiedar,
for purification. One of the most During excavation we also discov- Minas Abdo, Aya Habashi, Nada
interesting pots was shaped like a ered many terracotta statuettes of Essam, Hani Ahmed, Yara Abdel
pomegranate (above, centre) and was women – broken and complete – as Rafie, Mai Sherif, Mahmoud Arab,
used to contain wine for use in offer- well as animals such as horses. Osama El Zayat, Emam Salah and
ings and during festival ceremonies. Among these terracotta statuettes Raiis Faysal and his workers. Ayman
Many small vessels were found at there are masterpieces such as the would also like to thank the twenty-
the site, which were possibly used to head of a woman with a headdress five students who helped with the
contain perfumes. Dishes, plates, typical of the Greek goddesses, and a excavations (shown below left); he had
black glazed Greek plates with some white-painted head of a man wearing to feed them well to ensure they could
Ayman Wahby
decoration, bread molds, cups, jar a cap, which might indicate he is a carry out their duties!.
and Said Eltalhawy

stands and amphora handles with soldier.
Greek inscriptions were also found at The excavation site lies beside a
the site. school, and the children there used to
Ayman is Professor of Egyptology at
The people of Tell Tebilla pre- come and ask about the history of
Mansoura University, and Field
Director of the Tell Tebilla Project
ferred to be buried near the temple of their old city, which we told them was
funded by the Mansoura University
the popular and beloved god Osiris, the ‘Abydos of the North’. We are
Research Fund. Said is General Director
so it is not surprising that we found planning to make a sign panel for the
numerous amulets representing dif- area and publish some leaflets about of Daqahlia Antiquities.
ferent gods and goddesses connected the site and its history for the school
the help of AE readers! If you would like to contribute

with the worship of Osiris, Lord of children. Maybe this will happen with
towards the costs of creating the
Tell Tebilla. Most of the amulets were
school leaflets and signage please
contact the Editor.
All photos by the authors

© Mansoura University and the SCA
unless otherwise stated
TOP LEFT: A pot with a hole used to

pour water for purification.
TOP CENTRE: A pomegranite-shaped

jar used to make offerings of wine.
TOP RIGHT: A large collection of

amulets depicting various gods was
discovered on site, including these
crocodile-headed Sobek amulets.
LEFT: Student volunteers enjoying a

well earned picnic.

Pharaoh, Osiris and the Mummy
Photographer Alain Guilleux presents highlights of the new exhibition at
the Musée Granet in Aix-en-Provence, France.
he Musée Granet in Aix-en-Provence in southern
T France, is renown for its collection of paintings from

masters such as Cézanne, Ingres and Van Gogh, and is
named after the French painter François-Marius Granet,
one of the museum’s major benefactors. But the museum is
also home to a substantial number of ancient Egyptian arte-
facts, and the entire collection is now on display as part of
a new exhibition, Pharaoh, Osiris and the Mummy, supple-
mented by around fifty objects from the collections of the
Louvre and other museums.
The exhibition is divided into several themes, beginning
with the history of the collection, then moving to an
orange-coloured gallery focussing on the pharaoh, his
courtiers and the gods. The Tomb and the Afterlife is the
subject of Room 3 (painted blue), followed by a final gallery
upstairs housing more hands-on exhibits, such as casts of
some of the objects which you can handle, and a touch-
screen computer allowing you to examine 3-D scans of the
rare monitor lizard mummy.
Pharaoh, Osiris and the Mummy runs until 14th February
2021. For further details, see page 65.
Alain Guilleux is a French photographer who specialises in Egypt and
Egyptology. To see more of Alain's fantastic photographs, visit his web-
site: http://photosegypte.com
All photos taken at the exhibition by Alain Guilleux.
ABOVE and RIGHT
The funerary stela of Isetemdinakht, dating to the Twenty-

fifth to Twenty-sixth Dynasties.
Isetemdinakht is depicted with his family making offerings to
Osiris and Isis (right) while in the lunette (above) the
goddess Mut pours libations for the deceased.

TOP LEFT: A colossal statue of a Ramesside king, originally
from Elephantine. On loan from the Louvre Museum.
BOTTOM LEFT: The rare mummy of a Nile Monitor Lizard,

whose head was deliberately left unwrapped.
ABOVE: A statue of Pehenernefer, master butcher to King

Khufu of the Fourth Dynasty. The statue, originally from
Saqqara, is on loan from the Louvre.
BELOW: Almost life-sized reliefs from the mastaba tomb of

Iasen and Inkef at Saqqara, dating to the Fourth Dynasty.
Iasen was the oldest son of a king, although the king’s
cartouche is no longer legible.

ABOVE
A statue of the Vizier Khaemwaset (on the
right) and an unknown man. This not the
famous Khaemwaset son of Ramesses II,
but his namesake, a man who presided
over the trial of the royal tomb robbers
during the reign of Ramesses IX. His side-
lock indicates he was also a High Priest of
Ptah.
ABOVE: Two details from a very fine stela from the reign of Sety I. The lunette BELOW
scene depicts the morning sun supported by two deities kneeling on the sky Detail from the Stela of Neshor, a priest of
hieroglyph, and worshipped by four baboons (two of which are shown here). Osiris at Abydos. The curious sign over
Below this is a scene showing Osiris, behind whom stands Isis and Nepththys, the head of the deceased is yet been
Horus, Hathor of the West and Anubis. identified.

ABOVE LEFT and RIGHT
Two stelae from the chapel of a military family.
BELOW The stela of Ibires (left), from the Musée Granet, depicts the
A detail of the Book of the Dead belonging to Tabaakhet, a grand officer of the city and his wife receiving funerary
female singer of Amun-Ra at Karnak. Several pages from this offerings from their son. The stela is reunited with a second
book, dating to the Ptolemaic Period, are on display in the stela from the same chapel, on loan from the Louvre, which
exhibition. depicts an archer named Iy.

DEAR A NCIENT E GYPT
Readers’ letters
Dear Editor,
It is great to see you encouraging young readers to expand on
the Ancient Egyptian studies they receive in Year 5 at primary
school by learning more detail from the Per Mesut section of AE
magazine.
I have a keen interest in Egyptology and during lock down
earlier in the year when schools were closed I offered to explore
the subject with my grandson (9) and granddaughter (7). I first
had to learn how to use Zoom, but thereafter we met over the
internet for 50 minutes every Tuesday morning for twelve
weeks. With the aid of photographs and my research, we start-
BELOW and RIGHT: Ancient Egyptian handicrafts made by

Gillian Marchant’s grandchildren: costumes, puppets,
a glittery scarab and mummies. Photos: Gillian Marchant

readers’ letters
ed at Deir el-Medina, looked at the making of the tombs in the
Valleys of the Kings and Queens, explored funerary rites and
mummification, and met many of the gods and goddesses.
They learnt about scribes and Ancient Egyptian writing, and to
my surprise, my grandson even challenged me to solve sums he
had written in hieroglyphs! We also dropped into Karnak and
Luxor and entered some of the West Bank mortuary temples
and ‘flew’ to Abu Simbel. I have never seen children sit so still
and captivated and eager to ask questions. At their request we
had a lesson on Egyptian medicine! They learnt about obelisks
and transportation, clothes, crowns and foods. Having debated
the importance of the Nile, we then ‘sailed’ to Cairo and visit-
ed Saqqara to look at the different designs of pyramid and ven-
tured into the Serapeum. They enjoyed the Osiris Myth (in par-
ticular the loss of Osiris’s appendage to a Nile fish!) and the
Battle of Kadesh with its interesting weaponry.
After each session they asked for ‘homework’ which was craft-
based using mainly ideas from the Usborne activities book
Egyptian Things to Make and Do. At the end of the twelve weeks,
we had a ‘graduation ceremony’ in the garden where we all
dressed up as Ancient Egyptians and they each received a cer-
tificate. All in all it was great fun and a wonderful focus during
those difficult months. I was amazed at how much information
they retained and perhaps of even greater significance is the
thought that future Egyptologists may have been born!
I am attaching some photographs (see opposite) of the chil-
Gillian Marchant
dren’s creations.
Dear Editor,
I have been reading your great magazine and have always
found the vast range of articles very stimulating. In AE this
month [AE121], I was particularly taken by Hilary Wilson's
ABOVE: Vicky and the Magic Crystal by Mike Clegg.
Published by WRITERSWORLD. ISBN: 978-0-9954823-3-3.
article on Headcloths. (Why this should be for young readers, I
don’t know. I found it fascinating, and I have had my bus pass
for many years.)
The khat made me think of hair, and possible styles. It seems I had been hoping to visit Egypt again this year and repeat the
that men are usually shown wearing crowns or shaven-headed. excellent cruise on the Nile from Cairo that my wife and I took
Mike Clegg
What of women? Have you ever had an article about possible last year. Covid-19 put a stop to that I’m afraid; maybe 2021!
women’s hair styles, apart from wigs.? I look forward to seeing
Brian Regan
the answer in print.
Dear Editor,
Dear Brian, Just a query about ancient Egyptian ear piercings. I was won-
Ed.
Hilary Wilson thinks it’s a great idea – watch this space! dering whether ear piercing was standard throughout the pop-
ulation, or reserved for societies elite, and how were the ears
pierced. Have there been any tools discovered to support the
Dear Editor, Barbara Atkinson

theories?
Dear Barbara,
tion – Ed.] of ANCIENT EGYPT (AE120) Hilary Wilson’s
I noticed that in the latest edition [actually the July/August edi-
Sounds like a good research project –over to our knowledgeable
Ed.
Per Mesut presented a selection of Egypt-related fiction books. I readers!
recently published a book entitled Vicky and the Magic Crystal (see
top right) which, in part, tells the story of how Vicky and her
Dear Editor,
friends travel to the time of Tutankhaten, save his life and escort
him to Thebes where he changes his name and sets about rul-
ing the country. It was written for older children (young I am enjoying the articles on Gebel el-Silsila Through The Ages, but
teenagers) although a number of adults have bought it as well. I have a query on the coverage of the Sety I shrine in the last
I thought this might be an interesting addition to Hilary’s list. issue (p.18 of AE121). The article states that Sety is making
I’ve recently rejoined the readership of your excellent maga- offerings to Amun and Ramesses I, but the hieroglyphs suggest
zine after a longish absence. I have been more involved in writ- that these figures are actually Montu and Atum. Can you please
ing and preparing lectures than in reading for recreation. Also explain why these might be Amun and Ramesses I?

readers’ letters
ABOVE: A facsimile drawing of a Nile stela depicting Ramesses I and Amun. Drawing: Moamen Saad
I am looking forward to further articles in this series in future height would be achieved, for a thin batten the length of the
Geoffrey Lenox-Smith
issues. base, to be inserted.
This operation would be repeated on the other side of the
Dear Geoffrey,
base and, once resting on battens, a lever could be used for fur-
ther lifts. The guys were equipped with timber battens and
Thanks to you – and also to Dylan Bickerstaffe – for correctly baulks of various sizes – always in pairs – and specially con-
pointing out a mix-up in the image description. The image on structed boxes – also in pairs – and, with these, the sculpture
p.18 does indeed show Sety presenting offerings to Atum and could be raised to any precise height.
Montu. The actual scene referred to – showing Ramesses I and Part of the equipment were pairs of 10 x 1.5cm oak floor-
Ed.
Amun – is reproduced above. boards of various lengths, all coated with graphite. A long and
a short floorboard would be paired, graphite to graphite, and
inserted under the base, at each side and the sculpture would be
Dear Editor,
brought down to rest on the short boards (uppermost) and in
this configuration, one or two men could push the sculpture,
I enjoyed Nacho Ares’s article on the use of sledges to move with ease. More floorboards could be laid down, and, if neces-
heavy stone objects over wetted sand in ancient Egypt – or sary, the direction could be changed, so as to continue the move
Eric Miller
more particularly, on the non-use of wheels for the purpose. to the new location.
And I thought AE readers would be interested to know that
before the advent of fork-lift trucks, the guys that moved heavy
Dear Editor,
sculpture at the British Museum, the Mason’s Assistants, almost
never used wheels.
I joined Stone and Wall Paintings Conservation at the BM in I wonder if you can help me with a question regarding the stat-
1979 and, at that time, everything was moved by hand. For ue pictured on page 52 of the latest issue (AE121). I am refer-
example, to move a granite figure, weighing, say, three-quarters ring to the photograph in Per Mesut, bottom left, entitled ‘a rear
of a tonne and standing on a flat floor, it would firstly be lifted view of a seated statue of Smenkhkara’.
on one side, using a mixing trowel. (For this to work, the trowel I am no expert and my main interest is Archaic Period Egypt,
must be the type made as a single casting and, the point must but it is hard to miss the varying opinions on personnel, parent-
be sawn off; this adapted tool now makes a very strong and very age and succession during the Amarna period and its immedi-
thin lever and it can be used to lift any weight.) ate aftermath. I was under the impression that while there may
For a sculpture standing on the floor, a place must be found be just about enough evidence to establish the existence of
for slipping the trowel underneath the base. The first lift needs Smenkhkara as a king of Egypt, it was still sparse and some of
to be enough to push in the thin end of a wedge, to make a pur- it disputed. I was not aware of anything as definitive as a stat-
chase. This would allow the trowel to be slid further in, to make ue. I have looked through the online catalogue of Egyptian
a better purchase next time. After a few such lifts, enough antiquities at the Louvre and cannot find it. Could you direct

readers’ letters
me to more information about the statue, perhaps a picture of
the front?
I'll take this opportunity to say thank you for an excellent
magazine, always enjoyable.
Karen Halfacre
Dear Karen,
Herewith three images of the Louvre statue which, as you can
see from the extra arm around the king’s back was originally
part of a pair statue. I always associate this with Smenkhkara
because that was how Cyril Aldred identified it, but more recent
scholars have said it is Akhenaten. As the statue is uninscribed
Hilary Wilson
you can take your pick!
Three images of a statue that may depict Smenkhkara.

Musée du Louvre, Paris. Photos: Hilary Wilson.

PER MESuT: for younger readers
Gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh
ABOVE: The produce of Nubia including trays of incense resin, chains of gold ingot rings and bags of gold dust are presented to
Ramesses II. Beit el-Wali; facsimile in the British Museum (BM).
BELOW LEFT: Nubian bearers in the tomb of Sebekhotep carry trays of gold nuggets and chains of gold rings. BM.
emple and funerary rituals in ancient Egypt cen- some scenes, especially in the tombs of high-ranking offi-
T tred on the presentation of gifts to the gods, to

gain their favour, or to the dead, to provide for the
afterlife. Temple and tomb walls show parades of servants
cials or senior priests, depict deliveries of non-edible
goods. Most often these show the arrival, from what we
now call Nubia, of valuable raw materials and luxury
carrying baskets, trays and jars of food and drink, but items, usually described as tribute, tithes or taxation, paid
by the Nubian peoples to their Egyptian overlords. Most
important among these gifts was gold, represented as cir-
cular ingot rings (sometimes apparently linked in chains),
basketwork trays piled high with gold nuggets, or linen
bags filled with gold dust (see above and left and also opposite,
top left). In the Tomb of Huya, Viceroy of Nubia under
Tutankhamun, deliveries of large quantities of gold are
shown being weighed and recorded (see a similar scene,
depicted in the tomb of Benia, opposite top right). Some of this
precious material was destined to be turned into fine jew-
ellery for the kings and the gods, or user for the inlay on
statues and temple and palace furniture, as well as for the
manufacture of the vases, basins and ewers used in reli-
gious rites. But perhaps the largest amount of gold would
have been set aside to pay for materials which had to be
imported from lands which were not always or not com-
pletely under Egyptian control, such as timber from the
pine and cedar forests of Lebanon and Syria.

per mesut
The powerful nations of the region, including the

Hittites, the Babylonians and the Assyrians, were in com-
petition with Egypt for these crucial resources and all
would have had to negotiate a price for the wood they so
desperately needed for building boats, coffins, and temple
ABOVE LEFT: Nubian bearers in the Tomb of Sebekhotep
bring gold rings and trays filled with balls of
features like flagpoles and doors. The Egyptians may have
incense resin. BM.
been at an advantage in these trade deals since gold was the
preferred medium of exchange and one Babylonian king
ABOVE RIGHT: Weighing gold from Nubia; Tomb of Benia,
Thebes.
claimed that gold was as common as dust in the land of
Egypt. If tomb paintings are to be believed, some of that
gold appears to have been returned to Egypt in the form of BELOW: Foreign ‘ambassadors’ or traders, depicted in the
Tomb of Puyemra, come to negotiate for Egypt’s gold which
is shown as ingot rings to the left of the scene.
worked gold vessels such as the pedestal basins and decora-
Facsimile painting: MMA.
tive bowls brought by Asiatic bearers in the tombs of
Sebekhotep and Puyemra (below). These might be seen as

per mesut
gifts from friendly neighbours, or tribute Nubia produced many other sought-
from vassal states (above), or even as after materials, such as ebony, ivory,
examples of the luxury goods available in ostrich eggshells and feathers, and ani-
the markets of the northern lands. mal skins, which could be exchanged for
SCENES FROM THE TOMB OF

REKHMIRA
TOP LEFT
Cretans/Keftiu with gold
vessels,
TOP RIGHT
Aegean/Cretan bearers with
gold and silver vessels.
CENTRE RIGHT
Precious gifts stored in the
temple treasury.
BOTTOM RIGHT
Exotic gifts in the temple
storehouse, including metal
ingots and vessels of gold,
silver and glass.
All facsimile paintings: MMA

per mesut
the necessary imports, but of all the gifts
of Nubia, second only to gold in impor-
tance, were resins. These were the essen-
tial ingredients in the incense burned in
temples as part of purification rituals, in
the sacred oils used in mummification
and in perfumed ointments for personal
use. Resin is the sap which oozes natu-
rally from tree trunks or plant stems and
the flow is encouraged by cutting slits or
notches in the bark. Incense resins were
collected from various tree and shrub
species found on the dry mountain
slopes of Ethiopia and Somalia, in
Arabia and around the coastal hills of
the Eastern Mediterranean from Turkey
and Syria to Sinai.
The Boswellia trees of the
Southlands produced the resin general-
ABOVE
Treasures from Punt, including
ly called frankincense. The clear liquid pellets of incense which were burned in
a live incense tree. Tomb of
forms as ‘tears’ which become opaque saucers, bowls and censing spoons (see
Rekhmira.
on drying and darken from white to a overleaf, top left and overleaf top right). The
yellowish-brown with age. The liquid same workshops created the special oils Facsimile painting: MMA.
BELOW
was collected in pottery vessels, the used in funerary rituals, especially the
Heaps of incense being
sticky tears were rolled together in balls ‘Opening of the Mouth’ ceremony.
measured by the basketful.
Deir el-Bahri Temple.
and, when really solidified, the resin Recipes for these oils and the perfumes
was crushed to a powder. The most which were believed to please the gods
BOTTOM
famous scenes of gathering incense are were already ancient when they were
Incense trees ready for
transport. Deir el-Bahri Temple.
at Deir el-Bahri where heaps of resin inscribed on the walls of Ptolemaic
are shown being measured by the bas- temples such as Dendera and Edfu.
ketful (see right). Frankincense was so
important to Egyptian temple ritual
that Hatshepsut had living trees
brought from Punt (see top right and
below) hoping to provide a home-grown
source of the precious resin, but the
growing conditions in Egypt were not
suitable and the trees failed to thrive.
The resin produced by thorny myrrh
bushes, red-brown when dried, was
used in medicines and perfumes as well
as incense. Frankincense and myrrh
were delivered to specialist temple
workshops where they were mixed with
various ingredients such as oil, veg-
etable gum and animal fats to produce

per mesut
ABOVE LEFT: Osiris enthroned before an offering table on which are saucers of burning incense. Stela of Ipu, Leiden.
ABOVE RIGHT: Hatshepsut offers to Amun by throwing pellets of incense into a censing spoon. Chapelle Rouge, Karnak.
BELOW: Gold rings, bags of gold dust and trays of incense resin shown in the tomb of Huya. Facsimile painting: MMA

per mesut
incense resin from that region is indicated by the many

amphorae of terebinth found in the wreck of a vessel,
It was believed that the gods themselves could be recog- laden with a rich cargo of exotic goods, which sank off
nised by their scent. Perfuming the skin was a way of imi- the Turkish coast near Uluburun around 3000 years ago.
tating this divine trait and making both living priests and It is clear that gold and incense, particularly frankincense
dead bodies acceptable to the gods (see above). The per- and myrrh or terebinth, were amongst the most luxurious
fumes made in Egypt became famous throughout the of gifts exchanged by élite Bronze Age societies.
Hilary Wilson
Greek and Roman world. The smoke rising from burning
incense was thought to form a connection between the
earthly and heavenly worlds. It is first mentioned in the
Pyramid Texts where incense smoke is described as help- All photos by the author, except where otherwise attributed.
ing the dead king to become a god. In offering lists
TOP LEFT: An alabaster plaque with hollows for the sacred
oils required in funerary ritual. Boston Museum of Fine Art.
incense is usually labelled sen-netjer, meaning ‘divine
scent’, a word now thought to refer to incense in general
rather than just frankincense (see below left). The word TOP RIGHT: A talatat block from the Great Aten Temple at
Amarna showing saucers of burning incense on
an offering table. MMA.
antyu is applied to myrrh but also to the resin known as
terebinth, sometimes called mastic, which comes from
BOTTOM LEFT: In the second row of the inscription on his
stela, Wenenefer requests sen-netjer (incense) and merhet
trees of the Pistacia family and was widely used in per-
(perfumes). Musée du Louvre, Paris.
fumery in the ancient world. At Amarna, bowls contain-
ing terebinth residue show that it was burned as incense,
as seen on the many offering tables in the Great Aten BOTTOM RIGHT: Syrian bearers with a gold basin and an
amphora which may contain terebinth resin. Tomb of
Rekhmira. A facsimile painting MMA.
Temple (top right). Most of the terebinth resin from
Egyptian sites was found in jars of Canaanite or
Palestinian origin (bottom right). The substantial trade in

BOOK REVIEWS
Ancient Egyptian
Jewelry:
are deserving of the title “master- plinary interrogation of this remark-
piece”. Personal highlights include the able object class of around a thousand
50 Masterpieces of Art and

pectoral of Amenemhat III, surviving examples. Recent research
Design
Tutankhamun’s necklace with a lunar presented in the volume has expanded
by Nigel Fletcher-Jones.
boat, the duck bracelets of Ramesses somewhat to include other painted
AUC Press, 2020

II, and the oyster-shaped pendant of surfaces such as shrouds, doors and
ISBN 978-977-4-16965-6
Princess Mereret which adorns the even shields.
Hardback, £18.95.
front cover. This book derives from a series of
Although the price is a little on the conference papers, and is chiefly tech-
high side, the book is a brief but nical in nature. Contributions concern
attractive introduction to ancient materials and techniques used in the
Egyptian jewellery and is sure to make production of the paintings. Clearly,
the Christmas wish lists of many new technologies have allowed more
Egyptophiles! sensitive and sophisticated analysis
SG
(multispectral imaging, for example),
reducing the need for destructive sam-
Nigel Fletcher-Jones presents his own jew- pling. Some older research seems to
ellery highlights in his article on page 24 and be validated – for example previous
you can win a copy of his book in our com- sampling that indicated that most pan-
petition on page 11. els were made from imported
Mummy Portraits of
European limewood – but clearly the
Roman Egypt:
ability to detect individual component
Who cannot be overcome with awe materials has improved considerably,
Emerging Research from the
when face to face with the stunning making the complexity of the creation
APPEAR Project
jewellery created by the master crafts- of the paintings much clearer.
edited by Marie Svoboda

men of ancient Egypt? So much gold Although based on mainly scientific
and Caroline Cartwright.

and the vibrant colour of semi-pre- studies, there are a number of inter-
J. Paul Getty Museum, 2020
cious stones such as carnelian, esting cultural points that emerge,
ISBN 978-16060-6654-6
turquoise and lapis lazuli – it is literal- notably about the possible organisa-
Paperback, £45.
ly breath-taking. Of course as with all tion of particular workshops and –
things ancient Egyptian, these pieces most interestingly to the reviewer –
represent far more than decorative that many of the panel paintings fit a
trinkets. As Nigel Fletcher-Jones standard visual formula that may
emphasises in his new book, ‘jewelry’ change depending on how a particu-
(he uses the American spelling lar panel is angled – which rather
throughout) signified status, power, casts doubt on the fact that these were
wealth and intimacy with the true-to-life mimetic portraits in a
pharaoh, and also gave divine and modern Western sense. Pleasingly,
magical protection to the wearer. there are no studies that try to tie CT-
This small book highlights fifty of scan data to the images on panels in
the most beautiful pieces of jewellery an attempt to prove ‘accuracy’ of the
ever created – anywhere – illustrated depiction.
by the stunning photography of The studies gathered here will have a
Araldo De Luca (Archivio White broader appeal beyond Graeco-
Star). For each item the author gives Roman Egypt aficionados and arte-
details of the owner and date, materi- facts’ conservators, to those with inter-
als used, dimensions, current and orig- ests in painting techniques generally
inal location, and museum catalogue and in ancient technologies in particu-
numbers, followed by a short descrip- The so-called Fayum Portraits – thin lar. Plans to include more examples of
tion of the features of the design, its wooden panels painted with an image panel paintings from additional collec-
construction, the symbolism of the of the deceased and placed over the tions – such as Manchester Museum –
various components and the historical heads of mummies of Roman Period continue apace. For anyone interested
context. An introduction covers how date – make some of the most capti- in this dynamic research (worthy of its
the materials were sourced across the vating displays in any museum. This super acronym!), the project website
pharaonic period, although there is no book published the first four years’ complements this informative publica-
explanation for why these particular worth of research by the Ancient tion:
pieces were chosen and several items Panel Painting, Examination, Analysis www.getty.edu/museum/research/
are not jewellery in the strictest sense & Research (APPEAR) Project, spon- appear_project
Campbell Price
of the word – for example the cere- sored and hosted by the J. Paul Getty
monial daggers of Tutankhamun, the Museum in Malibu, which has its own
glass kohl holder and Sithathoriunet’s important collection of Graeco-
portraits in AE117.
mirror. However no one can argue Roman Egyptian material. It is the Read more about the analysis of mummy
with the fact that all of these artefacts first large-scale, genuinely multidisci-

book reviews
The Many Histories of
Naqada:
were distributed around the UK, as lises such as Rome, Carthage, Athens,
well as to museum collections in main- Alexandria – great urban centres that
Archaeology and Heritage in

land Europe and the United States. represent the pinnacle of human
an Upper Egyptian Region

Several of these have been included achievement. But this is a myth; with
edited by Alice Stevenson

by the authors to add further context the exception of Rome, early cities
to their discussions; for example, were small in both their physical size
and Joris van Wetering.
Grajetzki’s article (Naqada in Pharaonic and number of inhabitants.
GHP Egyptology 32
Times) draws upon objects from the Forget what you think you know
Golden House Publishing, 2020
site now kept in the Petrie Museum, about state formation and the spread
ISBN 978-1906-13769-4
Paperback, £60.
UCL, as well as in collections across of urbanisation – Greg Wolf,
Europe, to contextualise a wider con- Professor of the Institute of Classical
versation about the complex history of Studies, argues for a re-evaluation of
the site after the Predynastic Period. the development of ancient cities
In his article on Christian heritage in using an evolutionary approach: our
the region, Dekker explores the biology predisposes us to living togeth-
archaeological, architectural and er in urban settlements, but there is no
philological evidence for human activ- planned “civilising process” that
ity at the site during late antiquity, makes urban living inevitable. Cities
supported with contemporary objects were successful because they gave
in museum collections. The chrono- their inhabitants some competitive
logical span of the volume, covering advantage over their neighbours.
thousands of years from the Cities were created by accident, not as
Predynastic Period through to the stand-alone islands but as hubs in
modern day, underlines the impor- complex long-distance networks of
tance of the Naqada region to our exchanges (trade), spanning out from
understanding of Egyptian history. the earliest urban centres in
Illustrated throughout with black- Mesopotamia and Egypt.
The region of Naqada, an important and-white line drawings and greyscale Wolf focusses on the Mediterranean
Upper Egyptian settlement and ceme- images, this volume will be of interest world, which he argues was always
tery site occupied throughout the to readers wishing to learn more better suited to small settlements due
pharaonic period and particularly well about this fascinating region and the to its fragmented landscape, arid con-
known for its Predynastic remains, was history of its excavation. ditions and scarcity of fertile land.
Anna Garnett
the subject of a focussed workshop at Cities could only expand as long as
University College London in 2016. they could sustain their populations.
The Life and Death of

Bringing together international spe- The giant cities – such as Rome – that
Ancient Cities:
cialists on Naqada, the workshop emerged in the last century BC, put a
explored issues relating to the archae- huge strain on resources and could
A Natural History
ology and heritage of this unique site only survive as part of an empire,
by Greg Woolf.
within a wider framework, as well as where the ruler could afford to “tax
Oxford University Press, 2020
the associated excavation record, globally and spend locally”; if imperi-
ISBN: 978-01994-612-9
including archival documents from al power collapsed, so did the cities.
Hardback, £25.
Flinders Petrie’s 1894-1895 excava- This short review can only touch on
tions in the region. One of the organ- some of the fascinating (and highly
isers of this event was the indomitable recommended) discourse on the devel-
Geoffrey J. Tassie (Tass), expert on opment of urbanisation, which covers
Naqada and on the Predynastic the emergence of Mediterranean
Period, who sadly died during the urban networks, the invention of poli-
editing of this volume just before his tics in response to community tensions
2019 season at the site was due to and violent conflict, the emergence of
begin. Happily, the editors were able the Greek city states, and the rise of
to ensure that Tass’ article on the Past, the Persian and Roman Empires – the
Present and Future of the Naqada Region “more brutal histories of connection”,
was included in the contents of the before looking for answers for the dra-
proceedings of this workshop, mean- matic contraction of Rome and the
ing that his hopes and ambitions for other giant cities in the early third
the site can guide future work in the century (AD). Wolf ends with a cau-
region. tionary note for those who believe our
The importance of the material and current rate of globalisation will con-
archival record of excavations in the tinue indefinitely: “there have been many
Naqada region, now kept in museums urban moments, but few that have lasted
around the world, is emphasised more than a few centuries”.
SG
throughout the volume. Finds from Think of ancient cities and we con-
the early excavations in the region jure up images of glittering metropo-

BOOKS & APPS
Archaeology of Empire
in Achaemenid Egypt
The book is summarised and con-
cluded in a chapter about the chal-
by Henry P. Colburn.
lenges of interpreting the various
Edinburgh University Press, 2019

experiences of an imperial power such
ISBN 978-1-47445-236-6
as Persia. The points Colburn makes
Hardback £85; e-book £85.
about (mis-)interpreting ‘ethnic’ iden-
tity based on material culture could
equally be applied to Nubian or
Graeco-Roman material in Egypt, or
to other archaeologies.
While this is undoubtedly an aca-
demic work based on a Ph.D. thesis, it app is still work in progress and the
packs in a lot of information, the developer very much welcomes feed-
great majority of which will not be back. He is also currently working on
known beyond even a subset of a Shazam-style app that allows you to
ancient historians. Most importantly, it point your phone camera at a sign
SG
is engagingly written and for anyone and get an instant translation.
with a real interest in learning more
AED
about this blind-spot of ancient histo-
by Simon D.
ry is worth the University Press price.
Campbell Price
Schweitzer.
App for Android,
Hieroglyphics Free.
Pro
Often instinctively avoided because of
by Aviametrix,
its ‘otherness’ or due to an assumed
LLC.
lack of evidence, the Persian Period Another recently released app – this
App for IOS, £3.99.
(Twenty-seventh and ‘Thirty-first’ time for Android, is the AED – Ancient
Dynasties, 525-404 and 343-332 BC) Egyptian Dictionary – designed for
is little-discussed in most standard his- English and German students of
tories of Egypt. This accessible new A portable hieroglyph translator Egyptology. The dictionary lists more
academic treatment sets out to chal- would be high on the wish list of any- than 30,000 words based on the
lenge the prejudices of earlier com- one visiting tombs, temples or muse- Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of
mentators (starting with the ancient ums, and there are several apps avail- Sciences and Humanities database.
Greeks), and illustrates very effectively able, mostly developed by enthusiasts It has a simple Google-like search
the ways in which scholarship is as as opposed to software companies. slot allowing the user to type in a tran-
prone to bias as any other aspect of The first of two reviewd here is scription (in MdC or Unicode) or
human activity. Hieroglyphics Pro has been developed by Gardiner code. The resulting list gives
is in AE120).
Colburn begins with a useful decon- Ira Rampil (who’s article on the brain the transcription and translation in
struction of the biases of previous German and English), and you can
commentators in approaching the The app contains a database of click through to a website (internet
subject of Persians in Egypt before 1,100 hieroglyphic signs organised by connection required) to find further
presenting a detailed review of Gardiner categories and a dictionary references.
archaeological evidence for the period of over 22,000 common words and
within the Memphite area and the phrases which are built into the app so
Western oases. When considering the an internet connection is not required.
surviving sources, the author acknowl- There are three different levels
edges that much material convention- depending on your skill. In beginner
ally labelled ‘Twenty-sixth’ or mode you simply search for a hiero-
‘Thirtieth’ Dynasty in date may well glyph from 200 of the most common
derive from a time outside these con- signs. Student level provides 600 signs
venient chronological poles, and may with transliterations while Pro level
well relate to a time when Egypt was gives the full set. The ‘student’and
ruled by ancient Persia (the area of ‘pro’ settings also allow you to type in
modern Iran). There then follows a the Gardiner code and give you access
thematic discussion of élite identity- to an MdC shortcuts table. The app
formation – chiefly in the form of provides a translation that can be
stone temple monuments such as stat- saved to the clipboard for use outside
ues – and of the more commonplace of the app. You can also type in a
concerns of eating, drinking and word in English to find the hieroglyph You can also type in words in
spending money – attested chiefly equivalent. It can be quite time con- English or German to find the hiero-
SG
through the considerable evidence of suming scrolling through all the signs glyph equivalent.
pottery and coinage. and there are a few glitches, but the

Coming in Future Issues of ANCIENT EGYPT
Temple Tombs A Horse and a Boat
Myriam Seco Álvarez reveals the Barbara Tratsaert describes two unusual
Middle Kingdom tombs hidden under the depictions in an Eastern Desert gold-
New Kingdom Temple of Thutmose III at mining settlement.
Luxor.
The Shishaq Attack
Ancient Ornithology James Bowden reassesses the
John Wyatt and Maria Nilsson importance to Egypt of the pharaoh's
complete their three-part series on the attack on Israel.
bird species discovered at Gebel el-Silsila.
A Cenotaph for Sety I
Nubia and Egypt Geoffrey Lenox-Smith explores the
The Nubian kingdoms of Kush, Napata intriguing Osirion at Abydos.
and Meroë and their relationships with
ancient Egypt are explored by Stanley
M. Burstein.
... with News from Egypt, Per Mesut
Underground Dogs (for our young and not-so-young read-
Paul T. Nicholson reveals his latest ers), Book Reviews, and lists of forth-
findings from the Catacombs of Anubis coming Events (both on-line and live)
at North Saqqara. and Exhibitions.

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UK EVENTS DIARY
***SPECIAL NOTICE*** Deadline for submission: all events
Covid-19 continues to affect events planned by Egyptology societies across the UK. Where entries should be received by 30th
face-to-face lectures are planned, please check in advance to make sure these are still going November 2020 for inclusion in the next
ahead. Some societies have switched to online lectures which are also listed here. Contact the issue. To add an event to the AE Events
societies directly for more details. Most societies will not be holding lectures until January Diary, please contact the Editor, email:
2021 at the earliest: Full contact details can be found on pages 66 and 67. editor@ancientegyptmagazine.com
NOVEMBER 2020
21st Leicester Ancient Egypt 12th Southampton Ancient Egypt
Society Society
Steven Gregory: Tutankhamun Knew the Lee Young: Letters from the Desert – the story
Names of the Two Great Gods. *Only if venue of Amice Calverley and Myrtle Broome. Online.
8th Egyptology Scotland
is open*
Huub Pragt: Amun Does Not Camp on the
Beach – The Not So Misfortunate Voyage of 12th Egyptian Society Taunton
21st North East Ancient Egypt
Robert Morkot: Kandake – The Royal Women
of Meroё. Online.
Wenamun. Online. Society
Chris Naunton: Lost Tombs. Online Study
9th Manchester Ancient Egypt Day.
Society 12th Thames Valley Ancient
Aidan Dodson: The Serapeum of Saqqara. 21st Southampton Ancient Egypt Egypt Society
Online. Society Chris Naunton: Cleopatra –Tomb, Baths and
Hana Navratilova: A Scribe’s Life. Online. Birth-house. Online.
9th Wirral Ancient Egypt
26th Carlisle and District 14th The Kemet Club Bristol
Society Egyptology Society
Glen Godenho: Coenobites and Anchorites in Lucia Gahlin: Festivities –Party Time in
Joanne Backhouse: Female Figurines from
Late Antique Egypt. Online. Ancient Egypt. Online.
Ancient Egypt – Function and Form. Online.
14th Sutton Ancient Egypt 27th Friends of the Petrie 14th Manchester Ancient Egypt
Society Museum Society
Chris Naunton: Two talks for the Society’s Fatma Keshk: Towards Creative Narrative for Leslie Easterman and James Parr: Did the
10th Anniversary. *Only if venue open*. Archaeological Heritage. Online. Ancient Egyptians Drink Milk? and The
DECEMBER 2020
Ramessesnakht Family. Online.
14th Egyptian Society Taunton
Campbell Price: The Golden Mummies. 14th Wirral Ancient Egypt
Online. Society
Ashley Cook: President’s Lecture (Members
14th Thames Valley Ancient 4th Friends of the Petrie Only). Online.
Egypt Society Museum
Ian Trumble: The Making of a Museum. Vanessa Davies: Racism, Ethnocentrism, and 15th Egypt Society of Bristol
Online. the Nile Valley. Online. Ellie Dobson: The Tutankhamun Excavations
and the Pharaoh’s Revenge. Online.
17th Egypt Society of Bristol 6th Essex Egyptology Group
John J. Johnston: By the Light of the Silvery 19th Leicester Ancient Egypt
Paul Nicholson: The Catacombs of Anubis,
Moon – Lunar Lore in Ancient Egypt. Online. Society
North Saqqara. Online.
George Hart: Egypt’s Golden Age – The
18th Friends of the Egypt Temples of Thebes. *Only if venue open*
JANUARY 2021
Centre – Swansea 10th Egypt Exploration Society
Peter James: A Stitch in Time. Online. Kara Cooney: Evidence for Coffin Reuse in the
Royal Cache and the Tomb of Amenhotep II
20th Friends of the Petrie (KV35). Online.
Museum
Kathryn Howley: The Sanam Temple 9th AEMES Ancient Egypt &
11th Friends of the Egypt Middle East Society
Excavations. Online. Centre – Swansea Margaret Beaumont: In the Steps of Amelia
Carolyn Graves-Brown: All That Glitters Is Edwards and Hatshepsut – From Princess to
21st Ancient Egypt & Middle Pharaoh to Oblivion. Double Lecture. *Only
Not Gold. Online. if venue open*
East Society
Paul Collins: A New Middle East Gallery at
12th Egyptology Scotland 9th Thames Valley Ancient
the Ashmolean and Recreating Egypt and Assyria Egypt Society
in Washington DC. Double Lecture. *Only if Egyptology Scotland 20th Anniversary/Ian Stephanie Boonstra: Latest Research in the
venue open* Mathieson Memorial Lecture. Online. EES Archive. Online.

UK events diary
MAJOR EVENTS
10th Essex Egyptology Group 20th Leicester Ancient Egypt
Massimilano Nuzzolo: The Fifth Dynasty Society
Sun Temples and the Solar Cult. Online. Nicholas Sanders: Alexander’s Tomb –The
2000 Year Quest *Only if venue open*. 21st November 2020
11th Manchester Ancient Egypt
EGYPT EXPLORATION SOCIETY/
Society 20th Southampton Ancient Egypt FRIENDS OF THE PETRIE
Iwona J. Kozieradzka-Ogunmakin: Rise Society MUSEUM/ASTENE
and Collapse of the Kingdom of Meroë. Online.
EXHIBITIONS
Paul Whelan: Lecture tbc. Online. ARTISTS AND ARCHAEOLOGISTS
– A VICTORIAN FASCINATION
12th Egypt Society of Bristol
WITH EGYPT
Janice Kamrin: Lecture tbc.
EES AGM and joint study day with Briony
12th Egypt Exploration Society Llewellyn, Stephanie Moser, Robert Morkot and
Anna Stevens: Amarna Cemeteries Project. Showing to 20th December 2020 Rachel Mairs.
CIVICO MUSEO ARCHEOLOGICO www.ees.ac.uk/events
COURSES
Online.
DI MILANO
16th Leicester Ancient Egypt UNDER THE NUT’S SKY:
DIVINE EGYPT
Society
More than 150 works from Milan, Turin, and
Glenn Godenho: Living on the Edge – Nebre
other Italian collections, offering entrance into
in the Foreign Land of Libya. *Only if venue
Egypt’s divine world through the display of the 15th and 22nd November
open*
funeral trappings that accompanied the deceased in ESSEX EGYPTOLOGY GROUP
the afterlife. THEBES REVISITED:
16th Southampton Ancient Egypt Corso Magenta 15, Milan NEW INSIGHTS FROM
Society www.museoarcheologicomilano.it 21ST CENTURY RESEARCH
John Billman: Art of the Old Kingdom. INTO THE AREA OF LUXOR
Online. Lecture series exploring life, landscape, history and
Showing to January 2021 monumental architecture of Thebes with Nigel
20th Friends of the Egypt BUFFALO MUSEUM OF SCIENCE and Helen Strudwick. Online
Centre – Swansea GOLDEN MUMMIES OF EGYPT www.essexegyptology.co.uk
Wolfram Gratjetzki: Jewellery in Old and Manchester Museum’s touring exhibition
Middle Kingdom Tombs in Egypt. Online. examining life for the wealthy in multicultural
4th January - 8th February 2021
FEBRUARY 2021
Roman Egypt.
KEMET CLUB, BRISTOL
1020 Humboldt Parkway, Buffalo, New
REPRESENTING PHARAOH:
York 14211
THE ART OF THE ROYAL IMAGE
www.sciencebuff.org IN ANCIENT EGYPT
Course with Campbell Price exploring how and
4th Thames Valley Ancient why Egyptian kings were depicted in two and
Egypt Society Showing to 7th February 2021 three dimensional art. Online
Hana Navratilova: Ancient Visitors to the NATIONAL MUSEUM, PRAGUE ali.dave@blueyonder.co.uk
Pyramids. Online. KINGS OF THE SUN
International exhibition documenting Old
7th Essex Egyptology Group Kingdom discoveries at Abusir, with objects from 19th - 21st February 2021
Cairo, Berlin, Leipzig, Hildesheim and more. DILLINGTON HOUSE, SOMERSET
Gretchen Dabbs: Toward a Broader
Museum Complex of the National SUN-WORSHIP IN ANCIENT EGYPT
Museum, Václavské náměstí 68, Praha 1
Understanding of Life in Akhetaten. Online.
Residential dayschool exploring solar religion in
www.nm.cz/en ancient Egypt with Lucia Gahlin.
8th Manchester Ancient Egypt Dillington House, Ilminster, Somerset,
Society TA19 9DT
Glenn Godenho: Patterns of People at the End www.dillington.com
Showing to 14th February 2021
of the Old Kingdom. Online.
MUSÉE GRANET
AIX-EN-PROVENCE
13th Egyptian Society Taunton Ongoing Online
PHARAOHS, OSIRIS AND THE
Maiken Mosleth King: Living with the Dead UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER
MUMMY EGYPTOLOGY ONLINE
in Ancient Egypt. Online. Exhibition in association with the Louvre YELLOW AND BLUE SYMPOSIA
Museum, showcasing nearly 200 ancient Free online courses featuring many aspects of
17th Friends of the Egypt Egyptian artefacts.. ancient Egyptian history through study of the
Centre – Swansea Place Saint Jean de Malte, 13100 Aix-en- colours blue and yellow.
Urška Furlan: Amulets and the Nile Delta – an Provence bit.ly/EgyptologyYellow
Insight into Style, Production and Trade. Online. www.museegranet-aixenprovence.fr bit.ly/EgyptologyBlue

Egyptology Society Contact Details
Contact names, telephone and email/website contacts for UK societies are listed here. To reduce the space used for overseas societies, only the
website or email contacts are normally shown. Full details, including postal addresses, can be found on the magazine’s web site
www.ancientegyptmagazine.com. If readers without email access require postal address details, please contact the magazine’s Publishers
or the Editor (contact details on page 3). To register changes to this information, please contact the Editor.
UK and Ireland The Egyptian Society, TAUNTON

Contact: Anita Edhouse
The MANCHESTER Ancient
Egypt Society
STAFFORDSHIRE Egyptology
Society
anitaedhouse@yahoo.co.uk Secretary: Sarah Griffiths. Contact: Alison Coles
Ancient Egypt & Middle East www.egyptiansoctaunton.wixsite.com/ sarahgwen1@hotmail.com alisoncoles@virginmedia.com
Society, LINCOLN, Lincolnshire home www.maesweb.org.uk www.staffordshireegyptology.org.uk/
Secretary: Mrs. Sue Kirk.
Tel: 01754 765341 Egyptology Scotland North East Ancient Egypt Society
DURHAM Sudan Archaeological Research
sue47beset@gmail.com EDINBURGH, GLASGOW &
www.aemes.co.uk ABERDEEN Contact: Gillian Dodds. Society
Claire Gilmour. neaesoc@googlemail.com Chairman: Derek Welsby.
Ancient Worlds chairegyptscot@gmail.com http://sites.google.com/site/neaesoc/ c/o The British Museum, LONDON
SOUTHPORT, Merseyside membershipegyptscot@gmail.com www.sudarchrs.org.uk
Secretary: Joanne Chamberlain http://egyptology-scotland. NORTH EAST LINCOLNSHIRE
Joanne.Chamberlain@sefton.gov.uk squarespace.com/ Egyptology Association Sussex Egyptology Society
www.theatkinson.co.uk Chairman: Steve Johnson.
HORSHAM, BRIGHTON
Egyptian Cultural Bureau stevej@tinyworld.co.uk
& WORTHING
The Ancient World Society Embassy of the Arab Republic of
BOSTON, Lincolnshire NORTHAMPTON Ancient Contact: Janet Shepherd
Egypt, LONDON janet@ancient.co.uk
Secretary: Sandy Davey. Egyptian Historical Society
Tel: 0207 491 7720 www.egyptology-uk.com
sandymd@hotmail.co.uk Secretary: Linda Amas.
egypt.culture@btconnect.com
lvamas@aol.com
www.egyptculture.org.uk www.facebook.com/groups/naehs/
The ANKH (SOUTH-EAST KENT SUTTON Ancient Egypt Society
Egyptology Society) ESSEX Egyptology Group GREATER LONDON
Secretary: Christine Humber PLYMOUTH & District Secretary: Ann Musgrove
Contact: Janet Brewer Egyptology Society
Tel: 01227 365 840 Tel: 0208 6435728
07732 563 935 Chairman: Janis Naylor
ankh.kent@gmail.com
info@essexegyptology.co.uk Mob: 0779 421 9438 DAAMusgrove@aol.com
Association for the Study of www.essexegyptology.co.uk janis.naylor@aol.co.uk
Travel in Egypt & the Near East Lecture Secretary: Jill Porthouse. Thames Valley Ancient Egypt
LONDON Friends of the Egypt Centre – jill_porthouse@hotmail.co.uk Society
Secretary: Dr. Hana Navratilova SWANSEA READING
enquiries@astene.org.uk Secretary: Carolyn Graves-Brown. POYNTON Egypt Group Chairman: John Billman.
www.astene.org.uk c.a.graves-brown@swansea.ac.uk Poynton, Cheshire chairman@tvaes.org.uk
Contact: Syd Howells Secretary: Liz Sherman.
EGYPTCENTRE@Swansea.ac.uk Contact: Francesca Jones
Bloomsbury Summer School, Tel: 01625 612641
www.egypt.swansea.ac.uk secretary@poyntonegyptgroup.org.uk fhjones_tvaes@yahoo.co.uk
University College LONDON.
Tel: 0207 679 3622 www.poyntonegyptgroup.org.uk www.tvaes.org.uk/
Bloomsbury@egyptology-uk.com Friends of the PETRIE MUSEUM
www.egyptology-uk.com/bloomsbury The Petrie Museum of Egyptian RAMASES (NORTH KENT THEBES. The BLACKBURN,
Archaeology, LONDON Egyptology Society) Egyptology Society, Lancashire.
BOLTON Archaeology and Secretary: Jan Picton. Secretary: Annette Crowder. Secretary: Michael Eastwood.
Egyptology Society janpicton@ijnet.demon.co.uk Tel: 01795 663475 thebes2011@yahoo.co.uk
Ian Trumble www.friendsofpetrie.org.uk ramasessociety@gmail.com www.facebook.com/
chair@boltonaes.co.uk www.ramasesegyptsociety.com blackburnegyptologysociety?sk=wall
http://www.boltonaes.co.uk HORUS Egyptology Society
WIGAN, Lancashire. Society for the Study of Ancient
The British Egyptian Society Egypt Wessex Ancient Egypt Society
Secretary: Hazel McGuinness.
CROYDON, Surrey Tel: 07766261727 CHESTERFIELD, BOURNEMOUTH
Secretary: Noel Rands. horusegyptology@yahoo.com & NOTTINGHAM The Wessex society has been wound up
Tel: 07876 403242 www.horusegyptology.co.uk Secretary: Sandra Frost. but Egyptology lectures continue at the
noelrands@hotmail.com Tel: 01246 731353 Bournemouth Natural Science Society
Irish Egyptology Society egyptologyssae@gmail.com and Museum:
CARLISLE & District Egyptology REPUBLIC OF IRELAND www.egyptology-ssae.org www.bnss.org.uk/
Society Chesterfield Local Group:
Contact: Hella Radwan
Secretary: Janet McWilliam. Tel: 01246 471556
irish.egyptology.society@gmail.com ssaelocal@gmail.com West Midlands Egyptology
carlisle.egypt@yahoo.co.uk
www.facebook.com/Carlisle.Egyptology/ https://www.irishegyptologysociety.com/ Society.
SOUTH ASASIF Conservation Chair: Silvie Adams.
The Egypt Exploration Society The Kemet Klub – BRISTOL Trust UK Secretary: Aneeka Shezad.
LONDON Contact: Ali Ball. Secretary: Francesca Jones. secretarywmes@outlook.com
Director: Dr. Cédric Gobeil. Tel: 01275 791562 secretary@southasasif.com https://wmegyptology.wordpress.com/
Contact: Carl Graves ali.dave@blueyonder.co.uk http://southasasif.com/Trust.html
carl.graves@ees.ac.uk WIRRAL Ancient Egypt Society
www.ees.ac.uk LEICESTERSHIRE Ancient Egypt SOUTHAMPTON Ancient Egypt
Society Society MERSEYSIDE
Egypt Society of BRISTOL Contact: Nadia Hussein Secretary: Nicola Simpson. Contact: Rosie Jackson.
Chairman: Dr. Aidan Dodson. nmahussein@yahoo.co.uk Tel: 07729 627901 Tel: 0151 336 7429
info@egyptsocietybristol.org.uk www.facebook.com/ saesinfo55@gmail.com secretary@waes.org.uk
www.egyptsocietybristol.org.uk Leicestershireancientegyptsociety/ www.southamptonancientegyptsociety.co.uk www.waes.org.uk
Overseas Societies BELGIUM

Association Egyptologique
Egyptologica Vlaanderen VZW
LEUVEN
CANADA
The Society for the Study of
Reine Elisabeth a.s.b.l./ www.egyptologica- Egyptian Antiquities
AUSTRALIA vlaanderen.be/home.htm /Société pour l’Étude de
Egyptologisch Genootschap
Ancient Egypt Society of Western Koningin Elisabeth VZW l’Égypte Ancienne
Kheper a.s.b.l. – Head Office, Toronto.
Australia
BRUXELLES LOUVAIN-LA-NEUVE
PERTH www.thessea.org
www.aere-egke.be/aere.eng.htm www.kheper.be
www.aeswa.org.au
Ptah-Hotep a.s.b.l. – Montreal Chapter/
Australian Centre for Egyptology Egyptologica a.s.b.l. Association d’Égyptologie Belge Chapitre du Québec à Montréal
MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY BRUXELLES WATERLOO http://sseamontrealvip.homestead.com
www.egyptology.mq.edu.au www.egyptologica.be www.ptah-hotep.be /anglais.htm

Egyptology Society Contact Details
– Calgary Chapter Marseille (13) Sollies-Pont (83) USA
www3.telus.net/public/james135/ Provence Egyptologie Association varoise d’Égyptologie American Research Center in
CalgarySSEA.htm http://www.provenceegyptologie.org/ KEMETMAA Egypt – US Office
www.kemetmaa.fr SAN ANTONIO, Texas
– Vancouver Chapter Montpellier (34) http://www.arce.org
Association montpelliéaine Strasbourg (67)
www.sseavancouver.wordpress.com
d’égyptologie Néfrou Association alsacienne American Research Center in
http://www.enim-egyptologie.fr/ d’Égyptologie Egypt – Cairo Office
DENMARK nefrou/ http://www.egyptostras2.fr/ cairo@arce.org
The Danish Egyptological Society
COPENHAGEN Montpellier (Saint-Clément de Rivière) Troyes (10) The ARCE has “Chapters”
www.daes.dk (34) Les Amis de Champollion throughout the USA:
Les Amis de l’Égypte www.lesamisdechampollion.fr
EGYPT pharaonique (ADEA) Arizona (Tucson) Chapter
Reviving the Egyptian Identity. http://adea.asso-web.com/ ITALY http://web.arizona.edu/~egypt/
28+contact.html Associazione Per-Megiat Onlus field.htm
CAIRO.
www.egyptianism.org MILAN
Montsegur (09) patrizia.piacentini@unimi.it Georgia (Atlanta) Chapter
Centre d’Égyptologie www.facebook.com/pages/Biblioteca- kepfren@aol.com
FRANCE www.revue-egypte.org e-Archivi-di-Egittologia-Università-
Avignon (84) degli-Studi-di- Illinois (Chicago) Chapter
Les Amis de Thot Nantes (44), Angers (49) Milano/198497800181599 www.arcechicago.com
http://www.lesamisdethot.net/ Association d’Égyptologie
IMHOTEP Massachusetts (Boston)
NORWAY Chapter
Béziers (34) http://www.association-egyptologie- The Bergen Egypt Exploration
imhotep.eu/index.html lberman@mfa.org
Centre languedocien Society
d’Égyptologie (Béziers) egyptexplorationbergen.com New Mexico (Albuquerque)
Nantes (44)
http://centrelanguedocienegyptologie. Isis-Nantes Chapter
blogspot.fr/ REPUBLIC OF IRELAND) pharolux@yahoo.com
http:///www.isis-egypteancienne.fr Irish Egyptology Society
https://www.irishegyptologysociety.com/ New York (New York City)
Bordeaux (Peyssac) (33) Nîmes (30)
Association Égyptologique du Chapter
Association Égyptologique de la REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
Gard www.arceny.com
Gironde The Ancient Egyptian Society
http://aeg.u-bordeaux3.fr/ http://www.egyptonimes.fr/
ROOSEVELT PARK Northern California (Berkeley)
?page_id=80 ejswan@absamail.co.za Chapter
Orléans (45)
http://home.comcast.net/~hebsed/
Association Soleil Ailé
Grenoble (38) The Ancient History Society of
http://www.histoire-antiqueasa.fr/ North Texas (Dallas) Chapter
Association Dauphinoise Port Elizabeth (South Africa )
d'Egyptologie CHAMPOLLION PORT ELIZABETH www.arce-ntexas.org/
Paris (75)
(ADEC) Société Française d’Égyptologie ployson@nmmu.ac.za
Northwest (Seattle,
http://www.champollion-adec.net/ http://www.sfe-egyptologie.fr/ Washington) Chapter
index.php/fr/egyptologie The Egyptian Society of South
Africa nwarce@gmail.com
Le Chesnay (78) CAPE TOWN, www.arce-nw.com
AEREA (Association pour l’Étude Pau (64)
Société d'égyptologie de Pau scarab@telkomsa.net
et la Recherche sur l’Égypte Orange County Chapter –
http://egyptologie64.e-monsite.com/ www..egyptiansociety.co.za
Ancienne) California
http://didier.laffaille.pagesperso- www.ocpl.org/lectures/egypt.asp
Périgueux (24) SWEDEN
orange.fr/Aerea/Association.htm Association Périgourdine d’Égyp- The Egyptological Society of Oregon (Portland) Chapter
#Ancre4 tologie Stockholm jtsarr@comcast.net
www.kemet24.jimdo.com ENEBYBERG
Lille (59) www.efis.se Pennsylvania (Philadelphia)
Papyrus Plan de Cuques (13) Chapter
France-Égypte Méditerranée Swedish Egyptology Society, ISIS info@arce-pa.org
http://www.association-papyrus.com/
http://www.france-egypte- HELSINGBORG
mediterranee.org/ www.isishelsingborg.se Washington, DC Chapter
Lyon (69) www.arcedc.org/
Cercle Lyonnais d’Égyptologie Saint-Estève (66) URUGUAY
Victor Loret Les Amis de l’Égypte ancienne Uruguayan Society of Egyptology The Egyptian Study Society, Inc.
http://asso.univ-lyon2.fr/cercle- http://www.klubasso.fr/ MONTEVIDEO DENVER
egyptologie egypteancienne-partenaires.html www.geocities.com/juanjosecastillos/ www.egyptstudy.org
U.K. Museum
Websites
The British Museum The Great North Museum, New Walk Museum & Art
www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk Newcastle Gallery, Leicester
www.twmuseums.org.uk www.leicestermuseums.ac.uk
Durham University Oriental
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford Museum National Museum of Scotland
www.ashmol.ox.ac.uk www.dur.ac.uk/orientalmuseum The Manchester Museum www.nms.ac.uk/scotland
www.museum.man.ac.uk
Birmingham Museum & Art Herbert Art Gallery and Victoria and Albert Museum,
Gallery Museum, Coventry The Petrie Museum of Egyptian London
www.bmag.org.uk www.theherbert.org Archaeology, London www.vam.ac.uk
www.petrie.ucl.ac.uk
Bolton Museum & Art Gallery The Egypt Centre, Swansea West Park Museum, Macclesfield
www.boltonmuseums.org.uk www.swan.ac.uk info@silkmacclesfield.org.uk
Museum of the School of
www.silkmacclesfield.org.uk
Bristol City Museum & Art The Fitzwilliam Museum, Archaeology, Classics and
Gallery Cambridge Egyptology, Liverpool World Museum, Liverpool
www.bristol-city.gov.uk/museums www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk www.liv.ac.uk/sace www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk
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We have a special permit from the Ministry of Antiquities
for an exploration of rarely visited South Saqqara
SAQQARA SPECIAL
WITH COLIN READER
At North Saqqara we have

arranged private entry to
the Second Dynasty tomb
of Ninetjer
DEPARTING 9thOCT 2021 We plan four trips to North Saqqara including entry to the
Step Pyramid. We also have a special permit to enter the
A one week tour based in Cairo and staying at our Giza
vast Second Dynasty tomb of Ninetjer.
hotel. Focussing on the development of Saqqara, this exciting
new tour is accompanied throughout by popular Egyptologist There will be plenty of time for an in-depth look at the
and Engineering Geologist, Colin Reader. landscape and the various phases of development of the
site. A chance to enter some of the mastabas that you have
never had time for on past visits, including the subterranean
galleries of the Serapeum.
At South Saqqara we walk the site and view the latest work
of the French Archaeological Mission. We will visit Mastabat
Faroun and the Pepy Pyramid before we head to Abu Sir to
view the pyramids of Sahure and Niuserre.
Of course, being in Cairo we cannot leave out a visit to the
Giza Plateau for the Great Pyramid, where Colin will explain
his theories on the site, including the geological evidence
leading to his dating of the great Sphinx and its enclosure.
Standard Tour price: £3,360 AWT’s ‘Single Supplement

Guarantee’. We only charge
you what we are charged –
Single supplement: £235 we do not ‘mark up’!
ancient world tours

CALL NOW TO BOOK +44 (0)333 335 9494
OR GO TO www.ancient.co.uk
The Distillery, Dunton, Norfolk NR21 7PG UK JULES VERNE
AWT is an agent of Jules Verne. These Air Holiday packages are ATOL Protected by the Civil Aviation Authority JV’s ATOL No.11234
e-mail info@ancient.co.uk

Ancient Egypt - November - December 2020 - Masterpieces of Jewellery

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£5.

DEPARTS1st NOV 2021

Standard Tour price: £3,320

EDITOR: J. Peter Phillips

DESIGN AND SETTING:

FRONT COVER DESIGNED BY:

ANCIENT EGYPT November/December 2020 3

4 ANCIENT EGYPT November/December 2020

tion of AE takes place initially on lap-

ABOVE: The golden diadem of

The last time the cover price of AE

26 in AE121, leading on to page 27,

Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh

ANCIENT EGYPT November/December 2020 5

Saqqara Coffin Cache

coveries are described in AE120).

SAQQARA COFFIN CACHE

6 ANCIENT EGYPT November/December 2020

SAQQARA COFFIN CACHE

TOP RIGHT and CENTRE RIGHT

ANCIENT EGYPT November/December 2020 7

TUNA El-GEBEL PRIESTS’ TOMBS Tuna el-Gebel Priests’ Tombs

eries in AE102, AE107 and

Intact Mummy Cells

mummy. The team, based in Sāo

Paulo, analysed bone and muscle tis-

ABOVE: Howard Carter’s drawing of a

BELOW: An ibis mummy from Saqqara

8 ANCIENT EGYPT November/December 2020

ABOVE: A display of Tutankhamun artefacts at the new

ABOVE: Raphael’s Triumph of Galatea.

Raphael’s Egyptian Blue SG

ANCIENT EGYPT Magazine?

ANCIENT EGYPT magazine until further notice.

• Artefacts from the Tutankhamun exhibition in

10 ANCIENT EGYPT November/December 2020

Editor Book Offer, c/o Ancient Egypt Magazine Ltd.,

One lucky reader will have his or her name

September/October 2020 Competition Winner

Congratulations to the winner of the competition that

John Cooper of Colchester

who wins a copy of Fighting Pharaohs:

ANCIENT EGYPT November/December 2020 11

Megan Clark investigates the “barbarous looking” Middle Kingdom

n his 1942 publication Excavations at Deir el-Bahari, Collections

I Herbert Winlock found a group of what he referred to

12 ANCIENT EGYPT November/December 2020

BELOW LEFT: An example on display at the University of Cambridge Fitzwilliam

ANCIENT EGYPT November/December 2020 13

14 ANCIENT EGYPT November/December 2020

Identity in North West

ANCIENT EGYPT November/December 2020 15

16 ANCIENT EGYPT November/December 2020

ANCIENT EGYPT November/December 2020 17

G ty during the Nineteenth Dynasty, and the site

(AE121). In this issue, we are staying in the Nineteenth

18 ANCIENT EGYPT November/December 2020

Stela M – A Unique Blueprint

TOP RIGHT: A depiction of a barge from

CENTRE RIGHT: Evidence for the

BOTTOM RIGHT: The shallow surface

ANCIENT EGYPT November/December 2020 19

TOP LEFT: A drawing illustrating block