Edition - February, 2012
Editorial – Journal Edition 3 and Magazine Edition 4
Welcome to our latest editions of the Journal and Magazine sections. There is a great mixture of topics, which we hope will provide something for everyone. In the Journal section Kate Phizackerley has brought together the results of two excavations in the tomb of Horemheb in the Valley of the Kings, separated by nearly a century, […] [more…]
By Andrea
Ancient Egyptian Religion, Part 4 — Preparing for Eternity
Ultimately everybody has to deal with the final fact of life: death. How the Egyptians dealt with it was so profound in its cultural breadth and depth that it gives rise to the biggest misconception about them: that they were fixated on death. It was just the opposite: they were fixated on life. But we have to understand that for them, death was neither final nor fact. [more…]
By Brian Alm
Arthur Weigall: A Man Out Of Time – Part 1
In this article, I will explore the contributions that Arthur Weigall (figure 1) made to the field of Egyptology. I knew of Weigall’s involvement as a reporter during the excavation of Tutankhamen’s tomb by Howard Carter, and his open criticism of Carter and Carnarvon’s exclusive reporting agreement with the Times, but later discovered that he had already had an impressive career in Egypt. That in fact by the time he came to cover Carter’s discovery his career in Egyptology was already over and he had not returned to Egypt in over nine years. [more…]
By Garry Beuk
Early Coptic Church and Monastic Architecture. The Link with the Pharaonic and Greco-Roman Past.
Although the religions of ancient Egypt and Coptic Christianity are fundamentally different, there are a number of parallels and similarities between the internal arrangements and layouts of the Pharaonic temples, and those of the later Coptic churches. Both Ancient Egyptian temples and Coptic churches were places of worship, each containing space designed to incorporate symbolic elements and to allow for the performance of specific activities. They were built according to certain formulaic conventions that dictated how that space should be employed by different levels of the clergy and the public. [more…]
An Egyptian Tale of Distance learning and Future Dreams
Like many of Egyptological’s readers, I spend most of my free time, researching, studying and reading on the subject of ancient Egypt. This ancient culture has always interested me but until 2008, I had found no way of pursuing the subject academically. It was around then that I came across the University of Manchester’s Certificate in Egyptology course. Other universities including Glasgow and Birkbeck College, London run their own versions of this academically accredited course, but Manchester remains the only university delivering the entire 3 year Egyptology syllabus online. [more…]
The Egyptian Collection of the Archaeological Museum of Zagreb and its Mummies
The Egyptian collection in the Archaeological museum in Zagreb currently has over 2,300 artifacts of Ancient Egypt, and is the largest and most complete collection of its kind in Croatia. The first acquisition, the Zagreb mummy, is still its most famous artifact today. It came to the museum in 1862, and remains the core of the collection. Another part of the collection was bought from a famous Roman junkman in Naples called Lancia (Tomorad 2003). Studies revealed that most items came from Luxor and the surrounding areas. [more…]
Deities of the underworld in the New Kingdom
This article looks at the most important scene in a funerary text that the Egyptians called the Book of Going Forth by Day, better known today as the Book of the Dead. It consists of a series of spells to help the deceased tackle the challenges of the Afterlife. The subject of this article is the vignette (illustration) accompanying Spell 125, the scene in the Court of Judgment [more…]
By Brian Alm
A Context for Nehmes-Bastet (KV64): A Birds Eye View of the Early Third Intermediate Period – Part 1
In January 2012, thanks to the discovery of a new tomb in the Valley of the Kings, named KV64, the 22nd Dynasty was catapulted into the spotlight. At the moment, apart from a couple of tantalising photographs and a video released by the University of Basel (Switzerland) all we know is that the mummified woman was called Nehmes-Bastet; she was a chantress; and her father was a priest at the Temple of Karnak [more…]
A Context for Nehmes-Bastet (KV64): A Birds Eye View of the Early Third Intermediate Period – Part 2
In Part 1 the political background to and development of the Third Intermediate Period was described, emphasizing the way in which power became divided, both within the Delta and between the Delta and the south, where the Theban high priests became increasingly powerful. Part 2 looks at the blending of Libyan and Egyptian traditions, with new ideas expressed in funerary practices and in the role of religious institutions. [more…]
Lecture Review: The re-excavation of the tomb of Horemheb in the Valley of the Kings by Professor Geoffrey Martin
Professor Martin is currently engaged in assembling the results of his work re-excavating the tomb of Horemheb for publication, and it became clear from his lecture that this work is long overdue and will be welcomed by the academic community. Martin described re-excavation as a new type of archaeology, geared specifically to finding information that previous excavators may have missed. He cited Kemp’s work at Amarna as an example of this. [more…]