Current Research In EgyptologyAnnual graduate conferences in Egyptological research |
Abstracts from CRE IV
INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY.
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON.
18th, 19th January 2003.
Programme of papers
| Session One: Methodology |
| Joanne ROWLAND
University College London The Application of Mortuary Data to the Problem of Social Transition in the Delta from the Terminal Predynastic to the Early Dynastic Period Four cemetery sites in the east Delta are being examined with the aim of utilising mortuary data to contribute towards our understanding of the nature of social transition from the Terminal Predynastic to the Early Dynstic period. This work is based on the assumption that mortuary differentiation an be interpreted as reflective of social differentiation and change. The main objective is to delineate the degree to which this differentiation might have been present within a community, and what kinds of social development and expression it might reflect. This paper examines key types of data accessible from the cemetery sites under investigation and issues of social differentiation as inferred by the spatial distribution and clustering of graves are considered. A discussion follows of analytical methods being employed for investigating changes of both a temporal and spatial nature at both an intra- and inter-site level. |
| Álvaro
FIGUEIREDO University College London The Lisbon Mummy Project The project comprises a multidisciplinary study of the mummified human and animal remains in the Museu Nacional de Arqueologia, Lisbon. Work will focus on the mummy of Irtierw, a cartonnage mummy of the 3rd Intermediate Period, and a Ptolemaic Period mummy. In the collection there are also four crocodile and two bird mummies, one still sealed inside its pottery coffin, which will be studied. The project will employ non-destructive and selected invasive methods of analysis to allow access to the interior of the mummies without the need to unwrap or damage them. These include visual observation, flat plate radiography, computed axial tomography, endoscopy, histology and genetic analyses. The project is headed by an international team of specialists, from the Museu Nacional de Arqueologia, ERA Arqueologia (Lisbon), Instituto Português de Arqueologia (Lisbon), The Institute of Archaeology (U.C.L.), the British Museum, The American University in Cairo, and The University of L'Aquila (Italy). |
| Sarah PARCAK
University of Cambridge Observing Egypt from space: Applications of remote sensing and satellite imagery interpretation in Egypt (El-Markha Plain, South Sinai, summer 2002) Remote sensing offers many ways in which archaeologists can conduct cost-efficient and time-saving research, by defining areas for reconnaissance and potential excavation. This paper will examine the potential uses of satellite imagery analysis within Egyptian archaeology in relation to the analysis of a Landsat 5 TM image of western Sinai. Various types of analysis (classification and thresholding) were carried out on the image in order to determine probable archaeological site locations. Ground-truthing was conducted on the 16 detected "sites" in summer 2002 as part of the South Sinai Survey and Excavation Project. Several of the detected areas were in fact modern vegetated areas that seem to be watered from ancient water sources, and were in close proximity to several archaeological sites. The overall results from this work will be discussed, along with future work to be carried out within Egypt through the use of satellite imagery analysis. |
| Session Two: Ancient Egyptian Religion |
| Carolyn GRAVES-BROWN
University of Wales Swansea & University College London Flint and the Gods Using archaeological, textual and iconographic evidence and the framework of metaphor theory, I shall examine the relationship between flint and deities in Pharaonic Egypt. The connection is not that of a simple, clearly defined grouping, rather, flint occupies a fuzzy set with certain magical beings, particularly those associated with fire, serpents and with the Eye of Re. Doorkeepers of the underworld and the fearsome Sekhmet carry flint knives. Monstrous serpents may be part flint. Isis is turned into a statue of flint. Horus of Letopolis may have eyes of flint, flint is said to come forth from Re, Seth and Thoth, etc. Flint is used to help explain the nature of these gods, in a metaphoric sense, to explain their roles in terms of protection, transformation and in some cases punishment of wrongdoers and also to categorize their tools as sharp, devouring, etc. |
| Katherine GRIFFIS-GREENBERG
University College London wa m p.t, sn.nw m tA: Direction and Orientation Concepts and the Creation of Sacred Space in Ancient Egypt Ancient Egyptian space concepts were historically imbued with distinct values and sacred meaning. Indications of this were most apparent in the royal tomb, a concrete representation of the afterlife book maps, which portrayed the sun-god's journey at night. Since the king must travel to participate in both the sun-god's and his own eternal rejuvenation, knowledge of the passage to the Far-Land, the physical realm of the afterlife, depended upon recognising specific orientation and direction, as a pilgrim on sacred journey. This paper will discuss ancient Egyptian meaning concerning direction and orientation - for the living and the dead. Also examined is how these values were transformed during the post-Amarna through early Ramesside period, due to changes in religious precepts of that period. |
Maria Costanza
CENTRONE University of Wales Swansea The most important
point to investigate is the symbolic meaning certainly behind the corn-mummies.
Corn, as living substance whose life and death follows a cyclic pattern,
embodied the idea of renewal and resurrection. The sprouting of the corn
symbolised the rising up of Osiris soul; the growth of seeds represented
for the man an analogy, the promise of the continuation of life over death. |
| Session Three: Early and Old Kingdom Egypt |
| Noriyuki SHIRAI
Universiteit Leiden Social Representation in Fayum Neolithic Bifacial Technology This paper will discuss social representation in Fayum Neolithic bifacial technology, which refers to the anthropology of technology, with the aim of explaining the social process of subsistence change in Neolithic Egypt. Observed elaboration of various stone tools in the Neolithic in comparison with those in the previous period suggests that Fayum Neolithic bifacial stone tools are not merely utilitarian tools, but also social products, which were meaningfully made and functioned among people who shared the same sense of values. Bifacial stone tools may reflect competitive aestheticism among individuals for obtaining prestige (whereby excellent tool makers = excellent food providers), rather than pursuit of functional improvement. If this is the case, the first step to the adoption of agriculture, which could provide a large amount of novel food, may also be motivated by such competition and prestige quest among individuals. |
| Serena LOVE
University College London A Symbolic Landscape of Memphis? This discussion will explore the symbolism of the Memphite landscape during the Old Kingdom. I will explore the cultural modification of the landscape through constant construction of mortuary monuments and question the character of the interactions between monumental funerary architecture, people and the landscape. I will question the name "White Walls" (inbw-hd) as a landscape metaphor rather than a physical city wall. I will also explore the role of the cult of Re' and Ptah (Sokar) had on the landscape and consider it as one possibility for pyramid site selection, through the inter-visibility between Iunu (Heliopolis) and pyramid sites. The objective of this study is to provide an alternative perspective of the Memphite region by characterising it as a symbolic landscape and exploring how the ancient Egyptians effectively created this landscape by the physical construction of funerary monuments and through embedding symbolic associations in natural landscape features. |
| Nadine MOELLER
University of Cambridge Tell Edfu: Aspects of a provincial town at the end of the 3rd millennium BC The recent fieldwork carried out at Tell Edfu in Upper Egypt provides a new insight into the development of this provincial town from the end of the Old Kingdom until the beginning of the Middle Kingdom. Tell Edfu was the capital of the 2nd UE nome and played an important role within its region. The new data provides also important information about the situation of this town during the First Intermediate Period. |
| Yayoi SHIRAI
Freie Universität Berlin Royal Funerary Cults during the Old Kingdom: An Assessment gathered from an Analysis of the Tombs of Funerary Priests This paper is an attempt to examine the royal funerary cults during the Old Kingdom by analyzing the tombs of royal funerary priests. The royal funerary cults are thought to have played an important role in the socio-economic development of this period because a number of resources and people were involved in the maintenance of the cults. Certainly textual sources have contributed to this study, but these sources refer only to the cults of several kings in the Fifth Dynasty. Did funerary cults of other kings exist and how long were they maintained? What was the relationship between the royal funerary priests and the kings? Are these relationships reflected in royal cemeteries in the Memphite necropolis? These unsolved questions will be addressed through an analysis of the tombs of royal funerary priests in terms of their locations, their date, and the specific titles of the tomb owners. |
| Mgr. Petra
VLCKOVA Czech Institute of Egyptology, Charles University, Prague Abusir South at the end of the Old Kingdom and during the First Intermediate Period The aim of this contribution is to sum up the current state of research about the development of the so-called Abusir South area at the end of the Old Kingdom and during the First Intermediate Period. The archaeological and epigraphical evidence originating from the excavations of the Czech Institute of Egyptology documents the specific role of this area. Above all, the attention will be concentrated on the preliminary results of analysis and evaluation of archaeological material from one burial shaft in the mortuary complex of judge Inti. From this shaft originate two separate groups of objects according to their archaeological position within the tomb structure. The first represent fragmentary blocks of decoration found in secondary position within the stratified filling of the shaft. On the contrary, from the burial chamber comes part of original equipment that was found in its primary position. |
| Session Four: Ancient and Modern Texts |
| Mpay KEMBOLY
University of Oxford Iaau and the Question of the Origin of Evil According to Ancient Egyptian Sources This paper discusses Frandsen's interpretation, which considers Iaau as another "primordial" "embodiment of evil", which stands alongside Apopis and Seth, and whose nature challenges the idea that the world was created perfect since the beginning. Frandsen proposes this viewpoint in GM 179 (2000), "On the origin of the notion of evil in ancient Egypt" (9-34). In this article, he investigates the nature of Iaau by examining the concept of bwt in contrast to that of maat. He concludes that Iaau is an epitome of evil and the whole of creation was not perfect. I analyze afresh all the CT spells that Frandsen has read and use other sources from PT to Graeco-Roman Period texts to confront his interpretation. I have found no decisive evidence that supports Frandsen's viewpoint. It emerges that Iaau is not an "epitome of evil" and creation is praised. |
| Maria CANNATA
University of Oxford An Unpublished Contract of Sale From Memphis The document, written in the Demotic script on a large sheet of papyrus, is part of the Bodleian Collection of manuscripts from ancient Egypt. It records the sale of a property belonging to a merchant and his family, who lived in the Anubieion at Memphis towards the end of the Ptolemaic period. After a brief discussion about the different communities living in the area and the range of surviving textual material, the paper will present a typological analysis of Ptolemaic sale contracts both from the Memphite area and from sites in Upper Egypt. Their analysis suggests the existence of differences in notary practices between the two areas, possibly indicative of a continued influence from earlier Egyptian scribal traditions within a Greek system. |
| Heidi WIKGREN
University of Helsinki The Festival Calendar at Deir el-Medina The members of the workmen's community at Deir el-Medina are known to have celebrated many festivals during the year. The most important festivals at the village were the eponymous feasts usually at the beginning of each month. The work crew was also absent from work celebrating the nationally recognized feast of Sokar and the Beautiful feast of the Valley as well as the accession days of certain kings. In addition to these the inhabitants of the village celebrated local feasts of gods such as Ptah and the deified queen Ahmose Nefertari. Important were also the feasts of the deified ruler Amenophis I, perceived as the founder of the community. |
| Session Five: Gender, Sexuality and Ageing in Ancient Egypt |
| Kathryn PIQUETTE
University College London Conceptualising the Body in Ancient Egypt The aim of this paper is to try to understand how the ancient Egyptians conceptualised the body and articulated it in a material form on a series of inscribed Late Predynastic-Early Dynastic bone, ivory, stone and wooden labels. Presumably attached to funerary equipment in royal and high status tombs in Upper and Lower Egypt, these labels are inscribed with a range of signs and motifs. Among these images are figures apparently representing human and animal bodies and body parts. I explore what the fragmentation of human and animal bodies and the unification of body parts might tell us about Egyptian concepts of body and self and attempt to demonstrate the value of going beyond a descriptive, taxonomic account of early Egyptian material culture to consider alternative and innovative approaches. By applying sociological approaches to this material, it may be possible to identify relationships between representations of human and animal bodies and developing beliefs and attitudes which characterised early Egyptian concepts of the body. |
| Rosalind JANSSEN
Birkbeck College Gerontology and Ancient Egypt Three sociological theories of historical ageing formed the theoretical framework for a dissertation submitted in 2002 for an MSc in Life Course Development at Birkbeck College. Prominent modernisation theory poses the vexed notion of a 'golden age of senescence' in past societies, whereas its counterpart, revisonism theory, envisages an unmitigated progression towards the utopia of the modern welfare state. A third intermediary stance - 'diversity theory' - has gained precedence over the past decade, visualising a persistent ambiguity in attitudes to older people, dependent upon their social class, physical status, and gender. These three theories were tested at Deir el-Medina. Its unique textual archive formed my primary data, while the artisans' vivid sketches - similarly employing both ostraca and papyri - provided complementary material. The experience of old age was ultimately revealed as ambiguous, thereby supporting 'diversity theory'. Chronological age was the predominant factor in determining diverse attitudes based upon wealth and health. Gender, however, was decidedly less crucial, the old women of Deir el-Medina being surprisingly free. |
Rachael
DANN University of Durham |
| G. J. TASSIE
University College London Ancient Egyptian Hair and Sexuality In most cultures anything to do with hair has an erotic significance and is directly concerned with sexual display. One of the first observations made about a person is whether they are male or female. Therefore in any society the desire to appear attractive to the opposite sex is a basic desire, for promotion of the act of procreation, and wanting to assimilate individually into a particular social grouping. Hair has a body language all of its own and sends out many different signals, those recipients that can read it will know whether to make sexual advances or not. In ancient Egypt men and women dressed their hair into masculine and feminine styles; however, it was often arbitrary as to which sex has the shorter hair. Full hairstyles, especially when associated with nudity or suggestions of sexual acts were very erotic symbols in ancient Egypt. A survey of the written and iconographic records reveals that a lot of ancient Egyptian sexuality was expressed through hair. |
| Session Six: Society and Culture |
| Angus GRAHAM
University College London Plying the Nile: the difficulties, dangers and benefits of riverine travel The paper will address issues of travel on the Nile valley using evidence from the Pharaonic period through to the writings of the early modern travellers to Egypt. It will look at the difficulties that the weather could bring as well as the annual cycle of the Nile and how these could be overcome. It will also discuss the dangers that may have been presented by the likes of pirates and unscrupulous officials and how they were combated. The paper will conclude with some of the benefits of using the Nile that made it the major transport artery north south through Egypt for millennia despite the potential problems that awaited those who plied the Nile. |
| Nicola MIDGLEY
University College London From the cradle to the grave: domestic cults at Deir el Medina. This paper will focus largely on the enigmatic artefacts known as "anthropoid" or "ancestor" busts, and their place in the domestic and funerary religion of ancient Egypt, particularly at Deir el Medina where the majority of such objects were found. A general introduction covering the origins, forms and previous interpretations of the busts will be followed by an analysis of their locations and uses. The determination of gender is critical in understanding their roles, and issues relating to childbirth and the function of Bruyere's "lit clos" will be judged in this context. Their relation to an ancestor cult and the concept of the akh will also be discussed, with special mention given to akh iker en re stelae. Finally solar and Hathoric associations and the cycles of death and rebirth linked to the busts will be considered. |
| Sally McALEELY
University College London. Flower Arranging in Ancient Egypt I have located and recorded a number of floral arrangements from Ancient Egypt. This artefactual data is a key component of my research into human cognition and what it means to be human, via the symbolic use of arranged plant material in the archaeological record. Additionally, I maintain that flower arrangements are a neglected category of material culture, and that their analysis can provide social and technological insights, as well as aid chronological resolution and environmental reconstruction. For example, Carter suggested that the skilful floral arrangements found in the tomb of Tutankhamun could indicate a specialized trade. I aim to present some of my Egyptian data. |
| Session Seven: Late Period, Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt |
| Hironao ONISHI
University of Cambridge A Kushite temple in a Western Oasis? The initial construction of the temple of Qasr el-Ghueita in Kharga Oasis has often been attributed to the period as early as the 25th "Kushite" Dynasty by a number of scholars ever since Naumann made a tentative comment on it in 1930s. In his article, Naumann suggested, without presenting any concrete evidence, that the temple building may have started during the 25th Dynasty because the size of chiselled-out cartouches in the relief in the sanctuary and the general formation of the completed temple are similar to those in other Kushite monuments. My personal visit to the Qasr el-Ghueita temple itself in June 2002 was originally intended to look for some evidence for the temple's possible Kushite origin. Although the trip failed to produce any conclusive result for its initial purpose, it has, perhaps, provided an insight into the true origin of the temple construction. |
| Charlotte BOOTH
University College London A Possible Case of Elephantiasis in Ptolemaic Memphis The following paper is a study of a terracotta head currently in the Petrie Museum (UC 49909), dated to the Ptolemaic period. The figure was discovered in Memphis and forms part of a large collection known as the "Memphis Terracottas", the purpose of which is unsure. The figure in question displays some alarming cranial deformities, which could be the result of a condition like elephantiasis. By drawing on the evidence from ancient Egypt of possible cases of elephantiasis or similar conditions I hope to show that this terracotta figure could in fact represent an example of this disease from Ptolemaic Memphis. |
| Rachel MAIRS
University of Cambridge Duality or Duplicity? Frameworks of Approach to Ptolemaic Ruler Cult The very nature of ruler cult in Hellenistic Egypt requires a multi-angled approach, or at least recognition of the validity of several possible approaches. This institutionalised divine veneration of rulers, living and dead, was the conscious construct of a sophisticated society with its foundations in the complex socio-historical 'baggage' of two cultures. Both Greece and Egypt provided precedents for the new model of divine kingship which developed in Ptolemaic Egypt. Examining the history of Pharaonic divine kingship and Greek personality cult, and seeing how these ideas are integrated into Ptolemaic cult, also leads us to consider wider issues of cult dynamics and the politics of culturally composite institutions in an ancient 'multicultural society'. |
| Fiona J.L.
HANDLEY University College London Myos Hormos, The Red Sea Port: Its Archaeology and Some Textile Finds This paper will examine the 1st-2nd century Roman port of the site now known as Quseir-al-Qadim, which recent research has identified as the port of Myos Hormos. The site lies at the northern most reach of boats sailing up the Red Sea, and is connected to the Nile Valley via an overland route. The excellent preservation conditions at this site means that many organic materials, such as textiles and food items, have been preserved. Thus an excellent record of Roman provincial life remains, and also much evidence for the trade that went on with the Arabian peninsula, East Africa and the Indian Ocean, especially India. This paper gives a brief overview of the archaeology done at Quseir, and will look at everyday life and trade at Myos Hormos with an especial focus on the textiles. |
| Scott Haddow
University College London Osteology and the Dakhla Oasis No abstract available |
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