Current Research in Egyptology

Annual graduate conferences in Egyptological research

Abstracts from CRE V

DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY. UNIVERSITY OF DURHAM.
16th. 17th, 18th January 2004.
Programme of papers

Session One: Approaches to the Body. Ritual and Religion

Aloisia de Trafford, University College London
Protection Spells in the Pyramid Texts.
The protection spells are thought to be the earliest compositions within the Pyramid Text corpus which survive on the walls of the burial chambers within the pyramids of Vth and Vith Dynasty kings. This paper presents a qualitative analysis of these spells, revealing key fears and threats facing the deceased king and the methods he had at his disposal for confronting and annihilating them. Drawing on anthropological theories relating to the body, the paper highlights the symbolism and significance associated with various body parts of the king, the protection of which was vital for his survival against his animalistic enemies in the beyond.

Carolyn Graves-Brown, Egypt Centre, Swansea.
Flint and human life crises.
In many communities ritual surrounds primary transitions or life crises. Artefacts are emotionally charged by connection with human ‘life crises’. Egyptian Dynastic lithics, may have contributed to the praxis of: the cutting of the umbilical cord; circumcision; embalming; the Opening of the Mouth Ceremony, funeral butchery and perhaps even human sacrifice. There is doubt over the role of flint in some of these domains but others seem more securely documented. I shall consider the evidence for the use of flint in each area.
Secondly, transitional rituals as well as being emotionally charged and therefore sublimating, may also be connected with a general metaphor for creation. In Egypt this link may be strengthened by scenes of flint tool manufacture on tomb walls, through unfinished tools being placed in tombs and perhaps, by the linking of minerals with obstetrics. Additionally, the flint knife can be seen as a creative artefact used in butchery and in its mythological function as a parallel to fire. I shall very briefly explore how flint may have been viewed as a creational material and thus apt for ‘life crises rituals’.

 Mona El-Sayed, University of Durham
Childbirth and the 'Opening of the Mouth' Ceremony: Are they equivalent?
The purpose of this paper is to compare the actual procedure of childbirth according to ancient Egyptian observations with the rituals of the 'Opening of the Mouth` ceremony.
Unfortunately, the only preserved account of an ancient Egyptian childbirth is a section in the Westcar Papyrus, which is a very brief description. However, it could he enough to provide a base for our proposed comparison. On the other hand, the 'Opening of the Mouth? ceremony is one of the most important funerary rituals associated with the resurrection or the re?birth of the deceased: It had been argued that this ritual could be regarded as an enactment of a real birth complete with the necessary equipment.
Finally, it is concluded that most of the rituals of the 'Opening of the Mouth' ceremony are significantly reminiscent of childbirth as discussed in the Westcar Papyrus.

Rachel Rodabaugh Suvorov, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
Understanding the Uterus in the Gynecological Texts
In Ancient Egypt, the function of the uterus, like that of goddesses and of women, was to be a passive, watery, and fertile setting for procreation and renewal. The dual nature of Hathor, “Lady of the Uterus,” symbolized the dual nature of women and the dual nature of the uterus itself. The uterus functioned by opening and closing at the proper times, and a womb which did not was the cause of infertility, miscarriage, etc. It was also believed to roam about the body cavity and cause disease. Treatments were based on the mythology of Hathor or Seth. Past research divided the gynecological texts (and medical texts in general) into “rational/useful” and “magical/worthless.” More recent treatments are still based on this approach; consequently, many of the texts are not completely understood. A new analysis, based on ancient Egyptian concepts of the uterus and an understanding of medicine and magic should remedy this.


Session Two: Language and Texts

Emi Shirikawa, University of Liverpool
Choice of Vocabularies: Word Play in Ancient Egypt
Literature in ancient Egypt demonstrates exploitation of word plays in a variety of poetic forms which are associated with the oral nature of literature. Multiple meaning (Double-Entendre), alliteration and homophony of sounds, metaphor, and allusion are the main techniques of visual and verbal play, and construct a core theme of the knowledgeable operation of ancient Egyptian writing and literature.
It seems that vocabularies are carefully chosen to create puns in both categories -- visual and oral play. This paper discusses the techniques and categories of world play and the importance of their role in defining the Egyptian sense of literature and its relationship with Egyptian culture.

Frederik Hagen University of Cambridge.
Literature, Transmission, and the Late Egyptian Miscellanies
This paper looks at the corpus of manuscripts known as the Late Egyptian Miscellanies and their assumed function as ‘scribal exercises’, revealing a more complex picture than earlier studies suggest. An investigation of aspects such as corrections, dates, titles and colophons reveals that many of the arguments advanced previously have lost their persuasive force. An interpretation less rooted in seeing them as belonging to a formal educational context is preferable, and a comparison between the contents of the manuscripts to that of an extant private ‘library’ (that of Qenherkhepshef and his family at Deir el-Medina) raises some interesting questions about the transmission of literary texts in ancient Egypt.

Filip Coppens Charles University, Prague
Creative Writing in Ptolemy II’s Time: Texts from the Temple of Isis at Philae
The inscriptions from the core of the temple of Isis at Philae from the reign of Ptolemy II represent the main corpus of early ptolemaic temple texts at our disposal. The various inscriptions offer us a glance into a most interesting stage in the development of ancient Egyptian texts. The walls of the temple of Philae contain accurate copies of age-old texts, such as the Daily Temple Ritual, compilations of extracts of older material brought together to form new texts and original material. The paper intends to give an introduction to my recent study of the inscriptions of the open court — a precursor of the complex of wabet and court — in the heart of the temple. In my paper, I will pay particular attention to the different approaches the composers of the inscriptions took to the ancient material in order to create new texts.
Yvette E Balbaligo, University College London
Egyptology beyond philology: Agency, identity and the individual in ancient Egyptian texts.
Egyptology is often perceived as an insular and atheoretical discipline that has not undergone a major theoretical shift in line with that experienced in other areas of archaeology, however many of the archaeological preoccupations regarding the individual have started to become a point of interest in Egyptology. The aim of this paper will be to demonstrate how theories of agency and the individual can be practically applied to Egyptological textual materials. I will argue that written texts are a valid medium of analysis and should be endowed with the same eminence as artefactual material culture, as I will show, it is possible to recover the individual in this form of the archaeological record. This paper will focus on the Archive of Hor, a corpus of mostly demotic texts from the Ptolemaic Period, a period where individuals negotiated and renegotiated their identities between local and increasingly global identities, and within particular texts I will illustrate how the active individual can be located. By examining agency and identity theories within the context of the individual, I will show how these two concepts interact and can form a basis for understanding the individual’s construction of their habitus. An overall hope of this paper is to show that by being more theoretically aware, Egyptology can be made more reflexive and critical of the small-scale processes that have long been neglected.


Session Three: Writing Egyptology I: Historical Approaches.
Hana Navratilova. Charles University, Prague.
Egyptology and historical methodology
Egyptology and historical method are counterparts, the interaction of which has been already studied, especially with respect to philological historical methodologies. Historical methodology broadens its scopes and takes over a number of approaches proper to semiotics, semantics and anthropology, creating thus an interdisciplinary field of historical anthropology {R. Van Duelmen}. There are, however, questions regarding:
· methodological questions of ancient history and Egyptology in comparison to more recent periods
· Egyptology as a part of historical studies, common points and methodology
· Specific position of ancient Egyptian historiography, or uses of the past
Egyptology, in spite of its 19th century tradition, is still sometimes put aside, when historical sciences are overviewed. This is paradoxical, as many approaches heralded in last decades as new in history, were in fact very close to Egyptology, and on the other hand, many recent historical theories could help to foster a further development in certain Egyptological problems, i.e. in the history of historiography.

Andrew Bednarski, University of Cambridge
A Victorious Description? An assessment of the Description de l’Égypte’s reception in Great Britain
My doctoral project is an investigation of the Napoleonic Description de l’Égypte’s impact on the development of Egyptology in Great Britain. I was led to such an exploration after encountering, in numerous works, the assertion that the Description was the first seminal point in the development of the discipline. The corpus is certainly impressive to behold and contains a wealth of information on Egypt. Yet a work’s size and content don’t always translate into use or social acceptance. For this reason I began to question how such an historical assertion could be made without research into the corpus’ reception.
The effect that the Description had on the study of Egypt can be explored in various ways. I propose to begin my investigation by briefly summarising the work’s distribution. I will then use literature reviews and case studies to infer what various authors made of the Description. Finally, I would like to complete this lecture by discussing aspects of the work’s accessibility.
   
Chris Naunton, Egypt Exploration Society
Careful Coloured Drawings: the watercolour facsimilies in the EES archive.
Abstract not received.
Session Four: Conceptualising Space.
Sarah Parcak, University of Cambridge
Using satellite images to find new and lost archaeological sites: results from survey in the northeast Delta.
Satellite imagery analysis is proving to be an invaluable tool in archaeology, yet it remains seldom used in Egyptology. This report will describe the use of several different kinds of satellite images (Landsat, ASTER, SPOT and CORONA) in the detection or both new archaeological sites, as well as sites purportedly lost. After conducting image analysis and comparing the results with old maps and survey data, I was able to carry out ground-truthing in the northeastern Egyptian Delta at 60 sites, primarily in the regions surrounding Mendes and Tell Tebilla. Implementing various image processing techniques and incorporating interviews with a number of locals led to the discovery of many sites. Results of this survey work will be discussed, as well as calculating archaeological site loss,the anthropology of site destruction and the general implications for Egyptian archaeology.
 
Peter Robinson, University of Manchester
Ritual landscapes in the Coffin Texts – A cognitive mapping approach
The Middle Kingdom Coffin Texts present the Egyptologist with some of the first clear attempts by the Ancient Egyptians to conceptualise their Afterlife, the funerary ritual and preservation of their dead in a readily accessible format and for sectors of society other than the highest elites. In addition to providing source material on funerary ritual and religious practice, the genre also describes, in a number of instances, perceptions of the Afterlife landscape that the deceased hoped to spend an Eternity in.
This paper will look at a number of the sub-genres of the texts that depict such liminal landscapes and journeys, and attempt by using a number of cognitive mapping approaches, to analyse how the ancients tried to describe and organise their perceptions of an afterlife at this time.

Petra Vlckova, Charles University, Prague
The spatial distribution of the funerary equipment in the non-royal tombs at the end of the Old Kingdom
The funerary equipment followed the deceased on his journey into the netherworld. The composition of the equipment was dependent both on the social status of the owner of the burial chamber and on the funerary beliefs and customs of the society. Generally said, the funerary equipment illustrates the trains of thought of the ancient Egyptians.
The scope of the paper is to trace up the patterns of the spatial distribution of the funerary equipment within the burial chambers of the non-royal tombs at the end of the Old Kingdom. Although attention will be also paid to relevant evidence originating in the provinces, the paper will focus on the archaeological evidence from the memphite area. As the starting point, the funerary equipment found in situ in the burial chamber of the scribe Inti-Pepiankh in the Abusir South area will be discussed.
Maria Costanza Centrone, University of Wales, Swansea.
Choosing the burial place for corn-mummies: a random selection?
As part of my PhD research on the corn-mummies, I tried to set a map of the sites where the Osiris figurines have been found. Five are the necropolises concerned. The aim of this paper is to clarify if those sites were chosen by the ancient Egyptians for a particular reason. I am reluctant to believe that the necropolises were randomly selected. Probably different reasons lie behind the choice. Otherwise, how can we explain the fact that places where the presence of the Osiris’ cult was prominent, Abydos for instance, have not produced any specimens of corn-mummies but rather related material, objects connected to Osiris and corn or to the phenomenon of sprouting plants (i.e. Osiris bricks)?
I will examine if the localities were chosen in view of their devotion to Osiris, their connection with gods somehow associated with Osiris or because the Khoiak Festival, during which grain figurines were manufactured, took place there.
Session Five: Writing Egyptology II: Modern Perspectives
Rachael J Dann, University of Durham.

Abstract not received

 
James Bruhn (University of Durham) & Melanie Sheratt.
Engendering Roman Egypt: Why is there so little discussion of gender in Egyptology?
Conkey and Spector published Archaeology and the study of gender in 1984 and twenty years later little has changed. Gender studies and gender theory while more developed are still fairly marginalised in Archaeology on the whole. This is being addressed in the upcoming SAA meeting in regard to archaeology in general but I wanted to take the opportunity to address how it specifically relates to Egyptology. In Egyptology and Roman archaeology the situation is even worse; very few attempts have been made to understand the roles of women in Egypt and even fewer have dealt specifically with gender. Why is this the case? The purpose of this paper is two fold. First it hopes to address the lack of gender studies and offer criticism on how to deal with their relative exclusion from mainstream archaeology. Secondly, it will attempt to discern if there was a change in the way gender was viewed in Egypt, by comparing gender displays during the Roman occupation. This shall be undertaken through a study of mummy portraits and how the body was gendered compared with representations on wall art. While this paper will highlight the application in studying representations of gender in art, there are many other ways of understanding gender roles in ancient Egypt. By including gender studies within Egyptology we can better understand identity and agents roles; through this a more complete, inclusive and multi-vocal image of Egyptian life will emerge.

Dan Lines, University of Birmingham.
The New Rock and Roll? Some thoughts on the popularisation of Egytology
One might intuitively think that the popularisation of Egyptology (broadly speaking, the dissemination to a non-professional audience of Egyptological knowledge) would constitute a central strand of the discipline's raison d'etre. This paper takes as its starting point the impression that this does not always seem to be the case.
Following a brief review of prevailing attitudes towards the popularisation of 'academic' Egyptology, I will pose two questions and offer some preliminary remarks towards their resolution:
a) Why should we be concerned with popularising Egyptology? and
b) How can we best carry out its popularisation?
In addressing these issues, professional, psychological, and epistemological concerns will be touched upon.
Session Six: Socio-Political Organisation: Individuals and Society.
Karen Exell, University of Durham.
The scribe Ramose and the cult of the king: new light on Deir el Medina in the early 19th dynasty
In his 1988 monograph on New Kingdom private votive stelae, Alan Schulman argues that two at least of the scenes found on stelae are representations of historical events: the pharaoh smiting scene and the giving of reward gold by the king. In this paper I will demonstrate the potential for the using private stelae as social and historical documents.
A number of stelae, and reliefs, from the Deir el Medina will be used to demonstrate the form, instigation and promotion of the cult of Hathor and Ramesses II in the Village. The official reliefs and private inscriptions will reveal the role the Scribe of the Tomb Ramose (i) played in the establishment of these cults and the concomitant social prestige that accrued to him. It will be shown that a historical and social approach to this monumental evidence can reveal social organisation (as opposed to social structure) centred on cult activity traditionally thought to be invisible in the record.

Henriette Koefoed, University of Cambridge.
Professional Identities in New Kingdom Egypt.
This presentation is part of a larger investigation of the notion of ‘professional identities’ in ancient Egypt. Was the social hierarchy only to be understood as the patriarchal, vertical structure – or did professional groupings offer foundation for (a separate) identity that would cut horizontally through hierarchy?
I will be looking at the workmen of Deir el-Medina, mainly 19 and 20th dynasty, and in particular the titles ‘Servant in the Place of Truth’ and ‘Children of the Tomb’. These titles might reveal the connection and system of upgrading or entrance into the workmen’s gang. By making statistical analysis of these titles, their frequency of use, provenance and context, patterns will appear to tell us if the workmen associated themselves with some sort of guild-like organisation.

 
Brett H Heagren, University of Auckland, New Zealand.
Logistics of the Egyptian Army and its impact on Strategic Planning
The subject of logistics has often been overlooked in favour of the more ‘exciting’ topics of strategy and tactics. Unfortunately, by excluding logistics from any study of military history we are in danger of not fully appreciating its importance. This is because more often than not it was logistics which shaped strategic military planning and also predominantly dictated operations on a tactical level. This is true not only for modern armies, but also for ancient armies as well. This paper will therefore discuss the impact that logistics had on Egyptian military operations in both Nubia and Asia. Its importance in both theatres should be evident in the existence of supply bases, lines of communications, as well as other support facilities. By examining these elements, it may aid in our understanding as to why Egyptian operations in these two regions differed so markedly from each other.

Session Seven: Excavation and Site Specific Studies
Angus Graham, University College, London.
Investigating the past land- and waterscapes of North Karnak
Karnak has been studied in great detail. Whilst much has been written about temple buildings, their texts and meanings, the question of the site’s relationship to the land- and water around it has been little discussed. This relationship is crucial to understanding access to the temple complex, transport of goods and materials to the site as well as the religious significance of the location of the site. The stone platforms outside the first pylon and at north Karnak have long thought to be quays. There has, however, been almost no sub-surface investigation of these structures to determine what if any relationship they had to a body of water. Following the excavations of the Treasury of Thutmose I at North Karnak in the 1960s and 70s, it was suggested that a waterway may have existed to the north of the structure. A preliminary season at North Karnak sought to test these interpretations and the results of the season will be presented along with the plans for the forthcoming 2004 season.
Colin Reader Fellow of the Geological Society
On Pyramid Causeways
During 2001 and 2002, a programme of geological mapping of North Saqqara has been undertaken as part of the Saqqara Geophysical Survey Project. This work has involved a close examination of the landscape of this important necropolis and has led to a reconsideration of the role landscape may have played in the selection of sites for Early Dynastic royal burials at Saqqara. In this paper, the ideas of other authors are developed to argue that our modern view of Saqqara, which tends to regard the site from the perspective of the Nile Valley, is not the way in which the Early Dynastic and early Old Kingdom Egyptians viewed the site. Furthermore, by altering our perspective of the site, a symbolic origin for the use of causeways in pyramid architecture is proposed.
   
Jana Mynárová Charles University, Prague.
The Site of Abusir during the New Kingdom
The ancient site of Abusir is particularly well-known for its monuments from the Old Kingdom (royal and private tombs) and the Late Period (shaft tombs). The present paper aims to show that the era of the New Kingdom is not such a minor and unimportant period in Abusir as one might think from the up to now published archaeological material. In my paper I will pay attention to the most important features and areas of the New Kingdom in Abusir, such as a cult of Sakhmet of Sahure or the Ramesside secondary cemetery located in the area of the pyramid complex of queen Chentkaus II.

Geoffrey Tassie, University College London
Single Context Recording in the Context of Archaeological Fieldwork in Egypt.
Although scientific excavation has been conducted in Egypt since Petrie's time, many western developments in archaeological theory and practice are yet to be adopted by the majority of current fieldworkers in Egypt. Single context recording - which has been used by most UK excavators since the 1980s - is now starting to be used in Egypt. The effectiveness of this methodology in an Egyptian context and its advantages over traditional excavation methods is a matter of some contention. Specifically, how well can the interfaces of contexts be recorded? Many excavations in Egypt still use the Wheeler-Kenyon box-grid method, identifying layers and features and relying on the baulk sections for stratigraphic profiles. Context interfaces are only identified (if at all) in the section, possibly after the majority of the context has been removed. Single context recording - by contrast - identifies the cuts and deposit layers, and is carried out in open area excavation units. Although the interfaces may be noted, they are not given any special treatment relative to the rest of the context to which they refer. This paper explores the advantages and drawbacks of using single context recording in Egypt, and proposes a novel solution to the problem of recording the interfaces.
Session Eight: Approaches to the Body: Scientific Perspectives.
Katherine A Clark University of Bristol.
Organic Residue Analysis of Natural Products used in Embalming Mummies
The methods of embalming used by the Ancient Egyptians have long been of interest to Egyptologists. The art of the embalmers was secret and no written evidence remains except the accounts of Herodotus (450 BC) and Diodorus (59 AD), visitors to Egypt and writing after the height of the mummification.
However, analysis of the organic residues on the body using high temperature gas chromatography (HTGC) and gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS) allows us to gain valuable insight into the natural products used for embalming. These techniques are virtually non-destructive only requiring only c. 50 mg of components such as myrrh and frankincense and the presence of bitumen in embalming mixtures.sample for detailed analysis. Previous studies have identified oil/fats and beeswax as the main embalming ingredients.
This research is aiming to examine a wider range of mummies from Egyptian history, to identify differences in treatments with status and importance of different locations on the body. A particular focus will be on the identification of exotic substances.
Alex H Thompson, University of Bradford.
Looking at Diet in Predynastic Egypt Through Stable Isotope Analysis
This paper presents new information on Egyptian diet through the use of stable isotope analysis of bone collagen from archaeological samples. Stable isotope analysis is an established technique in the investigation of palaeodiet and can give information about the long-term diet of an individual. Carbon isotope analysis gives information about the aquatic vs. terrestrial components of the diet as well as the main plant type consumed (i.e. C3 photosynthetic pathway vs. C4). Nitrogen isotopes allow the distinction of the trophic level from which dietary protein was obtained, i.e. the amount of plant food vs. animal products.
Samples are from the sites of Badari and Naqada and date to the Predynastic period. These sites are of interest due to the region’s place in the subsequent development of Dynastic Egypt and the accompanying changes to subsistence practice that this is thought to have caused, with the acceleration of the shift from a hunting and gathering lifestyle to one dependent on agriculture.

 
 
 

 

 

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