The 21st century has seen incredible advances in our knowledge and use of forensic sciences – to investigate crimes and to find out about people from ancient times. How can we apply this information to the people of ancient Egypt? Find out – and test your own skills in a hands-on practical session – at ‘Forensic Aspects of Ancient Egypt‘ presented by Joyce Filer. The study day – being repeated due to popular demand – will take place on Saturday the 20th of February and will add to your knowledge about the difference between male and female mummies (not as…
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Today was the first day of the CRE XI conference, but last night we had a lecture by Prof. Demarée of Leiden University. Demarée, who studied Egyptology in Leiden, Copenhagen and Oxford and has a PhD on “Ancestor Worship in Ancient Egypt”, spoke about a group of papyri fragments scattered in different museums that, together with some ostraca and graffiti, provide researchers more information on the workers’ community at Deir Al-Medina, especially from the Ramesside Period and the second half of the New Kingdom. “Now, thanks to a largely unpublished dossier of texts, we are gradually beginning to understand what happened…
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Another exciting CRE conference is about to begin today, as I write this, this time and for the first time ever in Leiden, The Netherlands. Current Research in Egyptology (CRE) has always happened in The UK but, last time, at Liverpool, no one from UK universities wanted it, so our beloved colleagues from Leiden applied and won! CRE is the best way to show your work, explain your research, collect contacts from all over the world and get access to books that don’t exist in your country either by buying them at sale prices or by browsing the nicest libraries…
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After having been held in the UK for the past 10 years, the Current Reseach in Egyptology conference moves to the continent for the first time in 2010. CREXIwill take place January 5th to 8th at the Leiden University in The Netherlands. Originally set up by students at the University of Oxford in 2000, the main aim of the conference is still to provide graduate and post-graduate students the opportunity to present their research. The conference covers the entire span of the Palaeolithic to the Graeco-Roman and Coptic Periods in Egypt and the Sudan, which leads to a broad range…
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Did ‘mummy paper’ – paper made out of recycled mummy bandages – exist for sure? Worchester librarian S.J. Wolfe believes it is not the myth historians believe it to be. Ms Wolfe recently published her book ‘Mummies in Nineteenth Century America’ about the import of mummies in the USAin the 1800’s. Her research into what happened to these 560 ‘honorary guests’ to the USA’s carnivals and exhibitions (often further dismemberment and a travelling life) lead the researcher to what she calls a smoking gun: proof that ‘mummy paper’ is not an urban myth. Mummy-recycling was a popular passtime or even…
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There were six Ceremonial Chariots discovered in the Tomb of King Tutankhamun (KV62), all dismantled in order to be able to take them down through the narrow corridors. In addition to the discovered chariots were miscellaneous fittings which would have belonged to other chariots. Sandro Vannini, the Egyptology photographer who has captured on film some of most stunning artefacts in history, took photographs of the State Chariot – the most beautifully decorated of the six found in the chamber – and the images are bought exclusively to the internet by Heritage Key. The discovery of the ceremonial chariots were made…
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Two large tombs have been discovered at the ancient Egyptian necropolis of Saqqara – one of which is the largest ever found at the site. The 26th Dynasty tombs, likely robbed during the Roman era, are nonetheless filled with important arefacts including coffins, skeletons, pottery and mummified eagles. The tombs, discovered by an Egyptian archaeological mission from the Supreme Council of Antiquities, are at the Ras El Gisr area of Saqqara, near the landmark’s entrance. Both tombs are cut into the hills of the region: the larger first tomb is hewn from limestone while the other is mud-brick. The larger…
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A cat wanders by, leading to myself, the guard, my two friends, and the cat being the only occupants of the ruined city of Fustat on this particular day; it was originally home to roughly 200,000 people. This is an unexpected experience for Cairo solitude in the city. The Medieval Capital Fustat, the medieval capital of Egypt founded in 642 AD by General Amr Ibn el-As, was burnt to the ground (according to Arab tradition) roughly five hundred years later by order of the Vizier Shawar. Frankish crusaders were on their way, and he decided that it was better to…
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If youve ever wanted to own a perfect hand-crafted piece of traditional Egyptian pottery made by a man with only one thumb and one eye I can tell you exactly where to go. His name is Salah and he lives in Fustat, in the area better known today as Coptic Cairo. Getting to Fustat Its an easy journey, you can take the metro from downtown Cairo there in no time at all, roughly only fifteen minutes. Then, after arriving, you get to confound the local tourist police by walking away from all the wonderful ancient churches, and straight down the…
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A massive one ton granite statue of the pharaoh Taharqa has been found in Dangeil, deep inside Sudan. Taharqa was a pharaoh of the 25th dynasty of Egypt. This was a period of Kushite rule, which means that Taharqa and his fellow rulers were from Nubia and drew their power-base from there. Update: Further information on the statue of Pharoah Taharqa discovered at Dangeil and a confirmation that – indeed – no statue of a pharaoh has ever been found further south of Egypt than this one in Owen’s follow up blog. You’ll also find photographs of the statues and…