Amazonite, a gemstone utilized in Egypt since the Badarian period, may serve as an indicator of the earliest trade routes connecting Egypt with East Africa. Initial provenance analyses, based on the chemical composition of Nubian amazonite specimens, have demonstrated that it originated from quarries in southern Ethiopia, situated in close proximity to the region believed…
Radiocarbon Date and Portable XRF Analysis of an Egyptian Mummified Child’s Head (MCCM 1921.56)
This paper presents a radiocarbon date of linen from an Egyptian mummified child’s head (MCCM 1921.56). Residual resin was removed using dichloromethane, then the linen was washed with 1M HCl to remove carbonates and oxalates, followed by 1M NaOH rinses to remove humic acids, and finally, 1M HCl desorbed atmospheric CO2 from the specimens. The…
“Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea” from Knossos to Memphis: Hellenized Cretans in Egypt in the Mid-Eighteenth Dynasty (BM EA 5647)
This article provides a new onomastic study of the non-Egyptian names inscribed on writing board BM EA5647, which we redate to Amenhotep II’s reign. Among the four school exercises recorded on this tablet, one on the recto appears to be a practice in writing complex foreign names, specifically the seven “names of Crete.” Somewhat curiously,…
Does the “First Intermediate Period” Actually Exist? A Period Term and the Problem of Historical Periodization
This contribution reviews the genesis and use of the periodization term “First Intermediate Period” in the history of Egyptological research. Given that periodization is based on historical coherence, the question is raised (and answered in the negative) whether this time interval displays sufficient historical coherence to warrant its continued conceptualization as a separate period of…
Key Signs and Words in the Tale of Sinuhe
This paper examines a hitherto neglected device in Egyptian literature that one finds frequently in ancient Hebrew, Aramaic, and Akkadian texts—the use of Leitwörter. In these other corpora, the Leitwort involves words and/or roots that recur throughout a text and often reflect on central characters and/or reinforce central themes. It also can lend irony to…
Honoring the Gods in the Egyptian Eastern Desert during the Greco-Roman Period: An Analysis at the Interface of Written Testimonies, Ecofacts, and Artifacts
By bringing together the most significant examples of written evidence, ecofacts, and artifacts from the Greco-Roman sites of the Egyptian Eastern Desert, this paper explores the social, cultural, and environmental aspects and factors that shaped the vertical relationship between the Eastern Desert’s inhabitants and the local divine powers and the horizontal one established among members…
Rejecting the “Sea Peoples” Narratives: Part 1
This paper examines biases in “Sea Peoples” research, questioning traditional conclusions and associations with biblical narratives. It challenges assumptions about the “Sea People” migration, material culture, and timeline by reexamining the use of the term “cut off” regarding the Sea Peoples’ situation, historical intricacies surrounding the fall of the Hittite Empire, the date of Ramesses…
Notes on the Black-Red Dichotomy in Ancient Egypt
Km.t is one of the most widely used toponyms to refer to the land of Egypt. Its etymology, “the black one,” is most likely a reference to the blackness of the fertile soil of the Egyptian Nile Valley. Another embodiment of Egyptianness, blackness, and fertility was the deity Osiris. This paper argues that Osiris’s association…
Unorthodox Use of Complexion for Expressing Ethnic Identity in Two First Intermediate Period Tombs at Gebelein
This study examines the nuanced use of skin color in First Intermediate Period artifacts from Gebelein, highlighting how these depictions may have expressed complex identities within the multiethnic community of Egyptians and Nubians inhabiting this area. Focusing on artifacts from the tombs of Ini and Iti, the research identifies unorthodox color applications, including layering and…
Visible-Induced Infrared Luminescence of Egyptian Blue and the Great Ones of Mitanni and Hatti
This paper discusses the use of visible-induced infrared luminescence of Egyptian blue in Egyptology and describes the approach used by the author in a photographic survey of ten Theban tombs. A short scene caption discovered in TT 239 by this method identifies the leaders of tribute bringers in this tomb as the “great ones” of…
“Water in the Well and Gold in the Desert”: An Inscription of Hori, son of Teti and Mutnesut, Near the Wadi Abbad
At the juncture of two ancient roads east of Elkab is a rock inscription of Hori, dating to the reign of Amenhotep II. In the text, Hori appeals to Horus of Edfu and Nekhbet of Elkab, indicating his goal to be a well and ultimately an area of gold mining. Along with a nearby dedication…
Amulet Exchange Between the Nile Delta and the Mediterranean during the Iron Age
The article discusses the production and trade of Egyptian and Egyptianizing amulets across the Mediterranean during the Iron Age. It analyses the trends and patterns observed for different regions of the Mediterranean, comparing them with the trends in the Egyptian Nile Delta. Furthermore, it discusses different workshops and production groups of amulets participating in the…
Mesopotamian Origin of Egyptian Monumental Brick Architecture
Since Henri Frankfort first suggested that ancient Egyptian monumental mud-brick construction, in particular the elaborate niched facades seen on tombs and palaces of the Archaic Period, had its roots in contemporary Mesopotamian architecture more than seventy years ago, a debate has persisted as to the veracity of the theory. Most recently it has been posited…
An Odd Procession of Gods on a Rock-Art Panel from Nag el-Fuqani (Aswan)
An intriguing anepigraphic panel, carved in a quarry a few kilometers north of Aswan during the Greco-Roman period, features two registers depicting nine deities and a man of Nubian origin. The latter is portrayed in an unusual defensive posture, with his back turned to the Elephantine triad. While certain gods (Khnum, Satet, Anuket, and Min)…
A Set of Model Vessels in Stone from the Egyptian Third Dynasty Necropolis of Bet Khallaf: A Parallel with the Levant and Mediterranean
The use of model and miniature vessels in the ancient world is common throughout history, with evident differences between cultures. Research on their possible function and meaning in numerous contexts are still ongoing, especially related to the Early Dynastic Period of Egypt, since just few sets of model vessels in stone have been recorded prior…
Egyptians, Kushites, and Libyans in Texts from Ancient Iran
A number of African (Egyptian, Kushite, Libyan) individuals and groups are mentioned in documents from ancient Iran (Elam, Media, Persia) and the time of the Achaemenid Empire. This article focuses on these people, employing both biographic and demographic perspectives. Achaemenid Empire; Egypt; Elam; migration; Kush; Libya; deportation; Media; Persia
Oniases and Jewish Temples in Hellenistic Egypt
The identity of the Onias who founded a Jewish temple in Egypt during the Hellenistic age has been debated vigorously in the scholarly literature. Scholars assume that the founder was either Onias III in 175 BCE or his son Onias IV in c. 163 BCE. This study will suggest that there were Jewish temples in…