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…
(Ch. 15) Archiving Process
(Ch. 14) Photographers and Equipment, 2012–2015
(Ch. 13) Archaeological Staff and Workforce
(Ch. 12) Bes Jars from the Tausret Temple Site
(Ch. 11) A Mourning-Woman Vase from the Temple of Tausret
(Ch. 10) Report on the Ceramics Recovered from Area TD (2013-2015)
(Ch. 9) A New Cluster of Mud Vessels
(Ch. 8) Foreign Pottery
(Ch. 7) Ceramic Methodology
(Ch. 5) The North Scarp
(Ch. 4) The Western Scarp
(Ch. 3) Mud-Brick Structures in the TC Area
(Ch. 2) Mapping at the Tausret Temple
(Ch. 1) Introduction
(Ch. 6) Texts
An Aromatic Levantine Plant (Thymbra spicata L.) in Tutankhamun’s Tomb as a Case of Failed Domestication
Although Thymbra spicata is not a native Egyptian plant, a freshly picked twig was discovered in the tomb of Tutankhamun. Such a plant could have been cultivated in Egypt by “the state,” or by a foreigner sojourning in Egypt. The twig is an example of plant acclimatization, such as plants brought by Hatshepsut’s mission to…
The Production of Middle Bronze Age Steatite Scarabs from the Southern Levant: A Chaîne Opératoire Approach
Steatite scarabs were the most common type of seal amulets in Egypt and the southern Levant during the 2nd millennium BCE. Past scholarship attempted to create criteria for the identification of Egyptian vs. Canaanite scarabs, emphasizing mostly their typological and iconographic features, while other aspects of their production have largely been disregarded. This article examines…
Akhenaten’s Libyans: Reinterpreting a Relief Fragment from the Mortuary Temple of Amenhotep II
This article discusses a sandstone relief in the collections of the Manchester Museum (inv. no. 3507) that has, since it arrived in the collection, been described as depicting Syrian soldiers and originating from the mortuary temple of Merenptah at Qurna. This reinterpretation of the piece instead suggests that it depicts Libyan warriors, not Syrians, most…
Remodeling Parker’s Egyptian Lunar Month: A New Solution to Eighteenth Dynasty Chronology
Despite an abundance of data, a lunar solution to Eighteenth Dynasty chronology remains elusive. Previous efforts have employed Richard Parker’s model for the start of the lunar month, which assumes psDntyw coincided with first dawn crescent invisibility. It is possible that this criterion has vexed the search for an authoritative timeline for the Eighteenth Dynasty….
Reconsidering the Seth Animal Conundrum: An African Perspective
The Seth animal is generally regarded as a fabulous beast that existed only in the imagination of ancient Egyptians. But this composite creature may well have its origin in prehistoric times in a very real African animal with disparate features, the aardvark. In addition to its long downward-pointing snout, tall, pricked ears, and long tail,…
The Head of Anubis: A Curious Gift from Aegean Emissaries in the Tomb of Menkheperreseneb
In this brief contribution the author explains the rather strange appearance of an Anubis-headed rhyton among the gifts of Aegean emissaries in the tomb of Menkheperreseneb (TT 86) as a way of marking the gifts as burial items. This places the object in accord with recent discoveries, which have shown that the Aegean gifts in…
Sweetness Out of Chaos: The Archaeology of Early Beekeeping in the Near East and Aegean
The honeybee originally migrated to the Levant and northeast Africa sometime during the early Pleistocene (300,000 BP) from her ancestral home in southeast Asia. The evolved honeybee is identified as Apis mellifera. Thanks to the pioneering studies of Eva Crane, there has been an increased interest in the role of bees and beekeeping and a…
Einige neue Gedanken zum ägyptischen Verhältnis von Hunden und Feinden unter besonderer Berücksichtigung einer sumerischen Vergleichsstelle
This article is about the Egyptian comparison of enemies with dogs. The tertium comparationis is formed by the subservience of both dogs and enemies. Five text passages are included in the study and confronted with comparative material. The derogatory view of dogs can also be observed in other languages in the region. Egyptian literature; dog,…