Excavated by French Egyptologist P. Montet in the 1920s, Royal Tomb II at Byblos (Bronze Age Gubla) yielded a significant number of Egyptian objects of the Middle Kingdom. Among these finds is a stone vessel with lid that carries the cartouche of a king named Amenemhat, often believed to be Amenemhat IV of the late…
Late Bronze Age Cornelian and Red Jasper Scarabs with Cross Designs. Egyptian, Levantine or Minoan?
This contribution reassesses the date and origin of a particular group of cornelian and red jasper scarabs, displaying line designs such as crosses and stars on their bases. The numbers that surfaced in the southern Levant and the Aegean have led scholars to attribute them to Ramesside Egyptian, Late Bronze Age IIB/III Palestinian, or even…
An Egyptian Loanword in the Book of Isaiah and the Deir ‘Alla Inscription: Heb. nṣr, Aram. nqr, and Eg. nṯr as “[Divinized] Corpse”
The Egyptian noun ntr, “god,” provides a plausible explanation for Hebrew נצר in Isa 14:19 and נצורים in 65:4, both of which have thus far defied positive explanation. In Isa 14 it is perfectly suited to mock the king’s divine aspirations; it commonly refers to the deceased king and to the mummified corpse in Egyptian; it…
The Eighth Campaign of Thutmose III Revisited
One of the most decisive rivalries in the history of the Ancient Near East during the Late Bronze Age was between Egypt and Mitanni.Starting around the beginning of the fifteenth century B.C.E. this rivalry reached its pinnacle during the reign of Thutmose III (1490-1436 B.C.E). Among the military campaigns he directed towards the Levant, his…
Synagogues and Cemeteries: Evidence for a Jewish Presence in the Fayum
Current excavations in the Fag el-Gamous necropolis have raised several questions about the ethnic composition of the mummies buried there. Of particular significance is the potential Jewish presence in the cemetery, as this could help explain the early changes in burial practices witnessed at Fag el-Gamous and often posited to be related to the Christianization…
The Galatian Shield in Egypt
In the Hellenistic world Galatian mercenaries were extremely popular in the armies of the successor kingdoms. They were a non-aligned ethnic mercenary element which would be loyal to its employer, the king, rather than the local community. The Ptolemaic kingdom was no exception, hiring many of these mercenaries and settling them in Egypt. Once the…
The Obelisks of Augustus: The Significance of a Symbolic Element of the Architectural Landscape in the Transmission of Ideology from Egypt to Rome
Following the conquest of Egypt, a pivotal point in his career, Augustus returned to Rome and, other than to avail himself of its economic benefits, historical reports imply that he had little further concern for the country itself and, in contrast to his adoptive father, Julius Caesar, and erstwhile rival for power, Marcus Antonius, was…
Egyptian Ideas, Minoan Rituals: Evidence of the Interconnections between Crete and Egypt in the Bronze Age on the Hagia Triada Sarcophagus
The Hagia Triada Sarcophagus, a painted limestone larnax, has been an enigma in the Minoan artistic canon since the time of its discovery in 1903. It is the only larnax found to date made of limestone, and the only one to contain a series of narrative scenes of Minoan funerary rituals. Conversely, most contemporaneous Aegean…
The Campaign of Ramesses III against Philistia
In this article I propose that Ramesses III campaigned in his eighth regnal year against the Philistines on the Northern borders of Canaan and prevented them from invading Egyptian controlled territory. Ramesses was victorious in a pitched battle, routed the Philistines to their home and destroyed their kingdom. This kingdom, named “the Land of Palestine”,…
Egypt and the Chad: Some Additional Remarks
This article is an addendum to the contribution published by the author in JAEI 2:4 (2010). It draws attention to the importance ofresearch on the connection between Egypt and the Chad region with regard to observations made on shared linguistic features, and therecent hypothesis that rock drawings at Gilf Kebir display possible precursors to Egyptian…
A Long Walk in the Desert: A Study of the Roman Hydreumata along the Trade Routes between the Red Sea and the Nile
The routes through the Eastern Desert of Egypt were critical during the Roman Empire for the distribution of trade goods from the east; the roads that led from the ports of Myos Hormos and Berenike to the Nile emporium of Koptos were especially well travelled by caravans carrying valuable imports and exports. Along both of…
Egyptian Gold in Prepalatial Crete? A Consideration of the Evidence
This study analyzes the evidence for the origin of gold found in secure prepalatial contexts in Crete. As there are no natural gold sources on Crete, extra-island interaction was required to procure this raw material. Information regarding the origin of prepalatial gold may, therefore, throw light on Crete’s interactions during this formative period. Unfortunately, there…
“Stop, O Poison, That I May Find Your Name According to Your Aspect”: A Preliminary Study on the Ambivalent Notion of Poison and the Demonization of the Scorpion’s Sting in Ancient Egypt and Abroad
The scope of this paper is to present a novel exposition of the ambivalent notion of poison and venomous agents, especially scorpions, in ancient Egyptian magical literature, seeking contemporary variants in Greek mythos and praxis. Emphasis is given to the notion of change and ambiguity in the usage of the relevant terminology (mtwt, mw-mr, ἰός…
Insights into Egyptian Horus Falcon Imagery by Way of Real Falcons and Horus Falcon Influence in the Aegean in the Middle Bronze Age: Part I
The falcon is the most frequently represented bird in Egyptian art. The discovery that falcons were depicted more often than realized in Aegean art, during the author’s studies of Aegean faunal iconography, prompted this article which delves into their natural history as a way to understand the falcon gods of Egypt as well as Egyptian…
Insights into Egyptian Horus Falcon Imagery by Way of Real Falcons and Horus Falcon Influence in the Aegean in the Middle Bronze Age: Part II
Falcons were a part of everyday life in the Aegean but also appear in Minoan-Mycenaean art in cult capacity as attending a goddess, being the possible ba bird of a deceased person, and in symbolic ornaments of falcon shape with distinct falcon attributes of sharp talons, hooked beaks, and neck curls. These are possibly major…
Newly Excavated Artifacts from Hagios Charalambos, Crete, with Egyptian Connections
The Minoan ossuary at Hagios Charalambos is located in the upland plain of Lasithi in Central Crete. This article discusses eight items with Egyptian connections discovered in the excavations of the site in 2002 and 2003. Two pendants carved from hippopotamus ivory in the form of apes belong to classes already known from Minoan Crete….
Sailing the Great Green Sea? Amenhotep III’s “Aegean List” from Kom el- Hetan, Once More
Amenhotep III’s “Aegean List,” found on a statue base at his mortuary temple at Kom el- Hetan nearly fifty years ago, is critical for the studyof Egypto- Aegean relations during the Late Bronze Age. This article reconsiders the Aegean List’s toponyms and possible function in light ofrecent archaeological discoveries made at the site as well…
The Pseudo-Minoan Nestor Ring and Its Egyptian Iconography
The so-called Nestor Ring was found in 1924 and was accepted as authentic by Sir Arthur Evans whereas many other scholars condemned it as a forgery. In recent years, scholars have claimed its authenticity anew. This article examines the background of the find circumstances and judges them suspicious. It also adds the criterion of semantic…
The West Beyond the West: The Mysterious “Wernes” of the Egyptian Underworld and the Chad Palaeolake
Amduat, one of the Egyptian guides to the underworld, provides specific descriptions and measurements relating to the first three hours after sunset, during which the sun god Re passes through an interstitial realm (the first hour) before arriving at two gigantic sweet-water oceans (the second and third hours). Rather than seeing in this imagery reflections…
Israel in Canaan (Long) Before Pharaoh Merenptah? A Fresh Look at Berlin Statue Pedestal Relief 21687
In 2001, Manfred Görg published a new reading of a fragmentary name ring on a topographical pedestal relief in the Berlin Museum (no. 21687). Although the inscription had previously been listed in topographical studies, the reading of the fragmentary third name ring had not received adequate attention. Görg suggested reading the broken name as an…
Spatial Use of the Twelfth Dynasty Harbor at Mersa/Wadi Gawasis for the Seafaring Expeditions to Punt
Recent excavations at the Middle Kingdom harbor at Mersa/Wadi Gawasis, on the Red Sea, have uncovered evidence of shrines aligned along the shore as well as harbor facilities farther inland, including eight manmade caves located above an ancient lagoon that extended considerably inland from where the present- day shoreline is located. The harbor was used for the…
Overland Boat Transportation During the Pharaonic Period: Archaeology and Iconography
Pharaonic Egyptian needs for waterborne transport surpassed the convenience of geography. Several obstacles— chiefly the lack of a water passage from the Nile Valley to the Red Sea and the unnavigable waters of the Second Cataract—had to be overcome. The Egyptians achieved this by techniques of hull construction, by architectural means, and by the employment of vehicles….
Ahhotep’s Silver Ship Model: The Minoan Context
The tomb of Ahhotep (I) contained two metal ship models—one gold, the other silver—and a four-wheeled carriage. The models are anomalous in time and material. While the gold model represents a typical papyriform wood- planked Nile vessel, the silver model finds its closest parallels with a contemporaneous Minoan/Cycladic vessel crewed by ten rowers, exemplified by the rowed…
From River to Sea: Evidence for Egyptian Seafaring Ships
Questions over when and how the ancient Egyptians went to sea continue to engage scholars in debate. Recent excavations of ship timbers at a pharaonic harbor on the Red Sea provide direct evidence for technological approaches that affirm Egypt’s idiosyncratic patterns of ship and boat construction (as familiar from Nile riverboats, which provide the largest and most…
A Proto-Sinaitic Inscription in Timna/Israel: New Evidence on the Emergence of the Alphabet
A rock inscription, discovered in summer 2009 in Timna (Wadi el- Man‘iye), Israel, is presented and interpreted herein. The context of Egyptian copper mining activities in the New Kingdom at Timna, involving workforce recruited from the local Semitic population, accommodates placing the graffito in the tradition of the so-called Proto- Sinaitic (PS) inscriptions. The engraving can be…
Elysion and Egypt
The purpose of this paper is to present a novel synthesis of Archaic Greek cosmography and to highlight the role of the Near East—and especially Egypt—in the formation of Greek imagination about the beyond. The time span under examination is the era between the eighth and seventh centuries bce, the so- called Orientalizing period. It will be…
Ptolemy II Philadelphus and the Dionysiac Model of Political Authority
Throughout the Ptolemaic era, the Greek rulers of Egypt had to tackle complex issues pertaining to the nature of their dominion over peoples who were in many ways culturally, socially, and politically distinct. This paper examines how, despite these differences, Ptolemy II Philadelphus found a way to connect with both the Greek and Egyptian segments of his population…
Who is Meddling in Egypt’s Affairs? The Identity of the Asiatics in the Elephantine Stele of Sethnakhte and the Historicity of the Medinet Habu Asiatic War Reliefs
It is the purpose of this article to address the identity of the auxiliary Asiatic troops mentioned in the Elephantine Stele of Sethnakhte, founder of the Twentieth Dynasty. The identity of these auxiliaries will help to illuminate the political relations between Egypt and the Levant in the first quarter of the twelfth century bce. Furthermore, it is…
The Amarna Letters from Tyre as a Source for Understanding Atenism and Imperial Administration
It has long been recognized that the corpus of letters from Tyre discovered in the Amarna letter archive contain a number of Egyptianisms. Scholars have also recognized the presence of some West Semitic traits in the corpus, which are typical of the letters from Syro-Palestine. However, the intellectual context of those linguistic/cultural traits of the…
The Dead and Their Images: An Egyptian Etymology for Hebrew ’ôb
The term ’ôb has long been a philological mystery for scholars of classical Hebrew and Israelite religion. It does not seem to mean the same thing in all instances, and its etymology is unclear and contested. The present article argues that an Egyptian etymology for the term is most likely, and that it refers both to the…