Although there are numerous images that can be associated with the expression of the values and ideals of the ruling elites, the absence of overt ruler propaganda in Minoan official art is striking and has often been commented on. This paper argues that with regard to the expression of political power Minoan culture favoured the…
Sacred Prostitution in Minoan Crete? A New Interpretation of Some Old Archaeological Findings
Sacred prostitution remained for several years a taboo topic in the study of the ancient Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean. Despite the fact that some ancient writers refer to it, several scholars doubted its practice, in the frame of the noble Greek civilization. Recently, R. Strong put the question, re-interpreting archaeological data from sites reported as…
Skylines: Borders of Materiality, Thresholds to Heaven
Skylines partake in the “public image,” as symbols of an urban collective. They are urban signatures that present an abbreviated image of the city’s identity. In the Minoan world skylines can be approached only indirectly: firstly, by inferring how buildings emerged in the vertical and secondly, through the depictions of architectural compounds in Minoan art….
Why is No One Eating? The Iconography of Feasting in the Ancient World
Feasts were a vital part of life in the Ancient World. Those worthy of expression in images and texts were ideological and symbolic, celebrating royal power, marking the ritual calendar, creating alliances, and maintaining the status quo of society. Strikingly, in all representations relating to feasting, no one is actually depicted eating. The paper investigates…
A Mycenaean Open-Air Cult Place in Iklaina*
During the recent excavations at the Mycenaean settlement of Iklaina a pit was unearthed, containing burned animal bones, numerous drinking vases, plaster offering tables, and animal figurines. This find presents a reasonable case of an open-air site with ritual associations. Here I present a preliminary description of the pit and its finds and assess its…
Was the “Minoan Genious” a God? An Essay on Near Eastern Deities and Demons in Aegean Bronze Age Iconography*
Although the hybrid creature known as the Minoan Genius was clearly derived from the Egyptian Ashaheru / Taweret, according to the iconographical evidence in the Aegean, its functions and meaning differ considerably. Nonetheless, in images showing the Minoan Genius as accompanied by a lion, flanked by lions, dogs or men, or performing actions on a…
Egyptian Influence and Aegean Transformation at Akrotiri, Thera: The Jug No. 8960 with a Libation Scene
In the 2nd millennium B.C. Aegean and Egyptian relations are well attested by a variety of artifacts. In this article, the depiction of an emblematic falcon together with a libation scene combining principal Aegean cult elements on a jug from Akrotiri, Thera, is explored as probable corroborating evidence far sun worship in the Aegean, analogous…
Herodotus Aigyptiophrõn: Conversing with the Learned Egyptians
It is acknowledged that Herodotus foregrounds methodological concerns in book two of his Histories, but I challenge the notion that his frequent claims to have heard a thing.from Egyptian priests are mere source citations. I argue that Herodotus emphasizes how he listened to the Egyptians in order to differentiate his method of inquiry from the…
Are the Bearers of the Pan-Grave Archaeological Culture Identical to the Madjay-People in the Egyptian Textual Record?
Since 1907, scholars have suggested that the Medjay of the Egyptian textual and artistic record may be equated with the Pan-Grave archaeological culture. There are various circumstantial reasons for this connection, but typically it has been argued that they were either both mercenaries during the wars of the Second Intermediate Period, or that they originated…
Sudanic Statecraft? Political Organization in the Early Napatan Period
The Piankhy Victory Stela contains several anomalies that have caused interpretive problems for Egyptologists. These difficulties stem from the assumption, inspired by the Egyptian appearance of their monuments, that the early 25th Dynasty kings were attempting to rule in the same way as traditional Egyptian kings. This paper argues that by utilizing the segmentary state model…
A Late Bronze Age Canaanite Merchant’s Hoard of Gold Artifacts and Hematite Weights from the Yavneh-Yam Anchorage, Israel
An underwater survey at the ancient anchorage of Yavneh-Yam, located on the southern Mediterranean coast of Israel, has revealed remnants of a sunken cargo dated to the Late Bronze Age. The cargo includes a small collection of objects composed of whole and broken down gold jewelry and scrap, in addition to a collection of small…
Two Libyan Names in a Seventh Century Sale Document From Assur
In Neo-Assyrian cuneiform sources, Libyan names are rarely found. This paper identifies two additional such names in the sale document StAT 2 53 from Assur, dated 700 bce, which concerns the sale of a bathhouse in the city of Guzana. The paper begins by summarising the contents of StAT 2 53, before turning to the…
Explorations in El-Markha Plain, South Sinai: Preliminary Findings at Tell Markha (Site 346) and Elsewhere
The 2002 University of Toronto and SCA (renamed MoA) expedition to el-Markha Plain, South Sinai, mapped and excavated the eastern portion of a small, seasonal copper smelting site and anchorage (Rothenberg’s site 346), which W. F. Albright had discovered in 1948 and dated to the early New Kingdom. In 2002, this encampment yielded potsherds from…
A Satellite Survey of El-Markha Plain and Beyond: Searching for Additional Potential Pharaonic Forts
Discoveries from the past 15 years along the Red Sea in Sinai and Egypt have shown just how much remains to be found in an area previously overlooked by many Egyptologists. The excavations and findings at an Old Kingdom fort at Ras Budran and an anchorage and associated complex of sites at Wadi al-Jarf emphasize…
Preliminary Findings at a Late Old Kingdom Fort in South Sinai, Including the Pottery, from the 2008 Season
The 2008 excavations at Ras Budran continued exposing the late Old Kingdom fort’s courtyard, finding baking installations, deep hollows filled by ash and sand, and parts of an underlying occupation layer that may reflect earlier activity at the fort (which needs further clarification). The exploration of a suggestive “chamber” in the eastern enclosure wall revealed…
The Way(S) of Horus in the Saite Period: Tell El-Kedwa and its Key Location Guarding Egypt’s Northeastern Frontier
The “Way(s) of Horus” represented an active route and part of Egypt’s eastern frontier; it is known during the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms, and continued to be maintained and controlled by Saite kings (Dynasty 26: 664-525 B.C.). Tell el-Kedwa formed part of a series of Saite fortresses guarding Egypt’s East frontier, and lies on…
Marine Units on the “Ways Of Horus” in the Days Of Seti I
Archaeological explorations along the North Sinai corridor unearthed two locally manufactured (fragmentary) vessels of early 19th Dynasty “beer jars” stamped with the cartouches of Seti I alongside a hieroglyph of a ship. A second example of a royal ship with the throne names of Seti I and Haremhab was recorded on an Egyptian amphora handle…
The Sinai Peninsula and its Environs: Our Changing Perceptions of a Pivotal Land Bridge Between Egypt, the Levant, and Arabia
The Sinai Peninsula has provided a continuous land bridge connecting northeast Africa and Asia, and particularly Ancient Egypt with the Levant. This paper focuses mainly upon past through recent explorations of Ancient Egypt’s Prehistoric through pharaonic interactions with the Sinai and its environs, including the Negev, and in particular considers our changing perceptions of Egyptian…
Some Remarks on the Tjemhu Libyans
The Tjemhu-Libyans are mentioned in Egyptian sources starting with the 6th Dynasty, when they are presented in geographical proximity to the Nubians and meet the Egyptians during exploratory/trading expeditions. Later, the term “Tjemh” was used to generically indicate the Libyan-land and to indicate “the west.” Representations of Tjemhu dancers appear in Egyptian temples show the…
A Preliminary Look at Theban Tomb 119 and its Scene of “Foreign Tribute”
Although Theban Tomb 119 is very much destroyed, it has the remains of an important scene of Aegeans and Syrians bringing valuable metal ingots, wine, animals, and perhaps perfumes and olive oil. Evidence found in the tomb suggest that the tomb owner was a mid-level member of the Amun bureaucracy, perhaps with duties over the…
Wandering Rosettes: Qatna’s Key to a Misunderstood Motif
A golden inlaid rosette found in the royal tomb of Qatna and dated to the fifteenth to fourteenth century BCE sheds light on the evolution of the Egyptian rosette during the 18th Dynasty and on patterns of artistic exchanges between Near Eastern and Egyptian artists. Since cloisonné technique is uncommon in second millennium BCE pieces…
Egyptian-Style Pottery Dated to the 13th Century BCE at Hazor, Megiddo and Lachish: Corpus, Ware Fabrics and Typology
This paper is a synopsis of a complete study focused on three main city-states of Canaan, Hazor, Megiddo, and Lachish, during the 13th century BCE. It addresses the question of the Egyptian occupation there, beyond the so-called garrisons mainly situated on the Mediterranean Coast. Through a comparative study of the Egyptian-style pottery, an attempt is made…
Late Bronze Age Imports at Qantir: Petrographic and Contextual Analysis of Fabric Groups
Late Bronze Age imported vessels have been found throughout Egypt during the New Kingdom. Their presence is a tangible testament to the international trade carried out throughout the eastern Mediterranean during this period. Those found at Piramesses/Qantir are particularly important as they represent what was acquired by the royal court in the Nineteenth Dynasty. A…
Greek Imports Unearthed at the Saite-Persian Cemetery at Abusir
Although the archaeological excavations of a cluster of shaft tombs in the Late Period necropolis at Abusir are far from being complete, this paper will present in detail recently unearthed Greek imports as evidence for fairly close Graeco-Egyptian relations during the end the Saite Dynasty, i.e. from the middle of the 6th century BCE to the…
Ceramic Bibliography 2010-2014
This short bibliography is provided as a guide to some of the more recent ceramic studies that provided important information on Egyptian interconnections. It does not aim to be exhaustive, but to highlight some of the trends in the field and where advancves have been made. The compilers hope this bibliography will be a starting…
The Indo-Asiatic Origin of Gas, The Ancient Egyptian Name for the Wild Sugar Cane (Saccharum Spontaneum L.)
This article establishes unprecedented connections between the Ancient Egyptian term GAS, usually translated as ‘rush’ and ‘reed’ with various cognates in different Indian languages qualifying the Kans grass (Saccharum spontaneum). Hence confirming the link made by Loret in 1904 between GAS and that very species, as well as presenting a clear case of a late…
Leather And Skin as Markers of Early Exchanges Between Western Asia and Egypt?
Leather is a durable and flexible material created by the tanning of animal rawhide and skin, the more often cattle hide. Rawhides and tanned hides are hence two separate commodities which may be traded under the different denominations of ‘leather’, ‘skin’ or ‘hide’. The latter is important as these different terms, the former referring to…
Scarab-Stamped Impressions and Weaving at Middle Bronze Age Tell Dothan
The excavations at Tell Dothan in Palestine, which took place during the middle of the past century, uncovered important remains from the Middle Bronze Age. This article presents previously unpublished artifacts from the courtyard of the “patrician’s house” at Tell Dothan. The most significant artifacts from this assemblage are a scarab-stamped jar handle and two…
Notes on the Mediterranean and Red Sea Ships and Ship Construction from Sahure to Hatshepsut
A comparison of depictions of Sahure’s Mediterranean and Red Sea ships suggests that the latter were smaller and lighter. Details from these reliefs with a comparison of structural features from the Khufu I vessel suggest that both types of Sahure’s ships were designed to be broken down and rebuilt. Moreover, Sahure’s small ships may have…
The War of Sennacherib Against Egypt as Described in Herodotus II 141
In 701 BCE Sennacherib, King of Assyria (704 – 681 BCE), conducted a campaign against the Levant to subdue the kingdoms that had rebelled against Assyria upon the death of his father, Sargon II (721 – 705 BCE) in battle. Sennacherib’s written and pictorial sources describe the subjugation of the Levantine kingdoms voluntarily or after…