Bumped into Kent whilst shopping and he looked very well. He could not stop talking about his new grand daughter. Parents and child visited him in Egypt and then they all went to Rome for a bit of R & R. He informed me it was her 4 1/2 month birthday and freely admitted she could wrap him round her little finger.
He is due in America shortly and wondering how to get there with the volcano. Might have to go via Singapore but that takes 23 hours
Sunday, 18 April 2010
Tuesday, 13 April 2010
BBC News - Maternal deaths 'fall worldwide'
BBC News - Maternal deaths 'fall worldwide': "He said finding out why a country such as Egypt has had 'such enormous success in driving down the number of women dying from pregnancy-related causes could enable us to export that success to countries that have been lagging behind'."
Well done Egypt
Well done Egypt
Monday, 12 April 2010
New Blockyard at Luxor Temple
Readers will remember Ray Johnson speaking about this in his lecture so today I went and visited.
Firstly you have to get an idea of this blockyard, it is huge, big and then big. This is a view taken from the mosque and you can see how much there is there. It is all arranged on mastabas (local name for brick benches).
When you get to the end of the temple exit on the north side and there is a walkway with a chain link fence. Just follow it.
Everything is well labeled and stretches from Middle Kingdom to Islam.
Where neighbouring blocks have been identified they have been assembled in to fragment groups and like the khonsu wall there is connecting drawings so the reliefs make more sense.
There is a small diversion where the walkway goes to a viewing area of the Roman gate together with an excellent diagram of what the temple looked like under the Romans.
You re-enter the temple through the peristyle sun court.
I went there in the morning and although the views were good I was told by a member of Chicago House staff that afternoon or even at night give the best views. She also mentioned they hope they can set up a website giving more details about the blocks but that was still in the wish list/planning stage.
Firstly you have to get an idea of this blockyard, it is huge, big and then big. This is a view taken from the mosque and you can see how much there is there. It is all arranged on mastabas (local name for brick benches).
When you get to the end of the temple exit on the north side and there is a walkway with a chain link fence. Just follow it.
Everything is well labeled and stretches from Middle Kingdom to Islam.
Where neighbouring blocks have been identified they have been assembled in to fragment groups and like the khonsu wall there is connecting drawings so the reliefs make more sense.
There is a small diversion where the walkway goes to a viewing area of the Roman gate together with an excellent diagram of what the temple looked like under the Romans.You re-enter the temple through the peristyle sun court.
I went there in the morning and although the views were good I was told by a member of Chicago House staff that afternoon or even at night give the best views. She also mentioned they hope they can set up a website giving more details about the blocks but that was still in the wish list/planning stage.
Thursday, 8 April 2010
Certificate in Egyptology (KNH Centre for Egyptology - The University of Manchester)
Certificate in Egyptology (KNH Centre for Egyptology - The University of Manchester)
All you budding Egyptologists anywhere in the world, this is the course I am doing, totally recommend it and it is completely online
All you budding Egyptologists anywhere in the world, this is the course I am doing, totally recommend it and it is completely online
Ray Johnsons lecture again
Just got an email from Ray Johnson who had looked at my notes on his lecture. He apologised for throwing so much information at me which is the nicest way of saying you got some stuff wrong I have ever heard, and offered me a corrected version. He is such a gentleman. Any other lecturers who want to do this I would be delighted to accept. So here is Ray's lecture again.
Chicago House 2009-2010 season Ray Johnson
It was nice that the last lecture of the season was Ray as I really admire the work they do in Luxor and how accessible they make their publications. Indeed he opened his lecture by announcing that yet another publication was available for FREE DOWNLOAD.
There are over 100 titles on the Oriental Institute Publications website ‘Egypt’
category that are available for free in low resolution PDF’s, and they are pleased that rather than seeing a drop in hard-copy sales it has actually resulted in an increase. The link is here: http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/pubs/catalog/
and if you look you can see a dollar sign or a downward arrow. The downward arrow gives you the free PDF. They are looking to get everything online and are thankful for the donation from Lewis and Misty Gruber that made scanning possible.
This year they were working at Medinet Habu, TT107, and Khonsu and Luxor temples
Medinet Habu
Chicago House has just published ‘Medinet Habu IX: The 18th Dynasty Temple Part 1, the Inner Sanctuaries,’ the first volume in a series of six for the small Amun temple. At the moment they are working on the drawings for Volume X dedicated to the Ambulatory of the 18th Dynasty Temple. In the 29th dynasty Pharaoh Akoris added four doorways that blocked some of the Tuthmosis III inscriptions of the inner pillar faces. One doorway remains in situ, and luckily the lintel is hollow and accessible. Artist Sue Osgood, who is small and thin, was able to crawl inside to document the Thutmosis III reliefs using aluminum foil rubbings and film tracing. On February 16 the ARCE/SCA field school epigraphers met with artist Margaret De Jong and Ray at the small Amun temple for an on-site seminar on epigraphic documentation methodologies, the third seminar in a series that took place with Ray at the Chicago House library and Brett McClain at Khonsu Temple. There are a lot of different recording methods depending on the differing conditions of the walls being copied, and the Chicago House team uses them all. Chicago House has also completed a new block yard at Medinet Habu and this season moved 1200 blocks into it making a total of 2000; the moving of material from the old block yard to the new one will be finished next season. Against the back wall of the blockyard Chicago House built a covered ‘hospital’ treatment area, and different storage platforms have been designated for different periods of blocks. Conservation is supervised by Lotfi Hassan. Outside of the block yard there is an open display area on the right side where one can see 40 blocks inscribed for Thutmosis III and Ramesses II from an ancient temple to Sobek discovered south of Armant in the 1970s.
These blocks were found reused as a large, late-period stone tank for the breeding of the sacred crocodiles. It was in this tank that the excavators found the large alabaster pair statue of Amenhotep III and Sobek that is the centerpiece of the Luxor Museum.
TT 107
The owner of TT 107 was Nefersekheru, Steward of Amenhotep III’s jubilee palace at Malkata. The concession for this tomb was given to Chicago House after its publication of TT 192, the tomb of Kheruef, the only other tomb Chicago House has documented in Luxor. This first season consisted of a condition study of the tomb with Boyo Ockinga and preliminary photography of the sunk reliefs of the facade by Yrako Kobylecky, the quality of which is as good as Ramose, TT 55. The documentation of the tomb coincides with the surveying, cleaning, and restoration work of the Malkata palace itself by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Emory University. The SCA is building a wall around the entire palace area, quite an undertaking as the site is 5km and requires a 10km wall, but crucial to its survival. Cultivation was encroaching like at Amarna, where two-thirds of that site is now under cultivation.
Khonsu Temple
So far Chicago House has produced three publications of Khonsu Temple: the first court, the hypostyle hall and the rooftop graffiti. The temple was built by Ramses III out of at least 6 dismantled temples, some from the west bank (the mortuary temples of Amenhotep III, Amenhotep Son of Hapu, and Ay/Horemheb among them). During the last two years Chicago House has collaborated with ARCE on a floor restoration project, documenting reused blocks in the flooring before ARCE fills the gaps with new stone. This season’s work has focused on the court, where the flooring includes Seti I blocks. Because of the position of the blocks photography is sometimes impossible, so they have developed new methodologies, including using aluminum foil to get a rubbing and then tracing the foil. Many blocks seem to relate to each other, so they will put some of them back together on paper. Many of the blocks in the flooring throughout the temple refer to Khonsu, suggesting that Ramesses III took down and reused an earlier 18th Dynasty Khonsu Temple on the site. The building history is complex and challenging. One block has Ay, Horemheb, and Ramesses II’s names one on top of the another! This season 144 in situ blocks were recorded and 315 block fragments.
Luxor Temple
There has been a growing interest in Roman Luxor Temple since the ARCE cleaning of the late 3rd Century AD frescos in the ‘Roman sanctuary.’ Under Diocletian the temple was completely surrounded by a Roman fortification wall, or castrum. Medieval Luxor grew out of the Roman community, as Old Cairo grew out of another, more famous Diocletion-period fortress called ‘Babylon’.
ARCE and Chicago House this season collaborated on the cleaning and clearing of a section of the Roman castrum wall on the eastern side of the Ramesses II eastern Pylon and an attached bastion, both of which are in poor condition.
When the cleaning is finished next season, the wall and bastion will be consolidated and partly restored in order to preserve the original remnants.
Adjacent to the wall is a later, 6th century basilica that is among the largest and oldest churches to be documented in the Luxor area. Next season Chicago House will be focusing a new architectural study of this church and the almost 200 beautifully carved blocks and fragments from the sanctuary scattered through the blockyard, with an eye toward partial restoration. Chicago House has also started designing a series of educational panels like those at Karnak temple in English and in Arabic for the main axis of the temple. The orientation panel is already finished and awaiting approval from the SCA. On Monday, March 29, 2010 Chicago House opened to the public the Luxor Temple Blockyard Open-Air Museum, a collection of blocks and joined groups on display from the Middle Kingdom through the present day, most unpublished, representing 4000 years of monument building and decoration in Luxor. Under the supervision of conservator Hiroko Kariya, Chicago House has landscaped the area to the east of the temple where the public is now encouraged to follow stone walkways along the joined groups arranged in chronological sequence.
The blocks are behind a chain link railing to protect them from being touched.
Fragment groups have been assembled with brick and mortar backing, but all the blocks have been wrapped in plastic so no bonding has occurred, and the groups can be easily dismantled for changing displays. Plaster infill between the stone fragments has been painted with simple reconstruction lines that communicate to the viewer what is missing, aiding comprehension of the scenes. This was done to great effect on the Colonnade Hall eastern wall Khonsu barque joined group in 2006. The blocks have been put into chronological groups as well as subject groups. Lighting has also been installed so that the displays can be viewed at night when the temple is lit and open, until 9PM. It is hoped that the block yard will encourage traffic flow away from the narrow door in the apse, a terrible bottleneck during peak visiting hours, as well as being educational. The walkway starts at the barque sanctuary and leads along past Amenhotep III large blocks, then the chronological sequence starting with Senuseret I, Hatshepsut, Tuthmosis III, Tuthmosis IV, Amenhotep III, Amenhotep IV/Akhenaton, Tutankhamen, Horemheb, Sety I, Ramses II, Ramses III, Egyptian creatures, the 21st Dynasty, 25th Dynasty, 29th Dynasty, 30th Dynasty (including Nectanebo I and Nectanebo II), the Ptolemis (I, II, IV, VI, VIII, and XIII), crytographic animals including female baboons with skirts, Roman, Christian, and Islamic. The displays are designed to be organic amd change occasionally, so things will shift around, and some groups will be replaced by new groups. There is also a viewing area for the great eastern Roman gate and Tetrastyle. The path then leads the visitor back into the Amenhotep III sun court where the last display is to be found on the eastern wall, northern end: 110 fragments restored to the wall itself, supervised by stone mason Frank Helmholz. They preserve a large scene showing Amenhotep III offering a huge pile of offerings to the great barque of Amun, set up on a stand in the middle of the court, followed by another figure of Amenhotep III and the royal ka. The block fragments represent only about 50% of the original wall surface, so the missing bits have been painted on the plaster infill by Chicago House director Ray Johnson for the comprehension of the viewer.
Sadly this is the last lecture, roll on the autumn
Chicago House 2009-2010 season Ray Johnson
It was nice that the last lecture of the season was Ray as I really admire the work they do in Luxor and how accessible they make their publications. Indeed he opened his lecture by announcing that yet another publication was available for FREE DOWNLOAD.
There are over 100 titles on the Oriental Institute Publications website ‘Egypt’
category that are available for free in low resolution PDF’s, and they are pleased that rather than seeing a drop in hard-copy sales it has actually resulted in an increase. The link is here: http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/pubs/catalog/
and if you look you can see a dollar sign or a downward arrow. The downward arrow gives you the free PDF. They are looking to get everything online and are thankful for the donation from Lewis and Misty Gruber that made scanning possible.
This year they were working at Medinet Habu, TT107, and Khonsu and Luxor temples
Medinet Habu
Chicago House has just published ‘Medinet Habu IX: The 18th Dynasty Temple Part 1, the Inner Sanctuaries,’ the first volume in a series of six for the small Amun temple. At the moment they are working on the drawings for Volume X dedicated to the Ambulatory of the 18th Dynasty Temple. In the 29th dynasty Pharaoh Akoris added four doorways that blocked some of the Tuthmosis III inscriptions of the inner pillar faces. One doorway remains in situ, and luckily the lintel is hollow and accessible. Artist Sue Osgood, who is small and thin, was able to crawl inside to document the Thutmosis III reliefs using aluminum foil rubbings and film tracing. On February 16 the ARCE/SCA field school epigraphers met with artist Margaret De Jong and Ray at the small Amun temple for an on-site seminar on epigraphic documentation methodologies, the third seminar in a series that took place with Ray at the Chicago House library and Brett McClain at Khonsu Temple. There are a lot of different recording methods depending on the differing conditions of the walls being copied, and the Chicago House team uses them all. Chicago House has also completed a new block yard at Medinet Habu and this season moved 1200 blocks into it making a total of 2000; the moving of material from the old block yard to the new one will be finished next season. Against the back wall of the blockyard Chicago House built a covered ‘hospital’ treatment area, and different storage platforms have been designated for different periods of blocks. Conservation is supervised by Lotfi Hassan. Outside of the block yard there is an open display area on the right side where one can see 40 blocks inscribed for Thutmosis III and Ramesses II from an ancient temple to Sobek discovered south of Armant in the 1970s.
These blocks were found reused as a large, late-period stone tank for the breeding of the sacred crocodiles. It was in this tank that the excavators found the large alabaster pair statue of Amenhotep III and Sobek that is the centerpiece of the Luxor Museum.
TT 107
The owner of TT 107 was Nefersekheru, Steward of Amenhotep III’s jubilee palace at Malkata. The concession for this tomb was given to Chicago House after its publication of TT 192, the tomb of Kheruef, the only other tomb Chicago House has documented in Luxor. This first season consisted of a condition study of the tomb with Boyo Ockinga and preliminary photography of the sunk reliefs of the facade by Yrako Kobylecky, the quality of which is as good as Ramose, TT 55. The documentation of the tomb coincides with the surveying, cleaning, and restoration work of the Malkata palace itself by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Emory University. The SCA is building a wall around the entire palace area, quite an undertaking as the site is 5km and requires a 10km wall, but crucial to its survival. Cultivation was encroaching like at Amarna, where two-thirds of that site is now under cultivation.
Khonsu Temple
So far Chicago House has produced three publications of Khonsu Temple: the first court, the hypostyle hall and the rooftop graffiti. The temple was built by Ramses III out of at least 6 dismantled temples, some from the west bank (the mortuary temples of Amenhotep III, Amenhotep Son of Hapu, and Ay/Horemheb among them). During the last two years Chicago House has collaborated with ARCE on a floor restoration project, documenting reused blocks in the flooring before ARCE fills the gaps with new stone. This season’s work has focused on the court, where the flooring includes Seti I blocks. Because of the position of the blocks photography is sometimes impossible, so they have developed new methodologies, including using aluminum foil to get a rubbing and then tracing the foil. Many blocks seem to relate to each other, so they will put some of them back together on paper. Many of the blocks in the flooring throughout the temple refer to Khonsu, suggesting that Ramesses III took down and reused an earlier 18th Dynasty Khonsu Temple on the site. The building history is complex and challenging. One block has Ay, Horemheb, and Ramesses II’s names one on top of the another! This season 144 in situ blocks were recorded and 315 block fragments.
Luxor Temple
There has been a growing interest in Roman Luxor Temple since the ARCE cleaning of the late 3rd Century AD frescos in the ‘Roman sanctuary.’ Under Diocletian the temple was completely surrounded by a Roman fortification wall, or castrum. Medieval Luxor grew out of the Roman community, as Old Cairo grew out of another, more famous Diocletion-period fortress called ‘Babylon’.
ARCE and Chicago House this season collaborated on the cleaning and clearing of a section of the Roman castrum wall on the eastern side of the Ramesses II eastern Pylon and an attached bastion, both of which are in poor condition.
When the cleaning is finished next season, the wall and bastion will be consolidated and partly restored in order to preserve the original remnants.
Adjacent to the wall is a later, 6th century basilica that is among the largest and oldest churches to be documented in the Luxor area. Next season Chicago House will be focusing a new architectural study of this church and the almost 200 beautifully carved blocks and fragments from the sanctuary scattered through the blockyard, with an eye toward partial restoration. Chicago House has also started designing a series of educational panels like those at Karnak temple in English and in Arabic for the main axis of the temple. The orientation panel is already finished and awaiting approval from the SCA. On Monday, March 29, 2010 Chicago House opened to the public the Luxor Temple Blockyard Open-Air Museum, a collection of blocks and joined groups on display from the Middle Kingdom through the present day, most unpublished, representing 4000 years of monument building and decoration in Luxor. Under the supervision of conservator Hiroko Kariya, Chicago House has landscaped the area to the east of the temple where the public is now encouraged to follow stone walkways along the joined groups arranged in chronological sequence.
The blocks are behind a chain link railing to protect them from being touched.
Fragment groups have been assembled with brick and mortar backing, but all the blocks have been wrapped in plastic so no bonding has occurred, and the groups can be easily dismantled for changing displays. Plaster infill between the stone fragments has been painted with simple reconstruction lines that communicate to the viewer what is missing, aiding comprehension of the scenes. This was done to great effect on the Colonnade Hall eastern wall Khonsu barque joined group in 2006. The blocks have been put into chronological groups as well as subject groups. Lighting has also been installed so that the displays can be viewed at night when the temple is lit and open, until 9PM. It is hoped that the block yard will encourage traffic flow away from the narrow door in the apse, a terrible bottleneck during peak visiting hours, as well as being educational. The walkway starts at the barque sanctuary and leads along past Amenhotep III large blocks, then the chronological sequence starting with Senuseret I, Hatshepsut, Tuthmosis III, Tuthmosis IV, Amenhotep III, Amenhotep IV/Akhenaton, Tutankhamen, Horemheb, Sety I, Ramses II, Ramses III, Egyptian creatures, the 21st Dynasty, 25th Dynasty, 29th Dynasty, 30th Dynasty (including Nectanebo I and Nectanebo II), the Ptolemis (I, II, IV, VI, VIII, and XIII), crytographic animals including female baboons with skirts, Roman, Christian, and Islamic. The displays are designed to be organic amd change occasionally, so things will shift around, and some groups will be replaced by new groups. There is also a viewing area for the great eastern Roman gate and Tetrastyle. The path then leads the visitor back into the Amenhotep III sun court where the last display is to be found on the eastern wall, northern end: 110 fragments restored to the wall itself, supervised by stone mason Frank Helmholz. They preserve a large scene showing Amenhotep III offering a huge pile of offerings to the great barque of Amun, set up on a stand in the middle of the court, followed by another figure of Amenhotep III and the royal ka. The block fragments represent only about 50% of the original wall surface, so the missing bits have been painted on the plaster infill by Chicago House director Ray Johnson for the comprehension of the viewer.
Sadly this is the last lecture, roll on the autumn
BBC News - Egypt calls for antiquities unity
BBC News - Egypt calls for antiquities unity
I once had a guest stay at my flats in Luxor, retired now but used to be at Liverpool Conservation Centre http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/conservation/technologies/3drecording/ he told me about the fabulous things they can do in the way of reproductions so I personally see no reason why museums could not have these made and send the originals back. The majority of visitors would be quite happy with this, scholars could visit the originals still and the object in question could serve an educational purpose in two places.
I once had a guest stay at my flats in Luxor, retired now but used to be at Liverpool Conservation Centre http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/conservation/technologies/3drecording/ he told me about the fabulous things they can do in the way of reproductions so I personally see no reason why museums could not have these made and send the originals back. The majority of visitors would be quite happy with this, scholars could visit the originals still and the object in question could serve an educational purpose in two places.
Sunday, 4 April 2010
Art in Luxor part 2
I was told on Friday there will be a exhibition of painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Luxor. Opening on the 7th at 7pm
Art in Luxor Part 1 Lehnert and Landrock
There is a exhibition of old photographs in the Old Winter Palace at the moment. It opened with a small reception and lecture on Friday by the step grandson of one of the original photographers. They were both born in 1878 and toured Northern Africa taking wonderful photogrpahs on glass plates. When the tomb of Tutankamun was discovered this spured them on to visit Egypt on a Dahabeyya, their collection includes many photos during the innundation.
The exhibition closes on April 8th but many of these photographs are available in the Khan el Khalili Mall in the Lehnert and Landrock Bookshop and Art Gallery which is owned by the step grandson Dr Edouard Lambelet
The exhibition closes on April 8th but many of these photographs are available in the Khan el Khalili Mall in the Lehnert and Landrock Bookshop and Art Gallery which is owned by the step grandson Dr Edouard Lambelet
Saturday, 3 April 2010
Al-Ahram Weekly | Front Page | The vizier's door
Luxor's new door, the best photo I have seen on a report on this discovery Al-Ahram Weekly | Front Page | The vizier's door
New tomb in Valley of Queens, Luxor QV43 Seth-her-khopsef Open
They are restoring Amonherkepchef(QV 55) and that tomb is now closed so they have opened QV43 Seth-her-khopsef and I went there today. It is up the hill next door. A large tomb and very smoke damaged. Scenes of Ramses III presenting his son to various Gods, all the normal crowd Ptah, Sekhmet, Isis, Nephytys, Selket, Neith, Anubis, Shu including a full face god who I did not recognise (anyone know) and eventually to Osiris.
I have no idea how long this tomb is going to be open so get there quick.
I have no idea how long this tomb is going to be open so get there quick.
Thursday, 1 April 2010
Chicago House 2009-2010 season Ray Johnson
Chicago House 2009-2010 season Ray Johnson
It was nice that the last lecture of the season was Ray as I really admire the work they do in Luxor and how accessible they make their publications. Indeed he opened his lecture by announcing that yet another publication was available FREE DOWNLOAD.
There are over 100 titles on the Oriental Institute website that available free in low resolution PDF’s and they are pleased that rather than seeing a drop of sales it has actually resulted in an increase. The link is here http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/pubs/catalog/ and if you look you can see a dollar sign or a downward arrow. The downward arrow gives you the free PDF. They are looking to get everything n online and are thankful for donations that have made scanning possible.
This year they were working at Medinet Habu, TT107, and Khonsu and Luxor temples
Medinet Habu
They have just published MH IX The 18 dynasty temple Part 1 the inner Sanctuaries. At Habu they are planning volume X the Ambulatory. In 29th dynasty Akons added doorways that blocked the Tuthmosis III inscriptions. However these were hollow so sue Osgood who is small and thin has crawled inside and managed to document them. There has been an ARCE/SCA field school on recording methodologies; there are a lot of different methods depending on the situation of the inscriptions. They made a new block yard and moved 1200 blocks into it making a total of 2000. There is a ‘hospital’ area and different platforms have different periods. Outside of this block yard there is an open display area with 40 blocks. There are some 40 blocks that have appeared from nowhere and were found south of Armant. There was a Sobek cult place which had a tack made of reused blocks which contained the status of Amenhotep III and Sobek which is in the Luxor Museum.
TT107
The owner was Nefersekheru Steward of Amenhotep III at Malkata Palace. Tombs are not usually their thing but they have held this concession for 40 years. At Malkata the SCA are building a wall around it which is quite an undertaking as the site is 5km and requires a 10km wall. Cultivation was encroaching on the site and at Amarna this has destroyed three quarters of the site as this is now under cultivation. They do not want this to happen at Malkata. It is in poor structural condition and although it uses sunken relief the quality is as good as Ramose.
Khonsu
So far there are three publications the first court, the hypostyle hall and the rooftop graffiti. It was built by Ramses III out of at least 3 previous temples that were at the site. The floor area has Seti I blocks, they used aluminum foil to get a rubbing and then traced the foil. Because of the position of the blocks they cannot photograph so have had to develop a new methodology. They hope that they can put the inscriptions back together on paper. The blocks reference Khonsu so there was an XVIII dynasty temple on the site that Ramses III destroyed. It is a challenge to document Ramses usurpation of Horemheb's original, there were 144 in situ blocks and 315 block fragments
Luxor Temple
There is a new focus on Roman Luxor Temple, under Diocletian it was a Roman fort. Medieval Luxor came out of this. They have been working on the Roam cestrum wall and clearing the bastion, these are in poor condition. There is a 6th centenary church which is the largest and oldest to be documented. They are going to do some educational panels like those at Karnak temple in English and in Arabic. They are have almost finished creating a block yard museum which opened on Monday. Lots of these blocks have been published. They have landscaped the area to the east of the temple where they are allowing the public to view. The blocks will be behind a chain link rope to protect them from being touched. Fragment groups have been assembled, intervening mortar has had connecting loins drawn which whilst not replicating anything gives the public and sense of what is going on. This has already been done to great effect on the Khonsu barque wall. Where blocks have been reassembled this has been done by wrapping the blocks in plastic to protect them from the wet mortar and not bonded. This means they can be unassembled should this be required. The blocks have been put into chronological groups as well as subject groups. Lightening has also been donated so that they can be viewed at night as well when the temple is lit and open. The block yard will also encourage traffic flow away from the narrow door in the apse as well as being educational. The walkway starts at the barque sanctuary and leads along past Amenhotep III, Senuseret I, Tuthmosis IV Hatshepsut, Tuthmosis III, Amenhotep IV/Akhenaton, Tutankhamen, Horemheb, Ramses II, Seti I, Ramses III, Egyptian creatures Nectanebo, all of the Ptolemy’s, animals incl female baboons with skirts, Roman Christian, /Islamic. It is not set in stone but things can be moved and replaced. There is also a viewing area for the Roman gate. It then leads back to the sun court.
Sadly this is the last lecture, roll on the autumn
It was nice that the last lecture of the season was Ray as I really admire the work they do in Luxor and how accessible they make their publications. Indeed he opened his lecture by announcing that yet another publication was available FREE DOWNLOAD.
There are over 100 titles on the Oriental Institute website that available free in low resolution PDF’s and they are pleased that rather than seeing a drop of sales it has actually resulted in an increase. The link is here http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/pubs/catalog/ and if you look you can see a dollar sign or a downward arrow. The downward arrow gives you the free PDF. They are looking to get everything n online and are thankful for donations that have made scanning possible.
This year they were working at Medinet Habu, TT107, and Khonsu and Luxor temples
Medinet Habu
They have just published MH IX The 18 dynasty temple Part 1 the inner Sanctuaries. At Habu they are planning volume X the Ambulatory. In 29th dynasty Akons added doorways that blocked the Tuthmosis III inscriptions. However these were hollow so sue Osgood who is small and thin has crawled inside and managed to document them. There has been an ARCE/SCA field school on recording methodologies; there are a lot of different methods depending on the situation of the inscriptions. They made a new block yard and moved 1200 blocks into it making a total of 2000. There is a ‘hospital’ area and different platforms have different periods. Outside of this block yard there is an open display area with 40 blocks. There are some 40 blocks that have appeared from nowhere and were found south of Armant. There was a Sobek cult place which had a tack made of reused blocks which contained the status of Amenhotep III and Sobek which is in the Luxor Museum.
TT107
The owner was Nefersekheru Steward of Amenhotep III at Malkata Palace. Tombs are not usually their thing but they have held this concession for 40 years. At Malkata the SCA are building a wall around it which is quite an undertaking as the site is 5km and requires a 10km wall. Cultivation was encroaching on the site and at Amarna this has destroyed three quarters of the site as this is now under cultivation. They do not want this to happen at Malkata. It is in poor structural condition and although it uses sunken relief the quality is as good as Ramose.
Khonsu
So far there are three publications the first court, the hypostyle hall and the rooftop graffiti. It was built by Ramses III out of at least 3 previous temples that were at the site. The floor area has Seti I blocks, they used aluminum foil to get a rubbing and then traced the foil. Because of the position of the blocks they cannot photograph so have had to develop a new methodology. They hope that they can put the inscriptions back together on paper. The blocks reference Khonsu so there was an XVIII dynasty temple on the site that Ramses III destroyed. It is a challenge to document Ramses usurpation of Horemheb's original, there were 144 in situ blocks and 315 block fragments
Luxor Temple
There is a new focus on Roman Luxor Temple, under Diocletian it was a Roman fort. Medieval Luxor came out of this. They have been working on the Roam cestrum wall and clearing the bastion, these are in poor condition. There is a 6th centenary church which is the largest and oldest to be documented. They are going to do some educational panels like those at Karnak temple in English and in Arabic. They are have almost finished creating a block yard museum which opened on Monday. Lots of these blocks have been published. They have landscaped the area to the east of the temple where they are allowing the public to view. The blocks will be behind a chain link rope to protect them from being touched. Fragment groups have been assembled, intervening mortar has had connecting loins drawn which whilst not replicating anything gives the public and sense of what is going on. This has already been done to great effect on the Khonsu barque wall. Where blocks have been reassembled this has been done by wrapping the blocks in plastic to protect them from the wet mortar and not bonded. This means they can be unassembled should this be required. The blocks have been put into chronological groups as well as subject groups. Lightening has also been donated so that they can be viewed at night as well when the temple is lit and open. The block yard will also encourage traffic flow away from the narrow door in the apse as well as being educational. The walkway starts at the barque sanctuary and leads along past Amenhotep III, Senuseret I, Tuthmosis IV Hatshepsut, Tuthmosis III, Amenhotep IV/Akhenaton, Tutankhamen, Horemheb, Ramses II, Seti I, Ramses III, Egyptian creatures Nectanebo, all of the Ptolemy’s, animals incl female baboons with skirts, Roman Christian, /Islamic. It is not set in stone but things can be moved and replaced. There is also a viewing area for the Roman gate. It then leads back to the sun court.
Sadly this is the last lecture, roll on the autumn
Friday, 26 March 2010
More on royal DNA
The debate over the DNA from Tutankamun et al still rages. Here is a very interesting comment from Dylan BickerstaffHAVE THE DNA TESTS PROVED AKHENATEN WAS TUTANKHAMUN’S FATHER?
Thursday, 25 March 2010
Tuesday, 23 March 2010
TT184 Zoltan Fabian
The main thrust of the lecture was the difficulty of presenting epigraphic work and used a lot of computer drawn slides to illustrate his points. This makes it a bit tricky to record on the blog. I will limit myself to the non technical aspects of the lecture which unfortunately make it a bit sparse. The computer bits were quite clever basically by colouring in the epigraphic work in different colours then the software can remove a coloured layer. So you can remove the damage, or the text or the line or the drawings in order to concentrate on the aspect of most interest to you.
Nefermenu was the Mayor of Thebes in the second part of XIX dynasty. His wife was Meryt. This tomb shows the change in the cultic practice around the naos. On the right side of the shrine painted in red was the outline for a traditional family group. However this was replaced with divine statues, only the Hathor cow was completed however. It is contemporary with TT264 Ipy and TT62 Djehutmes, It contains one the earliest litanies to Sokar as well as the barque of Sokar.
The tomb is close to TT413 the oldest tomb in the necropolis but this is surmounted by a mud brick chapel of a later date so cannot be investigated further. (Like the roman frescos on top of the walls at Luxor temple, which is the most important and do you keep in situ). He does not know where the burial chamber of this chapel is and the owner is not identified. He showed some fantastic slides of where that had jigsaw puzzled fragments into place and the probable look of the complete chapel. It is similar to TT93 and TT17 where composition is not strict so the scenes are difficult to reconstruct.
Nefermenu was the Mayor of Thebes in the second part of XIX dynasty. His wife was Meryt. This tomb shows the change in the cultic practice around the naos. On the right side of the shrine painted in red was the outline for a traditional family group. However this was replaced with divine statues, only the Hathor cow was completed however. It is contemporary with TT264 Ipy and TT62 Djehutmes, It contains one the earliest litanies to Sokar as well as the barque of Sokar.
The tomb is close to TT413 the oldest tomb in the necropolis but this is surmounted by a mud brick chapel of a later date so cannot be investigated further. (Like the roman frescos on top of the walls at Luxor temple, which is the most important and do you keep in situ). He does not know where the burial chamber of this chapel is and the owner is not identified. He showed some fantastic slides of where that had jigsaw puzzled fragments into place and the probable look of the complete chapel. It is similar to TT93 and TT17 where composition is not strict so the scenes are difficult to reconstruct.
Saturday, 20 March 2010
Al Jazeera English - Middle East - Egypt appoints senior Sunni figure
Al Jazeera English - Middle East - Egypt appoints senior Sunni figure We are all very proud as this man is the father of the engineer who drew the plans all our Flats in Luxor buildings.
Friday, 19 March 2010
KV63 March 2010 - Dr Otto Schaden
Otto opened the lecture by reminding us that whatever KV63 finally turns out to be it will always be the first tomb discovered since the tomb of Tutankhamen. It started with a search for foundation deposits for the tomb of KV10. Excavation revealed 2 huts to the west and 10 huts to the east. These were used by the workman who lived in the valley and filled with ostracha and other artifacts. Theodore Davies had excavated the east most huts 10, 9 and 9a but left the central area. Under hut 5 they found KV63. Consisting of a single chamber with a stack of 8 coffins and 28 huge storage jars. This season they have been working on restoration of the coffins and the contents of the jars. Within these jars they have found natron, pots, textiles and the ‘embalming bed’ that is now in the mummification museum.
Coffin B (please refer to the Kv63 website for identification and pictures) was in a dreadful state, split with its mask fallen off and laying face down. SCA conservators have restored it and put the mask back in place. This is slow and painstaking work like watching the grass grow. It is not a work of art (I thought the profile was nice) and there is no writing or decoration
Coffin A contained jars, pottery and bowls. Earl Ertman noted the glass inlays both around the eyes and on the decorative bands. Nearby they found copper nails with gold heads which must have come from this coffin. It is for the royal nurse Iny. The bands would normally have formula addressed to Osiris but in this case they are only addressed to Re Herakty and she is not called Osiris so these must have come from the Amarna period. Catherin Roehrig did a dissertation on royal nurses but Iny was not identified at that time. The coffin itself is in many pieces and so far only the top half has been restored.
Coffin F Otto believes must have had the same carver as Tutankhamen objects, it is badly destroyed with no inscriptions; amongst its contents were two woven mats. There were also parts of two stone blocks, these grooved slabs would have been ideal for propping a mummy for bandaging with one each at head and thighs.
Pottery
Winlock described the pots he found in KV54 and much of that found in KV63 is the same in shape and form. These were smashed into many pieces and found in various jars. It is unclear as to what their purpose is embalming, workman or the funerary feast. There were a variety of shapes and decoration, for one shape there were the follow varieties
• Red with blue decoration
• Bluff with blue decoration
• Light bluff
• Red
• Small
Destruction was so complete that one small bowl had pieces located in 8 find spots. Otto is hoping to physically inspect the pots from KV 54 in order to compare those with the KV63 contents.
There were rectangle clay tablets with raised edges which must have been used wet as there destruction shows squeezing.
Wine jars dated to Year 5 which does not help with the dating of the tomb as jars of many dates were found in KV62 so this does not indicate closure date.
There were seal impressions similar to those found in KV62 and KV55. These contained ka and kheper glyphs which could mean Tutankhamen or Ay. There were also the 9 bows and jackal seals. They also found cotton buds but these were surface containments.
Finally everyone loves gold and there was the small red gold coffinette.
For the future they still have a lot of excavating to do in KV10.
Coffin B (please refer to the Kv63 website for identification and pictures) was in a dreadful state, split with its mask fallen off and laying face down. SCA conservators have restored it and put the mask back in place. This is slow and painstaking work like watching the grass grow. It is not a work of art (I thought the profile was nice) and there is no writing or decoration
Coffin A contained jars, pottery and bowls. Earl Ertman noted the glass inlays both around the eyes and on the decorative bands. Nearby they found copper nails with gold heads which must have come from this coffin. It is for the royal nurse Iny. The bands would normally have formula addressed to Osiris but in this case they are only addressed to Re Herakty and she is not called Osiris so these must have come from the Amarna period. Catherin Roehrig did a dissertation on royal nurses but Iny was not identified at that time. The coffin itself is in many pieces and so far only the top half has been restored.
Coffin F Otto believes must have had the same carver as Tutankhamen objects, it is badly destroyed with no inscriptions; amongst its contents were two woven mats. There were also parts of two stone blocks, these grooved slabs would have been ideal for propping a mummy for bandaging with one each at head and thighs.
Pottery
Winlock described the pots he found in KV54 and much of that found in KV63 is the same in shape and form. These were smashed into many pieces and found in various jars. It is unclear as to what their purpose is embalming, workman or the funerary feast. There were a variety of shapes and decoration, for one shape there were the follow varieties
• Red with blue decoration
• Bluff with blue decoration
• Light bluff
• Red
• Small
Destruction was so complete that one small bowl had pieces located in 8 find spots. Otto is hoping to physically inspect the pots from KV 54 in order to compare those with the KV63 contents.
There were rectangle clay tablets with raised edges which must have been used wet as there destruction shows squeezing.
Wine jars dated to Year 5 which does not help with the dating of the tomb as jars of many dates were found in KV62 so this does not indicate closure date.
There were seal impressions similar to those found in KV62 and KV55. These contained ka and kheper glyphs which could mean Tutankhamen or Ay. There were also the 9 bows and jackal seals. They also found cotton buds but these were surface containments.
Finally everyone loves gold and there was the small red gold coffinette.
For the future they still have a lot of excavating to do in KV10.
Thursday, 18 March 2010
Media Training
Media Training Courses with Past Preservers
Historian? Archaeologist? Anthropologist? Do you have what it takes to work in the media?
The media is a demanding and competitive career choice. It requires confidence, knowledge, and first class presentation skills to succeed. The best proven formula for success is through a professionally produced showreel. Past Preservers, having extensive media experience, has identified the need for professional training and production services and has designed a training course to help you succeed in the media world.
Past Preservers is pleased to announce that we will be offering regular training courses, covering a range of professional training and development skills. The presenters are known professionals with extensive experience in the media and the sessions will focus on your needs as a presenter, researcher and or media/heritage specialist.
The first of these will be held this spring at a venue TBD in the impressive surroundings of the English Lake District. The instructors will include well-known broadcaster and author, Fiona Armstrong, Jim Mower, a producer of the extremely popular TV series 'Time Team', along with the Past Preservers Team.
Fiona, in addition to her work in television, is an experienced heritage professional who runs her own company, 'Border Heritage' and has been involved as a director and manager of heritage projects. She has recently joined BBC News 24 as a news anchor. Jim has worked on numerous historical and archaeological documentaries for international broadcasters and is also an experienced field and research archaeologist. Now a senior producer on the Channel 4 series Time Team, Jim’s work includes programme development, production and directing.
Together, with other specialists, our instructors will provide a first class team to develop your skills as a professional presenter. At the end of the weekend, every attendee will have his or her own professionally produced showreel.
Addition venues for future courses in the UK, the USA, Egypt and elsewhere will be announced soon.
Places are EXTREMELY limited and so we suggest that if you would like to attend, please make a statement of interest as soon as possible by emailing nigel@pastpreservers.com
Historian? Archaeologist? Anthropologist? Do you have what it takes to work in the media?
The media is a demanding and competitive career choice. It requires confidence, knowledge, and first class presentation skills to succeed. The best proven formula for success is through a professionally produced showreel. Past Preservers, having extensive media experience, has identified the need for professional training and production services and has designed a training course to help you succeed in the media world.
Past Preservers is pleased to announce that we will be offering regular training courses, covering a range of professional training and development skills. The presenters are known professionals with extensive experience in the media and the sessions will focus on your needs as a presenter, researcher and or media/heritage specialist.
The first of these will be held this spring at a venue TBD in the impressive surroundings of the English Lake District. The instructors will include well-known broadcaster and author, Fiona Armstrong, Jim Mower, a producer of the extremely popular TV series 'Time Team', along with the Past Preservers Team.
Fiona, in addition to her work in television, is an experienced heritage professional who runs her own company, 'Border Heritage' and has been involved as a director and manager of heritage projects. She has recently joined BBC News 24 as a news anchor. Jim has worked on numerous historical and archaeological documentaries for international broadcasters and is also an experienced field and research archaeologist. Now a senior producer on the Channel 4 series Time Team, Jim’s work includes programme development, production and directing.
Together, with other specialists, our instructors will provide a first class team to develop your skills as a professional presenter. At the end of the weekend, every attendee will have his or her own professionally produced showreel.
Addition venues for future courses in the UK, the USA, Egypt and elsewhere will be announced soon.
Places are EXTREMELY limited and so we suggest that if you would like to attend, please make a statement of interest as soon as possible by emailing nigel@pastpreservers.com
Tuesday, 16 March 2010
Monday, 15 March 2010
Jane's Document Store
Kindly put on the net by Andie of Egyptology New and the author Andrzej Cweik Jane's Document Store these are PDF's from the Polish Mission at Deir el Bahri, Luxor
Sunday, 14 March 2010
SCA Lecture at Mummification Museum « CFEETK – Centre Franco-Égyptien d'Étude des Temples de Karnak – SCA / USR 3172 CNRS
Only just found this, a list of lectures in Luxor. Sadly it looks like we only have 2 left. SCA Lecture at Mummification Museum « CFEETK – Centre Franco-Égyptien d'Étude des Temples de Karnak – SCA / USR 3172 CNRS
Saturday, 13 March 2010
Responsible Tomb and Temple visiting and main ticket office prices
Adult Ticket Prices
Speaking to Moustafa Wazery, the SCA director of the West Bank he asked me to pass on some comments to visitors to Luxor.
You are very welcome but please help preserve the monuments for future visitors.
Photography has been banned in both the Valley of Queens and Valley of Kings, this is because so many people were taking their cameras into the valleys and then taking photos inside the tombs. This is forbidden and I afraid the few have ruined it for the majority.
Please, please, please do not touch the paintings, they are real and original. You don’t need to test. I actually saw a tourist scraping at the paint with their nails and saying ‘look it comes off’ I slapped them, yes it does come off and touching, scraping, rubbing will take it off. Don’t do it.
Rucksacks, backpacks please carry them in hands in the tombs; a lot of damage is done by people’s backpacks scraping the walls.
As churches as for Christians, mosques for Muslims and synagogues for Jews so were the temples for the Ancient Egyptians. Please dress respectfully and keep beachwear for the beach.
Some rather unscrupulous tour companies are selling panorama tours; they charge the tourists to view sites like the temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el Bahri from the car park. This is very unfair on the tourist and the SCA but very lucrative for the tour companies. So the SCA has made it a rule if you are in the car park you must pay for a ticket.
Student Ticket Prices
Speaking to Moustafa Wazery, the SCA director of the West Bank he asked me to pass on some comments to visitors to Luxor.
You are very welcome but please help preserve the monuments for future visitors.
Photography has been banned in both the Valley of Queens and Valley of Kings, this is because so many people were taking their cameras into the valleys and then taking photos inside the tombs. This is forbidden and I afraid the few have ruined it for the majority.
Please, please, please do not touch the paintings, they are real and original. You don’t need to test. I actually saw a tourist scraping at the paint with their nails and saying ‘look it comes off’ I slapped them, yes it does come off and touching, scraping, rubbing will take it off. Don’t do it.
Rucksacks, backpacks please carry them in hands in the tombs; a lot of damage is done by people’s backpacks scraping the walls.
As churches as for Christians, mosques for Muslims and synagogues for Jews so were the temples for the Ancient Egyptians. Please dress respectfully and keep beachwear for the beach.
Some rather unscrupulous tour companies are selling panorama tours; they charge the tourists to view sites like the temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el Bahri from the car park. This is very unfair on the tourist and the SCA but very lucrative for the tour companies. So the SCA has made it a rule if you are in the car park you must pay for a ticket.
Student Ticket Prices
Friday, 12 March 2010
Free Publications from Andrzej Cweik
OK people big treat Andrzej Cweik has sent me 4 PDF’s of article he and his collegue Marta Sankiewicz haves written IN ENGLISH, send me your email and I will send them to you, they are big a total of 30MB but I will send them individually. The titles are
1. Fate of Seth in the Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el Bahri
2. The Scene of “Going round the wall” on the North Wall of the Portico of the Birth
3. Red, yellow and pink. Ideology of skin hues at Deir el-Bahri
4. Cryptogram Uraeus Frieze in the Hatshepsut Temple at Deir el-Bahari
Andie of Egyptology News has kindly put them on the net for us http://www.oddthing.co.uk/html/jane_s_docs.html
1. Fate of Seth in the Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el Bahri
2. The Scene of “Going round the wall” on the North Wall of the Portico of the Birth
3. Red, yellow and pink. Ideology of skin hues at Deir el-Bahri
4. Cryptogram Uraeus Frieze in the Hatshepsut Temple at Deir el-Bahari
Andie of Egyptology News has kindly put them on the net for us http://www.oddthing.co.uk/html/jane_s_docs.html
www.osirisnet.net update
Dear Friends,
After several months of work, we can finally present to you, on OsirisNet, a complete description of the famous mastaba of Ty, in Saqqara. Besides an exhaustive description (which includes the translation of almost all the
texts) you will be able to discover more than 650 photos, illustrations, commented plans and images with an overlay effect of detail information.
http://www.osirisnet.net/mastabas/ty/e_ty_01.htm
We hope that this visit will please you.
Thierry BENDERITTER & Jon HIRST
www.osirisnet.net
Tombs of Egypt
After several months of work, we can finally present to you, on OsirisNet, a complete description of the famous mastaba of Ty, in Saqqara. Besides an exhaustive description (which includes the translation of almost all the
texts) you will be able to discover more than 650 photos, illustrations, commented plans and images with an overlay effect of detail information.
http://www.osirisnet.net/mastabas/ty/e_ty_01.htm
We hope that this visit will please you.
Thierry BENDERITTER & Jon HIRST
www.osirisnet.net
Tombs of Egypt
Thursday, 11 March 2010
Karnak Duty Free Shop - your first 48 hours
I had a visit to this new duty free shop. it is on the road side of the Karnak shopping area. Actually rather nicely located. You can go there the first 48 hours after you land and buy 3 bottles of spirits.
Imported spirits are really expensive in hotels and local spirits are not particularly good or available in 5* hotels so you could end spending a lot. Stocking up at duty free will save you loads.
The staff were massively welcoming and the manager assured me that Ramadam will not be problem as they have some Christian staff. It is well stocked, loads of flavoured vodkas and apart from alcohol you can buy anythign at any time, great news to those of you with a sweet tooth.
Wednesday, 10 March 2010
A morning with Dr Andrzej Cwiek
I was privileged and lucky enough to be taken round Deir el Bahri by Dr Andrzej Cwiek the Assistant director of the Polish Mission. I made sure the previous day that the inspectorate knew I was coming, this is really important as when I turned up on site their local inspector was freaking out. The knowledge that I was there with permission from Moustafa Wazery smoothed all that out. Permission is god here. The director of the site took me to the Punt portico where Dr Andrzej was photographing.
He enhanced the lecture from Saturday by showing me the places where erasure had happened and how it had been done by different hands. Honestly it was so obvious once you have been shown. It helped that he had a mirror to shine the light against the decoration and we were under the barrier. But once it has been pointed out it is so obvious even when this is taken away.
We then went to the Hatshepsut chapel which is actually their workshop. I am afraid I am not going to remember everything he said, there was so much but I will do my best. First there were official versus unofficial erasures. If something is removed only to the reach of a normal man but exactly the same picture higher up is left untouched then this is unofficial damage. If they had really wanted to remove it higher up they would have done. He explained that this had occurred at the step pyramid where the edges are removed off the niches but only to the reach of a normal man. I loved some of his terms waiters, menu instead of offering bearers and offering list, he does it as a little bit of humour.
He also mentioned about the use of rose pink on the skin of royal women and we had a big chat about yellow being used on men when they weren’t reckoned to be virile like old men and Syrians! This rose pink seems to have been favoured at first by Hatshepsut but then she obviously decided it was not kingly enough and the skin was repainted red.
There is also the use of white and yellow head cloths as the sun and the moon, in the chapel Hatshepsut had to be the most important so on her side she is shown first wearing a white head cloth in front of Amun and then wearing a yellow nemes head cloth in front of Amun. So the closest to Amun is the sun but on the other side the closest Tuthmoside figure to Amun is wearing a white head cloth and the one behind, the complimentary sun figure hasn’t got Amun in the picture. It is all so subtle but so obvious once you are shown.
But when Dr Andrzej gets on to hieroglyphs omg, the moment his stuff gets published go out and get a copy, some of the interupretations etc are amazing. There is no point in my trying to explain without pictures and I didn’t feel I ought to ask to take pictures before publication. Anyway I don’t think my memory card is that big!!
I saw Senenmut pictures and erasures and interestingly enough one of these would not have been hidden when the door was opened as the door hinge was on the other side.
We clambered up to the Tuthmosis III temple which was so much bigger than I imagined., I had seen the reconstructions but when you are looking from below it doesn’t seem big enough but when you are up there. It is quite amazing how big it was. It was a cult temple used for the worship of Amun and Hathor and the Beautiful Feast of the Valley, no mortuary aspect as he had his mortuary temple down below in the northern Assasif. Quite ruined obviously but there is quite a lot up there.
My head is literally buzzing from everything he told me, why Anubis was erased, why the royal ka wasn’t, how tiny scraps of stone from statues gives them a clue about the original placement, how uraeus were removed making statues non royal, the Ptolemaic chapel at the back of the Amun chapel with statues of Amenhotep son of Hapu and Imhotep with ladies of their household with the most improbably boobs. I felt like I had never been to the temple and just seen a completely new site.
Thank you Dr Andrzej and Moustafa Wazery so much
He enhanced the lecture from Saturday by showing me the places where erasure had happened and how it had been done by different hands. Honestly it was so obvious once you have been shown. It helped that he had a mirror to shine the light against the decoration and we were under the barrier. But once it has been pointed out it is so obvious even when this is taken away.
We then went to the Hatshepsut chapel which is actually their workshop. I am afraid I am not going to remember everything he said, there was so much but I will do my best. First there were official versus unofficial erasures. If something is removed only to the reach of a normal man but exactly the same picture higher up is left untouched then this is unofficial damage. If they had really wanted to remove it higher up they would have done. He explained that this had occurred at the step pyramid where the edges are removed off the niches but only to the reach of a normal man. I loved some of his terms waiters, menu instead of offering bearers and offering list, he does it as a little bit of humour.
He also mentioned about the use of rose pink on the skin of royal women and we had a big chat about yellow being used on men when they weren’t reckoned to be virile like old men and Syrians! This rose pink seems to have been favoured at first by Hatshepsut but then she obviously decided it was not kingly enough and the skin was repainted red.
There is also the use of white and yellow head cloths as the sun and the moon, in the chapel Hatshepsut had to be the most important so on her side she is shown first wearing a white head cloth in front of Amun and then wearing a yellow nemes head cloth in front of Amun. So the closest to Amun is the sun but on the other side the closest Tuthmoside figure to Amun is wearing a white head cloth and the one behind, the complimentary sun figure hasn’t got Amun in the picture. It is all so subtle but so obvious once you are shown.
But when Dr Andrzej gets on to hieroglyphs omg, the moment his stuff gets published go out and get a copy, some of the interupretations etc are amazing. There is no point in my trying to explain without pictures and I didn’t feel I ought to ask to take pictures before publication. Anyway I don’t think my memory card is that big!!
I saw Senenmut pictures and erasures and interestingly enough one of these would not have been hidden when the door was opened as the door hinge was on the other side.
We clambered up to the Tuthmosis III temple which was so much bigger than I imagined., I had seen the reconstructions but when you are looking from below it doesn’t seem big enough but when you are up there. It is quite amazing how big it was. It was a cult temple used for the worship of Amun and Hathor and the Beautiful Feast of the Valley, no mortuary aspect as he had his mortuary temple down below in the northern Assasif. Quite ruined obviously but there is quite a lot up there.
My head is literally buzzing from everything he told me, why Anubis was erased, why the royal ka wasn’t, how tiny scraps of stone from statues gives them a clue about the original placement, how uraeus were removed making statues non royal, the Ptolemaic chapel at the back of the Amun chapel with statues of Amenhotep son of Hapu and Imhotep with ladies of their household with the most improbably boobs. I felt like I had never been to the temple and just seen a completely new site.
Thank you Dr Andrzej and Moustafa Wazery so much
Monday, 8 March 2010
Fall of Senenmut - New Evidence from the temple at Deir el Bahri - Dr Andrzej Ćwiek
This week’s lecture was by Andrzej Ćwiek and what a riveting one it was. I also got to spend the rest of the evening with him and I thought I just died and went to heaven. He is doing a lot of work at the temple and was showing me loads of pictures illustrating his work with hieroglyphics. If you remember the lecture by Francesco Tiradritti about art there was a lot of similar work and indeed they had Francesco out on site. He is looking at all the variations of hieroglyphs and trying to identify if they are variations or new glyphs. Also when glyphs have colour on they it makes previous assumptions about what they were problematic. Like Francesco talked about black bread there are other glyphs whose representation ought to challenged as the colour does not fit at all. It was fascinating. We talked about whether it was Hatshepsut or not, new technical procedures, who did what damage at the temple. Hatshepsut, Tuthmosis III, Amarna or 26th dynasty, Hatshepsut and goddess who were daughters of Re. Sooooooo much. He briefly mentioned his Phd so I did a little search and found it http://www.gizapyramids.org/pdf%20library/cwiek_royal_relief_dec.pdf
Anyway here is the lecture, fortunately English is not his native language so he pauses a lot and gave me enough time to take notes, next week it is Otto Schaden who is another delight to take notes from as he speaks very slowly and deliberately. I love lecturers like that : )
The title was supposed to be the Fall of Senenmut but had been publicized as the Full of Senenmut and he did a very neat work play about that. Pretty impressive for a non native speaker it certainly made the audience laugh. Although he was doing the presentation it was a joint project between him and Marta Sankiewicz. His particular interest is Old and Middle Kingdom evidence and links and her orientation and whilst they were working they got into the Senenmut evidence.
Senenmut was an especially favoured by Hatshepsut, to an amazing degree the object BMEA1513 says “My mistress repeated favours for me….” Were they more than just good friends? Hatshepsut had two fathers Tuthmosis I and Amen Re so her mother had two lovers, could Hatshepsut have decided to have two lovers also. The story is the building of the whole complex but what can be said safely stripping away conjecture and romance.
This is not the first example of separating the tomb from the mortuary complex. It is the same as the Old Kingdom mortuary temple which is attached to the eastern side of the tomb complex. It is just that the tomb complex in this case was the mountain itself. (I have often heard that the intention of KV20 was to continue on its original axis and end up under the temple).
It is believed to have been started during her 7th regnal year when she assumed the full titlulary and attributes of king. Although she represented herself as a king she stressed her feminity and Dr Andrzej showed a number of slides where although she was portrayed as a king she was definitely feminine. Although she started to be king and have a co-regency around year 7 she used the same regnal years as Tuthmosis III.
Senenmut was her main supporter; he was a man of very humble origins that she had raised to a position of power. The burial of his parents identifies them as having no titles. He was VERY closely connected with Hatshepsut and Neferure. He had 90 titles and most of these were connected with posts to do with money.( btw I contacted Kento Zenhiro about his funerary cones and they are type 84, 88 and 261 check http://dataonfunerarycones.wetpaint.com/page/General+Catalogue Kento believes funerary cones show the titles most important to the owner and the ones on the cones are Steward of Amun, Senenmut, prophet of the (the barque) 'Userhatamun', Senenmut justified, steward of the king's daughter, Neferure, Senenmut, overseer of the cattle of Amun, Senenmut. Overseer of the double granary of Amun, Senenmut, overseer of the fields of Amun, Senenmut, steward of the god's wife Hatshepsut, Senenmut, chamberlain, Senenmut justified. Chief steward of Amun, born of Ramose, born of Hatnefer
Neither of his tombs mentions a wife or children and Dr Andrzej believes he did not have any.
There is a well know picture located in the bottom of a Middle ‘Kingdom tomb that was probably used as shade during the building of the temple. It shows a man having sexy doggy style with a female wearing a nemes head cloth but it is a pure guess that this is Senenmut and Hatshepsut. There is graffiti of Senenmut with a big head which does show he was well known.
The statues that show him with Neferure are an exceptional and unusual group. There is one of him standing and holding Neferure in Chicago which has been suggested shows a fatherly pose. But the only thing that is safe to say is that he had a very important role in her life and was her tutor.
Neferure was removed from inscriptions or changed to her grandmother for uncertain reasons but not everywhere. The last inscription is in year 11 where a stele in the Sinai shows Neferure and Senenmut offering to Hathor in poses similar to that of a reigning monarch. It could be a connection with Senenmut going down.
There is no proof that Senenmut was the architect however he was the overseer of temples. The well known figures behind the shrine doors have given rise to this idea. The popular misconception was that there were some tiny figures behind a couple of doors in the sanctuary but the reality is that he is in at least 74 places (found by Marta) behind many doors in many places. Another misconception is that his fall was because of this hidden action and when Hatshepsut found out he dared to do this he lost his place. However the text in the Amun chapel makes it quite clear that Senenmut had been granted this unique privilege by Hatshepsut not only at Deir el Bahri but at all cult temples and his figure is know in 2 other places the Mut temple at Karnak and at Elephantine.
There is some cryptographic writing used as a frieze and Senenmut was probably the creator of this as it is shown in 3d with his own statue at Brooklyn and Fort Worth. This symbol of a cobra seated within a ka sign with a sun disk is actually on the top of the Hathor columns in the Hathor shrine in the temple. From below it just looks like two double urea but when you climb to that level you can actually see the hammered out ka arms either side of the urea. This was also perhaps invented by him. The falcon at the bottom of the ramp was also embracing a cobra with a sun disk on a ka sign. Like the statue of Kafra with the Horus falcon transferring the divine, royal Ka to the king. There were at least 70 sandstone sphinxes which were found by Winlock.
The tomb TT71 faces east to the midpoint between Karnak and Luxor temple. In the niche above the tomb there is a statue of Senenmut with Neferure in the style of the block statues. TT353 goes under the courtyard of the temple which stresses his devotion to Hatshepsut but he was not buried in either tom. TT71 was destroyed and TT353 was just closed. In TT71 not only his name but also those of Amun Mut and Hatshepsut were destroyed but these are the results of different actions. His name was removed (by Hatshepsut?), Hatshepsut’s name was removed later (by Tuthmosis III) and finally Amun (by the Amarna period?).
He was given a quartzite sarcophagus an enormous privilege but instead of being reused it was smashed to pieces. At Deir el Bahri there are 2 nice small pictures of him in the Hathor shrine but all the others were chiselled out. In the upper shrine of Anubis the carving had not been completed but there was a sketch of Senenmut so almost at the same time they were still carving his name and then were destroying it. This chapel is a later addition around year 16.
There are other pictures of Senenmut in the decoration. On the northern wall of the punt portico there is a large figure of the queen which has been erased. There are 3 officials in front of the queen which have also been erased Howard Carter (working under Naville) did an extremely good drawing recreating the text and showing the damage. However when you look at the damage it is done by a different hand. The first official is identified as Nehes and then the next 2 figures it says dignitaries of the king. The second figure is named as Senenmut and the third is unidentified. The name of Senenmut has been removed by a left handed carver making the two dignitaries unmade general figures. The subsequent erasure was by a different figure.
In the obelisk scene Senenmut was there in the prow of the boat and the left handed guy has removed this during Hatshepsut’s reign. Also by the rope of the tug boat there was a navigational inscription ‘turn left’ this has been removed and replaced further over. This has given them enough room to insert the names of the dignitaries, so for some reason it was important to name these dignitaries and one of these was Minmose overseer of the granaries, a title that used to be held by Senenmut.
In the temple courtyard there is a small gate on the northern wall and beside this is the tomb MMA59, this is a reused grave but the coffin of the original owner was used to block the shaft and therefore we know his name Minmose. This tomb goes under the courtyard and is therefore located within the temple prescient like TT353, this is not by chance. So did Minmose take over the favourite position from Senenmut?
Fantastic lecture bet you wished you were there
Anyway here is the lecture, fortunately English is not his native language so he pauses a lot and gave me enough time to take notes, next week it is Otto Schaden who is another delight to take notes from as he speaks very slowly and deliberately. I love lecturers like that : )
The title was supposed to be the Fall of Senenmut but had been publicized as the Full of Senenmut and he did a very neat work play about that. Pretty impressive for a non native speaker it certainly made the audience laugh. Although he was doing the presentation it was a joint project between him and Marta Sankiewicz. His particular interest is Old and Middle Kingdom evidence and links and her orientation and whilst they were working they got into the Senenmut evidence.
Senenmut was an especially favoured by Hatshepsut, to an amazing degree the object BMEA1513 says “My mistress repeated favours for me….” Were they more than just good friends? Hatshepsut had two fathers Tuthmosis I and Amen Re so her mother had two lovers, could Hatshepsut have decided to have two lovers also. The story is the building of the whole complex but what can be said safely stripping away conjecture and romance.
This is not the first example of separating the tomb from the mortuary complex. It is the same as the Old Kingdom mortuary temple which is attached to the eastern side of the tomb complex. It is just that the tomb complex in this case was the mountain itself. (I have often heard that the intention of KV20 was to continue on its original axis and end up under the temple).
It is believed to have been started during her 7th regnal year when she assumed the full titlulary and attributes of king. Although she represented herself as a king she stressed her feminity and Dr Andrzej showed a number of slides where although she was portrayed as a king she was definitely feminine. Although she started to be king and have a co-regency around year 7 she used the same regnal years as Tuthmosis III.
Senenmut was her main supporter; he was a man of very humble origins that she had raised to a position of power. The burial of his parents identifies them as having no titles. He was VERY closely connected with Hatshepsut and Neferure. He had 90 titles and most of these were connected with posts to do with money.( btw I contacted Kento Zenhiro about his funerary cones and they are type 84, 88 and 261 check http://dataonfunerarycones.wetpaint.com/page/General+Catalogue Kento believes funerary cones show the titles most important to the owner and the ones on the cones are Steward of Amun, Senenmut, prophet of the (the barque) 'Userhatamun', Senenmut justified, steward of the king's daughter, Neferure, Senenmut, overseer of the cattle of Amun, Senenmut. Overseer of the double granary of Amun, Senenmut, overseer of the fields of Amun, Senenmut, steward of the god's wife Hatshepsut, Senenmut, chamberlain, Senenmut justified. Chief steward of Amun, born of Ramose, born of Hatnefer
Neither of his tombs mentions a wife or children and Dr Andrzej believes he did not have any.
There is a well know picture located in the bottom of a Middle ‘Kingdom tomb that was probably used as shade during the building of the temple. It shows a man having sexy doggy style with a female wearing a nemes head cloth but it is a pure guess that this is Senenmut and Hatshepsut. There is graffiti of Senenmut with a big head which does show he was well known.
The statues that show him with Neferure are an exceptional and unusual group. There is one of him standing and holding Neferure in Chicago which has been suggested shows a fatherly pose. But the only thing that is safe to say is that he had a very important role in her life and was her tutor.
Neferure was removed from inscriptions or changed to her grandmother for uncertain reasons but not everywhere. The last inscription is in year 11 where a stele in the Sinai shows Neferure and Senenmut offering to Hathor in poses similar to that of a reigning monarch. It could be a connection with Senenmut going down.
There is no proof that Senenmut was the architect however he was the overseer of temples. The well known figures behind the shrine doors have given rise to this idea. The popular misconception was that there were some tiny figures behind a couple of doors in the sanctuary but the reality is that he is in at least 74 places (found by Marta) behind many doors in many places. Another misconception is that his fall was because of this hidden action and when Hatshepsut found out he dared to do this he lost his place. However the text in the Amun chapel makes it quite clear that Senenmut had been granted this unique privilege by Hatshepsut not only at Deir el Bahri but at all cult temples and his figure is know in 2 other places the Mut temple at Karnak and at Elephantine.
There is some cryptographic writing used as a frieze and Senenmut was probably the creator of this as it is shown in 3d with his own statue at Brooklyn and Fort Worth. This symbol of a cobra seated within a ka sign with a sun disk is actually on the top of the Hathor columns in the Hathor shrine in the temple. From below it just looks like two double urea but when you climb to that level you can actually see the hammered out ka arms either side of the urea. This was also perhaps invented by him. The falcon at the bottom of the ramp was also embracing a cobra with a sun disk on a ka sign. Like the statue of Kafra with the Horus falcon transferring the divine, royal Ka to the king. There were at least 70 sandstone sphinxes which were found by Winlock.
The tomb TT71 faces east to the midpoint between Karnak and Luxor temple. In the niche above the tomb there is a statue of Senenmut with Neferure in the style of the block statues. TT353 goes under the courtyard of the temple which stresses his devotion to Hatshepsut but he was not buried in either tom. TT71 was destroyed and TT353 was just closed. In TT71 not only his name but also those of Amun Mut and Hatshepsut were destroyed but these are the results of different actions. His name was removed (by Hatshepsut?), Hatshepsut’s name was removed later (by Tuthmosis III) and finally Amun (by the Amarna period?).
He was given a quartzite sarcophagus an enormous privilege but instead of being reused it was smashed to pieces. At Deir el Bahri there are 2 nice small pictures of him in the Hathor shrine but all the others were chiselled out. In the upper shrine of Anubis the carving had not been completed but there was a sketch of Senenmut so almost at the same time they were still carving his name and then were destroying it. This chapel is a later addition around year 16.
There are other pictures of Senenmut in the decoration. On the northern wall of the punt portico there is a large figure of the queen which has been erased. There are 3 officials in front of the queen which have also been erased Howard Carter (working under Naville) did an extremely good drawing recreating the text and showing the damage. However when you look at the damage it is done by a different hand. The first official is identified as Nehes and then the next 2 figures it says dignitaries of the king. The second figure is named as Senenmut and the third is unidentified. The name of Senenmut has been removed by a left handed carver making the two dignitaries unmade general figures. The subsequent erasure was by a different figure.
In the obelisk scene Senenmut was there in the prow of the boat and the left handed guy has removed this during Hatshepsut’s reign. Also by the rope of the tug boat there was a navigational inscription ‘turn left’ this has been removed and replaced further over. This has given them enough room to insert the names of the dignitaries, so for some reason it was important to name these dignitaries and one of these was Minmose overseer of the granaries, a title that used to be held by Senenmut.
In the temple courtyard there is a small gate on the northern wall and beside this is the tomb MMA59, this is a reused grave but the coffin of the original owner was used to block the shaft and therefore we know his name Minmose. This tomb goes under the courtyard and is therefore located within the temple prescient like TT353, this is not by chance. So did Minmose take over the favourite position from Senenmut?
Fantastic lecture bet you wished you were there
Friday, 5 March 2010
New Luxor duty free shop
The Egyptian authorities let people arriving in the country buy 4 bottles of spirits within the first 48 hours you are in the country. You can get this at the airport as you land but you can also get it at a brand new duty free shop at Karnak
Thursday, 4 March 2010
News from the Valley of the Kings: DNA Shows that KV55 Mummy Probably Not Akhenaten
An absolutely riveting article, a def must read by all Egyptologists. News from the Valley of the Kings: DNA Shows that KV55 Mummy Probably Not Akhenaten
Monday, 1 March 2010
Amenhotep III temple
Well I tried to go to the site and have a sneaky look, no chance. Apparently the head is in a magazine store. Actually it was quite interesting looking at the site from the road. There is so much excavation going on, I was told there are 300 workers on that site. It is a large site but even so. The reconstruction of the statue Dr Hourig talked about in her last lecture looked almost complete, beard and all. The site looked drier than usual, no idea if this is delibrate
New Statue of Amenhotep III found at Luxor
This is one of the best links I have found on this story about the latest discovery in Luxor. The temple is just behind the colossus of Memnon and for years everyone thought there was nothing left. Dr Hourig and her team have proved that wrong. BTW when I say her team it is one of the biggest workforces you will see, there are loads of workmen there.
New Amenhotep III
Thanks to Heather Alexander of the KV63 team for the link
New Amenhotep III
Thanks to Heather Alexander of the KV63 team for the link
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