Cover Story
Going for gold: reconsidering mummies from the Graeco-Roman period The exhibition Golden Mummies of Egypt opens in February at Manchester Museum for its only European showing after an international tour that has included venues in the USA and China. Curator Campbell Price discusses the artefacts on display and their… Features
Golden flies as military awards? It doesn’t fly! PhD research by Taneash Sidpura refutes a well-established theory. 
Egypt’s golden couple: a family affair John Coleman and Colleen Darnell present new interpretations of the imagery from the fascinating reign of Akhenaten and Nefertiti. 
Francis Frith in Egypt Julia Skinner explores the life and work of the pioneering photographer who documented the great monuments of ancient Egypt. 
Hilary Wilson explores the afterlife of two Egyptian stools The double-curved seat of the ancient Egyptian stool makes it much more comfortable than the traditional Western styles. When examples were discovered by early Egyptologists, the design was soon copied… 
Neolithic settlements of the Western Desert: Proto-villages of Stone Age Egypt Following his exploration of rock art in the Western Desert in AE 127, Julian Heath continues his occasional series exploring Egypt’s prehistoric past, looking for evidence for the earliest settlements… News
Columns of a 7th-century BC hall uncovered at Buto Finds of religious pottery vessels and fragments of reliefs suggest the hall dates to the Saite Period. 
Tunnel unearthed beneath temple of Taposiris Magna A 1.3 km tunnel has been discovered 13 metres beneath the Ptolemaic temple of Taposiris Magna, west of Alexandria. The 1.3 km long tunnel discovered under the Ptolemaic temple of… 
Golden jewellery found in burial in Amarna The Egyptian-British archaeological mission working in the Northern Cemetery (Tombs of the Nobles) at Amarna has uncovered a burial containing fine pieces of gold jewellery. A gold ring found in… 
Mummies with golden tongues discovered in Quesna The thin gold tongue-plates were placed in the mouth to help the deceased transform into a divine being in the afterlife. 
Funerary structure and Fayum portraits unearthed An Egyptian team excavating at Gerza (ancient Philadelphia) in the Fayum has discovered a large Graeco-Roman funerary building with coloured tile floors, and a number of complete and partial mummy… 
Royal tomb discovered near Valley of the Kings The tomb is thought to date to the Eighteenth Dynasty 
New tombs and golden amulets found in New Damietta The burials contained bodies that were covered with thin gold foils in the shapes of Isis, Bastet, and other deities. Views
Win a copy of ‘Tutankhamun and the Tomb that Changed the World’ by Bob Brier Competitions Do you recognise where in Egypt this photograph was taken? 
A Golden Statuette Objects In each issue of Ancient Egypt magazine, Dr Campbell Price describes a key artefact from Egyptology collections around the world. His choice for AE 135 is from the Metropolitan Museum… 
Exhibitions on ancient Egypt – February listings Museum, What's on Egyptian expeditions MUSÉE ART ET HISTOIRE, BRUSSELSParc du Cinquantenaire 10, 1000 Brussels, Belgiumwww.artandhistory.museum31 March-1 October 2023 Telling the story of 200 years of discoveries in Egypt and the formation of… 
Travels in an antique land: the Temple of Nekhbet-Hathor at Elkab Travel Each issue, AE magazine goes off the beaten track to explore some of Egypt’s lesser known sites, new museums, and newly opened monuments, with tips to help the independent traveller.… 
The Royal Cache at Deir el-Bahri, 1881 The Picture Desk The amazing discovery of more than 50 royal mummies. Reviews
Egypt’s Golden Couple: when Akhenaten and Nefertiti were Gods on Earth Review by Sarah Griffiths This new exploration of Akhenaten and Nefertiti’s unique vision for Egypt and their rise to divine status is presented in an unusual format, with each chapter… Exhibitions on ancient Egypt – February listings Egyptian expeditions MUSÉE ART ET HISTOIRE, BRUSSELSParc du Cinquantenaire 10, 1000 Brussels, Belgiumwww.artandhistory.museum31 March-1 October 2023 Telling the story of 200 years of discoveries in Egypt and the formation of… 
A Grand Spell of Sunshine: The Life and Legacy of Francis Frith Review: Hilary Forrest Many readers will be familiar with the name Francis Frith, which is associated with the world of picture postcards, often of seaside views or famous sights. What… 
Style From The Nile: Egyptomania in Fashion from the 19th Century to the Present Day REVIEW: Cathie Bryan Fashion is a neglected subject in reception studies of ancient Egypt, with the exception of the Egyptianising vogue inspired by the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb (1922). Campagnol,… Travels in an antique land: the Temple of Nekhbet-Hathor at Elkab Each issue, AE magazine goes off the beaten track to explore some of Egypt’s lesser known sites, new museums, and newly opened monuments, with tips to help the independent traveller.… 
Tea on the Terrace: Hotels and Egyptologists’ Social Networks, 1885-1925 REVIEW: Anna Garnett For many of us, it is the human stories behind major archaeological discoveries that first spark our fascination with Egyptology. Who were the people on the excavation… 
From the editor
As with any discipline that has its roots centuries ago, Egyptology has its myths: theories that fitted the facts as they were known at that time, but which have since become untenable in the light of new discoveries. Since the original ideas have been immortalised in textbooks, they become accepted and unchallenged.
In AE 134, for example, Bob Brier presented convincing proof that Tutankhamun was a warrior pharaoh rather than a sickly child, and in this issue Taneash Sidpura presents the results of his PhD research into ‘golden flies’, particularly those found in the grave goods of Queen Ahhotep of the Seventeenth Dynasty. Since flies are persistent insects that continue to pester humans, even when swatted away, it was self-evident that golden flies were awards presented by pharaoh to warriors who had proved their bravery in battle. This meant, of course, that Queen Ahhotep must have been a ‘warrior queen’. The problem with this, as Taneash points out, is that other evidence paints Ahhotep as a peaceful conciliator. Even more convincingly, most of the surviving ‘flies’ (made of various materials, not only gold) have been found associated with women and children rather than men of fighting age. So if not awards for valour, what were they?
From Predynastic proto-villages in the Western Desert, though the Middle Kingdom jewellery of Queen Ahhotep and the ever-popular New Kingdom topic of Akhenaten and Nefertiti, to Graeco-Roman golden mummies, this issue covers the wide sweep of ancient Egyptian history, and even ventures towards the present day with Egyptianising furniture. Something for everyone!
