Cover Story
Palmyra, Blemmyes, Diocletian, and Egypt Ancient Egypt Magazine explores an often overlooked period of Egyptian history: the short-lived control of Egypt by Palmyra, and the incursions of the Eastern Desert Blemmyes. Features
Beliefs and narratives: Images from Predynastic Egypt Barbara A Boczar explores the imagery of Egypt’s Naqada periods. 
Rediscovering Egypt – Part 1: The Harrogate Collection in Swansea Many artefacts from a museum in Harrogate are currently on display in the Egypt Centre at Swansea University in Wales. The Centre’s curator Ken Griffin explains how this three-year loan… 
Precise construction of funerary structures at Qubbet el-Hawa (Aswan) Antonio Tomás Mozas Calvache, Jose Luis Pérez, and José Miguel Gómez show how the creation of 3D models of three adjacent tombs highlights the extraordinary precision of Twelfth Dynasty tomb-builders. 
The Cleopatras – Part 4: The last Cleopatras Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones completes his series on the later Ptolemaic queens and assesses their legacy as women of power in the ancient world. 
Hilary Wilson on… Milk It was not just an important food item for the ancient Egyptians: milk had magical properties. 
The meaning of Joseph’s Egyptian name Joseph L Thimes explores a range of different translations of the Egyptian name given to his namesake, the biblical Joseph. News
Wasabi and papyrus A team at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo has just published the results of their research showing that a traditional condiment for Japanese sushi can be used to conserve… 
‘Magical’ Coptic texts A collection of 600 ‘magical’ texts written in Coptic has been published following five years of study by researchers at the University of Würzburg. Papyri Copticae Magicae (published by de… 
Early rheumatoid arthritis One of the world’s earliest cases of rheumatoid arthritis has been found in the skeletal remains of a Nubian woman from the Pan-Grave culture (c.1800 BC) by the Aswan–Kom Ombo… 
Howard Carter painting A rare watercolour by Howard Carter is now on temporary display at the Egypt Centre, Swansea University. The scene from the Chapel of Thutmose I at Deir el-Bahri was painted… 
Painted mastaba tomb at Dahshur An Old Kingdom mastaba tomb with painted decorations has been discovered by a team from the German Archaeological Institute working at Dahshur. Inscriptions name the deceased as Senebnebef, a palace… Views
Ancient Egypt April listings Museum, What's on PHARAOH In association with the British Museum, this exhibition celebrates 3,000 years of ancient Egyptian art and culture through more than 500 individual pieces from the British Museum’s permanent collection,… 
Travels in an antique land: Mud-brick, mud-brick, glorious mud-brick 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.… 
Win a copy of Dendera: Temple of Time by José María Barrera Competitions Where was this photograph taken? If you know, email the Editor (peter@ancientegyptmagazine.com) before 30 June with your answer, giving your full name and address. One lucky reader will have their… 
The treasure of Tanis: A discovery rivalling that of Tutankhamun’s tomb. The Picture Desk The gold mask of Psusennes I, found by Montet in 1940. Situated in the north-eastern part of the Nile Delta, ancient Djanet (Tanis) was the residence and burial place of… 
Dwarf lamp stand Objects Dr Campbell Price describes an unusual lamp stand from the collection of the Petrie Museum in London. Reviews
Ancient Egypt April listings PHARAOH In association with the British Museum, this exhibition celebrates 3,000 years of ancient Egyptian art and culture through more than 500 individual pieces from the British Museum’s permanent collection,… Travels in an antique land: Mud-brick, mud-brick, glorious mud-brick 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.… 
Identity in Persian Egypt: The fate of the Yehudite Community of Elephantine REVIEW BY MICHAEL TUNNICLIFFE During the Twenty-seventh Dynasty (c.525-404 BC), Egypt was part of the sprawling Persian Empire. Material survivals from this time are scarce, and the Persians themselves left… 
Coptic Culture and Community: Daily Lives, Changing Times REVIEW BY MICHAEL TUNNICLIFFE This work comprises 14 essays spanning the late Roman Period to the present day, focusing on the daily life of the Copts, who have always been… 
How Pharaohs Became Media Stars: Ancient Egypt and Popular Culture REVIEW BY SARAH GRIFFITHS This new Archaeopress volume, with its eye-popping cover, is in effect a manifesto for ‘Egypopcult’, an emerging multi-disciplinary project studying ancient Egypt as reflected in contemporary… 
Dendera: Temple of Time REVIEW BY SARAH GRIFFITHS When José María Barrera visited the Temple of Dendera for the first time, he was left breathless by the spectacular celestial ceiling of the pronaos –… 
Personal Religion in Domestic Contexts during the New Kingdom: The Impact of the Amarna Period REVIEW BY ANNA GARNETT The site of Tell el-Amarna presents a unique opportunity to understand aspects of the daily lives of ancient Egyptian people more than 3,000 years ago. The… 
From the editor
At several periods during its long history, ancient Egypt was conquered and ruled by foreign powers. The exploits and achievements of some of these, such as the Kushites and Romans, are well known, but, as our cover shows, Egypt was also once ruled over by Zenobia – Queen of Palmyra. Andrew Fulton tells us about the little-known annexation of Egypt by the Palmyrene Empire in AD 270.
Some 600 years before Zenobia, Egypt was invaded by Alexander the Great. One of his generals became the rst ruler of the Ptolemaic Dynasty – a family that included some powerful ruling women. In the nal article in his series, Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones looks at the last of the Cleopatras to rule before Egypt became a Roman province.
The pyramids of Giza were already ancient monuments when the Romans conquered Egypt. Over the centuries there have been countless theories as to their purpose and about the way in which they were constructed. But it is not simply the extraordinary size of the monuments that has evoked such feelings of awe. When they were surveyed by Western Egyptologists, the accuracy of their alignment to the cardinal points of the compass, and the vast knowledge that the ancient Egyptians had of the movements of celestial bodies became clear. The application of sophisticated scientific techniques by a team from the University of Jaén at Aswan’s Qubbet el-Hawa tombs shows that there are many aspects of the ancient Egyptian civilisation that can still astonish us, and ll us with admiration for the skill of the ancient craftsmen.
We go back to Predynastic Egypt in this issue, too, as Barbara Boczar explores the earliest ancient Egyptian imagery, while Hilary Wilson introduces us to some of the more unexpected uses for milk, Joseph L Thimes discusses the possible translations of the Egyptian name given to the Biblical Joseph, and Roger Forshaw reveals the ‘Tanis Treasures’, which were only eclipsed by the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb.
J Peter Phillips, Editor
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