Cover Story
Amenemhat III: Last of the great Middle Kingdom pharaohs Although there are some statues of Amenemhat III as a young man, others depict him in later years with large ears and what appears to be a careworn expression. AE recounts the life and times of this, the last major… Features
In the shadow of Hathor Patryk Chudzik describes recent archaeological discoveries in the Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahri. 
Harry Burton: The alchemist of light Carmen Ruiz recounts the life and legacy of the visual storyteller who sculpted the history of ancient Egypt with light. 
Treasures of the Pharaohs in Rome Lucy Gordan describes a temporary exhibition Treasures of the Pharaohs, which displays priceless artefacts from ancient Egypt in Rome for the first time. 
Medicine in ancient Egypt… and medieval Wales Rosalie David explores the possible connections between medical practices in ancient Egypt and medieval Wales. 
Hilary Wilson on… A taste of sweetness Hilary Wilson explores the importance of the date palm in ancient Egyptian daily life. News
GEM officially open The long-delayed official opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum finally took place on 1 November, after a decade of announcements and postponements. The lavishly staged opening ceremony featured music and… 
Unique family statue A newly published statue found at Gisr el-Mudir (Saqqara) in 2021 has revealed an unusual family portrait. The 100cm-high limestone figure depicts a nobleman standing in a typical Old Kingdom… 
Fortress of the east A well-preserved military fortress dating to the New Kingdom has been discovered by an Egyptian team at the site of Tell el-Kharouba, near to the coast in Sinai. Constructed close… 
Origins of Karnak A large-scale geoarchaeological study of the Temple of Karnak has just been published, revealing new insights into the foundation of the complex and its relationship with the changing movements of… 
No plague at Amarna A new study published in the American Journal of Archaeology casts doubt on the theory that Akhenaten’s city Akhetaten (Amarna) was abandoned due to plague. The researchers drew on textual,… Views
Ancient Egypt Letters 152 Letters Your opportunity to comment on articles in the magazine or on any Egyptological subject that interests you. Email the Editor peter@ancientegyptmagazine.com with your thoughts. 
The discovery of Tomb U-j The Picture Desk The Predynastic tomb found in 1988 sheds light on the development of the earliest Egyptian state. 
Statuette of Wadjet Objects Campbell Price examines a votive statuette dedicated to the goddess Wadjet. 
Ancient Egypt December listings What's on FROM THE HUDSON TO THE NILE: DOWS DUNHAM AND THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF EGYPT AND SUDAN This exhibition explores Dows Dunham’s pioneering fieldwork in Egypt and Sudan, including excavations at Giza,… 
Win a copy of Ancient Egypt in 50 Discoveries by Stephanie L Boonstra and Campbell Price, published by the Egypt Exploration Society Competitions Where is this? If you know, email the Editor peter@ancientegyptmagazine.com before 28 February with your answer, giving your full name, address, and a contact phone number. One lucky reader’s name… Reviews
Ancient Egypt December listings FROM THE HUDSON TO THE NILE: DOWS DUNHAM AND THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF EGYPT AND SUDAN This exhibition explores Dows Dunham’s pioneering fieldwork in Egypt and Sudan, including excavations at Giza,… 
Delta Reports 1: Research in the cultural history of the Ancient Egyptian Nile Delta REVIEW BY SARAH GRIFFITHS ‘Without the Nile Delta, ancient Egyptian culture could not have emerged’. This bold statement begins the first of a new series of volumes that aims to… 
Christianity and Monasticism in Upper Egypt – Volume 1: Akhmim and Sohag REVIEW BY MICHAEL TUNNICLIFFE This is a paperback edition of a work following the Third International Symposium on Christianity and Monasticism in Upper Egypt. There is a particular focus on… 
Visualizing Egypt: European Travel, Book Publishing, and the Commercialization of the Middle East in the Nineteenth Century REVIEW BY CAMPBELL PRICE This book takes as its subject a relatively unusual theme: books written about Egypt. But it is one that will probably interest Egyptophiles because many of… 
Threads of Contact: Tracing the relationship between Egypt and the Southern Levant through textile tools REVIEW BY HILARY WILSON Spinning and weaving are among the earliest ancient technologies, and implements used in textile production turn up in archaeological excavations worldwide. Introducing this volume, part of… 
Ancient Egypt in 50 Discoveries: Highlights from the first century of the Egypt Exploration Society REVIEW BY SARAH GRIFFITHS This new publication developed from the first Egypt Exploration Society online course, taught in 2020, and includes contributions from 26 international experts. The book presents a… 
From the editor
Although there are some statues of Amenemhat III as a young man, others depict him in later years with large ears and what appears to be a careworn expression. Wolfram Grajetzki continues his series of articles on notable figures from the Middle Kingdom by recounting the life and times of this, the last major king of the Twelfth Dynasty.
Other articles in this edition include a report by Patryk Chudzik on surprising discoveries made by his team under the paving blocks of Hatshepsut’s temple at Deir el-Bahri; a description by Lucy Gordan of a major exhibition in Rome of artefacts loaned by Egyptian museums for the first time; and a proposal by Rosalie David that the medical skills developed in ancient Egypt were communicated via the ancient Romans to the physicians of a small community in medieval Wales. The beautiful photographs of the contents of Tutankhamun’s tomb, taken under extremely difficult conditions by Harry Burton, are an invaluable resource, but the man himself received little recognition for his work, as Carmen Ruiz tells us in her article. This issue also contains the final article in our series ‘Milestones in Egyptology’, to be replaced by a new feature in AE 153.
It is with great sadness that I must record the death this October of Dr Robert Morkot. A graduate of UCL, former university lecturer in archaeology, president of the Friends of the Petrie Museum, and a former board member of the EES, his interest lay particularly in the relationship between ancient Egypt and Kush. His two-part investigation into the order of succession of the pharaohs of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty was published in AE in 2021. He was also the author of two popular books – The Black Pharaohs: Egypt’s Nubian Rulers and, jointly with a number of colleagues, Centuries of Darkness (in which he argued the case for an alternative chronology).
J Peter Phillips, Editor
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