ae134

Ancient Egypt 134 Letters

Your thoughts on issues raised by the magazine, plus what’s coming up in future issues. Email the Editor: peter@ancientegyptmagazine.com with your comments.

Above left The sarcophagus with broken lid belonging to Ptahemwia, Treasurer to Ramesses II. left Painted wall scene in the Tomb of Ptahemwia.

Sarcophagus of Ramesses II’s Treasurer uncovered at Saqqara

Following the discovery of the tomb of Ramesses II’s Treasurer Ptahemwia at Saqqara, the Egyptian team has now uncovered his pink granite sarcophagus in the main burial chamber.

Above The Great Pyramids on the Giza Plateau. New research shows that during the Old Kingdom, a now dried up branch of the Nile allowed the transport of stone blocks to the building site, which today is surrounded by desert.

Nile branch key to construction of Giza pyramids

The study suggests that the existence of a Nile branch during the Old Kingdom allowed the Egyptians to transport heavy stone blocks by water close to where these monuments were built.

Left Excavations at Saqqara at the site where pottery vessels containing cheese were discovered.

Archaeologists find ancient Egyptian cheese

The remains of a white cheese were found in pottery vessels unearthed at Saqqara

Tutankhamun – Pharaoh, Icon, Enigma: Lost for Three Thousand Years, Misunderstood for a Century

by Prof. Joyce Tyldesley.Headline, 2022ISBN 978-1-472-28984-1Hardback, £22. Do we need another book on Tutankhamun? The author herself has already published two Tutankhamun-focused works – the 2012 Tutankhamen’s Curse (reviewed in AE 71) in particular already covers much of the same…

Ancient Egypt Exhibitions – Winter 2022 to Spring 2023

Exhibitions and events on ancient Egypt from around the world.

Daughters of the Nile

Coinciding with the centenary of the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun, a major exhibition Daughters of the Nile: women and society in ancient Egypt opens in Madrid (Spain). Its curator, Nacho Ares, invites us on a journey into the past to learn about the role of women in the world of the ancient pharaohs.

Iron from Tutankhamun’s Tomb

by Katja Broschat et al.AUC, 2022ISBN 978-1-617-97997-2Hardback, £29.95. This is a lavish production from American University in Cairo Press, though at 62 pages long it is a rather slim volume. The book provides, for the first time, a complete account…

Left and below Two scene details from the restored Amun Ra Chapel at the Sety I Temple at Abydos.

Ancient Egypt news in brief

A round-up of some of the latest news from the world of ancient Egypt.

Opposite page Khnumhotep indulges in a fishing expedition where, according to the hieroglyphic caption, he spears thirty fish. A scene in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, based on a wall painting from Tomb 3 at Beni Hasan. above left A drawing of Khnumhotep’s spear fishing scene. above An Old Kingdom painted relief from Rahotep’s tomb at Meidum. In the top left a man sits on the riverbank cleaning and splitting fish. Below, bearers carry a giant Nile perch suspended from a fishing spear. left A net full of fish. A relief from the tomb chapel of Akhethotep, now in the Musée du Louvre.

Hilary Wilson on… fish in ancient Egypt

In this issue HW looks at how this major source of protein was shared among the ancient Egyptian population, and asks, “Who ate all the fish?”

Top The newly discovered Ptolemaic tomb at Akhmim discovered by trainee excavators. middle One of the rooms inside the rock cut Ptolemaic tomb with traces of the original decoration on the ceiling. bottom Detail of one of the remaining painted scenes inside the Ptolemaic tomb.

Ptolemaic tomb discovered at Akhmim

The rock-cut tomb consists of the remains of a mud brick courtyard, with a descending staircase leading to two rooms.

Tutankhamun, King of Egypt: His Life and Afterlife

by Aidan Dodson.AUC, 2022ISBN 978-1-6490-3161-7Hardback, £29.95. Aidan Dodson continues his pharaonic series with a volume on Tutankhamun “offered unapologetically” as an addition to the numerous books released or reprinted in time for the centenary. The book follows the format of…

Above The north wall of KV62 showing Ay performing the ‘opening of the mouth’ ritual on the mummy of Tutankhamun. Nicholas Reeves claims there are traces of Tutankhamun’s cartouches beneath those of Ay, suggesting the original scene was overpainted.

Does a hidden door in Tutankhamun’s tomb lead to Nefertiti?

Nicholas Reeves claims the north wall of KV62 originally depicted Tutankhamun burying Nefertiti and was later overpainted to show Ay burying Tutankhamun.

Left A stela found at the Graeco Roman port of Berenike with an unusual inscription warning against boiling heads in the shrine area.

Shrine containing headless falcons found at Berenike

The discovery dates to the Late Roman Period when the city was occupied by a nomadic people known as the Blemmyes,

The Story of Tutankhamun: An Intimate Life of the Boy Who Became King

by Garry J. Shaw.Yale University Press, 2022ISBN 978-0-300-26743-3Hardback, £16.99. So much has been written about Tutankhamun and his tomb since its discovery that it is an achievement for any writer to find an original angle to illuminate their narrative. Garry…

Tutankhamun and the Tomb that Changed the World

by Bob Brier.Oxford University Press, 2022ISBN 978-0-1976-3505-6Hardback, £21.99. The present volume is a reminder of how writing (rather than just the theories) about Tutankhamun has in some ways changed quite markedly over time – and in some ways stayed the…

Medicine and healing practices in ancient Egypt

Rosalie David and Roger Forshaw present a new perspective on healthcare in ancient Egypt.

Tutankhamun’s canopic coffin

A detailed look at one of four coffinettes which held the king's mummified organs.

Above A Middle Kingdom canopic jar from the Manchester Museum. Scientists have succeeded in extracting human DNA from the contents of canopic jars for the first time.

First ever ancient DNA extracted from canopic jars

The team analysed the contents of 90 jars from eight European museums

A Late Period cartonnage from Lahun

In each issue of Ancient Egypt magazine, Dr Campbell Price describes a key artefact from Egyptology collections around the world. His choice for AE 134 is from the internationally important collection at the Manchester Museum.

Top left Conservators at work on ceiling scenes in Esna Temple. top Detail of a newly restored scene at the Temple of Esna. above Another detail of a newly restored scene at the Temple of Esna. left Gold coins from the cache of Islamic coins discovered behind Esna Temple. below Silver coins from the cache of Islamic coins discovered behind Esna Temple.

New discoveries at Roman Period Temple of Esna

An Egyptian team has discovered a cache containing a number of coins from different historical eras

Opposite page Tutankhamun charges into battle in his chariot in a scene from a chest discovered in his tomb.

Warrior Tutankhamun: fragile pharaoh no more

In this special anniversary issue celebrating a hundred years since the discovery of KV62, we begin with new evidence that Bob Brier believes will change how we view Egypt’s most famous pharaoh.

Opposite page A hoopoe bird in an acacia tree, as depicted in the tomb of Khnumhotep II, painted by Howard Carter. LEFT A map of Middle Egypt showing the area to be covered by the EEF Archaeological Survey of Egypt between el Minya in the north and Mallawi in the south.

In Carter’s footsteps: a legacy in epigraphy

Tutankhamun and Howard Carter: two men whose lives are separated by more than three thousand years, but now and forever intertwined in the annals of history. The discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun in November 1922 would seal the fate of both men and have long-lasting implications for the study and popularity of ancient Egypt. But Carter’s contribution to Egyptology goes much further than his leading role in the world’s most famous archaeological discovery, as Carl Graves reports.

Above The area of the tomb of Tutankhamun during the early part of the excavation of the tomb.

The First Resurrection of Tutankhamun

Continuing our 100th anniversary celebration of the finding of the tomb of Tutankhamun, Aidan Dodson looks at the ‘prehistory’ of the king, and how early scholars pieced together the evidence for this obscure king prior to the discovery of his tomb in 1922.

The Complete Tutankhamun: 100 Years of Discovery

by Nicholas Reeves.Thames & Hudson, 2022ISBN 978-0-5000-5216-7Hardback, £40. Who does not have a copy of the 1990 The Complete Tutankhamun on their bookshelves? This new, expanded, centenary edition follows the same format, but is updated to incorporate the “extraordinary advances”…

Milestones in Egyptology: the discovery and clearance of KV62, the tomb of Tutankhamun

Howard Carter’s long search in the Valley of the Kings is rewarded.