King Scorpion’s Macehead: Ritual and power at the dawn of Egyptian kingship
Philippe Rosset explores the iconography of this ceremonial weapon, which marks a transitional moment in Egyptian kingship.
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Senusret III: Warrior and innovator
Wolfram Grajetzki continues his series with one of the most important and best known kings of the Twelfth Dynasty.
Win a copy of Brief Histories: Ancient Egypt by Campbell Price, published by Seven Dials
Where is this? If you know, email the Editor peter@ancientegyptmagazine.com before 31 December with your answer, giving your full name, address, and a contact phone number. One lucky reader will have their name selected at random from all the correct…
Meir
Karl Harris continues his ‘Travels in an Antique Land’, discovering the ‘Art of Cusae’ in Middle Kingdom tombs at Meir – accompanied by a local snake charmer.
The Rovigo Egyptian collection
Simone Petacchi describes an important Egyptian collection in Rovigo, Italy, that is not on public display.
Ancient Egypt October listings
DISCOVERING ANCIENT EGYPT After five years as a travelling exhibition, visiting Japan, South Korea, and Australia, the RMO’s exhibition returns to the Netherlands. It explores the life, religion, and culture of the ancient Egyptians through nearly 500 objects, including golden…
The Obelisk and Tomb of Antinous
Barbara Gai explores the history of this important monument and the clues that might lead to the location of Antinous’ tomb.
The dragon roars: Wales and Egyptology
Alan B Lloyd acknowledges the huge contribution to Egyptology made by people born in Wales.
Hesyre the dentist
Roger Forshaw records the life and career of a court official and scribe who was the world’s first recorded dentist.
Votive cat plaques
Campbell Price selects a collection of votive plaques depicting cats from Serabit el-Khadim in the Sinai.
Hilary Wilson on…The next best thing
Hilary Wilson explores the preservation of Egypt’s cultural heritage through replicas – the next best thing to visiting the monuments themselves.
Concerns for Mount Sinai
The Egyptian government’s ‘Great Transfiguration Project’ for the UNESCO World Heritage site of Mount Sinai – the location of the 6th century Monastery of St Catherine – has caused international concern, and calls for the area to be placed on…
Rare Egyptian hat
A rare felt hat from the Roman Period has gone on display for the first time at Bolton Museum, in the north-west of Britain, following conservation work. Dating to c.AD 200, the hat is thought to have belonged to a…
New Canopus Decree stela
A new and complete version of the Ptolemaic Canopus Decree has been found by an Egyptian team working at Tell Far’oun (Tell Nabasha) in Egypt’s Sharqia Governorate. Unlike other surviving versions of this decree, which are trilingual (written in hieroglyphic,…
Purifying the Great Pyramid
A new air-purification system has been installed inside the Great Pyramid of Khufu to stabilise humidity levels within the monument and prevent the erosion of the inner walls. The improved air quality will also provide a more comfortable environment for…
Rare Ptolemaic coin
Another recent find connected to Berenice II has been announced by the Israel Antiquities Authority. A rare gold coin depicting the Ptolemaic queen without her consort (and a cornucopia on the reverse) has been discovered during the excavation of a…
Sunken treasures
The Egyptian Department of Underwater Antiquities has recovered three heavy ancient artefacts from the seabed off the coast at Abu Qir Bay in Alexandria. One of them is a large quartz sphinx bearing the cartouches of Ramesses II. The team…
Copper-smelting workshop
An Egyptian team excavating the Wadi el-Nasab site in south Sinai has discovered a copper-smelting and -casting workshop with administrative buildings at what was one of the most important ancient mining centres. Copper ingots of different sizes and shapes were…
Ancient Egypt news in brief
• The gold bracelet of the Twenty-first Dynasty pharaoh Amenemope was recently stolen from the conservation laboratory of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Arrests were made but, sadly, the bracelet had already been melted down for gold. • An ancient…
Statues of Akhenaten at Karnak
In 1925, two colossal statues of Akhenaten were discovered in an unpromising area outside the eastern enclosure wall of Karnak Temple. Since then, many more have been found.
The Egyptian Book of the Dead
REVIEW BY ANDREW FULTON This volume is part of a series of books of ancient texts that Amber Books are publishing in hardback using traditional Chinese bookbinding methods that were first developed in the Ming Dynasty. The results are impressive…
Contemporary Art and the Display of Ancient Egypt
REVIEW BY HILARY FORREST This thoroughly researched book contains a wealth of material, and covers the frequently discussed question of how Egyptological displays should be planned and designed, both culturally and ethically. The main focus is on the place of…
The Amarna Letters: The Syro-Levantine Correspondence
REVIEW BY MICHAEL TUNNICLIFFE This important work claims to be the first authoritative edition to combine both transliteration and translation of the Amarna Letters since their publication by Norwegian linguist J A Knudtzon in 1915. The 1992 volume by W…
Getting a Job in Old Kingdom Egypt: Rites of Passage to Promotion
REVIEW BY ROGER FORSHAW Michelle Middleman’s new book presents a well-structured and perceptive exploration of how individuals attained administrative positions during Egypt’s early dynastic era. Focusing primarily on tomb biographies from the Sixth Dynasty, Middleman uses these inscriptions as a…
Brief Histories: Ancient Egypt – Everything you wanted to know but forgot to ask
REVIEW BY HILARY WILSON Any author might be daunted by the ambitious subtitle of the ‘Brief Histories’ format, but Campbell Price has risen to the challenge. In little more than 100 smaller-than-A5 text pages, with only three randomly placed photographic…