Symposium 2023 - Abstracts of papers
The 2023 SSEA Symposium weekend was held from Friday, November 3rd 2023 to Sunday, November 5th 2023. Abstracts of papers to be presented at the 2023 Annual Symposium/Colloquium follow, in order of presentation. You can also download a booklet of the Agenda, Speaker biographies for the Symposium and abstracts of the Colloquium papers here.
SCHOLARS’ COLLOQUIUM ABSTRACTS, 2023
'More esteemed than any foreign ruler': Iny's biography once again
Michele Marcolin, Waseda University, Japan
The study of the Pharaonic civilization includes in its sphere of attention quite naturally areas and cultures that are not necessarily placed in close proximity with the country's borders, such as, in the north-eastern direction, Sinai, Palestine, and Syria. In recent times, however, new research developments have prompted a spatial and chronological stretching of these horizons, challenging comfort zones and assumptions that may have consolidated in the past more through academic traditions and divisions between disciplines than objectively verifiable evidence.
One of those catalysts is undoubtedly the biographic inscription of the seal bearer of the god Iny, the first parts of which were disclosed to the public at the 2002 Scholars' Colloquium. The inscription is indeed the first and only written account of the Old Kingdom to chronicle with fair detail the Egyptian frequentations of the Levantine coasts during the 6th dynasty. The toponyms and details it provided, particularly with its subsequent additions, have shed new light not only on the relations between Egypt, Byblos, and the Syro-Palestinian coasts but have also given new impulse to the interpretation of pre-existing data pertaining to those north-eastern neighbors, with significant implications for the study of each horizon, last but not least the identification of the toponym of Egypt in the royal archives of Ebla.
A recently published fragment of this biography adds further detail to this picture, giving more glimpses into the Egyptian foreign policy of the period and the dynamics of the elite involved with it. The fragment is here briefly discussed.
“Hail to You, Khonsu-in-Thebes-Neferhotep, the Noble Child who Came Forth from the Lotus!” A Demotic Magical Spell with a Lunar Child Deity?
Anett Rózsa, Ruprecht-Karl University of Heidelberg
In most publications on Khonsu it is stated that this deity is the ancient Egyptian God of the Moon, so, the (exclusive) lunar connotation of this god is usually given as an unshakable fact.
This presentation will analyze a magical spell from one of the most famous bi- or trilingual magical papyrus (“PDM xiv”) from Thebes, dated to the late 2nd century AD, namely the “The Vessel Inquiry of Khonsu” (PDM xiv 239–295, recto col. IX.1–X.22), a very complex divination text written in Demotic. The focus will be on the first half of this source, on lines 1–19, that includes a hymn invoking Khonsu (the Child) with his epithets describing him as a luni-solar deity (from the lotus).
Although this spell is very well-known, frequently cited and was published countless times in several modern languages, the detailed interpretation of its interesting aspects and their contexts has not been done yet. The main purpose of the presentation on the one hand is to elaborate these and thereby to show the complexity of this “lunar” deity.
On the other hand, it would like to present how important it would be for scholars to revise aspects and motifs, while editing ancient texts and translating them, that were often considered as basic facts not just in Egyptology but also in its neighboring disciplines. This revision of Egyptian elements is especially needed in the Late and Graeco-Roman Periods, of which many summary studies on different topics are lacking, and in which these “basic facts” are usually passed over and over from one to another without any scepsis or notes in publications on them.
“Butchering Queens and Ailing Princesses: Saite Royal Women”
Marta Kaczanowicz, University of Warsaw
In the discussions on the role of royal women in the Late Period the recurring protagonists are the God’s Wives of Amun – priestesses of the 25th and 26th dynasties who attained an unprecedented position, in many aspects equal to that of kings. However, little attention has been paid to other female members of the royal family of that time so far.
It is generally assumed that in the Late Period the position of royal wives, mothers, and daughters other than the God’s Wives largely lost its previous significance, with these women no longer represented in temples and statuary. The apparent scarcity of evidence discouraged scholars from taking an interest in the Egyptian queenship in the period between the beginning of the Kushite rule and the arrival of Alexander the Great, which resulted in very limited research on this subject. However, a more detailed investigation reveals that the image of an almost complete absence of sources is misleading. The analysis of evidence related to these women (including an intact tomb of one of the Saite queens) makes it possible to formulate more nuanced statements regarding the character of the Egyptian queenship in the discussed epoch.
This presentation aims to introduce the preliminary results of the research on the Saite royal women who did not bear the title of the God’s Wife of Amun. The study is conducted within the framework of the author’s investigation of the Egyptian queenship in the Late Period (ca. 747–332 BCE).
Resurrection in Akhmim: Exploring El-Salamuni Necropolis
Wahid Omran, Fayoum University
The El-Salamni Mountain is the main necropolis of Akhmim during the Graeco-Roman period. It lies about 6 km east of the modern Akhmim. The Mountain is divided into eight registers run from bottom to top as A, B, C, D, E, F, G and H. is still relatively intact and largely archaeologically unexplored. Many Graeco-Roman tombs are documented in the tombs, it shows the mixture of the Egyptian, Hellenistic, and Roman funerary art.
The tombs are still unexplored and undocumented. The walls of the tombs are mostly divided into two registers; the upper one shows the Egyptian afterlife scenes, while the lower one shows the Classical orthostates (opus sectile) veins. Both the mummification and the inhumation burial practices are also attested in the tombs.
The paper examines the great heritage significance of the necropolis, its topography, the history of its investigation, as well as the special characteristics of the funerary art and burial customs in the necropolis. The tombs show the greatest number of astronomical zodiacs on its ceilings in the Egyptian necropoleis. Unfortunately, the tombs suffer from many human and environmental threats; therefore, the project aims to conduct an urgent safeguarding, first aid and virtual documentation of this tomb.
“(…) they came north this year and bought 3 diplae of wine (…)”.
Mud stoppers and the wine trade in Late Antique Western Thebes
Aleksandra Pawlikowska-Gwiazda (University of Warsaw, The National Museum in Warsaw)
The Monastery of St Phoibammon in Western Thebes was a prominent coenobitic community, founded by Abraham, the bishop of Hermonthis, during the late 6th century. Situated on the Upper Terrace of the Temple of Hatshepsut in Deir el-Bahari, it held significant historical and cultural value. Recent excavations conducted by the Polish-Egyptian Archaeological expedition have unearthed a remarkable collection of mud stoppers, which once sealed amphoras AE 7.
Despite their previous dismissal due to unattractive appearance and fragility, these Late Antique mud stoppers provide invaluable insights into the economic activities of local monastic communities. This paper presents the results of an extensive study on the mud stopper assemblage from the Monastery of St Phoibammon, shedding light on the wine trade – a vital aspect of the community's commerce.
The significance of wine in monastic life should not be overstated, as it served both liturgical and healing purposes among the monks. The demand for this commodity was substantial, creating a thriving trade network that extended beyond Theban necropolis. By analysing the seal impressions visible on the stoppers and combining this data with other sources like papyri and ostraka, we may reconstruct the connections between buyers and sellers. Through this interdisciplinary approach, this paper will provide a comprehensive view of the economic dynamics of the Monastery of St Phoibammon and its broader engagement in commercial activities during Late Antiquity.
Between the lines: the case study of tomb n. 39 in the Valley of the Queens examined in the light of unpublished archival documents
Dr. Emanuele Casini, Independent researcher
Often in unpublished archival documents it is possible to find new data that can modify the current state of knowledge concerning past discoveries. This contribution aims to present the re-contextualization of a number of discoveries from the Valley of the Queens (Luxor, West Bank) through the examination of unpublished archaeological reports and dossiers.
From 1903 to 1905 the Valley of the Queens was investigated by the Italian Archaeological Mission (M.A.I.) directed by Ernesto Schiaparelli. However, the Italian excavation works were de facto conducted by Schiaparelli’s right-hand man Francesco Ballerini, who had the responsibility to supervise the fieldwork in the Valley and to record the expedition’s discoveries. Ballerini recorded in his excavation notes dozens of tombs – many of which were explored for the very first time – and hundreds of findings, both artifacts and human remains. Nevertheless, only a select number of tombs and findings were published [E. Schiaparelli (1924), Esplorazione della Valle delle Regine; F. Ballerini (1903), Notizia sommaria degli scavi della Missione Archeologica Italiana in Egitto - anno 1903].
Of particular interest is the case study of tomb QV 39 (QV = Queens’ Valley). This tomb is not explicitly mentioned within the Italian publications, nevertheless the thorough examination of the unpublished archival documents ascertained that this tomb was explored by the M.A.I. in 1904. The intriguing aspect concerning QV 39 is that a plethora of artifacts were uncovered from that tomb, which were subsequently lost track of. In fact, the inventory list of the Museo Egizio of Turin (Giornale d’Entrata) does not assign any artifact to this tomb. Despite this, through the cross-examination of unpublished documents, published data, and museum artifacts it was possible to identify, with a high degree of certainty, a number of artifacts and human remains from this tomb that were wrongly assigned to other find-spots within the Valley of the Queens.
“Turn around, place yourself on the back, and be blind” or how the agency of Heka effects the victory over evil creatures
Christina Geisen, Cambridge University
The importance and influence of Heka for the creation and functioning of the world is well known. The concept is possibly most tangible for the modern scholar when it comes to magical and magico-medical spells. Here, Heka is essential for effecting the positive transformation of a dangerous situation, be it an illness that needs to be cured or a lethal animal that needs to be kept at bay. Vital for Heka’s effectiveness is the interplay of the magical spell’s recitation, the agency of tangible objects used during the rite, and the sacred space where it is performed.
This presentation introduces a so far unpublished stela of Horus on the crocodiles housed in the University of Cambridge’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. The artefact is characterized by its iconographic and textual decoration which is distinctive for the object group. The magical spells written on the back, sides, and bottom of the piece are especially interesting since they feature variations and additions to the spells commonly found on these stelae, thus providing new information on the text group. The focus of the presentation lies on the agency of the object itself. The interplay of its iconography, inscriptions, and materiality creates an environment in which Heka facilitates a protective shield for the owner. By trying to see the bigger picture through the application of different approaches in the study of an artefact, such as agency, materiality, and the ontological interpretation of images chosen in this discussion, we can bring ourselves closer to understanding how the ancient Egyptians experienced their environment and tried to influence it - in this specific case the dangers inherent in the Nile and other watery bodies and the measurements taken to overcome them.
“Catch the thief!” Police iconography in private tombs from the Old to the New Kingdom
Matthieu Hagenmüller, The Sorbonne
The nature and function of Ancient Egyptian police have been the subjects of many debates among scholars, who, from Guillemette Andreu to Bernadette Mehu, have tried to understand who preserved the order in Egyptian cities and countryside. Through an overall examination of the evidence one can suggest that those we call policemen could as well be delegates from the Crown defending the law against criminals as private agents working for powerful individuals. These differences of status have consequences on their behaviour, especially as regards what they had to protect (private properties, royal goods, religious ethics, etc.). Private tombs give us an interesting view on how policemen were perceived by high-ranking tomb owners and what their social interactions were with workers and other individuals. The most numerous corpus is made of the private agents of the owner who led the inspection of workers and occasionally beat the defaulters. From the Old Kingdom date two scenes representing the arrestation of a thief on a market, then police officers putting to an end to a fight in the 11th dynasty, and finally a police expedition against thieves in Akhenaten’s capital. We wish to analyze these images by asking them several questions. Firstly, what was the status of the individuals engaged in these actions? Then, how were they supposed to act and how much violence was allowed? What was the purpose of such actions and how can we understand them in the light of broader social structures in Ancient Egypt? Finally, why were these scenes represented on tombs’ walls and what does it tell us about their perception?
On the Source of the ΝΕῖΛΟΣ
Alessandro Piccolo, Sapienza-Università di Roma
ON THE SOURCE OF THE ΝΕῖΛΟΣ In this paper I will argue that the Greek word Νεῖλος, ‘Nile’, was derived from */'neħl-/, the latter being a Canaanite term that denoted a water stream, a river valley, a trench/tunnel, a seasonal َو ِادي) riverbed ), and/or the Nile itself, like in Biblical/Classical Hebrew (ל ַח ַ֫נ(. This new insight would prove useful for shedding some light on the Graeco-Egyptian interactions during the Dark Age of Greece, i.e. from the early Iron Age (12th century BCE) down through the early Archaic Period (8th century BCE), a stage corresponding to the Third Intermediate Period of ancient Egypt. From the early Iron Age onwards, Phoenicia became a mercantile power in the Mediterranean. Accordingly, it is generally assumed that, from the 12th century BCE onwards, Phoenicia became a bridge between Greece and Egypt. Notably, we have evidence that the Phoenicians were apt to approach the Aegean shore to export original and imitative Egyptian objects, the so-called Aegyptiaca. In addition to these objects, the Phoenicians surely brought even Egyptian ideas, beliefs, and words to Greece. The Canaanite etymology of Νεῖλος is a powerful litmus test for grasping this “triangular dynamic”.
“The eastern door of heaven is open to you. Nut has embraced you. She whose hair is long, and whose breasts hang down”: The Embracing Arms and the Heaven’s Doors
Mennah Aly, Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
In the ancient Egyptian religious texts since the Old Kingdom, the sun god and the deceased are mentioned to have been embraced by divinities to guarantee their celestial ascension and rebirth after death. This idea appears in the concluding tableaux of the New Kingdom Netherworld Books which portray the solar deity elevated from the netherworld into the morning sky by pair of arms, while in tomb scenes and on the Third Intermediate Period funerary papyri and coffins, the sun disk is shown embraced by two pair of arms at its rising and setting.
Despite being attributed to deities like Nut, Shu, Nun and Tatenen; in most of the attestations, the identity of the owner of the embracing arms is kept anonymous. In fact, the depiction of the arms embracing the solar deity are associated with his Perpetuum Mobile across the eastern and the western horizons of the sky, and thus also related to his passage through the Doors of Heaven that gives access to these two horizons. Given to their protective role and secretive nature, the Doors of Heaven were almost concealed rather than appearing as mere portals, while their existence was denoted to in various themes, among which is the embracing arms.
The research shows how the arms embracing the solar deity in the solar rising and setting scenes are not only associated with the opening of the Doors of Heaven, but also substitute them in their role of separating between the different realms of the universe. Furthermore, the paper investigates the identity of the owners of these embracing arms, either deities or gatekeepers, and how through embracing the sun god, they evoke the primeval moment of creation that entails his emergence from the Unified Darkness; a course repeated with every solar rising.
Blindness in the Ebers Papyrus: A New Interpretation of the Term ŝpt.
Silvia Nigrelli, Brown University
The section on eye remedies in the Ebers papyrus contains several treatments for ŝpt, a medical condition traditionally translated as ‘blindness’. However, some of these treatments were deemed as ‘really excellent’ by the Egyptian doctors and would work immediately. The translation of ŝpt as blindness is thus not feasible, given the potential for instant healing and impermanence of this ailment.
In this paper I examine the various contexts of ŝp, the base verb from which ŝpt has been derived, including literary compositions, tomb inscriptions, and religious texts. I also consider the descriptions of the symptoms and the efficacy of individual ingredients in treating ŝpt in order to ascertain its actual meaning. I will show that the translations of ŝp as ‘be blind’ and ŝpt as ‘blindness’ are incorrect, while suggesting new readings of these words. This will help us not only to better comprehend the treatments for this condition in the Ebers papyrus, which were in fact practical, efficient, and quick working, but also to refine our reading and comprehension of the literary passages where ŝp occurs. We will thus be able to better appreciate the ancient Egyptians’ understanding of visual impairment and its expression in the written language.
Lower Nubia from Chiefdom to State: The Development of A-Horizon Royalty and its Relations with Early Egypt Through the Analysis of the Cemeteries of Sayala and Qustul
Ilaria Sieli, Università degli Studi di Milano
This contribution is extrapolated from wider research, focused on the A-Horizon civilisation in Lower Nubia and its relations with Proto-Dynastic Egypt, through the analysis of two main Nubian necropolises: cemetery 137 of Sayala (and the associated Cemetery 142 of Naga Wadi) and cemetery L of Qustul, respectively belonging to Classical and Terminal A-Horizon, both pertaining to the main centre of a sub-regional or cantonal political entity. Lower Nubia is an interface area between two different cultures, which followed diverse paths during the crucial ages of the State formation, subjected to creolisation and hybridization phenomena. Excavations in the region have mostly been conceived in the framework of salvage archaeology, due to the threat of flooding Lower Nubia underwent since the Aswan Dam was built in 1902; despite the attempts to develop a scientific method to approach the excavations while struggling with water rising, which however led to quantum increases in our knowledge of cultural history of the whole area and its cultural facies, still enormous lacunae remain: the current state of research suffers from a general lack of data and the impossibility to reprise the excavations in most sites, which are now submerged by Lake Nasser – like Sayala and Qustul.
This contribution approaches the topic from two main standpoints: first, an overall introduction on A-Horizon culture and its relations with Proto-Dynastic Egypt from the socio-economic point of view will be highlighted. Then, the analysis of both Sayala and Qustul’s cemeteries will be outlined, displaying both similarities and differences in the development of funerary customs as a reflection of social dynamics.
The following section will retrace the commercial and political interactions between the two Nubian chiefdoms and the rising Egyptian élite, and its consequences on both social and ideological aspects. The conclusions will analyse the development of chiefdoms in Lower Nubia and their attempts to reach a status of kingship, with the purpose to explain why Lower Nubia cantonal proto-states never fully developed as mature and formed statal entities like the Egyptian Crown, by providing hypothesis on a revision of the A-Horizon cultural context.
Of Ibises and Baboons: the acquisition and breeding of sacred animals at North Saqqara
Paul T. Nicholson and Henry Bishop-Wright, Cardiff University, Wales
The Sacred Animal Necropolis at North Saqqara occupies a central place in studies of Late Period – early Roman animal cults in Egypt. It is known for its vast subterranean catacombs containing mummified cows, ibises, falcons, baboons, dogs and cats, each of which was sacred to its respective deity. The volume of mummified remains, particularly ibises which were deposited in their thousands and baboons which were not native to Egypt, invites the question of how such creatures were acquired by the local priesthoods.
Synthesising both archaeological and historical evidence, this paper offers an overview of how ibises and baboons may have arrived at North Saqqara for eventual mummification. It explores the suggestion that there was an active effort to breed ibises in the immediate area, possibly involving the incubation of eggs in temple structures. Limited epigraphic evidence also indicates that baboons may have been bred at Memphis, but most would seem to have been imported from southern lands via the Nile or the Red Sea. The evidence for this southern trade, particularly from the contemporary kingdoms of Kush (present-day Sudan) and proto-Aksum (present-day Ethiopia and Eritrea) is also reviewed.
Looking for Mutemwia (i)
Deborah Sweeney, Tel Aviv University
Mutemwia (i) was the wife of the scribe Ramose (i), the scribe of the royal tomb-builders’ village Deir el-Medîna between years 5 and 39 of Ramesses II. Ramose was one of the richest and most successful officials in the community’s history – he supervised the building of Ramesses’ own tomb, the massive tomb KV 5 of his sons, and several tombs in the Valley of the Queens, including the beautiful tomb of Nefertari, and built three tombs at Deir el-Medîna for himself and his dependants.
Ramose’s life is very well-documented, but Mutemwia is a more shadowy figure; she is included on two votive stelae with him, in their family tombs and the tombs of a couple of friends and relatives, and in a few other inscriptions. No documents or sources which she generated in her own right have survived, we do not know when she was born or died, and her body has not been identified. Her situation is fairly typical of the women of Deir el-Medîna, who are not mentioned in the administrative records of the tomb-building process, appeared less often in legal and business texts from the village, and whose husbands and brothers occupied more important places in tombs and on stelae.
What can be known of Mutemwia, and of her lived experience? What could it have been like to be married to a local leader so rich and so successful - but whose personal life was overshadowed by his inability to beget children?
This lecture will attempt to reconstruct Mutemwia’s life, using genealogical material from Deir el-Medîna, experimental archaeology from other ancient Egyptian sites, and ethnological parallels. Looking at Mutemwia’s life via the events which took place during her lifetime, and the people with whom she interacted, will help us to understand her life better.
The Widow’s Lament: Mourning Women in Ancient Egyptian Funerary Rituals
Ariadne Argyros, Durham University
Well-attested since the Old Kingdom period, ancient Egyptian funerary rituals were performed on the body and soul of the dead to open the way for a second, eternal life in the hereafter. Previous scholarship indicates that these rites contained a codified structure of roughly consistent verbal and gesticulatory behaviours that were expressed through stylized and repetitive performance. Supporting evidence for this argument is embodied by mourning women, a pair or group of lamenters who executed their roles for the dead perfectly to ensure the ritual’s success. Their typical violent, chaotic gestures and wailing laments served both protective and regenerative functions that granted these women enormous power to assist in the transition of the dead into a form of being that allowed them to endure for eternity.
Past scholars have determined the most frequent gestures of raising the hands in front of the face, torn clothes, and falling to the ground in visceral anguish. However, certain iconographic gestures such as the baring of their breasts or scratching their cheeks have been reduced to inconsequential by-products of grief or sanctioned depravity. My initial research suggests that these acts subtly exemplified women’s dominant role in mourning. The supposed “impurity” of nudity and blood actually may have served to visually draw attention to the fertile value of the female body as a way to underscore their revitalizing function within this liminal space. By harnessing and channelling their actions and emotions correctly, these mourners helped maintain world order and imbued a sense of hope and security into what would otherwise have been a wholly dangerous and sorrowful affair. Their actions ensured that evil could be overcome and the deceased, now revivified, was properly equipped to journey into the afterlife as an ꜣḫ, a ‘blessed one’.
Beyond Grave Concubines: Redefining the Narrative band Unraveling the Complex Symbolism of 'Isis-Aphrodite' Terracotta Figures in Greco-Roman Egypt
Shelby Navone, Durham University
This research expands the biographies of nude ‘Isis-Aphrodite’ terracotta figurines from Greco-Roman Egypt through a meticulous examination of 19 figurines, considering their iconography, archaeological context, and historical records. Reassessing traditional perspectives, the study proposes a comprehensive interpretation highlighting their connections with the Ptolemies, Dionysus, Aphrodite, and ancient Egyptian fertility rites within funerary contexts. Drawing upon diverse theoretical frameworks, museum catalogues, and site reports, the research employs interdisciplinary approaches to explore ancient embodiment, representation, and the interplay of cultural traditions. By unraveling the intricate details and cultural context of these figurines, it sheds light on ancient Egyptian religious beliefs surrounding the goddess Isis and offers insights into multi-cultural Ancient Egypt. By employing quantitative analyses from the onset, a clearer understanding emerges regarding the potential intended uses of these figurines. This research is grounded in a timely discussion surrounding our understanding of ancient bodies, gender dynamics, and the need to reexamine historical narratives.
Constructing the Cosmos: Developing the Iconography of Astronomy in the Predynastic Period
Elizabeth Learning, University of Aukland, New Zealand
While multiple theories of state formation exist within Egyptology, universally acknowledged among them is the fact that the development of a cohesive state requires the concurrent development of an iconographic toolkit. Incorporating elements such as the narrative of kingship, the cosmology of elites, and the conventions of representation, this iconography formed the groundwork for the visual representation of concepts and ideas throughout ancient Egyptian history.
This presentation considers three predynastic artefacts and their role in shaping the iconography of astronomy in ancient Egypt: the Gerzeh meteoric iron beads, the Abu Zaidan ritual knife (Brooklyn Museum 09.889.118), and the ivory hair comb decorated with rows of wild animals (MET 30.8.224). Although the earliest explicit narrative reference to a meteorite does not occur until the Middle Kingdom, and the term biA n pt (“iron of the sky”) does not appear until the late Eighteenth Dynasty, the earliest example of the material being used comes from the Naqada II Gerzeh cemetery. Likewise, though astronomical knowledge would not be communicated in a codified form until the Pyramid Texts of the Old Kingdom, stars were already appearing in a recognisable form in the comb and ritual knife of Naqada III. Furthermore, both of these objects portray stars in their recognisable 5-pointed form.
As such, these three examples of Predynastic iconographic development represent the early formalisations of astronomical artistic convention in ancient Egypt. They show that interactions with celestial objects – both tangibly through meteorites and artistically through stars – were integrating into the iconographic toolkit of ancient Egypt. Ultimately, this presentation concludes that the groundwork for later artistic and literary conventions of ancient Egyptian astronomy was being established in the Predynastic Period, and that objects such as those discussed are evidence of a rich astronomical tradition.
Frontality and dance in New Kingdom art
Miriam Bueno Guardia, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED) (Spain).
Frontality in Egyptian art is presented as an exception. When this frontal perspective appears in dance and music scenes, it has been traditionally understood as a way of expression of the movement of the figures. However, after an extensive study of New Kingdom dance scenes, we can see that it is, as in the rest of artistic themes, something exceptional: only 2.54% of the scenes include a figure with a face represented frontally. Furthermore, if we analyse these figures, we can discard the idea of transmission of dynamism because of their poses.
The three scenes found and analysed in this paper belong to the decoration of private Theban tombs dating from between the reigns of Amenhotep II and Amenhotep III, but they could also have other common characteristics that will be analysed here.
On the one hand, I will analyse the dance scenes that include frontal representations at an iconographic level and in the context of the decoration of the tomb. On the other hand, I will extract their common characteristics, and I will explain the possible role of this innovative artistic resource in New Kingdom Egyptian art, linked more to the message and symbolism that these scenes want to convey than to the idea of movement.
An Egyptian House in a Canaanite City: Building 1500 at Beth-Shean in Light of New Kingdom Egyptian Cultural Identity
Krystal V. L. Pierce, Brigham Young University
The Iron Age IA Building 1500 at Beth-Shean in Canaan has been given various domestic, political, and martial labels, including a patrician house, ceremonial palace, administrative building, and troop headquarters. Based on hieroglyphic inscriptions discovered at Beth-Shean, it has been assumed that the structure was the personal home of the Egyptian bureaucrat and military officer Ramses-user-khepesh, whose name appears on several stone architectural elements at the site, although none were actually discovered inside Building 1500. Even though there are several different functions assigned to this building, many agree with the classification of certain architectural aspects and construction techniques as Egyptian or Egyptian-style, including the layout, walls, door jambs, and columns. On the other hand, some features, like the entrance, foundations, and stories, are stated to be non-Egyptian in nature. These designations are based almost entirely on architectural features, with no examination or recognition of the objects discovered inside, and little discussion of actual comparanda in contemporary Egypt.
This paper will analyze the architectural features, construction techniques, and objects discovered in Building 1500 and will compare and contrast them with Egyptian domestic architecture of the New Kingdom in light of Egyptian dogma and praxis regarding residences. Atheoretical framework based on cultural identity will be used to analyze the context and employment of spatiality and materiality in the structure, which demonstrates the social relationships that actively create and maintain cultural identity. This includes an examination of architectural facets like spatial-divisioning, accessibility, and functionality, but also an analysis of rooms, including shape/size, walls/floors, thresholds, furnishings, and objects discovered inside, as well as proposed proprietors of the space according to gender, age, socio-economic status, and occupation. This investigation into the cultural patterning of spatiality, materiality, and identity will establish how a New Kingdom Egyptian would have functioned as a resident of Building 1500, and how similarities or variations between the structure and houses in the Egyptian homeland would have determined or affected life abroad in Canaan.
Up for grabs? The Levant between Egypt and Babylonia at the fall of Assyria (630–567 BCE)
Jinyan Wang, University of Toronto
Along with the fall of the Neo-Assyrian empire at the end of the seventh century BCE, its provincial system in the Levant was dissolved. Decades later, the Levant was under the control of the Babylonians and the Neo-Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar II, made two attempts to invade Egypt, in 601 and 567 BCE.
Recent studies of this transition from Assyrian to Babylonian dominion in the Levant have recognized the persistent and impactful effort by Egypt to counter the advance of the Babylonians. Following these studies, this presentation understands this transition as a dynamic power struggle, which involved three parties: the hegemonic powers of Egypt and Babylonia and the local elites. Combining contemporary sources from Egypt, Babylonia, and the Hebrew Bible, as well as historiography from the Greek and Roman periods, this presentation provides a comprehensive and balanced picture of Nebuchadnezzar’s conquest of the Levant.