scholarly journals Hydrocarbon contamination of Egyptian embalming resin: C14 dating effects

Author(s):  
Arthus C. Aufderheide ◽  
Arie Nissenbaum ◽  
Larry Cartmell

Excessively old radiocarbon dates were found on resin specimens from a group of Egyptian mummies archaeologically dated to the Greco- Roman period (30 BC - AD 395). Organic analysis identified the presence of bitumen (asphalt) in the resin. The available evidence for the substances contained in ancient Egyptian resin is reviewed and the impact that «radiocarbon-dead» bitumen can have on14C dating procedures is discussed. Attempts to extract the bitumen component from the resin prior to analysis were not predictably successful.

Author(s):  
Michael E. Pregill

This chapter examines the earliest traditions of interpretation of the Golden Calf narrative, found in Jewish literature of the Greco-Roman period; these early retellings of the narrative are deeply colored by apologetic concerns. Major shifts in interpretation can be charted over the course of a few short centuries during this era due to rapid changes in the cultural and religious landscape. While the Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, is frank regarding the Israelites’ sin of idolatry, the versions of the Golden Calf episode found in Philo, Pseudo-Philo, and Josephus are concerned to minimize the impact of attacks on the Jewish community and its traditions from gentile outsiders, and so represent the story in ways intended to mitigate the impression of Israel’s idolatry. Early rabbinic exegetes, in contrast, are relatively candid about Israel’s sin with the Calf. However, the emergence of the Christian movement, which entailed the revision of numerous biblical stories, including new understandings of the Calf narrative, induced rabbinic exegetes to approach the Calf narrative with a new sense of circumspection and caution in order to counter rival interpretations that were potentially harmful to the reputation and self-conception of the Jewish community.


2014 ◽  
Vol 55 ◽  
pp. 251-256
Author(s):  
Rokia Abd Elshafy Soliman El-Banna ◽  
Azza Mohamed Sarry El-Din ◽  
Fatma Ahmed Eid ◽  
Walaa Yousef Mohamed Ali

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (39) ◽  
pp. 7096-7106 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Aied Nassef ◽  
Harby E. Ahmed ◽  
M. A. Harith

An archeological Egyptian cartonnage dating back to the Greco-Roman period around the third century BC was elementally analyzed via the sample-friendly technique, Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS).


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 254-284
Author(s):  
Panagiota Sarischouli

Abstract The present paper focuses on healing rituals from Greco-Roman Egypt, where medicine and religion were inextricably linked to each other and further connected to the art of magic. In Pharaonic Egypt, healing magic was especially attributed to the priests who served a fearsome goddess named Sekhmet; although Sekhmet was associated with war and retribution, she was also believed to be able to avert plague and cure disease. It then comes as no surprise that the majority of healing spells or other types of iatromagical papyri dating from the Roman period are written in Demotic, following a long tradition of ancient Egyptian curative magic. The extant healing rituals written in Greek also show substantial Egyptian influence in both methodological structure and motifs, thus confirming the widely accepted assumption that many features of Greco-Egyptian magic were actually inherited from their ancient antecedents. What is particularly interesting about these texts is that, in many cases, they contain magical rites combined with basic elements of real medical treatment. Obviously, magic was not simply expected to serve as a substitute for medical cure, but was rather seen as a complementary treatment in order to balance the effect of fear, on the one hand, and the flame of hope, on the other.


1998 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
John A Atkinson ◽  
Camilla Dickson ◽  
Jane Downes ◽  
Paul Robins ◽  
David Sanderson

Summary Two small burnt mounds were excavated as part of the programme to mitigate the impact of motorway construction in the Crawford area. The excavations followed a research strategy designed to address questions of date and function. This paper surveys the various competing theories about burnt mounds and how the archaeological evidence was evaluated against those theories. Both sites produced radiocarbon dates from the Bronze Age and evidence to suggest that they were cooking places. In addition, a short account is presented of two further burnt mounds discovered during the construction of the motorway in Annandale.


Author(s):  
William Loader

After a brief overview of the social context and role of marriage and sexuality in Jewish and Greco-Roman cultures, the chapter traces the impact of the Genesis creation narratives, positively and negatively, on how marriage and sexuality were seen both in the present and in depictions of hope for the future. Discussion of pre-marital sex, incest, intermarriage, polygyny, divorce, adultery, and passions follows. It then turns to Jesus’ reported response to divorce, arguing that the prohibition sayings should be read as assuming that sexual intercourse both effects permanent union and severs previous unions, thus making divorce after adultery mandatory, the common understanding and legal requirement in both Jewish and Greco-Roman society of the time. It concludes by noting both the positive appreciation of sex and marriage, grounded in belief that they are God’s creation, and the many dire warnings against sexual wrongdoing, including adulterous attitudes and uncontrolled passions.


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