Excavations in Western Thebes, 2021

In 2021, working from the outer wall of Medinet Habu north about 100 meters, west of the road that leads to the Valley of the Queens, and east to the temples of Thutmose III, Ramesses IV and Amunhotep Son of Hapu, the Egyptian Expedition discovered three districts of a city with well-preserved architecture. The borders of the districts have serpentine walls. The artifacts from the main district indicated the manufacture of faience and stone jewelry industry, textiles, and leatherwork. The second shows grinding of grain, baking, and processing meat. Sealings and jar labels show that the name of the city was THn Itn, “The Dazzling Aten” and so it was part of the support city for Malkata and perhaps Amunhotep’s memorial temple. A cemetery dated to Dynasties 25–27 (yet to be fully investigated), was found to the west of the city.

Late Middle Kingdom Temple Bakery at South Abydos

Recent excavations have exposed the original bakery belonging to the mortuary temple of Senwosret III at South Abydos. Initially founded as a six-chambered building, the bakery was expanded in several phases to become a larger complex that housed a series of chambers dedicated primarily to large-volume hearth baking. Associated ceramics show that baking practices involved parallel use of rough-ware trays (aprt) and cylindrical bread molds (bDA). The bakery was linked by a walkway system with adjacent buildings also involved in the production and supply of offerings to the temple. One of the neighboring buildings appears to have been a companion brewery that was removed and replaced during a phase of alteration to the production area. The bakery and related structures are components of a larger shena or production zone that once extended nearly 300 meters along the edge of the Nile floodplain between the temple and town at the site of WAH-swt-¢akAwra-mAa-xrw-m-AbDw. Evidence from the bakery and neighboring structures shows that the layout of the shena was an extension of the urban plan of the town of Wah-Sut. Flanked by the main institutional buildings, the site was spatially organized around this multi-activity production zone which formed the site’s economic and industrial nucleus.

“Late Antique” Mining Community in the North Kharga Oasis (Egypt)

The North Kharga Oasis Darb Ain Amur Survey (NKODAAS) has been exploring the extreme northern area and western extension of Kharga Oasis in order to locate and document hitherto undiscovered and unrecorded archaeological sites and material. The archaeological sites identified during the course of the survey are varied, including rock art, routes, mines, quarries, water dumps, wells, shelters, hamlets, and settlements. The site presented here is a Roman/“Late Antique” complex, including a church and several related areas of settlement and industrial activity devoted to alum mining and sandstone quarrying, that played a role in the history of the economy and landscape of Kharga Oasis.

Une paratextualité émergente dans les tombes privées

In this paper, I investigate the speech captions (the so-called ‘Reden und Rufe’) in the private tombs from the Old Kingdom to the Late Period. I aim to show some of the ways used by the Egyptian scribes and/or artists to formally distinguish these speeches from other captions and inscriptions displayed in private tombs. After presenting the text- image interrelation and the most common speech caption layouts, I turn my attention to the form(s) of these captions and trace back the appearance of discursive marks in Old Kingdom mastaba as first evidence of paratextuality. I then offer a diachronic overview of the other paratextual means used to categorize a caption as a speech or a song: Dd-formulas, the parenthetic in indicating a direct quotation as well as the expression xn n wSb and xn n nhm.

Review of The Many Histories of Naqada: Archaeology and Heritage in an Upper Egyptian Region

Alice Stevenson & Joris van Wetering (eds.), The Many Histories of Naqada: Archaeology and Heritage in an Upper Egyptian Region. London: Golden House Publications, 2020. ISBN 9781906137694. Pp. Xviii + 171, 160 black and white illustrations. $120

Crutched Pharaoh, Seated Hunter

Academic and popular sources alike regularly refer to Tutankhamun as “disabled” at the time of his death, citing artistic representations from the items in his tomb to back up such claims. This group of objects has been said to depict the young king seated while hunting and using a staff as a walking aid seemingly highlighting the presence of a leg-based disability. This narrative of the image depicting the truth of Tutankhamun’s physical condition has publicly become accepted as fact with images of the seated king even being used in the advertising for the touring exhibit “Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh” to suggest Tutankhamun’s “fragile constitution.” A comparison of these depictions to historical representations of kings hunting and using staffs of authority, however, suggests that these depictions of Tutankhamun were part of a traditional iconography utilized by Tutankhamun’s artists, not to highlight his disability, but instead to situate his image within the artwork of kings of the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms. This study, thus, works to dispel the pervasive myth of the existence of artistic representations of a disabled Tutankhamun, while providing a basis for understanding the true nature of the representation of disability in Egyptian art. Furthermore, this work urges Egyptologists to avoid relying on physical remains to “decipher” mortuary artwork. Such a change in method can only lead to a better understanding of the purpose of the depicted body within the mortuary context and its role as separate but complementary to the physical body in New Kingdom thought.

New Ramesside Copy of the Teaching of Amenemhat

A newly excavated ostracon from Abydos bearing the concluding chapter of “The Instruction (a.k.a. Teaching) of King Amenemhat” opens up an interesting enquiry. An ostracon found in the immediate vicinity of a New Kingdom royal memorial temple and carrying an excerpt from a major literary text is an important find, as it develops our insight into New Kingdom educational practices and intellectual quests. The range of ostraca types and text genres appearing in the area of the temple of Ramesses II points to a fully functional temple organization with a building phase and an operational phase, with supplies and literate personnel on site, potentially in different administrative roles. Studies in educational and intellectual pursuits, in turn, are key to expanding our comprehension of the functions—and enjoyment—of Egyptian culture.

Burial of Bukhaef

The discovery of a yellow/white on black coffin, shabtis, and a fragmentary Book of the Dead papyrus of Bukhaef by the Egyptian Expedition in 2020–2021 from a shaft near the pyramid of Neith in the Teti Pyramid cemetery is discussed. The material dates to the late Eighteenth-early Nineteenth Dynasties.

Unique Lassoing Scene from the Mastaba of Akhmerutnisut at Giza (G 2184)

This article analyzes a unique scene from the Giza mastaba of Akhmerutnisut (G 2184), which shows a life-size depiction of the tomb owner holding a rope, ready to throw a lasso. The active participation of the tomb owner in a lassoing scene is unique in the iconographic program of Fifth Dynasty elite tombs. The location of this scene within the mastaba is also unparalleled: it is the first scene on the right (west side) encountered by visitors as they enter the mastaba. To understand this innovative decorative choice, this paper starts by discussing the iconography of lassoing in the Old Kingdom and its meaning in the elite tombs of the same period. The second part of this paper analyzes Akhmerutnisut’s lassoing scene with an analytical framework drawn from visual and material culture studies and focusing on the concepts of monumentality, identity and agency. This study provides a number of possible explanations—none of which are mutually exclusive—to understand why Akhmerutnisut had himself depicted as a monumental lassoer by the entrance of his funerary complex, highlighting the importance of visitor experience and participation in the design of the funerary complexes of the Old Kingdom elite.

Review of `Five Egyptian Goddesses: Their Possible Beginnings, Actions, and Relationships in the Third Millennium BCE

Susan Tower Hollis, Five Egyptian Goddesses: Their Possible Beginnings, Actions, and Relationships in the Third Millennium BCE. London: Bloomsbury, 2020. Bloomsbury Egyptolo- gy. ISBN 978-1-4742-3425-2. Pp. XV + 216, numerous black and white illustrations. £90.