Las estacas de madera de Haraga y la pesca en el-Fayum durante el Reino Medio

In 1923, Reginald Engelbach published the report of the works carried out from 1913 to 1914 in the excavation of the tombs of Haraga. In one of the structures of C Cemetery, Engelbach found a set of objects that he called fisherman’s equipment, comprising the remains of fishing nets, floats, net weights and wooden stakes. In this article, which is a summary of one of the chapters of the author’s doctoral thesis, she analyses the fishing instruments from Haraga and exposes the methods of capture in which stakes are used. The text is concluded with a proposal of the fishing gears and catching methods that could have been used in el-Fayum from the Middle Kingdom to the New Kingdom by means of a diachronic perspective and the ichthyological species possibly caught. In order to accomplish this goal, the author uses the archaeological record and other sources such as iconographic, documentary and ethnographic ones

El hrw nfr en la literatura ramésida: algunas notas para su interpretación

The aim of this paper is to analyze the attestations of the “beautiful day” (hrw nfr) in literary texts of the Ramesside period, which are written in the late Egyptian language, in order to develop their understanding framed by their historical and cultural context of production. Attention will be focused on the examination of the expression in the stories of The Two Brothers (Papyrus d’Orbiney), The Doomed Prince (Papyrus Harris 500) and The Contendings of Horus and Seth (Papyrus Chester Beatty I), with the general purpose of exploring the sense of their incorporation into the plots, as well as the narrative effects. Furthermore, characters and features involved in the “beautiful day” situation will be singled out. It is also expected to reflect on the comparison with other discourses, such as the funerary one.

Representaciones de deidades ofídicas en los enterramientos privados de las necrópolis tebanas durante el Reino Nuevo: evidencia gráfica de las diosas Renenutet y Meretseger

During the New Kingdom, the graphic recurrence of the goddesses characterized by the snake form was a patent fact in the iconographic programs developed within the funeral spaces of the elite. From the study of its iconography, it is possible to access the areas of religiosity and thought in which these entities were present. With the aim of understanding various aspects related to them, such as the pictorial context, their nature and significance or the validity of their existence and veneration, the different iconographical samples in which these goddesses were represented have been analysed. In this context, the iconography specifically analysed has treated the images of the goddesses Meretseger and Renenutet

Apelaciones, deseos y mensajes para la eternidad. El llamado a los vivos en las estelas abideanas del Reino Medio

The appeal to the living refers to some inscriptions left by the deceased on their graves and funerary monuments allowing any visitor to read and recite them in order to perpetuate their name, their memory and guarantee the symbolic provision of offerings. The appeal to the living has been known since the end of the Old Kingdom and can be found throughout the Pharaonic history. In this paper, we will analyse the appeals to the living found in a large number of votive stelae from Abydos. These stelae were set up in Abydos as part of the feasts of the Osiris Mysteries. Based on their analysis, this paper attempts to reveal some questions about these appeals to the living such as: Who was the addressee? What were their intentions? What kind of demands did they use to request? What kind of reward would be offered to the visitors who recite their claims? And how these appeals are registered within the context of the annual pilgrimages for the celebrations of the Osiris Mysteries in Abydos?

Las mujeres de la elite en el Reino Antiguo, ¿un grupo social incapaz de actuar?

During the Old Kingdom, we can observe numerous instances of female tomb owners, who constituted the center of the iconographic and textual program of tombs and individual chapels. Thus, these women from the elite may have had some social power related to their status, as well as an autonomous capacity of ostentation, both elements that were linked to male qualities. Although various scenes were directly integrated, without any change, in those tombs where the major figure was a feminine one, some adaptations were sometimes needed, proving that gender specificities influenced the type of activity depicted. Indeed, the aim of this paper will be to analyze these gender qualities on the basis of the iconography, and especially through the “marsh scenes”, as well as to question the dichotomy between action/masculine and inaction/ feminine.

Realignments of Memory: Legitimacy of the Egyptian Past in the Prophecies of Neferty

The Prophecies of Neferty, whose sole complete copy is preserved on Papyrus Hermitage 1116B recto, has a narrative frame situated during Sneferu’s reign. A great part of it describes the time of chaos (isft) during the First Intermediate Period, with order (mAat) finally being redeployed by Amenemhet I. Considering the above, in this paper we aim to comprehend the ways maet is used to construct an idealized image of the past in Neferty. In order to pursue these tasks, we define our theoretical approaches to “ancient Egyptian literature”, as well as a brief introduction to cultural memory, according to Jan Assmann, settling its connection with Neferty. Subsequently, we give a description of the source, discussing the dating of the text, along with its content. Finally, we proceed with content analysis of the text, focusing on maet and its relation to the pharaoh and an ideal vision of the past.

Parámetros de clasificación zoológica comparados: la familia Anatidae en egipcio y sumerio

This study aims to lay the foundations for a further research project in which, through a comparative methodology, a zootechnical compendium of graphic representations linked to semantic content characteristic of the birds in the two main pre-Aristotelian classification traditions of Antiquity, Egypt and Mesopotamia, is carried out in order to establish their points of contact, affinities, possible affiliations and constitutive divergences. Focusing—for space reasons—on some significant species of the Anatidae family, we try to achieve a dual objective: to make a brief description of its possible animal behaviour from iconographic and literary sources, and, in addition, to describe the lexical-graphematic functioning of the determining signs or generic classifiers this class of birds are depicted with in both spellings. This latter aspect will be addressed from a comparative perspective that allows us to shape a kind of basic mental scheme that accounts for the functional and symbolic role that these birds possessed at the core of the symbolic world representation revealed by both spellings. Furthermore, it could help us to understand more accurately the anthropological nucleus that underlies them. The authors of this contribution start from the theoretical principle— already confirmed by recent theoretical studies—that the contrasting study of semantic classifiers can provide valuable information on the categorization and hierarchy of classes of world features represented by the speakers of these languages, particularly as they are underlying cognitive principles and rules that iconically reflect a rather coherent conceptual and spatial microcosm.

Of Creator and Creation: Some Observations on the Cosmogonical Conceptions in the Stela of Suty and Hor (BM EA826), Papyrus Leiden I 350, and the Hymn to Ptah of the “Great Harris Papyrus” (BM EA9999, 44)

The present paper constitutes a brief preliminary approach to the cosmogonical conceptions suggested by three New Kingdom texts: the stela of Suty and Hor (BM EA826), Papyrus Leiden I 350 and the Hymn to Ptah of the “Great Harris Papyrus” (BM EA9999, 44). Taking into account and discussing the phraseological repertoire attested in these sources, an attempt is made to understand two fundamental aspects: who is the Creator and what does he create. Thus, the first part deals with the identity of the Creator, namely, his names, attributes, and core features. The second considers the different beings and cosmic elements brought into existence by the demiurgic action. Throughout the paper, some commentaries are provided on the different methods performed by the Creator to succeed in his task, in the context of the New Kingdom religion as a whole

Más allá de la narrativa: aportes para una aproximación integral a la Segunda Estela de Kamose

The aim of this contribution is to highlight the traces of diverse social practices on the Second Stela of Kamose, whose relevance is not usually recognized. The stone on which the Stela was engraved has a long history. It comes from a Middle Kingdom door jamb probably belonging to a royal building erected at the temple. After several centuries of being located in the temple, the Stela was buried into the base of a statue of Ramesses II, where it was found in 1954, in front of the Second Pylon. Not only is the reuse of monuments highlighted here, but also other practices made on the monument’s surface: the damnatio memoriae and the scribble of graffiti. Thus, the Stela becomes an appropriate example to observe, analyze and reflect on those social practices, which in turn make it a relevant monument by itself, beyond the content of the well-known written text

Retorno a lo múltiple. Metodología y análisis del programa iconográfico de la segunda sala hipóstila del templo de Seti I en Abidos

The set of scenes present in the second hypostyle hall of the temple of Sety I in Abydos allows us to carry out a study of its reliefs in order to approach the meaning of the attitudes, attributes, vestments, crowns and rituals, both of the king and the gods. To this end, the hall has been divided into sections, and its 323 scenes have been subjected to a meticulous analysis, and also for a deconstruction of its constituent parts. All this has permitted us to establish an interrelationship between all of them, and the results allow for a deeper interpretation of the repertoire to levels not described previously