
24/12/2022
Wishing all my followers a very peaceful festive season.
Here's me at dawn in last week, a lesson in keeping things in perspective ๐
Manchester Museum houses over 16,000 objects from Ancient Egypt and Sudan, making it the fifth large FREE ENTRY
More at: http://egyptmanchester.wordpress.com/
Operating as usual
Wishing all my followers a very peaceful festive season.
Here's me at dawn in last week, a lesson in keeping things in perspective ๐
Amidst all the great monuments I've had the privilege to see in the last fortnight, this 3200 year old flake of limestone stands out. It depicts workers quarrying out a royal tomb (indicated by doorway + ramp) in the Valley of the Kings while others remove debris.
Today I left the Egyptian sun and came forth into a mercifully mild British Winter, rather the inverse of the Ramesside Chief of the Work Gang at Deir el-Medina, Inherkhau (TT359)
Many thanks to + and all the people that made this trip so memorable ๐๐ช๐ฌ๐
Back, back.... back at Hat!
Revisiting my main girl , female pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty, and getting some photos for my biography of her chief official Senenmut, which I've started properly writing on this trip ๐คฉ๐ช๐ฌโจ
The newly re-erected upper part of the second obelisk of Queen Hatshepsut (c. 1473-1458 BCE) at with 'restoration' texts of King Seti I (c. 1290-1279 BCE) ๐คฉ๐ช๐ฌ
Dawn at Karnak Temple today. Definitely worth the 4.45am start. So close to the winter solstice, it was a privilege to have the Hypostyle Hall almost entirely to ourselves. ๐ช๐ฌ๐โจ
A Friday morning visit to Luxor Temple with the mosque of Abu Haggag and hearing the call to prayer etching round an unusually quiet courtyard. Very special โบ๏ธ๐ช๐ฌโจ
The incredible tomb of King Seti I (c. 1290-1279 BCE) in the Valley of the King's is worth the 1000LE extra ticket - most tourist groups don't go there and it's the most beautiful in the valley. I could have spent all day in there. ๐คฉ๐ช๐ฌโค๏ธโจ
After 20 visits to , today I finally made it to the Ramesseum and set eyes upon that shattered visage of the cult colossus 'Re of Rulers'
Reunited with some old friends โค๏ธ๐ช๐ฌ
So exciting to finally set eyes on the pseudo-epigraphic 'Famine Stela' of the Ptolemaic Period but purportedly written during the reign of King Djoser, 2500 years earlier - definitely worth the schlep up Sehel Island!
Inner tomb chapel painted offering scene of Sarenput II at Aswan. Vivid colours and glorious details.
Return to today, 4 years after I last visited the site at which I've spent so much time doing geophysical fieldwork. Some notable improvements to accessibility + interpretation, at the Step Pyramid+ beyond.
Also, feels a world away from the snowy UK... โ๏ธ
Today was a special day - I accompanied new friends and .ayers who have both made their first trip to with Ancient World Tours after being inspired by 's exhibition โบ๏ธโบ๏ธโจ
From perhaps around 1850 BCE, is a particular favourite of mine: the beautifully painted wooden box coffin of the 'overseer of troops' Sepi from El-Bersha - here's his name and title in , with the bowman representing 'troops' ๐คฉ
Despite a natural focus on the ground floor, there's ongoing work upstairs. I was delighted to discover work by the
Fayoum University & El-Hibe Coffin Project, conserving many examples on display - including this with a 'mummification' scene of a type better known from examples now in Germany.
Another of those insufferable 'My Monday's Better Than Yours' posts... ๐๐
Back to the Egyptian Museum this morning, and plenty of changes afoot...
The Old Kingdom section is now completely re-lit, revealing details of carved objects that have been lost in previous displays. The spotlighting of sculpture continues into the Middle & New Kingdoms, making familiar faces pop as never before...
The serdab statue of King Djoser (c. 2650-2575 BCE), from his Saqqara Step Pyramid complex, looks undeniably fantastic - though the statue itself wasn't supposed to be 'seen' by many, but rather to effect the king's eternal presence in an enclosed space angled to the northern sky
A pleasurable job before I head out-of-office for a couple of weeks: getting objects prepared for
's teaching sessions, including this lovely wee Bes amulet from
excavations at Saqqara ๐คฉ๐
Also next Monday, I'll be speaking at 6pm on the statuary of that little-known figure in Egyptian history, King ...
Thanks to
and for organising
Next Monday in I'm very glad to be able to re-run this workshop session I offered in March, sharing some examples of museum practices
๐๐
Thanks to & for organising!
Egyptology
Excited to see our 4200 year old granite column (re-inscribed for Ramesses II 3200 years ago) revealed after 4 years crated up - it looks SO much better with new lighting against a dark background! ๐คฉ๐คฉ
So pleased to welcome Carlo Rindi back to (after 10 years!) on his Marie Curie fellowship to examine using laser-scanning the construction of Graeco-Roman funerary objects - including those in our upcoming exhibition! โจ๐ค
The shabtis return! Our mass display of has just been re-installed. They have a ring-side view of all the exciting developments ... ๐
Want to learn about Egypt's Third Intermediate Period?
Why not join & I for our Zoom study day on Saturday 19th November?
Tickets here: https://eventbrite.co.uk/e/fractured-kingdom-egypts-third-intermediate-period-tickets-439103870497 - lectures will be recorded and can be accessed after the event.
A great way to round off - with
friends and
at event celebrating an exhibition on 's childhood co-curated with primary school kids in East London & Amarna, ๐ฅณ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ง
Installation of our show is a chance to re-examine the details disguised by exhibition lighting - here a hybrid panel portrait with a 'hood' decorated with Pharaonic motifs usually associated with cartonnage mummy masks. Both were transformative for the deceased.
๐จ Ancient evidence for a curse of ...
Amazed I've never heard of this before! On a small stela from the Karnak Cachette, the Kingโs Son of Kush, Huy, appeals to โmy lord, Nebkheprure, I have seen the darkness of your making; (pray) illuminate (it) for me, that I may now see you (again)โ
Nebkheprure is the throne name of Tutankhamun, who โ through the agency of the royal Ka-spirit โ has apparently caused poor Huy to lose his sight, though this could be a metaphor for some other misfortune.
The text is like some other 'penitential' hymns from Deir el-Medina.
Although erroneously described as 'guardian statues' (https://egyptmanchester.wordpress.com/2019/11/17/tutankhamuns-guardian-statues-symbolism-and-meaning/), at least one of the pair is explicitly labelled as 'the royal Ka'.
I love the idea of an official pleading with the (presumably living?) king's Ka.
How has this not entered the narrative??!
to snapping this crisply carved box (likely for shabti figures) of Ptahmose in June - and spotting it again last week in
's exhibition!
Purchased in Egypt in 1830 by Jean-Francois Champollion. https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010009564
Carved relief of King Hatshepsut (c. 1473-1458 BCE) offering wine to the god Amun-Ra, from her 'Red Chapel' at Karnak. In return, he gives her 'all life and power'. A pretty sweet deal. ๐
This is a relatively rare case where Hatshepsut's name and image survive undamaged.
I very much appreciated the acknowledgement of the persistence of forms in Pharaonic high culture in the exhibition - taking the block statue as an example, from the Middle Kingdom to the Ptolemaic Period - almost 2000 years!
Including a Ptolemaic favourite already pointed out to me by belonging to Padiamunnebnesuttawy from the Karnak Cachette (the subject of my PhD dissertation!) ๐
Both names of a favourite Pharaoh of mine: Amenemhat III (1831-1786 BCE), in the newly opened exhibition.
His nomen (Amenemhat) on a lintel from Hawara, and his prenomen or throne name (Nimaatre) on the Ramesses II King's List from Abydos.
to paying homage to the giant quartzite baboons of Thoth, dedicated by Amenhotep III c. 1350 BCE, at Ashmunein in March. A rare case of a complete animal sculpted in colossal size ๐ต
New addition to the library I picked up last night... Congratulations ๐๐ค
The show confirming what most museum staff and visitors already know: that some pieces look much better with exhibition lighting... Here, the king's list from the temple of Ramesses II at Abydos ๐ก
Really privileged last night to be able to attend the opening of
- a gorgeous set of displays that raise questions of heritage, ownership and expertise. I, for one, am humbled ๐๐๐ช๐ฌ
Beautiful detail of a personification from a block from Egypt Exploration Fund excavations at Deir el-Bahri. A recent research enquiry has identified this as likely from the Northern Chamber of Any. What a pleasure to get it out to have a closer look! ๐
It's a shame I don't understand Danish because this new book on by my friend and colleague looks SUPERB...!
Superb keynote lecture on Welsh Egyptology from academic titan Prof Alan Lloyd - highlighting that the Samuel Birch revised 1878 edition of Gardner Wilkinson's Manners & Customs is the more richly illustrated, so I'm glad to discover that's the edition I own! ๐คฉ
Happy to be back on campus today surrounded by the hubbub of students and planning for reopening early next year ๐คฉ
Manchester
M139PL
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Tuesday | 10am - 5pm |
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Thursday | 10am - 5pm |
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