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August 2018

“Flies, Lions and Oyster Shells: Military Awards or Tea for Two” Taneash Sidpura (EEG Meeting Talk)

String of 7 fly amulets

In August Taneash Sidpura came to the Essex Egyptology Group to talk to us about the topic of his PhD research – golden flies, golden lions & oyster shells. These pendants are often stated to be military awards handed out by Pharaoh to people who distinguished themselves in battle, but having researched these items Sidpura disagrees with that assessment. He began his talk by giving us some background to the items & their assumed meaning. It’s typical of nobles to record self praise on stelae & in their tomb inscriptions. Generally this is related to the king, and how wonderfully the noble did the things the king wanted him to do. Sidpura showed us some examples of these sorts of texts including the 12th Dynasty stela of Sobek-khu. These texts also record the gifts and rewards that the king has given them for doing these things. Lots of these gifts… Read More »“Flies, Lions and Oyster Shells: Military Awards or Tea for Two” Taneash Sidpura (EEG Meeting Talk)