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Talk

“New Light on the Narmer Palette with Advanced Digital Imaging” Kathryn E. Piquette (EEG Meeting Talk)

On Sunday Kathryn Piquette came to the Essex Egyptology Group to talk to us about the work she’s been doing using Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) to examine the Narmer Palette (and some other ancient Egyptian objects). She started her talk by giving us context for the Narmer Palette, and then explained the imaging technique she is using. She then showed us several examples of objects she’s studied before returning to the Narmer Palette to tell us about her findings so far. The Narmer Palette was discovered in 1898 by Quibell & Green at Hierakonopolis, near the “Main Deposit”. This was a cache of sacred objects that had been buried around the time of the 5th Dynasty when they were no longer being used. The palette dates to around 3100BC, and is a larger version of the type of palette that was used by the ancient Egyptians to grind eye makeup… Read More »“New Light on the Narmer Palette with Advanced Digital Imaging” Kathryn E. Piquette (EEG Meeting Talk)

“Understanding Egypt: Language, Layers and Meaning in the Nile Valley” Carl Graves (EEG Meeting Talk)

On 4th October Carl Graves came to talk to us at the Essex Egyptology Group about the work he’s doing for his PhD on the landscape of the Nile Valley as interacted with & perceived by the ancient Egyptians. The concept of “landscape” is a technical term in geography, and so Graves spent the first half of his talk explaining this concept and its theoretical underpinnings so that they made sense to us, before moving on to talk about ancient Egypt. He began by getting us all to stand up and look around the room and to think about the space we were in: had we been there before (most of us had), who the people were that we knew in the room, had anyone been there for other non-EEG events and so on. These memories and meanings that we attach to somewhere are what turns it from a space… Read More »“Understanding Egypt: Language, Layers and Meaning in the Nile Valley” Carl Graves (EEG Meeting Talk)

“Rescuing History: ARCE Recording Sheikh Abd el-Gurneh” Andrew Bednarski (EEG Meeting Talk)

At the beginning of September Andrew Bednarski came to the Essex Egyptology Group to talk to us about an American Research Centre in Egypt (ARCE) project to document the now-demolished village of Qurna. He was involved in the project from 2011-2014, so this is the time period he told us about but the project is still ongoing. This is a bit of a departure from our usual sort of talk – whilst still Egyptian archaeology, most of the subject was considerably more modern. The “village” of Sheikh Abd el-Gurneh (or Qurna) is located in the Valley of the Nobles. This area is best known as the place across the mountains from the Valley of the Kings where the New Kingdom aristocracy built their tombs. There are also older tombs (Old Kingdom and Middle Kingdom) in the area, and more recent tombs too. And various waves of habitation including Coptic monasteries.… Read More »“Rescuing History: ARCE Recording Sheikh Abd el-Gurneh” Andrew Bednarski (EEG Meeting Talk)

“The Slaughter Court in Sety I Temple, Abydos” Mohammed Abu el-Yezid (EEG Meeting Talk)

On Sunday Mohammed Abu el-Yezid, from the Ministry of Antiquties in Egypt, came to the Essex Egyptology Group to talk to us about the Slaughter Court in Seti I’s temple at Abydos. He is the Egyptologist and site manager for the province of Sohag (which includes Abydos) and he researched the Slaughter Court for his MA from Ain Shams University where he is currently studying for his PhD. An important part of the rituals in an Egyptian temple was the feeding of the god(s) the temple was dedicated to – with meat, as well as other foodstuffs. A temple was a place of purity, common people weren’t allowed in at all and only the High Priest or the King were permitted in the innermost sanctuary where the statue of the god lived. The priest had to purify himself before entering, performing the appropriate rituals around opening the doors and so… Read More »“The Slaughter Court in Sety I Temple, Abydos” Mohammed Abu el-Yezid (EEG Meeting Talk)

“Horemheb” Charlotte Booth (EEG Meeting Talk)

At the beginning of July Charlotte Booth came to talk to us at the Essex Egyptology Group – she’s actually the founder of the group, although she hadn’t visited in the last few years (not since I’ve been in the group) as she’d moved away from the area. She talked to us about the Pharaoh Horemheb, who is often presented as a sort of afterthought to the 18th Dynasty. Booth’s talk set out to show us that he is interesting in his own right, and is better thought of as the founder of the 19th Dynasty. Horemheb was almost certainly born in Amenhotep III’s reign. Booth explained that we can make an estimate of his year of birth by working backwards from what is known of his career. His status at the beginning of Tutankhamun’s reign indicates that he must’ve been a mature adult at that point – perhaps around… Read More »“Horemheb” Charlotte Booth (EEG Meeting Talk)

“An Ancient Flash Flood and Stratigraphy in the Valley of the Kings” Stephen Cross (EEG Meeting Talk)

On Sunday Stephen Cross came to the Essex Egyptology Group to talk to us about his work in the Valley of the Kings. The research he was telling us about was started to answer one question: why was Tutankhamun’s tomb (KV62) discovered intact? Nearly every other tomb discovered in the Valley of the Kings was robbed, so what was different about Tutankhamun’s tomb. He immediately ruled out man-made causes – if the ancient Egyptians had figured out a certain way to prevent robbers getting in then they would’ve done it to all the subsequent tombs too. Of the potential natural causes a flash flood seemed the best candidate and so he investigated the geology of the Valley around KV62. What he found was that when he mapped the routes that flooding took through the Valley three different streams of water collided outside KV62. This creates the right conditions for the… Read More »“An Ancient Flash Flood and Stratigraphy in the Valley of the Kings” Stephen Cross (EEG Meeting Talk)

“Egyptian Fortifications in Canaan” Rupert Chapman (EEG Meeting Talk)

On Sunday Rupert Chapman came to the Essex Egyptology Group to talk to us about his work on Egyptian fortifications in Canaan. He started by telling us about the different sorts of Egyptian fortification that exist, which have been categorised into four types by an author called Morris. The first two types are never found in the Levant; these are fortresses that control entry points into Egypt proper (for instance at Tell Haboua) and fortress towns such as Kuban in Nubia. The third type are migdol forts – migdol is a Hebrew word that means “tower” and the distinctive feature of these structures is a gate flanked by two towers. An example of this in Egypt is the entrance to Ramesses III’s temple at Medinet Habu. Chapman also compared them to much more modern structures – the early 20th Century AD Tegart Forts built by the British in Palestine (although… Read More »“Egyptian Fortifications in Canaan” Rupert Chapman (EEG Meeting Talk)

“From King to Ancestor: Transition to Napatan Royal Afterlife (A Glimpse of a Funerary Ritual)” Birgitte Balanda (EEG Meeting Talk)

On Sunday Birgitte Balanda came to the Essex Egyptology Group to talk to us about the internal decoration of some Napatan royal tombs and explain what it tells us about the Napatan’s funerary rituals & beliefs. Napata is the name given to the culture that existed in Upper Nubia between the third & fifth cataracts of the Nile from around 800BC to 300BC. The dynasty who ruled the Napatans were also the 25th Dynasty Pharaohs of Egypt – most well known of which is Taharqa. After the Nubian Pharaohs were driven out of Egypt by the 26th Dynasty they continued to rule in Nubia, and I think continued to consider themselves the rightful rulers of Egypt. The Napatan civilisation was centred around Gebel Barkal, which is a prominent rock feature that has been important to several different Nubian cultures over the millennia. There were two royal cemeteries for Napatan rulers… Read More »“From King to Ancestor: Transition to Napatan Royal Afterlife (A Glimpse of a Funerary Ritual)” Birgitte Balanda (EEG Meeting Talk)

“Ten Years in the Harem: Excavating the Gurob Harem Palace 2005-2015” Hannah Pethen (EEG Meeting Talk)

On Sunday Hannah Pethen came to talk to us at the Essex Egyptology Group about the Harem Palace at Gurob. The first half of her talk gave us context for the site – where it is, what it is and who has excavated there before. And the second half moved on to the work that’s been done there in the last decade. Google Screenshots showing location of Gurob (red dot) Gurob is in the Faiyum near the pyramids at Lahun and Hawara, in fact Lahun pyramid can be seen from the site across the river valley. On the screenshots above the position of Gurob is indicated by the red dot, and the blue dots show Lahun (to the north & east of Gurob) and Hawara (to the north-west). The three sites are on either side of a spur of river that diverges from the main Nile further to the south… Read More »“Ten Years in the Harem: Excavating the Gurob Harem Palace 2005-2015” Hannah Pethen (EEG Meeting Talk)

“Uncovering the Quarry Workers at Gebel Silsila” Sarah K Doherty (EEG Meeting Talk)

On Sunday Sarah Doherty came to talk to the Essex Egyptology Group about the ongoing excavations at Gebel Silsila (or Gebel el Silsila, her slides used the two name interchangeably). She split her talk into two halves (so we could have tea and cake in the middle) – the first half was about the work done at the site in 2012 and 2013, the second half covered 2014 and the plans for the future. The first half was also something of an overview of why the site is interesting, and the second half included more details on the day to day life of the archaeologists working there. Gebel Silsila is a large site in Upper Egypt where sandstone has been quarried throughout the majority of Egypt’s history. It’s situated about 40 miles north of Aswan and 500 miles south of Cairo, near Kom Ombo. The site itself is enormous –… Read More »“Uncovering the Quarry Workers at Gebel Silsila” Sarah K Doherty (EEG Meeting Talk)