Related papers
Multimodal Information Processing. Towards A New Methodology to Investigate the Amduat Papyri
Enrico Pozzi
Current Research in Egyptology 2023 | Proceedings of the Twenty-Third Annual Symposium, University of Basel, 10-14 September 2023, 2024
This paper introduces a SNSF PhD project that provides an innovative conceptual framework to investigate the Third Intermediate Period Amduat papyri. The article is organised in three thematic sections. In the first part, the contextualisation of the topic is provided, alongside the current state of research on the Amduat between the New Kingdom (1539-1069 BCE) and the Late Period (664-332 BCE). In the second part, the need to create a database, to digitally assemble the Amduat papyri scattered in the museums around the world, is addressed. The third part argues how this project will examine the Amduat papyri. In this section, the main principles of the philologic and semiotic analysis of the Amduat papyri are presented. By taking these ideas into account, the paper develops a new methodology to investigate the Amduat papyri, and provides critical tools to shed light on the intellectual context regarding the representation of the Netherworld between the 21st and 22nd dynasties.
View PDFchevron_right
A Good Night’s Sleep: Headrests from Deir el-Médina
Julian Posch
2023
Conference "23rd Current Research in Egyptology" (Basel 10-14.09.2023)
View PDFchevron_right
Buffer Zones in Ancient Egypt During the New Kingdom
Marwa Soliman
CURRENT RESEARCH IN EGYPTOLOGY 2023 BOOK OF ABSTRACTS, 2023
During the New Kingdom (second half of the 2nd millennium B.C.), and particularly during the 18th dynasty, Egypt's military policy was drastically changed. The Hyksos occupation meant the end of Egypt's traditional indifference towards its neighbors, especially those beyond the northeastern frontier. Due to the inherent danger in the east, the 18th dynasty had to reconstruct the entire military and administrative structure. Self-centered thinking had to give way to a more dynamic approach. To protect the Egyptian borders against another invasion, the Egyptians came up with the idea of creating buffer zones along their borders. The purpose of the paper is to define and objectify buffer zones as a strategic concept utilized during the New Kingdom, tracing the procedures through which the Egyptians developed buffer zones, and the ways in which they applied these to their borders. Therefore, the paper will discuss how the idea of a buffer zone developed for regions outside the Nile Valley (beyond Egypt’s eastern, western, and southern borders). Firstly, the reasons behind the idea will be analyzed, in addition to determining the criteria under which certain areas were considered buffer zones, from the beginning until the end of the New Kingdom. The paper will then explore the importance of population control policies for buffer zone formation, discussing particular methods of population control (such as depopulation, cultural assimilation, and the taking over of traditional foreign spots), and observing their application for Egypt’s eastern, western, and southern borders. Assessing the archaeological evidence, the paper will analyze the ways in which the ancient Egyptians used different methods for defining boundary protection, depending on each border’s geophysical character, geopolitical importance, and settlement nature. Shedding light on the differences between each Egyptian buffer zone, the paper will aspire to demonstrate whether the different applications of buffer zone formation achieved their objectives. Keywords: buffer zones, boundaries, defending strategies
View PDFchevron_right
Akhenaten's Coregents: Identities, Titularies, and Chronology (CRE 23 Basel, 13.09.2023)
Charlotte Dietrich
2023
View PDFchevron_right
Who were the HqAw? Local Elites and the Exploitation of Resources During the Old Kingdom
Marina García López
Current Research in Egyptology Conference (CRE), 2023
View PDFchevron_right
Chapel of the tomb belonging to Amenhotep III’s Vizier,Amenhotep Huy. Asasif Tomb No. 28, Luxor-West Bank. Excavationresults: ‘Vizier Amenhotep Huy Project’ (2009–2014)
Francisco Jose Martin Valentin
Proceedings of the XI International Congress of Egyptologists Florence Egyptian Museum Florence, 23-30 August 2015, 2015
Abstract Since 2009 the Instituto de Estudios del Antiguo Egipto (Madrid) has been working on the ‘Vizier Amenhotep Huy Project, Tomb 28’ in Asasif. During the excavation works it became apparent that the tomb was unfinished. The works were interrupted suddenly, at an unknown moment, between years 30 and 35 of Amenhotep III’s reign. We have found many fragments from the original decoration of the ‘Chapel’, and a series of remains of shafts belonging to four columns (closed papyriform style), with the names of Amenhotep III and Amenhotep IV inside their respective cartouches. These columns are consecutive (two by two). The excavation of the chapel tomb was undertaken in six seasons, from 2009 to 2014.
View PDFchevron_right
Current Research of Egyptology in Basel - Switzerland, September 10th - 14th, 2023
Sherouk I Shehada
Poster: Hieroglyphic Palaeography of the Sun-Disc Sign in the Amarna Texts (1352-1327 BC). The reign of King Akhenaten from the 18th Dynasty resulted in many changes in religion, art, and philology. The changes in philology include innovations in syntax, such as the verbal system. It also features new ways of shaping hieroglyphic signs, which include both signs and determinatives. One of the most significant features of the language is the way of writing the sun-disc, which is written, according to the primary exploration, in many different ways. It is represented via four words: wbn, HD, sHD, and stwt, both in royal and non-royal sources. This research examines the sources of the Amarna texts and uses contemporary sources from texts from Thebes and Saqqara to (a) figure out the extent to which hand-written hieroglyphs are similar/different to standard hieroglyphs, and (b) offer insights into the organization and methods of the makers of hieroglyphics texts. My paper will tackle this sign to assess the type of material on which it was engraved and painted, focusing on the aspects that affected the forming of this sign. This study aims to examine why the sun-disc sign is attested in the Amarna texts in some instances with a hand, while in other examples it is written in a classical way? Do these types have the same sources and/or are the same words as those found outside of Tell el-Amarna? Are they different from the ones which are represented outside Tell el-Amarna?
View PDFchevron_right
Approaching Portuguese Egyptology/ies: Agents, Politics, and Encounters
Guilherme Borges Pires
23rd Current Research in Egyptology, 2023
Egyptology is by no means a historically homogenous discipline. Despite being a field of global engagement, different national/local Egyptological approaches have been adopted in diverse shapes and forms rooted in local particularities, including national/regional histories, geopolitics, and economics, among other factors, consequently impacting knowledge production and consumption. Unsurprisingly, the histories of what might be envisaged as long-standing Egyptological powers tend to dominate the discipline’s historiographical discussions. Whereas some national/local narratives are better known by the community of Egyptologists, others have remained largely absent from Egyptology’s past and present debates. It is safe to assert that Portuguese Egyptology/ies pertain to the latter group. Despite evidencing both the historical and the geographical criteria that have traditionally facilitated the rising of a given national/regional Egyptology to the core of the discipline – i.e., a former colonial power located in the Global North – the Southern European country’s Egyptological (hi)stories have been left out of works dedicated to the History of Egyptology, including recent states of the art. Nonetheless, Portuguese Egyptology/ies do exist. This paper intends to inscribe Portuguese Egyptology/ies in the current discussions on the field. From philological studies to fieldwork, including Reception Studies and museum research, Portuguese Egyptology/ies have been contributing to the discipline, partaking in ‘global Egyptology/ies’ while simultaneously evidencing national/local specificities. Rather than aiming for a quest on the ‘essence’ or ‘identity’ of Portuguese Egyptology/ies – which would fall into reductionist views - the primary purpose of this contribution is to present a brief diachronic panorama of the different avenues walked in Portugal vis-à-vis (ancient) Egypt, emphasising momentous historical-political events and agents that shaped, on the one hand, Portuguese interest in/for Egypt, and the fundamental features of Portuguese Egyptological academic endeavours, on the other.
View PDFchevron_right
CRE 2023 Programme
Walid Elsayed
2023
Current Research in Egyptology Conference (CRE) at the University of Basel, Switzerland, from the 10th through 14th of September 2023
View PDFchevron_right
Abstract : The Literary Genre of Royal Eulogies: The Case of the “nTr nfr” Incipit on the Royal Stelae. CRE 2023 Basel
Florine Bodier
23rd Current Research in Egyptology, 2023
The eulogy of the king is a well-represented and recognized literary genre that is regularly found on royal stelae. Studying royal eulogies beginning with nTr nfr, the perfect god, seems relevant to our understanding of Egyptian poetic and literary forms. We do not omit the study of the form where it can be found. The eulogy, in fact, occupies a fixed place in the texts and plays a key role in the affirmation of the king as nTr.
View PDFchevron_right