JE 30948 Ka-statue of Hor I (Source: The Global Egyptian Museum).

Object JE 30948 is the beautiful wooden ka-statue of 13th Dynasty pharaoh, Hor I, which dates to the Middle Kingdom and now resides in the Cairo Museum.

Ka-statues, often marked by the ka hieroglyph (two upraised arms) on the top of the head of the statue, were designed to provide a ‘resting place’  for the ka, or life-force, which had to survive in the statue to ensure that the deceased would live on in the afterlife. Ka statues were also often used as a type of memorial for the deceased in absentia. At Abydos, hundreds of ka-statues were left in order to enable the dead to participate in the yearly festivals which commemorated the resurrection of Osiris.

Close-up of the ka-statue of Hor I (Source: Wikimedia Commons).

The ka-statue of Hor I was found within its naos, or shrine, and was covered with a fine layer of painted stucco. Many ka-statues were placed in a purpose-built mortuary chapel or niche which were sometimes inscribed. The statue of Hor I was attached to a piece of wood which could be removed from the naos.

Ka statues were often painted in the likeness of the owner to enhance the ‘spiritual connection’ and to ensure that the memory of the deceased was preserved. The king is wears a tripartite wig, leaving his ears exposed. He is adorned with the divine beard. The eyes, inlaid with rock crystal and quartz, give an extremely life-like appearance to the face. This particular statue once held a sceptre in its right hand and a staff in its left hand.

Ka-statues were ‘brought to life’ by priests in the ceremonial ritual called the ‘Opening of the Mouth’, in which the mouth, eyes, nose, and ears could be touched with ritual implements giving the statue the power of breath, sight, smell, and hearing, respectively.

Hor I is only believed to have reigned for a short period, perhaps just seven months, and so he did not have a pyramid as was the custom of the time. Instead, he was buried in a shaft tomb at Dahshur, next to the pyramid of Amenemhat III. The ka-statue was found in the tomb, along with Hor’s partly gilded wooden coffin, some jewellery, the canopic box with the canopic jars, two inscribed stelae and several other objects. The statue is one of the most accomplished wooden statues to survive from antiquity. This particular statue is extremely well-preserved.

Bibliography and further reading:

The Global Egyptian Museum - JE 30948: http://www.globalegyptianmuseum.org/record.aspx?id=14835.

Dodson, A. & Hilton, D. 2004. The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson.

Robins, G. (2000). The Art of Ancient Egypt. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.

The University of Cincinnati Classics Department is pleased to announce the Margo Tytus Visiting Scholars Program. Tytus Fellows, in the fields of philology, history and archaeology will ordinarily be at least 5 years beyond receipt of the Ph. D. Apart from residence in Cincinnati during term, the only obligation of Tytus Fellows is to pursue their own research. Fellowships are tenable during the regular academic year (September to April).

There are two categories of Tytus Fellowships, long-term and short-term.

Long Term Fellows will come to Cincinnati for a minimum of one semester and a maximum of two during the regular academic year. They will receive a monthly stipend of $1000 plus housing and a transportation allowance.

Short Term Fellows will come to Cincinnati for a minimum of one month and a maximum of two during the regular academic year. They will also receive a monthly stipend of $1000 plus housing and a transportation allowance.

Both Long Term and Short Term Fellows will also receive office space and enjoy the use of the University of Cincinnati and Hebrew Union College Libraries. While at Cincinnati Tytus Fellows will be free to pursue their own research.

The University of Cincinnati Burnam Classics Library is one of the world's premier collections in the field of Classical Studies (http://www.libraries.uc.edu/libraries/classics/). Comprising 260,000 volumes, the library covers all aspects of the Classics: the languages and literatures, history, civilization, art, and archaeology. Of special value for scholars is both the richness of the collection and its accessibility -- almost any avenue of research in the classics can be pursued deeply and broadly under a single roof. The unusually comprehensive core collection, which is maintained by three professional classicist librarians, is augmented by several special collections such as 15,000 nineteenth century German Programmschriften, extensive holdings in Palaeography, Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies. At neighboring Hebrew Union College, the Klau Library, with holdings in excess of 460,000 volumes, is rich in Judaica and Near Eastern Studies.

Application Deadline: January 15.

A description of the Tytus Program and an application form is available online at http://classics.uc.edu/index.php/tytus. Questions can be directed to program.coordinator@classics.uc.edu.

I mentioned once before that I was pretty sure that I had spotted a beaver in my neighbor's yard, near the creek. Today the animal in question came into my yard and stayed long enough that I could get photos of it – and I also had another witness. It is always nice when you learn that you were not hallucinating…but as a commenter on this post identified, it was a groundhog/woodchuck, not a beaver. I look forward to providing prognostication services regarding the end of winter on my blog in the not too distant future! In the mean time, here are a couple of the photos I took.

The Theban Necropolis Geological Mapping Project of the University of Charleston and the Serapis Research Institute announces the creation of the On-line Geographical Information System for the Theban Necropolis (OLGIS-TN), a pilot project sponsored, in part, by the College of Charleston Santee-Cooper Geographic Information Systems Laboratory. It functions as an Internet clearing house to which scholars of the Theban necropolis can retrieve and contribute relevant data related to the cemeteries of ancient Thebes (located on the West Bank of modern Luxor, Egypt).

Until now, no single real-time tool has existed for Egyptologists and scientists to store, retrieve, and manipulate complex data of various types related to the necropolis of private tombs in Western Thebes. However, recent advances in both Internet technology and geographic information systems (GIS) have led to the development of map-driven Web sites for accessing spatial, textual and image databases. The Theban Necropolis Geological Mapping Project freely provides this Web-based GIS-driven archaeological information management tool specifically for the Theban private necropolis. Although the coverage area will ultimately extend from Dra Abu'l Naga on the north to Medinet Habu on the south, at the beginning, the system will concentrate only on the hill of Sheikh Abd el-Qurnah.
This information system acts as both a portal to data and a repository to facilitate the exchange of information among institutions and across disciplines. A map interface based on ultra-high resolution satellite imagery and Survey of Egypt topographical maps connects users with archaeological, cultural, historical, geological, and geographical data.

Main Page

SEARCH THE DATABASE

Virtual Theban Necropolis

Searching Instructions

Project Description

Satellite Survey of Western Thebes

College of Charleston Magazine 11/04: "Zooming in on Egypt"

Web Links

DIGITAL GLOBE®

ESRI®

Contact Us

Introduction

There is a vast mortuary area on the West Bank of Thebes (the ancient city of Waset) in the 4th nome of the Upper Egypt. Over 400 private rock tombs have been registered so far in this area excluding small-scale shaft tombs in the Deir al-Madina.

Since the 19th century, these tombs have been extensively studied by researchers of the Western World. There is a sharp contrast between these private tombs and the royal tombs, which must have struck and impressed those who visited a private tomb for the first time. That is, the walls within the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings and Queens are mainly decorated by religious texts such as the Book of Am-Duat, the Book of the Gate, the Book of the Cavern, the Book of the Day and the Book of the Night. On the other hand, the wall paintings within private tombs vividly depicted the daily life of the nobles with striking colours...

The purpose of this database is to introduce all the data available so far concering the details of the private tombs in the Theban Necropolis, such as location, plan, the name and title of the owner, family relationship, wall decoration, funerary cones, etc., and the complete bibliography of the past research, in order to prepare the framework and to enhance the future research of the Theban Necropolis.

Responsable Scientifique et Administratif : Mustapha KHANOUSSI
Responsable NTIC : Ali DABBAGHI

1. Nature: Projet présidentiel

2. Références 

- décision du Conseil Ministériel Restreint sous la présidence de son Excellence le Président de la République du 21 Juillet 1991.
- décret n°1443-1992 du 03 août 1992

. Cadre général
Malgré la diversité des projets d'inventaire dès la fin du XIX ème siècle, il n'y a pas encore un inventaire général et exhaustif des sites archéologiques, des monuments historiques et du patrimoine vernaculaire.
4. Contenu
La carte nationale des sites archéologiques et des monuments historiques a vu ses objectifs clairement précisés par le décret n°1443-1992 daté du 3 août 1992 :
Article premier. – Il est institué une carte nationale des sites archéologiques et des monuments historiques en terre et en mer dans le but d’établir l’inventaire général des lieux et édifices qui constituent une partie du patrimoine culturel national.
Article 2. – Pour le recensement des sites et des monuments, il sera procédé à l’établissement et à l’impression des documents suivants :
- carte au 1/50 000e comportant la localisation des sites
- plan au 1/2000 comportant la localisation des monuments et des tissus urbains traditionnels.
- fichier comportant une description des sites et des monuments, une évaluation des superficies, une couverture photographique et, dans la mesure du possible, une enquête foncière préliminaire. »
[005] 
[008] 
[016] 
[019] 
[027] 
[028] 
[029] 
[036] 
[043] 
[049] 
[050] 
[064] 
[067] 
[068] 
[072] 
[074] 
[112] 
[117] 
[147] 
[157] 
[158]

Les feuilles prospectées dans le cadre du projet carte nationale des sites archéologiques et monuments historiques

001 Kef Abed

004 Cap Negro

005 Oued Sejnene

006 Menzel Bourguiba

007 Ghar el Melh

008 Sidi Daoud

013 ariana

016 Kélibia

019 Tébourba

024 Fernana

025 Bou Salem

026 Oued Ezzarga

027 Mjez el Beb

028 Bir M'cherga

029 Grombalia

030 Nabeul

036 Bouficha

037 Hammamet

043 An nfidha

049 Sidi Bou Ali

050 Halk el Mejjel

064 Sidi el Hani

067 Thala

068 Ksar Tlili

072 Oued Chérita

074 Mahdia

112 Meknassi

115 Mahres

117 Moularés

122 Hchichina

125 Metlaoui

126 El Mdhila

127 El Guettar

128 El Aycha

129 Sbih

130 Skhira

133 sans Nom

134 sans Nom

137 El Fjej

138 Métouia

146 El Hamma

147 Gabès

148 Houmet Essouk

149 Midoun

156 Sidi Gunaoui

157 kettana

158 Mareth

159 Ej Jorf

160 Sidi Chammekh

168 Matmata

170 Bou Ghrara

171 Zarzis

180 Mednine

181 Oglet Ennafatia

182 Ben Guerden

183 Bhiret el Biben

194 sans Nom

195 sans Nom

This is apparently a true story.

An Interdisciplinary Conference Sponsored by the
Society for Ancient Mediterranean Religions
Emory University, March 22-24th, 2013

Ritual implements, votive gifts, cult statues, magical gems, and the like, have frequently been the object of ancient textual reflection as well as modern archaeological and art historical investigation.  But these items have not always been sufficiently investigated in their context, for what they can tell us about ancient religious practice. This conference invites papers which engage with this question in one of two ways:

1. historically, how did the ancient people we study use objects to mediate between the human and the divine?
2. methodologically, how are scholars to use these objects – either as represented in texts or recovered from sites – as means to investigating the cultural and historical realities of ancient religion?

The historical framework of the investigation is the ancient Mediterranean, open to periods from prehistoric through early Byzantine.  Papers are invited from a broad range of disciplines, including ancient Jewish and Christian studies, Classics, art history, anthropology, philosophy, and history.  We especially encourage papers which contribute to the theoretical and methodological questions, and offer interdisciplinary or cross-cultural perspectives.  Recent PhDs and graduate students are welcome to submit proposals.

Abstracts of 500-600 words for a paper to take 15 to 20 minutes to read should be submitted by email attachment as .doc or .rtf files to socamr@gmail.com.  Abstracts should contain a title and a word count, but no identifying information.  All abstracts will be judged by our Program Committee.  The deadline for submission of abstracts is November 15, 2012.

For further information, contact Eric Orlin at eorlin@pugetsound.edu.

HT Marc Cortez

Screenshot from UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Recently a number of excellent online geographic compendia to archaeological sites have begun to appear on the web. These sites take advantage of the possibilities of linked data and the functionality of GIS-oriented interfaces, allowing the user to access both cartographic (spatial) and contextual information. Not only are such sites stimulating – both visually and intellectually – but they provide a vital service in creating online compendia that allow a wider public to know about and appreciate cultural heritage sites and, in particular, to be made aware of the degree to which many such sites find themselves in peril, whether due to neglect, open warfare or diminishing budgetary resources. Such compendia can, hopefully, encourage all of us to be better stewards of our cultural heritage and, perhaps, the web can be a place to cut across nationalistic boundaries. Chuck Jones recently profiled online e-resources for maps on his AWOL blog – a valuable listing that everyone should bookmark. Furthermore, our partner project Pleaides and our colleagues at the Pelagios Project continue to lead the way in creating stable identifiers for linked ancient world data, enabling online collaboration in the form of a geographic lingua franca. Hopefully stewardship – and its increasingly important place online – benefits from the efforts to develop and maintain these resources.

We’d like to here highlight a few notable sites in the vein discussed above.

1. La carte nationale des sites archéologiques et des monuments historiques, Tunisie; La carte nationale des sites archéologiques et des monuments historiques : feuilles 1/50 000
2. MEGAJordan: A State-of-the-Art System for Jordan’s Archaeological Sites
3. Mappa dei Monumenti del Centro Storico di Roma
4. UNESCO World Heritage Sites
5. Portable Antiquities Scheme

April 18-20, 2013, University of Helsinki, Finland

Abstract deadline: December 15, 2012

E-mail: romanhouse2013@gmail.com

Ancient Roman houses were designed to suit both the private life of its occupants and the demands of public life. As a result, the division between public and private spaces inside the domus was a complicated topic even for the Romans themselves. Previous scholarship has tended to treat the domus in terms of a rigid division between public and private, with the same division acting as a gender marker for (male) political activities and (female) domestic activities respectively. This strict division within the household now seems outdated. The aim of this conference, then, is to take a fresh look at notions of public and private within the domus by exploring the public and private spheres of the Roman house from the first century BCE to the third century CE. The "Public and Private in the Roman House and Society" is an ongoing project organizing its second major event, building on the success of a workshop at NYU this October.  Keynote speakers include Filippo Coarelli, Margareta Steinby and Paul Zanker.

We therefore invite papers that explore the complex relationship between public and private in Roman society from a variety of perspectives – historical, archaeological, philological, architectural and anthropological – in order to further the understanding of the domus as a place for social, cultural, political and administrative action.

Potential themes include but are not limited to:

• The house and the city: Political and administrative spaces
• The Roman house as political, religious, social and cultural arena
• Newest theories and methods in the study of privacy/public in the Roman House
• Public and private in material culture and artefact studies
• The provincial house: Local and Roman building traditions and usages
• Changes and Continuities of the Roman house in Late Antiquity
• Gender in the house

The conference is organized by the project Public and Private in the Roman House (http:// romanhouse.org/), which seeks to contribute to the ongoing debate on privacy in the ancient world as well as the issues of how the limits between public and private spaces were drawn. In an attempt to gain new perspectives on these questions, the project seeks to utilize comparative anthropological theories concerning the conceptualization of the public/private interface.

Please submit your abstract (300 words) as a [word/pdf] file to Juhana Heikonen at romanhouse2013@gmail.com Please include your name, academic affiliation and address in your email.

The deadline for submission of abstracts is December 15, 2012

Via Gawker (HT Joel Watts on Facebook) I heard a brief speech before the Springfield City Council about homosexuality and gay rights, delivered by Rev. Phil Snider of Brentwood Christian Church in Missouri. Listen to it all the way to the end.

Click here to view the embedded video.

UPDATE: Others have since shared the video, including Bob Cargill, who adds some further commentary and discussion.

Israeli soldier praying at the Western wall. Photo © Robert Lerich via Fotolia.

At the risk of pouring vinegar on an open wound, there is something I must say about the controversy currently beclouding Emmanuel Christian Seminary: I feel ashamed of some of the treatment of Paul Blowers and of ECS coming out of the biblioblogosphere. We “overheard” Paul question Chris Rollston’s character (or at least some of his decisions)—and some of us responded by impugning Paul’s character. We “learned” that the “public opinion” held by ECS’s denominational constituency (including actual or potential donors) might influence ECS’s institutional behavior—and some of us responded by trying to leverage the “public opinion” held by “the academy” (of which we appointed ourselves spokespeople) to influence ECS’s institutional behavior.

I find these actions embarrassing. I find them self-referentially inconsistent. I find them lacking in both Christian and academic graces and virtues. Perhaps even more to the point, I find them completely inconsistent with Chris Rollston’s character. I cannot imagine that he would want anyone to defend him by attacking Paul Blowers, Michael Sweeney, or ECS as an institution.

This does not mean that I agree with Paul’s criticisms of Chris, or that I endorse certain actions that ECS is known or alleged to have considered or taken. It also does not mean that I wish to shut anybody up; I have already expressed my opinion that people who care about Chris have “standing” to express their support for him, regardless of institutional ties to ECS or lack of same. However, I do want to plead for virtuous speech on this matter, especially speech that reflects charity, temperance, and prudence. In retrospect, I believe my own comments on October 12 may have lacked prudence, particularly with regard to the metaphors I employed at the end of that post. I may have helped to fan the flames when I hoped to help calm them, and for that I wish that my foresight could have exceeded my hindsight.

To Paul Blowers I say: Paul, I disagree substantially with your criticisms of Chris Rollston and his August 31 article. I also think you’ve responded imprudently to some of your online critics in the intervening weeks. However, if my October 12 post expressed my thoughts in a manner you found hurtful or uncharitable, I seek your forgiveness, and pray that your critics may find more gracious ways to express their disagreements.

To Chris Rollston I say: Chris, I grieve to find you at the center of such a roiling controversy, and wish that I could do more to ease your own grief and speed your healing. However, if my October 12 post expressed my concern in a manner that reflected negatively on you within your local context at ECS, I seek your forgiveness, and pray that your critics may find more gracious ways to express their disagreements.

And to my dear friend in East Tennessee who opened my eyes and my heart wider than they had been before, I say: thank you.

In contrast to my normal practice, I will not be accepting comments on this post. I normally encourage free discussion of my ideas, but not this time. This post is not an invitation to discussion or argument, defenses or accusations. It is a confession. It is a sermon. It is a prayer, and it ends in prayer:

Κύριε ἐλέησον

History of the Aqueduct and general aspects of its preservation

By Naïde Ferchiou and Slim Khosrof

Africa: Revue des Études et Recherches préhistoriques, antiques, islamiques et ethnographiques, Vol.19 (2002)

Introduction: The history of the Aqueduct during Antiquity is intimately linked to the history of the city of Carthago, under the Roman then the Byzantine occupation. Later, in medieval and modem times when the Gulf of Tunis regained its hosting role of the province’s capital, the aqueduct accompanied the expansion of the city. The work accomplished on this aqueduct in the past is so important for the water supply of the city, that some of its sectors and structures are still in use nowadays. Setting this complex historical evolution of this aqueduct provides the necessary archaeological background, by pinpointing the multiplicity of interventions based on different building or repair methodologies. In fact the validity of any investigation of alteration or decay concerning ancient building materials, is intimately related to the historical-technical context that has determined there initial fearures.

After the defeat of Carthaginians in 146 B.C., Romans destroyed Carthago. Then in 122 B.C., Caius Gracchus built in the site of the ancient Punic city a colony named “Colonia Junonia Karthago”. Caesar in 44 B-C was interested in this colony; he decided for a second time the foundation of the city. But this was accomplished only after his death by the Chiefs of the Second Triumvirate (Octavius, Marc-Antonio, Lepidus). Finally in 29 B.C. under Octavianus Augustus, this second foundation took effect and the name: Colonia Julia Concordia Karthago has been attributed to it. Its urban development began and continued gradually and slowly along the 1st century under the Julio-Claudians and the Flavians.

Click here to read this article from Africa: Revue des Études et Recherches préhistoriques, antiques, islamiques et ethnographiques

Dutch historian Jo Teeuwisse discovered 300 negatives in a flea market and began to research the sites of the photos

Combined historical photos with photos showing as the same location is today. He started doing this years ago as a research tool, now he mostly does it because of a passion for history and fascination with the subject.

Browse Jo’s images on  www.flickr.com

See on Scoop.it – Archaeology News

Tim Taylor has responded to the article – with his own statement :

http://www.scribd.com/doc/110569680/Tim-s-Response-to-Guardian-Article-on-Time-Teams-Future

This article titled “Channel 4 consigns Time Team to TV history” was written by Tara Conlan, for The Guardian on Friday 19th October 2012 23.38 UTC

It has unearthed historical relics ranging from the remains of the first Spitfire to be shot down during the Battle of Britain to skeletons of Anglo-Saxon monks beneath Westminster Abbey, but after almost 20 years on air Tony Robinson’s archaeology series, Time Team, is being buried by Channel 4.

Time Team has been one of the cornerstones of Channel 4′s factual programming but it is being consigned to television history to make way for new shows.

Robinson, who played the luckless Baldrick in the hit BBC comedy Blackadder, said: “Not many performers are given the privilege of featuring in two iconic TV series – but I’ve been lucky.

“Time Team was not only high-quality public service television, it also attracted a large and passionate audience both in the UK and overseas. I’m proud to have been associated with it.”

Time Team, which began in 1994, became a hit with viewers, with special editions such as The Big Dig in 2003 which dug up 1,000 sites around the UK live in a week. The show has been exported to more than 36 countries.

About four years ago, Time Team was attracting 2.5 million viewers, but recently appears to have lost its way.

A revamp designed to boost ratings was criticised by one of the show’s regular experts, Mick Aston, who left, claiming it had been “dumbed down” and there was “a lot less archaeological content and a lot more pratting about”.

The changes included hiring former model and Cambridge University archaeology postgraduate Mary-Ann Ochota. But she later left the show, saying the “series didn’t work out quite how I wanted it to”.

A special called Brunel’s Last Launch, which aired last November, was watched by a smaller audience of 1.5 million.

Channel 4 said it wanted to focus on new and innovative history programming. “Channel 4 history is all about bringing the past to life in eye-opening, entertaining and innovative ways, from the best archaeological scoops, to big factual dramas,” said Julia Harrington, the channels’ commissioning editor for history.

New programmes include a documentary about the hunt for the remains of Richard III – called the King in the Carpark: Richard III – and a new series, the People of Stonehenge.

The final series of Time Team will air next year with a programme looking back at highlights from 250 episodes. There will then be four specials which will play into 2014.

Channel 4 head of factual Ralph Lee said: “I am incredibly proud that, as well as providing hundreds of hours of education and entertainment on Channel 4, Time Team has invested, over and above production costs, more than £4m in archaeology in Britain over the past 18 years.”

Lee said Channel 4 was discussing “other ideas around archaeology” with Time Team’s creator Tim Taylor.

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010

Published via the Guardian News Feed plugin for WordPress.

“When you walked into his classes, you felt you were on the frontier of knowledge in the field,” said Peter Machinist, who studied under Dr. Cross as an undergraduate at Harvard and now holds the endowed professorship there that Dr. Cross had held until his retirement in 1992. “Whatever happened in the field would come to him first, before it got published, because people wanted to know what he thought.”