Akhenaten: The Rebel Pharaoh

Here we have a six-part program hosted by Dr. Bob Brier on Akhenaten and the world he created. Most interesting to me were the rare images of the mummy of Amenhotep III, though it was only one of the highlights of the program.

The Eternal Hairdo

 The ancient Egyptians loved their hairstyles and wished to be coiffed well for eternity. This included the use of fats and resin to set their curls for the afterlife. Unfortunately, eternity is a long time, and most ended up with severe cases of bedhead, not to mention the crudely mannered intruder over the millennia who, for some reason, wants to see if they can pull out your hair?

There is mention in the article of scented fat cones we see on the heads of women in tomb paintings, though one has never been found to my knowledge. 

Note: Since the writing of this article, two scent cones have been found on mummies at Tell el-Amarna.

The Continuing Story of Ka-nefer-nefer

The story of the mask called Ka-nefer-nefer in the St. Louis Art Museum appears to be shifting in favour of Cairo, as the mask is clearly the same one excavated and shown in excavation photos from the early 1950s.

Lawyers for the museum are trying everything they can to resolve the situation in the best interest of the museum. However, the argument of statutes of limitations, although it admits the masks' correct provenance, still rewards the museum because it took too long to discover the crime.

Not likely to happen with the American authorities now involved, and the St. Louis Art Museum should expect a visit in the future to hand over the mask. St. Louis' lawyers might spend their time better by suing the art dealer they bought the mask from.

The issue at present appears to be based on what kind of "contraband" the mask is, and what laws apply. St Louis' position gets weaker and weaker. The St. Louis Art Museum admits the masks' provenance; please go to their site to see the masks' provenance according to St. Louis' acquisition.

Here is the background information on the mask:  The Battle for Ka-nefer-nefer

Source of update: Looting Matters 

Hatshepsut Poisoned?

 There is a study going on at the University of Bonn on a lovely little bottle bearing cartouches of King Hatshepsut. The researchers have discovered from the dried residue inside the bottle that it contains a carcinogenic hydrocarbon, which may have poisoned Hatshepsut.

I have heard of the bottle before, but have no idea of its provenance. I would think that just because Hatshepsut's cartouches are on the bottle that it is highly unlikely that it actually belonged to the king? I would think that putting the reigning king's cartouches on objects was how it was probably done at the workshops where objects were created, and that it is not necessarily a personal possession of the king.

Very interesting findings though, as the ointment in the bottle may have been a product produced for the population and not just the king? It would be interesting to see if residue of the hydrocarbon can be found in any of the royal mummies in Cairo.

To learn more about Hatshepsut, check out Stuart Tyler's Hatshepsut Project

Image: Associated Press

Metropolitan Returns Tutankhamun Objects to Egypt

This article on the return of objects from New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art back to Egypt. The artifacts are believed to have been taken by Howard Carter from the tomb of Tutankhamun.

The objects removed by Carter were termed by the late Thomas Hoving as a "pocket collection" as all the artifacts easily fit into a pocket and were thus removed from the boy king's tomb. The article has two pictures.

Here you will find background information on the story.

The Carter/Carnarvon Connection

Ancient Building Uncovered at Meroe

The site of the ancient city of Meroe in the Sudan was originally discovered before World War one by the famous archaeologist John Garstang, who unfortunately never published his findings. Now, archaeologists working on behalf of the Royal Ontario Museum have found what they believe to be the oldest building found so far. The newly discovered building may be a royal palace located beneath the ruins of a newer palace.

Reading the Oxyrhynchus Papyri

This is an article on the huge discovery of the Oxyrhynchus papyri, which contained thousands of fragments from Egypt's Greco-Roman period. The collection is so huge that it has been impossible to translate the hoard of documents.

Among the documents found are many famous lost works by authors like Euripides, Herodotus, and Plato.

Oldest Known Image of King in White Crown

The image was probably carved around 3200 bc and was discovered about a half-century ago at the site of Nag el Hamdulab by archaeologist Labib Habachi. It is believed to be the oldest representation of a king of Egypt wearing the white crown.

Awful Artifacts Reappear

The fine folks at Egypt's Cairo museum are a little more relieved today from finding two objects believed stolen during the break-in at the end of January. The drawing of the Heset vase really does sum up a broken antiquities department, including mismanagement of the national museum's ledgers; they could have at least whipped out a box of crayons and coloured it.

Who in the world would break into the Cairo museum and, of all its treasures, steal that awful clay bed when the robber could have made more money by stealing one of the museum's garbage cans? Now that the Heset vase has been located, I imagine it might be a good time to take a proper picture of it, in colour and not blurry.

Certainly, the real price paid for the loss of these pieces was the exposure of the museum's ledgers to the public eye and particularly the vulnerability of the museum's security, with the display that Dr. Zahi Hawass was unable to guarantee security for Neues Nefertiti should she have been present, thankfully she stayed in Berlin and missed the robbery of Cairo's Amarna collection.

In all fairness, the museum is 109 years old, and though it has pulled in untold millions, the museum does not appear to have benefited from it. I am not surprised that these two objects have turned up in the museum, and based on their appreciative value, I would suspect that they might have been better off lost!

Vincent at Talking Pyramids has pictures of items recovered.

Metropolitan Returns Tutankhamun Objects

It has long been known that objects in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, which came to the museum via Howard Carter and his associates, as well as other museums. Mr. Carter appears to have created a collection of pocket-sized objects from the tomb of Tutankhamun.

This week, the Metropolitan will be handing over more of the pieces acquired by Carter for his as well as his patron Lord Carnarvon's collections.

The Carter/Carnarvon Connection

Rosetta Stone in Context

This coming week, on August 4, British Museum Curator Richard Parkinson will be discussing the world-famous stele created in 196 bc for the first anniversary of the coronation of Ptolemy V. The stone and its inscription, as well as its context, will be discussed.