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"In the 1980s, Denver Museum of Nature & Science acquired two ancient Egyptian mummies and coffins. The mummies are from an unknown locale and have been subject of unpublished scientific and unscientific analyses. The DMNS staff scientists decided to reexamine the mummies and coffins using new and innovative techniques"--
This volume challenges assumptions about—and highlights new approaches to—the study of ancient Egyptian society by tackling various thematic social issues through structured individual case studies. The reader will be presented with questions about the relevance of the past in the present. The chapters encourage an understanding of Egypt in its own terms through the lens of power, people, and place, offering a more nuanced understanding of the way Egyptian society was organized and illustrating the benefits of new approaches to topics in need of a critical re-examination. By re-evaluating traditional, long-held beliefs about a monolithic, unchanging ancient Egyptian society, this volume writes a new narrative—one unchecked assumption at a time. Ancient Egyptian Society: Challenging Assumptions, Exploring Approaches is intended for anyone studying ancient Egypt or ancient societies more broadly, including undergraduate and graduate students, Egyptologists, and scholars in adjacent fields.
Egyptian coffins stand out in museum collections for their lively and radiant appearance. As a container of the mummy, coffins played a key role by protecting the body and, at the same time, integrating the deceased in the afterlife. The paramount importance of these objects and their purpose is detected in the ways they changed through time. For more than three thousand years, coffins and tombs had been designed to assure in the most efficient way possible a successful outcome for the difficult transition to the afterlife. This book examines eight non-royal tombs found relatively intact, from the plains of Saqqara to the sacred hills of Thebes. These almost undisturbed burial sites managed ...
Major new multi-disciplinary collection of papers focusing on the development of the coffin in ancient Egypt and the belief systems behind funerary practices involving their use and on new methods and applications of scientific techniques for the analysis of construction, materials and craftmanship involved in coffin manufacture and reworking.
This study presents a revised view of Egyptian foreign relations in the eastern Mediterranean during the Old Kingdom (3rd-6th Dynasties) based on an extensive analysis of old and new archaeological data, and its relationship to the well-known textual sources. The material demonstrates that while Egypt's most important relationships were with Byblos and the Lebanese coast generally, it was an active participant in the geo-political and economic affairs of the Levant throughout much of the third millennium BCE. The archaeological data shows that the foundation of these relationships was established at the beginning of the Early Dynastic Period and essentially continued until the end of the 6th...
This Element offers a new approach to ancient Egyptian images informed by interdisciplinary work in archaeology, anthropology, and art history. Sidestepping traditional perspectives on Egyptian art, the Element focuses squarely on the ontological status of the image in ancient thought and experience. To accomplish this, section 2 takes up a number of central Egyptian terms for images, showing that a close examination of their etymology and usage can help resolve long-standing question on Egyptian imaging practices. Section 3 discusses ancient Egyptian experiences of materials and manufacturing processes, while section 4 categorizes and discusses the different purposes and functions for which images were created. The Element as a whole thus offers a concise introduction to ancient Egyptian imaging practices for an interdisciplinary readership, while at the same introducing new ways of thinking about familiar material for the Egyptological reader.
Informative and provocative, this book introduces readers to debates in the contemporary study of religion and suggests future research possibilities.
Leading scholars report on current research that demonstrates the central role of cultural evolution in explaining human behavior. Over the past few decades, a growing body of research has emerged from a variety of disciplines to highlight the importance of cultural evolution in understanding human behavior. Wider application of these insights, however, has been hampered by traditional disciplinary boundaries. To remedy this, in this volume leading researchers from theoretical biology, developmental and cognitive psychology, linguistics, anthropology, sociology, religious studies, history, and economics come together to explore the central role of cultural evolution in different aspects of h...
This volume contains the proceedings of the twenty-third Annual Egyptological Colloquium, held at the British Museum in 2014, augmented by additional papers. The twenty-three contributions investigate functionality, iconography and manufacture of ancient Egyptian coffins from the First Intermediate Period to the eighth century AD. The authors explore the conceptual aspects which lay behind the production of coffins through the study of iconography and texts, examining the functional role of these complex objects as 'structured compositions' which were designed to play an important part in transforming the deceased occupants and perpetuating their existence beyond death. Reinstating coffins i...
Tomb Painting and Identity in Ancient Thebes, 1419-1372 BCE examines the style, iconography, and symbolism of painting in all extant private Theban tomb chapels decorated during the reigns of Thutmose IV and Amenhotep III. The book studies the ways in which pictorial imagery functioned on behalf of the dead in the afterlife, presented their identity to the living, and revealed underlying religious developments with important societal implications. Various aspects of the pre-Amarna Theban tomb are explored, from the tomb's purpose as a creative and commemorative vehicle for the deceased to the placement and functional properties of its imagery. The book also discusses the different styles of ...