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EGYPTOLOGY TODAY
Egyptology Today examines how modern scholars study all aspects of ancient Egypt, one of the greatest of all ancient civilizations. In essays by archaeologists, curators, scholars, and conservators who are actively involved in research or applied aspects of Egyptology, this book looks at the techniques and methods used to increase our understanding of a distant culture that was as old to the Greeks and Romans as their cultures are to us. Topics range from how tombs and other monuments are discovered, excavated, recorded, and preserved to the study of Egyptian history, art, artifacts, and texts. Each chapter shows how modern Egyptology approaches, learns about, and strives to preserve the ancient remains of one of the most fascinating cultures in human history. Richard H. Wilkinson is professor of Egyptian archaeology at the University of Arizona. As Director of the University of Arizona Egyptian Expedition, he has conducted archaeological projects in Egypts Valley of the Kings for twenty years and is currently excavating the memorial temple of Queen Tausert in western Thebes. He is the author of many articles and reviews as well as seven previous books, most recently The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt and Egyptian Scarabs.

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Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-86364-3 - Egyptology Today Edited by Richard H. Wilkinson Frontmatter More information

EGYPTOLOGY TODAY

Edited by Richard H. Wilkinson


University of Arizona

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Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-86364-3 - Egyptology Today Edited by Richard H. Wilkinson Frontmatter More information

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS

Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, S o Paulo, Delhi a Cambridge University Press 32 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10013-2473, USA www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521863643
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Cambridge University Press 2008

This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2008 Printed in the United States of America A catalog record for this publication is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Wilkinson, Richard H. Egyptology today / edited by Richard H. Wilkinson. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-521-86364-3 hardback ISBN 978-0-521-68226-8 (pbk.) 1. Egyptology. 2. Egypt Antiquities. I. Title. DT60.W768 2007 932.0072dc22 2007018738 ISBN 978-0-521-86364-3 hardback ISBN 978-0-521-68226-8 paperback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party Internet Web sites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such Web sites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

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Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-86364-3 - Egyptology Today Edited by Richard H. Wilkinson Frontmatter More information

CONTENTS
List of Illustrations Brief Biographies of Contributors Acknowledgments Introduction r The Past in the Present: Egyptology Today Richard H. Wilkinson PART I METHODS: PATHS TO THE PAST 1 r Archaeology and Egyptology Kent R. Weeks 2 r History and Egyptology Donald B. Redford 3 r Medical Science and Egyptology A. Rosalie David PART II MONUMENTS: STRUCTURES FOR THIS LIFE AND THE NEXT 4 r Site Survey in Egyptology Sarah H. Parcak 5 r Epigraphy and Recording Peter F. Dorman 6 r Monument and Site Conservation Michael Jones 57 7 page vii xi xiii 1

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Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-86364-3 - Egyptology Today Edited by Richard H. Wilkinson Frontmatter More information

CONTENTS

PART III ART AND ARTIFACTS: OBJECTS AS SUBJECT 7 r Art of Ancient Egypt Rita E. Freed 8 r Ancient Egypt in Museums Today Arielle P. Kozloff 9 r Artifact Conservation and Egyptology Susanne G nsicke a PART IV TEXTS: WORDS OF GODS AND MEN 10 r The Egyptian Language James P. Allen 11 r Ancient Egyptian Literature John L. Foster and Ann L. Foster 12 r Egyptian Religious Texts Ronald J. Leprohon Afterword r The Past in the Future: Egyptology Tomorrow Richard H. Wilkinson Bibliography Index 189 123

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Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-86364-3 - Egyptology Today Edited by Richard H. Wilkinson Frontmatter More information

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
1.1 Excavating in Egypt: Professor Petrie at Thebes. Watercolor by Henry page 13 Wallis. 1.2 Susan Weeks examining pottery from KV-5 in the Valley of the 14 Kings. 15 1.3 Using surveying equipment in the Valley of the Kings. 16 1.4 Balloon at Deir el Bahri. 17 1.5 Aerial view of temple excavation, Thebes West Bank. 19 1.6 Kent Weeks examines human skull from KV-5. 3.1 Dr. Margaret Murray and team unwrapping a mummy at the 39 University of Manchester (1908). 3.2 Dr. Rosalie David commences the unwrapping and autopsy of 40 Mummy No. 1770 at the University of Manchester (1975). 3.3 Painted cartonnage slippers revealed during the unwrapping of 41 Mummy 1770 at the University of Manchester (1975). 3.4 Dr. Rosalie David and team member Ken Wildsmith use an 47 endoscope to examine a mummy at the University of Manchester. 58 4.1 Image of the site of Tell Fagi, visited during the 2003 Delta survey. 4.2 Cemetery of the town of Nazlet Mahmoud, found during the 2004 59 Middle Egypt survey season. 4.3 Part of 2002 Landsat satellite image of the central city part of Tell 68 el-Amarna. 4.4 Part of a 2005 Quickbird satellite image of the same area with a 69 0.6-m resolution. 4.5 The 2003 Delta survey region (Area A) and the 2004 Middle Egypt 70 survey region (Area B). 4.6 The town of Umm Qummus, visited during the 2004 Middle Egypt 71 survey. 4.7 The town of Umm Qummus, using an unsupervised classication 72 system. 73 4.8 Differential GPS-generated map of the Tell el-Amarna region. 79 5.1 Right-facing text on the Second Stela of Kamose. vii

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Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-86364-3 - Egyptology Today Edited by Richard H. Wilkinson Frontmatter More information

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 Figure of Mereruka from his tomb at Saqqara. Raised relief scene from the Temple of Luxor. Drawing of the scene in Fig. 5.3. Scene of adoration, executed in painted plaster, in the tomb of Roma. A relief of Hatshepsut from the Temple of Karnak. The barge of Khonsu and its towboats. Marina al-Alamain. View of part of the Roman town. Medinet Habu. Entrances to the temples. Tourists at the Khafra Valley Temple, Giza. Matariyah-Heliopolis. The obelisk of Senusret I as currently displayed. Luxor Temple. Sorting, treatment, and stacking of decorated sandstone blocks. Valley of the Kings. Floodwater control project beside the tombs of Ramesses I and Sety I. Abydos: Shunet el-Zebib. New brickwork being added to protect damaged ancient masonry. Mit Rahinah-Memphis. The 19th Dynasty temple of Hathor. King Menkaure (Mycerinus) and queen. Bust of Prince Ankhhaf. Head of a female sphinx. Kneeling Amenhotep III as the god Neferhotep. Head and shoulders from a colossus of Ramesses II. Amulet of Harsaphes. Head of a priest (The Boston Green Head). Exterior, Coptic Museum, Cairo. Display case, Coptic Museum, Cairo. Imhotep Museum. Egyptian sculpture, exhibit hall, The Louvre. Hatshepsut Exhibit. Museum staff in conference, British Museum. Fragments of vulture-shaped ivory inlays before treatment. Twenty-four reconstructed ivories mounted in a suggested original arrangement. Ceramic bowl damaged by previously used adhesive. Bronze vessel showing turquoise-colored corrosion caused by an inappropriate adhesive. Detail of a limestone stele with severe surface disintegration due to the action of soluble salts. Installation of sandstone blocks from a gateway. 81 84 85 89 93 94 101 103 105 108 109 111 113 115 128 129 131 135 139 140 141 147 148 149 151 153 157 167 168 169 170 171 172

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Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-86364-3 - Egyptology Today Edited by Richard H. Wilkinson Frontmatter More information

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 9.7 The reconstructed gateway from an enclosure of a temple at Koptos. 10.1 The Egyptian hieroglyphic alphabet (signs for single consonantal phonemes). 10.2 Hieratic inscription with hieroglyphic transliteration below. 10.3 Demotic inscription with transliteration below. 10.4 The Coptic alphabet. 11.1 Photograph of Papyrus British Museum 10274 recto, which details a passage from The Eloquent Peasant. 11.2 Queen Nefertari and the poem, For a Portrait of the Queen, from Luxor Temple. 11.3 Ostracon OIM 1700217003: the beginning of The Instruction of Hordjedef. Photograph of ostracon with hieratic text preserved on surface. 11.4 Ostracon OIM 1700217003: the beginning of The Instruction of Hordjedef. Hieratic phase of transcription. 11.5 Ostracon OIM 1700217003: the beginning of The Instruction of Hordjedef. Hieroglyphic phase of transcription. 11.6 Ostracon OIM 1700217003: the beginning of The Instruction of Hordjedef. Hieroglyphic text of ostracon rendered in preserved, probable verse lines. 11.7 Parallel text reconstruction for signs appearing between verse points in the third line of Ostracon OIM 1700217003: the beginning of The Instruction of Hordjedef. 11.8 Eclectic text for the beginning of The Instruction of Hordjedef. 12.1 Harp players and hymns to Hathor, Early Middle Kingdom Tomb of Senet. 173 191 192 193 195 211 215

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Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-86364-3 - Egyptology Today Edited by Richard H. Wilkinson Frontmatter More information

BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES OF CONTRIBUTORS


JAMES P. ALLEN Wilbour Professor of Egyptology and Chair, Department of Egyptology and Ancient Western Asian Studies, Brown University Allen, J. P., Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs. Cambridge, 2000. A. ROSALIE DAVID, OBE Professor of Biomedical Egyptology and Director of the KNH Center, University of Manchester David, A. R., ed. Egyptian Mummies and Modern Science. Cambridge, forthcoming. PETER F. DORMAN Professor of Egyptology and Chairman, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Oriental Institute, University of Chicago Dorman, P., Faces in Clay: Technique, Imagery, and Allusion in a Corpus of Ceramic Sculpture from Ancient Egypt. Mainz, 2002. ANN L. FOSTER Fellow, The American Research Center in Egypt A. L. Foster is currently working with J. L. Foster on the publication of the literary ostraca from the collection of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. JOHN L. FOSTER Research Associate, The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago Foster, J. L., Ancient Egyptian Literature: An Anthology. Austin, 2001. RITA E. FREED John F. Cogan and Mary L. Cornille Chair, Art of the Ancient World, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Adjunct Professor of Art at Wellesley College Freed, Rita E., Yvonne J. Markowitz, and Sue H. DAuria. Pharaohs of the Sun: Akhenaten, Nefertiti, Tutankhamen. Boston, 1999.

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Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-86364-3 - Egyptology Today Edited by Richard H. Wilkinson Frontmatter More information

BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES OF CONTRIBUTORS


SUSANNE GANSICKE Conservator, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston G nsicke, S., and Timothy Kendall, A Fresh Look at the Cylinder Sheaths from Nuri, a Sudan, Nubian Studies 1998. Proceedings of the Ninth Conference of the International Society of Nubian Studies, August 2126, 1998, Boston, Massachusetts, 2433. Boston, 2004. MICHAEL JONES Associate Director, Egyptian Antiquities Conservation Project, American Research Center in Egypt, Cairo Jones, M., The Church of St. Antony: The Architecture. In Elizabeth S. Bolman, ed., Monastic Visions, Wall Paintings in the Monastery of St. Antony at the Red Sea. New Haven, CT, and London, 2002. ARIELLE P. KOZLOFF Former Curator, The Cleveland Museum of Art Kozloff, A., and B. Bryan. Egypts Dazzling Sun: Amenhotep III and His World. Cleveland, 1992. RONALD J. LEPROHON Professor of Egyptology, Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, University of Toronto R. Leprohon. Stelae 1. The Early Dynastic Period to the Late Middle Kingdom. Corpus Antiquitatum Aegyptiacarum. Fasc. 2. Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Mainz, 1985. R. Leprohon. Stelae 2. The New Kingdom to the Coptic Period. Corpus Antiquitatum Aegyptiacarum. Fasc. 3. Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Mainz, 1991. SARAH H. PARCAK Assistant Professor, University of AlabamaBirmingham Parcak, S., Satellite Remote Sensing Methods for Monitoring Archaeological Tell Sites in the Middle East, Journal of Field Archaeology (forthcoming): 41 pp. DONALD B. REDFORD, FRSC Professor of Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies, The Pennsylvania State University Redford, D. B. Egypt, Canaan and Israel in Ancient Times. Princeton, NJ, 1992. KENT R. WEEKS Professor Emeritus, the American University in Cairo and Director of the Theban Mapping Project Weeks, K. R. The Atlas of the Valley of the Kings. Cairo, 2000.

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Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-86364-3 - Egyptology Today Edited by Richard H. Wilkinson Frontmatter More information

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
THE EDITOR: The editor would like to acknowledge with gratitude the work of the contributors to this volume and the kind help of his wife, Anna, whose patience and encouragement were invaluable. Thanks are also due to Cambridge University Press Publishing Director Beatrice Rehl, Aptara Inc. Production Manager Mary Paden, and everyone involved in the volumes production. S. GANSICKE: Thanks are due to Arthur Beale, Michele Derrick, Lisa Ellis, Abigail Hykin, Dawn Kimbrell, Richard Newman, Deborah Schorsch, and Timothy Kendall for advice, for discussions, and for providing resources or scientic analysis. A. KOZLOFF: This author would like to thank the following people for having added their thoughts to this discussion: Lawrence Berman, Vivian Davies, Elisabeth Delange, Ren e Dreyfus, Rita Freed, e Thomas Hardwick, Zahi Hawass, Christine Lilyquist, Maarten Raven, Regine Schultz, Neal Spencer, Nigel Strudwick, Mary Suzor, and John Taylor. She is also grateful to the Muses for having brought her to work with Sherman Lee, Jack Cooney, Evan Turner, and the outstanding staff of the Cleveland Museum of Art. S. PARCAK: I would like to thank Richard Wilkinson for inviting me to contribute to this volume, Peter Piccione for sharing the results of his Luxor project, and Greg Mumford for his editorial assistance.

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