Welcome to our latest editions of the Journal and Magazine sections. There is a great mixture of topics, which we hope will provide something for everyone.
The Twenty Second Dynasty Mummy of Meresamun. Photograph by Brian Alm
In the Journal section Kate Phizackerley has brought together the results of two excavations in the tomb of Horemheb in the Valley of the Kings, separated by nearly a century, to assess the combined discoveries of the tomb’s contents. Given the extent to which the tomb was robbed, the article reveals a surprisingly elaborate inventory. Etienne Vande Walle has contributed an article about the decoration and titles in the Old Kingdom tomb of Mereruka in Saqqara (available in both French and English).
In the Magazine Articles section Brian Alm continues his excellent series on Ancient Egyptian religion with two articles. His first article, part 4 of the series, looks at Ancient Egyptian mortuary traditions, whilst the accompanying article focuses on the judgement scene from the New Kingdom Book of the Dead. Following his introductory piece in Edition 4, Howard Middleton-Jones has written an article exploring early Coptic church architecture and comparing them with Pharaonic temple architecture. Garry Beuk, who wrote an article in support of Giovanni Belzoni in Edition 2 has contributed the first part of his exploration of the ups and downs of Arthur Weigall’s fascinating career. From Porin Šćukanec Rezniček we have a survey of the mummies on display in the Archaeological Museum of Zagreb in Croatia. Barbara O’Neill has done a considerable amount of research into the different types of Egyptology course available in the UK for those who want to explore the options for flexible learning and in this article she talks about the frustrations of finding an appropriate course, and has collated her findings in an invaluable table. Finally Andrea Byrnes has written an article, divided into two parts, about the early Third Intermediate Period, to put the recent discovery of the new 22nd Dynasty burial in the Valley of the Kings into context.
In the Magazine Reviews section, we have a review of Professor Geoffrey Martin’s excellent lecture about the re-excavation of the tomb of Horemheb in the Valley of the Kings, and a review of Joyce Tyldesley’s book ‘Judgement of the Pharaohs’.
In our In Brief and the Photo Album sections several new items have been added since the last edition.
We sincerely hope that you enjoy the latest editions. Do feel free to comment on any of the articles – our authors seriously appreciate the feedback that readers provide.
We would like to thank those who helped with editing and proof reading: Kate Gingell (to whom many thanks for turning around late articles so quickly), Cheryll Agg, Florence Shearer, Karen Hauck and Vivianne Rowan. Special thanks to Diana Gainer for again translating a very challenging article from the original French.
As usual, we are looking for more writers for the Journal, Magazine and In Brief, and more photographs for our Photo Albums. Don’t forget that you do not have to be an experienced writer to contribute. If you have good material we can help you to put it in order and make it into an article. Do get in touch.
Barbara O’Neill’s article makes it clear that there is an obvious deficit in the provision of Egyptological distance learning. With our considerable online experience, and assets like our hieroglyphics parser, we (Andrea and Kate) would be interested in discussing collaboration with any institution wishing to increase their distance learning provision in this field.
By Andrea