Edition - May, 2012
Editorial – Journal Edition 4 / Magazine Edition 6
Once again we are publishing in both the Egyptological Journal and the Egyptological Magazine. As usual the Journal contains a small number of academic articles. Etienne Vande Walle, a former President of the Brussel’s Court of Instance has contributed a number of previous articles combining his deep knowledge of legal systems with considerable personal research […] [more…]
Arthur Cruttenden Mace – Taking His Rightful Place, Part 1
“You see my father was an Egyptologist, you won’t know of him, Arthur Mace, he’s long forgotten.” These words were softly spoken by Margaret Orr, the daughter of Arthur Mace to a group of school children in 1989. In this article, I will show that this is, sadly, an accurate statement regarding the general public’s lack of knowledge regarding Arthur Maces contributions to the field of Egyptology and more specifically to the science of artifact preservation. But why? [more…]
Review: Study Day. Ancient Egypt – Myth and History with John Romer
John Romer delivered an ambitious set of lectures that looked at the history of Egyptology, with a view to understanding how ideas about the past first developed in the nineteenth century have influenced how Egyptology is researched and understood today. [more…]
sAb Corpus
The sAb Corpus is a 300+ page compendium of the instances of the various forms of the use of the title sAb or “Justice” [more…]
Review. Bill Manley, Egyptian Hieroglyphs for Complete Beginners. 2012
Bill Manley, well known for the surprising best seller How To Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs that he co-authored with Mark Collier, (generally known simply as “Collier and Manley”) has produced a new book for those who are planning to learn hieroglyphs for the first time. The Preface, as well as the book’s title, makes it clear that Dr Manley is aiming at the complete beginner with this book [more…]
Review: Memphis Under the Pharaohs (Dorothy L Thompson)
I was looking forward to reading the second edition of Memphis Under the Ptolemies by Dorothy Thompson. There is an allure, almost a mystique, to Memphis. I wanted to say I enjoyed the book. Sadly I cannot. It became something of a chore, but one rewarded by a great chapter later in the book. An unexpected treasure. Many other reviewers have considered the book in the context of its standing as an academic work. Most students and scholars are likely to have access to the book through their faculty library. In approaching my own review I have therefore considered it more from the viewpoint of enthusiastic amateurs or distance learning students who do not have access to a specialist library. [more…]
The new Ancient Egypt and Sudan galleries at the Ashmolean, Oxford
The Ashmolean Museum, a neoclassical edifice built by Sir Charles Cockerel in 1845, has invested both money and creativity in a refurbishment of the entire museum and art gallery. The effect, bright and open, a sympathetic blending of old architecture and new design, is inviting and attractive. The Ancient Egypt and Sudan galleries were the last to receive the modernization treatment. Costing over £5 million and designed by Richard Mather, they were re-opened in November 2011. [more…]
Ammit – Mother of the Sphinx?
In the 1st century BC, the pragmatic Roman orator, Cicero (De Natura Deorum 2, 2) felt that in his educated and informed age, “those inventions of the imagination” ought to be put aside. For he enquired: “Who believes that the Hippocentaurus or the Chimaera ever existed”? [more…]