Tutankamun Exhibition

Museum to unveil treasures from King Tut's tomb
Kylie Northover and Michelle Griffin
October 29, 2010


The coffinette for the viscera of Tutankhamun is displayed at the Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of Pharaohs exhibition in Los Angeles last year.
Treasures from the tomb of King Tutankhamun will be seen in Australia for the first time when the Tutankhamun and The Golden Age of The Pharaohs exhibition opens at the Melbourne Museum in April next year.

The exhibition, part of the museum's Melbourne Winter Masterpieces, will feature more than 130 artefacts from Tut's tomb and the tombs and temples of his ancestors from Egypt's 200-year “Golden Age”.

Billed as “the greatest exhibition of all time," more than seven million people across the US and in London have seen the artefacts since its debut in 2005.

Egypt's Ministry of Culture has spiked interest by vowing that this is the last time the boy king's tomb treasures will ever leave his homeland.

Only last December, the director of Sydney's Australian Museum, Frank Howarth, said the show's $10 million price tag and its size were too big for Australian institutions to handle.

But in a coup for Victoria, the Melbourne Museum entered a partnership with sports and entertainment management company IMG to bring the king to Melbourne. Victorian Major Events Company and the State Government also helped to underwrite the bill.

"We looked at bringing it out ourselves and the answer was no," said Dr Patrick Greene, the director of the Melbourne Museum. "It needed IMG to take on the risk."

One of the last kings of Egypt's 18th Dynasty, Tutankhamun was believed to have been a minor monarch, yet he lives large in both modern archaeology and mythology.

Among the treasures that will go on display in April is Tut's diadem, the golden headpiece found around Tut's head when Howard Carter opened the royal coffin in the 1930s, 3000 years after the king was entombed.

The exhibition also features several ritual figures of kings and deities; the Falcon Collar found on Tut's mummy; and golden daggers and jewellery.

Not since the 1970s has King Tut fever been so high, with the exhibition attracting record crowds in the US and garnering rave reviews.

http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/museum-to-unveil-treasures-from-king-tuts-tomb-20101029-176xv.html

i have a friend...

he looks like akhenaten.

Akhenaten: THE COMIC!

Akhenaten the comic book character first featured in the Icredible Hulk #457 and is referred to as the mutant apocalypse. Akhenaten asks the god Aten for aid, which is where his evil powers derive from. He is kidnapped by aliens known as the "CELESTIAL ORDER" (Ma'at anybody?), who imbibe him with the power of the Heart of the Infinate. Akhenaten returns to earth after a millenia of gathering his power in order to smite mythological heroes. He is finally usurped by Titan Thanos who travelled back in time to stop Akhenaten from attacking Doctor Doom.

It is claimed that the character is based on the 18th Dynasty pharaoh, however, I'm going to assume that it's very LOOSELY based.

Michael & Nefertiti!!!

Michael Jackson did a video clip for his song "Remember the Time" back in the 90's.

The stars of the clip were Eddie Murphy and a model named Iman who played a pharaoh and his queen.

Iman is wearing the same crown as the famous bust of Nefertiti found by the German archaeologist back in the early 1900's

AKHENATEN'S MUMMY

YES, I KNOW WE DO NOT HAVE HIM.

I was having a read of the "interesting reading but do not write about this on your test" page, and it says (and I quote):
"Such study of his [Akhenaten's] personality could never be fulfilled without noticing his characteristic physical features. His mummy, statues and reliefs were meticulously studied..."

Ah, excuse me - "his mummy"?
"His mummy?"

Ah...

The article never refers to the mummy again, but we have to wonder. "Sameh M. Arab", who is not holding a Ph D, but is, like, a literal doctor (the MD kind), wrote this. And failed. The end.

The 101 - Hat'z BabyDaddy!

According to Wikipedia, Senenmut was an architect and government official in 18th century Egypt who claimed to be the chief architect of Deir el Bahri, Hatshepsut's mortuary temple.

Strictly business?

Also according to Wikipedia, some Egyptologists believe that Hatshepsut and Senenmut were lovers. Two pieces of evidence that they use to support this are that:

1) Hatshepsut let him carve his name and likeness behind one of the doors at Djeseru-Djeseru (not sure where that is ...)

2) Some graffiti in an unfinished tomb, supposedly a rest house for workers, depicting a man and hermaphrodite pharaoh having 'intimate relations'.

Apart from these two, Wikipedia says that Hatshepsut seemed to have favoured the construction of Senenmut's tomb.

Was Senenmut a spunk?

Patricia O'Neill is a historical fiction writer who seems to have expended an inordinate amount of time pondering this very question.

http://www.hermajestytheking.com/senenmut.htm

In other news ...

These are statues of Neferure, Hatshepsut's daughter, with Senenmut, who was her tutor. Of the twenty or more so statues found of Senenmut, eight of them show Senenmut and Neferure together ... I'm not really sure why.

What a funnt moment in class today!

Media and communication in Ancient Egypt

This was another one of Ms O'Neill's homework questions ...
How did people in Ancient Egypt get information around?

Newspapers?
The first Egyptian newspaper began in 1828, so there weren't any newspapers (or more appropriately, newspapyruses) in Hatshepsut's time. Instead, heralds would give oral reports to pharaohs and town criers would make important announcements in public areas.


A papyrus scroll

Pigeon post
The first known use of pigeons as couriers was in Egypt, where incoming ships of important people would release pigeons to announce their arrival.


This is 'Cher Ami',a celebrated carrier pigeon from World War 1. Carrier pigeons can actually carry up to 75g when they're trained.

Scribes
It was most commonly males who became scribes. After being educated at a scribe school, their skill was used in various civic activities, from recording the yields of harveset to writing protective spells on the walls of the pharaoh's tomb. Military leaders like Thutmosis III would have been initially trained as scribes so that they could read messages sent to them. In the government, scribes recorded taxes and could be promoted to government officials. In the religious sphere, priests were scribes so that they could read instructions for sacred rituals.


Here's the equipment used for carving wall reliefs

Sources:
http://www.egyptgiftshop.com/egyptguide/egyptian_newspapers.html
http://www.mediahistory.umn.edu/archive/PigeonPost.html
http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/writing/explore/main.html

Hatshepsut Question

Did Hatshepsut have to legitimate her throne to overcompensate for her being a female pharaoh?

The Hatshesput DVD that we watched at the start of the unit emphasised that the Egyptian theology (i.e. Ma'at) found female pharaohs to be an aberration to the cosmic order. In light of this, the documentary attributes her need to dress and depict herself as a male to maintain her power in a patriarchal society. The defacement of Hatshepsut's likeness after her death is also attributed to her disruption of the natural order.

However Gae Callender, an eminent Egyptologist, is wary of solidifying any hypothesis for the defacement of Hatshepsut's images after her death. In her article "A Critical Examination of the Reign of Hatshepsut", she addresses the ambiguity surrounding the accession of female pharaohs in particular to the throne. However, in light of the little evidence that is available, she concludes that there were "no legal impediment[s] to Hatshepsut's rule" - rather, she says, an edict passed in the Second Dynasty decreed that women could be recognised as legitimate monarchs. She points out that two queens had ruled prior to Hatshepsut, and had ascended the throne under the same conditions as Hatshepsut had done - upon the death of the pharaoh/ brother. She doesn't believe that there is substantial evidence to conclude that people did not approve of her because of her gender.

The Priests of Amun

Today at parent-teacher interviews, I was lucky enough to get Ancient History homework. I was not entirely sure whether I should take it seriously or not, then, realising I had Ms. O'Neill as a teacher, I decided it was better to be safe than sorry.

So, here is some information regarding the Priests of Amun from the text Antiquity 2:

The elevated status of the Amun priesthood in the early 18th Dynasty reflected the position of the

Amun cult as state cult of the new dynasty. The high priests of the Amun cult were appointed by the

pharaoh. This provided a means for the pharaoh to connect his family with Amun, as in the case of

Ahmose’s purchase of the ‘second prophet of Amun’ priesthood for his wife, Ahmose-Nefertari. It also

contributed to a growing interdependence between king and Amun priesthood.

The high-ranking priests—the first, second, third and fourth ‘prophets of Amun’—exercised

significant political and economic, as well as religious, power. This power appears to have increased

in direct proportion to the increasing wealth derived from military conquest, subsequently directed

to the Amun cult. It is possible that by the beginning of the reign of the young Thutmose III, the

Amun priesthood was powerful enough to play ‘kingmaker’. They supported Hatshepsut in her claim

to the throne, enabling her to take the unusual step of assuming the kingship herself.

The power of the ‘first prophet of Amun’ was significantly increased when he also held the title

‘overseer of prophets of Upper and Lower Egypt’. This gave him authority over all other religious

cults. Such a man was Hapuseneb, who held both titles in the reign of Hatshepsut. As one of

Hatshepsut’s most important officials, he was responsible for her building works at Karnak. Other

high priests of the Amun cult combined this role with other official duties that increased their

influence. Menkheperraseneb, ‘first prophet of Amun’ under Thutmose III, was a new appointee, not

inherited from Hatshepsut’s reign. He combined his priestly role with those of chief architect and

‘overseer of the houses of gold and silver’ or treasurer. He thus carried out both secular and religious

duties. Menkheperraseneb was able to pass his office briefly to his nephew before the role was taken

on by Amenemhet, the last high priest of Amun in Thutmose III’s reign.

New statue of Akhenaten's dad found yesterday!

I was hanging out at Dr Zahi Hawass' website, www.drhawass.com - you might remember him as the super enthusiastic egyptologist who was in the Hatshepsut dvd we watched last term.

The granite statue is in the process of being uncovered, and depicts Amenhotep III (Akhenaten's father) wearing the double crown, seated on a throne alongside the god Amun.

I was under the impression that Egyptian artifacts were rarely discovered, but according to Dr Hawass we know a lot about Amenhotep III thanks to the "overwhelming amount of statuary" that has been uncovered, generally featuring the pharaoh seated with other deities such as Bastet, Sobek and Thoth.

The newly found statue in the process of being uncovered.

In other news, Dr Hawass' website is worth a look- he's got his own fan club and everything, which I think is really cute. As the Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, he's quite authoritative on the field and writes articles about what's hip and happening in the world of Egyptology.

Slightly more relevant than Akhenaten's dad to our study is this article http://www.drhawass.com/events/quest-hatshepsut-discovering-mummy-egypts-greatest-female-pharaoh where he writes about his 'Quest for Hatshepsut'. His penchant for narrative comes across strongly here as it did in the dvd, although this story-like structure makes for an engaging read that would do well to raise awareness and increase interest in Egyptology. Plus it's illustrated with plenty of full-colour photos!

A image from Dr Hawass' article, "The Quest for Hatshepsut"