Website of the Week #3: Iconic Guides: Audio Tours to the Ancient World

For this week's "Website of the Week", I recommend a visit to the homepage of the Iconic Guides. This project was spearheaded by Dr. Benedict Davies, who holds a Ph.D in Egyptology and is a successful freelance author of several Egyptological volumes.

The beauty of the project is that it offers professional MP3 audio downloads, which you can then transfer to your MP3/IPod for a wide selection of sites in Egypt, Greece and Japan at reasonable prices, and the list of sites is constantly increasing. You also receive a printable PDF plan of the site you have chosen, and the numbers on the PDF correspond with sections of the audio.

The guides are much cheaper and easier to arrange than a professional tour at the sites, so do have a look at the website and hopefully it'll come in handy when you're preparing your next holiday.

Free Online Issue of Geoarchaeology Journal: Geoarchaeological Research in Egypt and the Nile Valley

Just a quick note to let you know of a free online issue of the Geoarchaeology Journal, which contains articles on climate change in antiquity and related issues including a paper on Holocene movements of the Nile at Karnak by Dr. Judith Bunbury (St. Edmund's College, Cambridge) et al. Do have a look, the articles are downloadable as PDFs and make for interesting reading.

EES North Launch Event: Landscape Development and Climate Change in Ancient Egypt: the Delta and the Valley

Yesterday afternoon (October 23rd) marked the inauguration of the new EES North Lecture Series with a Day School entitled "Landscape Development and Climate Change in Ancient Egypt: the Delta and the Valley". The event took place in the Days Inn Hotel, Manchester, and was well-attended by over 60 delegates; the audience comprised of both academics and interested members of the public, many of whom belonged to regional Egyptology societies.

The afternoon commenced with an opening address from Dr. Karen Exell, and the first lecture was given by Dr. Penny Wilson of Durham University entitled:  "Fishing, Feasting and Famine: A Guide to Ancient Nile Delta Environments". Dr. Wilson is the Field Director of the joint Durham University/Egypt Exploration Society/SCA project at Sais (Sa el-Hagar) in the Egyptian Delta. She presented fascinating evidence for food acquisition, processing and consumption at Sais during the Prehistoric and Predynastic Period, based on her 10 year's work at the site. 

The 'Great Pit' filled with water

A key feature of this account is the so-called 'Great Pit' that has been excavated to the south of the site, which contained both Prehistoric and Predynastic pottery together with a very thick layer of burnt fishbones and vessels preserving a 'fishbone' motif. The team have recovered over 15,000 fish bones, and one hippopotamus bone, though only 5000 of the bones can be identified with any certainty. The bones included those of the Catfish, Tilapia fish and Nile Perch, and an analysis of the remains suggests that the fish were being processed. Another interesting feature of the site is a late Ramesside 'house' area in the Northern Enclosure, which preserved may smashed vessels and an assortment of burnt botanical remains. Dr. Wilson suggests that this may be evidence of a feast which took place before the roof of the house collapsed and destroyed the pottery vessels.  

Angus Graham then presented a paper entitled: "Islands, Marshes, Sloughs and the Nile: Karnak within a Dynamic Theban Floodplain" on behalf of the EES Karnak Land- and Waterscapes Survey, an Amelia Edwards Research Project. Angus is always a very entertaining speaker, and despite a few technical hitches the lecture was very well received and produced several intriguing ideas concerning the area in and around Thebes. The data was based on Angus' sediment coring work on the East Bank at Luxor; his team have investigated 27 augersites at Karnak alone in five seasons (2002-8). 

A fascinating point to note is that evidence may begin to emerge  in the coming seasons of an Old Kingdom settlement on higher ground at Karnak; I for one will be looking forward to those potential results. Angus concluded by stating that Karnak really was the 'ideal' location for a cult temple in ancient times: it had access to water, it was placed on land which was not eroded by the river, it preserves evidence of biodiversity and it was clearly an area where the natural and cosmological world are unified. 

Aerial photograph indicating the ancient Nile courses at Karnak

Dr. Judith Bunbury (St. Edmund's College, Cambridge) and Dr. David Jeffreys (UCL) then co-presented a paper entitled, "New Work at Memphis: White Walls in Text and Context". Dr. Bunbury began with an illuminating lecture based on the idea of climate change early in Egyptian history, and the effect that changing temperatures had on human movements and changes in the vegetation of desert regions. Dr. Bunbury's data, like Angus', comes from her auger-boring work at several sites, including Hierakonpolis, Giza, Gurob and Memphis. She reiterates the idea that throughout Egyptian history there must have existed a long-running dialogue between the people of the deserts, and the landscape, and that Memphis in particular certainly persisted from the Predynastic Period, but was constantly re-founded on account of it's highly important strategic position at the base of the Delta. 

Ruins of the Temple of Ptah at Memphis

Dr. Jeffreys ended the day with a fascinating lecture on his work as the Director of the Survey of Memphis since 1980. Several interesting ideas were presented, which focussed on the point that Dr. Jeffreys is determined to always challenge and question past presuppositions concerning Memphis and the surrounding area. He referenced the work of Joseph Hekekyan (1807-1875), an Armenian geologist - and perhaps the world's first geoarchaeologist - who illustrated possible reconstructions of Memphite features, including the great Colossus of Ramesses II on display at Mit Rahina. 

Dr. Jeffreys and his team recently excavated a area of Ramesside priest's houses, where interestingly they discovered a layer of sand, which is suggestive of climate change and the associated dessication of the landscape. It is clear that the team must work quickly: the land in and around Memphis is all privately owned, and buildings are being erected fast upon the archaeological site. But the results of the Survey to date have revealed much about the history of Memphis and the Nile movements in the area, and one can only hope that the authorities involved allow the team to continue their work at a reasonable pace over the coming seasons.

A wine reception then followed, which  was an excellent opportunity to meet the speakers and to socialise with members of the Society. Overall, the Climate Change Day School was a success - an outcome which was clearly a result of the excellent choice of speakers, who provided an  entertaining and thought-provoking afternoon of lectures.

Tutankhamun in Manchester: His Tomb and Treasures

I was lucky enough to attend the preview of the new "Tutankhamun: His Tomb and Treasures" exhibition at the Trafford Centre, Manchester, on Thursday 21st October. This is a touring exhibition that has previously visited Germany, Spain and Hungary, and offers the visitor over 1000 high-quality replica objects from the tomb of Tutankhamun. I have previously visited a similar display in Blackpool in 2002, and I must say this the quality of the Manchester exhibit and its objects far surpasses those which I saw then. 

Bob Partridge

The exhibition is set in a huge warehouse in the Museum of Museums at the Trafford Centre, and audio guides and guided tours of the exhibition are available. On entering the visitor first sees the only genuine 'artefact' in the exhibition: a  delicate bunch of papyrus stems set in the middle of the entrance.

The evening was certainly a success; over 200 visitors enjoyed Egyptian music and refreshments while they milled around the display. There were several speeches, including those of the German team behind the project, the Chairman of Ancient Egypt Magazine, Bob Partridge, and the Director of Manchester Museum, Dr. Nick Merriman.

The Treasury

The Antechamber

The great benefit of this exhibition is that the majority of the objects have been replicated twice, but displayed in different contexts: the visitor is able to see the Antechamber, the Treasury and the Burial Chamber as Howard Carter found them. Each room is recreated with precise attention to detail, based on the original Harry Burton photographs, though I must say that for me the Antechamber is the most spectacular, on account of the fact that the visitor is able to view the room from between the two 'guardian statues' - a vantage point that is not available in Cairo.

The Middle Coffin

The visitor then enters a succession of rooms containing a sizable collection of objects: the coffins and shrines have all been replicated, together with the burial mask of course, and objects from both daily life and the afterlife fill the enormous space. Some of the key objects include the golden throne, which has been copied in precise detail and displayed upon a dais, and one of the king's chariots, which is the centrepiece of a display on Egyptian Warfare. 

The Quartzite Sarcophagus

Finally, the visitor enters a room dedicated to the work of Howard Carter, in association with the Griffith Institute - here, detailed replicas of Carter's watercolours hang upon the walls, and a set of flat-bed cases contain facsimile letters addressed to and from Carter, together with a selection of his publications. A film of highlights of the excavation and of Carter's life is also projected in this room. A well-equipped gift shop is available at the end of the exhibition.

I would thoroughly recommend a visit to the Tutankhamun exhibition, especially if you've not yet had the good fortune to see the real things in Cairo. I also recommend reading Jaromir Malek's review in this month's Ancient Egypt Magazine for a detailed and accurate account of the exhibition. 

Website of the Week #2: CultNat

This week's Website of the Week is that of the Center for Documentation of Cultural and Natural Heritage (CultNat) in Egypt. This extensive project is affiliated with Bibliotheca Alexandrina, and the CultNat team are working at a fast pace to document every aspect of Egypt's heritage; both ancient and modern. 

It is a truly massive project, though it is extremely worthwhile as a documentation tool for scholars and amateurs alike. I was lucky enough to visit the Headquarters of CultNat in April 2010 with Dr. Judith Bunbury of Cambridge University. The CultNat project also houses the ongoing 'Eternal Egypt' project, and the website contains descriptions and 3D views of over 2000 ancient Egyptian artefacts. Do let me know what you think!

"Hoo's Ta Gaan On": The Traditional Dialect of Old Lakeland

As you might gather from the name of this Blog I am very interested in the traditional Cumbrian dialect, especially in the region of old Westmorland, and I would like to play a small part in the preservation and promotion of this fascinating, yet rapidly declining local dialect. I was lucky enough to learn the traditional sheep counting numbers first-hand when I was a child from my grandfather, Mr. George Henry Rowlinson Esq., when he worked as a dairy farmer in the Dales, and I've had an interest in the history of the local dialect ever since.

The Cumbrian dialect contains Norse and Celtic influences, and there are distinct variations in the dialect between the county regions; for example the North/West Cumbrian accent was greatly influenced by the Scottish and Geordie dialects, in contrast to the South which preserves aspects of both the Lancashire and Yorkshire dialects.

The beauty of the dialect is that it even varies from village to village in the same region. One of the most noticable features of the Cumbrian dialect is the dropping of vowels and the shortening of adjoining words, especially when associated with the word 'The'; for example instead of 'On the', a Cumbrian would say 'Ont'.

I would highly recommend a visit to the webpage of the Lakeland Dialect Society, which was founded in 1939 to support the preservation of the Cumbrian dialect, and to hear a reading of a poem entitled "Use It or Lose It" by the President of the Society, Ted Relph. An article of Ted's in the Cumberland News makes for an interesting read. Another entertaining recital of the dialect can be found in the form of a Bible reading in the traditional Cumbrian dialect by Rene Roberts on BBC Radio Cumbria.

One of my favourite choice of words has to be:

 "Brossen - Adj. Bloated and round with food particularly as applied to a cow, sheep or other herbivore (Think of a Thelwell pony)", taken from Low Nest Farm's website.

EES North Event: Landscape Development and Climate Change in Ancient Egypt: the Delta and the Valley

I'd like to publicise an Egypt Exploration Society Day School that's taking place on Saturday 23rd October, entitled "Landscape Development and Climate Change in Ancient Egypt: the Delta and the Valley". 

Speaking at the event are Dr. David Jeffreys, Dr. Judith Bunbury, Dr. Penny Wilson, Angus Graham and Dr. Karen Exell. This will be the first lecture of the Northern Branch of the society, and will take place in the Days Inn Hotel, Manchester.

I am particularly interested in the evidence for climate change in Egypt during the Pharaonic Period, and how the changes in the desert landscape during this time affected desert travellers and religious activity. So do buy a ticket and go along if you're able, I have attended entertaining lectures given by all the speakers on previous occasions and so it should be a good event.