Ancient Egypt Research Articles

ABSTRACT In ancient Egypt, since the Early Dynastic period (circa 3200 BC), large granite blocks were detached from quarries by cutting wide trenches around them, hammering the rock with hand-held stone pounders. The choice material for the pounders was dolerite, an igneous plutonic rock with similar mineralogical composition as basalt or gabbro. In the archaeological literature, the selection of dolerite for the pounders is attributed to dolerite being stronger and tougher than granite, based on qualitative empirical knowledge, including results of replicative pounding experiments. We have conducted a bibliographical search of the fundamental mechanical properties of granite and dolerite and, using concepts of the mechanics of fracture, we confirm in quantitative terms the suitability and efficiency of the extraction of granite with dolerite pounders by the ancient Egyptians.

Climate and Nile floods in ancient Egypt: Insights from the isotope composition of freshwater shells and geochemistry of Saqqara-Memphis floodplain, Egypt

The study addresses dental bleaching for restricted teeth as one of the most sought-after aesthetic procedures in modern dentistry, driven by the appreciation of appearance and self-esteem. The main objective is to understand the clinical limitations of bleaching, its techniques, benefits, risks, and necessary care. Bleaching has been practiced historically since Ancient Egypt, evolving into the modern use of hydrogen and carbamide peroxides, introduced in the 1980s. The study highlights two main techniques: supervised home bleaching and in-office bleaching, which offer similar functionality, differing only in the concentration of the bleaching agent, application time, and cost. The procedure is indicated for cases of dental darkening caused by extrinsic pigmentation (from food, beverages, and smoking) or intrinsic pigmentation (from trauma, disease, or medications). Although it is a safe and minimally invasive method, it can cause side effects such as dentin hypersensitivity and gum protection, which are generally temporary. Strategies such as the use of desensitizers, fluoride, and low-level laser help reduce these symptoms. The dentist plays a crucial role in evaluating and customizing treatment, taking into account oral health, the type of stain, and the integrity of the enamel. The success of whitening depends on proper indication, professional monitoring, and respect for biological limits. It can be concluded that tooth whitening is a safe, effective, and affordable procedure, as long as it is performed ethically and under supervision. In addition to the aesthetic benefits, it contributes to the patient's self-esteem and well-being, reinforcing the importance of ongoing scientific updating for dental professionals.

Summary The famous Tomb Robbery papyri provide a vivid example of how criminal law was practiced in ancient Egypt. Ransacking royal tombs and temples was considered a capital crime, punishable by death. In this context, the victim was represented by the state. Anything used in the commission of the crime was deemed a “criminal tool,” and criminal investigation and forensic evidence at the crime scene aimed to identify such tools. According to the texts of those papyri, “the instrumentalities of crime” used by the tomb robbers included items for opening, smashing, digging, traction, and lighting. Additionally, the robbers used tools to cover up the traces of the crime, such as setting fire to looted tombs and temples.

Summary Two Egyptian antiquities were examined in the Repository of Archaeology of the Museum of Natural Sciences of Caracas. Through Antonio Guzmán Blanco, former president of Venezuela, Venezuelan ethnologist Gaspar Marcano sent one of them from Paris in early 1889. When it arrived in Caracas, German-Venezuelan naturalist Adolfo Ernst, the newly appointed director of the National Museum, acquired it for this collection. This piece is a bronze statuette of Osiris, and another, also submitted by Guzmán Blanco himself, is a Thoth amulet. Both items reflect the cultural trend of South American elites in obtaining exotica in general, as European privileged people did, and Egyptian objects in particular, at the same time the British Empire controlled Egypt, and the fascination for the past of this North African country reignited in European lands again. These pieces resemble those made in the Late Period and Ptolemaic Period (c. 7 th –1 st BCE). This pair of items deposited in the Museum of Natural Science of Caracas adds a second public collection in Venezuela that houses ancient Egyptian material. Along with confirming the existence of these two Egyptian objects, it constitutes a new record for a public Egyptological collection for Latin America and the world.

The god Osiris is a deity who is killed, but who is revivified thanks to mummification ritual. The myth of the death of the god was truly relevant in the history of ancient Egypt. In some Egyptian sources the myth of Osiris death occurs in a mythological place called Nedit, where he finally floats over the water. The death by drowning of the god is not accidental since Osiris had a close connection with the Nile. This article will not only analyze the multiple sources that tell us about the drowning of Osiris in Nedit, but it will also examine why we should not talk about him as a swimmer, but as a dead that floats.t.

This paper presents the edition and analysis of O. Athribis no. 271, which was found among a large group of ostraca written mostly in Demotic, alongside some hieratic, Coptic, and Greek, during the 1993/94 excavation season of the Egyptian Antiquities Organization/Supreme Council of Antiquities at the site of Athribis in Upper Egypt. O. Athribis no. 271 was found on 1 February 1994 in square e:-8, level 1, located to the north of the ascending path of the temple of Ptolemy XII, and is now kept in the museum storeroom of Sheikh Hamad (Sohag). The text on the ostracon is a Demotic–hieratic horoscope that can be identified as part of a large horoscopic corpus from Athribis dating to the reign of Augustus. Its structure is unusual within this corpus, and therefore constitutes a valuable addition to it.

This article examines the possible interaction between Ancient Egypt and Išuwa, one of the states of the Armenian Highland. The interactions between the Armenian Highland and Egypt have a deep and intricate history, primarily documented since the Hellenistic period. However, a recently discovered inscription at the archaeological site known as the Kom el-Hettân, may provide new insights into the relationship between the Armenian Highland and Egypt. On the pedestal of one of the colossal statues of Amenhotep III, located within the temple complex, inscriptions identify various foreign nations through engravings of their representatives depicted as bound captives. The three captured figures represent the lands of “Ḫatti, Isyw, and Irṯw (Arzawa).” The land of Isyw may correlate with one of the ancient states of the Armenian Highland – Išuwa. This unique depiction prompts intriguing questions regarding the inclusion of an Išuwan figure in Egyptian iconography. The article is used general historical and comparative-historical analysis as the main research methods. The conducted research shows that there is no evidence that Egyptian expeditions ever reached the territory of the Armenian Highland or that they took captives from this region. This image may have a metaphorical, symbolic or propagandistic meaning, since the Egyptian pharaoh sought to emphasize the northern borders of his influence. An alternative explanation for the presence of the Išuwa country may lie in the context of repeated clashes between Mitanni and Ḫatti. It is possible that Hittite and Išuwan prisoners of war were sent by Mitanni to Egypt as diplomatic gifts and later depicted on the above-mentioned monument.

The ancient Egyptian term “hebeni” is traditionally translated as “ebony” and refers to dense, black woods used in prestigious furniture, but the precise identification of these black woods is not so simple and raises questions about the trade routes used to acquire them. This paper examines questions of provenance for hebeni wood, as well as its various iconographic representations and uses. It explores the imitation of these black woods in Egyptian material culture and the import of objects made from them into Egypt. Crucially, the study tackles the anatomical identification of these dark woods, showcasing a protocol successfully tested in the field. Xylological analysis to precisely identify these species is challenging due to limited access to archaeological material and the inherent hardness of these woods, which complicates traditional sampling. This paper presents a field-tested analytical protocol that overcomes these limitations, enabling identification of dense woods. We present results from analyses conducted on blackwood furniture discovered by the Egyptian-British Western Wadi mission (MoTA/NKRF) in Luxor’s West Bank, shedding new light on the identity of ancient Egyptian “hebeni”.

Stringed Instruments during Banquet Scenes in Individual Tombs in Ancient Egypt

Archaeological excavations in southern Azerbaijan commenced in the 1890s. These pioneering studies are primarily associated with Jacques de Morgan (1857, Huisseau-sur-Cosson – 1924, Marseille), an archaeologist affiliated with France's Musée d'Archéologie Nationale (National Archaeological Museum) in Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Morgan conducted excavations across Iran, the South Caucasus, Egypt, India, and elsewhere. Although his initial work focused on Egypt, where he led the Agency for the Study of Ancient Egypt from 1892 to 1897, he undertook his first excavations within the territory of Lankaran and Lerik regions in 1890. During these campaigns in the Lerik region, Morgan excavated numerous monumental sites and transferred the associated material cultural remains to the Musée d'Archéologie Nationale. In late 2012, under the France-funded project "Studies of Jacques de Morgan’s Heritage," the author of this paper participated in a research exchange at the Musée d'Archéologie Nationale in Saint-Germain-en-Laye. The primary objective was to study archaeological materials originally removed from Azerbaijan by Morgan. This research aimed to document these findings and assess their significance within the broader context of South Caucasus archaeology, particularly during the Late Bronze to Early Iron Age transition. The assemblage – comprising pottery, metal weaponry, ornaments, tools, and other diverse artifacts – provides detailed insights into the handicrafts, economic activities, and spiritual life of ancient tribes inhabiting this region during that period.

In ancient Egypt, the royal festival sd was celebrated a few years after the coronation and was involved in important events during the reign of the monarch. The earliest material sources about celebrations relate to the Nagada culture (IV millennium BC) and the Early Kingdom. They show the scene of the ritual running of the leader/king after the sacred bull − the god Apis. Comparative and iconographic research methods are used. At the same time, the bull was sacrificed. The origins of the ritual of sacrifice go back to the primitive times of hunting life. A collective meal with a slaughtered animal meant communion with the ancestral ancestor. Totemic beliefs have been transformed in the dynamics of the historical process. The sacrifice of the bull was a central ritual during royal holidays, including the sd festival. The purpose of this ritual was to release the spirit of the victim, who was considered as the god. As for the donor, the king confirmed his religious and social status. But in the process of holding the festival, the king himself became a victim. Considering this celebration as a transitional rite, which includes three stages: separation, intermediate and inclusion, allows us to see in it a magico-religious procedure, the experience of symbolic death in the previous state and rebirth in a new capacity. The king confirmed his rights to the Egyptian throne and, as a guarantor of the prosperity of society at the highest level of religious beliefs, restored the victory of cosmic order over chaos. The iconography of the pharaoh with a bull's tail during the ritual running during the celebration of Hb-sd has been preserved throughout the history of ancient Egypt. The spelling of the phonetic part of the word tail and this festival are identical. This supports the hypothesis that religious and mythological ideas about the king's involvement in the sacred bull with mana projected onto the ruler of Egypt have been preserved for thousands of years. Universal ideas about the sacrifice of the bull and its dismemberment were associated with myths and rituals about the first sacrifice, about dead and resurrected gods, including the Egyptian Osiris, and the bull Apis was considered as his companion, the animal form of the god.

Previous scientific explorations of kohl and other make-up substances from ancient Egypt have revealed a considerable diversity of materials and recipes used in different regions and time periods. However, samples from Sudanese Nubia have never been included in scientific investigations of make-up substances used along the Nile valley. For the first time, 24 samples of kohl and other cosmetics from Bronze Age Sudanese Lower Nubia (c. 2055–1070 BCE) were analysed using optical microscopy, GC-MS, SEM-EDS, ATR-FTIR and XRD. Beyond expanding our knowledge of make-up usage in the ancient Nile valley by including samples from Sudan, this study adds further depth to our understanding of make-up substances in ancient Northeast Africa by exploring samples from well-defined archaeological contexts. The multi-analytical approach presented here sheds light on the diversity of recipes used by various communities in the Middle Nile valley during the Bronze Age. Most samples are dominated by lead sulphides, but these occur in various mixtures with quartz, clay, calcite, gypsum and zinc compounds, in addition to plant gums and animal fats. We also report for the first time the use of synthetic calcium antimonate in ancient cosmetic mixtures. Besides expanding our knowledge of make-up mixtures in ancient Northeast Africa, our study suggests that the considerable variation detected across the cultural borders of Bronze Age Egypt and Nubia reflects distinctive bodily ideals.

ABSTRACT Destination Personality Scales (DPS) are essential tools for place branding research to explore places’ personalities. However, context-based validated scales remain limited. This study aims to address that gap by investigating the cultural sensitivity of the DPS developed by Kovacic and others in 2020 within Cairo’s urban context. A questionnaire was used to assess the ability of the scale’s 24 personality traits to reflect the perceived personality of main streets in three districts in Cairo: Downtown, Zamalek, and New Cairo. The analysis of the questionnaire responses indicates that the scale is largely compatible with Egyptian culture, except for four traits.

As long as mankind and especially women exist there have been problems related to gynecological and obstetrical problemsincluding urogynecology. The early history of urogynecology has never been well described. In this review we describe the origin of urogynecology in its earliest written sources emphasizing on ancient Egypt, Greece andRome. Pelvic Organ Prolapse was, even then, an important part of gynecology and the connection between obstetric care and theoccurrence of a prolapse was clearly recognized. There are countless examples of how doctors and midwives have struggled withthis. A multitude of treatments, some such as the use of primitive pessaries, very realistic, others with a clear magical or religiousslant. It is concluded that urogynecological problems, especially Pelvic Organ Prolapse, was a major problem in these ancient societieswith many, sometimes inventive, therapies.

ABSTRACTDespite over 200 years of intensive academic interest in Pharaonic Egypt, little focus has been given to understanding the production, use, and diversity of the osseous material culture created by this enigmatic culture. Here, the authors present the identification of a bone whistle recovered from the Eighteenth Dynasty (late 14th century bc) city of Akhetaten (modern Amarna), Middle Egypt. Found at the Stone Village, a peripheral workers' settlement, this object fits with ideas that this community was heavily policed because of their proximity to the royal cemetery and likely connection to work on the royal tombs. Significantly, this object is the first of its kind identified in a dynastic context and demonstrates the potential insights that wait to be gained from intensive examination of Egypt's osseous technologies.

A Design Vision to Enhance National Identity through Fashion Inspired by Egyptian Civilization

Purpose: This study investigates the concept of judgment and afterlife in Ancient Egypt with particular attention to the principle of Ma’at and the Osirian tradition, while situating its findings within the comparative context of the doctrine of eternal punishment. The research aims to determine whether the Egyptian system of judgment included the notion of everlasting torment or instead emphasized cosmic balance and annihilation of the unworthy soul. Methodology: Employing a qualitative, interpretive, and historical-comparative approach, the study analyzes primary sources such as the Book of the Dead, funerary inscriptions, and mummification rituals, alongside secondary scholarship in Egyptology and comparative religion. Findings: The findings demonstrate that the Egyptian system of judgment was rooted in the weighing of the heart against the feather of Ma’at, the practice of negative confession, and the tribunal presided over by Osiris and forty-two judges. Punishment was most often conceived as annihilation rather than eternal suffering, and the afterlife was envisioned as a regenerative cosmology tied to the Nile’s agrarian cycles. These results distinguish the Egyptian view fundamentally from the Christian doctrine of hell. The study further highlights the dual function of judgment: as a religious mechanism to ensure cosmic harmony and as a socio-political instrument reinforcing royal legitimacy and social hierarchy. Implications: The implications of this research extend to comparative religious studies, curricular development, and interfaith dialogue, demonstrating that doctrines of eternal hell are historically contingent constructions rather than universal inheritances. Originality and Value: The originality of this study lies in its reinterpretation of Ancient Egyptian eschatology as an autonomous system, independent from post-biblical theological frameworks, thereby offering a new comparative lens to clarify the origins of eschatological doctrines across traditions.

The story of Nebenchari, an ancient Egyptian ophthalmologist, has been cited as an early reference to cataract surgery in ancient Egypt. However, a critical analysis of historical sources reveals no concrete evidence to support this account. Despite claims that Herodotus documented the tale, no such reference exists in his writings. The earliest known source appears to be Georg Ebers' 19th-century novel, 'The Daughter of an Egyptian King', which fictionalized Nebenchari's role in Egyptian and Persian history. Subsequent scholars, including Charles Joe Snyder (1914-1996) and Thomas Hall Shastid (1866-1947), seem to have misinterpreted Ebers' fictional narrative as historical fact, leading to its widespread acceptance in ophthalmological literature. This case highlights the importance of verifying original sources when assessing historical claims and serves as a cautionary example of how fiction can be mistaken for fact in academic discourse.

Abstract Karl Butzer (1976) introduced a methodology for calculating local population sizes for ancient Egypt based on archaeological remains and textual sources and focused its application on the nomes (i.e. provinces) of Upper Egypt. Although textual sources are still scant for the Delta, an increasing amount of data on settlement remains has become available in recent years and here we apply Butzer’s demographic approach to Lower Egypt. Like Butzer, we focus on the timespan from the Predynastic to the Ptolemaic Period (ca. 5300–30 BC), but unlike Butzer, we analyse population densities separately for six distinct time slices. Our results suggest the population concentration was generally skewed towards the eastern sector, and the central sector was least densely settled, but there were notable temporal fluctuations, with the western sector gaining increased importance during the Ptolemaic Period when new cities were founded. However, gaps in the archaeological record due to poor preservation mean that the results should be treated cautiously.