Solving the "Blue" Mystery - New Kingdom Pottery

Originally published March 17, 2010 | Washington University in St. Louis | by Diana Lutz | An excerpt:

What was she doing in the tunnel?

The answer: seeking an uncontaminated sample of a mineral that might have been the key ingredient in the blue used to decorate "blue painted pottery" popular among the Egyptian elite during the New Kingdom (1550-1079 BC).

Colleague Colin A. Hope, PhD, an expert in blue painted pottery, had asked if she wouldn’t help him pin down the source of the blue pigment by sampling and analyzing material from the mine.

Hope and Smith, together with Paul Kucera, a doctoral student at Monash University in Australia who first identified the mines, describe the pottery, the mines and the mineral in a chapter of Beyond the Horizon, a festschrift for the Egyptologist Barry A. Kemp

Course in Egypt - The Life and Works of the Theban Royal Tomb Makers

Accessed February 6, 2010 | Bloomsbury Summer School/Academy | Join John Romer, Renowned expert on Deir el-Medina and the Valley of the Kings, for a week-long series of lectures in the heart of Luxor November 10 - 17, 2010. Here is the course description:

The extraordinary achievement of the royal tombs of Thebes cannot be fully appreciated without an understanding of the environment in which they were made. John Romer will re-explore with you the world of the Theban New Kingdom. He will consider how and why the first royal tombs were made at Thebes, and how the tomb makers who lived at Deir el Medina elaborated that tradition to create the great tombs of the Valley of the Kings. He will also explore the purposes and meanings of these tombs - and something also, of the lives and times of the archaeologists and Egyptologists who have shaped our present understanding of them. Finally, in the light of fresh and, as yet, largely unpublished evidence, he will outline a new history of the ending of the Valley of the Kings and of the remarkable community of those who worked there.

Click the above link to find a list a suggested reading, booking and programme information, and registration fees.

New Book - Soldiers, Sailors and Sandalmakers

Originally published August 16, 2009 | Egypt at the Manchester Museum Blog | by Karen Exell

The following blog post announces the September 1, 2009 release of a new book (by the the author of this blog post, as it were). It includes product information and a short description of the book's contents:

The book looks at how votive stelae from five Ramesside period sites, including Deir el-Medina, Abu Simbel and Pi-Ramesses, might be linked to specific events in the lives of the dedicators, from festival attendance, promotion at work and pleas for fertility, and act to commemorate for all eternity incidents of personal and social significance.

I've provided a link to Amazon for those interested in pre-ordering this book.

New Egyptology Course in Bristol

Originally published June 16, 2009 | Challenging the Past Blog | by Marsia Sfakianou Bealby

This four week course takes place in Bristol, UK and focuses on Crime and Punishment in Ancient Egypt. Follow the above link for more information, including the last day to register and when it takes place. There's also a poster that has even more information about the course.