What Explains a Peaceful Greek Trade City in Ancient Egypt?

Originally published December 10, 2010 | Kansas City infoZine | by Jeannine Chatterton-Papineau | Excerpt:

Dr. Alexander Fantalkin of Tel Aviv University's Department of Archaeology is delving deeper into this unique piece of ancient history to come up with a new explanation for how Naukrtis developed, and how its inhabitants managed to operate on foreign soil and create a new sense of common identity.

The Greeks that inhabited Naukrtis, explains Dr. Fantalkin, may have come from warring city states at home, but they formed a trade settlement in Egypt under the protection of powerful Eastern empires. This link not only brought them together as a culture, but explains how they were allowed to operate in the midst of Egyptian territory. Dr. Fantalkin's theory was recently presented at the Cultural Contexts in Antiquity conference in Innsbruck, Austria, and will soon be published in the proceedings of the conference.

Classics and Egyptology Summer Classes at the University of Liverpool

Accessed June 1, 2010 | Egypt at the Manchester Museum | by Karen Exell | The School of Archaeology at the University of Liverpool is offering a summer school program that runs from July 26 through August 6 for those interested in the Classics or Egyptology. More information, including booking details and programme guides are available at the above link.

New Discovery of Greek Cat Goddess Temple at Alexandria

Originally published January 19, 2010 | Dr. Hawass' Blog | by Dr. Hawass | Naturally, I'm going to direct you to the more authoritative source of this latest discovery - at Dr. Hawass' Blog, of course. Here is an excerpt from his post:

An archaeological mission of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) led by Dr. Mohamed Abdel Maqsoud, Head of Antiquities of Lower Egypt, discovered the remains of a temple of Queen Berenike, the wife of king Ptolemy III (246-222 BC), along with a cachette of 600 Ptolemaic statues.

An inscribed base of a granite statue from the reign of King Ptolemy IV (205-222 BC) was also unearthed. It bears ancient Greek text written in nine lines stating that the statue belonged to a top official in the Ptolemaic court. Dr. Maqsoud believes the base was made to celebrate Egypt’s victory over the Greeks during the Battle of Raphia in 217 BC.

Yahoo! News has two resources covering the same discovery:

• Ancient Greek Temple Found in Alexandria
• Egypt Announces Find of Ancient Cat Goddess Temple

Article - Royal Gift Exchange Between Mycenae and Egypt

Accessed August 20, 2009 | American Journal of Archaeology | by Jorrit M. Kelder

The following is the abstract to Jorrit M. Kelder's article in the American Journal of Archaeology. There are links to the PDF version of the abstract and the author's bio.

This paper seeks to stimulate new thinking on this subject by positing the possibility that exchange between the two was more than a haphazard phenomenon, arguing that it was, instead, a highly organized system that involved the active engagement of the ruling elite at Mycenae as well as the pharaonic court.

Early Christian Books in Egypt Now Available

Originally published August 10, 2009 | What's New in Papyrology | by

The following is an excerpt from the Papyrology Blog, which features a small synopsis, author information, testimonials, and the book's table of contents; click on the above link to read the blog post in it entirety:

For the past hundred years, much has been written about the early editions of Christian texts discovered in the region that was once Roman Egypt. Scholars have cited these papyrus manuscripts--containing the Bible and other Christian works--as evidence of Christianity's presence in that historic area during the first three centuries AD.

The Rosetta Stone: History and Modern Controversy

Originally published August 5, 2009 | The Indianapolis Examiner | by Gwynneth Anderson

The following is an excerpt from the Indianapolis Examiner (I can't believe I missed this one!); click the above link to read the full article:

Listen carefully for ghostly chuckles during your next visit to Les Invalides. If you hear them, don’t worry - it’s merely Napoleon smirking at the continuing fallout from his 1798 Egyptian Campaign.

In 1799, soldiers constructing Fort Julian at a port city called Rosetta (now called Rashid) pulled a large black stone, almost 4 feet tall, 28 inches wide, 11 inches thick and weighing approximately 1,700 pounds, out of the Nile delta muck. Imagine their shock at seeing the inscriptions after it was cleaned off.

The article includes pictures and many links to other resources on the topic.