Short Courses at the Manchester in Egyptology Available Online

Published May 11, 2010 | Egypt at the Manchester | by Karen Exell | The University of Manchester is offering six weeks, non-credit bearing courses in Egyptology-related topics online in October, 2010; February, 2011; and May, 2011. The registration fee per "short course" is £200 (not too shabby; a summer course online at my school is 10 times that!). And for the cherry on top: the director is Professor Rosalie David and the course tutor is Dr. Joyce Tyldesley. You can't get much better than those two scholars!

The Role of Women in Egypt's History Lecture - My Review

"What does Egypt have to do with Chicago?," you might wonder. I certainly do not, as I have come to know the rich cultural connection between this beautiful city and an ancient one and the many Egyptological opportunities that proliferate through its haunted streets and heavily embellished theaters, some having been frequented by the most infamous gangsters, from Dillinger to Capone. However, Chicago has cleared itself (mostly) clean of its corrupt history and has welcomed programs, events, and celebrations that have cultivated it into an Egyptological hot-spot, boasting names (both fictional and real) like Indiana Jones and Rick O'Connell; mystery writer, Elizabeth Peters; and Dr. Emily Teeter, whom you may have seen give commentary on the Discovery and History channels.

As evidence of the aforementioned, there had taken place just recently a free lecture entitled The Role of Women in Egypt's History, as given by Ambassador Nihad Zikry, Assistant Egyptian Minister for Foreign Affairs. Although it wasn't entirely about ancient Egypt, a subject that she used to introduce her presentation, it did give me an appreciation for modern Egyptian women like her who have been raised in a country - like so many others - where the advancement of women has been a slow process. It was the perfect presentation to attend on International Women's Day, indeed. There were quite a few men in attendance too - I brought one of them with me.

Ambassador Zikry started her presentation off with saying that the important role of women is not a newly acquired achievement; women throughout all history and cultures have consistently exhibited this endeavor, this inevitable desire. After all, "in ancient Egypt, the deity of wisdom was a woman, not a man." I'd have to disagree with that statement, as Thoth is the chief deity of wisdom. However, there are many powerful female deities worth a mention. You have Seshat, consort of Thoth (how appropriate that she's his counterpart), the goddess of writing, lady-scribe to the pharaohs and all Egyptian kings throughout Dynastic Egypt, Mistress of the Books. Without her skill and duty to write the names of the newly crowned rulers on the leaves of a sacred tree to preserve forever their names, they wouldn't've been known to their successors. Then you have Ma'at and Shai, goddess of social and religious order, truth, and justice and goddess of fate, respectively, key players during the Weighing of the Heart Ceremony. Without these goddesses, Osiris, his Four Sons, and the 42 Judges would have been unable to determine fairly the outcome of a decedent's otherworldly trial, leaving the dead person unadmitted into the Afterlife. It's very interesting indeed that Ambassador Zikry mentioned that the highest position a modern Egyptian woman has attained is a judge, when you consider that, in ancient times, women were portrayed as deities of judgment. Finally, there are the Seven Hathors, septuplets with the power of foresight, the ability to determine the future of a newborn Egyptian child's life, particularly it's death. You can add to that list as many Egyptian goddesses as you wish. Those are my contributions.

Ambassador Nihad Zikry also spoke briefly of Hatshepsut, how she took up the highest achievement any ancient Egyptian could attain at the time - that of king. I append the following pre-Dynasty 18 queens to the list of powerful Egyptian women, who mostly like reigned as king in their own right: Mer-Neith of Dynasty 1, Ni-Ma-et of Dynasty 3, Sobek-Neferu of Dynasty 12, Ah-Hotep I of Dynasty 17, and quite possibly Tiye and Nefertiti of Dynasty 18. As a side note, I'd add that this achievement has never been neither matched following her long and prosperous reign or her predecessors' reigns, nor allowed ever again until Cleopatra VII, who had to commit many sinful acts to maintain that power (I don't blame her). Following Dynasty 18, with help from Djehuti-Mes III, kings/pharaohs never called their wives "God's Wife of Amun" again, as it was a powerful title, one that made royal queens practically, if not actually, equal to their kings in status.

These are just reminders that women can be as successful in higher positions as men are, even if they don't think, feel, or express themselves in similar ways. So, to all women of the world, if a man tries to throw religious dogma or prejudice in your face as justification for being superior, you make sure you give him a lecture on the "reasons" their opinion is unjustified.

Man fears time, time fears the pyramids, the pyramids fear Mother Nature.

Related Links:

• Article: the Role of Women in Ancient Egypt
• American Research Center in Egypt Chicago Chapter
• The Egyptian Gallery at the Oriental Institute
• Explore Chicago

Video - Behenu's Burial Chamber

Accessed March 13, 2010 | Reuters | This is a nice video documenting the recent discovery of Queen Behenu's intact burial chamber at Saqqara. Whereas before (in articles announcing the discovery) you couldn't really see the beautiful inscriptions, you can with this video. If you have a minute or two, I encourage you to watch it.

Burial Chamber of Ancient Egyptian Queen Unearthed

Originally published March 3, 2010 | Yahoo! News and AFP | For all of you hieroglyphic inscription fans, this find should be a fascinating one for you (it is for me). Recently discovered in Saqqara was a burial chamber of an obscure Old Kingdom Queen. The following is an excerpt from this article at Yahoo! News:

"We are excited because the texts are well conserved," he told The Associated Press, adding that the queen's titles were written on the walls of the 33 by 16 foot (10 meter by 5 meter) burial chamber inside her small pyramid.

The text is primarily concerned with protecting the queen's remains and her transition to afterlife.

Collombert called the queen "mysterious," and said it was not clear whether she was the wife of King Pepi I or II, two long-ruling pharaohs of the Sixth Dynasty.

Another source reporting on the same news can be found at Reuters and my favorite place to frequent on the web, Heritage Key.

Ancient Men Had Strokes

Originally published January 25, 2010 | Zee News | An excerpt:

Ancient Egyptian mummies, some as old as 3,500 years, showed hardening of arteries, suggesting that heart attacks and stroke afflicted the ancients too.

"Atherosclerosis, despite differences in ancient and modern lifestyles, was rather common in ancient Egyptians of high socio-economic status living," says Gregory Thomas, clinical professor of cardiology at the University of California-Irvine (UCI).

"The findings suggest that we may have to look beyond modern risk factors to fully understand the disease," said Thomas, principal study co-investigator.

Dig Days - The Search for Queen Mutnodjmet

Originally published August 25, 2009 | Zahi Hawass' Blog | by Zahi Hawass

This seems like a reiteration of his previous article about Queen Mutnodjmet at Al-Ahram Weekly Online that dates to last week, which is much more intensely detailed on the topic than it is here. He conveniently links to this article penned by him. He also gives links to other information within his blog. I highly recommend reading his article at Al-Ahram Weekly Online.