The History of Egypt

What does a mummy smell like? Prof. Ann Rosalie David is a pioneering researcher in mummies and ancient pathology. Having led many studies on Egyptian bodies, Prof. David helps reconstruct the lifestyles of the past. In this interview, she helpfully answers questions about ancient diseases, the Amarna royal mummies, and some left-field topics as well. Learn more about Ann Rosalie David and her work at Manchester University. Purchase "A Year in the Life of Ancient Egypt," by Rosalie David at Pen & Sword Publishing (Kindle, Hardcover, and ePub).  Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com. Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast. Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments. Music by Ancient Lyric www.bettinajoydeguzman.com Sound effects by Keith Zizza keithzizza.com and Hathor Systrum. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Powerful, but vanished. Following the death of Akhenaten, several prominent women disappear from history. Meritaten, the King’s Eldest Daughter; Kiya, one of his wives; and two mysterious daughters, the “Tasherits” present unresolved questions. What happened to them? We explore this question… Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com. Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast. Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments. Music by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.net. Select Bibliography: Nile Magazine: “The Maia-Meritaten Mystery,” Online. Allen, James P. “The Amarna Succession,” in P. Brand and L. Cooper (eds) Causing His Name to Live: Studies in Egyptian Epigraphy and History in Memory of William J. Murnane (2009): 9–20. Dodson, Aidan. Amarna Sunrise: Egypt From Golden Age to Age of Heresy (2014). Dodson, Aidan. Amarna Sunset: Nefertiti, Tutankhamun, Ay, Horemheb, and the Egyptian Counter-Reformation. 2nd Edition (2017). Gabolde, Marc. “Under a Deep Blue Starry Sky,” in P. Brand and L. Cooper (eds) Causing His Name to Live: Studies in Egyptian Epigraphy and History in Memory of William J. Murnane (2009): 109–120. Murnane, William J. Texts from the Amarna Period in Egypt (1995). Redford, Donald B. “Studies on Akhenaten at Thebes, Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt12 (1975): 11. JSTOR. Zivie, Alain P. “From Maia to Meritaten,” Saqqara Newsletter 17 (2019). edu Zivie, Alain P. La tombe de Maïa, mère nourricière du roi Toutânkhamon et grande du harem (Bub. I 20). Les tombes du Bubasteion à Saqqara 1 (2009). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Hidden Monument? In recent years, the public has thrilled to reports that hidden chambers, in the tomb of Tutankhamun, might contain the burial of Nefertiti. But the question of Nefertiti's tomb is complicated. In fact, it's possible she never even received a kingly/royal burial. In this episode, we explore the results of many studies... Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com. Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast. Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments. Music by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.com Music by Ancient Lyric www.bettinajoydeguzman.com Audio mixing/editing by Vincent Cavanagh Select Bibliography: Nature: “Radar clues reignite debate over hidden chambers” https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00465-y Dodson, Aidan. Nefertiti: Queen and Pharaoh of Egypt, Her Life and Afterlife. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 2020. Dodson, Aidan. Amarna Sunset: Nefertiti, Tutankhamun, Ay, Horemheb, and the Egyptian Counter-Reformation. 2nd Edition. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 2017. Reeves, Nicholas. ‘The Tomb of Tutankhamun (KV62): Supplementary Notes (The Burial of Nefertiti? III).’ Amarna Royal Tombs Project, Valley of the Kings, Occasional Paper No. 5 (2020). Academia Reeves, Nicholas. “The Decorated North Wall in the Tomb of Tutankhamun (KV62) (The Burial of Nefertiti? II).’ Amarna Royal Tombs Project, Valley of the Kings, Occasional Paper No. 3 (2019). Academia Reeves, Nicholas. ‘The Burial of Nefertiti?’ Amarna Royal Tombs Project, Valley of the Kings, Occasional Paper No. 1 (2015). Academia Reeves, Nicholas. ‘The Gold Mask of Ankhkheperure Neferneferuaten’. Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections 7 (2015): 77–79. Reeves, Nicholas. ‘Tutankhamun’s Mask Reconsidered’. Bulletin of the Egyptological Seminar: The Art and Culture of Ancient Egypt: Studies in Honor of Dorothea Arnold 19 (2015): 511–26. Smith, Grafton Elliot. The Royal Mummies. London: Duckworth, 1912. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Short-Lived Reign. By 1344 BCE, Nefer-neferu-Aten (Nefertiti) was in her mid-thirties. She did not have long to live. In her third regnal year, the King of Egypt died. Her death is mysterious: was it natural, an accident, or murder? Studying Nefertiti's last years, and the mummy that might belong to her, we go in search of answers. How did Nefertiti die? Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com. Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast. Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments. Music by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.com. Music by Ancient Lyric www.bettinajoydeguzman.com. Music by Jeffrey Goodman www.jeffreygoodmanmusic.com Select Bibliography: Dodson, Aidan. Amarna Sunrise: Egypt From Golden Age to Age of Heresy. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 2014. Dodson, Aidan. Nefertiti: Queen and Pharaoh of Egypt, Her Life and Afterlife. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 2020. Dodson, Aidan. Amarna Sunset: Nefertiti, Tutankhamun, Ay, Horemheb, and the Egyptian Counter-Reformation. 2nd Edition. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 2017. Hawass, Zahi, Yehia Z. Gad, Somaia Ismail, Rabab Khairat, Dina Fathalla, Naglaa Hasan, Amal Ahmed, et al. ‘Ancestry and Pathology in King Tutankhamun’s Family’. JAMA 303, no. 7 (17 February 2010): 638–47. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2010.121. Hawass, Zahi, and Sahar N. Saleem. Scanning the Pharaohs: CT Imaging in the New Kingdom Royal Mummies. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 2016. Murnane, William J. Texts from the Amarna Period in Egypt. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1995. Paulshock, Bernadine Z. ‘Tutankhamun’s Mother’. JAMA 249, no. 16 (22 April 1983): 2178–2178. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.1983.03330400030014. Reeves, Nicholas. ‘The Tomb of Tutankhamun (KV62): Supplementary Notes (The Burial of Nefertiti? III).’ Amarna Royal Tombs Project, Valley of the Kings, Occasional Paper No. 5 (2020). Academia Reeves, Nicholas. “The Decorated North Wall in the Tomb of Tutankhamun (KV62) (The Burial of Nefertiti? II).’ Amarna Royal Tombs Project, Valley of the Kings, Occasional Paper No. 3 (2019). Academia Reeves, Nicholas. ‘The Burial of Nefertiti?’ Amarna Royal Tombs Project, Valley of the Kings, Occasional Paper No. 1 (2015). Academia Reeves, Nicholas. ‘The Gold Mask of Ankhkheperure Neferneferuaten’. Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections 7 (2015): 77–79. Reeves, Nicholas. ‘Tutankhamun’s Mask Reconsidered’. Bulletin of the Egyptological Seminar: The Art and Culture of Ancient Egypt: Studies in Honor of Dorothea Arnold 19 (2015): 511–26. Smith, Grafton Elliot. The Royal Mummies. London: Duckworth, 1912. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nefertiti, King of Egypt. Following the death of Akhenaten, Queen Nefertiti may have become a King. Modern research suggests that, following her husband's death, Nefertiti became the new pharaoh. Her reign, and policies, are a shadowy but fascinating chapter in the royal history... Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com. Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast. Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments. Music by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.com Music by Ancient Lyric www.bettinajoydeguzman.com. Select Bibliography: Coregency Stela: UCL online Graffito of Pairy TT139: Semataui Dodson, Aidan. Amarna Sunrise: Egypt From Golden Age to Age of Heresy. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 2014. Dodson, Aidan. Amarna Sunset: Nefertiti, Tutankhamun, Ay, Horemheb, and the Egyptian Counter-Reformation. 2nd Edition. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 2017. Gabolde, Marc. ‘L’ADN de La Famille Royale Amarnienne et Les Sources Égyptiennes’. Égypte Nilotique et Méditerranéenne 6 (2013): 177–203. Gabolde, Marc. ‘Under a Deep Blue Starry Sky’. In Causing His Name to Live: Studies in Egyptian Epigraphy and History in Memory of William J. Murnane, edited by Peter J. Brand and Louise Cooper. Leiden: Brill, 2009. Hawass, Zahi, Yehia Z. Gad, Somaia Ismail, Rabab Khairat, Dina Fathalla, Naglaa Hasan, Amal Ahmed, et al. ‘Ancestry and Pathology in King Tutankhamun’s Family’. JAMA 303, no. 7 (17 February 2010): 638–47. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2010.121. Hawass, Zahi, and Sahar N. Saleem. Scanning the Pharaohs: CT Imaging in the New Kingdom Royal Mummies. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 2016. Kemp, Barry J. The City of Akhenaten and Nefertiti: Amarna and Its People. First paperback edition. London: Thames & Hudson, 2014. Miller, William Max. ‘The Theban Royal Mummy Project’. The Theban Royal Mummy Project, n.d. http://anubis4_2000.tripod.com/mummypages1/18B.htm. Murnane, William J. Texts from the Amarna Period in Egypt. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1995. O’Neill, Megan C. “The Decorative Program of the Eighteenth-Dynasty Tomb of Pairy (TT 139).” MA Thesis, Georgia State University, 2015. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/art_design_theses/173 Paulshock, Bernadine Z. ‘Tutankhamun’s Mother’. JAMA 249, no. 16 (22 April 1983): 2178–2178. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.1983.03330400030014. Redford, Donald. ‘Akhenaten: New Theories and Old Facts’. Bulletin of the American School of Oriental Research 369 (2013): 9. Reeves, Nicholas. ‘The Gold Mask of Ankhkheperure Neferneferuaten’. Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections 7 (2015): 77–79. Reeves, Nicholas. ‘Tutankhamun’s Mask Reconsidered’. Bulletin of the Egyptological Seminar: The Art and Culture of Ancient Egypt: Studies in Honor of Dorothea Arnold 19 (2015): 511–26. Tyldesley, Joyce. Nefertiti’s Face: The Creation of an Icon. London: Profile Books, 2018. Van Der Perre, Athena. ‘The Year 16 Graffito of Akhenaten in Dayr Abū Ḥinnis. A Contribution to the Study of the Later Years of Nefertiti’. Journal of Egyptian History 7, no. 1 (2014): 67–108. https://doi.org/10.1163/18741665-12340014. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recorded 2024. The daughters of Akhenaten and Nefertiti were not just "ornaments" for their parents. Like many princesses, they also participated in the religious rituals and royal pageantry of the Egyptian government. In this interview, Courtney Marx (MA, George Mason University) joins us on behalf of the American Research Center in Egypt, to discuss the Amarna princesses and their role as priestesses. We also explore the history of royal women as priestesses and the unique roles they played in the temple rituals. Finally, we explore the aftermath of Amarna: how the visible roles, titles, and imagery of princesses changed following the death of Akhenaten and Nefertiti. The American Research Center in Egypt is celebrating 75 years of work in the Nile Valley. Dedicated to scholarship of the ancient, medieval, and modern worlds, the ARCE supports researchers and students, funds archaeological and scholarly work, and organises many public outreach programs. Learn more about ARCE at their website and follow the ARCE Podcast online and on all podcasting apps. The History of Egypt Podcast Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com. Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast. Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.  Logo image: Block fragment showing two Amarna princesses (Metropolitan Museum of Art 1985.328.6). Photo by Courtney Marx. Select Bibliography (provided by Courtney Marx): Ayad, Mariam F. “The God's Wife of Amun: origins and rise to power.” In Carney, Elizabeth D. and Sabine Müller (eds), The Routledge companion to women and monarchy in the ancient Mediterranean world, 47-60. New York: Routledge, 2021. Ayad, Mariam F. God's Wife, God's Servant: The God's Wife of Amun (ca.740–525 BC). United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis, 2009. Bryan, Betsy M. “Property and the God’s Wives of Amun.” In D. Lyons and R. Westbrook, eds. Women and Property in Ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean Societies. Washington, DC: Center For Hellenic Studies, Harvard University, 2005. Pawlicki, Franciszek. Princess Neferure in the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari: Failed Heiress to the Pharaoh’s Throne? Études et Travaux 21, 109-127. 2007. Xekalaki, Georgia. Symbolism in the Representation of Royal Children During the New Kingdom. Oxford: Archaeopress, 2011. Troy, Lana. “Patterns of Queenship in Ancient Egyptian Myth and History.” PhD diss., Uppsala University, 1986. Williamson, Jacquelyn. “Death and the Sun Temple: New Evidence for Private Mortuary Cults at Amarna.” The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 103, no. 1 (June 2017): 117–123.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the city of Akhet-Aten (Amarna) a small tomb hides a noteworthy story. Here, we find the life and work of a police officer. Mahu, Chief of the Medjay in Akhet-Aten, managed the guards who patrolled the Horizon of Aten. Mahu, and his troops, were responsible for guarding the outposts and apprehending fugitives. Possibly, they were also involved in criminal punishments. Some of those practices were quite cruel… Date c. 1357-1343 BCE Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com. Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast. Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments. Music by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.com Music by Bettina Joy de Guzman www.bettinajoydeguzman.com. Select Bibliography: Norman de Garis Davies, The Rock Tombs of El-Amarna, vol. IV, 1903. Aidan Dodson, Amarna Sunrise: Egypt From Golden Age to Age of Heresy, 2014. Barry J. Kemp, The City of Akhenaten and Nefertiti: Amarna and Its People, 2014. William J. Murnane, Texts from the Amarna Period in Egypt, 1995. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fatma Keshk is an Egyptologist, archaeologist and researcher in Egyptian heritage. She leads the outreach project "The Place and the People," working to strengthen ties between archaeologists and local Egyptian communities. It is my pleasure to welcome Fatma to the History of Egypt Podcast; I hope you enjoy the conversation. Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com. Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast. Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments. Fatma Keshk at the Free University of Berlin https://exoriente.academia.edu/FatmaKeshk, The Place and the People online www.facebook.com/The-Place-and-the-People-2315808581791112, The Tale of Shutb (children's story in English) https://www.britishmuseum.org Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aaron de Souza is an archaeologist specializing in the material culture of Egypt and Nubia. He earned his PhD at Macquarie University, Sydney, in 2016, and is now a Marie Sklodowska Curie Fellow at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, in Vienna. In the field, Aaron works with ceramics and material culture, particularly in cemetery contexts. He has published several articles and a book, titled New Horizons: The Pan-Grave Ceramic Tradition in Context. Aaron is an insightful researcher, part of the new generation of scholars that are examining (and re-examining) historical material in new ways. Learn more about Dr. Aaron de Souza online at Academia https://oeaw.academia.edu/AarondeSouza, the In Between Nubia website https://inbetweennubia.com/author/amdesouza/, and on Twitter https://twitter.com/aaronmdesouza. Shop History of Egypt merchandise at www.teepublic.com Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com. Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast. Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments. Music by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.com Music by Bettina Joy de Guzman www.bettinajoydeguzman.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Heba Abd el Gawad is an exhibition curator, public outreach specialist and researcher in Egyptian heritage within museum contexts. She is the postdoctoral researcher for the project ‘Egypt’s Dispersed Heritage: Views from Egypt’ at the Institute of Archaeology, University College of London, in addition to many other important works. Heba joins the History of Egypt Podcast to discuss public outreach, museum communication and accessibility, and the cultural heritage of Egypt and its people.For more information about the projects discussed in this interview, see the following links: Egypt's Dispersed Heritage project on Twitter www.twitter.com/excavatedegypt and Facebook www.facebook.com/EgyptsDispersedHeritage The Manchester Museum Podcast "Who Owns Egyptian heritage?" Manchester Museum https://www.mmfromhome.com/podcast/episode/39f9e1a5/who-owns-egyptian-heritage-with-heba-abd-el-gawad Arabic Digital Comics during COVID 19 www.al-fanarmedia.org/2020/08/arabic-comics-reach-a-wider-audience-through-digital-projects/ "Fayoum Human Remains Your mummies, Their Ancestors," a webinar on the ethics of displaying and researching human remains in partnership with Egypt Exploration Society and Everyday Orientalist www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC51hWto1J8&t=4603s. The History of Egypt Podcast Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com. Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast. Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments. Music by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices