1.
Egyptian Museum
–
The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, known commonly as the Egyptian Museum or Museum of Cairo, in Cairo, Egypt, is home to an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities. It has 120,000 items, with an amount on display. The edifice is one of the largest museums in the region, as of February 2017, the museum is open to the public. The Egyptian Museum of Antiquities contains many important pieces of ancient Egyptian history and it houses the world’s largest collection of Pharaonic antiquities. The Egyptian government established the museum, built in 1835 near the Ezbekeyah Garden, in 1855 Archduke Maximilian of Austria was given all of the artifacts by the Egyptian government, these are now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. A new museum was established at Boulaq in 1858 in a former warehouse, the building lay on the bank of the Nile River, and in 1878 it suffered significant damage in a flood of the Nile River. In 1891, the collections were moved to a royal palace. They remained there until 1902 when they were moved, for the last time, during the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, the museum was broken into, and two mummies were destroyed. Several artifacts were shown to have been damaged. Since then 25 objects have been found and those that were restored were put on display in September 2013 in an exhibition entitled Damaged and Restored. There are two floors in the museum, the ground floor and the first floor. On the ground there is an extensive collection of papyrus. The numerous pieces of papyrus are generally small fragments, due to their decay over the past two millennia, several languages are found on these pieces, including Greek, Latin, Arabic, and ancient Egyptian. The coins found on floor are made of many different metals, including gold, silver. The coins are not only Egyptian, but also Greek, Roman and this has helped historians research the history of Ancient Egyptian trade. Also on the floor are artifacts from the New Kingdom. These artifacts are generally larger than items created in earlier centuries, two special rooms contain a number of mummies of kings and other royal family members of the New Kingdom. In the garden adjacent to the building of the museum a memorial to famous egyptologists of the world is located, the Murder of Tutankhamen, A True Story
Egyptian Museum
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المتحف المصري
Egyptian Museum
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Aerial view 1904 from a balloon where the Egyptian Museum appears to the right side.
Egyptian Museum
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The Gold Mask of Tutankhamun, composed of 11 kg of solid gold
Egyptian Museum
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The Grave Mask of king
Amenemope of the 21st dynasty
2.
Pharaoh
–
The word pharaoh ultimately derive from the Egyptian compound pr-ˤ3 great house, written with the two biliteral hieroglyphs pr house and ˤ3 column, here meaning great or high. It was used only in larger phrases such as smr pr-ˤ3 Courtier of the High House, with specific reference to the buildings of the court or palace. From the twelfth dynasty onward, the word appears in a wish formula Great House, may it live, prosper, and be in health, but again only with reference to the royal palace and not the person. During the reign of Thutmose III in the New Kingdom, after the rule of the Hyksos during the Second Intermediate Period. During the eighteenth dynasty the title pharaoh was employed as a designation of the ruler. From the nineteenth dynasty onward pr-ˤ3 on its own was used as regularly as hm. f, the term, therefore, evolved from a word specifically referring to a building to a respectful designation for the ruler, particularly by the twenty-second dynasty and twenty-third dynasty. For instance, the first dated appearance of the pharaoh being attached to a rulers name occurs in Year 17 of Siamun on a fragment from the Karnak Priestly Annals. Here, an induction of an individual to the Amun priesthood is dated specifically to the reign of Pharaoh Siamun and this new practice was continued under his successor Psusennes II and the twenty-second dynasty kings. Shoshenq I was the successor of Siamun. Meanwhile, the old custom of referring to the sovereign simply as pr-ˤ3 continued in traditional Egyptian narratives, by this time, the Late Egyptian word is reconstructed to have been pronounced *par-ʕoʔ whence Herodotus derived the name of one of the Egyptian kings, Φερων. In the Bible, the title also occurs as פרעה, from that, Septuagint φαραώ pharaō and then Late Latin pharaō, both -n stem nouns. The Quran likewise spells it فرعون firawn with n, interestingly, the Arabic combines the original pharyngeal ayin sound from Egyptian, along with the -n ending from Greek. English at first spelt it Pharao, but the King James Bible revived Pharaoh with h from the Hebrew, meanwhile in Egypt itself, *par-ʕoʔ evolved into Sahidic Coptic ⲡⲣ̅ⲣⲟ prro and then rro. Scepters and staves were a sign of authority in ancient Egypt. One of the earliest royal scepters was discovered in the tomb of Khasekhemwy in Abydos, kings were also known to carry a staff, and Pharaoh Anedjib is shown on stone vessels carrying a so-called mks-staff. The scepter with the longest history seems to be the heqa-scepter, the earliest examples of this piece of regalia dates to pre-dynastic times. A scepter was found in a tomb at Abydos that dates to the late Naqada period, another scepter associated with the king is the was-scepter. This is a long staff mounted with an animal head, the earliest known depictions of the was-scepter date to the first dynasty
Pharaoh
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Den
Pharaoh
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Narmer Palette
Pharaoh
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Nomen and prenomen of
Ramesses III
Pharaoh
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Royal titulary
3.
Egyptian chronology
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The majority of Egyptologists agree on the outline and many details of the chronology of Ancient Egypt. Scholarly consensus on the outline of the conventional chronology current in Egyptology has not fluctuated much over the last 100 years. For the Old Kingdom, consensus fluctuates by as much as a few centuries and this is illustrated by comparing the chronology as given by two Egyptologists, the first writing in 1906, the second in 2000. The disparities between the two sets of result from additional discoveries and refined understanding of the still very incomplete source evidence. For example, Breasted adds a ruler in the Twentieth dynasty that further research showed did not exist, following Manetho, Breasted also believed all the dynasties were sequential, whereas it is now known that several existed at the same time. These revisions have resulted in a lowering of the chronology by up to 400 years at the beginning of Dynasty I. The backbone of Egyptian chronology are the years as recorded in Ancient Egyptian king lists. In addition, some Egyptian dynasties may have overlapped, with different pharaohs ruling in different regions at the same time, not knowing whether monarchies were simultaneous or sequential results in widely differing chronological interpretations. However, further research has shown that these censuses were taken in consecutive years. The sed festival was celebrated on the thirtieth anniversary of the Pharaohs ascension. However, once again, this may not be the practice in all cases. In the early days of Egyptology, the compilation of regnal periods may also have been hampered due to bias on the part of the Egyptologists. This was most pervasive before the mid 19th century, when Manethos figures were recognized as conflicting with biblical chronology based on Old Testament references to Egypt, in the 20th century, such biblical bias has mostly been confined to alternative chronologies outside of scholarly mainstream. A useful way to work around these gaps in knowledge is to find chronological synchronisms, over the past decades, a number of these have been found, although they are of varying degrees of usefulness and reliability. While this does not fix a person or event to a specific year, another example are blocks from the Old Kingdom bearing the names of several kings, which were reused in the construction of Middle Kingdom pyramid-temples at Lisht in the structures of Amenemhat I. The poor documentation of these finds in the Serapeum also compounds the difficulties in using these records. The best known of these is the Sothic cycle, and careful study of this led Richard A. Parker to argue that the dates of the Twelfth dynasty could be fixed with absolute precision. More recent research has eroded this confidence, questioning many of the assumptions used with the Sothic Cycle and this is useful especially for the Early Dynastic period, where Egyptological consensus has only been possible within a range of about three or four centuries
Egyptian chronology
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Astronomical ceiling from the tomb of
Seti I showing stars and constellations used in calendar calculations
Egyptian chronology
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'Diagonal star table' from the
11th Dynasty coffin lid; found at
Asyut, Egypt.
Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum Hildesheim
4.
Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt
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The Nineteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt was one of the periods of the Egyptian New Kingdom. Founded by Vizier Ramesses I, whom Pharaoh Horemheb chose as his successor to the throne, the warrior kings of the early 18th Dynasty had encountered only little resistance from neighbouring kingdoms, allowing them to expand their realm of influence easily. The situation had changed radically towards the end of the 18th Dynasty, the Hittites gradually extended their influence into Syria and Canaan to become a major power in international politics, a power that both Seti I and his son Ramesses II would need to deal with. The Pharaohs of the 19th dynasty ruled for one hundred and ten years. Seti Is reign is considered to be 11 years and not 15 years by both J. von Beckerath and Peter Brand, who wrote a biography on this pharaohs reign. Consequently, it will be amended to 11 years or 1290-1279 BC, therefore, Setis father and predecessor would have ruled Egypt between 1292-1290 BC. Many of the pharaohs were buried in the Valley of the Kings in Thebes, more information can be found on the Theban Mapping Project website. New Kingdom Egypt reached the zenith of its power under Seti I and Ramesses II, who campaigned vigorously against the Libyans and the Hittites. The city of Kadesh was first captured by Seti I, who decided to concede it to Muwatalli of Hatti in a peace treaty between Egypt and Hatti. He ultimately accepted that a campaign against the Hittites was a drain on Egypts treasury and military. In his 21st regnal year, Ramesses signed the first recorded peace treaty with Urhi-Teshubs successor, Hattusili III, Ramesses II even married two Hittite princesses, the first after his second Sed Festival. At least as early as Josephus, it was believed that Moses lived during the reign of Ramesses II and this dynasty declined as internal fighting between the heirs of Merneptah for the throne increased. Amenmesse apparently usurped the throne from Merneptahs son and successor, Seti II, after his death, Seti regained power and destroyed most of Amenmesses monuments. Both Bay and Setis chief wife Twosret had a reputation in Ancient Egyptian folklore. After Siptahs death, Twosret ruled Egypt for two years, but she proved unable to maintain her hold on power amid the conspiracies. She was likely ousted in a revolt led by Setnakhte, founder of the Twentieth Dynasty, Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt Family Tree
Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt
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Seti I
Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt
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Egyptian and Hittite Empires, around the time of the
Battle of Kadesh (1274 BC).
Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt
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Ramesses II
Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt
–
Seti II
5.
Ramesses II
–
Ramesses II, also known as Ramesses the Great and Ozymandias, was the third pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt. He often is regarded as the greatest, most celebrated, and his successors and later Egyptians called him the Great Ancestor. Ramesses II led several expeditions into the Levant, reasserting Egyptian control over Canaan. He also led expeditions to the south, into Nubia, commemorated in inscriptions at Beit el-Wali, at age fourteen, Ramesses was appointed Prince Regent by his father Seti I. He is believed to have taken the throne in his teens and is known to have ruled Egypt from 1279 BC to 1213 BC. Manetho attributes Ramesses II a reign of 66 years and 2 months, most Egyptologists today believe he assumed the throne on May 31,1279 BC, estimates of his age at death vary,90 or 91 is considered most likely. Ramesses II celebrated an unprecedented 14 sed festivals during his reign—more than any other pharaoh. On his death, he was buried in a tomb in the Valley of the Kings, his later was moved to a royal cache where it was discovered in 1881. The early part of his reign was focused on building cities, temples and he established the city of Pi-Ramesses in the Nile Delta as his new capital and used it as the main base for his campaigns in Syria. He is known as Ozymandias in the Greek sources, from a transliteration into Greek of a part of Ramesses throne name, Usermaatre Setepenre, The justice of Rê is powerful – chosen of Rê. Early in his life, Ramesses II embarked on campaigns to restore possession of previously held territories lost to the Nubians and Hittites. He also was responsible for suppressing some Nubian revolts and carrying out a campaign in Libya, during Ramesses IIs reign, the Egyptian army is estimated to have totaled about 100,000 men, a formidable force that he used to strengthen Egyptian influence. The Sherden people probably came from the coast of Ionia, from southwest Anatolia or perhaps, a stele from Tanis speaks of their having come in their war-ships from the midst of the sea, and none were able to stand before them. In that sea battle, together with the Sherden, the pharaoh also defeated the Lukka, the immediate antecedents to the Battle of Kadesh were the early campaigns of Ramesses II into Canaan. The inscription is almost totally illegible, due to weathering, additional records tell us that he was forced to fight a Canaanite prince who was mortally wounded by an Egyptian archer, and whose army subsequently, was routed. Ramesses carried off the princes of Canaan as live prisoners to Egypt, Ramesses then plundered the chiefs of the Asiatics in their own lands, returning every year to his headquarters at Riblah to exact tribute. In the fourth year of his reign, he captured the Hittite vassal state of Amurru during his campaign in Syria, the Battle of Kadesh in his fifth regnal year was the climactic engagement in a campaign that Ramesses fought in Syria, against the resurgent Hittite forces of Muwatallis. The pharaoh wanted a victory at Kadesh both to expand Egypts frontiers into Syria, and to emulate his father Seti Is triumphal entry into the city just a decade or so earlier and he also constructed his new capital, Pi-Ramesses
Ramesses II
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One of the four external seated statues of Ramesses II at
Abu Simbel.
Ramesses II
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Ramesses II as a child (
Cairo Museum)
Ramesses II
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Relief from
Ramesseum showing the
siege of Dapur
Ramesses II
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Tablet of
treaty between
Hattusili III of
Hatti and Ramesses II of
Egypt, at the
Istanbul Archaeology Museum
6.
Seti II
–
Seti II, was the fifth ruler of the Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt and reigned from c.1200 BC to 1194 BC. His throne name, Userkheperure Setepenre, means Powerful are the manifestations of Re and he was the son of Merneptah and Isetnofret II and sat on the throne during a period known for dynastic intrigue and short reigns, and his rule was no different. The erasures were subsequently repaired by Seti IIs agents and this suggests that Seti IIs reign at Thebes was interrupted by the rise of a rival, king Amenmesse in Upper Egypt. This conforms well with the evidence of Seti IIs control over Thebes in his first two years, which is attested by various documents and papyri. In contrast, Seti II is absent from Upper Egypt during his third and this indicates that the reigns of Amenmesse and Seti II must have partly overlapped with one another and suggests that both rulers were rivals who were fighting each another for the throne of Egypt. Prior to his year, however, Amenmesse was finally defeated by his rival, Seti II. Seti IIs agents completely erased both scenes and texts from KV10, the tomb of Amenmesse. Seti II promoted Chancellor Bay to become his most important state official and built 3 tombs – KV13, KV14 and this was an unprecedented act on his part for Bay, who was of Syrian descent and was not connected by marriage or blood ties to the royal family. Due to the brevity of his reign, Setis tomb was unfinished at the time of his death. Twosret later rose to power herself after the death of Siptah, according to an inscribed ostraca document from the Deir el-Medina workers community, Seti IIs death was announced to the workmen by The police Nakht-min on Year 6, I Peret 19 of Seti IIs reign. Seti II likely died sometime late in IV Akhet or early in I Peret, Wolfgang Helck, demarée have now proposed I Peret 2 as the date of Seti IIs actual death, presumably since it is 70 days before the day of his burial. From a graffito written in the first corridor of Twosrets KV14 tomb, Seti II was buried in his KV15 tomb on Year 1, III Peret day 11 of Siptahs reign. Seti IIs earliest prenomen in his First Year was Userkheperure Setepenre which is written above an inscription of Messuwy, Seti II soon changed his royal name to Userkheperure Meryamun, which was the most common form of his prenomen. Two important papyri date from the reign of Seti II, the second is the records of the trial of Paneb. Neferhotep, one of the two chief workmen of the Deir el Medina necropolis, had replaced by Paneb, his troublesome son-in-law. Many crimes were alleged by Neferhoteps brother—Amennakhte—against Paneb in a violently worded indictment preserved in papyrus now in the British Museum, whatever the truth of these accusations, it is clear that Thebes was going through very troubled times. There are references elsewhere to a war that had occurred during these years, neferhotep had complained of Panebs attacks on himself to the vizier Amenmose, presumably a predecessor of Praemhab, whereupon Amenmose had punished Paneb. This trouble-maker had then brought a complaint before Mose, who acted to remove Praemhab from his office
Seti II
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Statue of Seti II at the Turin Museum
Seti II
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A replica statue of Seti II holding a shrine to the god
Amun on display at the
Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum
Seti II
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A small temple erected by Seti II in the atrium of the temple of Karnak.
Seti II
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Gold earrings containing Seti II's name discovered in
KV56
7.
Amenmesse
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Amenmesse was the fifth ruler of the Nineteenth Dynasty in Ancient Egypt, possibly the son of Merneptah and Queen Takhat. Others consider him to be one of the sons of Ramesses II. Very little is known about this king, who ruled Egypt for only three to four years, various Egyptologists date his reign between 1202 BC–1199 BC or 1203 BC–1200 BC with others giving an accession date of 1200 BC. Amenmesse means born of or fashioned by Amun in Egyptian, additionally, his nomen can be found with the epithet Heqa-waset, which means Ruler of Thebes. His royal name was Menmire Setepenre and it is likely that he was not Merneptahs intended heir. It is unclear how this would have happened, kitchen has written that Amenmesse may have taken advantage of a momentary weakness of Seti-Merneptah or seized power while the crown prince was away in Asia. Seti-Merneptah was most likely the man as king Seti II. The cartouches of Seti IIs tomb in Upper Egypt were deliberately erased and then repainted, confusion generally clouds Amenmesses reign and location within the Egyptian 19th Dynasty. Amenmesse was documented in power at Thebes during his third and fourth year where Seti IIs Year 3, the treatment of Amenmesse as a rival king also best explains the pattern of destruction to Seti IIs tomb which was initially ransacked and later restored again by Seti IIs officials. Then Seti was ousted from power in Upper Egypt by Amenmesse whose agents desecrated Seti IIs tomb, Seti would finally defeat his rival Amenmesse and return to Thebes in triumph whereupon he ordered the restoration of his damaged tomb. Rolf Krauss, followed by Aidan Dodson, suggests that Amenmesse was once a Kushite Viceroy called Messuwy, an inscription at the temple of Amada also calls him the kings son himself but this may be merely a figure of speech to emphasize Messuwys high stature as Viceroy under Merneptah. This strongly implies that Seti II held no grudge against Messuwy, there has also been a suggestion that the story of the Tale of Two Brothers, first attested during the reign of Seti II, may contain a veiled reference to the struggle between Amenmesse and Seti II. The records of a court case early in the reign of Seti II also throw some light on the matter, papyrus Salt 124 records that Neferhotep, one of the two chief workmen of the Deir el-Medina necropolis, had been killed during the reign of Amenmesse. Neferhotep was replaced by Paneb his adopted son, against whom many crimes were alleged by Neferhoteps brother Amennakhte in a strongly worded indictment preserved on a papyrus in the British Museum, whatever the truth of these accusations, it is clear that Thebes was going through very troubled times. There are references elsewhere to a war that had occurred during these years, Neferhotep had complained of the attacks upon himself to the vizier Amenmose, presumably a predecessor of Praemhab, whereupon Amenmose had Paneb punished. Paneb, however, then brought a complaint before Mose/Msy whereupon the latter decided to dismiss Amenmose from office. Evidently this Mose/Msy was a person of the highest importance here who most probably should be identified with king Amenmesse himself and his mother is known to be Queen Takhat, but who she is exactly is a matter of interpretation complicated by inscriptions being revised by Seti II and Amenmesse. Among her titles are Kings Daughter, which would make her a daughter of Merenptah or Ramesses II or possibly a granddaughter of Ramesses, the name Takhat appears in a list of princesses dated to Year 53 of Ramesses II
Amenmesse
–
Head from a statue of Amenmesse,
Metropolitan Museum of Art
8.
Ancient Egyptian royal titulary
–
The royal titulary or royal protocol of an Egyptian pharaoh is the standard naming convention taken by the kings of Ancient Egypt. It symbolises worldly power and holy might and also acts as a sort of mission statement for the reign of a monarch. The full titulary, consisting of five names, did not come into standard usage until the Middle Kingdom, the Horus name is the oldest form of the pharaohs name, originating in the Predynastic Period. Many of the oldest-known Egyptian pharaohs were known only by this title, the Horus name was usually written in a serekh, a representation of a palace façade. The name of the pharaoh was written in hieroglyphs inside this representation of a palace, typically an image of the falcon God Horus was perched on top of or beside it. At least one Egyptian ruler, the 2nd dynasty Seth-Peribsen, used an image of the god Seth instead of Horus and he was succeeded by Khasekhemwy, who placed the symbols of both Seth and Horus above his name. Thereafter, the image of Horus always appeared alongside the name of the pharaoh, by the time of the New Kingdom the Horus name was often written without the enclosing serekh. The name is first definitively used by the First Dynasty pharaoh Semerkhet and this particular name was not typically framed by a cartouche or serekh, but always begins with the hieroglyphs of a vulture and cobra resting upon two baskets, the dual noun nebty. Also known as the Golden Horus Name, this form of the name typically featured the image of a Horus falcon perched above or beside the hieroglyph for gold. The meaning of this title has been disputed. One belief is that it represents the triumph of Horus over his uncle Seth, Gold also was strongly associated in the ancient Egyptian mind with eternity, so this may have been intended to convey the pharaohs eternal Horus name. Similar to the Nebty name, this particular name typically was not framed by a cartouche or serekh, the pharaohs throne name, the first of the two names written inside a cartouche, and usually accompanied the title nsw-bity. The term nsw-bity It has been suggested that the Berber term for strong man, the epithet neb tawy, Lord of the Two Lands, referring to valley and delta regions of Egypt, often occurs as well. This was the name given at birth and it was first introduced to the set of royal titles in the Fourth Dynasty and emphasizes the kings role as a representative of the solar god Ra. For women who became pharaoh, the title was interpreted as daughter also. Modern historians typically refer to the ancient kings of Egypt by this name, Middle Egyptian, An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs. The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, Cairo, London, and New York, The American University in Cairo Press and Thames and Hudson. The Great Name, Ancient Egyptian Royal Titulary, Egyptian Grammar, Being an Introduction to the Study of Hieroglyphs
Ancient Egyptian royal titulary
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Serekh containing the name of
Djet and an association with
Wadjet, on display at the
Louvre
Ancient Egyptian royal titulary
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Praenomen of the
Cartouche of
Thutmose II preceded by Sedge and Bee symbols, Temple of
Hatshepsut,
Luxor
Ancient Egyptian royal titulary
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In the
Middle Kingdom, the full titulary was sometimes written in a single cartouche, as in this example from
Senusret I, from
Beni Hasan.
Ancient Egyptian royal titulary
–
Royal titulary
9.
Ptah
–
Phosphotungstic acid haematoxylin is a mix of haematoxylin with phosphotungstic acid, used in histology for staining. It stains some tissue in contrasting colors in a way similar to haematoxylin and eosin stain and it is used to show gliosis in the central nervous system, tumours of skeletal muscles, and fibrin deposits in lesions. PTAH is ideal for demonstrating striated muscle fibers and mitochondria, often without a counterstain, as such, it is used to identify contraction bands, as seen in contraction band necrosis. PTAH stains ependymomas while it does not stain choroid plexus papillomas and this technique has been largely replaced by immunohistochemistry techniques. There is much more phosphotungstic acid in the solution than hematein, the phosphotungstic acid binds all of the available hematein to form a blue lake pigment. This lake stains the muscle cross striations, fibrin, nuclei, the rest of the phosphotungstic acid stains the red-brown components, such as collagen. Zenker fixative is preferred, although formalin fixed tissue can be used, PTAH solution, Gram Iodine, 5% sodium thiosulfate,0. 25% Potassium Permanganate, and 5% Oxalic Acid solution are needed. After staining, slides should be dehydrated quickly because the red-brown components lose their color when exposed to water or alcohol
Ptah
–
Phosphotungstic acid-haematoxylin staining demonstrating
contraction band necrosis in an individual that had a
myocardial infarction (heart attack).
Ptah
10.
Isetnofret II
–
Isetnofret was one of the Great Royal Wives of Pharaoh Merenptah. Queen Isetnofret II may have been the daughter of Prince Khaemwaset, if so she married her uncle Merneptah. Another possibility is that Isetnofret II is a daughter of King Ramesses II and her children include, Prince Sety-Merenptah, who would later take the throne as Seti II Prince Merenptah, Kings Son, Executive at the Head of the Two Lands, and Generalissimo. Prince Khaemwaset, Kings Son, Depicted in Karnak Temple, Kings daughter mentioned in the Leiden ship log. Queen Isetnofret IIs titles include, Lady of The Two Lands, Great King’s Wife, Mistress of Upper and Lower Egypt, Isetnofret II grew up during the reign of Ramesses II, her possible grandfather. If she was the daughter of Khaemwaset, she may have very well grown up in Memphis, Isetnofret II is attested several times during the reign of her husband, She is depicted on a statue usurped from Amenhotep III by Merenptah. On a stela of the Vizier Panehesy at Gebel el Silsila and this stela is situated across the Chapel of Panehesy and depicts Merneptah, Queen Isetnofret and Sety-Merneptah with the vizier before Amun-Re and Ptah. On a statuette dedicated by the Vizier Panehesy at Gebel el Silsila and it is not known when or where Isetnofret died or where she was buried. If Isetnofret was the daughter of Khaemwaset, then she may have been buried at Saqqara, the tomb of a royal lady named Isetnofret was recently discovered in Saqqara during excavations by Waseda University
Isetnofret II
–
Isetnofret II
11.
Tiy-merenese
–
Tiy-merenese, Teye-Merenaset, Tiye-Mereniset was the Great Royal Wife of pharaoh Setnakhte and mother of Ramesses III of the Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt. She is the only wife of Setnakhte. She was depicted together with her husband on a stela in Abydos, a priest named Meresyotef is shown adoring Setnakhte and Tiy-Merenese and their son Ramesses III is shown making offerings. Tiye-Merenese also appears on blocks found in Abydos which were reused in other buildings
Tiy-merenese
–
Tiy-Merenese on a block found in Abydos (JE 36339).
12.
Isetnofret
–
Isetnofret was one of the Great Royal Wives of Pharaoh Ramesses II and was the mother of his heir, Merneptah. She was one of the most prominent of the wives, along with Nefertari. The parents of Isetnofret are not known and she must have married Ramesses II even before he came to the throne as her eldest children already appear in scenes from the time of Seti I. She had at least three sons and one daughter and her children include, Prince Ramesses, Crown Prince from Year 25 to 50 of Ramesses II Princess-Queen Bintanath, firstborn daughter and later wife of Ramesses Prince Khaemwaset, High Priest of Ptah. She is not well attested before year 25 of Ramesses II, most of the items and scenes mentioning Queen Isetnofret seem to be associated with her sons Ramesses, Khaemwaset and Merenptah. Isetnofret is shown on a stela from Aswan. The upper register shows Ramesses II, Isetnofret and Khaemwaset before the god Khnum, the lower register shows Prince Ramesses, Merneptah and Princess Queen Bintanath. A family stela from the Speos at West Silsila shows Ramesses II, Isetnofret and Bintanath with a much smaller Khaemwaset before the gods Ptah, the lower register shows Prince Ramesses and Prince Merenptah. Her son is named on the statue, the Sem-Priest and Kings Son Khaemwaset, a Statue group with Sons, A hetep-di-nesu offering for the Kings Son, Sem priest of Ptah, Khaemwaset and the royal scribe, Generalissimo and Kings Son Ramesses. The Head of a Statue, On right shoulder the name of Isetnofret appears, a naophorous Statue of Prince Khaemwaset mentions his mother. On the dorsal pillar it reads, Iunmutef-priest, born of the Great Royal Wife Isetnofret, relief for offering for Prince Khaemwaset in Horemhebs Speos. Shabtis from Middle cemetery of Abydos, One of these has a cartouche of Queen Isetnofret, West Silsila, Rock shrine of Merneptah. A scene depicts Ramesses II, Queen Isetnofret with sistra before Taweret, Thoth, a daughter of her son Khaemwaset was named after her. It is possible that this Isetnofret was Merenptahs wife, not her aunt Isetnofret II, a possible daughter of Merneptah also bears this name
Isetnofret
–
Upper Register: King
Ramesses II, Isetnofret and
Khaemwaset before
Khnum
13.
KV8
–
Tomb KV8, located in the Valley of the Kings, was used for the burial of Pharaoh Merenptah of Ancient Egypts Nineteenth Dynasty. The burial chamber, located at the end of 160 metres of corridor, the outer one of these was so voluminous that parts of the corridor had to have their doorjambs demolished and rebuilt to allow it to be brought in. These jambs were then rebuilt with the help of inscribed sandstone blocks which were fixed into their place with dovetail cramps. The pillars in Chamber F were removed to allow passage of the sacrophagus, the other two pillars may have been stolen by Paneb, a worker in the craftsmans village, for use in his own tomb. The Complete Valley of the Kings,1996, Thames and Hudson, London Siliotti, guide to the Valley of the Kings and to the Theban Necropolises and Temples,1996, A. A. Gaddis, Cairo Theban Mapping Project, KV8, Includes description, images and plans of the tomb
KV8
–
Merenptah's stone sarcophagus in KV8
KV8
–
Isometric, plan and elevation images of KV8 taken from a 3d model
14.
Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt
–
The Nineteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt was one of the periods of the Egyptian New Kingdom. Founded by Vizier Ramesses I, whom Pharaoh Horemheb chose as his successor to the throne, the warrior kings of the early 18th Dynasty had encountered only little resistance from neighbouring kingdoms, allowing them to expand their realm of influence easily. The situation had changed radically towards the end of the 18th Dynasty, the Hittites gradually extended their influence into Syria and Canaan to become a major power in international politics, a power that both Seti I and his son Ramesses II would need to deal with. The Pharaohs of the 19th dynasty ruled for one hundred and ten years. Seti Is reign is considered to be 11 years and not 15 years by both J. von Beckerath and Peter Brand, who wrote a biography on this pharaohs reign. Consequently, it will be amended to 11 years or 1290-1279 BC, therefore, Setis father and predecessor would have ruled Egypt between 1292-1290 BC. Many of the pharaohs were buried in the Valley of the Kings in Thebes, more information can be found on the Theban Mapping Project website. New Kingdom Egypt reached the zenith of its power under Seti I and Ramesses II, who campaigned vigorously against the Libyans and the Hittites. The city of Kadesh was first captured by Seti I, who decided to concede it to Muwatalli of Hatti in a peace treaty between Egypt and Hatti. He ultimately accepted that a campaign against the Hittites was a drain on Egypts treasury and military. In his 21st regnal year, Ramesses signed the first recorded peace treaty with Urhi-Teshubs successor, Hattusili III, Ramesses II even married two Hittite princesses, the first after his second Sed Festival. At least as early as Josephus, it was believed that Moses lived during the reign of Ramesses II and this dynasty declined as internal fighting between the heirs of Merneptah for the throne increased. Amenmesse apparently usurped the throne from Merneptahs son and successor, Seti II, after his death, Seti regained power and destroyed most of Amenmesses monuments. Both Bay and Setis chief wife Twosret had a reputation in Ancient Egyptian folklore. After Siptahs death, Twosret ruled Egypt for two years, but she proved unable to maintain her hold on power amid the conspiracies. She was likely ousted in a revolt led by Setnakhte, founder of the Twentieth Dynasty, Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt Family Tree
Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt
–
Seti I
Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt
–
Egyptian and Hittite Empires, around the time of the
Battle of Kadesh (1274 BC).
Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt
–
Ramesses II
Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt
–
Seti II
15.
Ancient Egypt
–
Ancient Egypt was a civilization of ancient Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. It is one of six civilizations to arise independently, Egyptian civilization followed prehistoric Egypt and coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh Narmer. In the aftermath of Alexander the Greats death, one of his generals, Ptolemy Soter and this Greek Ptolemaic Kingdom ruled Egypt until 30 BC, when, under Cleopatra, it fell to the Roman Empire and became a Roman province. The success of ancient Egyptian civilization came partly from its ability to adapt to the conditions of the Nile River valley for agriculture, the predictable flooding and controlled irrigation of the fertile valley produced surplus crops, which supported a more dense population, and social development and culture. Its art and architecture were widely copied, and its antiquities carried off to far corners of the world and its monumental ruins have inspired the imaginations of travelers and writers for centuries. The Nile has been the lifeline of its region for much of human history, nomadic modern human hunter-gatherers began living in the Nile valley through the end of the Middle Pleistocene some 120,000 years ago. By the late Paleolithic period, the climate of Northern Africa became increasingly hot and dry. In Predynastic and Early Dynastic times, the Egyptian climate was less arid than it is today. Large regions of Egypt were covered in treed savanna and traversed by herds of grazing ungulates, foliage and fauna were far more prolific in all environs and the Nile region supported large populations of waterfowl. Hunting would have been common for Egyptians, and this is also the period when many animals were first domesticated. The largest of these cultures in upper Egypt was the Badari, which probably originated in the Western Desert, it was known for its high quality ceramics, stone tools. The Badari was followed by the Amratian and Gerzeh cultures, which brought a number of technological improvements, as early as the Naqada I Period, predynastic Egyptians imported obsidian from Ethiopia, used to shape blades and other objects from flakes. In Naqada II times, early evidence exists of contact with the Near East, particularly Canaan, establishing a power center at Hierakonpolis, and later at Abydos, Naqada III leaders expanded their control of Egypt northwards along the Nile. They also traded with Nubia to the south, the oases of the desert to the west. Royal Nubian burials at Qustul produced artifacts bearing the oldest-known examples of Egyptian dynastic symbols, such as the crown of Egypt. They also developed a ceramic glaze known as faience, which was used well into the Roman Period to decorate cups, amulets, and figurines. During the last predynastic phase, the Naqada culture began using written symbols that eventually were developed into a system of hieroglyphs for writing the ancient Egyptian language. The Early Dynastic Period was approximately contemporary to the early Sumerian-Akkadian civilisation of Mesopotamia, the third-century BC Egyptian priest Manetho grouped the long line of pharaohs from Menes to his own time into 30 dynasties, a system still used today
Ancient Egypt
–
The
Great Sphinx and the
pyramids of Giza are among the most recognizable symbols of the civilization of ancient Egypt.
Ancient Egypt
–
A typical Naqada II jar decorated with gazelles. (Predynastic Period)
Ancient Egypt
–
The
Narmer Palette depicts the unification of the Two Lands.
16.
Khaemwaset
–
Prince Khaemweset was the fourth son of Ramesses II, and the second son by his queen Isetnofret. He is by far the best known son of Ramesses II, Khaemweset has been described as the first Egyptologist due to his efforts in identifying and restoring historic buildings, tombs and temples. Khaemweset was the son of Ramesses II and Queen Isetnofret. He was born during the reign of his grandfather Pharaoh Seti I, in about the 13th year of the reign of Seti I, crown-prince Ramesses put down a minor revolt in Nubia. Ramesses took his small sons Amunherwenemef and Khaemweset with him on military campaign. Khaemweset may have been only 4 years old at this time, Khaemweset and his older brother are shown making a charge on the battle field in a chariot. The events were recorded in scenes in the temple at Beit el Wali, Khaemweset grew up with his brothers during a time of foreign conflict and he is present in scenes from the Battle of Kadesh, the siege of Qode, and the siege of Dapur in Syria. In the battle of Kadesh scenes from year 5 of Ramesses II and these princes were prisoners of war. In scenes depicting the battle of Qode, Khaemweset is shown leading prisoners before his father and serving as an attendant of his father. In year 10 of Ramesses II Khaemweset is present during the battle of Dapur, after this initial period where Khaemweset may have had some military training, or at least was present at the battlefield, he became a Sem-Priest of Ptah in Memphis. Year 16 of Ramesses IIs reign and he would have initially been a deputy to the High Priest of Ptah in Memphis named Huy. During his time as Sem-Priest Khaemweset was quite active in rituals, in year 16 of Ramesses the Apis bull died and was buried in the Serapeum. Funerary gifts were presented by the High Priest of Ptah Huy, Khaemweset himself, his brother Prince Ramesses, the next burial took place in year 30 and at that time the gifts came from the chief of the treasury Suty and the Mayor of Memphis named Huy. After this second burial Khaemweset redesigned the Serapeum and he created an underground gallery where a series of burial chambers allowed for the burial of several Apis Bulls. Around the 25th regnal year of his father, his older brother Ramesses became Crown-Prince and these Heb-Sed festivals were traditionally held in Memphis, but some of the announcements were made in the south of Egypt at El-Kab and Silsila. While he was a Sem-Priest, Khaemweset may have constructed and built additions to the temple of Ptah in Memphis, there are several inscriptions which attest to Khaemwesets activities in Memphis. Khaemweset restored the monuments of earlier kings and nobles, inscriptions at the pyramid temple of Userkaf show Khaemweset with offering bearers, and at the pyramid temple of Sahure Khamwaset offers a statue of the goddess Bast. Khaemweset restored a statue of Prince Kawab, a son of King Khufu. of his father, the King of South and North Egypt Khufu
Khaemwaset
–
Statue of Khaemweset from the British Museum.
Khaemwaset
–
Pectoral and buckle found in the Saqqara burial of prince Kaemwese
Khaemwaset
–
Aswan Rock stela. Top: Ramesses II, Isetnofret and Khaemwaset before Khnum. Bottom left to right: Merneptah, Bintanath and Prince Ramesses.
Khaemwaset
–
Pectoral from Khaemweset's Serapeum tomb burial bearing Ramesses II's cartouche.
17.
Twosret
–
Twosret was the last known ruler and the final Pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt. She is recorded in Manethos Epitome as a certain Thuoris, who in Homer is called Polybus, husband of Alcandra and she was said to have ruled Egypt for seven years, but this figure included the nearly six-year reign of Siptah, her predecessor. Twosret simply assumed Siptahs regnal years as her own and her royal name, Sitre Meryamun, means Daughter of Re, beloved of Amun. Queen Twosret or Tausrets birth date is unknown, Queen Twosret is thought to have been a daughter of Merenptah, possibly a daughter of Takhat, thereby making her sister to Amenmesse. She was thought to be the royal wife of Seti II. There are no children for Twosret and Seti II, unless tomb KV56 represents the burial of their daughter. Theodore Davis identified the Queen and her husband in a cache of jewelry found in tomb KV56 in the Valley of the Kings and this tomb also contained objects bearing the name of Rameses II. There is no consensus about the nature of this tomb, some thought this was the tomb of a daughter of Seti II and Tawosret, but others thought this was a cache of objects originally belonging with the tomb of Tawosret herself. After her husbands death, she became first regent to Setis heir Siptah jointly with Chancellor Bay, Siptah was likely a stepson of Twosret since his mother is now known to be a certain Sutailja or Shoteraja from Louvre Relief E26901. When Siptah died, Twosret officially assumed the throne for herself, as the Daughter of Re, Lady of Ta-merit, Twosret of Mut, the document is a hieratic ostracon or inscribed potshard and contains an announcement to the workmen of Deir El-Medina of the kings actions. No immediate reason was given to show what caused Siptah to turn against the great enemy Bay, the recto of the document reads thus, Year 5 III Shemu the 27th. On this day, the scribe of the tomb Paser came announcing Pharaoh, life, prosperity, has killed the great enemy Bay. This date accords well with Bays last known appearance in Year 4 of Siptah. The ostracons information was essentially an order for the workmen to stop all further work on Bays tomb since the latter had now been deemed a traitor to the state. Twosrets reign ended in a war which is documented in the Elephantine stela of her successor Setnakhte who became the founder of the Twentieth dynasty. However, Setnakhte and his son Ramesses III described the late 19th dynasty as a time of chaos. Setnakhte usurped the joint KV14 tomb of Seti II and Twosret but reburied Seti II in tomb KV15, setnakhtes decisions here may demonstrate his dislike and presumably hatred for Twosret since he chose to reinter Seti II but not Twosret. Setnakhtes son, Ramesses III, later excluded Twosret and even Siptah of the 19th dynasty from his Medinet Habu list of Egyptian kings thereby delegitimizing them in the eyes of the citizenry and it appears more likely that Setnakhte overthrew Twosret from power in a civil war
Twosret
–
Twosret playing the sistrum at Amada Temple, Nubia
18.
Sea Peoples
–
The Sea Peoples were a purported seafaring confederation of groups known to have attacked ancient Egypt prior to the Late Bronze Age collapse. The various Sea Peoples have been proposed to have originated either from western Anatolia or from Southern Europe. French Egyptologist Emmanuel de Rougé first used the term peuples de la mer in 1855 in a description of reliefs on the Second Pylon at Medinet Habu documenting Year 8 of Ramesses III. Gaston Maspero, de Rougés successor at the Collège de France, since the early 1990s, the theory has been brought into question by a number of scholars. Hypotheses regarding the origin of the groups identified as Sea Peoples remains the source of much speculation. De Rougé later became chair of Egyptology at the Collège de France, the theory was taken up by other scholars such as Eduard Meyer, and became the generally accepted theory amongst Egyptologists and orientalists. Since the early 1990s, the theory has been brought into question by a number of scholars, the years of this long-lived pharaohs reign are not known exactly, but they must have comprised nearly all of the first half of the 13th century BCE. In his Second Year, an attack of the Sherden, or Shardana, on the Nile Delta was repulsed and defeated by Ramesses, the event is recorded on Tanis Stele II. The Sherden prisoners were incorporated into the Egyptian army for service on the Hittite frontier by Ramesses. Another stele usually cited in conjunction with one is the Aswan Stele. It is plausible to assume that the Tanis and Aswan Stelae refer to the same event, the Battle of Kadesh was the outcome of a campaign against the Hittites and allies in the Levant in the pharaohs Year 5. The imminent collision of the Egyptian and Hittite empires became obvious to both, and they both prepared campaigns against the strategic midpoint of Kadesh for the next year, Ramesses divided his Egyptian forces, which were then ambushed piecemeal by the Hittite army and nearly defeated. At home, Ramesses had his scribes formulate an official description, ten copies survive today on the temples at Abydos, Karnak, Luxor and Abu Simbel, with reliefs depicting the battle. The Poem of Pentaur, describing the battle survived also, there is no evidence of any collaboration with the Hittites or malicious intent on their part, and if Ramesses considered it, he never left any record of that consideration. The poem lists the peoples which went to Kadesh as allies of the Hittites, depredations of this confederacy had been so severe that the region was forsaken as pasturage for cattle, it was left waste from the time of the ancestors. The pharaohs action against them is attested in a narrative found in three sources. The Athribis stela is a stela found in Athribis and inscribed on both sides, which, like the Cairo column was first published by Maspero, two years later in 1883. The Merneptah Stele from Thebes describes the reign of peace resulting from the victory, the Nine Bows were acting under the leadership of the king of Libya and an associated near-concurrent revolt in Canaan involving Gaza, Ashkelon, Yenoam and the people of Israel
Sea Peoples
–
Emmanuel de Rougé's translation of the North wall of the mortuary temple of
Ramesses III at
Medinet Habu led him to coin the term "Sea Peoples". This famous scene shows what has come to be known as the
Battle of the Delta.
Sea Peoples
–
Athribis Stele, garden of Cairo Museum.
Sea Peoples
–
Temple of Ramses III at Medinet Habu
Sea Peoples
–
The Nile Delta today
19.
Nile delta
–
The Nile Delta is the delta formed in Northern Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the worlds largest river deltas—from Alexandria in the west to Port Said in the east, from north to south the delta is approximately 160 kilometres in length. The Delta begins slightly down-river from Cairo, from north to south, the delta is approximately 160 kilometres in length. From west-to-east, it covers some 240 kilometres of coastline, the delta is sometimes divided into sections, with the Nile dividing into two main distributaries, the Damietta and the Rosetta, flowing into the Mediterranean at port cities with the same name. In the past, the delta had several distributaries, but these have been lost due to flood control, one such defunct distributary is Wadi Tumilat. The Suez Canal runs to the east of the delta, entering the coastal Lake Manzala in the north-east of the delta, to the north-west are three other coastal lakes or lagoons, Lake Burullus, Lake Idku and Lake Maryut. The Nile is considered to be a delta, as it resembles a triangle or flower when seen from above. The outer edges of the delta are eroding, and some coastal lagoons have seen increasing salinity levels as their connection to the Mediterranean Sea increases, topsoil in the delta can be as much as 70 feet in depth. People have lived in the Delta region for thousands of years, the Delta River used to flood on an annual basis, but this ended with the construction of the Aswan Dam. The Rosetta Stone was found in the Nile Delta in 1799 in the city of Rosetta. The delta was a constituent of Lower Egypt. The Biblical Land of Goshen was located in an area on the west bank of the Pelusiac distributary. There are many sites in and around the Nile Delta. About 39 million people live in the Delta region, outside of major cities, population density in the delta averages 1,000 persons/km² or more. Alexandria is the largest city in the delta with a population of more than 4.5 million. Other large cities in the delta include Shubra al Khaymah, Port Said, El-Mahalla El-Kubra, El Mansura, Tanta, during autumn, parts of the Nile River are red with lotus flowers. The Lower Nile and the Upper Nile have plants that grow in abundance, the Upper Nile plant is the Egyptian lotus, and the Lower Nile plant is the Papyrus Sedge, although it is not nearly as plentiful as it once was, and is becoming quite rare. Several hundred thousand birds winter in the delta, including the world’s largest concentrations of little gulls
Nile delta
–
NASA satellite photograph of the Nile Delta (shown in false color)
Nile delta
–
The Nile Delta at night
Nile delta
–
Nile River and Delta
Nile delta
–
Ancient branches of the Nile, showing Wadi Tumilat, and the lakes east of the Delta
20.
Great Karnak Inscription
–
The Great Karnak Inscription is an ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic inscription belonging to the 19th dynasty Pharaoh Merneptah. A long epigraph, it was discovered at Karnak in 1828-29, according to Wilhelm Max Müller, it is one of the famous standard texts of Egyptology. One of the greatest desiderata of scholars for many years, the Great Karnak Inscription is located on the west of the east wall of the Cachette Court, in the Precinct of Amun-Re of the Karnak temple complex, in modern Luxor. It runs from the pylon of the great sanctuary to the eighth pylon. It was first identified by Champollion, and later published by Karl Richard Lepsius. It includes a record of the campaigns of king against the Sea Peoples. The 79-line inscription shows the kings campaigns and eventual return with booty and it is the longest surviving continuous monumental text from Egypt. It has been designated KIU4246 by the Centre Franco-Égyptien dÉtude des Temples de Karnak
Great Karnak Inscription
–
Seapeople.
Great Karnak Inscription
–
General
21.
Libu
–
The Libu were an Ancient Libyan tribe of an Amazigh origin, from which the name Libya derives. Their occupation of Ancient Libya is first attested in Egyptian language texts from the New Kingdom, the earliest occurrence is in a Ramesses II inscription. There were no vowels in the Egyptian script, the name Libu is written as LBW or RBW in Egyptian hieroglyphs. In the Great Karnak Inscription Merneptah describes how hostilities between Egypt and Libya broke out and how the Libyans were defeated. Ramesses III defeated the Libyans in the 5th year of his reign, Libu appears as an ethnic name on the Merneptah Stele, also known as the Israel Stele. This name Libu was taken over by the Greeks of Cyrenaica, geographically, the name of this tribe was adopted by the Greeks for Cyrenaica as well as for northwestern Africa in general. In the neo-Punic inscriptions, Libu was written as Lby for the masculine noun, the name supposedly was used as an ethnic name in those inscriptions. In the Western Nile Delta, some time during the 22nd Dynasty of Egypt flourished a realm of the Libu led by Great Chiefs of the Libu and those rulers soon formed a dynasty, and they often had local Chiefs of the Ma as their subordinates. Here follows the succession of the known Great Chiefs of the Libu and they used to date their monuments following the regnal years of the contemporary pharaoh of the 22nd Dynasty
Libu
–
An
ancient Libyan; as depicted in the tomb of
Seti I
Libu
–
The Libu (, R'bw, Ribou, Labu) were an
ancient Libyan tribe, from which the
name Libya derives. They were closely related to the
Berbers [
citation needed] and
Ancient Egyptians. [
citation needed]
22.
Karnak
–
The Karnak Temple Complex, commonly known as Karnak, comprises a vast mix of decayed temples, chapels, pylons, and other buildings. Building at the complex began during the reign of Senusret I in the Middle Kingdom and continued into the Ptolemaic period, the area around Karnak was the ancient Egyptian Ipet-isut and the main place of worship of the eighteenth dynasty Theban Triad with the god Amun as its head. It is part of the city of Thebes. The Karnak complex gives its name to the nearby, and partly surrounded, the complex is a vast open-air museum, and the second largest ancient religious site in the world, after the Angkor Wat Temple of Cambodia. It is believed to be the second most visited site in Egypt. It consists of four parts, of which only the largest is currently open to the general public. The term Karnak often is understood as being the Precinct of Amun-Ra only, the three other parts, the Precinct of Mut, the Precinct of Montu, and the dismantled Temple of Amenhotep IV, are closed to the public. There also are a few temples and sanctuaries connecting the Precinct of Mut, the Precinct of Amun-Re. The Precinct of Mut is very ancient, being dedicated to an Earth and creation deity, the original temple was destroyed and partially restored by Hatshepsut, although another pharaoh built around it in order to change the focus or orientation of the sacred area. Many portions of it may have carried away for use in other buildings. The key difference between Karnak and most of the temples and sites in Egypt is the length of time over which it was developed and used. Construction of temples started in the Middle Kingdom and continued through to Ptolemaic times, approximately thirty pharaohs contributed to the buildings, enabling it to reach a size, complexity, and diversity not seen elsewhere. Few of the features of Karnak are unique, but the size. The deities represented range from some of the earliest worshiped to those worshiped much later in the history of the Ancient Egyptian culture and it also contains evidence of adaptations, using buildings of the Ancient Egyptians by later cultures for their own religious purposes. One famous aspect of Karnak is the Hypostyle Hall in the Precinct of Amun-Re,122 of these columns are 10 meters tall, and the other 12 are 21 meters tall with a diameter of over three meters. The architraves on top of columns are estimated to weigh 70 tons. These architraves may have been lifted to these heights using levers and this would be an extremely time-consuming process and also would require great balance to get to such great heights. A common alternative theory regarding how they were moved is that large ramps were constructed of sand, mud, brick or stone, if stone had been used for the ramps, they would have been able to use much less material
Karnak
–
Pillars of the
Great Hypostyle Hall from the
Precinct of Amun-Re
Karnak
–
Great hall, Karnak.
Brooklyn Museum Archives, Goodyear Archival Collection
Karnak
–
Hieroglyphs from the great obelisk of Karnak, transcribed by
Ippolito Rosellini in 1828
Karnak
–
Photograph of the temple complex taken in 1914 - Cornell University Library
23.
Nine bows
–
The nine bows is a term used in Ancient Egypt to represent the traditional enemies of Egypt. The peoples covered by this term changed over time, as enemies changed, when illustrated the nine bows are usually shown as dressed differently from each other, as they each personify a specific enemy relevant to the time period. One of the oldest representations of the Nine bows is on the statue of Pharaoh Djoser–his feet rest upon part of the nine bows. The Rekhyt bird- is often associated in the iconography, with the phrase, pharaoh-King Tutankhamun has a famous representation of the Nine Bows, and the nine foreign enemies. The tomb was closed with a rope, and the rope impressed with a clay seal. The seal contains an impression with Anubis, reclining as a jackal, at the top list of the Nine foreign rebels, in a long, the Campaign of Pharaoh Shoshenq I Into Palestine
Nine bows
–
Thutmosis III sphinx statuette, showing Pharaoh reclining on the Nine Bows. The front of the statuette uses the lapwing Rekhyt bird to say: "all the people give praise", using the hieroglyphs, nb, for all, the lapwing, for the people, and the star, for praising; (this is a
rebus).
Djed pillars of "Dominion" are on the side.
Nine bows
–
The Keftiu- (
Caphtor)-K-f-t-U-
foreign land determinative; (defeated peoples,
Ramses II Temple at
Abydos)
Nine bows
–
Nectanebo II statue pedestal. Ntr-Nfr-(Pharaoh-Wonderful), and "All the people make praise".
24.
Merneptah Stele
–
The stele is sometimes referred to as the Israel Stela because a majority of scholars translate a set of hieroglyphs in line 27 as Israel. Alternative translations have been advanced but are not widely accepted, if this consensus is assumed, the stela represents the earliest textual reference to Israel and the only reference from ancient Egypt. It is one of four inscriptions that mention and date to the time of ancient Israel, the others being the Mesha Stele, the Tel Dan Stele. As a result, some consider the stele to be Flinders Petries most famous discovery, the stele was discovered in 1896 by Flinders Petrie in the ancient Egyptian capital of Thebes, and first translated by Wilhelm Spiegelberg. Owing to the surface, and the poor cutting, the readings in many places require careful examination. The scene at the top retains its original colouring of yellow, red, amen is shown giving a sword to the king, who is backed by Mut on one side and by Khonsu on the other. Now in the collection of the Egyptian Museum at Cairo, the stele is a granite slab, over 3 meters high. Egypt was the dominant power in the region during the reign of Merneptahs predecessor, Ramesses the Great. The problems began in Merneptahs 5th year, when a Libyan king invaded Egypt from the west in alliance with various northern peoples, Merneptah achieved a great victory in the summer of that year, and the inscription is mainly about this. The final lines deal with a separate campaign in the East. Traditionally the Egyptians had concerned only with cities, so the problem presented by Israel must have been something new – possibly attacks on Egypts vassals in Canaan. Petrie called upon Wilhelm Spiegelberg, a German philologist in his archaeological team, Spiegelberg was puzzled by one symbol towards the end, that of a people or tribe whom Merneptah had victoriously smitten—I. si. ri. ar. Petrie quickly suggested that it read Israel, Spiegelberg agreed that this translation must be correct. At dinner that evening, Petrie who realized the importance of the find said, the news of its discovery made headlines when it reached the English papers. As early as 1955, John A and this sentiment was subsequently built upon by other scholars. Lastly, according to James Hoffmeier, no Egyptologists would ever read the signs of an ethnic entity as indicating a foreign land. The use of the determinative for a rather than land implies that Israel had neither a king nor a kingdom at this time. The other Canaanite groups fought by Egypt, Ashkelon, Gezer and it is not clear, however, just who this Israel was or where they were located. e
Merneptah Stele
–
The Merneptah Stele in its current location
Merneptah Stele
–
A portion of line 27, translated as "Israel [foreign people]"
25.
Israelites
–
The Israelites were a Semitic-speaking people of the ancient Near East, who inhabited a part of Canaan during the tribal and monarchic periods. The ancient Israelites are considered to be an outgrowth of the indigenous Canaanite populations that inhabited the Southern Levant, Syria, ancient Israel. In the period of the monarchy it was only used to refer to the inhabitants of the northern kingdom. The Israelites were also known as the Hebrews and the Twelve Tribes of Israel, the Jews are named after and also descended from the southern Israelite Kingdom of Judah, particularly the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and partially Levi. The word Jews is found in 2 Kings, Chronicles, and in passages in the Book of Jeremiah, the Book of Zechariah. The Kingdom of Israel, often called the Northern Kingdom of Israel, contained all the tribes except for the tribes of Judah, following its conquest by Assyria, these ten tribes were allegedly dispersed and lost to history, and they are henceforth known as the Ten Lost Tribes. Jewish tradition holds that Samaria was so named because the mountainous terrain was used to keep Guard for incoming enemy attacks. According to Samaritan tradition, however, the Samaritan ethnonym is not derived from the region of Samaria, thus, according to Samaritan tradition, the region was named Samaria after them, not vice versa. In Modern Hebrew, the Samaritans are called Shomronim, while in Samaritan Hebrew they call themselves Shamerim, in Judaism, an Israelite is, broadly speaking, a lay member of the Jewish ethnoreligious group, as opposed to the priestly orders of Kohanim and Levites. In texts of Jewish law such as the Mishnah and Gemara, the term יהודי, meaning Jew, is rarely used, Samaritans commonly refer to themselves and to Jews collectively as Israelites, and they describe themselves as the Israelite Samaritans. The name Israel first appears in the Hebrew Bible in Genesis 32,29, the Hebrew Bible etymologizes the name as from yisra to prevail over or to struggle/wrestle with, and el, God, the divine. The name Israel first appears in non-biblical sources c.1209 BCE, the inscription is very brief and says simply, Israel is laid waste and his seed is not. The inscription refers to a people, not to an individual or a nation-state, in modern Hebrew, bnei yisrael can denote the Jewish people at any time in history, it is typically used to emphasize Jewish religious identity. From the period of the Mishna the term Yisrael acquired a narrower meaning of Jews of legitimate birth other than Levites. In modern Hebrew this contrasts with the term Yisraeli, a citizen of the modern State of Israel, the term Hebrew has Eber as an eponymous ancestor. It is used synonymously with Israelites, or as a term for historical speakers of the Hebrew language in general. Today, Jews and Samaritans both recognize each other as communities with an authentic Israelite origin, the terms Jews and Samaritans largely replaced the title Children of Israel as the commonly used ethnonym for each respective community. The name Yahweh, the god of the later Israelites, may indicate connections with the region of Mount Seir in Edom, the Canaanites were also the first people, as far as is known, to have used an alphabet
Israelites
–
Mosaic of the 12 Tribes of Israel, from a synagogue wall in Jerusalem
Israelites
–
The
Merneptah stele. While alternative translations exist, the majority of
biblical archaeologists translate a set of hieroglyphs as "Israel", representing the first instance of the name Israel in the historical record.
Israelites
–
Landscape of
Samaria in the territory of
Ephraim
26.
Canaan
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Canaan was a Semitic-speaking region in the Ancient Near East during the late 2nd millennium BC. The name Canaan occurs commonly in the Hebrew Bible, in particular, the references in Genesis 10 and Numbers 34 define the Land of Canaan as extending from Lebanon southward to the Brook of Egypt and eastward to the Jordan River Valley. References to Canaan in the Bible are usually backward-looking, referring to a region that had something else. The term Canaanites serves as an ethnic catch-all term covering various indigenous populations—both settled, the Amarna Letters and other cuneiform documents use Kinaḫḫu, while other sources of the Egyptian New Kingdom mention numerous military campaigns conducted in Ka-na-na. Canaan had significant geopolitical importance in the Late Bronze Age Amarna period as the area where the spheres of interest of the Egyptian, Hittite, Mitanni and Assyrian Empires converged. Much of the knowledge about Canaan stems from archaeological excavation in this area at sites such as Tel Hazor, Tel Megiddo. The English term Canaan comes from the Hebrew כנען, via Greek Χαναάν Khanaan and it appears as KUR ki-na-ah-na in the Amarna letters, and knʿn is found on coins from Phoenicia in the last half of the 1st millennium. It first occurs in Greek in the writings of Hecataeus as Khna, scholars connect the name Canaan with knʿn, Kanaan, the general Northwest Semitic name for this region. An early explanation derives the term from the Semitic root knʿ to be low, humble, purple cloth became a renowned Canaanite export commodity which is mentioned in Exodus. The dyes may have named after their place of origin. The purple cloth of Tyre in Phoenicia was well known far, however, according to Robert Drews, Speisers proposal has generally been abandoned. The Late Bronze Age state of Ugarit is considered quintessentially Canaanite archaeologically, Jonathan Tubb states that the term ga-na-na may provide a third millennium reference to Canaanite while at the same time stating that the first certain reference is in the 18th century BC. See Ebla-Biblical controversy for further details, Mari letters A letter from Mutu-bisir to Shamshi-Adad I of the Old Assyrian Empire has been translated, It is in Rahisum that the brigands and the Canaanites are situated. It was found in 1973 in the ruins of Mari, an Assyrian outpost at that time in Syria, additional unpublished references to Kinahnum in the Mari letters refer to the same episode. Alalakh texts A reference to Ammiya being in the land of Canaan is found on the Statue of Idrimi from Alalakh in modern Syria. After a popular uprising against his rule, Idrimi was forced into exile with his mothers relatives to seek refuge in the land of Canaan, the other references in the Alalakh texts are, AT154 AT181, A list of Apiru people with their origins. All are towns, except for Canaan AT188, A list of Muskenu people with their origins, the letters are written in the official and diplomatic East Semitic Akkadian language of Assyria and Babylonia, though Canaanitish words and idioms are also in evidence. May the king ask Yanhamu about these matters, may the king ask his commissioner, who is familiar with Canaan EA151, Letter from Abimilku to the Pharaoh, The king, my lord wrote to me, write to me what you have heard from Canaan
Canaan
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A 1692 depiction of Canaan, by Philip Lea
Canaan
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Map of the Near East by
Robert de Vaugondy (1762), indicating Canaan as limited to the
Holy Land, to the exclusion of Lebanon and Syria
Canaan
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Map of Canaan, with the border defined by Numbers 34:1–12 shown in red.
Canaan
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Amarna tablet EA 9
27.
Pi-Ramesses
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Pi-Ramesses, was the new capital built by the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt Pharaoh Ramesses II at Qantir, near the old site of Avaris. The city had served as a palace under Seti I. In 1884, Flinders Petrie arrived in Egypt to begin his excavations there and his first dig was at Tanis, where he arrived with 170 workmen. Later in the 1930s, the ruins at Tanis were explored by Pierre Montet, the masses of broken Ramesside stonework at Tanis led archaeologists to identify it as Pi-Ramesses. Yet it eventually came to be recognised that none of these monuments, in the 1960s Manfred Bietak, recognised that Pi-Ramesses was known to have been located on the then easternmost branch of the Nile. He painstakingly mapped all the branches of the ancient Delta and established that the Pelusiac branch was the easternmost during Ramesses reign while the Tanitic branch did not exist at all, excavations were therefore begun at the site of the highest Ramesside pottery location, Tell el-Daba and Qantir. Although there were no traces of any previous habitation visible on the surface, Qantir was recognized as the site of the Ramesside capital Pi-Ramesses. Qantir/Pi-Ramesses lies some 30 kilometers to the south of Tanis, Tell el-Dab´a, Pi-Ramesses was built on the banks of the Pelusiac branch of the Nile. With a population of over 300,000, it was one of the largest cities of ancient Egypt, Pi-Ramesses flourished for more than a century after Ramesses death, and poems were written about its splendour. According to the latest estimates, the city was spread over about 18 km2 or around 6 km long by 3 km wide, the palace of Ramesses is believed to lie beneath the modern village of Qantir. An Austrian team of archaeologists headed by Manfred Bietak, who discovered the site, found evidence of many canals, a surprising discovery in the excavated stables were small cisterns located adjacent to each of the estimated 460 horse tether points. Using mules, which are the size as the horses of Ramesses day, it was found a double tethered horse would naturally use the cistern as a toilet leaving the stable floor clean. It was originally thought the demise of Egyptian authority abroad during the Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt made the city less significant, leading to its abandonment as a royal residence. The Twenty-first Dynasty of Egypt moved the city to the new branch establishing Djanet on its banks,100 km to the north-west of Pi-Ramesses as the new capital of Lower Egypt. The Pharaohs of the Twenty-first Dynasty transported all the old Ramesside temples, obelisks, stelae, the obelisks and statues, the largest weighing over 200 tons, were transported in one piece while major buildings were dismantled into sections and reassembled at Tanis. Stone from the important buildings was reused and recycled for the creation of new temples. The biblical Book of Exodus mentions Ramesses as one of the cities on whose construction the Israelites were forced to labour, the Bible describes Ramesses as a store-city. The exact meaning of the Hebrew phrase is not certain, and this would be an appropriate description for Pithom in the 6th century BCE, but not for the royal capital in the time of Ramesses, when the nearest frontier was far off in the north of Syria
Pi-Ramesses
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The feet of a
Ramses II statue at Pi-Ramesses
28.
Memphis, Egypt
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Memphis was the ancient capital of Aneb-Hetch, the first nome of Lower Egypt. Its ruins are located near the town of Mit Rahina,20 km south of Giza, according to legend related by Manetho, the city was founded by the pharaoh Menes. Capital of Egypt during the Old Kingdom, it remained an important city throughout ancient Mediterranean history and it occupied a strategic position at the mouth of the Nile delta, and was home to feverish activity. Its principal port, Peru-nefer, harboured a high density of workshops, factories, during its golden age, Memphis thrived as a regional centre for commerce, trade, and religion. Memphis was believed to be under the protection of the god Ptah and its great temple, Hut-ka-Ptah, was one of the most prominent structures in the city. The name of temple, rendered in Greek as Aί γυ πτoς by the historian Manetho, is believed to be the etymological origin of the modern English name Egypt. The history of Memphis is closely linked to that of the country itself and its eventual downfall is believed to be due to the loss of its economic significance in late antiquity, following the rise of coastal Alexandria. Its religious significance also diminished after the abandonment of the ancient religion following the Edict of Thessalonica, the ruins of the former capital today offer fragmented evidence of its past. They have been preserved, along with the complex at Giza. The site is open to the public as an open-air museum, Memphis has had several names during its history of almost four millennia. Its Ancient Egyptian name was Inbu-Hedj, because of its size, the city also came to be known by various other names that were actually the names of neighbourhoods or districts that enjoyed considerable prominence at one time or another. For example, according to a text of the First Intermediate Period, it was known as Djed-Sut, the city was also at one point referred to as Ankh-Tawy, stressing the strategic position of the city between Upper and Lower Egypt. This name appears to date from the Middle Kingdom, and is found in ancient Egyptian texts. At the beginning of the New Kingdom, the city known as Men-nefer. The name Memphis is the Greek adaptation of this name, which was originally the name of the pyramid of Pepi I, in the Bible, Memphis is called Moph or Noph. The city of Memphis is 20 km south of Cairo, on the west bank of the Nile. The modern cities and towns of Mit Rahina, Dahshur, Abusir, Abu Gorab, the city was also the place that marked the boundary between Upper and Lower Egypt. The island of the city is today uninhabited, the closest settlement is the town of Mit Rahina
Memphis, Egypt
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Ruins of the pillared hall of
Rameses II at Mit Rahina
Memphis, Egypt
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This ritualistic object depicts the
god Nefertem, who was mainly worshipped in Memphis. The Walters Art Museum.
Memphis, Egypt
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Rameses II flanked by Ptah and Sekhmet.
Memphis, Egypt
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Sculpture from the Middle Kingdom restored in the name of Rameses II.
29.
University of Pennsylvania Museum
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The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology — commonly called Penn Museum — is an archaeology and anthropology museum that is part of the University of Pennsylvania. It is located on Penns campus in the University City neighborhood of Philadelphia, since 1958, the Penn Museum has published Expedition magazine. The excavations and collections of the Museum provide resources for student research, the scientific research center MASCA ] was also closed, although the MASCA scientists were moved to other Sections within the museum. Museum administrators announced that this was a measure taken due to the current financial crisis, on June 1, then-Director Dr. Richard Hodges announced that newly defined positions as Associate Curator or Research Project Manager have been offered to 11 of the 18 individuals affected. The Museum is housed in an Arts and Crafts and Eclectic style building that is one of the landmarks of the University of Pennsylvania campus. The existing original building is only approximately one-third of an ambitious design that would have created one of the largest museum buildings in the United States. Features of the extant building include a rotunda, multiple courtyards and gardens, a fountain, reflecting pool, glass mosaics, iron gates. The Penn Museum was designed by a team of Philadelphia architects, all of whom taught on the faculty of the University, Wilson Eyre, Cope & Stewardson and Frank Miles Day. The first phase was completed in 1899 and housed the discoveries from an expedition sponsored by the University to the ancient site of Nippur, in 1915, the rotunda, which houses the Harrison Auditorium in the basement was completed. Charles Klauder designed the Coxe Memorial Wing, which opened in 1926 to house the Museums Egyptian collection, the Sharpe Wing was completed in 1929. The Coxe Memorial Egyptian Wing was added to the museum in 1924 through a bequest by former board president Eckley Coxe. The administrative wing was added in 1929, the Academic Wing, which provided laboratories for the Anthropology department and classrooms was opened in 1971. The most recent major addition was made in 2002, with the addition of the Mainwaring Wing, the Museum Library was established in 1900 when the personal library of University of Pennsylvania professor of American archaeology and linguistics Daniel Garrison Brinton was acquired. This library contained an estimated 4,098 volumes of which the ethnology, the original location of the library holdings was the Furness Building until they were transferred to the Museum building in 1898. They were relocated to the Elkins Library up until 1971 upon when they were moved to their home in the University extension of the museum. The library collection was maintained by a staff of a single part-time librarian until 1942 when Cynthia Griffin became the first full-time librarian and it was under Cynthia that the collection and library witnessed many developments. Prior to her use of the library had been limited to employees of the museum and university professor, however. She also augmented communication networks between the library and libraries worldwide, the range of disciplines featured in the collection is specific to the museum itself and incorporates all divisions of anthropology and archaeology
University of Pennsylvania Museum
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The Warden Garden and Main Entrance to the Penn Museum
University of Pennsylvania Museum
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The Stoner Courtyard at the Penn Museum
University of Pennsylvania Museum
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Merneptah presents an offering to
Ptah on a stone column (University of Pennsylvania Museum)
University of Pennsylvania Museum
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Schools
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