Pre-Dynastic Egypt

Fig. 1 - Typical Pre-Dynastic Pottery, Brooklyn Museum

     Back when I was an archaeology student the Pre-Dynastic Period was divided into three parts by Egyptologists. The earliest was the Badarian Period, followed by the Amratian and finally by the Gerzean. I always remembered the order of the periods as they we "in the BAG". In some older books, you can still find these terms used.

     Then scholars decided that there were not really three separate cultures in Pre-Dynastic Egypt, but rather there was only one with three sub-periods, Naqada I, Naqada II and Naqada III. The pottery of each period is quite distinctive and can easily be recognized, even by a confirmed non-pottery person such as myself.

Fig. 2 - Pottery from Naqada I (left) and Naqada II (right)

Fig. 3 - Naqada III pot with painted boat decoration

     Figure 1 shows an example of pottery from each of the three periods. The pot in the middle, with the black top is from the Naqada I period (formerly the Badarian), while the bowl to the right is from Naqada II (once called the Amratian) and the pot to the left is from Naqada III (Gerzean). Figure 2 shows a close up of the pottery from the first two periods, while figure 3 shows a close-up of the pot from the Naqada III period.

     In figure 3 the pot is decorated with a painted boat with oars and two small "buildings" on the deck of the boat. This is a very typical type of decoration for the pottery of this era and serves to remind how the Nile formed the primary travel route in Egypt even in the earliest of times.

     Or is this right? According to the Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, the Badarian Period is now, once again, called  the Badarian. Naqada I is what used to be called the Amratian, Naqada II is what used to be called the Gerzean, while Naqada III may have seen a Pre-Dynastic unification of Egypt (the evidence for this is that local Lower Egyptian pottery is replaced by Upper Egyptian Naqada pottery in Naqada III).

     Incidentally, I corrected a paragraph above to read "Badarian" not "Bavarian" (spell check strikes again!)

The Brooklyn "Bird Woman"

     I went to the Brooklyn Museum last weekend. It was the first time I had been there in many years. The collection has been completely re-installed, is brightly lit and has a very modern look to it. Many of the objects in the collection are justifiably famous. One of those objects is the famous Brooklyn "Bird-Lady".

     This object dates from the Naqada II period, about 3,500 to 3,400 B. C. and is made of terra-cotta. What exactly is it supposed to represent is unclear. Perhaps it is a fertility figure? The reason it is often called a "bird-lady" is that its face resembles a bird with a large beak.

   

Confusion over "New" Pyramid Find

     We reported a couple of days ago that the remains of a new pyramid have been found at Dashur, North of the Bent Pyramid of King Snefru. Now it is being reported that the find is actually South of the Bent Pyramid.

     Now the question is arising that this "new" pyramid may actually be a re-discovery of a Thirteenth Dynasty pyramid that was originally found in the 1950s. In any event it is an interesting find and I do have some links to share:

     Ahram Online (in English)

     Ahram Online (in Arabic)

     A paper discussing the 1950s find

Over the next few weeks I am sure the confusion will get sorted out. When it does I will let you know.

A New Pyramid Found in Egypt

     A new pyramid has been found in Egypt, or to be more exact, the remains of a pyramid have been found. It seems to date to the thirteenth Dynasty and was found at Dashur near the Bent Pyramid.

     The find has brought out the usual suspects. One "newspaper" has revived the "curse of the Pharaohs" story, while a couple of other publications claim that the pyramid might have been Egypt's first attempt at a smooth sided pyramid! Given that it was built hundreds of year after the Giza Pyramids this story is a bit of a laugh. Possibly the author has gotten things garbled a little. The bent pyramid might have been the first attempt at a smooth-sided pyramid, but the "reporters" are saying the nearby Dynasty Thirteen pyramid was the first try at a true pyramid.

     In any event, this is an interesting find and hopefully it will provide some useful information about the poorly understood Thirteenth Dynasty.

Mummy Exhibit at New York's Museum of Natural History

     To all of you who will be in New York City in the next few months, you may want to check out a new mummy exhibit that has opened at the Museum of Natural History. Naturally Egyptian mummies are part of the exhibit, but so are mummies from Peru. I have not yet seen the exhibit (it has just opened) and will provide more details once I do see it. In the meantime, here is some more information about it. 

   Also in the news is the discovery of the tomb of one of the Ptolemaic "Kings" in Cyprus. The tomb is that of 12 year old Ptolemy Efpator, who was appointed King of Cyprus by his father Ptolemy the Sixth of Egypt. The child ruled Cyprus for about two years. The Ptolemy were the descendants of General Ptolemy, who was a commander for and close friend of Alexander the Great. After Alexander's death, Ptolemy declared himself Pharaoh of Egypt and promptly stole Alexander's body, which was en route to Macedonia for burial. Ptolemy had Alexander buried at Memphis, but the world conquering Macedonian was later re-buried in Alexandria. Another article on the discovery, with a re-construction of the tomb, can be found here.

Tutankhamen's Funeral Objects from Nefertiti's Funerary Equipment?

     It has been known for many years that some of the objects in Tutankhamen's tomb were not made for his funeral. Nicholas Reeves has taken a look at this in an article in the latest copy of the Bulletin of the Egyptological Seminar ("Tutankhamen's Mask Reconsidered", BES volume 19, 2015). He lists a number of objects that seem to have been made for some one else's funeral, but which were used in Tutankhamen's burial. The canonic coffinettes, some of the mummy trappings, and even the world famous gold death mask were actually made for Ankhkheperure Neferneferuaten.

     It has been suspected that Ankhkheperure Neferneferuaten was Queen Nefertiti serving as a co-regent with her husband Akhenaten. Strong support for this theory has now emerged as Dr. Reeves has re-examined Tutankhamen's death mask and noted that the young king's cartouche on the mask was altered in ancient times to replace a cartouche of Ankhkheperure Neferneferuaten. This would seem to prove that Ankhkheperure did rule as a Pharaoh. It does not prove that this was the throne name of Nefertiti, but it would seem very possible that it was her throne name.

     If you can get a copy of BES 19, do read Dr. Reeve's article as it contains some very interesting material. BES 19 is also a "festschrift" commemorating the career of Dorothea Arnold, who is well-known and well-respected in the field of egyptology.

Palace of Sennacherib Found

     Archaeologists working in Mosul to assess the damage caused by ISIS to what is believed to be the tomb of the Prophet Jonah have discovered that the palace of Sennacherib lies below the Prophet's final resting place. Apparently ISIS had dug tunnels into the site looking for artifacts to loot.

     One of the tunnels contained an inscription from the reign of Esarhaddon. who was the son of Sennacherib. The tunnels are apparently in danger of collapsing which would do even more damage to the site.