CHARACTERIZATION OF PLASTERS FROM PTOLEMAIC BATHS: NEW EXCAVATIONS NEAR THE KARNAK TEMPLE COMPLEX,UPPER EGYPT*

The aim of the present work is to characterize plasters from Ptolemaic baths recently discovered in front of the Karnak temple complex, by the excavations of an Egyptian–French team. The characterization was carried out by means of optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with an energy‐dispersive X‐ray detector (EDS), X‐ray diffraction analysis (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT–IR). The results allowed the identification of the chemical composition and structure of these plasters. In addition, samples of red, yellow, black and white pigments were examined and identified. The results helped in providing an image concerning some materials used during the Ptolemaic era in ancient Egypt.     

"希腊化"还是"埃及化"——托勒密埃及希腊移民的文化地位研究

以托勒密埃及的希腊移民为考察对象．从婚姻、语育、宗教几个文化层面来探究托勒密埃及的希腊移民文化地位的变迁．对人们重新认识希腊化问题具有重要意义。希腊移民在托勒密王朝早期还能保留文化传统,到了公元前三世纪末以后。希腊移民认同和吸纳了埃及的一些文化因素,出现了“埃及化”的倾向．尤其是在宗教信仰方面。     

论埃及托勒密王朝王权与神权的关系

托勒密王朝是古代埃及史上一个重要历史时期。法老埃及的王权与神权之间从来就不是和谐统一的,始终存在矛盾和斗争。但是,在托勒密王朝,二者的关系发生了重大变化,王权有效地控制了神权。这主要是因为托勒密王朝的国王借鉴了法老埃及的经验,采取了有利于王权的政治、经济政策,等级和阶级关系决定了宗教祭司集团不可能干涉世俗政权,文化背景也使托勒密国王从意识深处拒绝给予宗教和祭司各种权力。托勒密王朝王权与神权之间是赤裸裸的利用与被利用的关系,这也正是托勒密王朝逐渐失去本土埃及人支持的重要原因之一。     

The Identity of the Nabataean 'Painted House' Complex at Baidha,North-West Petra

Abstract

An attempt is made to shed light on the identity of the Nabataean 'Painted House' from an understanding of its plan, the content of the painting and the function of the associated features, mainly the water installations. This study reveals new mythological figures unnoticed by previous scholars. These include additional cupids and, most importantly, Isis. The water installations of the monument, its functions and meaning, the content of the painting combined with comparative studies of Mediterranean and Near Eastern evidence all suggest that this monument was an Isiac (Isis) sanctuary devoted to her as a goddess of improved quality of life, good crops, good herds, and love.     

From mess to matrix and beyond: estimating the size of settlements in the Ptolemaic Fayum/Egypt

This article seeks to introduce a new methodological approach to estimate population size of settlements in the Graeco-Roman Fayum/Egypt (330 BC–400 AD). The aim is to represent and analyse the relationship of settlements and the facilities they provide. We suggest turning the information commonly contained in traditional site gazetteers into presence–absence matrices of selected facilities. We then use these facility matrices to estimate the size of ancient settlements through linear regression. The equation is initially tested on medieval settlements in Norwich and East Anglia (England) and later applied to a settlement-facility matrix for the Ptolemaic period (330–30 BC). The results from the medieval data show the validity of the approach with a complete data set. The circumstance that the Ptolemaic data is fragmented and incomplete naturally adds a small, but acceptable error to the estimates.     

Reflections into Ptolemaic glass: Colorless,white, blue,and green inlays from the workshop of Tebtynis

Inlays range among the most aesthetically pleasing and technically challenging glasses produced in the Ptolemaic period. Despite the central role of this phase in the history of glass technology, little is known about the recipes and the technological knowledge of the Egyptian artisans. This paper will thus focus on the study of the materials from the secondary workshop of Tebtynis (Fayum oasis, Egypt). We report the first multi-methodological study comprising textural, chemical, and mineralogical analyses (optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive system, electron probe microanalysis, and μ-Raman spectroscopy) on a set of 81 colorless, white, blue, and green samples carefully selected among the 800+ glasses from the craft area now stored at the Museo Egizio, Turin (Italy). Our study offers the biggest compositional database of well-dated Ptolemaic glasses currently available in the literature, highlighting some interesting novelties regarding the silica and alkali sources, and the coloring and opacifying techniques employed. The results suggest a specialized craft of traditional origin, but open to innovation and experimentation, as expected from transitional phases.     

Ancient Egyptian water-clocks: A reappraisal

The Egyptian time system of dividing the night into 12 “hours” so that the length of the “hour” varied with the seasons made the perfection of any clock difficult. However, the flowerpot-shaped outflow water-clock possibly invented by a court official, Amenemhet, during the reign of Amenhotep I, had the potential of being accurate to within about 15 min. While there is good evidence that the decan star-clocks were used to indicate astronomical night (that is the hours between sunset and sunrise, excluding twilight) our analysis of the Karnak clock suggests that water-clocks of the Eighteenth Dynasty may have been used for timing civil night (sunset to sunrise). Our analysis of the later Ptolemaic water-clock fragments indicates that they were used in Lower Egypt and that they also timed civil night. The Ptolemaic outflow water-clocks were basically the same as the earliest known water-clock described in Amenemhet's epitaph, modified in height and monthly scales for use in Lower Egypt. Ktesibios' invention of a simpler and generally more accurate inflow water-clock, of which there is only one very late Egyptian example, probably quickly supplanted the outflow clock.     

Characterisation of the pigments in a Ptolemaic Egyptian <Emphasis Type="BoldItalic">Book of the Dead</Emphasis> papyrus

A relevant subject of study in the sphere of ancient Egyptian painting technology is given by the evolution of the palette across New Kingdom, Ptolemaic and Roman periods. Functionally to secondary factors such as geographic occurrence of minerals and type of associated surface, the employment of certain painting materials provides relevant insights into particular issues such as relative dating of the object and social rank of the owner. The Book of the Dead of Amenemhet (ROM 978 × 43.1, middle Ptolemaic Period) has been analysed at the Department of Restoration and Conservation of Archivals, Graphics and Book Illumination of the Cologne Institute of Conservation Sciences (Germany). Together with visible reflectance spectroscopy, digital and optical microscopy, devices such as XRD, SEM-EDX and FT-IR have been successfully employed for the characterization of the pigments from the polychrome funerary papyrus displayed at the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto (Canada). The present research took place within a series of investigations performed at the CICS, devoted to the interdisciplinary study of funerary Egyptian papyri dating from the early 18th Dynasty onwards.     

The canopic jars of Rameses II: real use revealed by molecular study of organic residues

Four blue-glazed faience jars, on exhibition in the Louvre Museum, are referred to as the canopic jars of Rameses II. Their recent typological re-examination rendered this original assignment questionable. In order to clearly determine their use, a study of two successive organic residues from the canopic jars, using molecular biomarkers analysed by GC-MS and LC-MS and absolute dating by ¹⁴C, was initiated. The results revealed that these two materials were not contemporary to the reign of Rameses II. The first one, scraped from the interior face of one jar, was identified as an unguent made of coniferous oil and animal fat and dated from the Third Intermediate Period. The second one, originally stored with glued linen inside one jar, is likely an embalming substance, made of pure vegetable resin (Pistacia) and dated from the Ptolemaic Period. These results clarify a controversy which has been lasting over a century. The famous blue-glazed faience jars are not the canopic jars of Rameses II but are confirmed as situlae which were reused at least two times: first to store unguents during the Intermediate Period and later to store embalming packages of an unknown person during the Ptolemaic period.     

Egypt in Rome – an introductory essay II: The Villa Adriana and the beginnings of Egyptology

Abstract

The first part of this review considered the legacy of the Egyptian goddess Isis to European civilisation and discussed obelisks and the significance of the Isaeum Campense in Imperial and later Rome. This concluding part explores the influence on later generations of the Emperor Hadrian's villa at Tivoli, describes the emergence of Egyptology as a serious scholarly discipline, and makes brief mention of the Renaissance gardens of the Villa d'Este.     

PTOLEMAIC CAMEOS OF THE SECOND AND FIRST CENTURIES BC

Cameos were devised some time in the Hellenistic period, and they were used in a decorative manner. In terms of style and subject matter they follow developments in the making of intaglios and other glyptic products as well as coinage. This paper examines two related series of cameos which seem to have been produced in Alexandria of the later Hellenistic period, and under direct Ptolemaic patronage. Their study is held in view of a reappraisal of the Tazza Farnese, and the presentation here of a further argument in support of this Grand Cameo's dating in the first century BC.     

Engendering Egypt

Watterson, Barbara Women in Ancient Egypt Tyldesley, Joyce Daughters of Isis: Women of Ancient Egypt Robins, Gay Women in Ancient Egypt Montserrat, Dominic Sex and Society in Graeco-Roman Egypt     

AN ANALYSIS OF THIRTY-ONE COINS FROM THE HELLENISTIC PERIOD

Thirty-one silver coins of the Hellenistic period were examined by the particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE) method, and the results incorporated into a wider study of the coins. Some tentative conclusions reached in the study are mentioned, together with an outline of the PIXE method. A number of patterns emerged in the results, the most important being an apparent deterioration in silver content among the later Seleucid and Ptolemaic issues; some high concentrations of particular elements were also noted.     

TECHNOLOGICAL STUDY OF PTOLEMAIC – EARLY ROMAN FAIENCE FROM MEMPHIS,EGYPT*

Fourteen fragments of faience vessels from the Ptolemaic/Roman period found at the Egyptian site of Memphis, near Cairo, were analysed by SEM. The fragments included high‐relief polychrome vessels, which are first produced in numbers in this period. Analysis allowed the composition and microstructure of the vessels to be assessed and conclusions drawn as to the raw materials of manufacture. Combining this information with archaeological evidence from excavation of the kilns and associated finds, it was possible to reconstruct the production technology of the vessels.     

DAMAGE ASSESSMENT AND PRESERVATION OF AN EGYPTIAN SILVER VASE (300–200 BC)*

An Egyptian metal vase from the Ptolemaic period was investigated metallurgically and fractographically. The metal is nearly pure silver. Despite its high purity (in archaeological terms) it is severely embrittled and cracked, mainly along grain boundaries. Factors contributing to this damage are work-hardening and residual microstructural deformation (slip and twinning), corrosion along slip lines and twin boundaries, corrosion in bauds that are the remains of coring, large equiaxed grains, externally applied forces and internal residual stresses. The metal is now friable. This must be taken into account during any further restoration of the vase: a procedure is suggested.     

DEAD SEA ASPHALT IN ANCIENT EGYPTIAN MUMMIES—WHY?

The asphalt from the Dead Sea was an important item of trade in antiquity. Among its many uses, the most widespread was its export to Egypt for use in the mummification process, albeit at a relatively late date; that is, post 1000 bc . Its use became particularly important in the Ptolemaic–Roman period, as demonstrated by a war in the fourth century bc specifically to gain commercial control of this product. Although the reasons why the Egyptians wanted Dead Sea asphalt at this specific time are nowhere specified, the answer may lie in its increasing availability as a (partial) replacement for the plant resins used previously. A review of the historical literature shows that Dead Sea asphalt was used for at least two millennia as a biocidal agent in agricultural practices. It is proposed that the reasons for using Dead Sea asphalt in the mummification process are due to its dual role; first, as an external mechanical shield, when smeared on the exterior of mummy wrapping, to prevent ingress by insects, fungi, bacteria and moisture; and, second, as a biocidal agent (perhaps due to its high sulphur content), which prevented the flesh from decaying, the prime concern for the ancient Egyptians.     

Ancient Mining and Smelting Activities in the Wadi Abu Gerida Area,Central Eastern Desert,Egypt: Preliminary Results

Old mining and smelting features in the Abu Gerida area have been studied using field observations, microscopy and SEM–EDS to detect the ores that were exploited in antiquity. There are two groups of shafts in the area. The first group encloses secondary copper minerals and is associated with glassy slags containing copper prills. The other group is associated with hematite that was extracted and transferred to a smelting station to the west of the mining site, where iron slags and charcoal fragments are found. These slags are composed mainly of wüstite, fayalite–kirschsteinite and traces of metallic iron. Pottery fragments from this area were dated to the Ptolemaic Period, which may be the age of iron exploitation. Copper might have been exploited earlier.     

Caspar Vopel's Ventures in Sixteenth-Century Celestial Cartography

ABSTRACT

This paper concerns the undertakings in celestial cartography of the sixteenth-century Cologne cartographer Caspar Vopel. Copies of his printed celestial globe and of the celestial maps included on his world map are also described. Vopel's celestial mappings display his extraordinary interest in astronomical myths through a series of conspicuous iconographic features. In particular, Vopel's introduction of the images of Antinous and Coma Berenices is revealed to have been inspired by a humanist edition of the Ptolemaic star catalogue. Finally, a study of the celestial maps on the copies of Vopel's world map by Valvassore (1558) and by Van den Putte (1570) shows that these represent different editions of Vopel's world map and that the celestial maps on the world map of Matteo Pagano were in turn copied from those on the world map of Valvassore.     

The Paradigmatic City: Postindustrial Illusion and the Los Angeles School

In the 1980s a group of geographers known informally as the Los Angeles School proclaimed Los Angeles as the paradigmatic metropolis of the late-twentieth century. The postmodern/flexible specialization model Los Angeles School adherents developed to explain Los Angeles and validate its paradigmatic status is critiqued theoretically and empirically. The unfortunate timing of their claims of Los Angeles' suzerainty over the Pacific Rim is discussed, and the development and status of its propulsive industrial sectors, such as armaments, aerospace, entertainment, finance, and real estate, are examined. The armaments industry receives special attention because of its critical role in postwar Los Angeles' growth and subsequent decline and because the Los Angeles School devoted considerable research and even praise to this particular type of government "warfare" spending as a key constituent of the area's technopole. The entertainment industry is not sufficient to extract Los Angeles from its continuing crisis. At the moment, Los Angeles lacks any credible plan for overcoming the contemporary malaise. The difficulties in the Los Angeles School's analysis are held to stem from their theoretical synthesis of postmodernism and flexible specialization, a natural but unfortunate Ptolemaic perspective expressed in the belief that one's particular locale is paradigmatic and a lack of recognition of the malignant aspects of defense-spurred economic development.     

The notion τὸ πέρας τῆς ἀνακομιδῆς and the location of Ptolemais of the Hunts in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea

The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea describes the route of a trade ship in the ancient Erythraean Sea following certain reference points. One of these was called τ? π?ρα? τ?? ?νακομιδ??, from which the distance to Ptolemais of the Hunts was given. It was generally understood as the ‘endpoint of return’ and thought to be Berenice. In fact, the phrase is to be understood as ‘the endpoint of sailing/delivery from (Egypt)’ and the place appears to be identifiable with modern Anfile Bay, where the trade ships turned back. The port itself had to be visited on the way back to Egypt. The reason was connected with the primary goal of the establishment of the port: it was much more practical to take elephants aboard on the way back to Egypt. The information on Ptolemais of the Hunts seems to derive from a late Ptolemaic source. The exact route of the ship, referred to by the author of the Periplus, is unknown and even knowledge of the exact distance from the reference point does not allow us to identify a region, where Ptolemais of the Hunts is to be sought.