Pregnancy Test in Ancient Egypt

Anne Hart has written an article in which she says that archaeologists examining ancient Egyptian medical training manuals have found a document that might be considered the earliest recorded pregnancy test. According to Hart, the document dates from around 1350 B.C.E.

The test consists of women who think they might be pregnant urinating on wheat and barley whole grains/seeds. The ancient papyrus translates as follows:

“If the barley seeds sprout or grow, it means a male child will be born. If the wheat sprouts and thrives, it means a female child will arrive in a few months. If the barley and wheat grains never sprout and grow when a woman urinates on the grain seeds, the woman is not pregnant and therefore, will not give birth this time around.”

Hart also reports that “Archaeologists actually tested the ancient Egyptian medicinal folklore in 1963. They had pregnant women do the test and found it to be 70 percent accurate. The reason why the ancient Egyptian and probably Sumerian test works is because the urine of pregnant women contains a high level of estrogen and progesterone, especially the estrogen that may help the grains to sprout.”

Read the article in its entirety here.

If this ancient Egyptian pregnancy test worked with a 70 percent accuracy rate, then, the test was highly reliable. The fact also that the grains sprouted only when the pregnant women urinated on the seeds, but not when women who were not pregnant urinated on them is another evidence that the procedure was truly effective.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archaeology, Egypt, Pregnancy Test

Akhenaten and the Art of the Amarna Age

Image: Akhenaten and the Aten





Kim Jackson, an art writer for the San Diego Examiner has an excellent article on how a new style of Egyptian art appeared during the Amarna Age. The article deals with the characteristics of portraits of individuals in monuments and how Amarna period art is different from more conventional Egyptian art styles. Her article is beautifully illustrated with pictures from the Amarna period. The following is an excerpt from the article:

During Egypt's 18th Dynasty, the Pharaoh Akhenaten took the throne. He brought a monotheistic religion into being, based on the worship of the Aten, a sun god. Artistic changes followed political upheaval, although some stylistic changes are apparent before his reign. A new style of art was introduced that was more naturalistic than the stylized frieze favored in Egyptian art for the previous 1700 years. After Akhenaten's death, however, Egyptian artists reverted to their old styles, although there are many traces of this period's style in late art.

The Ancient Egyptian art style known as Amarna Art was a style of art that was adopted in the Amarna Period (i.e. during and just after the reign of Akhenaten in the late 18th Dynasty), and it is noticeably different from more conventional Egyptian art styles.

It is characterized by a sense of movement and activity in images, with figures having raised heads, many figures overlapping and many scenes are crowded and very busy. The illustration of hands and feet were obviously thought to be important, shown with long and slender fingers, and great pains were gone to be show fingers and finger nails. Flesh was shown as being dark brown, for both males and females (contrasted with the more normal dark brown for males and light brown for females) - this could merely be convention, or depict the life blood. As is normal in Egyptian art, commoners are shown with 2 left feet (or 2 right feet).

The depiction of the Royal Family is often seen as being informal, intimate and with a family closeness, but this hides the conventions of the style. Central to most scenes is the disc of the Aten, shining down on the Royal Family and literally giving life and prosperity to Akhenaten and Nefertiti. Royalty are shown with left and right feet, each with a big toe. Their heads are elongated.

Read the article in its entirety by clicking here.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary


Tags: Akhenaten, Amarna Age, Archaeology, Art, Egypt

Gender Representation in Ancient Egyptian Art

Image: Egyptian Tomb Art



Kim Jackson, an art writer for the San Diego Examiner has an excellent article on how gender is represented in ancient Egyptian tomb art. The articles deals with how male and female are represented in tomb paintings and the message artists seek to convey with their art.. Her article is beautifully illustrated with pictures from Egyptian tombs. The following is an excerpt from the article:

New Kingdom Egyptian tombs is a clear case where the artist conveys a message other than visual reality. In the typical New Kingdom tomb painting, relief, or statue, males are dressed in a Shendyt with perhaps a shirt, while women wear tight-fitting sheath dresses, probably made from a single piece of cloth wrapped around the body. However, archaeological examples of ancient Egyptian clothing demonstrate that the most common garment was a bag tunic... a linen bag with sleeves that fit very loosely. Both men and women wore it. In art, however, men wear an outfit that suggests freedom of movement while a woman’s garment suggests restricted movement. Even without archaeological evidence, the typical female garment depicted in art could never match reality. The dresses are so impossibly tight that a woman could not move, sit, or walk. The real intention behind this representation is to reveal the woman’s body. These dresses clearly reveal the overall female form and the pubic triangle. Since the difference between everyday Egyptian reality and artistic presentation is so radical, there must have been a reason for the difference.

Men are generally active in tomb representations. In Old Kingdom and Middle Kingdom tombs, the deceased reaches for offerings at the offering table or inspects agricultural laborers or workshops under his control, hunting birds or fishing. These roles definitely correspond to the Egyptian view of men actively winning a place for themselves in the afterlife.

The importance of women in Egyptian society is often conveyed in temple and tomb artwork as well. The chief role of the woman in Egypt was that of life-giver and supporter. Because of this, the emphasis in art was on their role as mothers, and they were often depicted wearing little or no clothing. The intent was not to portray eroticism but rather to symbolize reproduction—since all people come into the world without clothing, the idea of nudity is connected to that of birth. Due to their connection with birth, women are most often found depicted on tombs, for the Egyptians considered the tomb a means to re-birth into the next world. However, women represented in tombs could also hold other meanings. When labeled with their name in hieroglyphs, a figure of a woman could represent an individual wife, daughter, or cousin. Many women represented in one tomb could be a means for a man to emphasize his wealth. Both of these roles would be important to the deceased in addition to the overall conception of women as the source of rebirth.

Read the article in its entirety by clicking here.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archaeology, Egypt, Egyptian Art

Ancient Egyptian Art: Sculptures and Hieroglyphics

Image: Egyptian Hieroglyphics




Kim Jackson, an art writer for the San Diego Examiner has an excellent article on ancient Egyptian art forms. The articles deals primarily with sculptures and hieroglyphics. Her article is beautifully illustrated with pictures from Egyptian monuments. The following is an excerpt from the article:

The ancient art of Egyptian sculpture evolved to represent the gods, goddesses and Pharaohs (the divine kings and queens). Statues were built to represent the gods; to give eternal life to the Pharaohs and queens; and also to enable the subjects to see them in larger-than-life physical form.

The ancient Egyptian artisans followed very strict conventions while crafting statues: male statues were darker than the females; in seated statues, hands were required to be placed on knees and specific rules governed appearance of every Egyptian god.

Artistic works were ranked according to exact compliance with all the conventions, and the conventions were followed so strictly that very little changed in the appearance of statutes for nearly 3,000 years.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term, hieroglyphic script is one consisting of a variety of pictures and symbols. Many symbols had independent meanings, whereas some symbols were used in combinations. In addition, some hieroglyphs were used phonetically, in a similar fashion to the Roman alphabet. Some symbols also conveyed multiple meanings; for instance, legs could mean to walk, to run, to go and to come. The script was written in three directions: from top to bottom, from left to right, and from right to left

Read the article in its entirety by clicking here.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archaeology, Egypt, Egyptian Art

The Function of Beauty in Ancient Egypt Art

Image: Pharaoh Sennefer Tomb Art



Kim Jackson, an art writer for the San Diego Examiner has an excellent article on the function of beauty in ancient Egyptian art. Her article is beautifully illustrated with pictures from Egyptian monuments. The following is an excerpt from the article:

The Egyptians were a highly religious race of people, whose lives were lived based on strict religious principles. Many of the works of art that have come to light in the previous centuries depict a wide variety of gods, goddesses and Pharaohs, who were considered appointed by the gods to rule on earth. Ancient Egyptian art is characterized by the idea of order. Crisp, cleanly delineated forms combined with simple shapes and flat areas of color helped to create a sense of order and balance in the art of Ancient Egypt. The artists of the time used vertical and horizontal reference points in order to maintain the correct proportions in their work. Political and religious as well as artistic order was faithfully maintained over the years. In order to clearly define the social hierarchy of a situation, figures were drawn to sizes based on their importance rather than their distance from the painter's point of view. For example, the Pharaoh would be the largest figure in a painting (see above left), no matter where he was situated; a "greater" god would be composed on a larger scale than a "lesser" god; or a mere man being compared to a god.

Symbolism also played an important role in establishing a sense of order. Symbolism, ranging from the Pharaoh's regalia (which symbolized his power to maintain order) to the individual symbols of Egyptian gods and goddesses, was omnipresent in Egyptian art. Animals were also considered symbolic figures. The most prevalent of these would be the cat, an animal strongly revered in those days, and representative of the cat goddess, Bastet.

Colors were also symbolic; blue and green represented the Nile and life, yellow stood for the sun god, and red represented power and vitality. As stilted as some of the human figures appear to us now in this day and age, the artists in Ancient Egypt show a sophisticated knowledge of anatomy and a close attention to detail, especially in their renditions of animals.

Read the article in its entirety by clicking here.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archaeology, Egypt, Egyptian Art

Joseph in Egypt: Evidence for an Egyptian Background for the Exodus

Rabbi Leibel Reznick, in an interesting and informative article, “Egyptology in the Torah: Biblical Archeology,” published by Aish.com, says that, contrary to popular view held by many scholars, the Torah provides evidence of contemporary life and customs that reflects life in Egypt during the Eighteenth Dynasty.

The following is an excerpt from the article:

Egyptologists have expressed disappointment that almost nothing relating to ancient Egyptian life or culture can be gleaned from the Bible. This has lead many, such as Egyptologist Donald Redford of Pennsylvania State University to disparagingly claim, "The Hebrew writer (of the Bible) was not so well acquainted with Egypt as has often been imagined." [2]

For us, the lack of cultural references is quite understandable because the Torah is neither a history book nor an anthropological record of ancient societies but rather it is a guide for everyday life based on human nature and the spiritual loftiness of the Jewish soul and these elements are timeless. However, many Egyptologists have taken a different approach. They claim that the Torah was composed 8-10 centuries after the Exodus and the "Biblical author(s)" had no idea what was going on in ancient Egypt. Therefore, these Egyptologists claim, the Torah had no choice but to remain silent about ancient Egyptian practices.

Not only are they wrong about when the Torah was composed and by Whom, these Egyptologists are also quite mistaken if they think there are no revelations to be found in the Torah reflecting ancient Egyptian life. Let us see for ourselves.

1. "they sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for 20 pieces of silver; and they brought Joseph to Egypt (Genesis 37:28). In ancient times, just as in our day and age, prices slowly but steadily increased over the course of time. In ancient Ur, circa 2000 BCE, a slave would cost 10-15 pieces of silver (shekels). During the reign of the Hammurabi dynasty, the price increased slightly, to about 20 pieces of silver. For a while, the price of a slave remained fairly stable but by the last quarter of the second millennium BCE., the price crept up to 30 shekels. During the first quarter of the Assyrian Empire, a healthy slave could fetch 50-60 pieces of silver and by the middle of the first millennium, the price of a slave soared to over 100 shekels.[3] When the Torah tells us that Joseph was sold for 20 pieces of silver it was an accurate reflection of the price of a slave in Canaan/Egypt at that time period, about 1500 BCE according to our Biblical chronology.

2. The Torah (Genesis 37:36) tells us that the name of Joseph's slave-master was Potiphar. It later tells us that Joseph's wife's name was Asenath (Genesis 41:45). These were in fact Egyptian names in use in Egypt during the time of Joseph, though they were quite unusual and later fell into disuse. Biblical "author(s)" not aware of these obscure ancient names could never have used them.[4]

Torah uses the exact expression the contemporary Egyptians used for the foreman of the servants and slaves.

3. The Torah tells us that Joseph was the overseer of Potiphar's estate. There are many possible titles one can give the chief slave or servant. The Torah chose to call Joseph the one "Over the house" (Genesis 39:4). The Papyrus Brooklyn 53.1446 refers to a chief slave and gives his proper title as the one who was "Over the house."[5] We see that the Torah is using the exact expression the contemporary Egyptians used for the foreman of the servants and slaves.

4- "And Joseph's master took him, and put him in the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were confined" (Genesis 39:20). Due to the false accusations of Potiphar's wife, Joseph was thrown into a prison. The concept of imprisonment was not widespread in the ancient world of the early Biblical era. In the Torah itself, we do not find any mention of imprisonment being a form of punishment. We do find that the son of Shelomith, who cursed God, was held in confinement, but that was only until the correct punishment could be determined. The actual detention was not a punishment. In the ancient world, those convicted of crimes were generally killed, tortured, mutilated or made to compensate monetarily. The concept of imprisonment was almost unheard of. Egypt was one of the very few exceptions to have prisons. Many of the isolated fortresses that guarded the borders of ancient Egypt also served as royal prisons.[6]

5. "Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon; and he shaved himself, and changed his garment, and came in to Pharaoh." (Genesis 41:14) Joseph, known to be an interpreter of dreams, was taken out of prison to be brought before the pharaoh to interpret pharaoh's dream. But first, Joseph had to shave to make himself more presentable to the king.

Throughout the ancient Middle East, beards were considered the norm, especially among "Asiatics" such as the Israelites. In fact the longer and more styled the beard, the greater the admiration. The common folk had shorter, trimmed beards. The king was depicted with a long tightly curled beard. The exception to this rule was in Egypt. Egyptians are rarely depicted with beards and those few times that they are depicted with facial hair, it is usually the pharaoh and not any of his subjects. In Egyptian tomb and temple depictions, enemies are often depicted with beards. The Biblical "author(s)" seem to be very aware that proper Egyptian etiquette demanded that Joseph had to shave before entering the presence of the pharaoh, unlike anywhere else in the ancient world.

6. Pharaoh had a dream in which "… behold, I stood upon the bank of the river. And, behold, there came up from the river seven cows, fat and beautiful; and they fed in the reed grass. And, behold, seven other cows came up after them, scrawny and very gaunt and thin, such as I have never seen in all the land of Egypt for badness. And the thin and the gaunt cows ate the first seven fat cows. And when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them; but they were still inferior as before." (Genesis 41:18-21)

You can read the article in its entirety and consult the notes mentioned in the article by visiting Aish.com.


Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archaeology, Joseph, Egypt, Exodus

Four New Egyptian Temples

Photo: Pharaoh Ramses II and Geb, god of earth.

Photo Credit: Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities and AP.



The Associated Press is reporting that four Egyptian temples were discovered on an old military road in the Sinai. The four temples were discovered in the ruins of a 3,000-year-old remains of an ancient fortified city located on the military road known as “Way of Horus.”

According to the report published by the Associated Press,

“Archaeologist Mohammed Abdel-Maqsoud, chief of the excavation team, said the large brick temple could potentially rewrite the historical and military significance of the Sinai for the ancient Egyptians.”

“The temple contains four hallways, three stone purification bowls and colorful inscriptions commemorating Ramses I and II. The grandeur and sheer size of the temple could have been used to impress armies and visiting foreign delegations as they arrived in Egypt.”

According to Abdel-Maqsoud,

“the fortified city corresponded to the inscriptions of the Way of Horus found on the walls of the Karnak Temple in Luxor which illustrated the features of 11 military fortresses that protected Egypt’s eastern borders. Only five of them have been discovered to date.”

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary


Tags: Archaeology, Egypt, Ramses II, Way of Horus,

In Search of Cleopatra’s Tomb

According to a news report, Egyptian archaeologists will begin excavating a site that may the place where Cleopatra and Mark Antony were buried.

The report also says that a radar survey of the temple of Taposiris Magna near the Mediterranean Sea found a tomb of the famous Egyptian queen. Archaeologists also found a bust of Cleopatra made of alabaster, 22 coins bearing her image, as well as a mask believed to belong to Mark Antony.

Cleopatra was queen of Egypt between 51 B.C. until her suicide in 30 B.C. Cleopatra and Mark Anthony committed suicide after being defeated in the Battle of Actium.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archaeology, Cleopatra, Egypt

The Use of Medicine in Antiquity

Researchers have discovered that the ancient Egyptians added herbs to their wine in order to produce medicines that could cure a host of diseases.

According to a study of more than 700 jars found at Abydos in Egypt and dated to 3100 B.C., some of these jars contained wine mixed with tree resin, which was used as a preservative and for medical purposes, and other chemicals extracted from various herbs.

Egyptian pharmacological texts reveal that many herbs were added to wine for medicinal purposes. According to these medical papyri, resins and different types of herbs were added to wine, beer, and water for use as pain relievers, laxatives, diuretics, or aphrodisiacs.

Some of the ingredients added to wine and other beverages are still part of the herbal medical tradition of many countries. Among the herbs that were added to the wine are coriander, balm, mint, sage, senna, germander, savory, and thyme.

Maybe now we can understand Paul’s advice to Timothy:

“Do not take only water as your drink, but take a little wine for the good of your stomach, and because of your frequent illnesses” (1 Timothy 5:23).

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archaeology, Egypt, Herbs, Medicine, Wine

Nefertiti’s Wrinkles

Photo: Nefertiti

This is the famous photo of Nefertiti, queen of Egypt. Her beauty is captivating. Nefertiti's bust is a good representation of the glory of ancient Egypt.

According to National Geographical News, researchers have used CT scanning technology to study Nefertiti’s face behind the famous bust of the Egyptian queen.

The new image of Nefertiti’s face revealed by the CT scan shows creases around the corners of her mouth and cheeks, less prominent cheekbones, and a bump on her nose.

Look at Nefertiti’s face behind the famous sculpture by clicking here.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archaeology, Egypt, Nefertiti

Pharaoh and His Workers

Photo: Sennedjem and His Wife
Credit: Photo courtesy of Archaeology News



Archaeology News has an interesting article, "What Happened To Pharaoh's Workers? The article describes the lives of the workers who built the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings.

According to the article, “It appears that the workers, or should we say workmen and artisans, the people who built the rock-cut tombs of the Pharaohs in the Valley of the Kings from about 1500 BC onwards, may have later been employed on a project aimed at "emptying" and "recycling" their contents.”

The article reports “that an impressive number of texts on papyri, ostraca and graffiti had provided researchers with extensive information on the workers' community at Deir Al-Medina, especially from the Ramasside Period and the second half of the New Kingdom, but that in spite of all our knowledge we did not know what happened at the end of this period when the Ramasside line of kings was no longer in power and no more royal tombs were built. Now, thanks to a largely unpublished dossier of texts, we are gradually beginning to understand what happened to them.”

Below is an excerpt from the article:

The settlement was founded some time in the early 18th Dynasty, in the reign of Tuthmosis I (1550--1525 BC), the first Pharaoh definitely to be buried in the Valley of the Kings, and that in its earliest stage there was no resident community -- just a village of some 40 houses to accommodate itinerant workmen hired for short periods of time. Later the settlement was expanded to accommodate a special group of artisans -- "expert artists" might be a better word -- and, from literary evidence recovered from the village, it appears that more than 100 people, including children, lived in the village, off and on, for several centuries.

"The situation changed after the Amarna period, in the 19th and 20th dynasties (1307--1070 BC) when the workers who plied their trade in the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens lived, worked and died at Deir Al-Medina, and built large and finely-decorated tombs for themselves," Demaree said. He went on to explain that texts had survived which told us about their lives and the organisation of their work.

During their weekly labour, the workers stayed in a small camp built on a ridge above the royal valley. The work force was divided into two -- one working on the left side of the tomb, the other the right side, the numbers varying according to the size of the tomb. Each work force was under a foreman, and several scribes reported the progress of work, worker absence, and payments.

Gradually the workers formed an elite class, as is evident from the contents of their homes and their tombs at Deir Al-Medina. The extant tomb of Sennedjem, for example, which was discovered early in the 20th century, clearly reveals the high quality of life expected in the afterlife, a lifestyle similar to that on earth. He and his wife are shown dressed in white linen, ploughing and reaping in a fertile hereafter; with protective deities guarding his sarcophagus; while other wall paintings show the deceased and his wife returning from a ritual journey to Abydos. These paintings are some of the finest on the necropolis.

The article is very informative with some paintings illustrating the article. To read the article in its entirety, visit Archaeology News.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archaeology, Deir Al-Medina, Egypt, Sennedjem

Vessels of Papyrus

In my post on Hezekiah and the Assyrian Crisis, I wrote that at the occasion of the Ashdod rebellion, when Egypt, Judah, and several Philistines cities conspired to revolt against Assyrian imperialism, the king of Egypt sent ambassadors to Hezekiah to invite him to join in their rebellion against Sargon, king of Assyria.

According to the prophet Isaiah, the messengers from Egypt came “in vessels of papyrus” (Isaiah 18:2). Egyptian papyrus was a plant which grew on the banks of the Nile, and from which the word “paper”originated.

Papyrus roots were used as firewood and for making various utensils, objects, and even paper. The papyrus plant was also used to make boxes, chests, and boats. In addition, papyrus was used in the manufacture of sails, mats, clothes, bedding, and ropes.

Click here to see a vessel of papyrus.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archaeology, Egypt, Hezekiah, Papyrus

New Mummies Discovered in Egypt

Photo: A mummy in a sarcophagus from Saqqara



A news report from Egypt is announcing the discoveries of several mummies at the vast necropolis of Saqqara south of Cairo. The following is an excerpt from the news report:

A storeroom housing about two dozen ancient Egyptian mummies has been unearthed inside a 2,600-year-old tomb during the latest round of excavations at the vast necropolis of Saqqara south of Cairo. The tomb was located at the bottom of a 36-foot deep shaft. Twenty-two mummies were found in niches along the tomb's walls, he said.

Eight sarcophagi were also found in the tomb. Archaeologists so far have opened only one of the sarcophagi - and found a mummy inside of it.

In the photo above, released Monday, Feb. 9, 2009 by Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, a newly-discovered Egyptian mummy in a sarcophagus is seen in a tomb at Saqqara, south of Cairo, in Egypt, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2009. Egyptian archaeologists say they have discovered 30 mummies inside a 2,600-year-old tomb, discovered at an even more ancient site dating back to the 4,300-year-old 6th Dynasty.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archaeology, Egypt, Mummies, Saqqara

King Tut’s Father

Image: Tutankhamun on his throne

Rossella Lorenzi, writing for Discovery News, says that an inscribed limestone block found a few months ago in a storeroom at el Ashmunein, a village on the west bank of the Nile, some 150 miles south of Cairo, reveals who fathered the boy pharaoh King Tut.

According to Zahi Hawass, chief of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, the father of Tutankhamun, also known as King Tut, was Akhenaten, the famous king of who promoted religious reforms in Egypt.

Hawass said that slab provides “an accurate piece of evidence that proves Tut lived in el Amarna with Akhenaten.

This discovery is important because it sheds light on two famous Egyptian pharaohs and helps scholars in their study of an important period in the history of ancient Egypt.

Read the article by clicking here.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Akhenaten, Amarna, Archaeology, Egypt, King Tut,Tutankhamun

The Largest Known Statue of Ramses II

According to a news release, Egyptian archaeologists have begun uncovering the largest known statue of Pharaoh Ramses II. The statue is buried in the southern Egyptian town of Sohag. According to archaeologists, the statue was part of a temple complex dedicated to Ramses II.

The reign of Ramses II was marked by major building projects and archeologists say that he is reputed to have built more buildings and statues in Egypt than any other pharaoh.

Ramses II ruled for approximately 67 years. In addition to being known as a builder, Ramses II is also believed to have carved his name over the names of other Pharaohs to rededicate their statues to himself.

I hope archaeologists will publish a photo of the statue as soon as it is available.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archaeology, Egypt, Ramses II

Water’s Affect on Civilization Development – Part 1

At the time when Canaan was experiencing famine, Isaac came to Gerar to live in the city instead of going to Egypt as his father Abraham had done (Gen. 26:1-34). Famine occurred in Canaan during periods of drought, as had happened in the days of Abraham (Gen. 12:10) and Jacob (Gen. 42:5). The lack of rainfall created difficult conditions for the people and their crops, and liveflock.

Life in the Desert

Isaac lived as a seminomad who owned sheep and goats and moved throughout the land in search of better pasture for his flock. Seminomads were dependent on pasture to feed their flocks. Since the flocks needed water, city dwellers perceived nomads as threats to the resources available to them. During times of drought, seminomadic people moved from place to place, as Isaac did, to find water for their flocks. Drought caused disputes between the inhabitants of the cities and seminomads over water rights because the cities also had meadowlands and flocks that needed water.

In Gerar, Isaac planted crops and had an abundant harvest. Because of God’s blessing, he became rich and had a large flock and many servants. The Philistines became hostile towards Isaac and expelled him from their city. Banished from a fertile land, Isaac had to dig wells to provide water for his family and flock.

Gerar was a town in the Negev, a desert region in the southern part of Canaan. Gerar was halfway between Beersheba and Gaza. Although the annual rainfall in the Negev is insufficient to sustain much agriculture, it rains enough to allow people to maintain small flocks and to provide cultivation of basic crop plants.

The arid areas of Canaan created a challenge to human settlement and to economic development. The crucial challenge people faced was the imbalance between the demand for water and its availability, since water supply was too scarce to meet the demand of settled communities. The arid zones of Canaan generally experienced occasional dry spells, and lack of rain extended into long-term droughts (Job 12:15). During these droughts people suffered, the crop failed, and flocks perish (Jer. 14:1-3; Hag. 1:11).

Because of the harsh climatic nature of arid regions, the need for water is most intense just when water availability by natural precipitation is lacking. This imbalance between water supply and water demand was counterbalanced by the development of other means of providing water, such as wells, cisterns, pools, and water tunnels.

Notwithstanding the harsh conditions of the land, people lived in arid regions such as the Negev and many other areas in Canaan. To subsist in desert lands, people must find ways of obtaining additional supplies of water, either by finding underground sources or by collecting water running from the slopes or house tops during short periods of rainfall.

Over the centuries people settled into the arid and semiarid areas of the Ancient Near East and were able to adapt to the harsh conditions of their environment by increasing their water storage and supply. The great civilizations of Mesopotamia and the inhabitants of Canaan and Egypt were able to develop ways of bringing water into their cities. Once water became available beyond the level of subsistence, people built great cities, thus proving that people can build settlements even in areas with extreme dry conditions. In antiquity, the viability of cities depended on their proximity to water sources. [1]

Water in the Ancient Near East

In Egypt, the main source of water was the Nile River. The Nile formed by the merging of the White Nile and the Blue Nile and flowed 1,675 miles after the merger north to the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile River was considered to be the source of life in ancient Egypt. The waters of the Nile allowed the shores of the river to be easily cultivated (Deut. 11:10). The annual flood of the Nile, which occurred between July and November, brought a rich silt called “the black soil” that was deposited on the fields and fertilized the land. Egyptians called this area the Black Land to distinguish it from the Read Land of the desert. Small channels brought the water of the Nile to individual farms and fields. The silt the Nile deposited allowed the Egyptians to irrigate the soil and raise different kinds of crops in quantity, including grain (Gen. 42:1-2) and vegetables such as cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic (Num. 11:5). The Nile turned Egypt into a fertile land where people of other cultures could come to buy grain. [2]

On the other side of the Ancient Near East, the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers provided much of the water that aided the development of the ancient Mesopotamian cultures. The word Mesopotamia means the land “between the rivers.” This section of the Ancient Near East is also known as the Fertile Crescent because of its abundant natural resources and the fertile farmland that made possible an increase in food supply and the growth of cities and villages. The area around the Tigris and the Euphrates was the birthplace of the ancient civilizations of the Sumerians, Akkadians, Assyrians, and the Babylonians. The Tigris and the Euphrates became the main sources of water for the cities and villages. The rivers’ waters, carried by canals, irrigated agricultural fields in the alluvial lands between the rivers.

Endnotes

[1] Keith Schoville, Biblical Archaeology in Focus (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1982), p. 188.

[2] Henry J. Flanders, Jr, Robert W. Crapps, and David A. Smith, People of the Covenant (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996), p. 54.


Note: This is the first part of an article published under the title “. . . and Not a Drop to Drink: Water’s Effect on Civilization Development,” published in the Biblical Illustrator 34 (Winter 2007-08), 10-15. The article is published here with the permission of the publisher.

To Be Continued.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archaeology, Egypt, Isaac, Mesopotamia, Nile, Water, Wells

Joseph and the Seven Years of Famine

A group of Israeli scholars are reporting they have solved the biblical mystery of how Joseph preserved Egypt’s unsealed grain stores against invading pests during the seven year of famine and saved the Egyptian people from mass starvation. According to the news report,

The secret lies in the burnt corpse of a 3,500 year old beetle found in a grain of wheat claim researchers (Kislev, Simhoni and Melamed) from the laboratory for archaeological botany in the Life Sciences Department at Bar Ilan University, Haaretz reported on Monday.

The beetle belongs to the highly destructive Rhyzopetha dominica species, commonly known as the Lesser Grain Borer, which invades wheat and barley stored in silos after it has been harvested in the field.

Joseph knew of the Lesser Grain Borer and the beetle's amazing reproductive ability, the team inferred from a biblical description in Genesis 41:48-49. To reduce its migration he isolated the grain harvested in each locality and prevented batches being transferred from one city and community to another.

Sand was also added to the stored grain as a simple method of pest control known and practiced in ancient Egypt, the researchers say.

Sand crystals absorb moisture in the granary and prevent the grain from rotting and decaying. But they scratch away at the beetle's hard body shell causing it to dry up and die.

If this research is confirmed by other independent studies, it will help explaining some of Joseph’s work in saving the lives of the people of Egypt and the members of his family.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archaeology, Egypt, Joseph

Pharaoh Seti I

Egypt Information Service is announcing that archaeologists have found the cartouche of King Seti I, second king of the 19th Dynasty (1314-1304 BC). The cartouche was found inside the corridor of the tomb of Seti I in the Valley of the Kings.

Read the news report here.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archaeology, Egypt, Seti I

Gold Coins Found in Egypt

World News is reporting that gold coins of Emperor Valens were found in an excavations in the west part of St. Catherine's monastery in Sinai. According to the news report,

The Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities announced an interesting discovery. Gold coins forged by Roman Emperor Vales were unearthed at the astonishment of archaeologists; these findings represent the first of this kind in the Land of the Pyramids.

The two coins were found during excavations in the west part of St. Catherine's monastery in Sinai. The image represented on the front side of the coins is very similar to that of Valens' and specialists agreed that he is indeed.

Read the news report by clicking here.

Credit: Valens' Gold Coins Image courtesy of World News

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Ancient Coins, Archaeology, Egypt, Numismatic

Egypt: A Photo Gallery

The National Geographic is presenting a photo gallery of the monuments of ancient Egypt. The twelve photos present Egypt’s ancient past, from the Great Sphinx to the Pyramids. The photos are magnificent. Visit the National Geographic to enter the gallery.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tag: Archaeology, Egypt

Ramses II: A Photo Gallery

The National Geographic is presenting a photo gallery of Ramses II. The monuments Ramses created remain a timeless testament of the glories of ancient Egypt.

Visit the National Geographic and see photos of the monuments celebrating the glory of Ramses II.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tag: Archaeology, Egypt

The Black Pharaohs of Egypt

The feature article for the February 2008 issue of the National Geographic Magazine is on the black pharaohs of Egypt. The following is an excerpt from the article:

In the year 730 B.C., a man by the name of Piye decided the only way to save Egypt from itself was to invade it. Things would get bloody before the salvation came.

“Harness the best steeds of your stable,” he ordered his commanders. The magnificent civilization that had built the great pyramids had lost its way, torn apart by petty warlords. For two decades Piye had ruled over his own kingdom in Nubia, a swath of Africa located mostly in present-day Sudan. But he considered himself the true ruler of Egypt as well, the rightful heir to the spiritual traditions practiced by pharaohs such as Ramses II and Thutmose III. Since Piye had probably never actually visited Lower Egypt, some did not take his boast seriously. Now Piye would witness the subjugation of decadent Egypt firsthand—“I shall let Lower Egypt taste the taste of my fingers,” he would later write.

When Piye died at the end of his 35-year reign in 715 B.C., his subjects honored his wishes by burying him in an Egyptian-style pyramid, with four of his beloved horses nearby. He was the first pharaoh to receive such entombment in more than 500 years. A pity, then, that the great Nubian who accomplished these feats is literally faceless to us. Images of Piye on the elaborate granite slabs, or stelae, memorializing his conquest of Egypt have long since been chiseled away. On a relief in the temple at the Nubian capital of Napata, only Piye’s legs remain. We are left with a single physical detail of the man—namely, that his skin was dark.

This is an excellent article. The National Geographic Magazine always excels in providing accurate and relevant information about archaeological, anthropological, and other scientific issues. To read the article, visit the web page of the National Geographic Magazine by clicking here.

Credit for picture: National Geographic Magazine

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Black Pharaoh, Egypt, Nubia, Piye, Pharaoh

Ruins of a Neolithic City Found in Egypt

AFP is reporting that the ruins of 7,000-year-old Neolithic city has been found in Egypt. AFP has released the following news report:

CAIRO, Jan 29, 2008 (AFP) - A team of US archaeologists has discovered the ruins of a city dating back to the period of the first farmers 7,000 years ago in Egypt's Fayyum oasis, the supreme council of antiquities said on Tuesday.

"An electromagnetic survey revealed the existence in the Karanis region of a network of walls and roads similar to those constructed during the Greco-Roman period," the council's chief Zahi Hawwas said.

The remnants of the city are "still buried beneath the sand and the details of this discovery will be revealed in due course," Hawwas said.

"The artefacts consist of the remains of walls and houses in terracotta or dressed limestone as well as a large quantity of pottery and the foundations of ovens and grain stores," he added.

The remains date back to the Neolithic period between 5,200 and 4,500 BC.

The local director of antiquities, Ahmed Abdel Alim, said the site was just seven kilometres (four miles) from Fayyum lake and would probably have lain at the water's edge at the time it was inhabited.

It is amazing what archaeologists can find buried in the sands of Egypt. I just have one question for some people: if the remains of this Neolithic city indicates that people were living in Egypt as early as 5,000 B.C., how about Ussher’s chronology that the world was created on October 23, 4004 B.C., 9:00 a.m.?

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archaeology, Egypt

The Seven Wonders of Egypt

People are fascinated with ancient Egypt! I am.

The Travel Chanel has prepared a slide show featuring the seven wonders of Egypt. The following descriptions were taken from the slide show:

1. The Great Pyramid of Giza

The Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids. It is the only remaining member of the Seven Wonders of the World.

2. The Great Sphinx

It is one of the largest single-stone statues on Earth. The Sphinx is commonly believed to have been built by ancient Egyptians in the 3rd millennium BC.

3. The Temple of Luxor

The Temple of Luxor was the center of the Festival of Opet, the most important festival in Luxor (Thebes). Dedicated to the Theban Triad of Amun-Re, his wife Mut, and his son Khonsu, the temple's purpose was to host the rituals of the festival.

4. Cairo

Founded in 648 AD, it has a metropolitan area population of 15.75 million people and it's the most populous metropolitan area in Africa.

5. Abu Simbel

The two massive rock temples were orginally carved out of the mountainside in the 13th century BC druing the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses II. The monument to Ramesses II and his queen, Nefertari, commemorates his alleged victory at the Battle of Kadesh.

6. Saqqara

Imhotep for King Djoser designed the world's oldest standing step pyramid. Saqqara is a vast ancient burial ground in Egypt with the earliest burials traced back to the First Dynasty.

7. The Temple of Karnak

The Temple of Karnak is a vast open-air museum and the largest ancient religious site in the world. It is the second most visited historical site in Egypt - second only to the Giza Pyramids near Cairo.

The pictures are beautiful. Take your time and enjoy the slide show featuring the seven wonders of Egypt.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tag: Archaeology, Egypt

King Tut’s Face - The Pictures

Archaeologists have open King Tut’s sarcophagus and shown King Tut’s face for the first time.

Click here to see other great pictures of King Tut’s face.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

King Tut’s Face

Archaeologists have revealed the face of King Tut for the first time. It has been more than 3,000 years since one of the most famous pharaohs of Egypt died and was buried in his underground tomb in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor.

According to the press release,

Archeologists carefully lifted the fragile mummy out of a quartz sarcophagus decorated with stone-carved protective goddesses, momentarily pulling aside a beige covering to reveal a leathery black body.

The linen was then replaced over Tut's narrow body so only his face and tiny feet were exposed, and the 19-year-old king, whose life and death has captivated people for nearly a century, was moved to a simple glass climate-controlled case to keep it from turning to dust.

Read the article in its entirety by clicking here.

King Tut has become the most famous and the best known pharaoh of Egypt. Egypt's antiquities chief Zahi Hawass has done a magnificent job in the restoration of King Tut's remains.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

A “World-class” Egyptology Library

Stanford University, located in Palo Alto, California, has acquired the library of one of the greatest Egyptologists of the 20th century. The fallowing are excerpts from the press release published by the Stanford News Service:

The collection of Wolja Erichsen (1890-1966), now at Stanford's Green Library, documents more than 1,500 years of Egyptian history, ranging from about 650 B.C. to about A.D. 1000. It includes Egypt's important transition from paganism to Christianity.

"The Erichsen library is one of the most significant and perhaps the last great Egyptology library in private hands," said Joe Manning, associate professor of classics. "It is difficult to overestimate the importance of acquiring this collection. Stanford's acquisition adds great momentum to our research and strengthens our profile as one of the very best places in the world to study ancient Mediterranean civilizations."

Erichsen, a professor at the University of Copenhagen, was a specialist in demotic Egyptian, the script and language of Egypt from 650 B.C. to A.D. 200, and Coptic, the last stage of the ancient Egyptian language that has particular importance for the study of early Christianity, especially since Egypt was the location of the earliest organized church.

Erichsen, for many years based in Berlin, is perhaps most famous for his important dictionary of demotic, Demotisches Glossar (1954), which is still fundamental in the field, and his Demotische Lesestücke (1937-39), a collection of demotic Egyptian texts used for teaching the language even today.

It's commonly believed that modern technology and techniques have antiquated the research of an earlier area, but the assumption does not necessarily hold in late Egyptology, a history that is very much a work-in-progress, according to Manning.

"There's a dialogue between the new and old material," he said. "Half of the known demotic texts are not even published. There are still papyri coming up out of the ground." Manning noted that, for instance, 8,000 new papyri of Greek and demotic texts were discovered in the last few seasons at a single site in Egypt. It shows that the available knowledge of the era is far from complete, and scholars are still playing catch-up. Much of the older work has not been revised or updated.

According to the press release, the quality and the quantity of text editions and studies of demotic and Coptic text editions included in Erichsen’s library is phenomenal. Many of the books in the library are limited editions published in Germany before 1940. Some of the volumes contain photographs of texts that no longer exist because the original papyri were lost or destroyed during World War II.

Scholars who specialize in Egyptian language and culture, especially those who are interested in demotic and Coptic texts, will be glad that these rare books are now available for research at Stanford University.

Read the news release by clicking here.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archaeology, Coptic, Demotic, Egypt

Found: A Temple Built by Ramses II

National Geographic is announcing that parts of a temple dating to the reign of pharaoh Ramses II have been discovered inside a mosque in Luxor, Egypt.

The following is an excerpt from the news report:

Experts restoring the historic mosque uncovered sections of columns, capitals, and elaborately inscribed reliefs from one of the ancient temple's courtyards built around 1250 B.C.

The previously concealed architectural elements reveal well-preserved hieroglyphics and unique scenes depicting the powerful pharaoh.

Among the most important scenes are those that feature Ramses II offering the sun god Amun Re two obelisks to be installed at the temple's front facade. One of those obelisks still stands at the temple, and the other is now at the Place de la Concorde in Paris.

Another relief shows three statues of Ramses II wearing his traditional white crown.

Experts say the carved inscriptions provide some of best examples of cryptographic or enigmatic writing, an unusual form of hieroglyphic text in which each glyph could stand for an entire word, phrase, or concept.

Visit National Geographic and read the news report.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archeology, Egypt, Luxor, Ramses II

The Obelisk of Seti I

Egypt was famous for its obelisks. One of the most famous obelisks is the Piazza del Popolo Obelisk which was originally erected in the Sun Temple at Heliopolis, then-capital of ancient Egypt.

The obelisk originated with Seti I who decorated three sides of the obelisk. After his death, his son Ramses II carved the fourth and erected the obelisk in the Sun Temple. In the obelisk, Seti described himself as "the one who fills Heliopolis with obelisks that their rays may illuminate the Temple of Re." Ramses II, one of Egypt’s greatest pharaohs, called himself the one who made “monuments as innumerable as the stars of heaven”

The latest issue of Saudi Aramco World (September/October 2007) contains an interesting article on the Seti I's obelisk. The article is written in the first person. The narrator is the obelisk itself, telling its story from its inception in the days of Seti through the days of Ramses II, through the days of Octavian, who became the first emperor of Egypt with the title of Augustus, and through the days of Nero who burned Rome.

The article has many beautiful pictures and provides a short history of Egypt from Seti I to modern day Rome. The following is an excerpt from the article:

I, the obelisk of Seti I and of his son Ramses II, was born and raised a devoted Egyptian in spite of my current address. At birth, I weighed more than 250 tons, and I measured more than 24 meters' (78') in length. It took an army of chanting men with chisels and heavy hammers to labor me out of the granite quarries near Elephantine. Workers swarmed over me for months, midwives on a mission, as the parent rock was cut away, and I was delivered, cut by cut, blow by blow. Great levers then lifted me to an embankment, where thousands pulled at straining ropes, dragging me, gently despite my great bulk, to the Nile. There, cradled in a special barge and the focus of a mobile ceremony, I journeyed down through history, from Thebes and Abydos to Memphis and Anu.

My noisy procession came ashore at Holy Anu, City of the Sun. Seti I, beloved of Ptah, conceived me as a monumental shaft of the sun's pure light that would stand before the temple of Ra. Before Pharaoh's wish was accomplished, however, fate intervened: Suddenly (as we Egyptians say), old Seti became Osiris, ruler no longer of the living, but the dead.

How I Was Raised In Rome (Gallery)I lay heartbroken and half-born until Seti's son, the long-lived Ramses II, took his place as Lord of the Two Lands, Upper and Lower Egypt-in 1279 BC, as I think you would say. Like a second father, Ramses set me towering over the sun-priests at Anu. In the hush that fell as I found my footing, everything finally made sense to me. At last I saw the world as it was intended to be-not that and near, but far below, stretching out in every direction with vistas of beauty and mystery. I marveled at the tiny upturned faces of the followers of Ra. I recognized nearby my brother obelisks, some already a thousand years older than I, arrayed across the city like a scattering family of tourists. Across the Nile, I glimpsed the pyramids that alone made me feel small among the monuments of men. What a wonderland in which to be raised! Holy Anu, now the suburbs of Matariya and `Ain Shams in Cairo -a city I have never seen, by the way-bustled back then as a center of worship and learning. Anu's fame attracted visitors from foreign lands, and they marveled at me. On my polished sides, the priests pointed out the deep-cut symbols that expressed the pride and piety of my two fathers, Seti and Ramses. The Greeks, who came here often, gave to these signs the popular name hieroglyphs, which translates into your language as "priestly carvings." They also coined a playful word for my siblings and me -obeliskos, meaning "a little souvlaki skewer." How envy makes men jest!

Read the article in its entirety by visiting Saudi Aramco World online.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Photo Credit: Saudi Aramco World
Photo 1: An unfinished obelisk at Aswan in Egypt
Photo 2: The Seti I Obelisk at Piazza del Popolo

Tags: Archaeology, Egypt, Obelisks, Ramses II, Seti I

Mummies From Around The World

Time has a pictorial essay showing several mummies from around the world. Very interesting.

View the mummies by visiting Time.com.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archaeology, Egypt, Mummies

The Treasures of King Tut

The Evening Standard has published an article describing the upcoming exhibit of the treasures of Tutankhamun. The article contains a brief description of the exhibit and several beautiful pictures of some of the artifacts that will be shown.

What follows is an excerpt of the article:

THE KING

Tutankhamun was king of Egypt, ascending the throne around 1333 BC, when he was about nine. As a child, he did not rule directly and had two advisers: a military general named Horemheb and a male relative named Aye. The young Pharaoh married Ankhesenpaaten, who may have been his sister, and they had two daughters, who were both stillborn and whose mummies were discovered in his tomb. Tutankhamun reigned for only nine years and died before his 20th birthday after suffering a mysterious head injury. Experts cannot agree on whether he was murdered or simply had an accident, despite carrying out exhaustive forensic tests. The Pharaoh's body was mummified by priests and embalmers in a process which typically took 70 days. During the process all his organs were removed and put in small coffins of their own, each intricately decorated, and his body was wrapped in fine Egyptian linen.

THE TOMB

The tomb of Tutankhamun was dug in the traditional burial place of Egyptian royals, the Valley of the Kings on the west bank of the Nile across from modern Luxor (Thebes).

It was discovered, nearly intact, in 1922 by the British archaeologist Howard Carter, having not been touched for more than 3,000 years. Even when, at the end of the 19th century, the valley was examined by archaeologists his tomb was overlooked because some workers' huts had been built over the entrance. Carter, who stumbled upon it as much by luck as judgement, found scores of artifacts, including Tutankhamun's gold crown (diadem), the golden mask which covered his mummified face, amulets, jewels, a knife and sheath and the king's games box.

It took Carter and the Egyptian authorities a decade to catalogue the 120 priceless objects removed from the tomb. Although Tutankhamun was of little historical interest, the find caused a sensation and made him one of the most famous pharaohs of all. In 1972, an exhibition of some of the treasures was held at the British Museum.

THE CURSE

Following the discovery of Tutankhamun, there were rumours of a deadly curse surrounding those who had helped open the coffin. Lord Carnarvon, the wealthy amateur archaeologist and dilettante who funded the expedition, died less then a year after the opening of the tomb. He was found dead on 5 April 1923 in a room at the Winter Palace Hotel in Luxor, giving credence to the "Mummy's Curse". It is thought he had contracted blood poisoning from an infected mosquito bite which developed into pneumonia. His room at the hotel has not been made available to guests since.

Up to six other people involved in the dig died over the next decade, including two of Lord Carnarvon's relatives and Howard Carter's secretary. Carter himself died, aged 64, from natural causes 17 years after the tomb was opened.

Read the article and view the pictures by clicking here.

The discovery of King Tut’s tomb in 1922 was very significant because until its discovery, little was known about Tutankhamun. The tomb contained ancient furniture and many beautiful objects. The most famous of these objects was the golden death mask which covered his face. Tutankhamun was the 12th ruler of the Eighteenth Dynasty and the son of Pharaoh Amenhotep IV (also known as Akhenaten). Because King Tut died at a young age (according to estimates, he was 18 when he died), he is also known as the Boy King.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archaeology, Egypt, King Tut, Tutankhamun

Egypt and the Hyksos

National Geographic has announced the discovery of a large fortress near the Suez Canal that probably was used in Egypt’s attempt at protecting the Delta region against foreign invaders. One of these invaders were the Hyksos.

The Hyksos were a group of Asiatic people who conquered Egypt in the 17th century and ruled Egypt for more than 150 years. The word Hyksos means “rulers of a foreign land.” Through Josephus, the Hyksos came to be known as “Shepherd Kings.”

The following news report was published by the National Geographic on July 27, 2007:

The largest known fortress from ancient Egypt's days of the pharaohs has been unearthed near the Suez Canal, archaeologists announced on Sunday.

The massive fortress, discovered at a site called Tell-Huba, includes the graves of soldiers and horses and once featured a giant water-filled moat, scientists said.

The discovery dates back to ancient Egypt's struggle to reconquer the northern Sinai Peninsula from an occupying force known as the Hyksos.

The campaign against the Hyksos was depicted in etchings on the ancient walls of the Karnak Temple, 450 miles (720 kilometers) south of Cairo.

Archaeologists said the new find shows those stone-chiseled tales to be surprisingly accurate.

"The bones of humans and horses found in the area attest dramatically to the reality of such battles," said Zahi Hawass, director general of Egypt's Supreme Council for Antiquities (SCA).

"Previously, the area was known only from depictions in temples elsewhere in Egypt. We had no first-hand evidence of what was happening there during the pharaonic period."

The discovery was part of a broader effort called the North Sinai Archaeological Project, which was started in 1991 to identify and protect archaeological sites that were threatened by an industrial agriculture project.

The fort, called Fort Tjaru (or Tharo), was unearthed by a team led by Mohammed Abdul Maqsoud of the SCA. The fort dates from the 18th and 19th Dynasties (from 1560 to 1081 B.C.).

Ancient Empires Clash

Tjaru's mud brick walls were 42 feet (13 meters) thick, enclosing an area 546 yards (500 meters) by 273 yards (250 meters). Twenty-four watchtowers loomed over the parapets. A deep moat ringed the entire complex.

It was the biggest in a chain of 11 fortresses that stretched from Suez to the present-day city of Rafah on Egypt's border with the Palestinian territories.

The formidable defenses were built on bitter experience.

In the 17th century B.C., a people known as the Hyksos invaded from Canaan, sweeping across the Sinai to rule over the Nile Delta and northern Egypt.

The Hyksos' reign faded about a hundred years later. Subsequent pharaohs cast a wary eye to the east and militarized the northern Sinai.

By the reign of Ramses II, who ruled from 1279 to 1213 B.C., a new enemy was on the horizon: the Hittites, who came from present-day Turkey and battled the Egyptians until around 1258 B.C.

"The fort, built to secure the entrance to the Delta and protect Ramses II's city of Piramesse, demonstrates the importance to the Egyptians of securing the eastern border," Hawass said.

"The need to protect Egypt's eastern frontier was made clear by the invasion of the Hyksos, who were able to cross the desert into Egypt and establish themselves as rulers in the Delta region."

Much of this maneuvering is described at Karnak, the massive temple complex near Luxor.

"The most surprising thing about the fort is how accurately its architecture was depicted [at Karnak]," said Hawass, who is also a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence.

"The archaeologists have found evidence of the exact buildings shown, as well as of the moat which surrounded the citadel and of the large, wooden beams which spanned it."

An expedition led by archaeologist James Hoffmeier of Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois, unearthed a smaller fort known as the Lion's Lair about four miles (seven kilometers) east of Tjaru at Tell el-Borg.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archaeology, Egypt, Hyksos, Karnak

Hatshepsut’ Mummy

Reuters is reporting that archaeologist have found Hatshepsut’ mummy. The following is the story released by Reuters:

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptologists think they have identified with certainty the mummy of Hatshepsut, the most famous queen to rule ancient Egypt, found in a humble tomb in the Valley of the Kings, an archaeologist said on Monday.

Egypt's chief archaeologist, Zahi Hawass, will hold a news conference in Cairo on Wednesday. The Discovery Channel said he would announce what it called the most important find in the Valley of the Kings since the discovery of King Tutankhamun.

The archaeologist, who asked not to be named, said the candidate for identification as the mummy of Hatshepsut was one of two females found in 1903 in a small tomb believed to be that of Hatshepsut's wet-nurse, Sitre In.

Several Egyptologists have speculated over the years that one of the mummies was that of the queen, who ruled from between 1503 and 1482 BC -- at the height of ancient Egypt's power.

The archaeologist said Hawass would present new evidence for an identification but that not all Egyptologists are convinced he will be able to prove his case.

"It's based on teeth and body parts ... It's an interesting piece of scientific deduction which might point to the truth," the archaeologist said.

Egyptologist Elizabeth Thomas speculated many years ago that one of the mummies was Hatshepsut's because the positioning of the right arm over the woman's chest suggested royalty.

Her mummy may have been hidden in the tomb for safekeeping after her death because her stepson and successor, Tuthmosis III, tried to obliterate her memory.

Donald Ryan, an Egyptologist who rediscovered the tomb in 1989, said on an Internet discussion board this month that there were many possibilities for the identities of the two female mummies found in the tomb, known as KV 60.

"Zahi Hawass recently has taken some major steps to address these questions. Both of the KV 60 mummies are in Cairo now and are being examined in various clever ways that very well might shed light on these questions," he added.

In an undated article on his Web site, Hawass cast doubt on the theory that the KV-60 mummy with the folded right arm was that of Hatshepsut.

"I do not believe this mummy is Hatshepsut. She has a very large, fat body with huge pendulous breasts, and the position of her arm is not convincing evidence of royalty," he wrote.

He was more optimistic about the mummy found in the wet-nurse's coffin and traditionally identified as the nurse's. That mummy is stored away in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

"The body of the mummy now in KV 60 with its huge breasts may be the wet-nurse, the original occupant of the coffin ... The mummy on the third floor at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo could be the mummy of Hatshepsut," Hawass wrote.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archaeology, Egypt, Hatshepsut, Zahi Hawass

Ancient Israel in Sinai

I have been making a list of the books I am planning to read this summer. One of the books in my list is James K. Hoffmeier’s Ancient Israel in Sinai: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Wilderness Tradition. James K. Hoffmeier is Professor of Old Testament and Near Eastern Archaeology, Trinity International

The following is a description of the book supplied by the publisher:

In his pathbreaking Israel in Egypt James K. Hoffmeier sought to refute the claims of scholars who doubt the historical accuracy of the biblical account of the Israelite sojourn in Egypt. Analyzing a wealth of textual, archaeological, and geographical evidence, he put forth a thorough defense of the biblical tradition. Hoffmeier now turns his attention to the Wilderness narratives of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. As director of the North Sinai Archaeological Project, Hoffmeier has led several excavations that have uncovered important new evidence supporting the Wilderness narratives, including a major New Kingdom fort at Tell el-Borg that was occupied during the Israelite exodus. Hoffmeier employs these archaeological findings to shed new light on the route of the exodus from Egypt. He also investigates the location of Mount Sinai, and offers a rebuttal to those who have sought to locate it in northern Arabia and not in the Sinai peninsula as traditionally thought. Hoffmeier addresses how and when the Israelites could have lived in Sinai, as well as whether it would have been possible for Moses to write down the law received at Mount Sinai. Building on the new evidence for the Israelite sojourn in Egypt, Hoffmeier explores the Egyptian influence on the Wilderness tradition. For example, he finds Egyptian elements in Israelite religious practices, including the use of the tabernacle, and points to a significant number of Egyptian personal names among the generation of the exodus. The origin of Israel is a subject of much debate and the wilderness tradition has been marginalized by those who challenge its credibility. In Ancient Israel in Sinai , Hoffmeier brings the Wilderness tradition to the forefront and makes a case for its authenticity based on solid evidence and intelligent analysis.

The published also included reviews of the book written by K. Lawson Younger, Jr., co-editor of Mesopotamia and the Bible: Comparative Explorations; Richard H. Wilkinson, Professor and Director, Egyptian Expedition, The University of Arizona ; Ellen F. Morris, Department of Classics, Ancient History, and Egyptology, University of Wales Swansea; and Baruch Halpern, Chaiken Family Chair in Jewish Studies, Penn State.

Later in the summer, I will write a post and review the claims of the book.

I want to thank Kevin at biblicalia for the tip about the book.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Ancient Israel, Egypt, Exodus, Sinai, Wilderness Tradition