NILEMAGAZINE.CO.UK | #16 | OCTOBER–NOVEMBER 2018 £4.90 NILENILE~ DiscoverDiscover AncientAncient EgyptEgypt TodayToday The Latest DISCOVERIES KLEOPATRA SELENE The Last Ptolemy Going Underground: ROYAL TOMBS of the 18th Dynasty SPIRIT BIRDS PRELOVED? WHEN DESPERATE TIMES MEANT HAND-ME-DOWN COFFINS NILE ALEXANDRE MACIEIRA / RIOTUR © A 2016 handout photo of two young visitors The coffin was brought to Brazil in 1826 to the National Museum! of Brazil admiring the by Nicolau Fiengo, an Italian merchant who coffin of Harsiese% _ ! (“Horus, son of Isis”). had purchased a collection of antiquities b _ Inside is an image of the goddess Nut with in Marseille (France), likely to have been open and extended arms—ready, it seems, to excavated by Giovanni Belzoni. It was embrace the mummy that the coffin once purchased and donated to the museum by held. Harsiese was a priest at Karnak Temple Dom Pedro I, Brazil’s first Emperor. The during the 26th Dynasty (ca. 664–525 B.C.). current fate of Harsiese’s coffin is not known. n the night of September 2, a major fire devas- world, one of the most pressing needs now is to create a tated the National Museum of Brazil in Rio de digital record of the lost collection. To assist the museum, OJaneiro, gutting the centuries-old museum build- the Committee for Egyptian Collections of the Interna- ing. Firefighters and desperate employees dashed into the tional Council of Museums (CIPEG) has requested that burning building to try and save whatever they could carry past visitors contribute their photos to an online reposi- out. Unfortunately, Latin America’s largest Egyptology tory via this email address: [email protected]. collection, with over 700 irreplaceable items, was most While the opportunity to experience the collection in likely completely lost. person has been lost forever, the aim is to make the virtual While debate continues over dwindling museum record available for all, and ensure that this part of ancient funding needed to protect collections like this around the Egypt’s heritage doesn’t disappear altogether. NILEMAGAZINE.CO.UK 1 NILE 6 KLE OPA 40 THE TRA 22 29 ROYAL 58 SELENE TOMBS THE UN- SPIRIT WHAT’S Rebecca Batley LUCKY Aidan Dodson The melodrama of BIRDS In this final Cleopatra VII’s abridged instal- MUMMY Lesley Jackson NEW? political and not-so- Jane Mulder ment of Aidan Jeff Burzacott private life has Not only could Dodson’s The Royal been well explored. So, you think you Egypt’s birds Tombs of Ancient Alexandria’s “Big What is less well know the story of represent a Egypt, the New Black Sarcophagus” known is that the Unlucky specific deity, but Kingdom pharaohs surprises with Cleopatra and Mummy? Think also a number of embrace Senwos- some impressed Mark Antony had again. Jane Mulder concepts that were ret III’s innovation, gold sheets, and three children, explores the myths crucial to the separate their the world’s oldest including a daugh- and the surprising Egyptians enjoying tombs and cheese yet discov- ter, Kleopatra truth about THAT a successful temples, and head ered turns out to Selene. mummy board. afterlife. underground. be the real evil. 2 NILE #16 | OCTOBER–NOVEMBER 2018 NILE #16 October– November 2018 4 Map of Egypt 4 The NILE Crossword 5 Timeline THE COVER 60 Looking Back ARCE UPDATE: 62 Exhibitions & Events COFFIN REUSE 64 Coming Up Jeff Burzacott 64 Contact NILE Was tomb robbery the 65 Back Issues lawless abhorrence we 65 Subscribe to NILE have always believed, or were there more sanctioned, but veiled, SUBSCRIBE & SAVE! This 21st-Dynasty coffin is painted yellow to shine practices at work? In a Get Nile Magazine delivered to like the sun—the symbol special ARCE (American your door every two months of eternal regeneration. Research Center in Egypt) and save over 20%. But is this the coffin’s Update, we look at Kara Every 6th magazine is free! “first life”, or has it been Cooney’s study into “legal” See page 65 for your fabulous refitted for a new owner? coffin reuse. (Spoiler alert: subscription offer. PHOTO: PlusONE 15 there’s a lot of it!) - FROM THE EDITOR e had our own “Library of Alexandria” tragedy last month when the news Wbroke about the catastrophic fire in the National Museum in Brazil. It’s heartbreaking to think that only an esti- mated 10% of the museum’s collection has been spared. The entire Egyptian section is believed to have been destroyed. I can’t imagine an Egyptologist anywhere in the world who doesn’t shudder when they think about what was lost. That’s why it’s important to safeguard what we have left: photographs. You’ve probably read the brief article on page 1. Please contribute with your own pictures if you can. On the lighter side, I’m delighted to see that the humble NILE Quiz has been promoted to a fully-fledged crossword. I’m grateful to Keith Payne from www.emhotep.net for his creativity and hard work, and I invite you to give it a try on the next page. Welcome to issue #16. I hope you love your NILE time! © JAAP JAN HEMMES The goddess Hathor gifts eternal life to Thutmose IV (out of frame); Jeff Burzacott ~ a scene from the king’s tomb (KV 43). It’s one of the 18th-Dynasty [email protected] royal tombs that Aidan Dodson explores from page 40. NILEMAGAZINE.CO.UK 3 NILE The NILE Crossword Rosetta Alexandria Hi Nile Quizzers, B t Please welcome a new member to the NILE team: Keith Q Tanis i Sais G!K \ !Q Payne, founder of the popular Em Hotep BBS Face- book group, and www.emhotep.net, which is an online ! Avaris KQ Bubastis resource. Keith has turned our regular NILE Quiz feature into b a fabulous crossword; a Herculean skill which, in my Heliopolis < Q opinion, should be recognised as an Olympic sport. As Giza Cairo 6fKQ . h always, every clue has been sourced from this issue of Abusir Memphis teM8Q NILE Magazine. Thanks Keith, and welcome aboard. Saqqara Dahshur Jeff Burzacott, Editor Meidum (You can check your answers on page 28.) El Faiyum Hawara H!114u~ 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hermopolist Beni Hasan b b b bb Q b b b b : l t! Amarna !!1 V 7 8 9 10 k ]q Abydos t Q Dendera < !Q 11 Valley of the Kings ! > Thebes Q Across Kharga Oasis ! < b11 2. American Research Center in Egypt, abbr. t Q Esna b P Elkab 6qQ 3. Ancient Egyptian symbol for “life”. Q Hierakonpolis Uf 5. Kara Cooney’s work suggests that raiding an !Q Edfu Gebel ancestor’s _____ goods was not taboo. el-Silsila tB 11 ! 7. Ostrich feathers are known for their association U11Q Kom Ombo with _____, the goddess of truth and harmony. 9. The most ironic thing about the “mummy’s curse” Aswan Bb+ is that there was no _____ involved! et: Q 10. In order to placate his deceased _____, Pinudjem II placed a scroll and writing board in her tomb, asking her spirit to remain peaceful. 11. A daughter of Cleopatra VII, she was intended to continue the Ptolemaic Dynasty, but alas. Down 1. The benu bird was inspired by the Grey _____. ! f 2. Only by completing the trials of the underworld L ", ae7 Hf] Q could the deceased become an _____. b b Abu Simbel 4. Juba II, whose father was the conquered king of _____, became a friend of Augustus. 6. The _____ bird was a manifestation of the ba of the sun god Ra. 8. Mother of Amenhotep I: _____-Nefertiry (using JACQUES DESCLOITRES, MODIS RAPID RESPONSE TEAM, NASA/GSFC Aidan Dodson’s spelling). 4 NILE #16 | OCTOBER–NOVEMBER 2018 Year Dynasty In This Issue ... 210 b.c. Ptolemaic Terracotta 332–30BC Ptolemaic p.6 Warriors Period 280 b.c. p.58 Colossus of Rhodes 30 Late 438 b.c. 525–404 Parthenon Period 27 664–525 26 25 23 p.22 3rd I.P. 945–715 22 1069–945 21 p.15 1186–1069 20 1184 b.c. Trojan New 1295–1186 19 p.29 Horse Kingdom 1550–1295 18 p.40 nd 17 2 I.P. 1650–1550 15 16 A* 1795–1650 13 14 Middle 1800 b.c. Code of Kingdom Hammurabi 1985–1795 12 2100 b.c. Ziggurat 2125–1985 11 of Ur 1st I.P. 9–10 7–8 2345–2181 6 Old Kingdom 2494–2345 5 2500 b.c. Stonehenge 2613–2494 4 2686–2613 3 Early 2890–2686 2 Dynastic Period 3100–2890 1 p.36 (A* = Abydos Dynasty) NILEMAGAZINE.CO.UK 5 Kleopatra Selene The Last Ptolemy 1 434 M ES, IQU NT T A E ES LL AI ÉD M S, IE A N N O M T N E M E T R A P É D , E C N A R F E D E L A N O I T A N E U Q È H T O I L B I B © he names of Cleopatra VII, Queen of Their defeat at the Battle of Actium, and Cleopatra’s Egypt, and her Roman Triumvir Mark subsequent suicide, in a final act of defiance against Antony, echo throughout history. Their Rome, is the stuff of legend. What is less well known Tbloody and passionate love affair has been is that Cleopatra and Mark Antony had three children: retold and reimagined almost as many times as that twins Alexander Helios and Kleopatra Selene and of their tragic end. another younger son Ptolemy Philadelphus.