Afterlives of Ancient Egypt with Kara Cooney

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Akhenaten, Atenism, and the Mirror of Monotheism
The concept of monotheism often hijacks the history of ancient Egyptian king Akhenaten because he funneled all his attention to one, previously little-known god, the Aten, the visible sun in the sky. Many scholars ask: Was Akhenaten, ancient Egypt’s so-called “heretic king,” the world’s first known monotheist? Did he say that other gods did not exist? Did he impose the belief that the Aten was superior to all other gods? In this episode, Kara and Amber discuss Atenism, the exclusionary and dogmatic religion at the center of Akhenaten’s regime. What is our understanding of it, and why have some people been so eager to connect his religious revolution with monotheism? Or, should one even follow the monotheistic angle? In many ways, our monotheistic obsessions say more about us that they do about the ancient Egyptians. Because monotheism is such a modern concept of European theology, it might not even be appropriate to apply it to ancient Egypt. Listen and find out what we think!Further readingHoffmeier, James K. 2016. The Great Hymn of the Aten: the ultimate expression of Atenism? Journal of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities 42 (2015-2016), 43-55.Hoffmeier, James K. 2015. Akhenaten and the origins of monotheism. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press.Lichtheim, Miriam 2006. Ancient Egyptian literature. A book of readings, volume II: The New Kingdom. Berkeley, CA; London: University of California Press.Lipson, C. (2013). Comparative Rhetoric, Egyptology, and the Case of Akhenaten. Rhetoric Society Quarterly, 43(3), 270–284. https://doi.org/10.1080/02773945.2013.792696Reeves, Nicholas 2001. Akhenaten: Egypt's false prophet. London: Thames & Hudson.Redford, Donald, “The Monotheism of the Heretic Pharaoh: Precursor of Mosaic monotheism or Egyptian anomaly?,” Biblical Archaeology Review 13:3, May/June 1987.Redford, Donald B. 1984. Akhenaten: the heretic king. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.If you haven’t yet, don’t forget to join our online community and sign up for a free subscription to Kara’s Substack Ancient/Now! Get full access to Ancient/Now at ancientnow.substack.com/subscribe
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February 2025 Q&A – 1000 Bread, 1000 Beer – Tombs, Death, and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt
This episode is a recording from our quarterly live event series where supporters are invited to chat with us live over Zoom and ask all their burning questions—if you would like to support our work, consider becoming a paid subscriber:Show NotesThutmose II (?) Tomb Discovered?!* Live Science: Thutmose II tomb discovery raises new mysteries: Where is his mummy, and why wasn't he buried in the Valley of the Kings?* * Thutmose II Biography* MET Catalogue, “Hatshepsut: from Queen to Pharaoh”* Theban Mapping Project* And his body ends up in the Royal Cache…What are your thoughts on the new “discovery?Child Burials* Arbuckle MacLeod, Caroline 2023. The value of children in ancient Egypt. In Candelora, Danielle, Nadia Ben-Marzouk, and Kathlyn M. Cooney (eds), Ancient Egyptian society: challenging assumptions, exploring approaches, 140-151. London; New York: Routledge. DOI: 10.4324/9781003003403-16.* Barba, Pablo 2024. Studying age identities through funerary dimensions: a discussion of child and adult burials from Lower Egypt (4th mil. BCE). Cildhood in the Past: an International Journal 17 (2), 68-92. DOI: 10.1080/17585716.2024.2380134.* Kaiser, Jessica 2023. When death comes, he steals the infant: child burials at the Wall of the Crow cemetery, Giza. In Kiser-Go, Deanna and Carol A. Redmount (eds), Weseretkau "mighty of kas": papers in memory of Cathleen A. Keller, 347-369. Columbus, GA: Lockwood Press. DOI: 10.5913/2023853.22.The Beginnings of Boat Burials & Significance of Boat in Egyptian Religion* Vanhulle, Dorian 2024. Boat burials and boat-shaped pits from their origins to the Old Kingdom: tradition, continuity and change in early Egypt. International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 53 (1), 1-19. DOI: 10.1080/10572414.2023.2264551.* Wegner, Josef 2017. A royal boat burial and watercraft tableau of Egypt's 12th Dynasty (c.1850 BCE) at South Abydos. International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 46 (1), 5-30. DOI: 10.1111/1095-9270.12203.* Ward, Cheryl 2006. Boat-building and its social context in early Egypt: interpretations from the First Dynasty boat-grave cemetery at Abydos. Antiquity 80 (307), 118-129. DOI: 10.1017/S0003598X00093303* O'Connor, David 1995. The earliest royal boat graves. Egyptian Archaeology 6, 3-7.* Cooney, Kathlyn M. 2023. People of Nile and sun, wheat and barley: ancient Egyptian society and the agency of place. In Candelora, Danielle, Nadia Ben-Marzouk, and Kathlyn M. Cooney (eds), Ancient Egyptian society: challenging assumptions, exploring approaches, 225-234. London; New York: Routledge. DOI: 10.4324/9781003003403-23. Mummified Remains Smell Nice?!* BBC Report: Ancient Egyptian mummies still smell nice, study findsCelebration and Commemoration of the Ancestors* Draycott, Catherine M. and Maria Stamatopoulou (eds) 2016. Dining and death: interdisciplinary perspectives on the 'funerary banquet' in ancient art, burial and belief. Colloquia antiqua 16. Leuven: Peeters.* Beautiful Festival of the Valley or the Wag Festival* Festivals of the Dead around the World* Deified Ancestors: Heqaib* Letters to the DeadHuman Sacrifice in Ancient Egypt* Listen to Part I and II of our Human Sacrifice in Early Dynastic Egypt with Dr. Rose Campbell!* Campbell, Roselyn A. 2024. The social context of human sacrifice in ancient Egypt. In Walsh, Matthew J., Sean O'Neill, Marianne Moen, and Svein H. Gullbekk (eds), Human sacrifice and value: revisiting the limits of sacred violence from an archaeological and anthropological perspective* Morris, Ellen F. 2014. (Un)dying loyalty: meditations on retainer sacrifice in ancient Egypt and elsewhere. In Campbell, Roderick (ed.), Violence and civilization: studies of social violence in history and prehistory, 61-93. Oxford; Oakville, CT: Oxbow.* Morris, Ellen F. 2007. Sacrifice for the state: First Dynasty royal funerals and the rites at Macramallah's rectangle. In Laneri, Nicola (ed.), Performing death: social analyses of funerary traditions in the ancient Near East and Mediterranean, 15-37. Chicago: Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. DOI: 10.7916/D8H14JF0.Disability in Ancient Egypt * Morris, A. F. & Vogel, H. (2024) Disability in Ancient Egypt and Egyptology : All Our Yesterdays. 1st ed. Oxford: Taylor & Francis Group.* BM Exhibit- Eight histories of disabled people in ancient Egypt* Siptah * Karen Kobylarz, “A TALE OF TWO BOY KINGS: HOW THE MUMMIFIED REMAINS OF AN OBSCURE PHARAOH MIGHT SHED LIGHT ON THE LIFE OF KING TUT”* Morris, Alexandra F. 2020. Let that be your last battlefield: Tutankhamun and disability. Athens Journal of History 6 (1), 53-72. DOI: 10.30958/ajhis.6-1-3.Thanks for reading Ancient/Now! This post is public so feel free to share it. Get full access to Ancient/Now at ancientnow.substack.com/subscribe
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Seth, Part II: Feminization of the Masculine and Demonization
Who should inherit the throne when the ancient Egyptian king is killed? The strong brother of the king or the younger son who needs serious time to mature? This was a vital question that the Egyptians solved through mythology. Egypt found itself in a power vacuum; it was the first political crisis the land had ever experienced. The primary god-king was dead, killed by his own brother. Who should become king next? Should Seth, the murderer of Osiris, inherit the throne of Egypt over Osiris’ son, Horus? It was ann age-old question of succession, property, violence, power, and, yes, legal suits. If you think Americans love litigation, well the ancient Egyptians can beat that. This myth about the contendings between Horus and Seth is essentially a big legal proceeding in front of a tribunal of divinities, some emotionally stable, some not so much. It’s a rip-roaring time of litigation and counter-suits!Join us in the podcast episode as Kara and Amber continue their discussion of Seth, god of chaos and violence, by diving into a text known as “The Judgement of Horus and Seth,” that vital mythological account about the interminable conflict—stone boat races! Spear fishing! Rape, but only kind of!—between Horus and Seth over who is the rightful heir to Osiris. It is the story about how the young and rightful heir Horus triumphs over the violent intercession, and it offers insights into ancient Egyptians perceptions of kingship and its troubled relationship to masculinity and violence. Kara and Amber wrap the podcast up with a look at how Seth fell from favor in Egypt’s Late Period and was ultimately demonized as a force for evil.Get ready for the most bawdy tale from Pharaonic Egypt…SourcesCruz-Uribe, Eugene. 2009. Stx aA pHty “Seth, god of power and might.” Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 45, 201-226.Lichtheim, Miriam 2006. Ancient Egyptian literature. A book of readings, volume II: The New Kingdom. Berkeley, CA; London: University of California Press.Morris, E. F. 2007. Sacred and obscene laughter in The Contendings of Horus and Seth, in Egyptian inversions of everyday life, and in the context of cultic competition. In Schneider, Thomas and Kasia Szpakowska (eds), Egyptian stories: a British Egyptological tribute to Alan B. Lloyd on the occasion of his retirement, 197-224. Münster: Ugarit-Verlag. Schott, Siegfried 1929-1939. Urkunden mythologischen Inhalts [VI, 1-144], 2 vols. Urkunden des Ägyptischen Altertums VI (1-2). Leipzig: Hinrichs.te Velde, H. 1967. Seth, god of confusion: a study of his role in Egyptian mythology and religion. Translated by G. E. van Baaren-Pape. Probleme der Ägyptologie 6. Leiden: E. J. Brill. Get full access to Ancient/Now at ancientnow.substack.com/subscribe
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Seth and the Mystery of the 'Was' Scepter
What, exactly, is the was scepter? Essentially, it’s a stick with the head of a long-snouted, big eared animal, held by divinities in their hands to demonstrate their power. This familiar symbol of power and dominion held by kings and deities, usually masculine, in artistic representations throughout ancient Egyptian history appears often in art motifs. Images of was scepters are even pictured holding up the sky in Book of the Dead imagery. But where did this strange fetishized scepter come from and what was it made of? In this episode Kara and Amber discuss Seth, the ancient Egyptian god of chaos and violence, and how the origin of the was scepter is linked to the strange representation of Seth in animal form known as the Set animal and how it might find an even deeper and more esoteric origin in African bull cults. Show notesThis blog post has several photos of was scepters, including the faience was scepter discovered by Petrie and Quibell (now in the Victoria and Albert Museum), as well as an example of the combination ankh/was/djed scepter described by Kara.Ancient Roman winged phallusFlight into Egypt: Black Artists and Ancient Egypt, 1876–Now (The Met)Kara’s online course on ancient Egyptian creation mythology: Secrets of the Primordial WatersSourcesRichard Lobban, “A Solution to the Mystery of Was Scepter of Ancient Egypt and Nubia,” KMT: A Modern Journal of Ancient Egypt (10/3), 1999, 68–77.R. A. Lobban and M. Sprague, “Bulls and the W3s Sceptre in Ancient Egypt and Sudan,” Anthrozoös 10, 1997, 14-22.Schwabe, Calvin W., Joyce Adams, and Carleton T. Hodge. “Egyptian Beliefs about the Bull’s Spine: An Anatomical Origin for Ankh.” Anthropological Linguistics 24, no. 4 (1982): 445–79. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30027646.Te Velde, H., 1967, Seth, God of Confusion: A Study of His Role in Egyptian Mythology and Religion, Volume 6, Probleme der Ägyptologie (Brill).W. M. F. Petrie and J. E. Quibell, Naqada and Bellas, 1895. London.Lobban and Sprague’s Anthrozoös article is paywalled and Lobban’s KMT article with photos of the was scepter experiment is not available online, so we include here two of Lobban’s photos from the experiment, which were published in the KMT article cited above (p. 76–77). [If you are reading these show notes on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, you can see these photos in the post for this episode (#105) at ancientnow.substack.com.] Get full access to Ancient/Now at ancientnow.substack.com/subscribe
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January 2025 Supporter Q&A
In this episode of 'Afterlives of Ancient Egypt,' we answer this month’s supporter questions about the Old Kingdom, debating the logistical and artefactual impacts of Egypt's unification on surrounding regions, the linguistic continuity from the Old to the New Kingdom, and much more.Los Angeles Fire Relief * California Fire Foundation* Los Angeles Fire Foundation* American Red Cross* Wildfire Recovery Fund* United Way of Greater Los Angeles* The Dream Center* California Community Fund* Canine Rescue FundShow NotesFighting Fire at the Getty VillaImhotep* ARCE Post: Imhotep: A Sage between Fiction and RealityTales of Unification * Wengrow, David, The Archaeology of Early Egypt: Social transformations in North-East Africa, 10,000 to 2650 B.C., Cambridge University Press, 2006.Old Egyptian* Khaemwaset, the “first archaeologist”The Mystery of the SphinxFor more on the Sphinx debate and Khufu’s ivory statuette, check out Amber’s post and our earlier podcast episodes on this topic, “Khufu’s itty, bitty ivory statuette” and “Top 5 Debates in Egyptology (Part 1)”! Get full access to Ancient/Now at ancientnow.substack.com/subscribe
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