The Destruction of Mankind

What happens when an ancient Egyptian king recycles a statue—and then an empire steals it more than 3,000 years later? In this episode of Afterlives of Ancient Egypt, Kara Cooney and Amber Myers Wells take you on a deep dive into the life, reuse, and relocation of the colossal statue fragment known as the “Younger Memnon” (British Museum, EA 19). Once a towering monument to Amenhotep III, then reused by Ramses II, and finally carted off to London as a result of 19th-century colonialism, this statue has lived many lives—and it still looms large in the British Museum. It’s the first thing you see when you turn the corner to the Egyptian galleries…Tune into learn how a two-toned block of granite became a symbol of solar kingship, modern colonial power, and the politics of museum display. From Shelley’s Ozymandias to the ethics of repatriation, it’s a conversation about ownership, ideology, and the stories we choose to tell. What a magnificently complicated piece.Don’t miss Kara’s written companion post to this episode, “The ‘Younger Memnon’: A Colossal Lesson in Power, Reuse, and Colonial Trophy Hunting,” on the Ancient/Now Substack.Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe ShelleyThe Younger Memnon, British Museum EA 19 Get full access to Ancient/Now at ancientnow.substack.com/subscribe

Anya and I had so much fun in our recent Substack Live with Classical Wisdom. Anya was in Greece, I in California, and the topic was ancient Egypt. One of our main points of discussion was the newly conserved hypostyle hall at Karnak, which Anya had just seen in person. Enthusiastic as I am about this extraordinary space, I expressed a teeny tiny bit of concern about fresh paint colors being newly revealed. Don’t get me wrong: the newly conserved hypostyle hall looks bright and fresh, but we must remember that these colors are now exposed to air and light, and that means degradation. I have to assume the columns have been convered in some modern material to avoid decay, but one worries nonetheless. I am very much torn about all this conservation, and a large part of me is happy to have them more safely preserved under layers of soot and dirt. But that’s problematic protectionism, perhaps. In addition, I mentioned to Anya how the cracks between the column drums are now covered with modern conservation materials—which indeed better reconstructs how they would have looked in the Ramesside period. But, it limits our study: the joins between column drums are now invisible, and given many of them were put back in the wrong places after collapse, there is no way to further study the individual parts and construction methods of the hypostyle hall. We must be very grateful to Peter Brandt for his team’s published documentation of the hypostyle hall before this extensive conservation. Indeed, in my own work with coffin reuse I find myself apoplectic when a coffin has been so conserved that I cannot see where painted plaster has fallen away from the wood. Making the object perfectly beautiful almost always destroys further research possibilities; indeed, it also makes the object more modern than it is ancient…but this is a topic all on its own, and I’ll leave it there! Anya and I also discussed the extraordinary geology underneath the Giza Plateau—because that is what was recently discovered with ground penetrating radar: rock formations. It is our own human minds that are making this geology into human / alien constructions. The Giza pyramids were built on this plateau for a reason; this is and was a dynamic and awe-inspiring place. There was a rock formation on this plateau in the shape of a crouching lion! Because that leonine outcropping was shaped into a human headed Sphinx with nemes headdress and beard by the ancient Egyptians, we humans have cognitively transformed this entire space into a humanly constructed one. I would urge caution: this is an earthly plain perceived as magical and empowered, thus chosen by 4th Dynasty kings for their mountains of stone. If we put this into a Chicken and Egg dynamic, the plateau came first; it is the Egg. But the Chickens—those three pyramids— are so overwhelming to our senses that they have somehow transformed our view of the Egg. To really understand the power of this space, and these recent discoveries, I urge us all to imagine a Giza Plateau in the millennia before human claims and transformations.And then Anya’s internet connection died (!), at which point I strangely and abruptly ended the live feed! Ah well, but we at Ancient/Now have learned a few things about live Substacks and will attempt a few of our own. So be on the lookout. Thank you Kimber S Prewit, Isabelle Plante, Jim Sanders, Tee Ree, Ama Diya aka Alaya Dannu, and many others for tuning into my live video with Classical Wisdom! Join me for my next live video in the app. :) Get full access to Ancient/Now at ancientnow.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Kara and Jordan tackle supporter questions from the month of April, ranging from tomb decoration, Egyptian concepts of fate and destiny, religious texts, and our craziest theories—as well as some rabbit holes. If you would like to submit a question, consider becoming a paid subscriber. Paid subscribers join our live Q&A and get all their questions answered!The show notes below support our conversation, and there is some wacky stuff. We hope you enjoy diving down some of these rabbit holes yourself!Show Notes:Cannibal Hymn & Eating the Gods* Daily Cult Ritual* Lacovara - The Meaning and Symbolism of Swimming-Girl Spoons from Egypt* Mandrakes & Lilies as Aphrodiasiacs* Swapping Sex for Drugs: Mandrake Mythology and Fertility in Genesis 30* Kate Bosse-Griffiths, “The Fruit of the Mandrake in Egypt and Israel,” in Amarna Studies and Other Selected Papers (ed. by J. Gwyn Griffiths), pp. 82-96, Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis 182 (Fribourg, Switzerland and Göttingen, 2001).“In love poems and in contexts where rejuvenation is the theme, such as in the festival city of Amenhotep III, we find many images and representations of this beautiful but toxic little fruit.”* Ducks in Ancient Egypt* Rozenn Bailleul - LeSeur - Between Heaven and Earth - Birds in Ancient Egypt “…he [the tomb owner] is also guranteed renewed sexual vigor and thus rebirth, which is implied by the presence of the waterfowl, inhabited in the marshes, the quintessential place for creation and domain of the goddess Hathor” (162).Keeping the Joy in EgyptologyHow do we engage with the “truth” without being killjoys!? “The authenticity of the ancient world is always cooler than any made up shit that Hollywood can come up with.” What ya’ll think!?Tomb Decoration* Tomb Decoration and lamps* Stocks, Denys A. 2020. The materials, tools, and work of carving and painting. In Davies, Vanessa and Dimitri Laboury (eds), The Oxford handbook of Egyptian epigraphy and palaeography, 115-128. New York: Oxford University Press. DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190604653.013.8. * Ostraca UC39608* "Year 29, month 2 of spring, day 9; on this day, distribution of the linen fibre to the crew to make into lamp(wick)s…”* Textile-pattern ceilings* Elizabeth Barber - Reconstructing The Ancient Aegean/Egyptian Textile TradeFate & Destiny* Dream Interpretation* Kasia Szpakowska- Dream of Early Ancient Egypt * Szpakowska, Kasia 2011. Dream interpretation in the Ramesside age. In Collier, Mark and Steven Snape (eds), Ramesside studies in honour of K. A. Kitchen, 509-517. Bolton: Rutherford. * ‘King in the Egg’Divine flesh's holy egg, of noble mien; Come from the womb he wore the crown; Conquered the earth while yet in the egg (THE GREAT SPHINX STELA OF AMENHOTEP II AT GIZA)* Tale of the Doomed Prince* Seven HathorsThen came the Hathors to determine a fate for him. They said,,"He will die through the crocodile, or the snake, or the dog.”* Westcar Papyrus * The god ShaiThanks 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

There is this strange and confusing text about a pissed off goddess sent off to destroy the world and gobble up all of humanity. The sun god Re sends her out on a mission of destruction. She’s called the Eye of Re, meaning she’s a part of her father, the god, but also somehow separate, a goddess in her own right named Hathor. The Egyptians seem to be telling us that when you have a problem that needs immediate solving, you send a woman, a really angry woman. Re’s problem is nothing short of rebellion against his rule. He’s become old and worn out, and no one is listening to his orders anymore. Time for a clean slate, Re thinks. Let’s annihilate the humans! (I mean, who hasn’t had such thoughts lately, right?) My daughter Hathor can do the deed! Except, Re second-guesses himself after seeing the carnage. Creator gods always feel bad when they witness the deep-sixing of their creation, after all, thinking well maybe I want these pesky humans around after all. They do give me offerings… They’re not bad all the time… But once unleashed, the goddess will not be calmed, enraged in her thirst for blood. Can Re pull the Eye of Re back in time? What will he do?The Destruction of Mankind is not a tale exactly, but it’s not a religious text either. The first version was inscribed on one of the gilded wooden shrines surrounding Tutankhamun’s burial ensemble, meaning its creation must predate that time. Some think it finds its origins in the confusing post-Amarna period when people were extra traumatized by Akhenaten’s solar obsessions. Other scholars believe it predates Tutankhamun’s reign and finds its origins in deep questioning about the place of humanity in the world: Why are we here? Do we matter at all?In this episode Kara and Amber dive deep into the myth of the “Destruction of Mankind,” a confusing blend of religious text and fairy tale. The discussion explores the themes of divine judgment, the power dynamics between masculine and feminine deities, and the emotional versus rational dichotomy within patriarchal systems. The narrative returns to how the sun god Re considers obliterating humanity but then chooses to keep his creation, ultimately using trickery to mitigate the destruction. The brutal lioness version of the goddess must be turned into a soft and pliable version of herself using humanity’s favorite elixir—beer, died red to resemble human blood. Kara and Amber delve into Ancient Egyptian mythology, the roles of gods and goddesses, and the social and emotional implications this mythology holds for contemporary patriarchal structures. The crux of it all is: if the Eye of Re is an offshoot of her father Re, can her violent power be considered resistance, or is she just a tool? There’s lots going on here, so check out the links:Theban Mapping Project: Photo of the Heavenly Cow in the tomb of Seti I (KV 17)Theban Mapping Project: Line drawing of the Book of the Heavenly Cow I the tomb of Seti I (KV 17) (copy reversed from orientation of the original)SourcesGuilhou, Nadine. 2010. “Myth of the Heavenly Cow.” In Jacco Dieleman and Willeke Wendrich (eds.), UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology. Los Angeles. http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/viewItem.do?ark=21198/zz002311pm.Hornung, Erik. 1982. Der Ägyptische Mythos von der Himmelskuh. Eine Ätiologie des Unvollkommenen. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; Auflage. Lichtheim, Miriam. 2006. Ancient Egyptian Literature: Volume II: The New Kingdom. 2nd ed. University of California Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt1ppr00.Spalinger, Anthony. 2000. “The Destruction of Mankind: A Transitional Literary Text.” Studien Zur Altägyptischen Kultur 28, 257–82. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25152827. Get full access to Ancient/Now at ancientnow.substack.com/subscribe

SummaryJoin Kara and Jordan on a thrilling, hair-tingling journey through ancient Egypt's wild dynastic power shifts! From the dramatic reign of Tutankhamun to the strategic brilliance of Hatshepsut, explore how these rulers navigated assassinations, epic battles, and family drama to seize the throne. Discover the parallels between ancient power struggles and today’s political landscape, and dive into the ultimate royal showdowns featuring invaders like the Hyksos, Libyans, and Nubians. Buckle up for tales of epic reigns, royal intrigue, and the cunning ways rulers took their crowns in a world where the only constant was change. Show NotesToo Short of Reign* Djet → Merneith (as queen regent, at least, and to her son Den, should he live)* Cooney, When Women Ruled the World— see Chapter 1 on Merneith!In the end, what was Merneith’s legacy? Do we remember her? Or, more important, did the Egyptians? The answer may be the expected and deflating no. Memory of her would be short-lived, as patriarchy demanded, even if it was her cautious, feminine rule that saved Egypt’s kingship. She does appear on a king list found in the tomb of her son—but just a few reigns later, on inscriptions from the last part of Dynasty 1 from the tomb of Qa’a, one of Den’s successors, there is no longer any mention of Merneith* Recent discoveries of wine from the tomb of Merneith * Amenemhat III → Sobekneferu (the last ruler of Dynasty XII)* Cooney, When Women Ruled the World— see Chapter XX on Sobekneferu!* Newberry, P. E. 1943. Co-regencies of Ammenemes III, IV and Sebknofru. Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 29, 74-75* Callender, V. G. 1998. Materials for the reign of Sebekneferu. In Eyre, C. J. (ed.), Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of Egyptologists, Cambridge, 3-9 September 1995, 227-236. Leuven: Peeters.* Pignattari, Stefania 2018. Amenemhat IV and the end of the Twelfth Dynasty: between the end and the beginning. BAR International Series 2906. Oxford: BAR Publishing* Tutankhamun → Smenkhare/Neferneferuaten/NefertitiTo the historian familiar with Egypt’s patterns of succession, the most compelling thing about Tutankhamun’s youthful kingship is the fact that he had no female regent that we can identify as the decision-maker (Cooney, When Women Ruled the World).* Dodson, Aidan 2022. Tutankhamun: king of Egypt. His life and afterlife. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press.* Dodson, Aidan 2009. Amarna sunset: Nefertiti, Tutankhamun, Ay, Horemheb, and the Egyptian counter-reformation. Cairo, New York: American University in Cairo Press.* Reeves, Nicholas 2019. The decorated north wall in the tomb of Tutankhamun (KV 62) (The burial of Nefertiti? II). Amarna Royal Tombs Project - Valley of the Kings, Occasional Paper 3. [n.p.]: ARTP* Reeves, Nicholas 2020. The tomb of Tutankhamun (KV 62): supplementary notes (The burial of Nefertiti? III). Graphics and animations by Peter Gremse. Amarna Royal Tombs Project - Valley of the Kings, Occasional Paper 5. [n.p.]: ARTP.* Reeves, Nicholas 2016. Tutankhamun's mask reconsidered. In Elleithy, Hisham (ed.), Valley of the Kings since Howard Carter: proceedings of the Luxor Symposium November 4, 2009, 117-134. Cairo: Ministry of Antiquities.* Reeves, Nicholas 2015. Tutankhamun's mask reconsidered. Bulletin of the Egyptological Seminar 19, 511-526.* Reeves, Nicholas 2015. The tomb of Tutankhamun: a double burial? British Archaeology 145, 36-39.A Reign too long* Pepi II—> discord and a series of short-lived rulers* Kanawati, Naguib. Conspiracies in the Egyptian Palace, Unis to Pepy I (London: Routledge, 2003), 4.170.* Ramses II—>Merneptah, the 13th son* Kitchen, Kenneth (1982). Pharaoh Triumphant: The Life and Times of Ramesses II, King of Egypt. London: Aris & Phillips. ISBN 978-0-85668-215-5.* Brand, Peter J. (2023). Ramesses II, Egypt's Ultimate Pharaoh. Lockwood Press. ISBN 978-1-948488-49-5.Lack of Heir or a Sudden Change of Heir* Mentuhotep IV → Amenhotep I* Callender, Gae (2003). "The Middle Kingdom Renaissance (c. 2055–1650 BC)". In Shaw, Ian (ed.). The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 137–171. ISBN 978-0-19-815034-3.* Translation of Wadi Hammmat Graffito* HatshepsutBut Hatshepsut wasn’t the sole king. And she wasn’t a man. There was a king still living, Thutmose III, who would rule another 30 years after the death of his aunt, making those sons of Nefrure, if they existed, very old—40 or 50 or dead—by the time Thutmose III himself passed on: older and established men who did not need a queen-regent mother to guide them. For Hatshepsut and Nefrure, the timing was actually a catastrophe (Cooney, When Women Ruled the World).* The Women Who Would be King* Ay/Horemheb → Ramses* “The New Kingdom of Egypt under the Ramesside Dynasty,” in: Oxford History of the Ancient Near East, Karen Radner, Nadine Moeller, and D.T. Potts, eds., Oxford: Oxford University Press (2022).Assassination or Asassination Attempts* Possibly usurpation by Userkaf (Teti murdered)* Kanawati, Naguib. Conspiracies in the Egyptian Palace, Unis to Pepy I (London: Routledge, 2003), 4.170.* The murder of Ramses III* Turin Judicial PapyrusInternal Threat/ Usurpation* Pepi I (lots of damnatio memoriae of Teti/Userkaf officials)* Mentuhotep IV → Amenemhat I* Amenmesse/Seti II/ Siptah/ Tausret/ SetnakhteTawosret would have no legacy, no children. If she was still of childbearing age when she took the kingship (very likely) and hoped to bear a son, then that plan hadn’t worked. Any sexual- romantic partner of King Tawosret would have been looked upon with great suspicion anyway, and there is no record of such a man. The next king would not be her son. Instead, we see a continuation of the power of that mighty and overly large extended family of Ramses the Great (Cooney, When Women Ruled the World). * the Third Intermediate Period!External Threat* Second Intermediate Period— Hyksos and Nubia* Third Intermediate Libyan Dynasties* 25th Dynasty Get full access to Ancient/Now at ancientnow.substack.com/subscribe

This episode’s conversation delves into the role of music and rituals in ancient Egypt, the mysterious artifacts held by Egyptian statues, and the evidence for ancient Egyptian coups compared to modern political tensions.Awakening of the Gods - Mythvison* Galczynski & Price (2023). “Fashioning Sensescapes through Ancient Egyptian Dress” in Textiles in Motion. Dress for Dance in the Ancient World* Harper’s Songs* Dance in ancient Egypt* “The Daily Offering Meal in the Ritual of Amenhotep I: An Instance of the Local Adaptation of Cult Liturgy,” co-authored with J. Brett McClain, Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions 5, 41-79 (2005).What are the things the statues hold?!* Fischer, Henry G. 1975. An elusive shape within the fisted hands of Egyptian statues. Metropolitan Museum Journal 10, 9-21.Political Turmoil in Ancient Egypt* Good Kings: Absolute Power in Ancient Egypt and the Modern World* Conspiracies in ancient Egypt* Teti “assassination” mentioned in Manetho * Pepi I Harem issues mentioned in the Autobiography of Weni* Amenemhat I's “assassination” mentioned in the Tale of Sinuhe and The Instructions of Amenemhat * Ramses III Harem Conspiracy In year 30, third month of Inundation, day 7, the god attained his horizon, the King of Upper and Lower Egypt Sehetepebre. He flew to heaven and was united with the sun's disk [i.e. he died]; the flesh of the god was merged in him, who made him. Then was the Residence hushed; hearts were filled with mourning; the Great Portals were closed; the courtiers crouched head on lap; the people grieved.Now His Majesty had dispatched an army to the land of the Temhi, and his eldest son [Senwosret I] was the captain thereof, the good god Sesostris. Even now he was returning, having carried away captives of the Tehenu and cattle of all kinds beyond number. And the Companions of the Royal Palace sent to the western border to acquaint the king's son with the matters that had come to pass at the Court. And the messengers met him on the road, they reached him at time of night. Not a moment did he wait; the Falcon flew away with his henchmen, not suffering it to be known to his army. Howbeit, message had been sent to the Royal Children who were with him in this army, and one of them had been summoned. And lo, I stood and heard his voice as he was speaking, being a little distance aloof; and my heart became distraught, my arms spread apart, trembling having fallen on all my limbs. Leaping I betook myself thence to seek me a hiding-place, and placed me between two brambles so as to sunder the road from its traveller.(Excerpt from the Tale of Sinuhe)Tell us what you think!! Get full access to Ancient/Now at ancientnow.substack.com/subscribe

What does sun worship mean? The sun is the giant ball of fire in the sky. It warms us, embraces us. It lights up the air all around us, and its absence creates coldness, an implicit threat of non-return, something we must placate with entreaties, offerings, brave deeds. The sun is the most powerful element in our sky, heroically returning to us every morning, helping us start our daily labors of farming or carpentry or war, and as such, the sun usually takes on the guise of a masculine ruler. Indeed, solar worship is permeated with elements of kingship—thrones, crowns, scepters, sovereignty. This is masculinity incarnate. Ancient cultures did not feminize the sun; its fiery abilities are associated with masculinized omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence. The ruler, he is always watching; he knows all. He is wealth unparalleled, like pure yellow gold that seems to give off its own light from the depths of the mine. In ancient Egypt, people created solarism in tandem with the formation of their state, perfecting it as they marched through the millennia. They built straight sided pyramids, their angles personifying solar rays hitting the earth, essentially creating mountains of miraculous sunlight. The obelisk was a monolith of red granite, meant to be a shaft of light hitting the earth in perfect symmetry and purpose, its placement in temples like Heliopolis charging it with the sun god’s intimate presence. Amenhotep III of the 18th Dynasty transformed himself into Egypt’s “Dazzling Sun,” the epitome of transformative kingship. His son, also named Amenhotep, would change his name to Akhenaten—The One Who Is Effective for the Aten—showing his intimate, and unique, connection to that physical ball of fire in the sky. His new solar theology was one focused on the physicality of the sun—its warmth, its ability to make things grow, its light that allows people to see. For Akhenaten, everything was about this precious light. He built temples with no covering so that the sun’s rays could touch every part. His radical, new theology was about the sun’s creation of everything, everywhere. In this episode Kara and Amber discuss solarism in ancient Egyptian religion and how it coincided with the rise of divine kingship, solar hymns, the Great Hymn to the Aten, and the theological universalism that emerged in the late New Kingdom from the contemplation of the divine centered on the sun and light. And we contemplate how the sun doesn’t just create things, but also destroys them.SourcesSuty & Hor stelaRead more about the Great Hymn to the Aten Great Hymn to the Aten – Original text Baines, John. 1998. The dawn of the Amarna age. In O'Connor, David B. and Eric H. Cline (eds.), Amenhotep III: perspectives on his reign. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press p. 271–312.Lichtheim, Miriam. 2006. Ancient Egyptian literature. A book of readings, volume II: The New Kingdom. Berkeley, CA; London: University of California Press. Get full access to Ancient/Now at ancientnow.substack.com/subscribe

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

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

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