Is academic criticism the personification of evil itself?
Egypt’s Vice Minister of Culture Zahi Hawass seems to think so. As the critics, both pro and con, chime in with their own analysis of the recent JAMA article, Dr. Hawass seems to cross the line between making a response and taking offense.
“I call on Set, the [ancient Egyptian] god of evil to remain silent this time!”
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Tags: Albert Zink, Forensic Mummy Studies, Genetic Mapping, Journal of the American Medical Association, Otzi Iceman, Zahi Hawass
Plus: Catching Up Em Hotep!
All the world is abuzz with the long-awaited release of the current genetic study of the Eighteenth Dynasty, particularly as it relates to the goose that continues to lay the golden eggs—King Tut.
Your humble scribe is still mulling over the subject before attempting his own contribution, but in the meanwhile, here are a few excellent pieces from some of the most excellent writers in the Egyptology blogosphere. In the spirit of parsimony, I have narrowed my selection down to the three which I found to be the most unique in their approach and thought provoking in their implications. Enjoy!
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Tags: Eighteenth Dynasty, Forensic Mummy Studies, Genetic Mapping, Tutankhamun
The Swiss Mummy Project has been reviewing all of the studies performed on mummies in the last three decades and has compiled a wealth of data about how the ancient Egyptians lived and died. They discovered that in addition to bad dental health, the ancients suffered from a wide range of maladies which we normally associate with modern life.
So, what did the mummies have to say about living well?
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Tags: Bob Brier, Forensic Mummy Studies, Frank Ruhli, Gino Fornaciari, Mummies, Mummification, Natron, Ramesses II, Ronald Wade, Swiss Mummy Project, Tao II
King Tut is known as the Boy King for two reasons. The first is the young age at which he assumed the throne—around eight or nine. The second is that he died at around nineteen, so he never really reached adulthood. Why he died so young is a question that has been with us since his tomb was discovered by Howard Carter in 1922.
In 2005 a team of top radiologists conducted a series of CT scans on Tutankhamun’s mummy, and when the results were announced the following year at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America, the results were not 100% conclusive. Most of the team felt they had settled the question of what had caused Tut’s early death, but there were some holdouts.
So when Zahi Hawass announced last August that he was on the verge of announcing the exact cause of Tut’s death, Em Hotep! took notice. So does a new article and video on Dr. Hawass’ website finally put the question to rest?
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Tags: Akhenaten, Amarna, Ashraf Selim, Ay II, Eighteenth Dynasty, Forensic Mummy Studies, Howard Carter, Mummification, Richard Covington, Tutankhamun, Zahi Hawass
October has come and gone and it’s time to review our checklist of things Dr. Zahi Hawass had “promised, hinted, and suggested” would occur during—if not before—last month. So how did he do?
It is kind of hard to say someone had a bad month when they successfully reclaimed five artifacts from the Louvre and were appointed Vice Minister of Culture. So call me a taskmaster, but those two things were not on the list…
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Tags: Alexandria, Ankhesenamun, Bust of Nefertiti, Carter House, Cleopatra VII, Forensic Mummy Studies, Genetic Mapping, Howard Carter, KV64, Louvre, Ludwig Borchardt, Queen Tiye, Ramesses VIII, Repatriation, Tetaki, Tombs of the Nobles, TT15, Tutankhamun, Zahi Hawass
We have a status report on the effort to repatriate Nefertiti, thanks to an interview with Dr. Zahi Hawass published in Spiegel Online International this morning. The prognosis looks dim. In fact, the goal seems to have moved somewhat. When asked if he really wanted to remove Nefertiti from her new home, Dr. Hawass replied “Not by any means.”
What could this portent for our October Checklist? With eleven days to go, maybe it’s time we reviewed.
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Tags: Bust of Nefertiti, Cleopatra VII, Forensic Mummy Studies, Genetic Mapping, Kathleen Martinez, KV64, Ludwig Borchardt, Tutankhamun, Zahi Hawass
The University of Zurich’s Swiss Mummy Project, headed by anatomist and paleopathologist Dr. Frank Ruhli , has succeeded in mummifying a human leg. Well, two legs, actually. Ok, to be honest, the test subject didn’t go so well, so I guess it was one leg after all.
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Tags: Bob Brier, Forensic Mummy Studies, Frank Ruhli, Genetic Mapping, Mummification, Natron, Ronald Wade, Swiss Mummy Project, Tutankhamun, Zahi Hawass
October just got busier for Egypt’s prize fighter, Zahi Hawass, as another contender steps forward. The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) has taken up the cause of one of his subordinates at the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), charging Hawass with using his position to muzzle dissenting opinions.
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Tags: Ahmed Saleh, Forensic Mummy Studies, Mummies, Ramesses I, Supreme Council of Antiquities, Tutankhamun, Zahi Hawass
For obvious reasons, the primary source for what is going on in Egyptology is the Supreme Council of Antiquities, and the voice of the SCA is Dr. Zahi Hawass. Some exciting things have been promised (or at least dangled before us!) for the 2009/10 excavation season, but not everything on the radar is being dug out of the ground. There are mummy forensic studies, DNA tests, and the repatriation of artifacts, all of which play a role in Egyptology.
Dr. Hawass has promised, hinted, and suggested that October 2009 is going to be a particularly active month. Just for fun, let’s make a checklist…
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Tags: Altes Museum, Bust of Nefertiti, Forensic Mummy Studies, Genetic Mapping, KV64, Repatriation, Tombs, Tutankhamun, Zahi Hawass
For weeks now you have been reading here at Em Hotep! about the genetic testing done on two fetuses found in the tomb of Tutankhamun by Howard Carter in 1922, and the implications this may have for the genetic mapping of the Eighteenth Dynasty.
“And they’re about to become newsworthy,” Hawass’ spokesperson, Jill Lynch, told The Sacramento Bee today, “This fall, Dr. Zahi Hawass is going to announce the results of a DNA study that will determine the parenthood of the two fetuses…”
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Tags: Ankhesenamun, Forensic Mummy Studies, Genetic Mapping, Nefertiti, Tutankhamun, Zahi Hawass
Ancient Egyptian medicinal practices, excavations in Luxor and the Valley of the Kings, book reviews, and your weekly dose of forensic mummy studies…
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Tags: Andrew Collins, Forensic Mummy Studies, Great Sphinx, Karnak Temple, Luxor, Magic, Medical Practices, Sandro Vannini, Tutankhamun, Valley of the Kings, Zahi Hawass
It has been nearly a month now since Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, announced that in one month he would reveal “the exact reason why King Tut died.”
The title of the lecture was Mysteries of Tutankhamun Revealed. I was in attendance, and among the most exciting revelations were promises to reveal more revelations in the very near future.
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Tags: Forensic Mummy Studies, Genetic Mapping, Howard Carter, Jean-Pierre Houdin, Khufu's Pyramid, Supreme Council of Antiquities, The Great Pyramid, Tutankhamun, Tutankhamun Exhibition, Zahi Hawass
Kate Phizackerley of News from the Valley of the Kings has raised a few questions of her own regarding DNA Testing Limitations. It is the most accessible treatment of the subject that I have seen so far, and if you really want to have a thorough understanding of this very interesting story as it unfolds, you owe it to yourself to give it a read.
Tags: Eighteenth Dynasty, Forensic Mummy Studies, Genetic Mapping
Care for a peek inside the mysteries of mumification?
Swiss mummy makers have sent a human leg into the afterlife, but it hasn’t exactly gone like clockwork. Plus, will their analysis of the degrading effects of mummi-fication on DNA prove more bitter than sweet for the genetic mapping of Tutankhamun’s family?
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Tags: Forensic Mummy Studies, Genetic Mapping, Mummies, Mummification, Swiss Mummy Project, Tutankhamun
If I were a stockbroker and Nefertiti was a commodity, I would be advising my clients to buy. Dr. Zahi Hawass’ last year with the Supreme Council of Antiquities promises to be an interesting one, with robots crawling the Great Pyramid, mummies in CT scanners, and rumors of KV64.
But somehow Nefertiti seems to keep slipping back into the story.
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Tags: Altes Museum, Ankhesenamun, Bust of Nefertiti, Eighteenth Dynasty, Forensic Mummy Studies, Internal Ramp, Jean-Pierre Houdin, Khufu's Pyramid, KV64, Mummies, Mutnodjmet, Nefertiti, New Kingdom, Repatriation, Secret Doors, Supreme Council of Antiquities, The Great Pyramid, Tutankhamun, Zahi Hawass
