[Editor’s note: Brian Alm has been kind enough to submit another guest article to Em Hotep, for which we are very appreciative. Please note that all hypertext links are inserted by the editor for navigational and search engine optimization and may lead to links which do no represent Mr. Alm’s views or opinions. The captions for the photos and illustrations are likewise statements by the editor, so if there are mistakes, please do not blame Brian! Enjoy!]

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Tags: Ahhotep I, Ahmose-Nefertari, Gods Wife of Amun, Hatshepsut, Hetepheres I, King's Great Wife, Meresamun, Meritaten, Merneith, Mutemwia, Sobeknefru, Tausret, Tetisheri, Tiye

In this edition of the Khufu’s Western Cemetery series, we will introduce a chapter of mastabas with a brief biography of one of George Reisner’s valued colleagues, Tasmanian-born Egyptologist Arthur Cruttenden Mace. Mace migrated from work with Flinders Petrie at Abydos to join Reisner at Giza during the Hearst Expedition, and in this episode we will learn a little of his history and work. This is but a narrowed-down introduction, largely inspired and greatly informed by Gary Beuk‘s two-part series “Arthur Cruttenden Mace - Taking His Rightful Place,” Parts One and Two, hosted at Andie Byrnes and Kate Phizackerly‘s vast online journal, Egyptological. This is simply intended to tickle your curiosity about the prolific Egyptologist, and you are really should also read Gary Beuk’s two-part biography. The biographical portion is followed, as always, with a selection of largely interrelated mastabas from the HUMFA Expedition. As always, along with Beuk’s contribution, this series is reliant upon, inspirited by, and pleasurably dedicated to the Harvard University/Museum of Fine Arts Boston Giza Archives, currently in transition to Digital Giza.

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Tags: Albert Lythgoe, Arthur Mace, Digital Giza, Gary Beuk, George Reisner, Giza Plateau, Harvard University/Museum of Fine Arts Expedition, Mastabas, Western Cemetery

Introduction from Em Hotep: lecturer Brian Alm has been kind enough to provide us with a couple of guest articles, this being the first. While I am continuing with the ongoing Western Cemetery series, Mr. Alm and others have been gracious enough to to offer some breaks from the Western Field, and this examination of the role the military played in establishing the Ancient Egyptian empire, particularly during the New Kingdom, is both entertaining and elucidating. Please join me in welcoming Brian with this fresh perspective on that subject we all love- Egyptology. I would also like to welcome Krista Moyls, another familiar face to those who participate in the many active and reputable Egyptology groups on Facebook. Ms. Moyls has contributed photography to support Brian’s work. May this just be the beginning to a long tradition of welcoming new voices to our little tavern on the Internet.

One final note before we start.. I have included hyperlinks from some of the keywords in Em Hotep’s’ repertoire in this article. This is intended to aid the curious in finding more information, and for search engine optimization only. It is not intended to communicate Mr. Alm’s implicit nor explicit approval of where the internal links may take you, and should not be assumed as such. These are strictly for editorial and site maintenance purposes only. Mr. Alm’s words speak elegantly for themselves, the hypertext links are included for site optimization site only! Thanks -K

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Tags: Accounting, Brian Alm, Hyksos, Kadesh, Krista Moyls, Libyans, Megiddo, Merenptah, New Kingdom Period, Ramesses II, Weaponry, chariots

In the Khufu’s Western Cemetery series, it is time to return to George Reisner. After losing support from the Hearst family in 1904, Reisner gained the support of Harvard University and the Museum of Fine Arts Boston and went on to spend many productive years on the Giza Plateau. The quantity of work Reisner produced during the Harvard/MFA years will require several installations in this series, but before resuming with biographies for our introductions, we will first examine the basic elements of mastabas. This is by no means exhaustive, but it is a good place to start.

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Tags: Burial Chamber, Burial Shaft, Casing Types, Chapel Types, Core-Types, Digital Giza, George Reisner, Giza Plateau, Harvard University/Museum of Fine Arts Expedition, Mastaba Types, Mastabas, Mastabas2, Western Cemetery

The next concession we will explore in the Western Cemetery is the German mission, the Sieglin Expedition. Founded by Georg Steindorff, much of the western strip was subsequently excavated by Hermann Junker. Along with Steindorff and Junker, we will also visit Ludwig Borchardt, whose notable presence began with the division of the concessions in 1902, when he stood in for Steindorff at the division of the concessions between the Americans, the Italians, and the Germans. The article will be followed by a representative look at mastabas from the Steindorff, Junker West, and Junker East sub-cemeteries.

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Tags: Bertha Porter, Digital Giza, Georg Steindorff, Hermann Junker, Ludwig Borchardt, Rosalind Moss, Sieglin Expedition, Western Cemetery

In the last edition of the Western Cemeteries we visited the field itself with George Reisner and the Hearst Expedition. We will be visiting Reisner quite a bit, later in this series, but this time we are going to look in particular at the Italian Turin Mission, led by Ernesto Schiaparelli. Schiaparelli is perhaps more associated with his discovery of the tomb of Nefertari in the Valley of the Queens, but he did receive the concession to explore the Western Cemetery for Italy, and he did do some work there. Let’s take a look.

Just a couple of notes beforehand. First, this edition is dedicated to my friend and G.P., Dr. Akshaya Patel, who had blessed me with good health, counsel, and conversation. I am a man of my word - Dr. Patel, this is for you. Second, as I am bringing the site back into current service, I am slowly approving and responding to literally hundreds of pending posts. Please be patient!

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Tags: Bertha Porter, Digital Giza, Ernesto Schiaparelli, Francesco Ballerini, Great Pyramid, Hearst Expedition, Khufu, Rosalind Moss, Sieglin Expedition, Turin Museum, Western Cemetery

We have examined how George Reisner developed his concept of the nucleus cemeteries, and how these grew into what we now call the Western Field, or, Western Necropolis. We have examined how the field was divided into three tracts so that concessions could be assigned to international missions. We will now begin looking at an assortment of the tombs themselves, beginning with George Reisner and the Hearst Expedition.

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Tags: Arthur Mace, Bertha Porter, Digital Giza, George Reisner, Giza, Hearst Expedition, Phoebe Hearst, Rosalind Moss, Western Cemetery

We have been introduced to the Western Cemetery of Khufu, and how it began as nucleus cemeteries that expanded as additional mastabas and burials were added, creating the not-always-so-neat mosaic of a history in stone of the Fourth Dynasty, beginning with the reign of Pharaoh Khufu. Now the Egyptian authorities were going to allow three international missions to begin excavation in the Western Cemetery. But how would the concessions be divided? How was the decision made, as regards who digs where? In Part 3, we begin to demystify at least how this process began. As we go, we will see that concessions get passed on, swapped, and at least temporarily, set aside. The concessions at Giza today may look somewhat differently, but at least in the beginning of the Twentieth Century, this is how it started.
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Tags: Ernesto Schiaparelli, Georg Steindorff, George Reisner, Giza, Hearst Expedition, Hemiunu, Jean-Pierre Houdin, Khufu, Ludwig Borchardt, Sieglin Expedition, Turin Expedition, Western Cemetery

We introduced the subject of Khufu’s Western Cemetery in the last article of this series. Before we can begin an organized delve into the mastabas themselves, we first need to understand a couple of key concepts. We need to know about the nucleus cemeteries and how they expanded into the necropolis we seek to study (the subject of this article), and how the Western Cemetery was carved up into concessions (the subject of the next article). So, how did the Western Cemetery evolve?

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Tags: Digital Giza, G 2100 Cemetery, George Reisner, Harvard, Hemiunu, Khufu, Nucleus Cemeteries, Peter Der Manuelian, Western Cemetery

With the Scan Pyramids project doing work in the field, and the Harvard University/Museum of Fine Arts Boston Giza Archive Project being reinvented as Digital Giza, it seems the Old Kingdom is in the air. Many of you have been following my Western Cemetery series on Facebook in the Old Kingdom Egyptology Group, but there is a need for a more permanent home for the series, which is a great reason to jump start Em Hotep!

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Tags: Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Digital Giza, Giza Archives Project, Harvard University, Hemiunu, Khufu, Mastabas, Old Kingdom, Western Cemetery

This is just a quick introduction to the Scan Pyramids Mission written by Marc Chartier and myself, in consultation with members of the Scan Pyramids Mission who have recently returned from Cairo. Our intention is to put this project into the context of some of the theories that have been asserted about the Great Pyramid. As this project unfolds, some of these theories may stand, some may fall. Stay tuned to Em Hotep, Pyramidales, and Égypte actualités as the Scanning Pyramids Mission unfolds for exclusives. They are just getting started… Enjoy!

For the French version, Visit Marc Chartier’s Pyramidales, otherwise, read on..

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Tags: Dassault Systemes, Jean-Pierre Houdin, Khufu's Pyramid, Mehdi Tayoubi, Scan Pyramids

Sarah Korcz, a senior at Community Montessori School in New Albany, Indiana, and an aspiring Egyptologist, has shared several of her Egyptological research papers with me, and expressed an interest in doing an article for Em Hotep. Since we were about due for a catch-up session with Jean-Pierre Houdin, and I knew from some of our conversations that Sarah is keenly interested in Jean-Pierre’s work with pyramids, I asked her if she would like to interview him for the website. She was quite happy to oblige.

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Tags: Bent Pyramid, Bob Brier, Great Pyramid, Hemiunu, Henri Houdin, Jean-Pierre Houdin, Mehdi Tayoubi, Mumab, Richard Breitner, Ronn Wade, Sarah Korcz, Scan Pyramids

You have seen the ancient depictions of the pharaoh alone in his chariot with his bow drawn, the horses running in lockstep, as the battle raged around him. And if you are like me, you have wondered if these are historical depictions or artistic license. Few people know the specifics of New Kingdom chariots like Kathy Hansen, who appeared as one of the experts in the NOVA special “Building Pharaoh’s Chariot”. Last Spring Kathy took some time to answer these questions and others for Em Hotep. After some delays (all of them my fault) we are finally able to bring the results to you…

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Tags: Building Pharaoh's Chariot, Hyksos, International Museum of the Horse, Kathy Hansen, New Kingdom, Philip Femano, Ramesses II, Ramesside Period, chariots

With the support of architectural and topographic evidence, Jean-Pierre Houdin is convinced that the Giza Sphinx represents King Khufu.

For the last fifteen years, Jean-Pierre Houdin has considered the Giza Plateau to be an area particularly rich and fruitful for research. The architect has notably focused on the star of the site: the Great Pyramid, to which he has devoted an evolving theory, developed in Khufu Revealed, then in Khufu Reborn; these are two installments in the ongoing story of the reconstruction of the building site of this marvel of stone, which was largely echoed by Pyramidales.

Broadening his focus to the whole Giza Plateau, but without moving away from his “preferred” building site, Jean-Pierre Houdin came naturally to integrate in his research another major piece of the great jigsaw puzzle that the Giza site represents: the Sphinx. Jean-Pierre’s research into the Sphinx is guided by these two recurrent questions: What is the meaning of this colossal sculpture? To which King should it be tied?

Loyal to the techniques and teachings from his own profession as a builder, Jean-Pierre Houdin doesn’t take the risk of following the “traditional operating mode” of Egyptologists and other patented archaeologists.

Every man to his own trade…Jean-Pierre intends first of all, while taking into consideration the developments from those Egyptologists, to allow the topography of the Plateau to speak, examining how it evolved according to weather conditions and progress of building projects on the site such as the opening of quarries, the building of the ramps for the transport of materials, the construction of pyramids and in particular, the appearance of a certain…Sphinx!

At the end of the study, a conclusion will prevail: that the Sphinx is inseparable from Khufu. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves…

Jean-Pierre Houdin agreed to describe his development, exclusively for Pyramidales (French version) and Em Hotep (English version), through an interview conducted through an exchange of e-mails. With regards to the technical nature of the topic, this method was imperative. This explains the sometimes “didactic” nature of the answers which was required for clarity.

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Tags: Great Sphinx, Jean-Pierre Houdin, Marc Chartier