Weekly Roundup- August 12th
Pregnant (?) mummy update, illegal antiquities; witchcraft; a new Sun Temple, and much more...
Afterlives of Ancient Egypt FIRST Live Patreon Event
We held our first live event with the Patreon members last Saturday. This event was an Ask-us-anything and we had a blast covering topics from male and female circumcision, to how the ancient Egyptian spent their free time, to coinage (numismatics, baby!) and economics.
We will be holding these events quarterly, with varying formats from AMA’s to live recordings and guest events. The recording of the first event will be distributed in the coming weeks
Not a patron— become a $5 member to get access to our live events and private Discord channel
Save Ancient Studies- ‘Opening the Ancient World’ Conference
A great conference from a great organization—check it out!! Kara is giving a talk on August 15, 11 am PST!
Ancient Egyptian mummy was NOT pregnant, say researchers
TW//human remains
An update to a previous news story we covered in one of our previous Weekly Roundups. Turns out the “pregnant” mummy is not so pregnant after all—unless you count embalming padding. The researchers, using x-rays and CT scans, once interpreted the mass inside the individual as a 7-month old fetus. However, upon closer inspection the masses were merely bundles of padding and wrapped organs.
The phenomenon of pareidolia, a natural human desire to see familiar objects in random shapes, clearly was at fault here. Take note: always make sure to double-check your findings before rushing to publish! But if you do make a mistake, no stress. That’s what publishing is about. Kara’s least favorite thing is when scholars refuse to change their minds even after evidence tells them otherwise.
The joint Italian-Polish archaeological mission discover remains of a mud-brick building below King Niussere in Abu Ghorab Temple
Excavations at the site of Niussere’s sun-temple have uncovered evidence for an earlier building underneath— which is crazy amazing given these Sun temples were an ideological phenomenon of the 5th and 6th dynasties with the rise of the cult of Re and the amalgamation of the king with the sun god. These temples were separate from the king’s funerary pyramids, additional temples that arguably situated the king more as a solar priest and less a solar god.
There are four “lost” sun-temple of the 5th dynasty. Is this one of them? Why did Niussere destroy this one to build his? Was this a prior one of his or a predecessor’s? Many questions remain to be answered! But the architecture looks crazy amazing.
Last Conviction in Salem Witch Trials Is Cleared 329 Years Later
After being sentenced to death for witchcraft over 300 years ago, Elizabeth Johnson Jr. has finally been officially exonerated. In 1693 Elizabeth was sentenced to death, but with the help of her extended family she was granted a reprieve and avoided the sentence. Carrie LaPierre, a civics teacher, and her 8th grade class petitioned for the exoneration.
The phenomenon of witchcraft in the late 17th and early 19th centuries in America demonstrates the evils of the patriarchy. Most of the women accused were on the fringes of society— non-married, older, ostracized women. Fall in line or pay, so says the patriarchy! Kara once did a whole documentary comparing different types of religious violence for Out of Egypt and spent a few days in Salem learning about the patriarchal violence against women. Check it out the episode, “Eye for and Eye.”
Louvre Advisors Detained in Art Trafficking Investigation
More information about the illegal antiquities investigation at the Louvre Abu Dhabi—two advisors have been detained who helped with the acquisition of Egyptian antiquities (including the Tutankhamun stela below).
In 2016, Louvre Abu Dhabi purchased 5 allegedly trafficked Egyptian antiquities for $8.6 million with ties to infamous archaeology “expert” Christophe Kunick who has ties to the MET gold coffin that was seized and returned to Egypt.
We will continue to watch this story….
British Museum proposes new ‘Parthenon partnership’ with Greece in bid to end deadlock over Marbles
Is the Parthenon marbles saga finally reaching a conclusion!?! The British Museum is now suggesting a new “cultural exchange” with Greece. But what will that exchange look like? The BM is firmly holding onto the marbles, but is open to a loan of the sculptures. The Parthenon Project, however, would like to see that loan made permanent. Could a sharing agreement make both sides happy? This reminds me of a shared custody agreement between divorced parents… except if one side removed the ‘child’ with permission from the colonial Ottoman power.
Many feel that the argument against the return is no longer tenable—what do you think? Leave us a comment.
