The History of Egypt Podcast - Dominic Perry

Latest Episodes:

160b: The Purge May 26, 2022

Show notes

Other victims, and some clarifications. In this brief episode, I describe another individual who suffered desecration. Following Ay's death, members of his family/network fell from grace. Did they oppose, or fight, the new King Horemheb?

Episode details:

Date c.1330 BCE.
Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com.
Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast.
Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.
Music by Luke Chaos.

Select Bibliography:

A. Dodson, ‘Crown Prince Djhutmose and the Royal Sons of the Eighteenth Dynasty’, The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 76 (1990), 87–96.
A. Dodson, Amarna Sunset: Nefertiti, Tutankhamun, Ay, Horemheb, and the Egyptian Counter-Reformation (2017).
M. El-Ghandour, ‘The Anthropoid Coffin of Senqed From Saqqara’, in B. G. Ockinga, A Tomb from the Reign of Tutankhamun at Akhmim, The Australian Centre for Egyptology Reports 10 (1997).
M. Gabolde, Toutankhamon (2015).
N. Kawai, ‘Studies in the Reign of Tutankhamun’, Unpublished PhD. Thesis, Johns Hopkins University (2005).
B. G. Ockinga, A Tomb from the Reign of Tutankhamun at Akhmim (1997).
A. R. Schulman, ‘The Berlin “Trauerrelief” (No. 12411) and Some Officials of Tutʿankhamūn and Ay’, Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 4 (1965), 55–68.

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160: Succession Crisis? Horemheb Purges His Rivals May 24, 2022

Show notes

Inheritance and vengeance. King Ay had his own plans for the succession. He promoted his relative, Nakht-Min, to great power and prominence. But when Ay died, Nakhtmin found himself at odds with Egypt's mighty general, Horemheb. What would happen, to the feuding leaders?

Episode details:

Date: c.1330 BCE (approximate).
Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com.
Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast.
Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.
Music: Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.net.
Music interludes: Luke Chaos https://twitter.com/Luke_Chaos.

Select Bibliography:

A. Dodson, ‘Crown Prince Djhutmose and the Royal Sons of the Eighteenth Dynasty’, The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 76 (1990), 87–96.

A. Dodson, Amarna Sunset: Nefertiti, Tutankhamun, Ay, Horemheb, and the Egyptian Counter-Reformation (2nd edn, Cairo, 2017).

M. Gabolde, Toutankhamon (Paris, 2015).

N. Kawai, ‘Studies in the Reign of Tutankhamun’, Unpublished PhD. Thesis, Johns Hopkins University (2005).

N. Kawai, ‘Ay versus Horemheb: The Political Situation in the Late Eighteenth Dynasty Revisited’, Leiden, The Netherlands Journal of Egyptian History 3 (2010), 261–92.

N. Kawai, ‘The Time of Tutankhamun: What New Evidence Reveals’, Scribe: The Magazine of the American Research Center in Egypt Spring 2022 (2022), 44–53.

A. R. Schulman, ‘Excursus on the “Military Officer” Nakhtmin’, Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 3 (1964), 124–6.

A. R. Schulman, ‘Some Observations on the Military Background of the Amarna Period’, Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 3 (1964), 51–69.

A. R. Schulman, ‘The Berlin “Trauerrelief” (No. 12411) and Some Officials of Tutʿankhamūn and Ay’, Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 4 (1965), 55–68.

J. Van Dijk, ‘Horemheb and the Struggle for the Throne of Tutankhamen’, Bulletin of the Australian Centre for Egyptology 7 (1996), 29—42.

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Mini: Amarna International (Part II) May 10, 2022

Show notes

Mediterranean, Aegean, Pirates. In the 14th Century BCE, records from Egypt hint at piracy and raiding across the sea. And artistic images even show Mycenaeans(?) at the pharaoh's court. All of this may reflect the history behind great stories like the Odyssey...

Date: c.1400 - 1300 BCE.
Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com.
Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast.
Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.
Music: Michael Levy, "Odysseus and the Sirens," www.ancientlyre.com.
Audio editing by www.yourpodcastpal.com.
See the "Mycenaean Papyrus" at the British Museum website. Mycenaean pottery from Amarna, at the Petrie Museum University College London.

Select Bibliography:

T. Bryce and J. Birkett-Rees, Atlas of the Ancient Near East from Prehistoric Times to the Roman Imperial Period (2016).
R. D’Amato and A. Salimbeti, Bronze Age Greek Warrior 1600 – 1100 BC (2011).
E. H. Cline, Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: International Trade and the Late Bronze Age Aegean (1994).
T. Everson, Warfare in Ancient Greece: Arms and Armour from the Heroes of Homer to Alexander the Great (2004).
J. M. Kelder, ‘Royal Gift Exchange Between Mycenae and Egypt: Olives as “Greeting Gifts” in the Late Bronze Age Eastern Mediterranean’, American Journal of Archaeology 113 (2009), 339—352.
J. M. Kelder, ‘The Egyptian Interest in Mycenaean Greece’, Jaarbericht ‘Ex Oriente Lux’ 42 (2010), 125—140.
W. L. Moran, The Amarna Letters (1992).
E. D. Oren (ed.), The Sea Peoples and Their World: A Reassessment (2000).
C. Pulak, ‘Analysis of the Weight Assemblages from the Late Bronze Age Shipwrecks at Uluburun and Cape Gelidonya, Turkey, Volume I’, Unpublished PhD. Thesis, Texas A&M University (1996).
C. Pulak, ‘The Uluburun Shipwreck and Late Bronze Age Trade’, in J. Aruz et al. (eds), Beyond Babylon: Art, Trade, and Diplomacy in the Second Millennium B.C. (New Haven, 2008), 289–310.
Pulak, ‘Uluburun Shipwreck’, in E. H. Cline (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean (2012), 863—876.
F. Rainey, The El-Amarna Correspondence: A New Edition of the Cuneiform Letters From the Site of El-Amarna Based On Collations of All Extant Tablets (2015).
L. Schofield and R. B. Parkinson, ‘Of Helmets and Heretics: A Possible Egyptian Representation of Mycenaean Warriors on a Papyrus from El-Amarna’, The Annual of the British School at Athens 89 (1994), 157–70.
F. Zangani, ‘Amarna and Uluburun: Reconsidering Patterns of Exchange in the Late Bronze Age’, Palestine Exploration Quarterly 148 (2016), 230—244.

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Introducing: Casting Through Ancient Greece Podcast! May 07, 2022

Show notes

Check out Casting Through Ancient Greece, a chronological deep dive on the world of the Aegean. From the earliest ages, through epic tales and archaeological discovery, Casting Greece takes you on a wonderful journey. Enjoy this teaser trailer, from a recent episode. And learn more at https://castingthroughancientgreece.com/ and https://twitter.com/CastingGreece

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Mini: Amarna International (Part I) Apr 27, 2022

Show notes

Egypt, Canaan, Babylon, Assyria. In the 14th Century BCE, travellers criss-crossed the world. Many came to Egypt for diplomacy, trade, and to live. In this episode, we explore three short stories relating to Egypt and its neighbours...

Episode details

Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com.
Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast.
Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.
Music intro: Michael Levy, "Babylonian Banquet" and "The Magic of Marduk," www.ancientlyre.com

Select Bibliography:

T. Bryce and J. Birkett-Rees, Atlas of the Ancient Near East from Prehistoric Times to the Roman Imperial Period (London, 2016).
M. H. Feldman, ‘Assur Tomb 45 and the Birth of the Assyrian Empire’, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research (2006), 21–43.
Y. L. Holmes, ‘The Messengers of the Amarna Letters’, Journal of the American Oriental Society 95 (1975), 376–81.
S. Izre’el, The Amarna Scholarly Texts (Groningen, 1997).
I. Spar et al., Cuneiform Texts in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I (New York, 1988).
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, ‘Amarna letter: Royal Letter from Ashur-uballit, the king of Assyria, to the king of Egypt ca. 1353–1336 B.C.’, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, <https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/544695> accessed 4.18.2022.
University College London, ‘Amarna: the cuneiform tablets, background information’, Digital Egypt for Universities, <https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt/amarna/cuneiform2.html> accessed 4.18.2022.
R. Westbrook, ‘Babylonian Diplomacy in the Amarna Letters’, The Journal of the American Oriental Society 120 (2000), 377.
A. Zivie, ‘The “Saga” of Aper-El’s Funerary Treasure’, in S. D’Auria (ed.), Offerings to the Discerning Eye: An Egyptological Medley in Honor of Jack A. Josephson (Leiden, 2010), 349–56.
A. Zivie, ‘Pharaoh’s Man, ‘Abdiel: The Vizier with a Semitic Name’, Biblical Archaeology Review 44 (2018).

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Mini: Deir el-Amarna Mar 23, 2022

Show notes

Amarna Tales (Part 1). East of Akhet-Aten (Amarna), a walled-village hides among the hills. This "East Village" is a well-ordered, secluded community. It seems to be the new home of pharaoh's tomb builders. Originally, they lived at Deir el-Medina in west Luxor. But when Akhenaten founded his new royal city, the tomb-builders left their homes and came here. Today, archaeologists have uncovered a vast amount of material. Homes, animal pens, chapels, and countless artefacts shed light on daily life and family organisation in ancient Egypt. From homes to chapels, guard-houses to water depots, the East Village offers fantastic insights. It even includes traces of Tutankhamun, before he abandoned Amarna...

Episode details:

Date: c.1355 - 1340 BCE.
Location: Akhet-Aten (el-Amarna).
Kings: Akhenaten, Neferneferuaten, Tutankhaten/Tutankhamun.
Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com.
Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast.
Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.
Logo image: A battle standard or soldier's emblem, with a sigil of Wepwawet (Kemp 2012).
Music by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.net.
Music by Bettina Joy de Guzman www.bettinajoydeguzman.com.
Music interludes by Luke Chaos https://twitter.com/Luke_Chaos.

Select Bibliography:

Read reports on the East Village and other aspects of Amarna's archaeology free, at The Amarna Project.
M. Bierbrier, The Tomb-Builders of the Pharaohs (1982).
A. H. Bomann, The Private Chapel in Ancient Egypt: A Study of the Chapels in the Workmen’s Village at El Amarna with Special Reference to Deir el Medina and Other Sites (1991).
B. G. Davies, Life Within the Five Walls: A Handbook to Deir el-Medina (2018).
B. Kemp, The City of Akhenaten and Nefertiti: Amarna and Its People (2012).
B. J. Kemp, Amarna Reports I (1984). Free at The Amarna Project.
B. J. Kemp, ‘The Amarna Workmen’s Village in Retrospect’, The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 73 (1987), 21–50.
T. E. Peet and C. L. Woolley, The City of Akhenaten, Volume I (1923). Available free at Archive.org.
A. Stevens, Private Religion at Amarna. The Material Evidence (2006).
A. Stevens, ‘Private Religion in the Amarna Suburbs’, in F. Kampp-Seyfried (ed.), In the Light of Amarna: 100 Years of the Nefertiti Discovery (2012), 95—97.
A. Stevens, ‘Visibility, Private Religion and the Urban Landscape of Amarna’, in M. Dalton et al. (eds.), Seen & Unseen Spaces (2015), 77—84.

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Mini: Nefertiti and the Wreck of the Uluburun Mar 01, 2022

Show notes

Or, the Life Aquatic with Gold Scarabs... Around 1325 BCE (estimates vary) a vessel sank near the cape of Uluburun, Turkey. The cargo was immense: twenty tonnes of goods, including copper, ivory, ornamental objects, spices, and more. Amid the finds, a curious item came to light: a gold scarab, bearing the name Neferneferuaten Nefertiti... What was a Nefertiti scarab doing on a trade ship, far from Egypt? And what do the finds tell us about the ship, its crew, and ancient trade?

The Uluburun Shipwreck:

Date: c.1325 BCE (estimated).
Cultures: Multiple, including Egyptian, Canaanite, Syrian, and Mycenaean.
Ship destination: Possibly the Aegean, western Anatolia, or even the Balkans.
Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com.
Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast.
Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.
Logo image: Divers working on the Uluburun wreck, via The Institute of Nautical Archaeology website.
Catalogue of objects in Beyond Babylon, 2008. Free pdf from MMA.
Image gallery at The Institute of Nautical Archaeology website.
Artefacts in the Bodrum museum, on Flickr.com.
Miscellaneous items, at Wikimedia.
A replica of the ship, Uluburun II, at Underwater360.
A lecture by Cemal Pulak, one of the lead excavators. YouTube.

Select Bibliography:

G. Bass et al., ‘The Bronze Age Shipwreck at Ulu Burun: 1986 Campaign’, American Journal of Archaeology 93 (1989), 1–29.
C. M. Monroe, ‘Sunk Costs at Late Bronze Age Uluburun’, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 357 (2010), 19–33.
C. Pulak, ‘Analysis of the Weight Assemblages from the Late Bronze Age Shipwrecks at Uluburun and Cape Gelidonya, Turkey, Volume I’, Unpublished PhD. Thesis, Texas A&M University (1996).
C. Pulak, ‘The Uluburun Shipwreck: An Overview’, The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 27 (1998), 188–224.
C. Pulak, ‘The Uluburun Shipwreck and Late Bronze Age Trade’, in Beyond Babylon: Art, Trade, and Diplomacy in the Second Millennium B.C. (2008), 289–310. Book available free, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
C. Pulak, ‘Uluburun Shipwreck’, in The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean (2012), 863—876.
C. Pulak, lecture on YouTube.
J. Weinstein, ‘The Bronze Age Shipwreck at Ulu Burun: 1986 Campaign, Part 3: The Gold Scarab of Nefertiti from Ulu Burun: Its Implications for Egyptian History and Egyptian-Aegean Relations’, American Journal of Archaeology 93 (1989), 17–29.

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159b: Double Death Feb 15, 2022

Show notes

King Ay suffered badly in the afterlife. His funeral, in 1331 BCE, was poor; and a few decades/centuries later, vandals broke into his tomb. They ransacked the monument, attacked the King's images, and erased his names. The attack was brutal but methodical. Why did this happen?

Episode Details

Date c.1331 BCE and a few decades / centuries later.
Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com.
Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast.
Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.
Logo image: Erasures on the wrists of Nut, Lady of the Sky, as she offers nyny (welcome) to King Ay. Photo by Dominic Perry, 2022.
Photos: See photos of the tomb of Ay (KV23) by Dominic Perry, available on Google Drive.
Music: “The Mummy’s Tomb,” by Tabletop Audio. Used with permission.
Music: Sistrum sound effect by Hathor Systrum www.hathorsystrum.com. Used with permission.
Music: Interludes by Luke Chaos https://twitter.com/Luke_Chaos.

Select Bibliography:

B. G. Davies, Egyptian Historical Records of the Later Eighteenth Dynasty, VI (Warminster, 1995).
A. Dodson, Amarna Sunset: Nefertiti, Tutankhamun, Ay, Horemheb, and the Egyptian Counter-Reformation (2nd edn, Cairo, 2017). AUC Press.
M. Gabolde, Toutankhamon (Paris, 2015). PYGMALION Press.
N. Kawai, ‘Studies in the Reign of Tutankhamun’, Unpublished PhD. Thesis, Johns Hopkins University (2005).
W. J. Murnane, Texts from the Amarna Period in Egypt (Atlanta, 1995).
O. Schaden, ‘The God’s Father Ay’, Unpublished PhD. Thesis, University of Minnesota (1977).
O. J. Schaden, ‘Clearance of the Tomb of King Ay (WV-23)’, Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 21 (1984), 39–64. JSTOR online.
R. H. Wilkinson, ‘Controlled Damage: The Mechanics and Micro-History of the Damnatio Memoriae Carried Out in KV-23, the Tomb of Ay’, Journal of Egyptian History 4 (2011), 129–47. BRILL online.

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159: Everytime Ay Died Feb 05, 2022

Show notes

A tale in two parts. The elderly pharaoh, Kheper-kheperu-Ra Ay, probably died in his fourth or fifth year of power (c. 1331 / 1330 BCE). Officially, his reign was short. But in the big picture, Ay's influence lasted decades. As a courtier, under Akhenaten and Tutankhamun, Ay participated in government and royal affairs for many years. This means we have abundant records for the man and his career, and Ay contributed to Egyptian history in some noteworthy ways.

Chapter 1: The Death and Legacy of King Ay.

Chapter 2: The Erasure of Ay and his memory.

To see high-quality photos of Ay’s tomb (WV23) by Kairoinfo4u on Flickr.com and Curtis Ryan Woodside on YouTube.

Date: c.1331 / 1330 BCE.

Kings: Kheper-kheperu-Ra Ay, “Doer of Ma’at” and “True Ruler.”

Music: “Memories of Thebes,” by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.net. Used with permission.

Music: “Funeral,” by Bettina Joy de Guzman http://www.bettinajoydeguzman.com. Used with permission.

Additional music interludes by Luke Chaos https://twitter.com/Luke_Chaos.

References:

B. G. Davies, Egyptian Historical Records of the Later Eighteenth Dynasty, VI (Warminster, 1995).

A. Dodson, Amarna Sunset: Nefertiti, Tutankhamun, Ay, Horemheb, and the Egyptian Counter-Reformation (2nd edn, 2017).

M. Gabolde, Toutankhamon (2015). PYGMALION Press.

W. J. Murnane, Texts from the Amarna Period in Egypt (Atlanta, 1995).

O. Schaden, ‘The God’s Father Ay’, Unpublished PhD. Thesis, University of Minnesota (1977).

O. J. Schaden, ‘Clearance of the Tomb of King Ay (WV-23)’, Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 21 (1984), 39–64.

R. H. Wilkinson, ‘Controlled Damage: The Mechanics and Micro-History of the Damnatio Memoriae Carried Out in KV-23, the Tomb of Ay’, Journal of Egyptian History 4 (2011), 129–47.

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158b: Ay, jr. Feb 01, 2022

Show notes

Pharaoh's Nephew. A small statue, in the Brooklyn museum, tells a tale. Of a King's nephew (by marriage), and the paths to lucrative work and influence in Egyptian society. A young man, also named Ay, worked as a priest for Mut (the Mother Goddess) and Amun (the Hidden One). Along the way, this young man probably gained wealth and position. His tale gives us an opportunity to explore the "system" by which prominent families jostled for position, and promoted their sons...

Episode details:

Date: c.1331 BCE.
King: Kheper-kheperu-Ra, the God's Father Ay.
Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com.
Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast.
Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.
Logo image: The statue of Ay, priest, in the Brooklyn Museum.
Music: "Splendors of Egypt," by Ancient Lyric www.bettinajoydeguzman.com
Additional music interludes by Luke Chaos https://twitter.com/Luke_Chaos and Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.net.

Select Bibliography:

B. V. Bothmer, ‘Private Sculpture of Dynasty XVIII in Brooklyn’, The Brooklyn Museum Annual 8 (1966), 55–89.
N. Kawai, ‘Studies in the Reign of Tutankhamun’, Unpublished PhD. Thesis, Johns Hopkins University (2005).
Block Statue of Ay, ca. 1332-1322 B.C.E. Limestone, 18 9/16 x 10 x 12 1/4in. (47.1 x 25.4 x 31.1cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 66.174.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 66.174.1_view1_SL1.jpg)

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