The History of Egypt Podcast - Dominic Perry

*/ ?>

Latest Episodes:

196: The Golden Path Nov 15, 2024

Show notes

The plan of an honest ruler. Around 1300 BCE, as today, gold was big business. King Sety I personally led an expedition into the eastern desert, to establish a new mining operation. Back in the Nile Valley, high-ranking officials leave monuments testifying to their work delivering, securing, and recording that gold. And thanks to art and artefacts, we can reconstruct the items these gold-workers produced. From the Red Sea Mountains to the Temple of Abydos, we follow the paths of gold…

Logo image: Silver and gold statuette of a New Kingdom pharaoh, possibly Sety I (Louvre).

For records of Sety and his contemporaries, see Kenneth Kitchen. Ramesside Inscriptions, Volume I. Versions: Hieroglyphs; English translations; References and Commentary.

Photos of Sety’s Temple at Kanais in the Wadi Barramiya.

Sety’s monuments including the Abydos and Kanais temples, in P. J. Brand, The Monuments of Seti I: Epigraphic, Historical and Art Historical Analysis (2000). Available free online at Academia.edu.

Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com.

Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast.

Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.

Music and interludes by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.net.

Music and interludes by Luke Chaos www.chaosmusick.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

195: A Quest for Gold Nov 08, 2024

Show notes

Sety in the Desert. Around 1300 BCE, King Sety led an expedition into the Red Sea hills. His purpose? Gold. The King brought soldiers and charioteers out to mine precious metals for his treasuries. The journey was difficult, traversing a dry and rocky landscape far from the comforts of home. Fortunately, Sety left detailed descriptions of the event; and art and artefacts from this era allow us to reconstruct the journey...

Episode details:

Logo image: Soldiers make camp, setting up tents for commanders. Tomb of Horemheb at Saqqara (Martin 2016).
Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com.
Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast.
Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.
Music and interludes by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.net.
Music and interludes by Luke Chaos www.chaosmusick.com.
The Wadi Barramiya, in which Sety’s expedition travelled, by Hakatani Tenfu at Flickr.com.
The Kanais Temple of Sety I, in the Wadi Barramiya, by Mutnedjmet at Flickr.com.

Select bibliography:

A. Dodson, Sethy I King of Egypt: His Life and Afterlife (Cairo, 2019).
H. Gauthier, ‘Le temple de l’Ouâdi Mîyah (el Knaïs)’, Bulletin de l’Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale 17 (1920), 1--38. Available online.
K. A. Kitchen, Ramesside Inscriptions Historical and Biographical, I (Oxford, 1975).
R. Klemm and D. Klemm, Gold and Gold Mining in Ancient Egypt and Nubia: Geoarchaeology of the Ancient Gold Mining Sites in the Egyptian and Sudanese Eastern Deserts (Berlin, 2013).
G. T. Martin, Tutankhamun’s Regent: Scenes and Texts from the Memphite Tomb of Horemheb (EES Excavation Memoir 111; London, 2016).
C. D. Reader, A Gift of Geology: Ancient Egyptian Landscapes and Monuments (Cairo, 2022).
R. D. Rothe et al., Pharaonic Inscriptions from the Southern Eastern Desert of Egypt (Winona Lake, 2008).
B. M. Sampsell, The Geology of Egypt: A Traveler’s Handbook (Cairo, 2014).
See website for complete listing.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

194: A Prince of Egypt (feat. Prof. Peter Brand) Nov 01, 2024

Show notes

Ramesses Rising. Traditionally, Egyptian princes are almost invisible. The pharaohs downplayed the presence of their sons, to reduce political competition and maintain religious order. Sety I (c.1300 BCE) changed this habit. In art and monuments, he promoted young Ramesses II to a position of prominence and power. The exact nature of this promotion is slightly controversial among Egyptologists. In this episode, we explore Ramesses’ rise and some of the thorny issues. Additionally, Prof. Peter Brand joins us to discuss some of the harder questions on these period.

Peter Brand, The Monuments of Sety I (2000), available free at Academia.edu.
Peter Brand, Ramesses II: Egypt’s Ultimate Pharaoh (2023) available from Lockwood Press.
Music and interludes by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.net.
Music and interludes by Luke Chaos www.chaosmusick.com.
Outro music: “River Lullaby” from The Prince of Egypt (1998) – Harp cover by The Knitting Harpist (YouTube).

The History of Egypt Podcast:

Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com.
Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast.
Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.
Music and interludes by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.net.
Music and interludes by Luke Chaos www.chaosmusick.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

193: Slaying the Bull of Seth (Ramesses’ First Rodeo) Oct 25, 2024

Show notes

In the Temple of Sety I at Abydos, an out-of-the-way corridor preserves a unique image. The King of Egypt, and his eldest son, wrangle and subdue a bull. This scene appears simple, at first glance. But it has a wealth of deeper symbolism and meanings. In this episode, we explore the idea of Bulls as images of power and violence, and their relationship with gods like Osiris and Seth…

Episode logo: Ramesses and the Bull, by artist Brenna Baines (commissioned by The History of Egypt Podcast). Full version available on my Patreon (link below).
The Bull Hall photos by Heidi Kontkanen at Flickr.com.
The Bull Hall in Peter Brand, Monuments of Sety I (2000) available free online.

The History of Egypt Podcast:

Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com.
Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast.
Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.
Music and interludes by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.net.
Sound effects purchased from Pond5.

Select Bibliography:

M. Abuel-Yazid, ‘Architecture of the Slaughterhouse of the Seti Temple at Abydos’, in I. Regulski (ed.), Abydos: The Sacred Land at the Western Horizon (2019), 7—24.
L. Baqué, ‘“On that Day When the Long-Horned Bull was Lassoed...” (PT [254] 286). A Scene in the “Corridor of the Bull” of the Cenotaph of Sethos I in Abydos: An Iconologic Approach’, Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur 30 (2002), 43—51.
P. J. Brand, The Monuments of Seti I: Epigraphic, Historical and Art Historical Analysis (2000). Available free online.
R. H. Wilkinson, The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt (2003).
J. M. Galán, ‘Bullfight Scenes in Ancient Egyptian Tombs’, Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 80 (1994), 81—96.
See website for complete reference list.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

192b: Seth's Lore Oct 17, 2024

Show notes

Warrior, protector, murderer. By 1300 BCE, the Egyptian god Seth had become a complex and multi-faceted deity. Chaotic and destructive, but not "evil," Seth played an important role in the gods' realm and our own. This legend developed and evolved over centuries, from the earliest religious literature to the imperial age. In this episode, we explore Seth's role, appearances, and descriptions in the Pyramid Texts, Coffin Texts, Book of the Dead, Amduat, and Book of Gates. And we try to get to grips with a god who was (quite literally) two-faced...

Episode details:

Date: c. 2400 - 1300 BCE (Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms up to the reign of Sety I).
Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com.
Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast.
Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.
Music intro and outro by Michael Levy.
Music interludes by Luke Chaos and Keith Zizza.
Logo image: The hybrid deity Herfy ("Two-Face"), combining the powers of Horus and Seth. Hour 10 of the Book of Gates, from the tomb of Tausret in the Valley of the Kings (Line drawing by Dominic Perry, based on photo by Erik Hornung).
General studies: Erik Hornung, The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Afterlife (1999) at Internet Archive. John Darnell and Colleen Manassa Darnell, The Ancient Egyptian Netherworld Books at JSTOR.org and the Society of Biblical Literature.
Pyramid Texts in English translation and Egyptian hieroglyphs (Pyramid Texts Online by Vincent Brown).
Coffin Texts in English translation by Raymond Faulkner (1973—1978): Volume I, Volume III. I have been unable to find a copy of Volume II online; if you are aware of one, please let me know. Egyptian Hieroglyphs available in Open Access via the University of Chicago.
Book of the Dead in English translation by Raymond Faulkner (1982 edition) at Internet Archive. Edited volume of scholarly articles available at The University of Chicago (2017, edited by Foy Scalf). Additional English translation, transliteration, and commentary by Stephen Quirke (2013).
The Amduat (Book of the Hidden Chamber) in English translation, transliteration, and Egyptian hieroglyphs by Erik Hornung (2007).
The Book of Gates in English translation, transliteration, and Egyptian hieroglyphs by Erik Hornung (2013).

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

192: The Trouble With Seth Oct 11, 2024

Show notes

Identity crisis. Seth (aka Sutekh / Setekh / Suty) is a complicated deity. A master of storms, winds, deserts and seas, Seth dominates foreigners and the world outside Egypt. However, he is also treacherous, violent, and aggressive; a god who slew his own brother and tried to seize the throne for himself. As a result, Seth has a complicated relationship with the Egyptian kingship. Part defender and source of legitimacy, but also a threat to the stable order of the world (ma’at). Most kings navigated this relationship fairly easily. But then, most kings weren’t named after the god himself. As a pharaoh of Egypt, a living Horus, and the son of Osiris, King Sety I had to work hard to reconcile his personal identity with his divine. The results are visible on his monuments…

Date: Reign of Sety I (c.1300 BCE).
Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com.
Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast.
Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.
Music intro, outro, and interludes: Michael Levy.
Music interludes: Keith Zizza and Luke Chaos.
Logo image: A Seth-headed-Sphinx, on an obelisk of Sety I, originally from Heliopolis but now in Alexandria (Line drawing by Dominic Perry, based on a photo by Heidi Kontkanen).

Select Bibliography:

J. P. Allen, The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts (2nd edn, 2015).
P. J. Brand, The Monuments of Seti I: Epigraphic, Historical and Art Historical Analysis (2000).
E. Cruz-Uribe, ‘The Father of Ramses I: OI 11456’, Journal of Near Eastern Studies 37 (1978), 237—244.
E. Cruz-Uribe, ‘Stḫ ꜥꜣ pḥty “Seth, God of Power and Might”’, Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 45 (2009), 201—26.
A. el-Sawi, ‘Some Variations of Writing of the Names of Sety I at Abydos’, Annales du Services des Antiquités de l’Egypte 70 Supplement (1987), 53—63.
J. G. Griffith, The Conflict of Horus and Seth from Egyptian and Classical Sources (1960).
C. A. Hope, ‘Reconstructing the Image of Seth, Lord of the Oasis, in his Temple at Mut el-Kharab in Dakhleh Oasis’, Rich and Great: Studies in Honour of Anthony J. Spalinger on the Occasion of his 70th Feast of Thoth (2016), 123—145.
K. A. Kitchen, Ramesside Inscriptions Translated and Annotated: Translations Volume I: Ramesses I, Sethos I and Contemporaries (Second Publication edn, 2017).
W. M. F. Petrie and J. E. Quibell, Naqada and Ballas 1895 (1896).
D. Schorsch and M. T. Wypyski, ‘Seth, “Figure of Mystery”’, Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 45 (2009), 177—200.
D. Stewart, ‘The Myth of Osiris in the Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts’, Unpublished PhD. Thesis, Monash University (2014).
I. R. Taylor, ‘Deconstructing the Iconography of Seth’, Unpublished PhD. Thesis, University of Birmingham (2016).
H. te Velde, ‘The Egyptian God Seth as a Trickster’, Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 7 (1968), 37—40.
H. te Velde, Seth, God of Confusion (1967).
H. te Velde, ‘Seth’, in D. B. Redford (ed.), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, 3 (2001), 269—271.
P. J. Turner, ‘Seth – A Misrepresented God in the Ancient Egyptian Pantheon?’, Unpublished PhD. Thesis, The University of Manchester (2012).
R. H. Wilkinson, The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt (2003).
H. E. Winlock, The Temple of Ramesses I at Abydos (1937).
‘Stèle Cintrée E26017’, Musée du Louvre, <https://collections.louvre.fr/ark:/53355/cl010004210> accessed 2.2.2024.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Interlude: Sety I Phase One (Summary) Oct 04, 2024

Show notes

Sety I reigned (approx.) 1303--1292 BCE. In the first half of his reign, the King's followers achieved significant and splendid deeds. We explore these achievements in aggregate, and what they all mean for the Egyptian people. Plus, what 19th Dynasty "expansion" means for our story of pharaohs, ordinary people, and the gods...

Logo image: Sety I, a painted panel from his tomb (Louvre Museum).

Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com.

Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast.

Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.

Music by Jeffrey Goodman www.jeffreygoodman.com.

Interludes by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.net.

Interludes by Luke Chaos www.chaosmusick.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Sword of Ramesses (News from the Field) Sep 27, 2024

Show notes

Blade of Frontiers (not Wyll). In September 2024, the Ministry of Tourism & Antiquities announced new discoveries including a sword inscribed with the names of Ramesses II, King of Egypt. In this episode, we discuss the weapon and its origins, as well as the larger significance of the fortress in which this discovery occurred. Who did the sword belong to? What was this fortress guarding against?

Egyptian swords in museum collections:

The Egyptian army and fortifications:

Video lecture series, "Perspectives on the Ramesside Military System" on YouTube.
The Old Kingdom (c.2500—2200 BCE): Spotify and Website.
Grave of the Unknown Warriors (c.2000 BCE): Spotify.
The Army of Sety I (c.1300 BCE), Part 1: Spotify.
The Army of Sety I (c.1300 BCE), Part 2: Spotify.
The New Kingdom (c.1500—1150 BCE): Spotify and YouTube.
Ian Shaw, Ancient Egyptian Warfare (Oxford, 2019).
C. Vogel, The Fortifications of Ancient Egypt 3000-1780 BC (Botley, 2010).
E. F. Morris, The Architecture of Imperialism: Military Bases and the Evolution of Foreign Policy in Egypt’s New Kingdom (Leiden, 2005).
B. McDermott, Warfare in Ancient Egypt (Stroud, 2004).

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Age of Montu (First Intermediate Period Finale) Sep 20, 2024

Show notes

These violent delights have violent ends. Between 1992 BCE and 1941 BCE, King Montu-Hotep (“Montu is Content”) ruled the southern kingdom. And he led efforts to expand Theban power, and ultimately reunify the Two Lands…

Logo image: Montu, in a chapel of Ramesses III at Karnak (Kairoinfo4u).
Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com.
Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast.
Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.
Music and interludes by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.net.
Music and interludes by Luke Chaos www.chaosmusick.com.

Montuhotep’s Expansion into Wawat / Nubia and the records of the wars:

Darnell, ‘The Route of the Eleventh Dynasty Expansion into Nubia: An Interpretation Based on the Rock Inscriptions of Tjehemau at Abisko’, Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde 131 (2004), 23—37. Available on Academia.edu.
Darnell, ‘The Eleventh Dynasty Royal Inscription from Deir el-Ballas’, Revue d’Égyptologie 59 (2008), 81—110. Available on Academia.edu.

Montuhotep’s Mahat Chapel at Abydos, discovered in 2014: Josef Wegner at Academia.edu and Damarany in Abydos: The Sacred Land (2019), JSTOR.

Scholarly debates on the timeline and events of the Reunification:

Brovarski, ‘The Hare and Oryx Nomes in the First Intermediate Period and Early Middle Kingdom’, in Egyptian Culture and Society: Studies in Honour of Naguib Kanawati, 1 (2010), 31—85. Available on Academia.edu. This was the study I followed in my reconstruction.
Willems, ‘The Nomarchs of the Hare Nome and Early Middle Kingdom History’, Jaarbericht van het Vooraziatisch-Egyptisch Genootschap Ex Oriente Lux 28 (1985), 80—102. Available at Researchgate.

Nubia – The Archaeology of Wawat and Kerma:

Kerma – Mission archéologique suisse à Kerma (Soudan)
C. Bonnet, ‘The Cities of Kerma and Pnubs-Dokki Gel’, in G. Emberling and B. B. Williams (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Nubia (Oxford, 2021), 201—212.
H. Hafsaas, ‘The C-Group People in Lower Nubia: Cattle Pastoralists on the Frontier Between Egypt and Kush’, in B. B. Williams and G. Emberling (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Nubia (Oxford, 2020), 157—177.
G. K. Meurer, ‘Nubians in Egypt from the Early Dynastic Period to the New Kingdom’, in B. B. Williams and G. Emberling (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Nubia (Oxford, 2020), 289—308.
B. B. Williams, ‘Kush in the Wider World During the Kerma Period’, in G. Emberling and B. B. Williams (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Nubia (Oxford, 2021), 179--200.

The Tomb of General Antef, with images of siege towers and naval forces:

B. Jaroš-Deckert, Grabung im Asasif. 1963-1970. Band 5: das Grab des Jnj-jtj.f. Die Wandmalereien der 11. Dynastie, 12 (1984).

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Legacy in Flames (First Intermediate Period 06) Sep 06, 2024

Show notes

Ta-Wer howled. Around 2000 BCE, the southern kingdom was rising quickly. But the north was not out of the fight. Not by a long shot…

Episode chapters

Prologue – A Royal Inspection (00:30).
The Fall of Tjeni / Thinis (07:25).
The Long Reign of Intef II (11:58).
Intef’s Dogs (20:58).
Khety Merykara (34:03).
Making Ta-Wer Howl (47:25).
Conclusion (01:06:37).
Epilogue – Intef’s Hymns for Ra and Hathor (01:08:30).

Dendera excavations: Moeller and Marouard, The Development of Two Early Urban Centres - Edfu and Dendara (2018).

The History of Egypt Podcast:

Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com.
Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast.
Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.
Music and interludes by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.net.
Music and interludes by Luke Chaos www.chaosmusick.com.
Logo image: The "Dog Stela" of Intef II, from his tomb at El-Tarif (Mariette 1858).

Select Bibliography:

A. E. Demidchik, ‘The Reign of Merikare Khety’, Göttinger Miszellen 192 (2003), 25--36.
A. Dodson and D. Hilton, The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt (London, 2004).
C. Langer, ‘The Political Realism of the Egyptian Elite: A Comparison Between The Teaching for Merikare and Niccolò Machiavelli’s Il Principe’, Journal of Egyptian History 8 (2015), 49--79.
R. J. Leprohon, The Great Name: Ancient Egyptian Royal Titulary (Wilson, 2013).
M. Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms (Los Angeles, 1973).
M. Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Autobiographies Chiefly of the Middle Kingdom: A Study and an Anthology (Freiburg, 1988).
J. Malek, ‘King Merykare and his Pyramid’, in C. Berger et al. (eds), Hommages à Jean Leclant, 4, 4 vols (Cairo, 1994), 203--214.
G. Maspero, ‘On the Name of An Egyptian Dog’, Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archaeology V (1877), 127--128.
R. B. Parkinson, The Tale of Sinuhe and Other Ancient Egyptian Poems (1940—1640 BC) (Oxford, 1997).
R. B. Parkinson, Poetry and Culture in Middle Kingdom Egypt: A Dark Side to Perfection (London, 2002).
D. Polz, Die Sogenannte Hundestele des Königs Wah-Anch Intef aus el-Târif: Eine Forschungsgeschichte (Wiesbaden, 2019).
D. Polz, ‘Dra’ Abu el-Naga, Ägypten: ein angeblicher Fund aus Dra’ Abu el-Naga. Die sog. Hundestele des Königs Wah-Anch Intef. Eine Forschungsgeschichte’, e-Forschungsberichte des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts 2020 (2020), 12--16.
S. Quirke, Egyptian Literature 1800 BC: Questions and Readings (London, 2004).
D. B. Spanel, ‘The Herakleopolitan Tombs of Kheti I, Jt(.j)jb(.j), and Kheti II at Asyut’, Orientalia 58 (1989), 301--314.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

The History of Egypt Podcast – Dominic Perry

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected