Travel Tuesday: Treasures of the Egyptian Museum

Shabtis were put in tombs to act as servants in the afterlife.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I got back from Egypt last week, which means I have plenty of pictures for Travel Tuesday posts!

When I'm in Cairo I always reserve a couple of afternoons to wander around the National Museum. It's absolutely huge and no matter how many times I go there, I always see something new. A new National Museum is being constructed on the Giza Plateau near the pyramids. I passed the building the last time I went up there. It's a sleek, modern building that's even bigger than the existing museum. As with many government projects, it's behind schedule, but when it finally opens it promises to be stunning. In the meantime, we have the old museum to enjoy.

Stela of the Buchis Bull, showing one of the Ptolemaic pharaohs giving offerings to the sacred bull in their burial place in Armant. The Buchis bulls were manifestations of the god Ptah.

Two male figurines made of gold during the Late Predynastic period. Yep, these two guys are older than the oldest pharaoh!

Column of painted limestone carved to look like a lotus flower.

Travel Tuesday: Nabatean Funerary Stelae

A couple of weeks ago I visited Málaga in the south of Spain. Besides a couple of castles, which I blogged about here, I also saw the Ifergan Gallery, an interesting private collection of ancient art. Among the collection were these Nabatean Funerary Stelae.

The Nabatean civilization thrived from the 4th century BC until it was absorbed into the Roman Empire by Trajan in 106 AD. They lived in the Levant and Arabian Peninsula and controlled the trade routes connecting the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, and Mediterranean. Remains of several of their cities can still be found in the deserts, including the famous site of Petra in Jordan.

One feature of their art was these enigmatic stone faces. They were placed on tombs and bore the names of the deceased. Similar stones were used to depict the gods in temples, although they tended to have more realistic features.

Military History Photo Friday: The Pharaoh Ramesses II Smiting the Enemies of Egypt

This carving is from the National Museum in Cairo and shows Pharaoh Ramesses II (1279-1212 BC) smiting the traditional enemies of Egypt. Shown from left to right are a Nubian, a Libyan, and an Asiatic (perhaps a Hittite). The "smiting pose" was a popular one for pharaonic imagery. Ramesses has an axe in his hand.

Ramesses II campaigned against all three of these peoples, but is most famous for his long war with the Hittites, an empire based in what is now Turkey that had spread into the Levant and threatened Egypt. His victory at the Battle of Kadesh was recorded in a long and bombastic text that was copied onto many later buildings.

Sorry for the grubby picture and the light reflection. The National Museum needs to clean its display cases!

Travel Tuesday: Ancient Egyptian Shabtis

A variety of shabtis from the 19th and 20th dynasties (1292-1075 BC)

If you've spent much time in the Egyptology section of any good museum, you've probably seen a collection of little figurines that look like miniature mummies. These are called "shabtis", meaning "answerer". They were put in tombs in order to answer the call to work in the afterlife so that the deceased could relax. They'd come to life and do whatever labor the gods called on them to do.

Some shabtis got their own coffin and larger collections were put in decorated boxes like the one on the left.

Shabtis come in a variety of styles and quality and are made of wood, faience, wax, terracotta, or stone. Some tombs had hundreds of them, and they are one of the most common artifacts to find in museums. These are from the archaeological museum in Bologna, Italy.

I recently did a blog post over on Black Gate about shabtis in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo that goes into more detail about these remarkable artifacts. I've also done a post right here on a rare double shabti.

Military History Photo Friday: Roman Crocodile Armor

Yes, it's been almost a month since I posted. Sorry about that! I was on a research trip to Oxford and London, plus I was slammed with a ghostwriting deadline. Hopefully I'm now back on track for more regular blog posts.

I spotted this lovely suit of armor in the British Museum. It's from Manfalout, Egypt, from the 3rd or 4th century AD. This town is in Middle Egypt where there were many sacred grottoes to the crocodile-headed god Sobek, god of the Nile. These grottoes had sacred crocodiles that were often mummified after death. Roman soldiers often took on local religions and the troops in Manfalout were no exception. They would hold religious processions in honor of Sobek while wearing crocodile armor.

Photo copyright Sean McLachlan. Sorry for the reflection in the middle of the shot. I twisted and turned every which way and this was the best I could get. They really needed to invent artifact cases that don't reflect at all!

Travel Tuesday: Old Kingdom Death Mask from the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities in Cairo

My recent trip to Egypt was actually the second time I visited that fascinating country. The first was way back in 1991. As I wandered around the sights, I was occasionally hit by deja vu. Other sights I remember clearly from my first visit. One of the latter is this arresting Old Kingdom death mask in the national museum in Cairo.

It stuck in my mind from my first visit because the face looks just like people you see in Egypt today. Indeed, despite Egypt being popularly perceived (and officially titled) an Arab nation, only 17% of the genetic makeup of the modern population is Arabic. A recent study by National Geographic found that the Egyptian population is genetically 68% North African, 17% Arab, 4% Jewish Diaspora, 3% East African, 3% from Asia Minor, and 3% southern European. Thus the modern Egyptian population is much the same as the ancient Egyptian population, and this 4,000 year old mask shows a face that can still be seen on the streets of Cairo today.

Back From A Writing Retreat In Egypt

I'm back from Cairo! Actually I've been back for a few days but returned to a heap of ghostwriting I needed to get done. I'm just now coming up for air.

This is my new writing buddy, the priest Padiamenopet, shown here posing as a scribe. He worked at the vast temple of Ra at Karnak in the 25th dynasty (760-656 BC). His right hand would have held a reed pen, which is now missing. You can see the scroll he's working on. I wonder what his daily word count was? Now he lives in the Egyptian Museum, which was just five minute's walk from my hotel. I ended up going there a lot! I also, of course, visited Giza, Saqqara, and Dashur. The last is the home to the famous Bent Pyramid, seen below. The last time I was in Egypt, way back in 1991, it stood inside a military base and was closed to visitors, so it was nice to finally get there.

I was very fortunate to attend the Cairo Video Festival, an experimental film festival, early in my stay. Because of this I met an interesting circle of Egyptian and Sudanese filmmakers, artists, historians, and writers who kept me busy for the rest of my trip.

Of course I was there for writing, and I got 35,000 words into a novel set in Cairo during the 1919 Revolution, an early major push for independence. Called The Masked Man of Cairo, it's a neo-pulp adventure story of a disfigured WWI veteran who, disgusted with Europe, moves to Egypt and starts a business selling antiquities. Soon he finds just as much trouble as he had during the war! More on that novel as it progresses. Our hero (more like antihero) lives in Old Cairo, a labyrinth of medieval streets and centuries-old buildings. I spent much of my time wandering this wonderful part of the city catching inspiration.

I'll be posting lots of Egyptian photos here and over on Black Gate, where I blog on Wednesdays. You can also see more pictures on my Instagram account. Stay tuned!

Off to Egypt to write my next book

I'm off to Cairo tomorrow for a couple of weeks to work on my next novel, a neo-pulp adventure story set in Cairo in 1919. I write about it and the setting at length in this Black Gate post. While I won't be on much social media, I will be updating my Instagram account daily, so you can follow along with my exploration of Cairo and the surrounding area. You don't have to have an Instagram account of your own to see the pictures.

Special thanks to blogger buddy Lexa Cain for lots of tips on Egypt. Check out here blog for some interesting insights into the country.

Photo of the pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara from Wikimedia Commons. Everyone always shows Giza but this was the first pyramid, c. 2648 BC!

Happy Valentine's Day from Ancient Egypt!

This happy couple is a rare example of a double shabti. A shabti was a figurine placed in an ancient Egyptian tomb that would act as a servant in the afterlife. They come in a remarkable number and variety, but seeing double ones like this are rare. In fact I don't think I've seen one before. This example dates from the 19th or 20th dynasties (1295-1069 BC) and is made of faience. I spotted it in the archaeological museum of Bologna, which also has an incredible Etruscan collection that I've written about over on Black Gate. You can see some more examples of shabtis in a post I did about London's Petrie Museum on the same blog.

It kind of sucks that this happy couple has to labor ceaselessly for all eternity for some dead Egyptian noble but hey, at least they have each other!

Military History Photo Friday: Roman Warship Ram

I haven't blogged in a while because I've been up in Oxford for my usual summer research and writing trip. Besides that, I've been hiking and visiting museums. The best exhibition of the summer is certainly the Ashmolean Museum's Storms, War & Shipwrecks Treasures from the Sicilian Seas, which I've written up for Black Gate. This show looks at the amazing finds from more than a dozen shipwrecks around Sicily.

One of the more unusual displays shows three warship rams from the Battle of the Egadi Islands, fought between the Roman and Carthaginian navies in 241 BC. It was the final battle of the First Punic War and an important Roman victory. A fleet of 200 Roman warships ambushed a convoy of 250 heavily laden Carthaginian warships. The Romans sunk 50 ships and captured 70, while losing only 30 of their own. They seized control of Sicily and began to dominate the Mediterranean. Of course it would take two more Punic Wars before the Romans vanquished their rivals once and for all.

The ram shown here once adorned the prow of a Roman warship. You can just see on the top a decoration in the form of a helmet. The spiky bits would have been just below the waterline and apparently they made a direct hit on some poor Carthaginian vessel, because a chunk of wood is still stuck in the bottom groove!

Check out my article for more on this great exhibition. I blog on Black Gate every Wednesday.

Travel Tuesday: Lixus, A Roman City in Morocco

Hello from Morocco! I'm back in one of my favorite countries for the next two weeks. I'll be staying in Tangier, as usual, and will be taking a road trip to the ancient Roman city of Lixus.

Like many Roman cities in North Africa, it was originally a Phoenician city, founded in the 7th century BC. It became a Roman city in the early 1st century AD. It's most famous for its fine Roman mosaics that I've blogged about previously and also its amphitheater.

I've been blogging a lot about Morocco over at Black Gate. You might want to check out my articles on Morocco's only stone circle, the old pirate port of Asilah, the medieval medina in Tetouan, and my experience living in a Moroccan home.

These photos are courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. My own photos will come soon!

Book Review: A History of Ancient Egypt by Nicolas Grimal

A History of Ancient Egypt by Nicolas Grimal
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

You know those books that you find kind of dull but you can't put down because they're teaching you so much you want to learn? This was one of those books for me. This is a detailed history of Ancient Egypt from the Predynastic Period until the end of the Late Period. Emphasis is on royalty and their great works of architecture. While this is all fascinating, I could have used more information about regular people, the economy, technology, and all the other aspects of this complex civilization.
I could have also used prose that was less dry, maps that were more complete, and more explanation of terms to lessen confusion.
That said, I couldn't put this book down. There was so much information packed in its dense type that I was learning several things I didn't know on every page, and I have a Masters in archaeology. Granted, my focus was early medieval Europe, but I've still read a lot of Egyptology. This is not a book for the lay reader, but rather someone who has done a fair amount of reading.
If you're looking for a good intro to Ancient Egypt, this is not it. If you have some knowledge and want to learn more, try this out.

View all my reviews

Military History Photo Friday: Frontier Forts of the Emperor Hadrian

Photo courtesy Jean-Pierre Neri via Wikimedia Commons.

This is an aerial photo of Lambaesis, a Roman fort in what is now Algeria. It was built during the reign of Emperor Hadrian (117–138 AD). This was a permanent camp for the III Augusta legion complete with fortification walls, baths, an amphitheater, and temples.

Meanwhile, at the empire's northern frontier at the edge of Scotland, Hadrian was building the wall that would bear his name. The below photo is an aerial view of Housesteads fort, situated on the wall and the base for the II Augusta legion. While it's smaller than the contemporary fort in Algeria, you can see that its based on a very similar plan. The Romans standardized many of their buildings, only varying them because of special needs or terrain. Thus if a legionnaire decided to switch from the III to the II legion, and moved from the heat of Algeria to the damp of Scotland, he'd be able to make his way around the fort without any problem.

A few years ago I did a series about hiking Hadrian's Wall on the now-defunct travel blog Gadling. The photo galleries are gone but all my text is still up.

The photo of Housesteads is courtesy the Tynedale U3A. Hadrian's Wall Group, which is doing great work educating the public about Hadrian's Wall.

Military History Photo Friday: A Most Unfortunate Roman

If you take a close look at this skull, you'll notice a metal point had punched right through it. This poor fellow currently resides in the archaeological museum in Tetouan, Morocco. Two thousand years ago it was the Roman province of Mauritania, and this man was a soldier protecting the empire against hostile tribes to the south. Sadly he made the ultimate sacrifice for his country.

Travel Tuesday: Protodynastic Egyptian Bracelet in the Petrie Museum

Can you tell I like the Petrie Museum? I blogged about this place for earlier posts on Midlist Writer about slings and other ancient Egyptian artifacts. I also did a post with lots of photos for Black Gate.

This is a bracelet from the Protodynatic Period, also called Naqada III, a time from c. 3200-3000 BC when states were beginning to form but the country had not yet been unified. The first hieroglyphs also date from this time, as do some rich cemeteries.

Someone should start making replicas of this bracelet, because my wife would love one. I think the original is out of my price range!

Travel Tuesday: Egyptian Treasures in the Petrie Museum, London

A painted stele showing a man named Ihefy adoring the god Horus and offering him a lotus, Dynasty XXII-XXV (1991-1550 BC)

I'm back in Oxford, so as usual one of the first things I did was head down to London to see friends and museums! Last week I visited the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology at University College London. I'll be writing about it in more detail over at the Black Gate blog tomorrow, so tune in there for more info and pictures.

There isn't much information on the label, but the Paser mentioned here may have been the Viceroy of Kush (now Sudan) during the reign of the Pharaoh Ay (c.1323–1319 BC) and perhaps one or two later rulers.

I've always been drawn to simple objects from the past, such as this ancient spoon. Whose was it? What was their favorite meal?

All photos copyright Sean McLachlan.

Military History Photo Friday: An Assyrian Chariot from the National Museum of Iraq

This bas-relief shows an Assyrian chariot, c. 9th century BC. The king stands in all his splendor, relaxing under a parasol as he runs over an enemy. His soldiers have gathered a pile of heads for his inspection. Yeah, the Middle East has been a rough place for quite some time now.

If we are to judge from Assyrian art, the chariot was an important arm of their powerful war machine. Chariots could move quickly, with a driver steering while an archer fired from the back. The chariots could be used to break up enemy formations before the Assyrian infantry moved in, as well as for scouting missions and running down fleeing soldiers. The Assyrians had one of the most organized and technologically advanced armies of the time, with elaborate siege machines, a disciplined and professional force, and quality weapons. It's no wonder they were both feared and hated.

I took this shot in the National Museum of Iraq when I was in Baghdad in 2012. Yeah, I'm still nattering on about that trip. I haven't gotten to travel much in the past year so I miss being on the road! Hopefully 2016 will be a better travel year. I've also blogged about the museum for Black Gate, with plenty more photos.

Travel Tuesday: Exploring Ancient Hatra

This charming sculpture of a nursing baby camel probably doesn't exist anymore. It's from Hatra, an ancient city in Iraq that's probably the oldest city founded by Arabs, dating to the 3rd century BC. Unfortunately, it's in the area controlled by ISIS and they recently trashed this ancient site. I write more about it over at Black Gate in the article, Ancient Hatra: Another Victim of ISIS. Like with the Assyrian sites of Nimrud and Nineveh, these are archaeological wonders I was lucky enough to see when I was in Iraq back in 2012, before the nightmare of ISIS was unleashed on the world.

Travel Tuesday: Visiting Nimrud before it was Destroyed

As regular readers of this blog know, I visited Iraq in 2012. One of the places I got to see was Nimrud, an ancient Assyrian capital. I wrote about it recently for Black Gate in the article Memories of Mosul before ISIS.

Actually, I was writing an obituary. ISIS has recently trashed Nimrud and another important Assyrian site called Nineveh. They destroyed all the statues, including this winged bull at the Nimrud palace gate. They also continued their practice of digging up artifact to sell on the international black market. They only destroy the big showy stuff for the cameras, the rest they sell so they can buy weapons. I'll be writing a post for Black Gate about Hatra tomorrow, another ancient site they destroyed.