Egyptology, Iconography

Notwithstanding the fact that the heart amulet stands amongst the most important items of magical protection in Ancient Egypt, little attention has been dedicated to the study of its symbolism. Although the heart amulets may seems quite simple in shape, its real complexity became evident when we see the formal diversity of this object that in fact was shaped according to different types and styles of depiction. It is also true that the heart amulet was perhaps one of the most frequently depicted amulets in Egyptian Art, being a common iconographic feature in some well defined pictorial contexts where it appears as a distinctive attribute of gods or humans. Given the wide diversity of shapes and contexts in which the heart amulet is depicted, we cannot
expect to find only one meaning attributed to it, nor that its meaning stayed unchangeable. In this study, our aim is to point out the main symbolic uses of the heart amulet through the analysis of its artistic rendering and also to suggest its variations throughout the Egyptian history.

Publication d’une trentaine de statuettes d’Isis passées ces dernières années dans le commerce d’art. Si l’on peut regretter avec les auteurs que nous ne disposons presque jamais, dans pareils cas, des circonstances de découverte , néanmoins, “l’image invite à s’interroger sur les ateliers … sur les rythmes de production et les typologies, locales ou génériques, mais aussi sur le rôle des commanditaires”. En tant que petits objets, ces productions ont dû jouer un rôle important dans la diffusion des cultes isiaques. En outre, ils montrent bien que le polymorphisme d’Isis est plus riche sur ses nouvelles terres que dans sa patrie nilotique.
Le type le plus répandu est celui dit de l’Isis-Fortuna, généralement couronnée du basileion , tenant cornucopia et gouvernail, bien que jusqu’à maintenant aucun document n’associe cette image au nom en cause. Ici sont rassemblées 17 figurines appartenant à cette iconographie que l’on peut subdiviser en 6 types : Isis-Fortuna seulement couverte du chiton, Isis-Fortuna vêtue du chiton et de l’himation avec noeud isiaque sur la poitrine, Isis-Fortuna avec les mêmes vêtements, mais sans le nœud isiaque, Isis-Fortuna dont le chiton serré laisse le sein gauche nu et drapée de l’himation, Isis-Fortuna habillée du chiton et de l’himation qui descend de l’épaule droite, et enfin Isis-Fortuna vêtue dune draperie cachant uniquement l’épaule gauche et la jambe droite. En l’absence du nœud isiaque et du basileion, on peut se demander si la pièce IF0.2 (couronnée d’un calathos supportant un croissant) mérite strictement l’étiquette d’Isis-Fortuna.
La seconde sélection regroupe 5 bronzes d’Isis-Aphrodite qui présentent des traits iconographiques empruntés à l’une et l’autre, et qui semble caractéristique de l’espace syro-égyptien. La déesse, déhanchée, est couronnée d’un basileion, reposant au milieu d’une couronne à palmettes (IA1-IA2) ou placé sur un vautour accouvé (IA3, IA5). Sur le n° IA4, le crâne est ceint d’un diadème composé d’un vautour et d’un lotus, qui a sans doute dû servir d’appui à un basileion disparu. La déesse est toujours nue, sauf dans un cas (IA5), où, comme l’Aphrodite pudique, elle est vêtue d’un chiton.
Sont ensuite proposés : une Isis marchant, brandissant un uraeus, la tête couverte d’un vautour accouvé supportant un basileion  ; deux bustes d’Isis-Thermouthis, une petite statuette d’Isis, au style grossier, qui devait autrefois être accompagnée d’Harpocrate , et enfin une tête et trois bustes d’Isis.

Since its discovery by Battiscombe Gunn, it is believed that Saqqara's Ostrakon is able to improve our understanding of how Egyptians designed curved elements, but the geometric significance of the hieratic values is still uncertain. Indeed, in order to obtain an indisputable result, the distance between the vertical ordinates is required, and this distance is not explicitly indicated on the limestone artefact.
But since there were no algebraic formulas at the time of the Pharaohs, a simple grid-based procedure was developed such as those used by the Egyptians to reproduce the scale drawings, to try to decipher the geometric meaning of the curve drawn on the find.
To conclude, this simple process permits to understand that the five hieratic values of the Saqqara Ostrakon describe a segmental arch whose span and rise correspond to the architectural proportions of several Egyptian tombs and arches, and that the numerical sequence of the artefact could be considered the most "ancient" mathematical formula of the circle.

State formation is traditionally studied in an evolutionary framework and on the premise that, at a certain point, social evolution will generate violence, counterbalanced by control. Egyptian state formation is no exception, and many scholars agree on the fact that it was achieved through war. The supporters of this view largely rely on representations linkable to conflict and violence. Building on the belief that representations are better suited to address ideology than events, I engage in the iconographical analysis of conflict-related representations.
The information acquired on author, focus, message and public allow us to sit the data within the wider representational cosmos of the Naqada phases, to analyse the relationship between ideology and statecraft, to speculate on the nature of elite and ultimately to suggest some new directions for addressing the slippery topic of state formation.

Since its discovery by Battiscombe Gunn, it is believed that Saqqara's Ostrakon is able to improve our understanding of how Egyptians designed curved elements, but the geometric significance of the hieratic values is still uncertain. Indeed, in order to obtain an indisputable result, the distance between the vertical ordinates is required, and this distance is not explicitly indicated on the limestone artefact.
But since there were no algebraic formulas at the time of the Pharaohs, a simple grid-based procedure was developed such as those used by the Egyptians to reproduce the scale drawings, to try to decipher the geometric meaning of the curve drawn on the find.
To conclude, this simple process permits to understand that the five hieratic values of the Saqqara Ostrakon describe a segmental arch whose span and rise correspond to the architectural proportions of several Egyptian tombs and arches, and that the numerical sequence of the artefact could be considered the most "ancient" mathematical formula of the circle.

In 2003, a temple was unearthed by Paolo Gallo's Italian Archaeological Mission in Alexandria (CMAIA) in the El-Bahrein Oasis, 140 km southeast of Siwa in the Lybian Desert. The tripartite sanctuary was decorated with painted reliefs under Nectanebo I and some architectural parallels can be drawn with his mammisi at Dendera; the hypostyle hall was probably added by Ptolemy II Philadelphus. Religious and political connections with the Siwa Oasis are constituted by the presence of the god Paheramon, perhaps an oracular form of Amun, and by the local king Unamon, both represented in the temples of Aghurmi and Omm Obeyda. Unamon ruled over the region at the time of the 30th dynasty and wrote his name in cartouches at El-Bahrein, but not at Siwa. On the other side, religious links with the Bahariya Oasis are established by the identification of the god "Harsiesis the excellent heir of Onnophris" (Ḥr-sꜣ ꜣs.t-i҆wꜥ-mnḫ-Wnn-nfr), whose image is carved also in the first chapel of 'Ain Muftella and in the tomb of Banenentiu. Moreover, the fragmentary toponym Ḏsḏs, one of the Egyptian names of Bahariya attested in the temple and in the mammisi of Edfu, could be read on one of the blocks.

"The main point is that when one takes into account what we know about ancient Egyptian mathematics (based primarily on the Rhind Papyrus) and what we know about the system of measuring lengths in terms of "cubits," "palms," and "fingers" , everything involves  the number 7 and its multiple.

The coffin discussed in this article was found in 1891 in the main corridor of Bab el-Gasus, the collective tomb of the priests of Amun in Deir el-Bahari, just at its entrance, thus being in close
proximity with the shaft. The coffin integrated the lot of antiquities presented to Portugal in 1893 by the Egyptian authorities. This lot consisted of 188 shabtis, one outer anthropoid coffin, four inner anthropoid coffins, and three mummy-covers. All these objects were given to the Sociedade de Geografia de Lisboa where they still remain today. Although not particularly luxurious or exceptional either on its decoration or craftsmanship, nevertheless the anthropoid coffin A.4 presents us some interesting questions related to the social and material context that evolved the production of the funerary art
in the late 21st Dynasty.

The physical characterization and ethnical adscription of the Ancient Egyptians have been topics of great interest in Egyptology research for some time. The afrocentrists’ hypotheses insist that the Egyptians were black. Opposing this interpretation we find the western academic media. My objective is to emphasize in this context the importance of one source of information: the iconography of Hellenic pottery. By means of this and its comparison with literary sources it will be possible to analyze how the Egyptians were perceived by contemporary societies. The specific purpose of my research is to compare different sources on two paradigmatic characters in Greek mythology: Busiris, an Egyptian monarch, and Memnon, an Ethiopian ruler. With these objectives, I have mainly focused on the phenotypic features which appear in references from classical literary sources, and also, from Hellenic pottery production of the 6th-4th centuries AC .

The book presents an overview of the collection of Ancient Egyptian artefacts in the porperty of Würzburg university. The focus lies on objects pertaining to the funerary belief. Among the some 70 antiquities are some of utmost interest, such a the coffin lid of Ta-Isis, which can be precisely dated to the period between720 to 675 BC and which is incribed with spells from the Book of the Dead, or the ensemble of Ankhsematawy with a unique representation of the Maceonian star which date it to second half of the 4th century BC.