Every two months the Nile Scribes update our readers on the most recent Egyptological publications. From accessible reads to peer-reviewed scholarship, we hope to illustrate the wide variety of topics discussed in Egyptology, and perhaps introduce you to your next read! Below are eight books scheduled for release early this summer (May and June 2018).

Edited by Marilina Betrò, Stefano de Martino, Gianluca Miniaci, and Frances Pinnock

Pisa University Press (ISBN: 978-883339-0307) – Cost: EUR€ 30

Publisher’s Summary:

“Ancient Egypt and the Near East have never been so close as on 5 and 6 June 2017 in Pisa, when many of the Italian scholars active in research and teaching in fields such as Anatolian Studies, Archeology of the Near East, Assyriology, Hebraism, Egyptology, Semitism, and History of the Ancient Near East. In these two days, colleagues from different disciplines have been confronted both by a critical rethinking of the past and the present of Oriental studies, and their future: what is going to be outlined and what we want to build, presenting the latest research results in progress, and new problems, methodological approaches, and trends. The volume collects the reports held at the conference; they refer to themes common to Egypt and the ancient Near East, such as political, social, and economic dynamics related to historical reconstruction, archaeological contexts and object corpora, landscape archeology, cultural interactions, and socio-geographers that, linguistic problems and editions of texts.”

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Philippe Brissaud

Books on Demand (ISBN: 9782322119714) – Cost: EUR€ 78

Publisher’s Summary (1):

“The domain of the goddess Mut at Tanis was explored by a mission under the direction of Philippe Brissaud for close to 10 years beginning in the 2000s. The richness of the obtained archaeological and historical information was spectacular: a discovery of unknown enclosures, a relevation of four main phases of temple construction and levels of occupation associated with the surroundings, a discovery of two monumental cultic pits, and finally the unearthing of the sacred lake to the goddess. with well preserved decorated, inscribed, and reused blocs in the masonry – all in a good state of preservation. This book will afford the curious reader to take a closer look at these previously unpublished subjects, which revolutionise our understanding of the history of this region in Egpyt and make us dream of further treasures hidden in the hills of the north-eastern Nile Delta.”

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Edited by Chloé Ragazzoli, Ömür Harmansah, Chiara Salvador, and Elizabeth Frood

Bloomsbury (ISBN: 9781474288828) – Cost: US$ 161.99

Publisher’s Summary:

“This book shows that graffiti, a very ancient practice long hidden behind modern disapproval and street culture, have been integral to literacy and self-expression throughout history. Graffiti bear witness to social events and religious practices that are difficult to track in normative and official discourses. This book addresses graffiti practices, in cultures ranging from ancient China and Egypt through early modern Europe to modern Turkey, in illustrated short essays by specialists. It proposes a holistic approach to graffiti as a cultural practice that plays a key role in crucial aspects of human experience and how they can be understood.”

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Edited by Paul McKechnie and Jennifer A. Cromwell

Brill (ISBN: 9789004367623) – Cost: EUR€ 101

Publisher’s Summary:

“Amyrtaeus, only pharaoh of the Twenty-eighth Dynasty, shook off the shackles of Persian rule in 404 BCE; a little over seventy years later, Ptolemy son of Lagus started the ‘Greek millennium’ (J.G. Manning’s phrase) in Egypt―living long enough to leave a powerful kingdom to his youngest son, Ptolemy II, in 282. In this book, expert studies document the transformation of Egypt through the dynamic fourth century, and the inauguration of the Ptolemaic state. Ptolemy built up his position as ruler subtly and steadily. Continuity and change marked the Egyptian-Greek encounter. The calendar, the economy and coinage, the temples, all took on new directions. In the great new city of Alexandria, the settlers’ burial customs had their own story to tell.”

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E. Christiana Köhler

Philipp von Zabern (ISBN: 9783805351461) – Cost: EUR€ 39.95

Publisher’s Summary (2):

“Before the Pharaohs ruled in Egypt, the Merimde- and Badari cultures as well as those of the Naqada periods had already developed among the banks of the Nile. The first fragments of pottery were created and they to this day fascinate us with their foreign-seeming imagery. Early centres developed out of this, among these some of the important archaeological sites of Egypt: Abydos, Memphis, and Buto. One of the most well-known archaeological finds, the Narmer Palette, tells us of amazing events, which led to Egyptian state formation: a local, Naqada-period ruler unified Egypt and initiated the myth-filled time before the creation of the pyramids.”

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Abraham I. Fernández Pichel

Harrassowitz (ISBN: 9783447109765) – Cost: EUR€ 98.00

Publisher’s Summary:

“The hymns on the soubassements of the Ptolemaic facade of the temple of Esna are well known in Egyptological bibliography. Despite this fact, knowledge about them is only fragmentary because of their poor state of conservation and textual complexity. Engraved in the period of the coregency of Ptolemy VI, Ptolemy VIII and Cleopatre II (170 and 169–164 BC), each one of these hymns (Esna II, 17 and 31) has a length of 64 columns and contains a homage to the main gods of the Latopolitan region, namely Khnum-Ra, Neith, Shu and Tefnut. Their multiple associations with other deities express the rich syncretism in late Egyptian religion. Esna II, 17 includes a cosmogonical text relating the creation by Khnum-Ra of the world and the gods, but also of human beings and all other creatures. Since the mid-19th century several sources have displayed copies of these texts, edited by Serge Sauneron in the 1960’s. Some of these materials remained unpublished until now, but they are included in the present work, such as the Wilbour papers (Brooklyn Museum, New York), containing an extensive part of both hymns, and the photos taken by Serge Sauneron in 1965, kept in the archives of the French Institute in Cairo (IFAO).

Abraham I. Fernández Pichel now presents a new edition, translation and commentary of the hymns.”

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Elena Tiribilli

Golden House Publications (ISBN: 9781906137526) – Cost: US$ 150

Publisher’s Summary:

“Catalog of bronze figures in the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology. The museum houses 510 statuettes or fragments of statuettes made of bronze. Most of them represent Egyptian gods, but there are also Hellenistic and Roman figures.”

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Edited by Cary J. Martin, Francisca A.J. Hoogendijk, and Koenraad Donker van Heel

Brill (ISBN: 9789004377530) – Cost: US$ 210

Publisher’s Summary:

“This volume is a Festschrift in honour of Sven Vleeming containing the contributions of thirty-eight friends and colleagues, often renowned specialists in their respective fields. It includes the editions of fifty-four new texts from Ancient Egypt that date from the 7th century BCE to the 2nd century CE and covers a very wide range of subjects in (Abnormal) Hieratic, Demotic and Greek papyrology. As such, it reflects the equally wide range of knowledge of the scholar to whom this book is dedicated.”

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What are you reading right now? Let us know in the comments!

Notes