Sacrifice is not simply an expression of religious beliefs. Its highly symbolic nature lends itself to various kinds of manipulation by those carrying it out, who may use the ritual in maintaining and negotiating power and identity in carefully staged 'performances'. This Element will examine some of the many different types of sacrifice and ritual killing of human beings through history, from Bronze Age China and the Near East to Mesoamerica to Northern Europe. The focus is on the archaeology of human sacrifice, but where available, textual and iconographic sources provide valuable complements to the interpretation of the material.

The Oxford Handbook of Egyptology offers a comprehensive survey of the entire study of ancient Egypt from prehistory through to the end of the Roman period. It seeks to place Egyptology within its theoretical, methodological, and historical contexts, indicating how the subject has evolved and discussing its distinctive contemporary problems, issues, and potential. Transcending conventional boundaries between archaeological and ancient textual analysis, the volume brings together 63 chapters that range widely across archaeological, philological, and cultural sub-disciplines, highlighting the extent to which Egyptology as a subject has diversified and stressing the need for it to seek multidisciplinary methods and broader collaborations if it is to remain contemporary and relevant. Organized into ten parts, it offers a comprehensive synthesis of the various sub-topics and specializations that make up the field as a whole, from the historical and geographical perspectives that have influenced its development and current characteristics, to aspects of museology and conservation, and from materials and technology - as evidenced in domestic architecture and religious and funerary items - to textual and iconographic approaches to Egyptian culture. Authoritative yet accessible, it serves not only as an invaluable reference work for scholars and students working within the discipline, but also as a gateway into Egyptology for classicists, archaeologists, anthropologists, sociologists, and linguists.

The Egyptologist Annie Quibell, nee Pirie (1862-1927), became a student of Sir Flinders Petrie, copying wall-paintings and inscriptions at his Saqqara excavations, where she met her husband, who was an inspector for the Egyptian Antiquities Service. Accompanying him and sharing in his work on site, she was keen to popularise the marvels of ancient Egyptian civilisation, writing several works for the lay reader. This 1923 book was a new edition of a work originally focusing on the Cairo Museum, but which was now intended as a historical guide to Egyptian collections in general. She advises that it should be skimmed through before any visit, 'sufficiently to get an impression of the great length of Egyptian history', but can also be used afterwards to follow up any particular interest. The very recent discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb, 'just as the book was going to press', enthuses Quibell with prospects for the future.

In this book, Nadine Moeller challenges prevailing views on Egypt's non-urban past and argues for Egypt as an early urban society. She traces the emergence of urban features during the Predynastic period up to the disintegration of the powerful Middle Kingdom state (c.3500-1650 BC). This book offers a synthesis of the archaeological data that sheds light on the different facets of urbanism in ancient Egypt. Drawing on evidence from recent excavations as well as a vast body of archaeological data, this book explores the changing settlement patterns by contrasting periods of strong political control against those of decentralization. It also discusses households and the layout of domestic architecture, which are key elements for understanding how society functioned and evolved over time. Moeller reveals what settlement patterns can tell us about the formation of complex society and the role of the state in urban development in ancient Egypt.

In the second half of the nineteenth century, accounts of the journey down the Nile became increasingly common. This narrative by William John Loftie (1839-1911), who wrote prolifically on travel, art, architecture and history, was published in 1879. (His A Century of Bibles is also reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection.) Loftie spent in total about 15 months in the Nile valley over several seasons, and justifies his book by the rate of archaeological discoveries: 'books published even three years ago are already behind the times'. He gives details of his journeys to and from Egypt, and of visits to the famous sites, but, unusually, he takes notice of the current political and economic state of Egypt, and is trenchant in some of his criticisms. He also goes off the beaten tourist track, hiring donkeys to make excursions away from the river, rather than travelling only by boat.

P.Oxy. LXXXIV marks a new departure for the series: it is the first to publish texts in Egyptian. One is a Greek-Coptic paraphrase of Homer's Iliad, the other a sale of house property in Demotic accompanied by a Greek tax receipt. Section I presents extensive remains of a set of codices of the Septuagint. Section II includes a miscellany of new literary and subliterary texts: remnants of post-Classical hexameter poetry, a possible fragment of Middle comedy with an Anacreontic theme, and a cento of Homeric verses on the myth of Daphne. The seventeen papyri of Apollonius Rhodius published in Section III, providing some two dozen new readings, confirm the Argonautica's status as the most popular epic poem in Roman Egypt after the Homeric and Hesiodic classics. The papyri of Apollonius are complemented by a painting of a wheeled float carrying the Argonauts, perhaps an illustration of a local spectacle. Section IV publishes twenty declarations of livestock from the first and second centuries, and the largest number of accounts from the 'Apion archive' since vol. XVI. The global figures for the Apion estate's income, expenditure, and tax payments offer fresh data to steer and inform the lively debate about the economy of this prominent Oxyrhynchite institution.

The American archaeologist James H. Breasted (1865-1935) is best remembered for his 1906 four-volume Records of Egypt, which contains fresh readings and translations of almost all of the ancient Egyptian historical inscriptions available at the time, and remains an important resource. In this 1912 work, originally delivered as lectures, Breasted discusses the significance of the 'Pyramid Texts', preserved on fifth- and sixth-dynasty pyramids at Saqqara, and recently published in full, to the understanding of ancient Egyptian religious thought. He argues that mortuary practice as revealed by archaeology gives indications of the beliefs of a pre-literate society, but that by the time of the earliest inscriptions the Egyptian belief system was well established. He is particularly interested in the development of a moral sense in the context of the traditional pantheon with its multiple aspects of human/animal divinities, and in the influence of the developing Egyptian empire on its religion.

This volume, published in honour of Egyptologist Professor Rosalie David OBE, presents the latest research on three of the most important aspects of ancient Egyptian civilisation: mummies, magic and medical practice. Drawing on recent archaeological fieldwork, new research on human remains, reassessments of ancient texts and modern experimental archaeology, it attempts to answer some of Egyptology's biggest questions: how did Tutankhamun die? How were the Pyramids built? How were mummies made? Leading experts in their fields combine traditional Egyptology and innovative scientific approaches to ancient material. The result is a cutting-edge overview of the discipline, showing how it has developed over the last forty years and yet how many of its big questions remain the same. -- .

The Egyptologist Annie Quibell, nee Pirie (1862-1927), originally trained as an artist, but became a student of Sir Flinders Petrie, copying wall-paintings and inscriptions at his Saqqara excavations, where she met her husband, who was an inspector for the Egyptian Antiquities Service. Accompanying him and sharing in his work on site, she was keen to popularise the marvels of ancient Egyptian civilisation, recreating life-sized Egyptian rooms for a display at the St Louis World's Fair in 1904, and writing several works for the lay reader. This book, published in 1925, is intended to 'point out to other sojourners and travellers some things about Egypt, which, after long residence there, seem to me important'. As well as discussing the famous archaeological sites, Quibell describes Port Said (the entrance to the Suez Canal), and the Nile delta, the Coptic church and its long history, and an expedition into the desert.

Lost in Egypt's honeycombed hills, distanced by its western desert, or rendered inaccessible by subsequent urban occupation, the monumental decorated tombs of the Graeco-Roman period have received little scholarly attention. This volume serves to redress this deficiency. It explores the narrative pictorial programs of a group of decorated tombs from Ptolemaic and Roman-period Egypt (c.300 BCE-250 CE). Its aim is to recognize the tombs' commonalities and differences across ethnic divides and to determine the rationale that lies behind these connections and dissonances. This book sets the tomb programs within their social, political, and religious context and analyzes the manner in which the multicultural population of Graeco-Roman Egypt chose to negotiate death and the afterlife.

The American archaeologist James H. Breasted (1865-1935) published this history in 1906. His intention was to create a one-volume work which would be suitable for the increasing number of tourists visiting the Nile valley, for those interested in the rise of Greek and Roman civilisation, and for students of the Old Testament. Drawing on Breasted's own four-volume Records of Egypt, which contains fresh readings and translations of almost all of the ancient Egyptian historical inscriptions available at the time, the book follows the conventional chronology from 'earliest Egypt' to the Old Kingdom and the Middle Kingdom, characterised as a 'feudal age', the intermediate period of the Hyksos, and the New Kingdom, described here as 'the Empire'. The account ends with 'the Decadence', invasions by Libyans and Nubians, and the Persian conquest after the battle of Pelusium in 525 BCE. The book contains nearly 200 photographs and drawings.

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1902 edition. Excerpt: ...is gaily dressed in yet another costume, his pleated tunic stiffened uncomfortably, and an elaborately-coloured ribbon, to which, perhaps, an amulet is suspended, hung round his neck. He is accompanied by his wife and hound, and by a son (Asa?) who brings a gift of birds and flowers. His titles seem written in disorderly columns, as before, The signs 4 must belong to the lost name of the herdsman. Surety they cannot form an attribute of Asa.: Not represented to Ecalc in the plate. but little save the repetition of the name, Rahenem, is preserved. In front, in the top register, two sons present offerings of birds and cruses of ointment. They are the "Sole Companion, Lector, and Great Chief of the Du-ef Nome "(Asa or Qehua?) and Qednes. Behind them is a barque, which contains a chest inscribed for "The Sole Companion, Chief Lector, Sempriest, and Great Chief of the Du-ef Nome, Rahenem." This coffin or ark is set on a bier under a light baldachin, and the two sacred eyes are represented above it. A man in attitude of adoration, and carrying the kherpsceptre, stands in the prow. This boat is followed by a ship under sail, which contains, besides the crew, the figure of Asa (?) seated in a chair. From the attitude of the female figure before him, whether she be his wife or a professional mourner, it would seem that the deceased prince is here represented. Two sacrificial oxen led by herdsmen follow this scene, one of which wears the gay collar which was put on valuable animals when presented for inspection. The dancing scene in the second register may be loosely connected with the funeral procession. Most of the dancers are dressed in the garb already familiar from previous examples, but one, who may be a singer, is in ordinary...

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1902 edition. Excerpt: ...is gaily dressed in yet another costume, his pleated tunic stiffened uncomfortably, and an elaborately-coloured ribbon, to which, perhaps, an amulet is suspended, hung round his neck. He is accompanied by his wife and hound, and by a son (Asa?) who brings a gift of birds and flowers. His titles seem written in disorderly columns, as before, The signs 4 must belong to the lost name of the herdsman. Surety they cannot form an attribute of Asa.: Not represented to Ecalc in the plate. but little save the repetition of the name, Rahenem, is preserved. In front, in the top register, two sons present offerings of birds and cruses of ointment. They are the "Sole Companion, Lector, and Great Chief of the Du-ef Nome "(Asa or Qehua?) and Qednes. Behind them is a barque, which contains a chest inscribed for "The Sole Companion, Chief Lector, Sempriest, and Great Chief of the Du-ef Nome, Rahenem." This coffin or ark is set on a bier under a light baldachin, and the two sacred eyes are represented above it. A man in attitude of adoration, and carrying the kherpsceptre, stands in the prow. This boat is followed by a ship under sail, which contains, besides the crew, the figure of Asa (?) seated in a chair. From the attitude of the female figure before him, whether she be his wife or a professional mourner, it would seem that the deceased prince is here represented. Two sacrificial oxen led by herdsmen follow this scene, one of which wears the gay collar which was put on valuable animals when presented for inspection. The dancing scene in the second register may be loosely connected with the funeral procession. Most of the dancers are dressed in the garb already familiar from previous examples, but one, who may be a singer, is in ordinary...

The career of Arthur Weigall (1880-1934) encompassed Egyptology but also stage design, film criticism and journalism, as well as fiction and books about ancient Egypt. After studying in Germany, he worked at Abydos with Flinders Petrie, but in 1905 he was unexpectedly promoted to Chief Inspector of Antiquities for Upper Egypt, when Howard Carter was forced to resign. His work in Egypt, especially in the area of Luxor, focused on the conservation of monuments and the prevention of the shipping of artefacts abroad, until 1911, when he returned to London. In the preface to this two-volume work, published in 1925, Weigall likens the writing of a history of Egypt to the piecing together of a jigsaw puzzle consisting of thousands of pieces, but presents a chronological narrative at a level to satisfy both the scholar and the interested amateur. Volume 2 covers the period from the twelfth to the mid-eighteenth dynasty.

Arthur Weigall (1880-1934) is chiefly remembered as an Egyptologist, although he also wrote novels, screenplays and film reviews. Following a period spent working with Flinders Petrie at Abydos, he succeeded Howard Carter in 1905 as Chief Inspector of Antiquities for Upper Egypt at Luxor. Here he worked diligently to protect Egyptian artefacts from the ravages of thieves, antiques dealers, public works, and amateur excavators. Ill health then forced a return to London, where Weigall became a successful set designer and later moved into journalism. He returned to Egypt to report on Carter's discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb for the Daily Mail. This collection of essays, accessible to non-specialists, appeared in 1923. Written in response to the extraordinary surge of public interest in Egyptology, the book covers various archaeological and historical subjects, taking Tutankhamun's magnificent tomb in the Valley of the Kings as its starting point.

The most lasting achievement of the German Egyptologist Heinrich Karl Brugsch (1827-94) is perhaps his work on the Egyptian demotic script, which had been relatively neglected since Champollion's death. This two-volume illustrated history of Egypt, 'derived entirely from the monuments', was first published in an English translation (by H. D. Seymour, from the 1876 first German edition, and edited by Philip Smith) in 1879. Brugsch brings to bear his wide experience of the archaeological sites together with his linguistic expertise, and deliberately eschews later Greek and Roman accounts of Egypt. Volume 2 covers the period from the Nineteenth Dynasty, the time of the empire's widest extent under Seti I and Rameses II, through the later decline and disintegration, with ruling dynasties from Nubia and Assyria, to the Persian conquest in 525 BCE. An appendix discusses the biblical account of Exodus in the context of Egyptian material remains.

This highly illustrated 1900 work on Egypt old and new by John Ward (1832-1912) seeks to guide the visitor to the ancient sites while also remarking on the radical changes to the economy and the development of the modern state since the intervention of the British government in 1883 and the appointment of Lord Cromer as consul-general and effective ruler. This blending of ancient and modern can be seen in discussions of Port Said ('not an Egyptian town at all') alongside the abandoned and silted-up delta ports of the Egyptians, Ptolemies and Ottomans. Thebes is discussed both as a city of the living and a city of the dead, and Ward notes approvingly the flattening of the ancient town of Assouan (Aswan), to form the foundations for new public buildings, on the orders of Lord Kitchener. Ward's subsequent book, Our Sudan (1905), is also reissued in this series.

This 1838 work by Samuel Sharpe (1799-1881) is the second of two volumes on the history of ancient Egypt; the first, dealing with the earlier period, is also reissued in this series. From a banking family, Sharpe was fascinated by Young's and Champollion's work in deciphering the hieroglyphs. He taught himself Coptic, and compiled his own hieroglyphic vocabulary lists. His facility for decipherment was assisted by a natural gift for solving cryptograms, but his inferences sometimes led him into error. This book, in which Sharpe follows his earlier technique of using inscriptions as well as historical works as sources, begins with a survey of the history of Egypt up to the time of Alexander the Great; the interested reader is referred to Sharpe's earlier volume for more details. He then surveys the Ptolemaic era by reigns, ending with the battle of Actium and the conquest of Egypt by Augustus.

The career of Arthur Weigall (1880-1934) encompassed Egyptology but also stage design, film criticism and journalism, as well as fiction and books about ancient Egypt. After studying in Germany, he worked at Abydos with Flinders Petrie, but in 1905 he was unexpectedly promoted to Chief Inspector of Antiquities for Upper Egypt, when Howard Carter was forced to resign. His work in Egypt, especially in the area of Luxor, focused on the conservation of monuments and the prevention of the shipping of artefacts abroad, until 1911, when he returned to London. In the preface to this illustrated two-volume work, published in 1925, Weigall likens the writing of a history of Egypt to the piecing together of a jigsaw puzzle consisting of thousands of pieces, but intends to present a chronological narrative at a level to satisfy both the scholar and the interested amateur. Volume 1 covers the first eleven dynasties.

The most lasting achievement of the German Egyptologist Heinrich Karl Brugsch (1827-94) is perhaps his work on the Egyptian demotic script, which had been relatively neglected since Champollion's death. This illustrated two-volume history of Egypt, 'derived entirely from the monuments', was first published in an English translation (by H. D. Seymour, from the 1876 first German edition, and edited by Philip Smith) in 1879. Brugsch brings to bear his wide experience of the archaeological sites together with his linguistic expertise, and deliberately eschews later Greek and Roman accounts of Egypt. Volume 1 gives a detailed survey of the physical environment of Egypt before considering the pre-dynastic period, and the emergence of Menes, the first known pharaoh. He then takes the narrative through the Old and Middle Kingdoms, and the intermediate period, to the emergence of the New Kingdom and the flowering and end of the Eighteenth Dynasty.

The career of Arthur Weigall (1880-1934) encompassed Egyptology but also stage design, film criticism and journalism, as well as fiction and books about ancient Egypt. After studying in Germany, he worked at Abydos with Flinders Petrie, but in 1905 he was unexpectedly promoted to Chief Inspector of Antiquities for Upper Egypt, when Howard Carter was forced to resign. His work in Egypt, especially in the area of Luxor, focused on the conservation of monuments and the prevention of shipping of artefacts abroad, until 1911, when he returned to London. He did not revisit Egypt until, as a journalist, he covered the opening of Tutankhamen's tomb in 1922. In this 1910 guide, writing 'from careful and prolonged personal observation and thought', Weigall describes the less frequented ancient sites of Upper Egypt, beginning north of Thebes and descending to the Second Cataract and the Sudanese border.

A companion volume to the third edition of the author's popular Middle Egyptian, this book contains eight literary works from the Middle Kingdom, the golden age of Middle Egyptian literature. Included are the compositions widely regarded as the pinnacle of Egyptian literary arts, by the Egyptians themselves as well as by modern readers. The works are presented in hieroglyphic transcription, transliteration and translation, accompanied by notes cross-referenced to the third edition of Middle Egyptian. These are designed to give students of Middle Egyptian access to original texts and the tools to practise and perfect their knowledge of the language. The principles of ancient Egyptian verse, in which all the works are written, are discussed, and the transliterations and translations are versified, giving students practice in this aspect of Egyptian literature as well. Consecutive translations are also included for reference and for readers more concerned with Middle Egyptian literature than language.

This 1836 work by Samuel Sharpe (1799-1881) is the first of two volumes on the history of ancient Egypt; the second, dealing with the Ptolemaic period, is also reissued in this series. From a banking family, Sharpe was fascinated by Thomas Young's and Champollion's work in deciphering the hieroglyphs. He taught himself Coptic, and compiled his own hieroglyphic vocabulary lists. His facility for decipherment was assisted by a natural gift for solving cryptograms, but his inferences sometimes led him into error. His objective in this book is 'to collect out of the writings of the ancients every particular relating to the History of Egypt', marshalling ancient authorities including the Old Testament, Herodotus, Diodorus Siculus and the Ptolemaic priest Manetho, whose division of the rulers into dynasties is still relied on. The second part of the book uses this evidence to discuss Egyptian life, language, beliefs and customs.

The career of Arthur Weigall (1880-1934) encompassed Egyptology but also stage design, film criticism and journalism. After studying in Germany, he worked at Abydos with Flinders Petrie, but in 1905 he was unexpectedly promoted to Chief Inspector of Antiquities for Upper Egypt, when Howard Carter was forced to resign. His work in Egypt, especially in the area of Luxor, focused on the conservation of monuments and the prevention of shipping of artefacts abroad, until 1911, when he returned to London. This 1907 book on the condition of the monuments between the First Cataract and the Sudanese frontier arose from his work as inspector, and is intended as 'a preliminary description of monuments and ancient remains which require to be thoroughly studied'. Unlike Weigall's travellers' guides to Egypt, this is a factual and technical work, drawing attention to the threats to monuments from neglect, plunder, and the Nile floods.