Understanding of Egyptology - Assignment Example

Lecturer: Egyptology i) The expedition to and invasion of Egypt in 1798 by Napoleon was a very significant event for Egyptology for it not only opened the doors for intellectuals, archaeologists and adventurers into the culture of ancient Egypt (Egyptian Archaeology 5) it also instigated the founding of the institute of Egypt in Cairo and resulted in numerous publications on findings (Egyptian Archaeology 5); without his invasion of Egypt Egyptology would probably not be where it is today. The Rosetta Stone (a very large stone slab discovered in 1799 by a soldier during the task of destroying a wall and now in the British Museum) (Manuelian 6) is particularly significant because it was the key, the opener to Egyptian hieroglyphs by which the world could gain a better understanding of ancient Egypt, its culture and its people (Budge). The stone had text in three different forms of hieroglyphics, one of which was Greek that helped in the deciphering of ancient Egyptian (Egyptian Archaeology 5). The Palermo Stone, a large piece of wall with inscriptions on each side and dated to around 2350 B.C. is also a significant find in that it contains a record of the Nile River – the height of floods - over a five year period, as well as a list of kings starting with the Menes and detailed accountings of the preceding 500 years, and thus provides an exceptional accounting of life in the “Old Kingdom (2700-2200 B.C.)” (Brock 2). According to Manuelian “the most famous archaeological site in the world” (5) is the pyramids of Giza, a burial ground for hundreds of people from the Old Kingdom including royalty and others of eminence with their families, as well as three fourth dynasty kings (Manuelian 5). The tombs are significant in that they provide clear indications and illustrations of all facets of Egyptian life at the time, including its politics and social system. ii) Flinders Petrie can be considered as a founding father of modern Egyptology; he was a pioneer in the study of Egypt before 3100 B.C.; wherein he devised a new system of dating and sequencing graves in order to generate a chronology of the time (Shaw 21), and was thus a founder of scientific archaeology in Egypt. Bratton (qtd. in Sedra 251) argues that Petrie “transformed archaeology from an undocumented collection of antiquities to a deliberate reconstruction of history by the location of artifacts”. He also discovered a number of tombs, towns and temples and taught a number of other well-known archaeologists such as Howard Carter who later discovered Tutankhamun’s tomb and Margaret Drower the first woman to join the ranks of Egyptologists (Shaw 24). Jean Francois Champollion could also be considered a founding father of modern Egyptology for he was the man, in 1822 (Reid, para.1), to decipher the Rosetta stone and thus pave the way for Egyptologists today to understand, interpret and decipher what they find, increasing their understanding and knowledge of Egypt’s past. Karl Richard Lepsius is the third person in this paper to be regarded as a founding father of Egyptology. According to Dunn he was a “giant among the earliest archaeologists” (para.2) and worked extensively on the linguistic findings of Egypt using and extending on the alphabet that Champollion had deciphered. His expeditions provided insight into the geography of Egypt, as well as to its architecture, myths and legends; he was the first man to keep painstaking notes of his investigations and thus he was influential in providing the first detailed and profound understanding of Egypt. iii) “Giovanni Belzoni, Bernardino Drovetti, and others rampaged through Egypt’s temples and tombs and did incredible damage” (Fagan 45) and have thus been regarded by many as grave robbers. In reality however, what Belzoni and other early adventurers and archaeologists did was not regarded negatively at all; in fact Egyptian people at that time were not concerned with the preservation of their predecessors and if Belzoni and others of his time had not taken the treasures they “would have been smashed into dust for making concrete” (Gresh & Weinberg 132). Although Belzoni and others took treasures from their place of finding he did take detailed notes, sketches, maps and measurements, which was something his counterparts did not bother to do (“Can You Dig It”). Prior to archaeology, Belzoni was employed as a merchant trader and studied hydraulic engineering (Parsons, para.3); later when visiting Egypt he was asked by the then British Consult, Henry Salt, to dig and find treasures to take back to the British Museum; Belzoni with his knowledge of hydraulics but with no funds for expensive machinery was able to utilize minimum tools such as “wooden poles and locally-made ropes / levers, trollies and palm fibre rope” (“Belzoni, Giovanni Battista”) to lift massive structures that nobody else had been able to do, and ship back to England (Williams, para.3), the first of which was Ramses II. Belzoni’s techniques in terms of taking his findings from the sites would be considered abhorrent today when all findings are preserved within their natural environment. Techniques have progressed significantly from Belzoni’s primitive pullies and levers but it was his simple mechanisms and his recordings that initiated 20th century archaeologists to espouse scientific methods for describing and measuring sites, and with progress in technology radiocarbon dating was soon after used which then paved the way for investigations using statistics (“Can You Dig it”). So although Belzoni was only a lay archaeologist, led by monetary gains of finding and selling Egyptian treasures to collectors and museums, his techniques, although damaging and unconventional helped make future expeditions possible and opened the way for the study of Egyptology by scientific means. iv) Archaeologists and Egyptologists today have a variety of techniques from which to select when planning and setting out on an expedition; progress has changed what is considered important in terms of data and technological advancements have changed how that data is collected, how it is analyzed and how it is interpreted, and widens scope of locations and materials for investigation which were not accessible in earlier years (Adams 4). To investigate a buried Egyptian temple for example, in adherence to non-invasive investigation of a site and its environs we could first use Electromagnetic Resonance to determine buried features and the layout of the site thereby negating the necessity of much excavation with the use of magnetic surveys (Schmidt 3-4). Such a technique however, would not be undertaken until extensive research on the conditions of the site, and background information and findings from previous expeditions were gathered and analyzed to ensure a more accurate interpretation of the magnetic surveys. Soil samples would be taken and measured both in the field and in a laboratory; in the field the “Bartington MS2D field coil” (Schmidt 4) could be utilized. Magnetometer surveys could also be taken before any actual excavation takes place. Once place of excavation is determined the area would be cordoned off with rope and the site excavated evenly by levels of different coloured soil, using small tools such as paint brushes and trowels and soil would be carefully sieved. Any charcoal findings would not be touched but wrapped in tin or aluminum foil for radio-carbon dating; recordings of all findings would be undertaken simultaneously and every morsel of antiquity would be bagged and catalogued and findings would be archaeomagnetically dated alongside other more conventional methods to ensure more precise interpretation. While excavating, walls would be kept straight and profile maps drawn to illustrate changes in soil, and photographs would be taken of all steps in the process (Pante, par. 3). v) Both the British and the French have been influential in not only the development of Egypt – the British built railway and the French built the Suez Canal (Ellis) - but more so in the development of Egyptology; it cannot be argued that one has been more influential than the other. Without French born Napoleon’s first expedition and Champollion paving the way for linguistic analysis of ancient texts the study of Egyptology as a discipline would not have the first hand accountings and knowledge that it has today (Peck, exert from article); without British born Petrie on the other hand and his contribution and development of archaeological methods the same could be said. Over the years a number of both French and British researchers have added to the knowledge and understanding of Egypt, names such Denon, Mariette and Maspero (who received the first doctorate in France) from France, Rhind, Reisner and Thompson from Britain, as well as Howard Carter, who discovered Tutankhaman’s tomb. Today they are both still involved with much investigation in Egypt, Collombert (French) for example is making discoveries in Saqqara and British born Andrew Collins and Nigel Skinner-Simpson are currently making discoveries in Giza (Thaindian News). vi) Understanding of the Pyramids and the Pyramids Complex at Giza has changed significantly since historic times; researchers, archaeologists and others have been proposing hypotheses as to how the Pyramids were constructed and the type of labor force required to accomplish the construction. The techniques proposed in each new hypothesis have progressed over time and it has been realized that early pyramids were built differently than later constructions (“Great Pyramid of Giza”); the arguments forwarded in relation to the labor used to build the pyramids have moved from slave labor to skilled and paid workers; in fact grave yards for workers have now been found. Egyptologists now know that pyramids built in the third and fourth dynasties were made totally from various qualities of limestone; whereas during the Middle Kingdom they were constructed from mud bricks and sheathed with limestone; naturally such constructions have not weathered as well as those built earlier (“Great Pyramid of Giza”). Hypotheses on how the huge slabs of rock were maneuvered have evolved over time and extensive data has now been extracted to account for where the quarries were, how the rock was transported and the tools and equipment used in the process. Egyptologists now know that some form of ramps and levering methods were used to erect the pyramids and the latest theory proposed by Jean-Pierre Houdin in 1999 (“Great Pyramid of Giza”) developed on computer has yet to be disproven. His theory purports an external ramp for the lower half and an internal ramp for the upper half of the pyramid and that the materials used for the external ramps were recycled for the internal ramp (“Great Pyramid of Giza”). The complete Giza Plateau is now understood to have been built over a period of almost a hundred years during the reign of five pharaohs. What is most significant with the work in Giza is the realization that Egyptology is multidisciplinary and includes experts such botanists, geologists, anthropologists, philologists, geomorphologists and geoarchaeologists among others (Egyptian Archaeology 16-18). Works Cited Adams, Matthew Joel. “Lake Nasser: A Unique Opportunity for the Study of Submerged Terrestrial Sites.” 20 August, 2010 “Belzoni, Giovanni Battista.” The New World Encyclopedia. 18 August 2010 Brock, John F. “Four Surveyors of the Gods: In the XVII Dynasty of Egypt – New Kingdom c.1400 B.C.” From Pharaohs to Geoinformatics, FIG Working Week 2005 and GSD1-8. Cairo, Egypt. 16-21 April 2005. 18 August, 2010 < http://www.fig.net/pub/cairo/papers/wshs_02/wshs02_01_brock.pdf> Budge, Wallis E.A. The Rosetta Stone: Key to the Decipherment of the Ancient Egyptian Writing System. 1893. Forgotten Books. 2008. 17 August, 2010 “Can You Dig it?” The Economist. 28 March 2002. 19 August 2010, Dunn, Jimmy. “Egyptology.” The New World Encyclopedia. 15 January 2009. 19 August, 2010 “Egyptian Archaeology: Definitions and History.” Chapter 1. 18 August, 2010 Ellis, Ralph. “On Understanding Egpypt.” Tour Egypt. 19 August, 2010 Fagan, Brian M. Archaeologists: Explorers of the Human Past. New York: Oxford University Press 2003. "Great Pyramid of Giza." New World Encyclopedia. 29 Mar 2009. 24 Aug 2010 . Gresh, L.H and R. Weinberg. Why Did it Have to be Snakes: From Science to the Supernatural, The Many Mysteries of Indiana Jones. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, 2008. Manuelian, Peter der. Digging Up Egypt’s Past. A Resource for Teachers. Department of Education. Boston, Massachusetts: Museum of Fine Arts. 1997. 19 August 2010 Pante, Michael. “Modern Archaeological Field methods.” Archeology.Info. 20 August, 2010 Parsons, Marie. “Giovanni Belzoni Circus Giant and Collector of Egyptian Antiquities.” Tour Egypt. 18 August 2010, Peck, William. “The Secret Lore of Egypt: Its Impact on the West.” Rev. of The Secret Lore of Egypt: Its Impact on the West by Hornung, E. Trans by Lorton, D. Journal of American Oriental Society, vol.123. 2003. 21 August, 2010 Reid, Donald Malcolm. “Jean-Francois Champollion.” Answers.com. 17 August, 2010 Schmidt, A. “Archaeology, Magnetic Methods.” Encyclopedia of Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism. By Gubbins, D and E. Herrero-Bervera, eds. New York: Springer 2007. 19 August, 2010 Sedra, Paul. “Imagining an Imperial race: Egyptology in the Service of the Empire.” Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East 24.1 (2004) : 249-259. 20 August, 2010 Shaw, Ian. “Petrie, the Innovator.” Dagonsite.com. 19 August, 2010 “Underworld of the Pharaohs Allegedly Found Under Giza Pyramids.” Thaindian News. 5 August 20o9. 20 August, 2010 Williams, Sean. “Belzoni’s Legacy of Adventures in Egypt.” Heritage Key. 2009. 18 August, 2010 Read More