Teresa Moore | University of California, Berkeley (original) (raw)

Papers by Teresa Moore

Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt, 1996

... Johanna Zick-Nissen, Osiris Kreuz und Halbmond (Mainz: Philipp von Zabern, 1984) , 49 (no. 33... more ... Johanna Zick-Nissen, Osiris Kreuz und Halbmond (Mainz: Philipp von Zabern, 1984) , 49 (no. 33) . Teresa Moore, &amp;quot;The Good God Page 6. 144 TARCE XXXIII (1996) Several early examples of the name Any, be-longing to men of a ...

The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, 2012

Conference Presentations by Teresa Moore

Theban Graffito 276, published by Spiegelberg in 1921, is one of the most distinctive productions... more Theban Graffito 276, published by Spiegelberg in 1921, is one of the most distinctive productions of the Scribe of the Tomb Qenherkhopeshef, who, during his more than four decades in office, left well over two hundred signed inscriptions scattered over the valleys of the royal necropolis. Scratched on a rock face near the author's " reserved seat " above the tomb of Merenptah (KV 8), the text in question apparently commemorates the building of a " stairway " for the Western Goddess, using a noun generally associated with temples and palaces. The scribe also uses an extension of his title that occurs nowhere else among his known graffiti and employs the ir.n dedication formula—which, as Dorn has recently pointed out, appears in only two of his informal inscriptions. This paper investigates the terminology chosen by Qenherkhopeshef and examines the possible relationship of Graffito 276 to the scribe's activities as recorded in other documents.

The location of the original burial of Amenhotep I has been a matter for perennial controversy. ... more The location of the original burial of Amenhotep I has been a matter for perennial controversy. Two tombs at Dra abu el-Naga, KV 39, and Theban Tomb 320 (the "Cachette Royale") have all been proposed as the "horizon of eternity" of the divine patron of the Theban necropolis; a site at Dra abu el-Naga remains the leading contender. Once buried, however, the king was not left to rest in peace. A tomb painting at Deir el-Medina, as well as the style of the coffin in which his mummy was found, suggests that the royal burial was refurbished during the Nineteenth Dynasty, perhaps as a sequel to Horemheb's reorganization of the royal necropolis. Although his tomb was reported undamaged in the Abbott Papyrus, dockets on the king's coffin record two restorations by order of Pinodjem I and Masaharta, demonstrating that this happy state of affairs had lasted no longer than two generations. On the basis of an enigmatic inscription on the coffin of Butehamun, it has been suggested that the well-known necropolis scribe took part in the latter ceremony. Finally, the position of Amenhotep I within TT 320 indicates that he was moved once again under the Twenty-second Dynasty. This paper will summarize the peregrinations of the royal mummy and examine the connections between Butehamun's private funerary text and the fate of the deified Amenhotep I at the end of the New Kingdom.

Night for the inhabitants of Deir el-Medina, as for other ancient Egyptians, was a dangerous time... more Night for the inhabitants of Deir el-Medina, as for other ancient Egyptians, was a dangerous time. Ghosts and demons walked abroad, seeking an opportunity to attack mortals who had carelessly neglected to provide themselves with the proper amuletic protection; tomb robbers might be about their sacrilegious business; creatures such as scorpions lurked unseen, to the detriment of the unwary. It was at night, as we know from the Late Ramesside Letters, that those who had offended a powerful official might well meet with a mysterious demise. On the other hand, religious celebrations and socializing also took place during the hours of darkness.
Among the many misdeeds laid at the feet of the Chief Workman Paneb in Papyrus Salt 124 is the beating of workmen in a “night party” (smAyt n grH). Černỷ suggested that the victims here were been drinking in connection with a religious festival. This brief episode, less colorful than many of the notorious foreman’s other alleged crimes, will be examined in the context of nocturnal activities in the village.

Queen Ahmose-Nefertari, as a divine patron of Thebes, is pictured on the walls of some fifty priv... more Queen Ahmose-Nefertari, as a divine patron of Thebes, is pictured on the walls of some fifty private Theban tombs; she was a focus of cult in at least one large temple (Meniset) on the West Bank and in several small cult chapels; and she appears on numerous private stelae from the mid-Eighteenth Dynasty onwards. Several exquisite votive statuettes of this queen have come down to us from the necropolis craftsmen of Deir el-Medina. Recognized by later kings as a founding figure of the Eighteenth Dynasty and foremother of the New Kingdom, Ahmose-Nefertari is shown on temple walls, joining festival processions in her barque and receiving offerings from Pharaoh.
Yet, as Michael Gitton remarked in 1975, Ahmose-Nefertari is, surprisingly, almost entirely unattested in informal Theban inscriptions, despite the fact that among her devotees in the necropolis were such prolific graffitists as Qenherkhopeshef and Butehamun. This paper examines possible explanations for her unexpected absence from the corpus of Theban graffiti.

Date: April, 2014
Location: Portland, Oregon
Organization: American Research Center in Egypt Annual Meeting

The longest medical papyrus preserved to us, Papyrus Ebers, includes a section of 96 remedies for... more The longest medical papyrus preserved to us, Papyrus Ebers, includes a section of 96 remedies for various diseases of the eyes. Here, in the “collection of recipes for the eyes,” among the prescriptions for trachoma, sties, corneal irritation caused by inverted eyelashes, and numerous unidentified maladies, are several paragraphs dealing with a condition that may have been leukoma, the formation of white spots on the cornea. One of these, P. Ebers 360, offers both a recitation and a prescription for the complaint in question. As Westendorf has pointed out, the spell enables a practitioner to draw upon solar mythology in order to treat a physical ailment. This paper reviews the interpretations offered for the disease and the spell itself and investigates the possibility of further mythological allusions that may have relevance to an ophthalmologic disorder.

In the spring and fall of 1900, the Hearst-Reisner expedition of the University of California exc... more In the spring and fall of 1900, the Hearst-Reisner expedition of the University of California excavated the site of Deir el-Ballas, across the Nile from Coptos. Best known of the finds are the remains of two mud-brick palaces dating to the late Seventeenth and early Eighteenth Dynasties, when this strategically significant spot (located at the terminus of one route through the Western Desert and close to the gold mines, quarries, and Red Sea trade accessible through the Wadi Hammamat) apparently served as a military command center for Theban campaigns against the Hyksos. After the mid-Eighteenth Dynasty, however, there is little sign of occupation at Deir el-Ballas until it was settled in Roman and Byzantine times, as witnessed by evidence from the site of the North Palace: the remains of houses and three Christian chapels, Roman and Coptic pottery, Byzantine coins, fragments of a decorated leather book, and a number of Coptic burials.
Among the finds recorded by F.W. Green in his field notes are Coptic ostraca originating from two findspots on the northern kôm. The ceramic ostraca, some sixty-five in number, now form part of the Egyptian collection of the Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology. This paper will present the results of a preliminary study of these hitherto neglected documents.

Teaching Documents by Teresa Moore

The Pyramids of Giza are the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World to survive into m... more The Pyramids of Giza are the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World to survive into modern times. Awe-inspiring and instantly recognizable, they symbolize the power and grandeur of the ancient Egyptian state and provoke our curiosity. How and why were they constructed? Who were the workers who labored on the gigantic monuments, and how did they live? In this course of illustrated lectures, such questions will be considered as we survey the art, archaeological remains, and documents of the Old Kingdom, Egypt's Pyramid Age. We will give special attention to the famous necropoleis of Saqqara and Giza, investigate the provincial sites of Elephantine, Abydos, Buto, and Coptos, study the development of royal and private sculpture, and read selections from the Pyramid Texts (Egypt's oldest funerary literature) as well as autobiographies of famous courtiers and expedition commanders. After a discussion of the decline of the Old Kingdom and the disorders that followed it, the course will conclude with an examination of its cultural legacy.

Textbooks Quirke, Stephen. Ancient Egyptian Religion. London: British Museum, 1992. Lichthei... more Textbooks
Quirke, Stephen. Ancient Egyptian Religion. London: British Museum, 1992.
Lichtheim, Miriam, trans. Ancient Egyptian Literature, vol. 1: the Old and Middle Kingdoms. Paperback ed. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1975.
________. Ancient Egyptian Literature, vol. 2: the New Kingdom. Paperback ed. Berkeley: U. of California Press, 1978.

Lectures and readings
Readings are listed before the lecture (and discussion) to which they relate. Some of the texts in Lichtheim appear more than once, since they are relevant to more than one lecture (e.g., obelisk inscriptions that relate to the cult of Amun and to divine kingship). Reading ahead, particularly in Ancient Egyptian Religion, may be helpful; note that I have reversed chapters 4 and 5 in the reading list. The student may wish to read the chapters in the original order, then review Chapter 4 before we talk about magic and medicine.

Examinations (2) will consist of short identifications and a choice of essay questions.

Week 1. Introduction. Outline of Egyptian history; Egyptian geography and resources; introducing the gods. Defining terms: religion, divinity, monotheism, polytheism, immanence and transcendence, syncretism.

Readings. Quirke, Introduction and Chapter 1: "Power in Heaven."

Week 2. Temple, town, nome, and nation: theological geography of ancient Egypt. Archaeological evidence for prehistoric and early dynastic religion. The earliest shrines and temples; unification of Egypt. Development of religious iconography.

Readings. Quirke, Ch. 2: "Power on Earth."
Lichtheim, vol. 1, "The Memphite Theology," pp. 51-57. "A spell from the Coffin Texts," pp.131-133
Lichtheim, vol. 2: "Two Hymns to the Sun God," by Suti and Hor, pp. 86-89. "The Destruction of Mankind," pp. 197-199.

Week 3. Cosmogonies. Heliopolitan cosmogony; the "Memphite theology"; myth of the destruction of mankind. Images of creation in temple design. Ideas of time, eternity, and everlastingness.

Readings. Quirke, Ch. 3: "Preserving the Universe."

Week 4. What is an Egyptian temple? The temple as the god's earthly mansion, model of the universe, "power station", administrative center. Daily cult; priestly duties through the day and night; offerings and reversions thereof. Festivals: the New Year's Festival, the Beautiful Festival of the Desert Valley, Feast of Lights, Opet Festival, royal jubilee, Sokar festival.

Readings. Quirke, Ch. 5: "Surviving Death."
Lichtheim, vol. 1: Excerpts from the Pyramid Texts, pp. 29-50.
Lichtheim, vol. 2: "The Prayers of Paheri," pp.15-21.
"A Harper's Song from the Tomb of Neferhotep," pp.115-116.
"From the Book of the Dead," pp. 119-132.

Week 5. Funerary beliefs. Osiris and other divine patrons of the necropolis; aspects of the human personality; preservation of the body; judgement of the dead. Tomb paintings and funerary texts.

Week 6. Funerary beliefs, part II. The royal afterlife; the underworld books in the Valley of the Kings.

Readings. Lichtheim, vol. 1: "The Instruction of Ptahhotep," pp. 61-80
"The Instruction addressed to King Merikare," pp. 97-109.
Lichtheim, vol. 2: "Chapter 125: the Judgement of the Dead," 124-132.
"Instructions," 135-163.

Week 7. Moral and ethical content of Egyptian religion. Ma'at (truth, right order, and justice); wisdom literature; the virtuous person. Personal piety.

Readings. Lichtheim, vol. 1: Stelae of Intef, Ikhernofret, and Sehetepibre, pp.120-129.
Lichtheim, vol. 2: "The Great Hymn to Osiris," pp. 81-86.
"Horus and Seth," pp. 214-223.

Week 8. Exam (90 min.) Abydos, a holy city. Elephantine, a border town: its temples from the archaic period to Graeco-Roman times. Memphis, the ancient capital: temples to Ptah and Hathor; deities of the Memphite necropolis.

Readings. Lichtheim, vol. 2: "Obelisk inscriptions of Queen Hatshepsut," 25-29. "The Poetical Stela of Thutmose III," 35-39. "Stela of Amenhotep III," 43-48. "Three penitential hymns from Deir el-Medina," pp. 104-110. Prayers to Amun and Amun-Re, pp. 111-112.

Week 9. The gods of Thebes. Theban temples: the Karnak complex, largest religious structure in the world. Temple of Mut in Asheru. The "Southern Sanctuary" of Amun at Luxor. "The West, She-Who-Is-Opposite-Her-Lord." Deities of the Theban necropolis: Hathor, Meretseger, Amenhotep I and Queen Ahmose-Nefertari. Royal mortuary temples of Mentuhotep II, Queen Hatshepsut, Seti I, Ramesses II, and Ramesses III.

Readings. Lichtheim, vol. 1: "The Instruction addressed to King Merikare," 97-109. "A cycle of hymns to King Sesostris III," 198-201.
Quirke, ch. 3: "Preserving the universe."
Lichtheim, vol. 2. "Inscriptions from royal monuments," 25-78.

Week 10. Divine kingship. Old Kingdom: ruler as incarnation of the sun-god. Changing views on kingship during the First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom. Religious restoration under the Thutmosid kings of the New Kingdom. The son of Amun-Re as warrior, sportsman, and priest. Amenhotep III and his deification. Ramesses II; Ramesside cults of royal ancestors. Decline of royal prestige after the New Kingdom.

Readings. Lichtheim, vol. 2: "The later boundary stelae of Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten", pp. 48-51. "Hymns and prayers from el-Amarna," 89-100.
Quirke on Akhenaten, passim.

Week 11 The Amarna crisis. Akhenaten's theology: was the "heretic king" really a heretic? Was he really a monotheist? Temples to the Aten; the role of Queen Nefertiti in Amarna theology; Amarna art; private house-shrines; recent discoveries at the workmen's village.

Readings. Lichtheim, vol. 2: "Horus and Seth," pp. 214-223. "Hymns, prayers, and a harper's song," pp. 100-116.

Week 12. Evolution of solar religion in the New Kingdom. Ramesside reactions to Amarna theology; personal piety in Ramesside Egypt; religious life in the workmen's village of Deir el-Medina.

Readings: Quirke, ch. 4, "Preserving life." Handout: oracular decisions of Amenhotep I from Deir el-Medina.

Week 13. Oracles and divination. Oracles and the king; consultation of oracles by commoners; classical accounts of Egyptian oracles; Ammon of Siwa and Alexander the Great. Magic and medicine. Dreams and their interpretation.

Readings. Quirke, Epilogue: "Egyptian Deities Abroad."

Week 14. Egyptian religion and the larger world. Foreign cults in Egypt and Egyptian gods abroad; Isis and Serapis in the classical world. Religion in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt; the recluses of the Serapeum and other temples; letters to the gods; Ptolemaic relations with Egyptian priesthoods; the Hermetic tradition.

Week 15. Final exam (90 min.) The influence of Egyptian thought on the Old Testament and on Christian iconography and belief. Renaissance images of Egyptian religion.

This course will introduce the student to the multicultural society that was Egypt in the first m... more This course will introduce the student to the multicultural society that was Egypt in the first millennium B.C. Compared with the achievements of earlier periods--the vast pyramid complexes of the Old Kingdom, the classical literature and sculpture of the Middle Kingdom, and the magnificent tombs and temples of the imperial New Kingdom--the first millennium is little known to the general public. Yet it is this period that left its imprint on the compilers of the Hebrew Bible and on the Greek historians: the transmitters of traditions about ancient Egypt until the modern decipherment of hieroglyphic writing began in 1822. Today, travellers in Egypt regularly visit monuments erected during this era, including the imposing First Pylon of the temple of Karnak, the avenue of sphinxes leading to Luxor Temple, and the catacombs of Memphis. Recent discoveries in underwater archaeology have focused attention on the remains of the Alexandrian lighthouse and associated structures built by the Ptolemies, the Macedonian dynasty that produced Cleopatra VII.
In this course, we will study the art, literature, and history of the Egyptians during a period of political upheaval and rule by foreign powers; we will follow the cultural interactions of Egyptians with Libyans, Kushites, Jews, Persians, Carians, and Greeks who came to Egypt as prisoners of war, conquerors, mercenaries, or merchants. We will also experience Egypt through the eyes of outsiders: a pious Kushite king and an inquisitive Greek tourist. Particular attention will be paid to cultural continuity and change as Egypt enters the wider Hellenistic world of the last three centuries B.C.

This course introduces the student to the royal cemeteries of ancient Thebes, located on the west... more This course introduces the student to the royal cemeteries of ancient Thebes, located on the west bank of the Nile opposite the modern town of Luxor. Beginning with the ancestral tombs of the Eleventh Dynasty, we trace the developments that culminated, during the New Kingdom (ca. 1550-1070 BCE), in the architectural and artistic marvels of the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens. We study the evolution of tomb design, survey the texts and representations intended to ensure a glorious afterlife for the king and his family members, and meet the artisans responsible for the excavation and decoration of royal sepulchres. We also follow the footsteps of early explorers and conclude with a look at recent archaeological discoveries.

Of the thirty dynasties who ruled Egypt before the coming of Alexander the Great, none is ... more Of the thirty dynasties who ruled Egypt before the coming of Alexander the Great, none is more familiar to the museum visitor than the Eighteenth Dynasty (ca. 1550-1305 B.C.); recent exhibitions have featured Hatshepsut and Tutankhamun. These two sovereigns—the queen who took the titles of a king, and the young man whose burial astonished the world of archaeology—are among the best known Egyptian rulers. But the dynasty also includes the great warrior and builder Thutmose III, “Amenhotep the Magnificent,” and the latter’s successor Akhenaten, the “heretic.”
In this course we will study the art, architecture, history, and literature of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Our primary sources in translation range from military annals (an account of the Battle of Megiddo) to the Book to the Dead, from building dedications to private letters and autobiographies. Special attention will be given to the monuments of Thebes and to relevant museum collections.

The "Story of Sinuhe," a "historical novel" about the adventures of an exiled Egyptian officia... more The "Story of Sinuhe," a "historical novel" about the adventures of an exiled Egyptian official in Syria, is the point of departure for a study of Egypt's Middle Kingdom (ca. 2040-1640 BC) and its neighbors in Nubia and the eastern Mediterranean. Forged in a time of famine and political fragmentation, the reunited Egypt of the Middle Kingdom gave birth to new conceptions of the afterlife and the notion of the autocratic king as good shepherd. With the rise of the centralized state came military and commercial expansion into Nubia, the renewal of pyramid building, and unsurpassed achievements in art. The Egyptians themselves viewed the Middle Kingdom as a classic period and a pattern to be imitated by later generations.
In this class, we will study the art, architecture, and history of the Middle Kingdom and examine the neighboring cultures of Nubia and the Levant, not only from the perspective of ancient Egyptian literature, but also through the discoveries of modern archaeology. We will read and discuss Egyptian primary sources in translation, including short stories, prayers, wisdom literature, letters, legal documents, and funerary texts.