Maiken Mosleth King | University of Bristol (original) (raw)

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Papers by Maiken Mosleth King

Pédagogie des langues, de Memphis à Tokyo : perspectives actuelles sur l'enseignement des langues anciennes et modernes d'Asie et au-delà. Édité par Robin Meyer et Antonia Ruppel, 2024

This paper discusses the challenges of teaching the Middle Egyptian language and Egyptian hierogl... more This paper discusses the challenges of teaching the Middle Egyptian language and Egyptian hieroglyphs to adult anglophone learners outside university settings. These challenges include the lack of L1 speakers; the large volume of signs in the script; the difficulty in reconstructing pronunciation due to the paucity of written vowels; and the lack of accessible learning tools such as readers and textbooks for the intermediate stage. As spoken proficiency in this extinct language is not a feasible goal, it is argued here that teaching should revolve around achieving reading competence. The paper advocates for a pedagogical approach that centres on using vocabulary, including variant spellings, as the fundamental building blocks of learning. This entails reading words, sentences and paragraphs of increasing complexity, which over time aids memorisation of vocabulary and builds confidence. Grammar and syntax can be gradually introduced and contextualised by reading practice sentences. It is also argued here that producing digitised versions of ancient Egyptian texts using hieroglyphic font software such as JSesh allows for the creation of practice texts in a standardised and legible format. This, in turn, makes it possible to use pedagogical aids such as adding spaces between words and adding signs omitted by the ancient scribes. Finally, it is argued that learning vocabulary and grammar is enhanced by discussions of the wider semantic and cultural meaning(s) of the ancient text in question.

Alternative Egyptology: Critical Essays on the Relation between Academic and Alternative Interpretations of Ancient Egypt, 2024

This chapter examines the reception of ancient Egypt and the stela of Ankhefenkhonsu in Aleister ... more This chapter examines the reception of ancient Egypt and the stela of Ankhefenkhonsu in Aleister Crowley's religious tradition of Thelema.

How Pharaohs Became Media Stars: Ancient Egypt and Popular Culture, 2023

Göttinger Miszellen: Beiträge zur ägyptologischen Diskussion, 2018

The necropolis at Kom Abou Billou has yielded hundreds of funerary stelae dating to the Roman per... more The necropolis at Kom Abou Billou has yielded hundreds of funerary stelae dating to the Roman period, and their dating and iconography has been the subject of much discussion. The stelae have been labelled as ‘Coptic’, and dated by various scholars between the 1st century BC and the 4th century AD. The late dating is based on lamps and coins found in the necropolis. This article discusses the portrayal of Terenouthis in the hagiographic tradition, showing that these texts associate the town with ‘paganism’ and demons. This text also argues that the lack of archaeological context for the lamps and coins means that they cannot be used as a basis for dating the stelae. As a group of these stelae can be more securely dated to the reign of Augustus, the article supports a dating of the stelae to the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. Furthermore, the text highlights the problems associated with uncritically applying the term ‘Coptic’ to pre-Christian and non-Christian art of the Roman period, and proposes the reign of Theodosius I as the earliest suitable date for ‘Coptic’ as an artistic term. Finally, the article argues that no Christian group identity can be demonstrated to have existed in Terenouthis during the period in which the stelae were created, and that there is no basis for labelling the stelae or their owners as either ‘Coptic’ or Christian.

Rosetta, 2022

This article analyses the narrative of the film The Fourth Kind, which revolves around the concep... more This article analyses the narrative of the film The Fourth Kind, which revolves around the concept of 'ancient astronauts' and the direct involvement of extraterrestrials in the emergence of civilisation in the ancient Near East. The text demonstrates how the narrative perpetuates pseudo-scientific ideas formulated by Erich von Däniken, whilst drawing on the 'grey alien' lore of contemporary science fiction. The aliens in The Fourth Kind serve as antagonists, imbued with supernatural abilities that align them with the demons of Judeo-Christian traditions. The article also demonstrates how the film treats ancient Near Eastern cultures as monolithic, drawing on Orientalist traditions of 'the West' and 'the East' as dialectical opposites, and places the ancient Near East within a Biblical worldview centred on 'good' versus 'evil'.

Journal of History and Cultures 10, 2019

The Tomb Raider game The Last Revelation is both a fictional portrayal of archaeology and an adap... more The Tomb Raider game The Last Revelation is both a fictional portrayal of archaeology and an adaptation of the ancient myth of Horus and Seth. This article examines how the game relates to other portrayals of archaeology in popular culture, showing that the narrative follows the archaeologist-as-hero paradigm previously established by the Indiana Jones franchise. The text also demonstrates that the narrative is not a straightforward translation of the ancient source material, but relies heavily on intertextual references to the Bible. As such, the game re-frames the conflict between Horus and Seth as an apocalyptic battle of good versus evil, derived from the Judeo-Christian tradition. This text also shows that adapting the ancient myth to fit a Biblical worldview is a tool of reception that serves to render the Egyptian gods more comprehensible to a contemporary Western audience. Finally, the article demonstrates how the game allows the player to experience the ‘essence’ of ancient Egypt virtually, drawing on the traditions of Orientalism and Egyptomania, whilst exploring culturally relevant themes such as faith, redemption and salvation.

Books by Maiken Mosleth King

Emotions in Antiquity and Ancient Egypt, 2020

English version: Let us live, my Lesbia, and let us love… Suns can set and rise again: we whe... more English version:

Let us live, my Lesbia, and let us love…
Suns can set and rise again: we when once our brief light
has set must sleep through a perpetual night.
Give me a thousand kisses, and then a hundred…
Catullus 84–54 BC

A love poem. A reminder that everything must die. But also, that some things are eternal. Words are easy to understand, but emotions can also be retrieved from things. An image of a god or ruler conveys respect or reverence to those who have power. Funerary art reveals hope of an eternal life. A gift can be given out of love, and a drinking cup can bear witness to the joys of gathering around a table. This book is produced at the occasion of an exhibition with a table set with items that allow us to glimpse emotions from Antiquity and ancient Egypt. Some emotions can be understood across time and space, others are culturally defined. Emotions can be manipulated and controlled. They have overturned regimes and started wars. But it is in the small and everyday things that we come to meet the individual.

Norwegian version:

La oss leve, Lesbia, og elske…
Solen kan synke og gjenoppstå, mens
vi må dø med vårt korte lys, for vår søvn
er en evig natt. Gi meg tusen kyss,
og hundre til…
Catull 84-54 f.Kr.

Et kjærlighetsdikt. En påminnelse om at alt må dø. Men også om at noe er evig. Ordene er lette å forstå, men følelser kan også leses ut av ting. Et bilde av en gud eller hersker forteller om respekt eller ærefrykt for den som har makt. Gravkunst handler ofte om sorg, men også om håp om et liv etter døden. En gave kan bli gitt i kjærlighet, og et vinbeger vitner om bordets gleder. Denne boken er produsert i forbindelse med en utstilling der et bord er dekket med gjenstander som bærer med seg glimt av følelser fra antikken og det gamle Egypt. Noen følelser kan forstås på tvers av tid og rom, andre er kulturelt betinget. Følelser kan manipuleres og kontrolleres. De har veltet regimer og startet kriger. Men det er i de små og hverdagslige tingene vi kan møte det enkelte menneske.