Betsy Bryan | Johns Hopkins University (original) (raw)
Papers by Betsy Bryan
Anthro notes, Sep 12, 2014
ED402263 - You Can Be a Woman Egyptologist. Careers in Archaeology, Part I.
Wonderful Things: Essays in honor of Nicholas Reeves, Peter Lacovara, Editor, 2023
A discussion of cattle brands and branding by means of two Amarna royal brands from the Eton Coll... more A discussion of cattle brands and branding by means of two Amarna royal brands from the Eton College Myers Collection. The economic and social context of branding as a material Egyptian identity and ownership is also explored.
Mural Decoration in the Theban Necropolis, 2023
BRILL eBooks, Nov 22, 2022
The lower half of a seated statue of the vizier Ptahmose (Brooklyn Museum 37.1512E) depicts the o... more The lower half of a seated statue of the vizier Ptahmose (Brooklyn Museum 37.1512E) depicts the official seated on backless stools with side slats. He wears the long vizierate kilt and holds a pleated folded handkerchief in his proper right hand. A partial inscription runs down the front of the kilt and down a two-columned narrow back slab. It identifies the vizier Ptahmose, most likely a northern vizier in the reign of Thutmose iii. Discussion of type of seat upon which Ptahmose sits leads to an identification with the seat in the hall of the vizier described in the Duties of the Vizier. The pḥḏw of the vizier's audience was a white stool associated with professional activities. The accoutrements described with it are of functional matting and skin materials, rather than luxurious textiles. The Vizier's presentation in his Hall and on the Brooklyn statue represents his strong and vigilant alertness as the king's representative whose comfort in seating was secondary to his official role.
One Who Loves Knowledge, 2022
The Star Who Appears in Thebes Studies in Honour of Jiro Kondo, 2022
Discussion of the two-dimensional image of the king in the first years of his reign and the sourc... more Discussion of the two-dimensional image of the king in the first years of his reign and the sources for inspiration.
Bulletin of the Egyptological Seminar, 1985
In their recent work on literacy in ancient Egypt, 1 John Baines and Chris Eyre include a section... more In their recent work on literacy in ancient Egypt, 1 John Baines and Chris Eyre include a section on women consisting largely of indirect evidence for literacy among a segment of the female population. That documentation includes a few scribal titles, letters signed by and addressed to women, and palettes that probably were used for writing and drawing. A few examples here will serve to demonstrate the evidence and the problems inherent in evaluating it. Later in this article I will present representational evidence for female literacy in the New Kingdom. The translation of the Middle Kingdom titles sit and sat r.s as "female scribe" and "female scribe of her mouth" has been questioned, for the contexts of several examples are puzzling. 2 Posener attributed a meaning of •cosmetician" to the latter, but Fischer, noting the rarity of lip-painting in Egypt, doubted this interpretation. The Ashayet coffin, JE 47267, is the most ambiguous example. There on the interior in hieratic, women tf sst (?), carry a mirror, jar and chest. On the exterior a woman called jg leads Ashayet by the arm. Male scribes written with the correct hieroglyphic signs so occur on the coffin in writing poses. Perhaps the hieratic and hieroglyphic signs applied to the women here should not be understood as sat. In P. Boulaq 18 (Dynasty 13), the inclusion of a female scribe among singers, nurses, a Scribe of Prisons, an Overseer of the Audience Chamber for the Royal Nursery (k3pl, and others hardly guarantees that sat r.s means •cosmetician". The order of • Research for the Catalog of Non-royal Women and therefore for this article was conducted through the aid of a grant from the Smithsonian Institute funds of the American Research Center in Egypt. I am deeply grateful for the assistance. And I am also appreciative for the unfailing cooperation of the Egyptian Anitiquities Organization and its many representatives.
AnthroNotes : National Museum of Natural History bulletin for teachers
Up and Down the Nile – ägyptologische Studien für Regine Schulz, 2021
A join between a headless torso in granodiorite from the British Museum and a badly damaged lower... more A join between a headless torso in granodiorite from the British Museum and a badly damaged lower seated body and seat in the Cairo Egyptian Museum is presented. The inscription on the rear back pillar joins exactly, and the statue is named in the text. Discussion of the statue and text follows.
Object Biographies: Collaborative Approaches to Ancient Mediterranean Art, 2021
Discussion of a Twentieth Dynasty lintel in the Menil Museum, Houston, excavated in Hermopolis in... more Discussion of a Twentieth Dynasty lintel in the Menil Museum, Houston, excavated in Hermopolis in 1937 -- with an assessment of its probable origins in Amarna. The modern history of the lintel is considered from its discovery in 1937 through the Second World War and after. The possible connection of the lintel's disappearance from Hermopolis to the theft of hundreds of Amarna talatat from the site is proposed.
A Companion to Ancient Egyptian Art, 2015
This is the published copy. There is a final draft version also uploaded. This should supersede t... more This is the published copy. There is a final draft version also uploaded. This should supersede that.
A Companion to Ancient Near Eastern Art, 2018
Egypt's Dazzling Sun. Amenhotep III and his World, 1992
Guardian of Ancient Egypt Studies in Honor of Zahi Hawass , 2020
In 2002 the Johns Hopkins University Expedition to the Temple of Mut discovered numerous fragment... more In 2002 the Johns Hopkins University Expedition to the Temple of Mut discovered numerous fragments of a life-sized greywacke statue of Ramesses III during an investigation by Charles Van Siclen III beneath the central aisle of the temple and the rear side rooms. The statue, now Luxor Museum 966, depicts the king holding a mummiform statue. The king wears elaborate garb, and a back pillar bears his titulary and dedications to the god Osiris. The article discusses the statue, its identification as the cult statue of the temple, and considers its
relationship to the gods Osiris and Amun Kamutef.
Amarna Diplomacy: The Beginnings of International Relations, 2000
Chief of seers: Egyptian studies in memory of Cyril Aldred,, 1997
Anthro notes, Sep 12, 2014
ED402263 - You Can Be a Woman Egyptologist. Careers in Archaeology, Part I.
Wonderful Things: Essays in honor of Nicholas Reeves, Peter Lacovara, Editor, 2023
A discussion of cattle brands and branding by means of two Amarna royal brands from the Eton Coll... more A discussion of cattle brands and branding by means of two Amarna royal brands from the Eton College Myers Collection. The economic and social context of branding as a material Egyptian identity and ownership is also explored.
Mural Decoration in the Theban Necropolis, 2023
BRILL eBooks, Nov 22, 2022
The lower half of a seated statue of the vizier Ptahmose (Brooklyn Museum 37.1512E) depicts the o... more The lower half of a seated statue of the vizier Ptahmose (Brooklyn Museum 37.1512E) depicts the official seated on backless stools with side slats. He wears the long vizierate kilt and holds a pleated folded handkerchief in his proper right hand. A partial inscription runs down the front of the kilt and down a two-columned narrow back slab. It identifies the vizier Ptahmose, most likely a northern vizier in the reign of Thutmose iii. Discussion of type of seat upon which Ptahmose sits leads to an identification with the seat in the hall of the vizier described in the Duties of the Vizier. The pḥḏw of the vizier's audience was a white stool associated with professional activities. The accoutrements described with it are of functional matting and skin materials, rather than luxurious textiles. The Vizier's presentation in his Hall and on the Brooklyn statue represents his strong and vigilant alertness as the king's representative whose comfort in seating was secondary to his official role.
One Who Loves Knowledge, 2022
The Star Who Appears in Thebes Studies in Honour of Jiro Kondo, 2022
Discussion of the two-dimensional image of the king in the first years of his reign and the sourc... more Discussion of the two-dimensional image of the king in the first years of his reign and the sources for inspiration.
Bulletin of the Egyptological Seminar, 1985
In their recent work on literacy in ancient Egypt, 1 John Baines and Chris Eyre include a section... more In their recent work on literacy in ancient Egypt, 1 John Baines and Chris Eyre include a section on women consisting largely of indirect evidence for literacy among a segment of the female population. That documentation includes a few scribal titles, letters signed by and addressed to women, and palettes that probably were used for writing and drawing. A few examples here will serve to demonstrate the evidence and the problems inherent in evaluating it. Later in this article I will present representational evidence for female literacy in the New Kingdom. The translation of the Middle Kingdom titles sit and sat r.s as "female scribe" and "female scribe of her mouth" has been questioned, for the contexts of several examples are puzzling. 2 Posener attributed a meaning of •cosmetician" to the latter, but Fischer, noting the rarity of lip-painting in Egypt, doubted this interpretation. The Ashayet coffin, JE 47267, is the most ambiguous example. There on the interior in hieratic, women tf sst (?), carry a mirror, jar and chest. On the exterior a woman called jg leads Ashayet by the arm. Male scribes written with the correct hieroglyphic signs so occur on the coffin in writing poses. Perhaps the hieratic and hieroglyphic signs applied to the women here should not be understood as sat. In P. Boulaq 18 (Dynasty 13), the inclusion of a female scribe among singers, nurses, a Scribe of Prisons, an Overseer of the Audience Chamber for the Royal Nursery (k3pl, and others hardly guarantees that sat r.s means •cosmetician". The order of • Research for the Catalog of Non-royal Women and therefore for this article was conducted through the aid of a grant from the Smithsonian Institute funds of the American Research Center in Egypt. I am deeply grateful for the assistance. And I am also appreciative for the unfailing cooperation of the Egyptian Anitiquities Organization and its many representatives.
AnthroNotes : National Museum of Natural History bulletin for teachers
Up and Down the Nile – ägyptologische Studien für Regine Schulz, 2021
A join between a headless torso in granodiorite from the British Museum and a badly damaged lower... more A join between a headless torso in granodiorite from the British Museum and a badly damaged lower seated body and seat in the Cairo Egyptian Museum is presented. The inscription on the rear back pillar joins exactly, and the statue is named in the text. Discussion of the statue and text follows.
Object Biographies: Collaborative Approaches to Ancient Mediterranean Art, 2021
Discussion of a Twentieth Dynasty lintel in the Menil Museum, Houston, excavated in Hermopolis in... more Discussion of a Twentieth Dynasty lintel in the Menil Museum, Houston, excavated in Hermopolis in 1937 -- with an assessment of its probable origins in Amarna. The modern history of the lintel is considered from its discovery in 1937 through the Second World War and after. The possible connection of the lintel's disappearance from Hermopolis to the theft of hundreds of Amarna talatat from the site is proposed.
A Companion to Ancient Egyptian Art, 2015
This is the published copy. There is a final draft version also uploaded. This should supersede t... more This is the published copy. There is a final draft version also uploaded. This should supersede that.
A Companion to Ancient Near Eastern Art, 2018
Egypt's Dazzling Sun. Amenhotep III and his World, 1992
Guardian of Ancient Egypt Studies in Honor of Zahi Hawass , 2020
In 2002 the Johns Hopkins University Expedition to the Temple of Mut discovered numerous fragment... more In 2002 the Johns Hopkins University Expedition to the Temple of Mut discovered numerous fragments of a life-sized greywacke statue of Ramesses III during an investigation by Charles Van Siclen III beneath the central aisle of the temple and the rear side rooms. The statue, now Luxor Museum 966, depicts the king holding a mummiform statue. The king wears elaborate garb, and a back pillar bears his titulary and dedications to the god Osiris. The article discusses the statue, its identification as the cult statue of the temple, and considers its
relationship to the gods Osiris and Amun Kamutef.
Amarna Diplomacy: The Beginnings of International Relations, 2000
Chief of seers: Egyptian studies in memory of Cyril Aldred,, 1997
The thirty-nine articles in this volume, One Who Loves Knowledge, have been contributed by collea... more The thirty-nine articles in this volume, One Who Loves Knowledge, have been contributed by colleagues, students, friends, and family in honor of Richard Jasnow, professor of Egyptology at Johns Hopkins University. Despite his claiming to be “just a demoticist,” Richard Jasnow’s research interests and specialties are broad, spanning religious and historical topics, along with new editions of demotic texts, including most particularly the Book of Thoth. A number of the authors demonstrate their appreciation for Jasnow’s contributions to the understanding of this difficult text. The volume also includes other studies on literature, Ptolemaic history, and even the god Thoth himself, and features detailed images and abundant hieroglyphic, hieratic, demotic, Coptic, and Greek texts.