#john darnell

[a-skirmish-of-wit-and-lit]

Book Review: Egypt's Golden Couple: How Akhenaten and Nefertiti Became Gods On Earth by John Darnell and Colleen Darnell

This was an in-depth and discerning account of Akhenaten and Nefertiti, one of Ancient Egypt's iconic power couples. Part archaeological analysis, part travelogue, and part fictional reimagining, this book takes readers on a chronological trek through their lives and reign. It focuses on how they reshaped various aspects of Egyptian art, architecture, politics, culture, and religion, paying special emphasis on how they took Egyptian solar worship from polytheistic to monotheistic.

Egyptology has long fascinated me. I have always been interested in history, in pyramids and hieroglyphics, in the lives of pharaohs and their wives and their progeny, so I hoped there would be much to entice me in this book. A lot of new knowledge I would be able to accrue. There were informative passages and intriguing insights about Akhenaten and Nefertiti that were new to me, and I relished those with readerly vigor, but at times they were overshadowed by the disjointed pacing, which could be dense at best and cumbersome at worst. The transitions that existed between the travelogue and research sections weren't always obvious, either. They could be difficult to follow. I had to focus hard, chew on them a bit until I was able to catch up again.

Overall, I thought this was well-researched and educational. My only complaint is that I wish it would've had a more cohesive flow because I believe it would've elevated my reading experience. Still, I would recommend this to anyone who's interested in Ancient Egyptian history.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for my review.

3/5 stars

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[skipsayslip]

"Let him who thinks he knows no fear look well upon my face. Know how a man becomes a beast when the wolfsbane blooms"

All wrestling champions fear Wolfsbane, werewolf wrestler of the night!

A piece inspired by the song Werewolf Gimmick by the mountain goats. It's about a wrestler whose alter ego is inspired by a brutal werewolf whose pretty much the most hardcore wrestler. And the song is one of the best on the whole album which is pretty great! It's a whole album about wrestlers and wrestling. Please give it a listen, or even just this song bc it's awesome!

I probably will digitize this in the future and make a poster or sticker or something bc I like it alot. Maybe even properly color it.

[imperium-romanum]

Ancient Egyptian graffiti, burial sites discovered by Yale archaeologists

A team of archaeologists — led by Yale Egyptologist John Darnell — has uncovered a “lost oasis” of archaeological activity in the Egyptian desert of Elkab.

“A team of archaeologists — led by Yale Egyptologist John Darnell — has uncovered a “lost oasis” of archaeological activity in the eastern Egyptian desert of Elkab.”

“The researchers from the Elkab Desert Survey Project — a joint mission of Yale and the Royal Museums of Art and History Brussels working in collaboration with the Ministry of Antiquities and the Inspectorate of Edfu — surveyed the area of Bir Umm Tineidba, once thought to be devoid of any major archaeological remains. Instead, the team unearthed “a wealth of archaeological and epigraphic material,” says Darnell, including a number of examples of ancient rock art or “graffiti,” the burial site of an Egyptian woman, and a previously unrecorded, enigmatic Late Roman settlement.”

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[goddessisisuniverse-blog1]

New Post has been published on Goddess Isis

New Post has been published on http://goddessisis.net/khufu-sun-boat/

Khufu Sun Boat

More than fifty years ago, boat pits were found next to the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt. Entombed in the pits were ancient wooden boats that experts believe were intended to ferry Khufu, the pharaoh who built the Great Pyramid, into the afterlife. Soon, archaeologists will excavate the fragments of the second of these boats and try to reassemble it. In doing so, experts hope to learn more about the boat, which is one of the oldest vessels to have survived from antiquity.

The 4500 year old vessel is the sister ship of a similar boat that was removed in pieces from a pit in 1954. That boat was painstakingly reconstructed and is now on display in a museum built above the pit. The unexcavated boat is thought to be of a similar design to its sister ship, a narrow craft measuring 142 feet, with a rectangular deckhouse and long, interlocking oars that soar overhead. The cedar timbers of the boat’s curved hull are lashed together with rope. While the unexcavated boat is believed to be smaller and less well preserved than the reconstructed ship, the two boats are considered to be among the most significant finds on the Giza Plateau.

Excavation of the second boat will begin in November, said professor Sakuji Yoshimura of Japan’s Waseda University, who is helping to lead restoration efforts. He said that 600 pieces of timber from Lebanese cedar and Egyptian acacia trees are expected to be removed from the pit, and once the pieces of wood have been extricated, Yoshimura and Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities will begin reconstructing the boat.

John Darnell, an Egyptologist at Yale University, said that new research into the second boat could fill in some blanks about the significance of the two ancient vessels and could help to resolve a debate over their true purpose, which has remained somewhat enigmatic. Experts have been unable to determine whether the boats ever actually plied Nile River waterways or were of purely spiritual, figurative import.

“In Egypt, almost everything real had its counterpart meaning or significance in the spiritual world. But there’s a lot of debate as to whether these vessels ever were used or not,” Darnell explained.

Some experts believe that the boats were used in the water. It is possible, they say, that these were the funerary boats used to bring the pharaoh Khufu’s embalmed remains up the Nile from the ancient capital of Memphis for burial in the Great Pyramid, his mausoleum. As evidence, they point to rope marks on the wood, which could have been caused by a rope becoming wet and then shrinking as it dried.

[nopeunhuh]

Cecil (Cecil Baldwin) and Louie (John Darnell) take the stage for Night Vale Live in Durham.

[elridge-wesley-blog]

just hung out with this guy. man he is amazing