Main description:

This volume, published in honour of Egyptologist Professor Rosalie David OBE, presents the latest research on three of the most important aspects of ancient Egyptian civilisation: mummies, magic and medical practice. Drawing on recent archaeological fieldwork, new research on human remains, reassessments of ancient texts and modern experimental archaeology, it attempts to answer some of Egyptology's biggest questions: how did Tutankhamun die? How were the Pyramids built? How were mummies made?

Leading experts in their fields combine traditional Egyptology and innovative scientific approaches to ancient material. The result is a cutting-edge overview of the discipline, showing how it has developed over the last forty years and yet how many of its big questions remain the same. -- .

Contents:

Rosalie David: a biographical sketch - Joyce Tyldesley
My first meeting with Rosalie David - Kay Hinkley
Part I: Pharaonic sacred landscapes
1 Go West: on the ancient means of approach to the Saqqara Necropolis - Aidan Dodson
2 Sacred animal necropolis at North Saqqara: narrative of a ritual landscape - Paul T. Nicholson
3 The Manchester 'funeral' ostracon: A sketch of a funerary ritual? - Peter Robinson
4 The tomb of the 'Two Brothers' revisited - Steven Snape
5 A review of the monuments of Unnefer, High Priest of Osiris at Abydos in the reign of Ramesses II - Angela P. Thomas
6 Thoughts on Seth the con-man - Philip Turner
7 A Psamtek ushabti and a granite block from Sais (Sa el-Hagar) - Penelope Wilson
Part II: Magico-medical practices in ancient Egypt
8 A most uncommon amulet - Carol Andrews
9 The sting of the scorpion - Mark Collier
10 Magico-medical aspects in the myth of Osiris - Essam el-Saeed
11 Trauma care, surgery and remedies in ancient Egypt: a reassessment - Roger Forshaw
12 One and the same? An investigation into the connection between veterinary and medical practice in ancient Egypt - Conni Lord
13 Bread and beer in ancient Egyptian medicine - Ryan Metcalfe
14 On the function of 'healing' statues - Campbell Price
15 Writings for good health in social context: Middle and New Kingdom comparisons - Stephen Quirke
16 Schistosomiasis: ancient and modern. The application of scientific techniques to diagnose the disease - Patricia Rutherford
17 An unusual funerary figurine of the early Eighteenth Dynasty - John H. Taylor
Part III: Understanding Egyptian mummies
18 The biology of ancient Egyptians and Nubians - Don Brothwell
19 Further thoughts on Tutankhamun's death and embalming - Robert Connolly and Glenn Godenho
20 Proving Herodotus and Diodorus? Head space analysis of 'eau de mummy' using Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry - David Counsell
21 Science in Egyptology: the scientific study of Egyptian mummies - initial phase 1973-79 - Alan Curry
22 Slices of mummy: a thin perspective - John Denton
23 Life and death in the desert: a bioarchaeological study of human remains from the Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt - Tosha Dupras et al.
24 An investigation into the evidence of age-related osteoporosis in three Egyptian mummies. - Mervyn Harris
25 The Egyptian mummy tissue bank - Patricia Lambert-Zazulak
26 The enigma of the Red Shroud Mummies - Robert D. Loynes
27 The evolution of imaging ancient Egyptian animal mummies at the University of Manchester, 1972-2014 - Lidija M. McKnight and Stephanie Atherton-Woolham
28 'Eaten by Maggots': the sorry tale of Mr Fuller's Coffin - Robert G. Morkot
Part IV: Science and experimental approaches in Egyptology
29 Scientific studies of Pharaonic remains: Imaging - Judith E. Adams
30 Education, innovation and preservation: the lasting legacy of Sir Grafton Elliot Smith - Jenefer Cockitt
31 Making an ancient Egyptian contraceptive: Learning from experiment and experience - Rosalind Janssen
32 Iron from the sky: the role of meteorite iron in the development of iron-working techniques in ancient Egypt - Diane Johnson and Joyce Tyldesley
33 A bag-style tunic found on the Manchester Museum mummy '1770' - Susan Martin
34 'Palmiform' columns: an alternative design source - Peter Phillips
35 Scientific evaluation of experiments in Egyptian archaeology - Denys A. Stocks
36 Snake busters: experiments in fracture patterns of ritual figurines - Kasia Szpakowska and Rich Johnston
Index -- .