The Temple of the Mud God.

Archaeologists working at a site on the northeastern fringe of the Nile Delta have uncovered what they believe to be a temple to a god of mud, according to a press release issued by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities on their Facebook page. The site, which lies within the ancient city of Pelusium (or Blozium), a name which itself means 'mud', was first identified in 2019, when a portion of a red brick circular structure was uncovered, something which was originally identified as a possible Senate building, dating from the cities Greek or Roman period.

A section of the red brick wall surrounding the temple complex at Pelusium. Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

When fully uncovered the structure proved to be a huge circular basin 35 m in diameter, with a plinth in the middle for a statue. This was connected to a system of cisterns and channels which would have carried salty, silt-laden water from the Pelusic Nile (the 'Muddy' Nile, one of the branches of the Nile Delta) into the basin, which has been interpreted as a religious centre for the God Pelusius, or Blozius, whose name meant 'mud' and who was the patron deity for the city.

The exposed temple site. Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

The site is thought to have been in use from the second century BC until the sixth century AD, i.e. through the Greek and Roman periods of the city, and is being compared to other temples in the Hellenic and Roman worlds rather than to other Egyptian temples.

Archaeologists working on the temple site. Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

The city of Pelusium was established as a port at the eastern margin of the marshes of the Nile Delta during the Egyptian Old Kingdom, but this port had silted up by the first century BC. Today, the city is several kilometres from the sea, and lies in the northwest Sinai Desert, cut off from the Nile Delta by the Suez Canal. The city was a significant border fortress to the Egyptians, and remained an important administrative centre during Roman times. It was noted for the production of flax and beer.

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Stela depicting Roman Emperor Tiberius Caesar as Egyptian Pharaoh discovered at Karnak Temple.

Archaeologists from the Egyptian-French Center for the Study of the Temples of Karnak have uncovered a stela (stone tablet) depicting the Roman Emperor Tiberius Caesar as the Egyptian Pharaoh while working on a restoration project, according to a press release issued by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities on their Facebook Page. The stela, which is approximately 60 cm high, 40 cm wide, and 10 cm deep, is made out of sandstone and depicts the Emperor dressed as a Pharaoh and making an offering to the Egyptian gods Amun-Ra, Mut, and Khonsu. 

A stela discovered at the Temple of Karnak in Luxor, depicting the Roman Emperor Tiberius Caesar dressed as Pharaoh of Egypt making offerings to the Egyptian gods Amun-Ra, Mut, and Khonsu. Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

Amun-Ra, Mut, and Khonsu (known as the 'Thebian Triad') were a trinity of gods worshipped at Thebes, who became important throughout Egypt from the New Kingdom onwards. Amun-Ra was a fusion of the earlier gods, Amun, one of the eight deities the Old Kingdom held responsible for the creation of the universe, and the Sun God Ra. His consort, Mut (which translates as 'mother') was said to have given birth to the world, and everything in it. This originally appears to have been a separate creation myth, but over time she became associated with Amun-Ra, with the pair becoming a divine couple. The god Khonsu was seen as the son of this divine couple, and was also associated with the creation of the universe, as well as having responsibility for moving the Moon across the heavens. 

Paying tribute to this triad of gods was an important part of the duties of the Pharaoh, who was the head of the Egyptian religion as well as ruler of the country. The title of Pharaoh passed to the Roman Emperors when the state was brought into the Roman Empire by the first emperor, Augustus, in 27 BC, which meant such duties at least in theory passed to the Roman ruler. It is, however, unlikely that Tiberius (or any other emperor) travelled to Egypt to perform the role, it is likely that having a representative do this was acceptable to the Egyptians. Egypt had previously been part of the Achaemenid Empire, whose rulers were equally unlikely to travel to Egypt for local religious ceremonies, so it is likely that a procedure for this eventuality was available long before the Roman conquest.

On the Roman side, adopting local religions was a part of the strategy used in integrating new territories into their Empire, often by declaring that local gods were aspects of, or alternative names for, their own gods. This often involved investment in temples, shrines, and other religious infrastructure that local sects had not previously enjoyed, increasing the status of the local religion, and provided people travelling from the provinces with impressive temples to their own gods in Rome. In Egypt, the same approach had already been taken by the Ptolemaic Pharaohs, who had paired Egyptian gods with their Greek equivalents, providing a template for the Romans to follow. Thus Amun was seen as the equivalent of Jupiter, a respectable god for a Roman Emperor to be depicted worshipping.

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Tomb of Twelth Dynasty noblewoman discovered in Asyut, Egypt.

Archaeologists from Sohag University in Egypt and Freie Universität Berlin in Germany have uncovered the tomb of a Twelfth Dynasty noblewoman while carrying out excavations at Asyut. The tomb has been identified as that of Edi, the daughter of Jifai-Hapi, who was governor of Asyut during the reign of the Twelfth Dynasty Pharaoh Senusret I. The tomb was connected to that of Jifai-Hapi, which in turn is the largest known non-royal tomb from the Twelfth Dynasty.

The entrance to the burial chamber of Edi. Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities of Egypt.

The tomb was located to the north of that of Jifai-Hapi and was about fifteen metres deep, containing an ornate, highly decorated wooden sarcophagus with a similar inner coffin. The tomb had been looted in antiquity, with the lid of the outer sarcophagus displaced. The body of the occupant had been removed from her coffin and ripped apart, but was still present within the tomb. Examination of her remains suggests that she died before the age of forty, and had a congenital deformation of one foot. Also present in the tomb were a box of utensils and another of statues.

The sarcophagus of Edi. Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities of Egypt.

The Twelfth Dynasty was the second dynasty of the Egyptian Middle Kingdom, and was a time of military expansion and relative prosperity. Senusret I was the second Pharaoh of this dynasty, ruling from 1971-1926 BC, during which time he waged two successful wars against Nubia to the south, expanding Egyptian rule to the Second Cataract of the Nile (close to Aswan in modern Egypt), as well as building more peaceful trading relationships with the kingdoms of the near east, such as Canaan and Syria. 

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Determining the origin of the silver in the bracelets of Queen Hetepheres.

Egypt lacks any notable silver deposits of its own, and silver objects were rare during the Old Kingdom, with the metal not becoming a commonly imported commodity until the early Middle Kingdom, about 1900 BC. Silver objects dating to the Old Kingdom are therefore extremely rare, and generally associated with high status royal burials. One of the most notable groups of silver objects is a collection of bracelets from the tomb of Queen Hetepheres, the wife of the Pharoah Sneferu, who was the first ruler of the Forth Dynasty and reigned from approximately 2613 to 2589 BC, and mother to Pharoah Khufu, who built the Great Pyramd at Giza. 

The origin of silver from this period is uncertain. It could potentially have come from local sources which have since been lost; the Ancient Egyptians are known to have mined gold extensively, and seams of silver in gold-bearing rocks are not unusual. Alternatively, silver could have been imported from one of the cities of what is now Syria, most likely Byblos on the southern coast, which Egypt had been trading with since at least the Naqada IIIA1 Period (about 3320 BC), although cities further north were also traded with, with Elba having been added to the trade network by the end of the Old Kingdom, about 2300 BC.

The tomb of Queen Hetepheres at Giza was uncovered in 1925, by a joint expedition of Harvard University and the Museum of Fine Arts. This tomb had been undisturbed till this point, and contained a trove of artefacts including gilded furniture, gold vessels and jewellery. Among this jewellery was the remains of a wooden box containing twenty silver 'deben' rings (a 'deben' was a unit of weight, although the value of this appears to have changed over time). The rings were in a variable state when uncovered (unlike gold, silver will corrode over time), and the whole collection was sent to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. In 1947 two intact rings from this collection, along with a number of fragments of silver from rings which had disintegrated, was gifted by the Egyptian Museum to the Museum of Fine Arts.

When worn, these rings would have been bracelets, with five worn on each limb. They are made from thin sheets of silver folded into a cresent shape, so that there is a cavity on the inner side, and inlaid with turquoise, lapis lazuli and carnelian, in a style which clearly establishes their Egyptian origin. A metallurgical analysis of the metal was carried out in the 1920s, finding it to be 90.1% silver, 8.9% gold, and 1.0% copper, but the distribution of the gold was uneven, giving the bracelets yellowish patches. Since that time no further metalogical examination of the rings has taken place.

In a paper published in the Joutnal of Archaeological Science: Reports on 1 May 2023, Karin Sowada of the Department of History and Archaeology at Macquarie University, Richard Newman of the Museum of Fine Arts, Francis Albarède of the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, Gillan Davis of the Australian Catholic University, Michele Derrick, also of the Museum of Fine Arts, Timothy Murphy of the School of Natural Sciences at Macquarie University, and of Newspec Pty Ltd, and Damian Gore, also of Newspec Pty Ltd, present an updated metallurgical analysis of the silver from the bracelets of Queen Hetepheres, and discuss the implications of their results for the likely origin of this metal.

(A) Bracelets in the burial chamber of Tomb G 7000X as discovered by George Reisner in 1925 (Photographer: Mustapha Abu el-Hamd, August 25 1926) (B) Bracelets in restored frame, Cairo JE 53271–3 (Photographer: Mohammedani Ibrahim, August 11 1929) (C) A bracelet (right) in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MFA 47.1700. The bracelet on the left is an electrotype reproduction made in 1947. Sowada et al. (2023).

The bracelets donated to the Museum of Fine Arts were not available for study, but Sowada et al. were able to access the fragmentary material given to the museum at the same time. These samples were analysed using X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy to analyse their elemental composition. Furthermore, trace amounts of lead recovered from the sample were anlalysed using Multicollector Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry, in order to determine their isotopic composition, which is strongly linked to geogrsphical origin.

(A) Bag B1 of corroded bracelet fragments in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MFA 47.1702. MFA 47.1702 B1P4 shown second from left, centre. (B) Detail of MFA 47.1702 B1P4 (C)–(D) Metallic fragment recto (left) and verso (right) MFA 47.1702 B2P1. Sowada et al. (2023).

Sowada et al. found that the bulk sample of metal fragments was 98% silver, with 1% gold, 0.4% copper, and 0.04% lead. Patches of corrosion are dominated by silver chloride. Some other elements appear to have accumulated on the surface of the sample, notably calcium, but also iron, probably in the form of iron oxide grains. Examined under an a scanning electron microscope, fragments of the silver seen in section showed a pattern of dark and light layers typical of metal which has been worked heavily while cold, something often seen in Old Kingdom copper samples. Mapping of the elements in these profile sections suggested that the material was in fact about 90% silver and about 10% gold.

(A) Back-scattered electron image of part of the polished cross section from MFA 47.1702 B2P1 (B) Detail from image A at higher magnification, showing the metal structure to consist of elongated islands of uncorroded solver metal ('A') intercalated with a more porous matrix ('B') transitioning to an open framework of corroded metal ('C'). (C) Concentrations of silver and gold in small regions (purple outlines) were determined and plotted in (D). The plots begin at the top of the area shown in (C) and end at the bottom. The final data point is for the larger rectangular area and can be considered the average for this part of the sample (about 89% silver and 9% gold). Note that gold has higher concentrations and silver lower in the more heavily corroded areas (data points in the middle of the plots). Sowada et al. (2023).

The lead within the samples was found to have a lead²⁰⁶/lead²⁰⁴ ratio of 18.8816. This was compared to a database containing the isotopic rations of lead ores from 7000 locations between Iran and the Atlantic Ocean. This analysis susgests that the silver is most likely to have come from the Cyclades Islands, in the Aegean Sea to the southeast of the Greek mainland, and that the second most likely point of origin is the Lavrion mines of Attica. 

Map of the north-east Mediterranean and western Asia, showing potential silver sources. The lead isotope composition of a sample from MFA 47.1702 B2P1 is compared with the compositions of nearly 7000 samples of galena (white dots) distributed from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean from the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon database. The distance (colour bar to the right) allows 128 galena samples with the closest lead isotope compositions relative to MFA 47.1702 B2P1 to be retained. Unlikely sources can be ignored. A black symbol colour indicates a high probability of provenance with the greatest density of ‘hits’ coming from Seriphos, Anafi, and Kea-Kithnos in the Cyclades, and to a lesser degree Lavrion. Red and orange symbols indicate less probable sources (Anatolia, Macedonia). The symbol sizes have been slightly jittered and enlarged to increase visibility of the less probable points. Sowada et al. (2023).

Silver is known to have been mined in the Aegean region from the very beginning of the Bronze Age, and to have increasingly been traded around the Mediterranean as time passed; nevertheless, finding it as far afield as Egypt during the early Fourth Dynasty is surprising. Silver is known to have been imported to the Old Kingdom, with records dating to the reign of the Pharoah Sneferu mentioning the metal as an import, although not where it was imported from. The earliest records which do mention a source date to the late Sixth Dynasty (around 2300 BC), and record silver being imported from Byblos, in southern Lebanon. At the same time, records from Elba, in northern Lebanon, report silver being exported from that city to Egypt.

Heterpheres was the wife of Sneferu, who ruled 300 years before the Sixth Dynasty records were made, at a time when there is no direct evidence for trade between Egypt and Lebanon. A jug believed to have come from Cilicia in the Taurus Region of southern Anatolia is known from a slightly later tomb, suggesting that the Egyptians were trading this far north. This has been taken as evidence that Egypt could have traded silver from the cities of Lebanon, it is also known that silver from the Aegean was being traded in Anatolia by this time.

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Investigating a cartonnage mask from a Greco-Roman Period Egyptian Mummy.

The Ancient Egyptians had a profound belief in an afterlife, combined with a belief that ritual preservation of the body was essential to reach that afterlife. This led to the development of a complex ritual preservation methodology, which from the Middle Kingdom onward included a cartonnage, which as well as its ritual purposes, supported the form of the mummy, and served as a decorative outer coating to the the embalmed body. This cartonnage was made up of multiple layers of linen (and/or occasionally papyrus) cloth, which was then covered with a mixture of gum or glue and lime or gypsum, to form a hard outer surface suitable for painting. As a form of art, cartonnage reached its most elaborate during the Greco-Roman Period, when the Greek and Roman interest in Egyptian religion led to a fusion of Hellenistic and Egyptian styles, and the adoption of the method by a wider section of society. This was accompanied by a shift from the use of linen bandages and stucco during the Middle Kingdom and Third Intermediate Period, to more Papyrus in Ptolemaic Egypt, then to the incorporation of a wider range of materials during the Roman Period.

These cartonnages have been fairly extensively studied, for example a recent study of a Hellenistic cartonnage from the collection of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo found that it comprised a polychrome layer, a calcite-based plaster layer, a mixed mud and sawdust support layer, and a finishing calcite plaster layer, and that this was painted with opiment (a red pigment made from arsenic trisulphide), goethite (an iron hydroxide mineral with an orange or brown tint), Egyptian blue (calcium copper silicate), Madder (a red pigment extracted from the Common Madder Plant), red ochre (iron oxide), an orange pigment made by mixing orpiment and haematite (iron oxide), malachite (a green copper carbonate mineral, sometimes called Egyptian green), atacamite (a green copper halite mineral), gypsum, calcite, gilding (gold leaf), and a binding agent found to be an Animal glue. Another Roman Period cartonnage from Lisht (a village to the south of Cairo) was found to be made of a calcium carbonate layer laid down on a linen base, and decorated with pigments made from Egyptian blue, malachite, and red ochre.

Another study looked at two female Romano-Egyptian mummies from the first century AD, housed in the collection of the Ismailia Museum. These mummies were found to have a linen layer, overlaid by a gesso (glue and powdered limestone) layer, which was in turn overlaid by a pigment layer. Another mummy from El-Lahun in Middle Egypt was found to have a linen layer overlain by a mixture of calcareous material and gum Arabic, which was painted with Egyptian blue, orpiment, yellow ochre (iron (III) oxide-hydroxide, or limonite), red ochre and a green pigment made by mixing together Egyptian blue and yellow ochre.

A study of an earlier cartonnage, from the Late Period (712-332 BC), found that this had five distinct layers, including two layers of calcite plaster separated by a double-layer of linen bandages, and a polychrome paint layer where the pigments cinnabar (mercury (II) sulphate), red ochre, Egyptian blue, Orpiment, yellow ochre, and pararealgar (a yellow-orange arsenic sulphide pigment) bound in an Animal glue. This was a pigment palette just as complex as that used in the Greco-Roman Period, which came as a surprise. A study of Greco-Roman cartonnage fragments from Hawara, at the entrance to the Fayyum Oasis, found that these typically had a layer of course ground material, typically calcite with traces of quartz, followed by a layer of finely ground material, usually purer calcite, painted with a mixture of Carbon black, goethite, Egyptian blue, and red lead pigments mixed with animal glue. Another study of mummies from Tell Al Sawa in the Eastern Delta, showed that these had a linen layer overlain by a layer of ground calcite bound with Animal glue.

Finally, a study of a Greco-Roman Period gilded cartonnage with polychrome decoration from the Saqqara Necropolis found that this comprised a double layer of linen soaked in gum, followed by a course ground layer of calcite and humtite, followed a fine ground layer of calcite, then a gilded layer, painted with haematite and orpiment pigments, which were bound with gum Arabic.

Investigating the materials used to construct and decorate cartonnages enables archaeologists not just to understand the methodology of the people who made these objects, but also to come up with appropriate ways to preserve them. However, cartonnages have proven to be quite diverse in their construction, so that it is difficult to come up with a preservation method ideal for all of them, and the techniques which have been used to investigate them to date have been destructive in nature.

In a paper published in the Journal of Historical Archaeology and Anthropological Sciences on 9 March 2023, Omar Abdel-Kareem of the Archaeological Conservation Department at Cairo University, and Raghda Mahmoud, Eid Mertah, and Azza Fathy of the Conservation Center at the Grand Egyptian Museum, present the results of a study of a Greco-Roman Period cartonnage mask from the collection of the Egyptian Museum, which used non-invasive techniques to examine the materials from which the mask was made.

The cartonnage is a mask of a woman from the Greco-Roman Period, part of a set which included overheads, collars, pectorals, aprons, shin pads, foot cases and ankles. The mask is 30 cm high and 34 cm wide, and mostly painted in red, with large eyes and black brows, as well as being decorated with jewelry, including earrings and a necklace.

(a) Frontal detailed view of the cartonnage, (b) the backside of the cartonnage. Abdel-Kareem et al. (2023).

A three-dimensional map of the cartonnage was made in AutoCAD, based upon photographs taken with a digital camera. The mask was examined under ultraviolet and infrared light, then studied with Dino Lite and Keyence microscopes, and finally an ELIO portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer and a Bruker Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer.

The initial AutoCAD reconstruction of the mask revealed that the item was dirty, and suffering from damage including cracks, paint flake loss, and buckling in the linen layer.

(a) Documentation by drawing the frontal cartonnage by AutoCAD program and showing the apparent damage on it, (b) the backside of the cartonnage. Abdel-Kareem et al. (2023).

Examination under ultraviolet light produced bright white emissions from the eyes and earings of the cartonnage, which suggests that these areas were painted with white lead, while the base of the cartonnage showed up as a yellow-white colour, probably indicating the usage of recycled textile material or gum Arabic. The ultraviolet light also highlighted the textile composition of the mask, as well as the dirt accumulations, cracks, and stains. More positively, it uncovered no signs of prior attempts at restoration, nor of the material being dyed or attacked by micro-organisms. 

Documentation of the cartonnage by Ultraviolet Rays (a) shows presence of bright white emission in painted eyes and two earrings suggesting the use of white lead, (b) presence of white to yellowish emission suggesting the use of Arabic gum, (c) Textural composition 1:1, (d) dirt accumulation, (e), (f) cracks and stains. Abdel-Kareem et al. (2023).

Examination under infrared light caused the crown and necklace of the mask to show up as bright white, while other areas appeared dark. This probably indicates the use of Egyptian blue paint. This method also showed a black paint has been used on the mouth and parts of the face.

Documentation of the cartonnage under infrared light. Abdel-Kareem et al. (2023).

The cartonnage was found to be made up of three layers, a double layer of linen, a calcite plaster layer, and a polychrome paint layer.

(a), (b) Cross sectional image of the cartonnage by optical microscope in 50x magnification, showing its layered structure. (c) The schematic structure of the cartonnage. Abdel-Kareem et al. (2023).

Microscopic examination of the textile of the cartonnage suggests that it is a plain weave made from an s-spun (counterclockwise spun) thread. Some parts of the fabric were discoloured to a dark brown, resembling burns, but which is more likely to have been caused by gum Arabic.

(a) Digital microscopic image of textile layer: textural composition 1:1 magnification 50x. (b) Thickness of cartonnage measures about 0.8 mm, (c), (d) discoloration fiber to brown colour. Abdel-Kareem et al. (2023).

Microscopic examination of the plaster layer showed the presence of shiny particles, which X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy identified as calcium carbonate, with some iron impurities. This was in places painted with a yellow orpiment.

Digital microscopic image showing that a calcite-based plaster layer was found sometimes covered with yellow orpiment. Abdel-Kareem et al. (2023).

X-ray fluorescence examination of the yellow pigment used showed the presence of arsenic and sulphur, strongly suggesting that the colour was orpiment (arsenic sulphide), although traces of iron were also present, suggesting that some goethite was present.

The blue areas of the cartonnage was found to comprise particles of a blue pigment applied over a calcite base. The pigment was found to contain calcium, silicon, and copper, strongly suggesting Egyptian blue (calcium copper silicate). Traces of iron and lead were also found, suggesting impurities, and possibly the preparation of the pigment in an oven also used to prepare lead-based paints. Egyptian blue was used in  Egypt from the Fourth Dynasty (Old Kingdom) onward, and spread around the Mediterranean Basin during the Roman Period.

The black pigment was thickly applied on the eyebrows, and had cracked in places. X-ray fluorescence examination found the presence of iron, implying the pigment used is magnetite, plus calcium, which probably comes from the underlying calcite layer, and chlorine, which may be an impurity, possibly from the dirt which had accumulated in this area.

The white pigment produced spectra for lead, confirming that this was a white lead (lead carbonate); traces of iron and calcium where also found, again probably representing impurities and the base-calcite layer.

Two different red pigments were present, with the lighter apparently being red lead (lead oxide), and the darker being a mixture of red lead, haematite, and calcite. Red lead was also apparently present in the orange pigment, combined with yellow orpiment, and goethite (iron hydroxide). The brown pigment was found to contain a mixture of red hematite, red lead, and black manganese, something not previously seen in an Egyptian cartonnage. Examined under the microscope, this pigment showed as a mixture of purple or burgundy and yellow grains.

(a) Digital microscopic image of brown pigment magnified by 50x which sometimes seems purple or burgundy and appeared grains of yellow paint. (b) The same magnified by 250x. Abdel-Kareem et al. (2023).

A filler was found inside the crown of the cartonnage, which X-ray fluorescence examination suggested to be a mixture of calcite and orpiment. 

Abdel-Kareem et al.'s study revealed a great deal about the materials used to manufacture a Roman-period Egyptian cartonnage, for the first time using non-invasive techniques which left the artifact intact. As well as being a proof-of-concept for this method, the study was able to provide new information about the methods used by the cartonnage-makers, including the apparent baking of Egyptian blue in an oven also containing lead (which would have caused the pigment to be brighter). This was achieved despite the fact that the cartonnage was dirty, cracked, missing its paint in places, and showing signs of buckling, demonstrating that these techniques are relevant to conservators in the early stages of preserving ancient objects.

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