The History of Egypt Podcast

Sety I in the Valley of the Kings (Part 1). Archaeological remains and ancient texts reveal a great deal about tomb-building in the 19th and 20th Dynasties (c.1303—1070 BCE). Records, artefacts, and art all combine to inform us of the workers and their practices. In this episode, we use the sepulchre of Sety I (KV17) as a case-study, to understand an ancient tomb project. Logo image: The cartouche of Sety I from the ceiling of his tomb (Photo Dominic Perry). Explore the tomb of Sety I in a 3D Walkthrough by MuseEd https://mused.com/guided/926/tomb-of-seti-i-valley-of-the-kings/ [https://mused.com/guided/926/tomb-of-seti-i-valley-of-the-kings/] Archaeological information for Sety's tomb at the Theban Mapping Project: https://thebanmappingproject.com/index.php/tombs/kv-17-sety-i [https://thebanmappingproject.com/index.php/tombs/kv-17-sety-i] Photos of Sety’s tomb by Kairoinfo4u: https://flickr.com/photos/manna4u/albums/72157687439529835/ [https://flickr.com/photos/manna4u/albums/72157687439529835/] For up-to-date studies and discussions of the royal tombs and their history, see The Oxford Handbook of the Valley of the Kings: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-oxford-handbook-of-the-valley-of-the-kings-9780190052072 [https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-oxford-handbook-of-the-valley-of-the-kings-9780190052072]. Individual articles may be available via their authors if you do a web search of the author + article title. Music and interludes by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.net [https://www.keithzizza.net/]. Music and interludes by Luke Chaos www.chaosmusick.com [http://www.chaosmusick.com/]. The History of Egypt Podcast: Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com [http://www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com/]. Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast [http://www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast]. Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments [https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/BHC6MGDBC6SXU]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

In 1881, a remarkable discovery took place in Luxor, Egypt. In the hills of Deir el-Bahari, a secret tomb held the reburied mummies of Egypt’s famous pharaohs. Figures like Sety I, Ramesses II, Thutmose III, and Amunhotep I lay in rest, in carefully hidden coffins. However, the caskets themselves hold many secrets, which today’s guest has spent years exploring. VIDEO VERSION available on YouTube [https://youtu.be/pKFEGKuJFqI]. Interview guest: * Prof. Kara Cooney (UCLA) presents Recycling for Death:Coffin Reuse in Ancient Egypt and the Theban Royal Caches. Part of the UCLA Coffins Project https://arce.org/project/ucla-coffins-project/ [https://arce.org/project/ucla-coffins-project/]. Available via AUC Press https://aucpress.com/9781649031280/recycling-for-death/ [https://aucpress.com/9781649031280/recycling-for-death/]. * Kara Cooney’s website: https://karacooney.squarespace.com/ [https://karacooney.squarespace.com/].  The Deir el-Bahari cache and the royal coffins & mummies:  * Coffin of Sety I https://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/coffinofsetii [https://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/coffinofsetii]. Possible evidence of its origin as a queenly coffin via Dr. Peter Lacovara https://peterlacovara.com/portfolio/coffin-conundrum/ [https://peterlacovara.com/portfolio/coffin-conundrum/].  * Daressy, G. (1909). Cercueils des cachettes royales: Nos 61001-61044. https://archive.org/details/DaressyCercueils1909 [https://archive.org/details/DaressyCercueils1909]. * Maspero, G., & Brugsch, É. (1881—1887). La Trouvaille de Deir-el-Bahari, 2 vols. https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/maspero1881bd1 [https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/maspero1881bd1] and https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/maspero1887bd2 [https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/maspero1887bd2].  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

The plan of an honest ruler. Around 1300 BCE, as today, gold was big business. King Sety I personally led an expedition into the eastern desert, to establish a new mining operation. Back in the Nile Valley, high-ranking officials leave monuments testifying to their work delivering, securing, and recording that gold. And thanks to art and artefacts, we can reconstruct the items these gold-workers produced. From the Red Sea Mountains to the Temple of Abydos, we follow the paths of gold… Logo image: Silver and gold statuette of a New Kingdom pharaoh, possibly Sety I (Louvre [https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010032431]). For records of Sety and his contemporaries, see Kenneth Kitchen. Ramesside Inscriptions, Volume I. Versions: Hieroglyphs [https://archive.org/details/KennethA.KitchenRamessideInscriptionsVol1]; English translations [https://www.abercrombypress.com/books/ramesside-inscriptions-historical-and-biographical-volume-i/]; References and Commentary [https://www.meretsegerbooks.com/pages/books/M8346c/kitchen-kenneth-anderson/ramesside-inscriptions-translated-and-annotated-notes-and-comments-vol-i-ramesses-i-sethos-i-and]. Photos of Sety’s Temple at Kanais [https://flickr.com/photos/26330013@N08/albums/72157644231058145/] in the Wadi Barramiya [https://flickr.com/photos/12819143@N08/albums/72157610930432397/]. Sety’s monuments including the Abydos and Kanais temples, in P. J. Brand, The Monuments of Seti I: Epigraphic, Historical and Art Historical Analysis (2000). Available free online at Academia.edu [https://www.academia.edu/40610263/The_Monuments_of_Sety_I_Epigraphic_Historical_and_Art_Historical_Analysis_2000_Probleme_der_%C3%84gyptologie_16_Leiden_E_J_Brill]. Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com [www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com]. Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast [www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast]. Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments [https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/BHC6MGDBC6SXU]. Music and interludes by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.net [www.keithzizza.net]. Music and interludes by Luke Chaos www.chaosmusick.com [www.chaosmusick.com]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Sety in the Desert. Around 1300 BCE, King Sety led an expedition into the Red Sea hills. His purpose? Gold. The King brought soldiers and charioteers out to mine precious metals for his treasuries. The journey was difficult, traversing a dry and rocky landscape far from the comforts of home. Fortunately, Sety left detailed descriptions of the event; and art and artefacts from this era allow us to reconstruct the journey... Episode details: * Logo image: Soldiers make camp, setting up tents for commanders. Tomb of Horemheb at Saqqara (Martin 2016). * Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com [www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com]. * Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast [www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast]. * Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments [https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/BHC6MGDBC6SXU]. * Music and interludes by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.net [www.keithzizza.net]. * Music and interludes by Luke Chaos www.chaosmusick.com [www.chaosmusick.com]. * The Wadi Barramiya, in which Sety’s expedition travelled, by Hakatani Tenfu at Flickr.com [https://flickr.com/photos/12819143@N08/albums/72157610930432397/]. * The Kanais Temple of Sety I, in the Wadi Barramiya, by Mutnedjmet at Flickr.com [https://flickr.com/photos/26330013@N08/albums/72157644231058145/]. Select bibliography: * A. Dodson, Sethy I King of Egypt: His Life and Afterlife (Cairo, 2019). * H. Gauthier, ‘Le temple de l’Ouâdi Mîyah (el Knaïs)’, Bulletin de l’Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale 17 (1920), 1--38. Available online [https://www.ifao.egnet.net/bifao/17/]. * K. A. Kitchen, Ramesside Inscriptions Historical and Biographical, I (Oxford, 1975). * R. Klemm and D. Klemm, Gold and Gold Mining in Ancient Egypt and Nubia: Geoarchaeology of the Ancient Gold Mining Sites in the Egyptian and Sudanese Eastern Deserts (Berlin, 2013). * G. T. Martin, Tutankhamun’s Regent: Scenes and Texts from the Memphite Tomb of Horemheb (EES Excavation Memoir 111; London, 2016). * C. D. Reader, A Gift of Geology: Ancient Egyptian Landscapes and Monuments (Cairo, 2022). * R. D. Rothe et al., Pharaonic Inscriptions from the Southern Eastern Desert of Egypt (Winona Lake, 2008). * B. M. Sampsell, The Geology of Egypt: A Traveler’s Handbook (Cairo, 2014). * See website for complete listing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Ramesses Rising. Traditionally, Egyptian princes are almost invisible. The pharaohs downplayed the presence of their sons, to reduce political competition and maintain religious order. Sety I (c.1300 BCE) changed this habit. In art and monuments, he promoted young Ramesses II to a position of prominence and power. The exact nature of this promotion is slightly controversial among Egyptologists. In this episode, we explore Ramesses’ rise and some of the thorny issues. Additionally, Prof. Peter Brand joins us to discuss some of the harder questions on these period. * Peter Brand, The Monuments of Sety I (2000), available free at Academia.edu [https://www.academia.edu/40610263/The_Monuments_of_Sety_I_Epigraphic_Historical_and_Art_Historical_Analysis_2000_Probleme_der_%C3%84gyptologie_16_Leiden_E_J_Brill]. * Peter Brand, Ramesses II: Egypt’s Ultimate Pharaoh (2023) available from Lockwood Press [https://www.lockwoodpress.com/product-page/ramesses-ii-egypt-s-ultimate-pharaoh-paper]. * Music and interludes by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.net [https://cms.megaphone.fm/organizations/49030b9e-6e7b-11ec-9fbd-ff69d6d10229/podcasts/7f77b9bc-b6f6-11ed-8eb6-6b5f270b4f7b/episodes/8b9e1182-b6f6-11ed-bbbf-53ca71161987/www.keithzizza.net]. * Music and interludes by Luke Chaos www.chaosmusick.com [http://www.chaosmusick.com/]. * Outro music: “River Lullaby” from The Prince of Egypt (1998) – Harp cover by The Knitting Harpist (YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJiIVwJtRaE]). The History of Egypt Podcast: * Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com [http://www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com/]. * Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast [http://www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast]. * Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments [https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/BHC6MGDBC6SXU]. * Music and interludes by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.net [https://cms.megaphone.fm/organizations/49030b9e-6e7b-11ec-9fbd-ff69d6d10229/podcasts/7f77b9bc-b6f6-11ed-8eb6-6b5f270b4f7b/episodes/8b9e1182-b6f6-11ed-bbbf-53ca71161987/www.keithzizza.net]. * Music and interludes by Luke Chaos www.chaosmusick.com [http://www.chaosmusick.com/]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]