Egypt

and the Near East the Crossroads

Jana Mynov (ed.)

hbet_27 mm

ISBN 978-80-7308-362-5

C M Y K potah_Egypt _ A G A M A

Egypt
and the Near East the Crossroads
Proceedings of an International
Conference on the Relations of Egypt
and the Near East in the Bronze Age,
Prague, September 13, 2010

edited by Jana Mynov

strana 1 titul

Egypt
and the Near East
the Crossroads
Proceedings of an International
Conference on the Relations of Egypt and the Near East in the Bronze Age,
Prague, September 13, 2010

edited by Jana Mynov

Charles University in Prague

Czech Institute of Egyptology, Faculty of Arts
2011

strana 2

The book was published from the financial means allocated for the research project of
the Ministry of Education of the Czech Republic, Grant No. MSM 0021620826 (The
Exploration of the Civilisation of Ancient Egypt)

Reviewed by Miroslav Brta and Jordi Vidal

Contributors: Alexander Ahrens, Bettina Bader, Christopher Brinker, Joachim Bretschneider, Violetta Cordani, Marcin Czarnowicz, Elena Devecchi, Greta Jans, Florian
Klimscha, Florian Lippke, Jared L. Miller, Jana Mynov, Mary F. Ownby, Zsolt
Simon, Hanadah Tarawneh, Anne-Sophie Van Vyve, Anna Wodziska and Silvie
Zamazalov

Cover: Tall-shouldered jar with an inscription of the Middle Kingdom princess Itakayet from Tomb VII at Tell Mishrife/Qatna (photo: M. Steinmetz; drawing: A. Gubisch,
Qatna excavation project, University of Tubingen); Cylinder seal depicting the seated ama with two attendants, Keel (2007: 278, no.154), Akkadian style, found in
a tomb from the 7th century B.C.E., Jerusalem, Bible+Orient Museum, Fribourg/
Foundation Bible+ Orient

Type-setting layout: AGAMA poly-grafick atelir, s.r.o., Praha

Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Arts, 2011

ISBN: 978-80-7308-362-5

Contents
Contents

Preface

Contributors

15

List of Abbreviations

19

Alexander Ahrens
A Hyksos Connection? Thoughts on the Date
of Dispatch of Some of the Middle Kingdom Objects Found
in the Northern Levant

21

Abstract: The article deals with the presence of Middle Kingdom statuary in northern
Levantine contexts, focussing on the chronological and historical implications of these
objects. It is argued that at least some of the statuary was dispatched to the northern Levant only during the Second Intermediate Period (i.e. the late 13th Dynasty and Hyksos
period), when the tombs and pyramids of the Middle Kingdom rulers and their court
were looted for the first time. Some of the objects may have possibly been transferred to
the Levant via the Hyksos and their capital Avaris (modern Tell el-Dabca).
Keywords: Middle Kingdom statuary northern Levant Qatna Hyksos Avaris/Tell
el-Dabca

Bettina Bader
Contacts between Egypt and Syria-Palestine as seen in a Grown
Settlement of the late Middle Kingdom at Tell el-Dabca/Egypt

41

Abstract: This article provides an overview of the development of the settlements at Tell
el-Dabca/Avaris up to the late Middle Kingdom (ca. 17501710 B.C.E.) with a focus on
the organically grown settlement of late Middle Kingdom date situated in excavation
area A/II in local phase G/3-1. Special attention is given to the presence of Syro-Palestinian cultural traits in this early phase of the site, that ca. 80100 years later became the
capital of the Hyksos. To this end the tombs belonging to the settlement were collected
together in their entirety and analysed according to their contents and burial customs
and compared with other contemporary burials at the site. The house ground plans and
general settlement patterns were contrasted with other sites in Egypt and the Levant,
with cultural parallels more closely linked to Egypt than to the Levant, although no identical settlement could be traced due to a lack of well excavated sizeable settlements in
both areas. Finds are also considered, especially pottery. Remarkable is the presence of
a small volume of cooking ware that finds ready parallels in Syria-Palestine (flat bottom
cooking pot) and occurs both as import and local copy. Several other ceramic forms were
copied locally. This implies that at least a small group of non-Egyptian people, preferring
to cook with flat bottomed pots rather than the Egyptian round-based ones, was present
at the site in the settlement, and fleshes out data from the burials, some of which have
very strong affinities to Syria-Palestine. It seems that in everyday life the Egyptian cultural component was stronger than in the burial sphere.
Keywords: late Middle Kingdom settlement Avaris/Tell el-Dabca excavation area
A/II

Contants

Christopher Brinker
Are you serious? Are you joking?
Wenamuns Misfortune
at Dor in its Ancient Near Eastern Legal Context

73

Abstract: The Tale of Wenamun is known from a single papyrus reportedly recovered
from el-Hiba in Middle Egypt more than a century ago. The literary composition takes
the form of an official report which relates the journey of an Egyptian bureaucrat Wenamun and his unfortunate robbery at Dor.
By means of a legal analysis of the composition, drawing on Ancient Near Eastern legal
principles known from the Amarna letters and elsewhere, this study identifies the source
of Wenamuns misfortune specifically as a lack of Egyptian ships and crews in the
Mediterranean at the time of the tales composition. It furthermore supports recent
hypotheses that the text was meant to convey an implicit political argument for Egyptian
unification.
Keywords: Tale of Wenamun Dor Mediterranean Ancient Near Eastern law

Joachim Bretschneider,
Anne-Sophie Van Vyve and Greta Jans
Tell Tweini: A Multi-Period Harbour Town at the Syrian Coast

89

Abstract: The coastal site of Tell Tweini (ancient Gibala), 40km south of Ugarit, is one
of the larger mounds in the Jebleh Plain. Since 1999, a Syrian-Belgian team has uncovered a long sequence of occupational deposits from the Early Bronze Age until the
Iron Age.
Excavations and a geomagnetic survey revealed the well-preserved plan of the city
as it was during the Iron Age II/III period. The plan is dominated by an elaborate
street system connecting several public urban structures including a Phoenician temple district with domestic and industrial areas. The Early Iron Age is represented by
two main architectural levels, dated to the 12th and 11th centuries B.C.E. In the LB II
period Tell Tweini was part of the Kingdom of Ugarit and is mentioned as Gibala in
the treaty between the Hittite king Murili II and Niqmepa, king of Ugarit. The material culture of the LB II parallels that of Ugarit with imports from all over the Eastern
Mediterranean including a wide range of Cypriote and Mycenaean ceramics. Domestic structures with underground communal tombs are known for the LB I to MB I periods. The first urbanisation of Tell Tweini started in the Early Bronze Age IIIIV
period and is represented by a sequence of two main architectural levels including
mudbrick constructions.
Keywords: Late Bronze Age Iron Age Syria Tell Tweini archaeology ceramics

Violetta Cordani
Azirus Journey to Egypt and its Chronological Value
Abstract: This article reappraises the chronology of the Amarna letters written by Aziru,
chief of Amurru, to the Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep IVAkhenaten. Letters EA 157
and EA 164167 are reordered according to a different reconstruction of the so-called
One-Year war over a time span of five years. By comparing Azirus correspondence
with other Amarna letters, especially from Rib-Hadda of Byblos, the author investigates
the historical frame within which Azirus journey to Egypt took place and discusses the
length of Azirus stay at the Egyptian court.
Keywords: Amarna letters Aziru Rib-Hadda chronology One-Year war Amenhotep IVAkhenaten

103

Contants

Marcin Czarnowicz
Between Core and Periphery Early Contacts between Egypt
and the southern Levant in Light of Excavations
at Tell el-Farkha, Eastern Nile Delta

117

Abstract: Since 1998, the Polish team has been excavating a site called Tell el-Farkha in
the Eastern Nile Delta. Archaeologists believe that the so-called Chicken Mound, as it
is known in English, played an important role in the relations between the southern Levant and Egypt. The time of the sites greatest prosperity corresponds with the development of the so-called Egyptian colony in Palestine. According to various surveys
conducted in the Nile Delta, Tell el-Farkha was a nodal point en route from Upper Egypt
to the southern Levant, located at a crossroads with a route leading into the Western
Delta. The large number of fragments of imported pottery and its locally made imitations
underlines the role of the site in long-range trade. In his article the author once again reexamines the arguments supporting this theory, highlighting the most important objects
of Levantine provenance and locally made imitations. The paper further presents nonpottery evidence of the contacts, including, among others, commodities that Tell elFarkha was able to send to the Levant.
Keywords: Tell el-Farkha Eastern Nile Delta pottery imports imitations

Elena Devecchi and Jared L. Miller

Hittite-Egyptian Synchronisms and their Consequences
for Ancient Near Eastern Chronology

139

Abstract: The first part of this paper attempts to identify a plausible point in time at which
a third peace treaty between Hatti and Egypt in addition to the earlier Kurutama Treaty
Eternal Silver Treaty between Hattuili III and Ramesse II
of uncertain date and the later
might have been ratified, and if so, between which Hittite and Egyptian sovereigns.
Based on the combined analysis of old and new Hittite sources it is suggested that the
reigns of Murili II and Horemheb represent the most likely scenario for the conclusion
of this third peace agreement. The second section seeks first to address a number of issues
that have been discussed lately concerning the interpretation of a recently published historical narrative of Murili II (KUB 19.5 + KBo 50.24), in which he describes a standoff
with a certain Ar-ma-a of Egypt, whereby it is suggested that (a) the identification of Arma-a with Horemheb before his ascension to the throne remains likely and (b) that the
king said in col. ii 2 to have ascended the throne, but whose name is almost entirely broken away, is likely to have been Ay, i.e. H eper-hepru-re. It next attempts to reconcile the
of Horemhebs

recently proposed shortening of the length

reign to some 14 years with
available evidence concerning synchronisation with Babylonian chronology. The synchronism based on EA 3 placing the ascension of Burna-Buriya II within the last ca. six years
of Amenhotep IIIs reign is retained, while that based on KBo 1.10+ placing the ascension
of Kadaman-Enlil II at ca. year 16 of the reign of Ramesse II is rejected, which would necessitate the raising of the dates of Horemhebs successors by some 25 years.
Keywords: Late Bronze Age chronology synchronisation Egypt Hatti treaty

Florian Klimscha
Long-range Contacts in the Late Chalcolithic of the Southern Levant.
Excavations at Tall Hujayrat al-Ghuzlan and Tall al-Magass
near Aqaba, Jordan

177

Abstract: The author discusses the imports and influences of Tall Hujayrat al-Ghuzlan at
a late Chalcolithic/Early Bronze Age tell site in southern Jordan. The archaeological materials show parallels with Predynastic Egypt and can be securely dated to before the

Contants

beginning of the Early Bronze Age when traces of Egyptian presence can be seen at
various other sites in the Southern Levant.
Keywords: Late Chalcolithic Early Bronze Age Tall Hujayrat al-Ghuzzlan Tall el-Magass Jordan

Florian Lippke
The Southern Levant in context. A brief sketch of important
features considering the religious symbol system in the Bronze Ages

211

Abstract: The present article discusses the encounters of different (religious) symbol
systems in the Southern Levant throughout the Bronze Ages. In a methodological introduction, important implications and inspiration (originating in philosophy, art history and sociology) are presented and briefly discussed. The Southern Levant is
referred to as a connected space (land bridge, Sacred Bridge, etc.) which also partakes
in the conventions of representation in the Eastern Mediterranean (aspective rendering, parallelism of structure/constellation). The iconographic mechanisms predominant in the Southern Levant are also discussed (reduced quality, reduced scope). In
selected case studies (the falcon-headed and Seth, snake iconography, overlapping iconographic spheres, one sphere supplementing the other and the importance of Jerusalem as a place for the histoire longue dure of the monotheistic religions)
iconographic material (mostly) from the Bronze Ages is presented. An excursus introduces the recent research project IPIAO and an appendix gives some further hints
considering the discussion about crossroads (architecture, stamp-seals, anthropomorphic figurines/statues). In summary, the article argues for a reasonable integration of
the diverse ancient symbol systems when analysing the history of religions in the
Southern Levant. It gives reasons for consideration of archaeological material indicating different cultural spheres and their interaction.
Keywords: Southern Levant Bronze Age symbol systems iconography religions

Jana Mynov
Wretched Fallen One of Hatti or Hero? An Image of the Hittite King

in the Egyptian Sources

235

Abstract: It has been already suggested that the diplomatic language of Akkadian texts
written down in Egypt during the Amarna age and in the Ramesside era differ significantly from one another. These dissimilarities might well correspond to a mutation of
epistolary traditions that underwent significant changes related to the development in
the relations between the Great Powers of Egypt and H atti between the 14th and 13th cen between the two partners in the
turies B.C.E. It is beyond dispute that for the relations
th
13 century B.C.E. at least three historical phenomena were crucial the Battle of Qadesh
in the 5th regnal year of Ramesse II, royal correspondence between the two courts and
the conclusion of the Silver Treaty. All three occasions provide us with an outstanding
and unique opportunity to study the language of diplomacy including the manner and
forms of royal titulary employed in the respective texts. It is the aim of this paper to discuss various aspects in the identification of the Hitttite representatives.
Keywords: Egypt Hatti royal titulary Battle of Qadesh royal correspondence Silver

Treaty

Zsolt Simon
The Identification of Qode. Reconsidering the Evidence
Abstract: Qode, an Ancient Near Eastern region known from Egyptian sources, is
commonly identified with the Hittite territory of Kizzuwatna, though this view neg-

249

Contants

lects both the published criticism and the alternative suggested as early as 1969.
This reconsideration argues that this traditional identification is excluded by the
historical, geographical and linguistic data provided by our sources and this is
increasingly valid for the recent modifications of this theory involving the identification with Tarhuntaa or with every Luwian land in South Anatolia. Based on our

knowledge to date,
we can identify Qode with a toponym attested in Ugaritic
sources and once perhaps in the HittiteEgyptian correspondence. Its precise localisation is still not possible, but North Syria, more precisely, the territory of Naharina
/ Mittani, is certain. Finally, as a by-product of this investigation, we could eliminate
a Late Bronze Age ghost country (Qawe) and an alleged Egyptian reference to a
Luwian sovereign and to identify the Hieroglyphic Luwian toponym Kawa that was
long held to be a hapax.
Keywords: Anatolia Syria Qode toponym Luwian

Hanadah Tarawneh
Amarna Letters: Two Languages, Two Dialogues

271

Abstract: This paper deals with the issue of translation in the Amarna letters. It discusses
the various parties involved in creating the tablet: the scribe inscribing the tablet or the
messenger delivering it. The paper starts with the messengers role in this communication process and then proceeds to the role of the scribe in this language exchange. The
role of the trained scribe in this communication exchange is of great importance due to
the need for two-way translation. The Amarna text was written and read by people who
were not native speakers of the language of the text (excluding 11 letters from Babylon
and two letters from Assyria). This leads to the need to translate content at both ends
when transferring the message from the mother tongue of the sender into learnt Akkadian or when reading text written in Akkadian in the mother tongue of the recipient.
Keywords: Amarna letters communication messenger scribe translations

Anna Wodziska and Mary Ownby

Tentative remarks on Levantine combed ware
from Heit el-Ghurab, Giza

285

Abstract: Levantine combed ware jars are well known in Egypt. Complete vessels have
been found at many Old Kingdom sites, although the Giza plateau seems to be the main
place of their occurrence. Imported jars are usually associated with the tombs of prominent people. However, a few examples were found in domestic contexts at the Heit elGhurab site excavated by the Ancient Egypt Research Association directed by Mark
Lehner. The site generally dates to the reign of Menkaure (approx. 25392511 B.C.E.) and
represents a large settlement divided into three main parts, regularly planned galleries
and two quarters called Eastern and Western Towns. Eighteen sherds of combed ware
jars were identified among the ceramic material from the settlement. Following a preliminary microscopic examination it appears that they may come from the coastal area
of Lebanon.
Keywords: Old Kingdom Giza plateau Heit el-Ghurab pottery combed ware

Silvie Zamazalov
Before the Assyrian Conquest in 671 B.C.E.: Relations between
Egypt, Kush and Assyria

297

Abstract: In 701 B.C.E., the Neo-Assyrian king Sennacherib fought a battle at Eltekeh
against a coalition of Philistine city-states and Egyptian and Kushite forces, dispatched
by the Kushite ruler Shebitku. The encounter marked an important watershed in the

Contants

relations between Assyria and Egypt / Kush: although Egyptian involvement in Philistine affairs was not without precedent, Shebitkus unambiguous opposition to Assyria
signalled openly hostile relations which would eventually culminate in Egypts conquest,
and temporary integration into Assyrias impressive empire, by Sennacheribs successor
Esarhaddon thirty years later.
The paper focuses on key events which preceded the battle of Eltekeh and led to the interaction between Egypt, Kush and Assyria in the buffer zone of the southern Levant, as
well as on the individuals who acted as a catalyst for these events. The growing awareness of the two regions in the political as opposed to cultural or economic arena was
reflected in the increasing prominence accorded to Assyro-Egyptian and Kushite relations in historical sources, which provide the focal point of the examination with an aim
of placing the struggle in a wider Near Eastern context.
Keywords: Egypt Kush Assyria southern Levant 8th century B.C.E. political history

Indices

329

Preface
The present volume presents the proceedings from the international workshop
entitled Egypt and the Near East the Crossroads, dedicated to the study of the relations between the two regions. The symposium took place from September 13,
2010 at the Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague.
The main objective of the workshop was to enhance our understanding of the
historical processes and the development of the abundant and complex relations
between Egypt and the Near East during the period defined by the end of the
Chalcolithic Period and the dawn of the Iron Age. In light of this, special attention
was given to the region of Syria-Palestine. In order to obtain a well-balanced insight, the subject was discussed both from an archaeological and from a philological point of view. We believed that bringing together archaeologists, philologists
as well as historians and other experts was not just highly desirable, but a necessity for gaining a deeper insight into the particular historical, social, cultural and
economic developments of this region at this particular moment in time.
Individual papers were organised into sessions based on their chronology
and/or theme. The Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Michal Stehlk and the head of
the research project The Exploration of the Civilisation of Ancient Egypt, Miroslav
Verner opened the symposium.
Their addresses were followed immediately by the first keynote lecture, delivered by Pierre de Miroschedji and entitled The interaction between Egypt and the
Levant during the 4th and 3rd millennium B.C.E., which introduced the eldest represented material. His presentation aimed to underline the major trends in the history of the interrelations between the two regions that can best be described as
a complex historical phenomenon governed by the interplay of several variables
rather than a linear development simply determined by the rise of the Egyptian
state. This session further included presentations by Marcin Czarnowicz (Between
core and periphery early contacts between Egypt and Palestine in light of excavations
at Tell el-Farkha, Eastern Nile Delta) and Gavin Smith (Political change during the late
predynastic and protodynastic of early Egypt).
The study of pottery was the collective theme of another three papers. E. Christiana Khler (Levantine Early Bronze II and III ceramic imports at Helwan) presented
the results of her work at the vast necropolis of Helwan, with special attention
given to the contexts where ceramic imports have been found, while the study by
Anna Wodziska and Mary Ownby (Levantine combed ware in the context of the Heit
el-Ghurab settlement at Giza late 4th Dynasty [Early Bronze III]) focused on the discussion of Levantine combed ware jars, especially those discovered in domestic
9

Preface

context at the Heit el-Ghurab site (Giza plateau). Christian Knoblauch in his
presentation Levantine imports in 6th Dynasty contexts from the Abydos Middle Cemetery examined new evidence of trade between Egypt and the Levant at the end of
the Old Kingdom (EB III period), building on the excavations of the University of
Michigan at the Middle Cemetery in Abydos.
The subject of the Middle Bronze Age was represented by four papers. Bettina
Bader and Miriam Mller moved the attention of the participants to the material
emerging from the long-lasting excavations at the site of Tell el-Dabca (ancient
Avaris) in the northeastern Nile Delta. The presentation of Bettina Bader entitled
Contacts between Egypt and the Levant as seen in an unplanned settlement of the late
Middle Kingdom at Tell el-Dabca/Egypt stressed the importance and role of the material remains uncovered in a settlement of the late Middle Kingdom (ca. 1800
1700 B.C.E.) which provide insights into the daily life and even the origins of the
local population. The paper of Miriam Mller (Life Abroad Tradition and Acculturation on Egyptian Ground) focused on several aspects of the domestic life of local
inhabitants with special attention given to their houses which seem to be genuinely Egyptian. In her paper, Petra Makov Vlkov (The so-called Brussels group
of Execration texts set in context) concentrated on one particular element of evidence
illustrating both the varying intensity and facets in interrelations between Egypt
and the Levant in the second millennium B.C.E. and reflecting the varying social
milieu in both regions, i.e. the Execration texts. A recent discovery of a stone vessel
with the name of the Egyptian princess Itakayet of the 12th Dynasty at Tell Mishrife
(ancient Qatna) has been discussed thoroughly by Alexander Ahrens with respect
to the inscription itself, as well as to the identity of the princess and its chronological implications (A stone vessel with hieroglyphic inscription from Tomb VII at Tell
Mirife/Qat.na (Syria): yet another object naming a princess of the Middle Kingdom (12th
Dynasty) in the Northern Levant).
The second day of the symposium started with the second keynote lecture
presented by Mohamed Abd el-Maksoud (New discoveries in the Way of Horus in
North Sinai), who based on his excavations at Tell el-Hebwa provided the participants with an excellent overview of the recent discoveries and reached more
general conclusions on the role of Tell el-Hebwa in the relations between Egypt
and the Near East during the New Kingdom. Daphna Ben-Tors interest in the
problems of Egyptian scarabs was reflected in her paper dedicated to the material
linked to two prominent rulers of the 18th and 19th Dynasties, Thutmose III and
Ramesse II, respectively (Political implications of New Kingdom Scarabs in Palestine
during the reigns of Tuthmosis III and Ramesses II).
A section of the workshop focused specifically on the subject of the Amarna
Age. We hoped that the discussion would provide a new view on and understanding of the corpus itself, and we also intended to focus on the character of the political and social organisation of the region and the impact Egypt, Hatti and the

10

Preface

other Great Powers had on its cultural development. The Amarna session was
therefore opened by Anson F. Rainey who presented the third keynote lecture, entitled East meets West. The Amarna hybrid language. The methodologically interesting paper contained an extensive theoretical discussion on the position of the
Hebrew verbal system in the context of Akkadian verbal forms attested in the corpus of the Amarna letters. The peculiar linguistic situation of the Amarna letters
and especially the problems of communication and mutual understanding of messages, as well as the role of scribes, messengers and interpreters, formed the topic
of Hanadah Tarawnehs discussion (The Amarna letters: two languages, two worlds
and two dialogues). Violetta Cordani (Azirus journey to Egypt and its chronological
value) focused on the problem of chronological issues during the reign of Aziru,
ruler of Amurru. She concentrated on the chronology of Azirus journey to Egypt;
her study helped to clarify some of the events that occurred in Syria between the
two great military campaigns of uppiluliuma I against Mittani. More material
dating to the Amarna period a clay sealing with the name of Amenhotep IV
Akhenaten being the very first archaeological attestation of this king at Qatna
formed the subject of the paper delivered by Alexander Ahrens (Vassals and vessels? A clay sealing with the throne name of Amenhotep IVAkhenaten from the Royal
Palace at Tell Mirife/Qat. na [Syria]). In light of this recent find, the nature of the relations between Qatna and Egypt as well as some general considerations of the
Bronze Age networks during the Amarna period have been discussed.
Various aspects of another pinnacle in the relations between Egypt and the
Near East the Ramesside period provided the subject for another five papers
including the fourth keynote lecture, delivered by Elena Devecchi and Jared L.
Miller and entitled Hittite-Egyptian synchronisms and their consequences for ancient
Near Eastern chronology. Chronological issues concerning relations between Egypt
and the Near East undoubtedly represented one of the most discussed phenomena
presented at the symposium. E. Devecchi and J.L. Miller initiated a challenging
discussion on the dating of the third peace treaty (next to the Kurutama treaty
and the Silver treaty) concluded between Hatti and Egypt, stressing the impor
tance of the relative and absolute chronologies of the two empires with special attention given to the recent shortening of the reign of Horemheb and the problems
of Babylonian chronology. The paper presented by Matthias Mller (Egyptian
Akkadian as an interlanguage language) moved the attention of the participants back
to a particular linguistic situation the linguistic system of the texts delivered
from the royal court of Ramesse II (and some of his successors) to the Hittite court.
Diana Liesegangs contribution (Egypt and Hatti in the mirror of art and word; the

Battle of Kadesh and her royal iconic programme between historical truth and royal
propaganda) focused on the unique iconographical programme of Ramesse II dedicated to the Battle of Qadesh preserved in the temples of Abydos, Karnak,
Luxor, Abu Simbel and the Ramesseum. In order to identify the territory of Qode,
11

Preface

Fig. 1
Opening of the
symposium:
Anson F. Rainey
(January 11, 1930
February 19, 2011)

Zsolt Simon presented a deep and thorough analysis of various textual sources
(The identification of Qode. Reconsidering the evidence). Jana Mynov (The Silver
treaty and its impact on the Ramesside royal titulary) analysed the text of the Silver
treaty as well as the known Egyptian-Hittite correspondence in order to establish
if these documents had any impact on the form of the Egyptian royal titulary.
Joachim Bretschneiders presentation entitled Gibala and the East Mediterranean:
A multidisciplinary research project investigating cultural interaction between Tell Tweini
and the East Mediterranean in the Bronze and Iron Ages belonged to a group of papers
focused on the many aspects of relations between Egypt and the Near East at the
end of the Late Bronze Age and during the Iron Age, presenting the results of ten
years of research at the site of Tell Tweini (ancient Gibala) in the coastal area of
Syria. A provoking and intriguing set of questions Are you serious? Are you
joking? constituted a framework for Christopher Brinkers discussion on legal
aspects of Wenamuns misfortune at Dor (Are you serious? Are you joking?:
Wenamuns misfortune at Dor in its ancient Near Eastern legal context). R. Gareth
Roberts re-examined the Egyptian evidence of the so-called Philistine invasion,
highlighting the question of its relevance to the earliest contacts between the
Philistines and the Egyptians in the Levant (Egyptians, Philistines, and the bias of
hindsight). An extensive study devoted to the nature of contacts between Egypt
and Assyria in the 8th century B.C.E. was presented by Silvie Zamazalov. The
symposium was concluded by one of the keynote speakers, Pierre de Miroschedji.
Unfortunately, for various reasons, not all participants of the workshop were
subsequently able to deliver their papers in a written form. I would like to use
12

Preface

this opportunity to commemorate especially one of the colleagues and friends

whose presentation could not be included in the present volume Anson F. Rainey,
who passed away on February 19, 2011.
In several cases, the turbulent situation in Egypt in early 2011 precluded some
of the authors from finishing the research they still needed to do in order to accomplish their tasks. On the other hand, Florian Lippke and Florian Klimscha
were not able to attend the symposium but have kindly delivered their respective
papers for inclusion in the volume. Since the chronological and thematic organisation of the symposium could not be mirrored by the publication, we have chosen to list individual contributions in alphabetical order.
I would like to thank all members of the Czech Institute of Egyptology,
Charles University in Prague for their help and encouragement, especially Jiina
Rov, Alexandra Hejdukov and the students of Egyptology without their
co-operation all daily tasks associated with running the symposium would be
much more difficult. The staff at Agama was as always of great assistance in
preparing the manuscript for the printers. Lastly, I would like to express my gratitute to Petra Makov Vlkov for helping me to organise the workshop and
prepare the volume for publication.
The extensive chronological and geographical sphere of the discussions included in the volume together with common usage employed by individual specialisations made it very difficult to unify all personal and geographical names
mentioned throughout the text; therefore, in several cases certain heterogeneity
appears. In order to help the readers orientate themselves within the text, the
heterogeneity is managed by means of a series of indices.
The publication of the volume was financed by a grant from the Ministry of
Education of the Czech Republic within the research plan carried out at the Czech
Institute of Egyptology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague, The Exploration of the Civilisation of Ancient Egypt (Grant No. MSM 0021620826).

In Prague, April 26, 2011

Jana Mynov

13

14

Contributors
Alexander Ahrens (ahrens@damaskus.dainst.org) is a Near Eastern Archaeologist
and Egyptologist, staff member of the German excavation project at Tell Mishrife/
Qatna, and currently works as a research assistant at the Damascus Branch of
the German Archaeological Institute. His field of research covers the archaeology and history of the northern Levant during the Bronze Age, the nature and
mechanisms of Egypto-Levantine contacts, and the archaeology of Cilicia. He
is preparing a monograph on the meaning and social significance of Egyptian
and Egyptianising objects in the northern Levant (Western Syria) during the 2nd
millennium B.C.E.
Bettina Bader (bettina.bader@univie.ac.at) is an Elise Richter Fellow at the Institute for Egyptology at the University of Vienna, where she currently directs the
project Foreigners in Egypt The Archaeology of Culture Contact in an Egyptian
Settlement. She received master and Ph.D. degrees in Egyptology from the University in Vienna. Whilst the masters project treated the chronology and distribution of a special Marl Clay fabric in Egypt, Nubia, and the Levant, the Ph.D.
project compared material culture from Tell el-Dabca/Avaris and Kom el-Rabia/
Memphis within the framework of the Special Research Programme Sciem2000
(Synchronisation of Civilisations in the Second Millennium B.C.) based in
Vienna. A British Academy and Marie Curie Fellowship enabled research at the
McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research of the University of Cambridge.
For 15 years she has been involved in several archaeological projects in Egypt (Tell
el-Dabca, Memphis, Ehnasya el-Medina, Valley of the Kings, Luxor Temple). Her
main research interest lies in contextual evaluation of archaeological data derived
from ceramics with a view towards the social history in the Egyptian First Intermediate Period, Middle and New Kingdoms. Her main publications are Tell elDabca XIII, Typologie und Chronologie der Mergel-C-Ton-Keramik. Materialien zum
Binnenhandel des Mittleren Reiches und der Zweiten Zwischenzeit (UZK XIX, Austrian
Academy of Sciences, Vienna 2001) and Tell el-Dabca XIX. Auaris und Memphis in
der Hyksoszeit. Vergleichsanalyse der materiellen Kultur (UZK 31, Austrian Academy
of Sciences, Vienna 2009).
Christopher Brinker (cdb@jhu.edu) is a Ph.D. candidate in Near Eastern Archaeology in the Department of Near Eastern Studies at The Johns Hopkins University
in Baltimore, Maryland. His dissertation research concerns the relationship
between pastoral nomadism and urbanisation in Early Bronze Age Syria and
Northern Mesopotamia, but his interest in the Ancient Near East is both methodologically and chronologically broad as evidenced by another recent publication,
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Contributors

The Meaning and Significance of the Old Assyrian sikktum, in AoF 37. He has
also participated in excavations at Tell es-Sweyhat and Tell Umm el-Marra in
Syria, and at the Mut Temple in Karnak.
Joachim Bretschneider (Joachim.Bretschneider@arts.kuleuven.be) isa professor
at the Department of Ancient Near Eastern Studies of the Katholieke Universiteit
Leuven/Belgium. His research focuses on the Bronze- and Early Iron Age cultural
development in Syro-Mesopotamia and the Levant. Between 1993 and 2000 he
was the director of the German team from the University of Mnster at the EuroSyrian Excavation at Tell Beydar (Syria) and since 1999 he has been leading
the Belgium excavations at the coastal site of Tell Tweini (Syria). His recently
published books include the archaeology of Tell Tweini (2008) and the glyptic of
Tell Beydar (2011).
Violetta Cordani (violetta.cordani@libero.it) has recently defended her doctoral
thesis entitled La cronologia del regno di uppiluliuma I (University of Trieste,
Italy, 2010). She is currently carrying out research on the Hittite-Egyptian correspondence at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitt of Munich. Her primary areas
of interest are Hittite history and chronology and contacts between Hatti and

Egypt during the Late Bronze Age.

Marcin Czarnowicz (marcin.czarnowicz@uj.edu.pl) is a Ph.D. candidate at the
Institute of Archaeology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland. Since 2005 he
has participated in the Tell el-Farkha project. A prehistorian rather than an Egyptologist, his main interest lies in the contacts between the Southern Levant and
Egypt during the time of the state formation in Egypt, with special interest in the
copper trade and imitations of foreign pottery. He also participates in a project
called The Nile Delta as a center of cultural interactions between Upper Egypt
and South Levant in 4th millennium B.C. which focuses on the role of Tell elFarkha in the relations with the Levant. The thesis presented in this paper is
an outcome of research carried out at the Albright Institute for Archaeological
Research in Jerusalem where he stayed as an A.W. Mellon Fellow.
Elena Devecchi (elena.devecchi@yahoo.it) is a Humboldt-Fellow at the Institute for Assyriology and Hittitology of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitt,
Mnchen. Her contribution to this volume is a result of the project You will have
transgressed the oath. An investigation into the forms of political subjugation among
the Hittites which she is presently carrying out. She specialises in the international
relations of the Hittites, in particular in historical and diplomatic texts from Anatolia and Syria during the Late Bronze Age.
Greta Jans (greta.jans@arts.kuleuven.be) is a researcher at the Department of
Ancient Near Eastern Studies of the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium). She
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Contributors

has been working on excavations in Syria (Tell Beydar and Tell Tweini) for almost
20 years. Her recently published book presents the Early Bronze Age Glyptic of Tell
Beydar (2011).
Florian Klimscha (fk@orient.dainst.de) is a Scientific Researcher at the German
Institute of Archaeology (DAI), Orient Department, in Berlin where he currently
holds a research fellowship on the topic Technical Innovations and their Diffusion in the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age of the Southern Levant funded by
the Fritz Thyssen Foundation for Scientific Research. He specialises in the archaeology of the 5th and 4th millennium B.C.E. in the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean and the archaeology of stone axes. He participates in and organises study
groups dealing with innovations in early metallurgy and water technology. His
publications include Ricardo Eichmann, Florian Klimscha, Henning Fahlbusch
and Christof Schuler (eds.), Innovation in frher Wassertechnik. Clusterforschungen
des Deutschen Archologischen Instituts, Berlin: forthcoming.
Florian Lippke (florian.lippke@theol.unibe.ch) is a Scientific Researcher at the
University of Bern in Switzerland (Institut fr Bibelwissenschaft, Altes Testament).
Having taught at universities in Germany and Israel (Jerusalem), he is currently
involved in the SNF-Project (Swiss National Science Foundation) IPIAO The
Iconography of Palestine/Israel and the Ancient Near East. A History of Religion
in Pictures. He specialises in the exegesis of Psalms and the Psalter (biblical literature), Philology and Epigraphy of the Southern Levant (Aramean, Phoenician,
Ugaritic), Iconography and Iconology of the Prehellenistic Ancient Near East (including Egypt) with respect to the Levantine reception. He is interested primarily
in the relationship between text and image as media and the History of Religion in
the two millennia B.C.E.
Jared L. Miller (jared.miller@lmu.de) is a Professor for Ancient Near Eastern Studies with a focus on Ancient Anatolian Studies at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitt, Mnchen. He specialises in historical and religious texts from the Hittite
capital, Hattua and the relations of the Hittites with Syria and the broader Near

East. Recent publications include Texte aus dem Bezirk des Groen Tempels XI
(Keilschrifttexte aus Boghazki 60; Berlin 2009).
Jana Mynov (jana.mynarova@ff.cuni.cz) is a Scientific Researcher at the
Czech Institute of Egyptology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague
where she currently directs a project entitled Centre or Periphery? History
and Culture of Syropalestine 3000300 B.C. She specialises above all in the
relationship between Egypt and the Near East in the Late Bronze Age, Peripheral Akkadian and ancient diplomacy. Her publications include Language of
Amarna Language of Diplomacy: Perspectives on the Amarna Letters (Prague
2007).
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Contributors

Mary F. Ownby (mownby@desert.com) is currently the research petrographer for

Desert Archaeology Inc. in Tucson, Arizona. She examines ceramic exchange and
technology in America and the Near East utilising petrographic analysis and other
scientific instrumentation including chemical compositional methods. A short
overview of her Ph.D. thesis from the University of Cambridge is: with L.M.V.
Smith, The Impact of Changing Political Situations on Trade between Egypt and
the Near East: a provenance study of Canaanite Jars from Memphis, Egypt. In:
K. Duistermaat and I. Regulski (eds), Intercultural Contacts in the Ancient Mediterranean. Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 22. Leuven: Peeters, 2011, 271288.
Zsolt Simon (zsltsimon@gmail.com) is an archaeologist and Junior Research
Fellow at the Department of Oriental Studies, Research Institute for Linguistics,
Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest. He specialises in Hittitology and is
currently involved in a project describing Neo-Hittite dignitaries.
Hanadah Tarawneh (hanada.tarawneh@mjderasat.org) is an executive director of
the Al Mashreq Al Jadid for research and studies in Amman (Jordan) where she
is currently working on translations of the Amarna letters into Arabic. She is also
a researcher at Macquarie University, Sydney (Australia), Ancient History Department. She specialises in the language of the Amarna letters and the geographical
dialects of Syria and Palestine during the Late Bronze Age. She has also published
on gift exchange and tribute in the Amarna texts.
Anne-Sophie Van Vyve (anne-sophie.vanvyve@arts.kuleuven.be) is a Scientific
Researcher and Doctoral Student at the Department of Ancient Near Eastern Studies of the Catholic University of Leuven. She is currently researching the different
phases of urbanisation at Tell Tweini, Syria, spanning from the Bronze Age to the
Iron Age. Her publications include War of the Lords. The Battle of Chronology,
Ugarit-Forschungen 41 (2009).
Anna Wodziska (annawodzinska@uw.edu.pl) is a lecturer in Egyptian archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology of the University of Warsaw, Poland. She is
involved in the field work of the Ancient Egypt Research Associates at Giza, and
the Polish-Slovak Archaeological Mission to Tell el-Retaba in the eastern Nile
Delta. Her professional interest concerns ceramics and its role in the daily life of
ancient societies. She is the author of many publications including The Manual of
Egyptian Pottery (Boston 20092010).
Silvie Zamazalov (s.zamazalova@ucl.ac.uk) studied Ancient History and
Egyptology at University College London where she is now pursuing her Ph.D.,
researching geographical concepts in the Neo-Assyrian empire at the end of the
8th century B.C.E.

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