Back soon.....

I will close the lap-top and try to ignore it over the next few days. I will return to you all soon with more news on Hatshepsut.

The very best wishes to one and all. Thank you for your support.

Stuart

Author's Note

I have been busy recently, with the knowledge that we are approaching a family orientated time in the calendar year. I have now been able to add a number of Museums and Sites to the new page (discussed in a previous post). I plan to add links, but this will not be any time soon.

The items page is a headache. I just cannot decide how to go about presenting my/ our findings. In a way, there's enough information available to create a website. That requires time and lots of it. It also means that I would be running a blog as well as a stand- alone website. With full time work and a family i enjoy the company of- i have a predicament. Just to highlight things- the British Museum alone has enough to keep me busy for approximately 6 months to a year. Approximately 150 items or so!! Then there's the Met Museum- with its own room dedicated to Hatshepsut.

That brings me the the whole concept of presentation. In order to satisfy my own agenda, but also the collective agendas of the blogs visitors, I will have plan very carefully. I aim to be unique. Whereas the heavy use of materials used from other peoples work is essential to me (links, photos and even theories), i need to be able to say that no-one else offers the same as the Hatshepsut Project. There are sites which dedicate themselves to Hatshepsut (top of the list always being Maat-Ka-Ra-Hatshepsut). This blog will compliment those sites, or at least- i hope it will.

In 6 months time i will have over 100 posts and if i am not careful, i will be swimming in information without the capacity to be able to take any of it in..

I am completely open to ideas and suggestions. Feel free to contact me at any time.

One of my eventual goals will be to try as much as possible to estimate where blocks originated from. In this i have already found that support is available. I am currently on a "test run" where i have been in contact with someone who is working "in the field". When they have time available and when i can report on this in detail, this will be a precursor for other mini Hatshepsut Project investigations. For those who may be new to the blog- i am not an Egyptologist, nor am i qualified in the areas necessary to be able to form theories which will change the way we think about Hatshepsut. Rather, i am using the resources available to me to show that with enough help- anything is possible.

If i am able to correctly assign just one block to the correct area and have my findings confirmed by someone who is "in the field" then i will have enough motivation to move from blocks to statues- and so on.

I will provide updates like this whenever possible. I would like to be as open to you all as possible, so if you have any questions, let me know. I may even use them on a new stand-alone page.

Best Wishes,
Stuart

2 New Pages added, more to come

As a way of expanding the information given on this blog, I have created 2 separate pages. These pages will be used to list the Museums and Sites and the Items Found during the course of the Hatshepsut Project.

These will take some time to update, but i have noticed a few of you have a sharp eye and have already visited these links.

Please look below the photo of Deir el Bahri on the blog, under the HOME page. Look to the right of the page and you should be able to see the 2 pages. I will make a start in the next few days (listing and sorting). The items page will be MASSIVE, so this is the one i will update last.

Let me take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy New Year. May you all live long, with health and prosperity. For those of you thinking of travelling, please be careful. For those of you thinking of drinking- leave the cars at home. And finally for those with children or who will be in the company of children- enjoy yourselves, be silly, have fun and forget rules for one day.LET THE CHILDREN RUN RIOT!!!

Forever grateful to you all,

Stuart "Santas' Naughty Elf" Tyler

Hatshepsut - Alexandria National Museum, Alexandria Egypt

Bust of Hatshepsut, Alexandria National Museum # 16 - Alexandria Egypt 2010
Originally uploaded by Moocha

Amongst the collections of the National Museum, Alexandria, we have this damaged statue of Hatshepsut. The resemblance to the Osiride Statues of Hatshepsut at Deir el Bahri, suggest to me the original location of this Hatshepsut statue to be Deir el Bahri.

Much colour still exists, as does visible damage to the Uraeus, nose and beard. I believe this item to be a permanent fixture in the museum.

Well that's two new museums and one site posted in one day. Although i currently have no idea how many museums we are away from completion, i believe we have started to "scratch the surface". As for sites - we still have a few to go.

Regards,
Stuart

Hatshepsut - Khartoum, Sudan

The ancient settlement of Buhen on the West Bank of Luxor was submerged with water during the flooding of Lake Nassar during the building of the Aswan Dam. Before the flooding, Buhen was excavated by British Egyptologist Walter Bryan Emery.

Saved from the flood waters, a temple to Horus which was built by Hatshepsut was dismantled and moved to the Sudan National Museum. Today, it resides there for all to see.

For a general overview of Buhen, see - Wikipedia

For Walter B Emery's own words read: Emery 1963. Walter B. Emery. Egypt Exploration Society. Preliminary Report on the Excavation at Buhen. 1962. Kush 11 (1963). 116-120

And for images and a floor plan, see Maat-Ka-Ra-Hatschepsut
(Go to Monuments/Other Monuments and then scroll down).

Regards,
Stuart

Hatshepsut - Karnak, Wadjet Hall

Karnak
Originally uploaded by styler78

When my wife an I visited the Karnak Temple complex, we had no idea what to take pictures of. Almost all the time we were ushered around various points, being told in great detail about the temple history. It would be later, after our visit (our Honeymoon) that i would decide to dedicate most of my Ancient Egypt study time to Hatshepsut.

Needless to say that we did not have any idea where to go, when we finally broke free of our tour guide. We were given 45 minutes to walk around the whole temple complex. Today, 45 minutes would only see me to Hatshepsuts standing obelisk, where i would remain- until the next Hatshepsut related items. Two days would be a ideal timeframe the next time i go..

So back to our 45 minutes- we did in fact head for the standing obelisk, sacred lake (Amun Precinct), and then into the furthest area we could get to, leaving enough time to reach our coach (which was now about 20 minutes away...After taking many pictures of what we now know to be the Akhmenu/ ThutmoseIII Festival Hall- we headed back towards the first pylon. On our way i pointed, my wife took pictures and these are the ones i use in my blog.

Two years on and after consulting Digital Karnak - i found the picture, above. It is of a section of the Wadjet Hall, which was erected under the orders of Hatshepsut.

This find came after i had already viewed this photo many, many times- without remembering where we were in this massive temple complex. Thanks to Digital Karnak and to my wife, Julie.

For more information on the Wadjet Hall (and to see how i was able to link the photo, visit Digital Karnak It was their photos showing the Osiride statues and column drums that had me searching my own photos. Look for the Osiride head with the remains of the crown (left) in my photo- then compare the photos on Digital Karnak.

Regards,
Stuart

Hatshepsut- In her Words

I have been reading Joyce Tyldesley's "Hatchepsut the female Pharaoh".

On page 210 is a message from Hatshepsut, which i think is very much related to the Hatshepsut Project, and anyone else with an interest in Hatshepsut. Here it is:

"Now my heart turns this way and that, as i think what the people will say. Those who shall see my monuments in years to come, and who shall speak of what i have done"

(Extract from the obelisk Inscription of King Hatshepsut, translated by S.R. Snape)

Well, Pharaoh Hatshepsut, I couldn't speak highly enough of your achievements. And i am not alone..

Regards,
Stuart

Digital Karnak

A large part of this project is to share the resources i use in order to keep this blog alive. I have quoted some sites so far, without actually introducing them fully, so i will make this a regular feature from now on. They will be in no specific order of preference, but their contributions can be seen in the posts i have made so far.

This time is the turn of Digital Karnak. I've spent countless hours on this site. When i describe a photograph taken at Karnak, you can be sure that this was done in some part by checking and re-checking their archives.

The Digital Karnak Project was designed and built at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) under the direction of Dr. Diane Favro (director of the ETC) and Dr. Willeke Wendrich (editor-in-chief of the UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology).

(Quote from their site)

This site will take you through the history of Karnak Temple. Use their archives to locate a Pharaoh of your choice and see their work for yourselves. I linked to their Hatshepsut section, but that is a mere fraction of the site content.

My personal thanks to the staff at UCLA (and specifically Willeke Wendrich) for their kind permission to link to their site.

Regards,
Stuart

Photo - Thutmose III, Luxor Museum

Thutmose III Luxor Museum
Originally uploaded by hope128

Since researching Hatshepsut, i have often stumbled across the same image. An image in fact which has become one of my personal favorites. Not Hatshepsut this time, but her step-son, nephew and successor, Thutmose III.
To me, this particular statue stands out as a masterpiece. This is a Pharaoh looking proud, content and in the prime of their life. The shadows, made so due to the light-system within the Luxor Museum, add to the overall beauty of this wonderful statue.
Also clear, although not unexpected is the likeness to Hatshepsut in the face.

I do hope to see this statue for myself one day. Fingers crossed...

Regards,

Stuart

Author's note

Well, i am back for now, although my internet connection is still intermittent (joy!).

After 6 months, The Hatshepsut Project is still here and i wish to thank you all for the emails, comments, corrections, photos.

To share what i am currently doing towards the project:

* I am currently in the process of tagging all posts, so that if there are any particular items that interest you(Deir el Bahri, KV20, etc), then you will be able to see all related posts without the hassle of searching.

* Flickr has been a very helpful source of information for this project. I am currently looking at other photo- sharing sites so increase the possibilities of finding new artifacts, museums and sites that i can report about.

* I have started to contact museums via email, to better understand their inventories and hope to have more to report on that in the near future.

* Deir el Bahri will always be a popular choice for me when blogging. I will be listing one or two other sites which i have not mentioned before. First though, i will look for reliable links and photos.

* Karnak Temple is another of my popular choices. After 2 years of looking at my own photos of Karnak (taken by my wife on our honeymoon, I've spotted some non- obelisk photos related to Hatshepsut. That was a lovely surprise. I will share these with you shortly.

* I am still going through various excavation reports (all Deir el Bahri). I am looking solely for mentions of inscriptions, statues, foundation deposits and like items.

One of my goals when starting this project was to try to locate ALL items relating to Hatshepsut. Where possible i will continue my current way of reporting, which is to provide links to museums, etc. Once i have found my last museum and last site, i will then post separate posts for each and every one of the items i am able to locate.

I am going to be busy.........................

Regards,

Stuart Tyler