Authors note

I am still very much enjoying the fact that loads of information about the Thutmosides is unknown to me. Every now and again i read a snippet of information worth looking into. Its something i enjoy doing and often helps me to increase my own knowledge.

To my knowledge i am the only person who is logging all of Hatshepsut's items as a hobby. That said, i have to be wary of how my own research may be seen by my peers and those who are of a high status in the field who may from time to time check in on the work.

What i have noticed is that a number of people have conducted research into the life of Hatshepsut which (if i can find it) can be of use.

Such people include Luc Gabolde, Flinder's Petrie and Jaeger (full name unknown) who have conducted research into scarab (seals) from the reigns of Thutmose I, II and Hatshepsut. Wiki quotes the following:

"Flinders Petrie's older study of scarab seals noted 86 seals for Thutmose I, 19 seals for Thutmose II and 149 seals for Hatshepsut while more recent studies by Jaeger estimate a total of 241 seals for Thutmose I, 463 seals for Hatshepsut and only 65 seals for Thutmose II.^[12] Hence, unless there was an abnormally low number of scarabs produced under Thutmose II, this would indicate that the king's reign was rather short-lived. On this basis, Gabolde estimated Thutmose I and II's reigns to be approximately 11 and 3 full years, respectively. Consequently, the reign length of Thutmose II has been a much debated subject among Egyptologists with little consensus given the small number of surviving documents for his reign."

From Wikipedia.

Whilst i do not have access to works quoted above- i hope to be able to use the Hatshepsut Museum Database to produce similar comparative work. What i can confirm with some authority is that the Thutmosides certainly left a few scarabs. Different shapes and sizes, colours and themes. In fact it is something which sticks out within the database (by the sheer numbers).

All i have to do now is get on with the new blog so that others can see how things are looking. Realistically, 2012 will be a busy year. It will bring me my first son and will see the growth (publicly) of the database.

Furthermore, discussions within the Hatshepsut Project Group on Facebook have given me a good idea of how we can expand in the future.  An exciting idea being floated is a new project which may or may not be called the "Hatshepsut Project Photographic Database". This (if it goes ahead) would be a wonderful way of documenting Hatshepsut via photographs. Something which is not yet available to us (to my knowledge). Far too early to say any more, but it would be a project which would be run by volunteers, free of charge to view (fingers crossed) and available to all.

Should you wish to know more, i will follow up with a post at a later date. Please feel free to join us on Facebook- you would be most welcome.

Regards,
Stuart

Hatshepsut Museum Database breaks the 1,000 mark

After adding a number of items to the database, i can now confirm there are exactly 1,007 items listed. A further 8 museums have been added to the Database which i have yet to post about. They will follow soon.

It has been a very positive week.

Regards,
Stuart

Hatshepsut - The National Archaeological Museum, Florence

The National Archaeological Museum, Florence, Italy has a small collection of Hatshepsut items within their collection in their Egyptian Museum. The following items have been added to the database:

• 3 Calcite/ Alabaster Vases with Lids, Foundation Deposits from Deir el Bahri
•  Limestone Votive Stela (From an official of the court of Hatshepsut)

Regards,
Stuart

Hatshepsut Database - Thoughts for the long term

I have yo-yo'd from thought to thought on the eventual future of the database. This is something i wrestle with on a daily basis and have done since setting up the Hatshepsut Museum Database Project.

As you may or may not now, a Wikiversity Page has was set up by Anneke Bart in response to my pleas for help. Even without any further amendments, its a great page. I have to decide whether to make use of this page or go in another direction. I currently have a single excel spreadsheet housing (eventually) all the information gathered, so that ALL of Hatshepsuts artifacts can be displayed on one page to allow for future study of these items.

The "grandest" idea to date is perhaps the least likely, certainly the most expensive and full of potential hazards.-The idea would be to have a CD with the database added, with the ability to have many filters, colour codes, photos, possibly even audio. I love what Bob Briar did with his "History of Egypt" audio tapes/ cd/ dvd.  The idea would be to include the database and have the option to hear about the history of the discoveries, how items ended up in their current homes and the ancient history such as why certain items were made and how they relate to Hatshepsut.

The biggest issue here is cost. I wish to be able to share the information free of charge and available to all. Another thing is that the database will be compiled using items located by me (and those brought to my attention by others). As such, i will inevitably leave out items, locate new museums, have to input any "new" discoveries, correct errors, etc. For this i would have to bring out Version 1,2,3 etc. This increases cost.

Whilst i am a very long way from finishing the database - i am looking at the very best way of displaying it. I had thought of creating a website. That may happen still, but i am no closer to making the final decision.

Regards,
Stuart

Hatshepsut Project - Time to learn about the artifacts

Although i am on a break from regular posting (back very soon), i have been looking at a few things which may help me interpret the findings of the Hatshepsut Database.

A book on Scarab Beetles, one on Statues and general articles about seals, cylinder seals, amulets and menats have been providing me with some information on the items listed so far, to give me a "crash course".
As i am learning myself, i thought it prudent to have at least one eye on the Hatshepsut Project. The other one is being rested. 

Whilst i will not update this form of work, i want you to know that i am still working hard- even without my laptop.

The above literature will give me a "beginners" guide on why we have these artifacts. Senenmut is a name never too far from my thoughts, too. Bizarrely, i couldn't sleep last night until i had looked up the "Year 11 stela" which features Senenmut, Neferure and Hathor. Why this was on my mind is anyone's guess. I will include the stela in a post soon, as its a lovely piece of history, out in the Sinai Desert.

Life, Prosperity and Health to you all,

Stuart

Hatshepsut Museum Database - MMA to be added

This weekend i will start adding the Metropolitan Museum of Arts collection of Hatshepsut artifacts. Fortunately there are many items within the collection, so the database will be hugely complemented by the data.

As i visit their collections quite often online, i am very familiar with a number of the statues and especially their Osiride head collection, so this will give me the opportunity to familiarise myself with the smaller artifacts within their collection.

Not only Hatshepsut, but Hatnofer and Ramose (Senenmut's parents), Neferure and Senenmut himself. Looking at the time it took to record the Petrie Museum and British Museum, i will have my work cut out, so it may even take longer than the time i have allocated. Nevertheless, it will be the last of the very large museum collections to be included in the database - depending on the size of the Berlin Egyptian Museum's collection.

Should any important news or discoveries come to light over the weekend (as they did a week ago today), i will look into these first. I haven't had a response from the Bonn University Egyptian Museum, but i have not forgotten about the importance of obtaining the requested information on the Hatshepsut Lotion.

Rehards,
Stuart

Hatshepsut Museum Database - Early Stats.

To date there are 441 separate entries on the database. Some single entries are describing multiple items (such as foundation deposits).

So far, as a sample of entries, we have:

• 95 Scarabs
• 75 entries labelled "Foundation Deposits"
• 29 Vases
• 8 Kneeling Statues
• 6 Finger rings, and
• 1 Obelisk

With the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Berlin Egyptian Museum and a number of blank pages to go, the number should rise significantly over the following months.

Regards,
Stuart

Hatshepsut Database Update - Cairo Museum "tba"

The dreaded "tba":

Museum

Item Number

Object

Type

Cairo	tba	Tomb Text	Amduat Blocks (15)
Cairo	tba	Statue (Minhotep)	Block
Cairo	tba	Ointment Jar	Foundation Deposit
Cairo	tba	Ointment Jar	Foundation Deposit
Cairo	tba	Statue	Sphinx C (head)
Cairo	tba	Mummy Cloth	Cartouche of Hatshepsut
Cairo	tba	Mummy Cloth	Cartouche of Hatshepsut

Firstly, the Cairo Museum is not the only museum giving me the "tba" answers. This is a tiny snapshot of only one of the museums being recorded. A surprising amount of museums have no online (complete) collection.

This particular area has been supplemented by the resources shared on the Hatshepsut Project blog, but in some areas i am running out of data at an alarming rate. That said, the right enquiries will help to fill in the gaps, but will take time.

I will start sharing further museums i have been able to track down and will also add data to the Semna, Kumma Temples question posed here

As far as the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA)- they will be added to the database shortly. From then on it will be smaller collections, then Berlin. The Berlin Museum is so far one of the least researched by me to date, although some of their larger items have been noted, just without full data.

Further details will follow. 

Regards,
Stuart   

Hatshepsut Project Museum Database - update

After a much needed break from data input- i will be adding the Metropolitan Museum of Art to the database in the coming weeks. The MMA will be a great addition to the database. Their Osiride Heads, Statues and many other artifacts are all known to me, but i have never seen all objects on one page.

Soon i will hit a brick wall. This particular obstacle will be the museums without an online collection database. i have no idea how long they will take to research,but i will provide updates as i go.

I intend to provide further sample pages, once i am happy with how the database looks.

Thank you to everyone who has helped me get to this stage.

Regards,
Stuart

Petrie (example) Museum Database - Progress

Although the finished database will look different to this, I thought i would give a tiny snapshot of how the information is being recorded. These are the first 6 fields on the database. There are currently 12 fields, so only half of them will be displayed in this post. The links have not been added to this example, which will appear in the "Item Number" field. Note the simplicity of the recording of data. This is due to the fact that for this particular museum, i will be linking directly to their descriptions of the separate artefacts online.

Museum	Item Number	Object	Type	Material	Link to Hatshepsut
Petrie	UC12008	Amulet	Udjat Eye	Steatite	Prenomen
Petrie	UC12009	Menat	Fragment	Faience	Prenomen
Petrie	UC12010	Amulet	Cartouche	Faience	Prenomen

Regards,
Stuart

Hatshepsut Database Update

The following Museums have been added to the database. Their Hatshepsut artifacts have been added with the information available to me:

• Alexandria National Museum
• Ashmolean
• Bordeaux
• Boston MFA
• Bournemouth NSS
• British Museum
• Brooklyn
• Brussels
• Cairo
• Cleveland
• Khartoum
• Kimbell
• Leiden
• Leipzig
• Louvre
• Pennsylvania
• Petrie
• Rosicrucian
• Royal Ontario
• The Hague
• Vatican Museums
• Walters AM

Regards,
Stuart

Egyptian Museum, Cairo

The EMC is the latest museum added to the growing database. It's been a headache as they do not have a dedicated online database such as the Petrie Museum, British Museum, MMA, etc.

So far 100 items have been recorded for the Egyptian Museum. That number might double once ALL items have been recorded, but finding these items is problematic. It took a full day yesterday to locate the 100 items- some of which do not have acquisition numbers/ museum numbers, some have a very general description so is difficult to obtain the quality of information which fit the database template.

I am working overtime on this museum, pulling resources from everywhere i can find them- Porter and Moss, Flickr, Google, Wiki, Global Egyptian Museum, Hatshepsut from Queen to Pharaoh exhibition book/reports, etc.

I hope that the new museum (GEM) at Giza will do me a huge favour and have an online catalogue. I will even volunteer to help them do this. For now there is a lot of research to be done for this one museum. If any of you have any ideas which may help, please feel free to contact me.

Regards,
Stuart  

Museum Database Update

Progress is still being made on the Hatshepsut Project Museum Database. The following museums have now been added and their artifacts have been recorded:

• Alexandria National Museum
• Ashmolean
• Boston Museum of Fine Arts
• Bournemouth Natural Science Society
• British Museum
• Brooklyn Museum
• Cleveland Museum of Art
• (University of) Pennsylvania Museum
• Petrie Museum
• Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum
• Royal Ontario Museum
• (The) Vatican Museums
• Walters Art Museum

There is still a long way to go. The plan is to keep returning to the museum collections which are available online to check the completeness of the data captured. From the information already added to the database, further sites (locations of Hatshepsut- related discoveries) have been recorded which i haven't mentioned so far on the blog. I will start reporting on these this weekend.

Regards,
Stuart

Hatshepsut Project Museum Database - Example

The Petrie Museum example is now completed. So far 70 items have been listed. As the database will not be visible publicly for a while, i wish to share a single entry (below) which will be the format of all items listed on the database:

Museum: Petrie Museum, London, England

Item/ Acquisition Number: UC14351

Object: Statuette (Djehuty)

Type: Seated

Material: Limestone

Link to Hatshepsut: Djehuty, Cartouches of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III

Origination:

Findspot: Deir el Bahri

Discovery Details:

Acquisition Details: “Acquired by Flinders Petrie”

Acquisition Date: 1887

Photograph:  Permissions not yet obtained

The finished database will have hyperlinks on the following fields:

• Museum
• Item/Acquisition Number
• Photograph

Any gaps which appear, as with in the above example- where we have "origination"  left blank will be down to me having no knowledge on this information. ALL gaps will be filled in should that information become available to me through my own research or by leads and information provided by those who can help (the database will be made publicly available as read only and obviously will be free of charge to use as a research tool and information gathering excercise available to EVERYONE). I will be the only person who will have the "EDIT" option, unless i obtain help (which is highly likely if Wikipedia is to be the platform).

Please add any comments you wish to share with me. The previous comment by Tim was very useful and gave me the motivation to redesign and complete the above template and to complete (for now) the data entry involved in the Petrie Museum section of the database. I will now add the above template to the next few museums and see how it looks.

Regards,
Stuart

Hatshepsut Project Museum Database - Petrie Museum to be the "Test Museum"

Thanks to Tim for making the valid point that the database should include ALL items which are associated with the reign (and lifetime) of Hatshepsut. Initially i "weeded out" all items which cannot be directly associated with Hatshepsut, even though they are dated within her reign/ lifetime.

As i am at the earliest stage of the database i realise it would be wise to have a "test museum". That museum will be the Petrie Museum. I will spend this afternoon tinkering around with the spreadsheet design and re-entering in those objects which have been overlooked or left out previously.

Thanks for the input Tim.

Stuart

Hatshepsut Project Museum Database- Update

I have now created the database which will list (eventually) all items i am able to locate. So far the following museums have been added:

British Museum
Petrie Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Ashmolean
Royal Ontario
Alexandria National Museum

This is despite the list i posted originally.

Approximately 250 items are now stored with thousands to follow. The artifacts listed have given me a number of issues which i didn't expect- issues which have to be resolved in order to even think about adding further artifacts.

1. Attachment to Hatsheput. Some of the items on the databases of the above museums are attached to Hatshepsut for a variation of reasons. These include Hatshepsut being depicted, mentioned, dedicated to or for Hatshepsut and items belonging to those in hatshepsut's family and her court.

Other items are stylistically from the period of the New Kingdom when Hatshepsut reigned either as Pharaoh or as Regent. These items do not mention Hatshepsut by name, by title or by any other means. Some of these items appeared on the Hatshepsut from Queen to Pharaoh exhibition and do provide general datable clues to the time of Hatshepsut.

I have decided NOT to include any items which cannot be classed as either belonging to, commissioned by, mentioning, dedicated to or for Hatshepsut. Many, many artifacts have been recovered in and around the Temple of Hatshepsut (for example) which are from later periods. These will NOT be included on the database. There may be exceptions to the rule, but for now a blanket rule is applied.

Items found which include Senenmut, Djehuty and all the various people who make up the background will be included if the artifact in question either mentions Hatshepsut in some way or can be linked to Hatshepsut's reign clearly. Neferure, Neferubity, Wadjmose, etc will be included as they are linked without doubt to Hatshepsut. Thutmose I, II and III will be included if the item/ artifacts link to Hatshepsut.

(I'm not sure if that is particularly clear, but i simply wish to weed out those items which will not help me or others when looking at Hatshepsut's footprints).

2. Fakes/ Forgeries. For now i will include these (labelled clearly). There are very few and i will make a final decision based on the final numbers.

3. Many collections do not appear online. These will require seperate research and enquiries, which i will do- just not right now.

4. Photos. Large numbers of photos are not available. Again this is a headache which i will tackle once i am putting the finishing touches to the database. I would like to add AT LEAST one photo of each, but i may have to get creative.

5. Descriptions. Whilst spending a great deal of time copying and pasting descriptions, i realised the best thing to do here is simply add Hyperlinks. This will be an issue for items which are not displayed by museums and photograph collections online.

These are a taster of what i am currently looking at. I will give myself the next 2 days off with the family (and work of course), as the British Museum and Petrie collections took most of the weekend.

Regards,
Stuart

Hatshepsut Museum Database

As reported in an earlier post, i have experienced isses with the Hatshepsut Project on Wikiversity, launched by Anneke Bart. The fact is that i get confused with the coding involved in posting additional items. This is purely an issue on my part, but it means i have not yet added to Anneke's work. Apoligies again, Anneke - i will get through this, but i may need my wife on hand as she is FAR more patient than i am

Hatshepsut Project has a number of aims. Cataloging all the Hatshepsut finds noted within the project are now a priority. For now i am beginning to collect information on various museums' Hatshepsut artifacts:

* Metropolitan Museum of Art
* British Museum
* Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

The information being gathered will be prepared on an Excel (test) spreadsheet (yep, that's my level i'm afraid!). Here i will log every item, provide links, descriptions, etc. This information will then be transferred to Wikiversity at a later date.

Well, that's the plan at least. I know my way around Excel- or at least i hope i do !

Regards,
Stuart