Here are some reports from our Society Scribe, Keith Aldritt on talks from 2009 

A Magic Lantern Show by Bernard Slattery – December 2009

By popular demand our December meeting welcomed back Bernard Slattery who, with the help of his son, had been asked to give us to a seasonal treat ... with only a slight mention of Egypt!
The audience were taken back well over a hundred years to a performance that would have entertained country villas to small villages. Using original glass slides and two beautifully made optical
lanterns we enjoyed a “Victorian Extravaganza”.

Not only were the slides colourful but the optical illusions especially the kaleidoscope ones thrilled our modern-day audience. They must have appeared marvellous in those pre-internet and even pre-cinema days.

We sang along with Bernard. We groaned and laughed at truly old jokes. We cheered or booed (not necessarily in exactly the right places) to influence the outcome of stories like “Jane Conquest”. There were illustrations about our military fighting in Afghanistan – so nothing new there!!!  The role of monasteries to take in the traveller was interesting as was the tale of the sad demise of the last St Bernard’s dog. I’m equally not sure whether the advice given to the British traveller going abroad would be presented in the same way today but it was informative!

The singing of the “A pub with no beer” moved some to tears – I’m not sure whether it was the singing or the thought???  We saw how fashions have changed. The Victorians did seem a tad over-
dressed at the seaside and the dessert. The amazing and unique photos of Howard Carter’s discovery of King Tut’ were exactly that – photographs made into a glass slide that really won’t be seen anywhere else. 

Bernard, a consummate professional in his top hat and tails, did more than just amuse. Although he proved his mind reading abilities you didn’t need to be psychic to know he had thoroughly entertained us for our last get-together at St Leonards – our home for so many years.In the future we look forward to seeing Bernard at our new venue when we will be just as enthralled, as we were tonight, with our trip back in time.

Keith Alldritt
Society Scribe

Sue Moseley – 4^th November 2009
The Pharaohs of Akhetaten

When Bryan, Dawn and Janet experienced Amarna with Barry Kemp last year, fortunately for us, they met Sue Moseley who was finalising her research for her book “Amarna – The Missing Evidence” and on a rainy November evening we welcomed her for her first visit to the Society to talk about ‘The Pharaohs of Akhetaten’.

Sue may have suffered late-onset Egyptology but like so many of us - one visit and you’re hooked!  Initially she had heard and accepted the relatively few facts that have been woven into a story covering the
Amarna experience in Ancient Egypt. She has a history- teacher background and from the start of her presentation we were invited to challenge the accepted version of events especially in relation to Akhenaten, the most discussed pharaoh, and his family.

We bounced round from quotes by Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple (especially the need to sift evidence impartially), to Richard III and the princes in the tower, onto Lord Lucan and the murder of the nanny
and more recent events to show that we don’t know what really happened in the relatively recent past never mind events thousands of years ago. Again to illustrate a point we saw a statuette pictured on the web
that could be Akhen-Aten, Saa-Ka-Ra, and tut-Ank-Aten but is confidently attributed to Saa-Ka-Ra yet, as our entertaining guide for the evening pointed out, the logic doesn’t really follow.It is so easy just to accept opinion as fact.  Assumptions are made and have always been made to cover what isn’t known. By  using her training and analytical sifting of the actual evidence in an impartial way Sue began  to question what we all have been told and generally “believe” and was able to suggest alternative explanations.

We saw how the first king of 18th Dynasty was Ahmose who was clearly a warrior and liberated Egypt from the Hyksos. The comparison of the Hyksos to the exodus of the people of Israel was intriguing. Also
plagues referred to in the bible opened up ideas as we found out about the eruption of Thera, a volcano that had been dormant for years which coupled with references to the Ahmose Stela and the Tempest Stela
created intriguing questions and food for thought.

We looked at Hatshepsut, the famous female ruler, 5th Pharaoh of 18th Dynasty, and considered why doesn’t the ‘Kings list’ at Abydos include her? Sue suggested an alternative view to explain if Tutmoses III was Pharaoh before and after her “reign” why should we be surprised she isn’t shown on the list? Tutmoses III appeared to exist happily as a warrior leaving Hatshepsut to matters of state although (with the help
of your humble scribe) Sue suggested a very plausible explanation why later on inscriptions relating to Hatshepsut were damaged.

Now the accepted view is that Pharaoh Amenhotep IV changed his name, abandoned Thebes and Egypt was run from a desert site where previously nothing had existed. Not only did the newly named Akhenaten move to this new city with his wife Nefertiti but most importantly established his favourite god Aten as the new and only god for the Egyptians. But is the evidence really there? Did the centre of Egypt move from
Thebes to a desert site and what really went on at Akhetaten?  To question what really happened meant Sue outlined details as we understand them or rather as they’ve been portrayed over the years so we looked at different sources such as royal tributes, how service was rewarded with gold collars, and the Amarna letters especially from King Tushratta of Mitanni complaining about the quality of gifts sent to him to see what they really tell us. We examined the possibility of co-regencies that could revise timelines, the standing of the officials who lived in Akhetaten and what went on there during the ‘Amarna Period’. We also considered if the “bust of Nefertiti” in the Berlin Museum is really her?

In order to question what we think we know Sue outlined, often in lovely detail, the established version. Intriguingly once she provided alternative interpretations or possible explanations it proved to be a
thoroughly enjoyable thought provoking evening.As recommended on the evening by those who had read Sue’s book “Amarna – The Missing Evidence” she does pose as many questions as she answers but as with the presentation challenges the reader not to accept everything we are told.

I’m sure the long queue to get an autographed copy of the book will have found, as I have, that the book is a delight to read. If you were unable to be at the meeting then I do recommend you pick up a copy off the shelf at the British Museum on your next visit.

Carol Andrews- 7th October 2009
The Iconography of Eroticism

October’s meeting welcomed back the popular Carol Andrews who is well known to members from the many occasions she has visited the Society. A lady tremendously experienced in Egyptology, especially after her work at the British Museum, who we also found is a very keen Manchester United fan. She was disappointed to arrive too late to see the ‘Staffordshire Hoard’ but in time for the river pollution in the
county!  She can never be described as a shrinking violet and was entertaining as ever delivering a talk on ‘The Iconography of Eroticism’ much to the chuckles and occasional snorts from the audience.

Carol launched into her talk for the evening and we were taken on a journey to look at Egyptian emphasis on male procreative power. Amun Re may well have been the bull of his mother but it seemed women were for the arousal of the male. “How did they find time to dance” was one of many asides that our speaker delivered.

Women shaking their rattles, loose flowing tresses and red dresses were shown to have significance and we even found that the seductive skills of Miss Piggy off ‘The Muppet Show’ were only a blast from the
Ancient Egyptian past!

Worryingly paddle dolls exhibited as toys in the Cairo Museum took were seen in a different context and generally a variety of fertility figures or symbols were shown. Bronze mirrors which incorporated images
pleasurable to look at along with an ivory Nubian girl cosmetic container never mind the scoop in shape of a mandrake. In fact mandrakes appeared a few times during the evening.

Understandably there was an importance to the fulfilment of fertility and the image of a woman with child would have been so important although only Carol could deliver the comments about child bearing hips
and the picture of “thunder thighs”

I’m not sure any of us would have ever considered Sneferu as the ‘Hugh Heffner’ of his day but we can now. There were images of lady dancers and musicians where the dancing girls were of a certain reputation
ostensibly to provide entertainment but with implied sexual dalliance. There were long necked lutes seemingly only played by females! Now Hathor was the goddess of music and a harpist but the additional and entertaining information Carol imparted would definitely not be for national curriculum studies.

So while Images from Ancient Egypt may not display any representations of kissing  we learnt a lot about the occasional touching of elbow, amulets worn as sexual aids in this and next world and numerous examples of eroticism in Ancient Egypt, however it was all definitely from a male perspective, so sadly for the ladies no equivalent of Egyptian Chippendales.

I have notes on see-through garments and more on holding mandrake fruits but, and I stress due to shaking with laughter, they are less legible as the talk continued. So we enjoyed another extremely entertaining evening with a lovely lady and friend of the society who thoroughly entertained and informed us all.



Bob Partridge – 3^rd September 2009
New discoveries and difficult places to visit

A well attended meeting welcomed back Bob Partridge, a true and valued friend of the society, known to many more through his chairmanship of MAES and editor of the Ancient Egypt magazine.

Bob really is one of those lucky people who has the benefit of thirty years worth of visits to Egypt and because of his work with the magazine gets the chance to see sites or discoveries that are not always available to visitors. He also sees finds before generally displayed to the public but, more importantly and to our advantage, wants to share his experiences with everyone.

So the enthralled audience were able to bounce round Egypt with beautiful pictures to accompany his enthusiastic commentary about recent excavations.

We started in the north and with Bob visited a site off the normal tourist trail that may or, as he explained, may not be the burial site of Cleopatra and Mark Anthony?  A visit to Saqqara and a look at an excavation of a cemetery with bodies found led to an interesting look at underground Saqqara. The wonderfully coloured slides gave us an up to date glimpse of new discoveries underground and two entrances to the burial chamber of Zozer. He showed us masons marks on really large blocks of granite. We visited the tomb of Kahai revealed wooden statues covered with plaster and the work to recover them despite termite damage and near the site of where the Antiquities office near Teti’s pyramid used to be work has revealed the plan of a burial chamber .

At another burial chamber we saw the tomb of Queen Sesheshet and the sarcophagus with the lower part of the body only remaining. The images and up to date information flowed and included an unfinished statue found at Giza, before and after photos of ceilings cleaned of soot at Denderah.

All seemed to enjoy seeing how changes are taking place at well known sites such as the approach to Edfu and the excavations at the Temple of Mut at Karnak showing the “recycling of stone” from earlier building at the site. The Sacred Lake is being properly excavated and revealing more finds. The update on the Avenue of Sphinxes was delightfully illustrated with an aerial shot and the ongoing work should improve matters. The finds have included Roman items and there was a stela of Bakhenkhonsu giving details of restoration work after some unrest.

The work in and around Luxor Temple, especially the restoration work after a fire at the Mosque of Abu Hagg, was fascinating. The mosque has been redesigned with a new portico entrance and is more impressive especially when looking from the railway station. The restoration has been tastefully done to keep everyone happy especially the way of showing the tops of ancient Egyptian columns that show human representations which are forbidden in a mosque so it was impressive to see the ingenious way the situation has been resolved.

Back to Karnak we saw how dramatic the clearance has been, which coupled with the dropping of the water level, showed us how the axis of the temple had changed as the course of the river altered. Roman baths, quite unique in Egypt, have been found in front of Karnak Temple and also statues buried as foundation stones.

On the west bank there was more information about the removal of the workmen’s houses which has changed the view of the landscape and more detail about the finds in KV63.

As someone who thoroughly enjoys receiving Ancient Egypt  which, as Bob succinctly pointed out, is put together as the type of magazine he wanted as a member of a local Ancient Egyptian society I along with all present enjoyed the detail and comment he was able to pass on to us. We also enjoyed a preview of articles and information in the next issue of A.E. and judging from the comments and questions from the audience it was easy to see that we all not only enjoyed his talk but look forward to him revisiting us again in the future.

Anyone who hasn’t tried Ancient Egypt magazine is strongly recommended to take a look –trust me you’ll love it.


Steven Gregory – 5^th August 2009
Amun-Re needs a new boat – but you just can’t get the wood!

August saw the welcome return of Steven Gregory to the Society. Steven is well known to members who have enjoyed his Egyptology Adult Education courses. The last time Steven visited Stafford he’d picked upon the hieroglyphs course being run within the group and for this talk had altered his normal talk to examine what can be gleaned from the hieroglyphic version of a tale that may or may not be a true report.

We learnt about the misfortunes of Wenamun and his mission to obtain wood for a special barque and, unfortunately for him, his problems lasted for more than a year!

The talk focused on the text of Papyrus Moscow 120, The Report of Wenamun, which recounted the experiences of the Elder of the Portal of the Temple of Amun, Wenamun, during his journey to Byblos to collect timber for the construction of a new Userhat barge for the god, Amun-Re.

Steven led us through his numerous difficulties and, having finally secured the timber, Wenamun's ship is blown off course to the land of Alasiya – after which the remainder of the text is lost. The report may be a complete fiction, but it did not detract from its value as a source of historical information or add depth to our understanding of life in ancient Egypt around 1,000 BC?

As he pointed out any tale creates an image which may be totally accurate or idolised? The Egyptians are well known for their "spin" on reports and with Steven’s help we learnt how to interpret texts we need to be cautious especially with their own subjective influences.

This talk let us ponder when it may have been written due to the first reference to city of Tanis –why there was a need for the right timber – cedar- with the main supplier at Byblos and especially interesting was the possible esteem and power of an Egyptian ruler/ gods outside Egypt?

Fact, fiction or a biased version of events whether or not written for royal court? That was left to us but Steven left us a detailed and fascinating look at a non-traditional text.

Prof Alan Lloyd – 2^nd July 2009
Digging in Egypt – the Teti Pyramid Cemetery

On a very warm night our speaker Prof Alan Lloyd was initially worried that ‘air con’ might be needed not because of the lovely warm evening but because of the hot air he produces! The current Chair of the Egypt Exploration Society and author of so many books didn’t need to worry as the enthusiastic audience thoroughly enjoyed being taken back to a series of expeditions in the 1970’s around the Teti’s Pyramid which was part funded by the British Museum and the E.E.S.

The area of the well known cemetery at Saqqara, associated with the Old Kingdom, provided us a good example of a pyramid that hasn’t been looked. The area was designed for family and high officials of the Pharaoh and we were shown slides to illustrate rescue archaeology. The expeditions re-excavated the pyramid cemetery not only to determine what was there but importantly produce facsimile reproductions of the text by accurate copying.

Once above ground deterioration quickly occurs especially due to incrustations of salt from the raised water table. The main concern was the northern part of the cemetery where the survey showed the Pharaoh was keen to take his wives with him! In addition to the royal tombs were the bench like tombs of high ranking officials. The more important the person who “fell off the twig” the closer they were buried. The whole thing was planned as one group of the people who had served the Pharaoh well.

The tomb of Mereri, which was made of stone (early 6th Dynasty), illustrated the good old Ancient Egyptian attitude of “if you’ve got it, flaunt it”. Modesty, as compared with our guest for the night, was not the Ancient Egyptian’s strong point.

It was fair to say that not much was expected from the burial chamber but we learnt of fascinating details. The Tomb of Mereri was a reconstructed mastaba and a stratified site that had actually lain buried under the sand. So, along with examples showing the obligatory funny hats that had to worn by archaeologists, we saw how precise copies were made of the false doors. The ease with which our speaker explained and read the hieroglyphs was a treat especially the rituals that were to be quickly recited to help the incumbent keep all bases open, thereby keep getting offerings  and lead a happy after life.

We learn about positions held by the officials – Meru and his three titles – but we saw a younger version of our expert showing the techniques to copy not the best piece of ancient work, in fact it was quite grotty and I thought he looked more learned than his look-a-like, the lead singer of Freddy and the Dreamers! (We did have to explain to younger members who ‘Freddy’ was!).

It was painstaking work to write down a copy of the text to force the recorder to look and decide what was there. Then the false copy was made by placing tracing paper over and either by a rubbing method on poor quality carbon paper or by tracing it proved more accurate than simply photographing the engraving.

As always it's the additional information we get from a speaker and we also saw the workmen who regularly were used on the excavation together with the important work with the two camels Fred and Belinda, who brought the water for the team. The base for the dig was at least local being an old antiquities house with splendid views and mod-cons, well water brought in and oil lamps.  The information the expedition unearthed about a particular famous figure in ancient Egypt connected with the pyramids was fascinating.

Once again members were treated to the delightful delivery of a superb speaker that truly increases our knowledge and stimulates our desire discover more about Ancient Egypt.

Richard Jaeschke - 3rd June 2009
Preservation & Restoration work at Saqqara and Abusir South

On a beautiful evening in June members were privileged to be shown a detailed and enthralling insight into the work carried out by Richard Jaeschke with the Waseda University of Japan at Dashur and Abu Sir. In 2005 Richard was asked to work on finds, south of Giza, at Saqqara and Dashur. Even when there may be very little visible above ground and just a lot of holes at ground level he showed us that there have been discoveries from all periods found only a few metres deep. Even rooms have been found under the surface with artefacts and sarcophagi but he was to show us a particular coffin buried in the middle kingdom which had the intact mummy still with its cartonage mask.

With X-ray and CAT scans nowadays there isn’t the need to take mummies apart and in this case the Japanese Government had persuaded the Egyptian authorities for the mask to go on exhibition in Japan if it could be separated from the mummy. Richard used detailed slides to take us through the painstaking processes involved. Apparently he did this in a three week period in the middle of summer in temperatures of 45 degrees and little ventilation. The work made more difficult when a film crew and dignitaries were in the small room.

It was a marvellous insight into the solutions and techniques used to consolidate the mask that although intact had some damage and cracks. Methodically consolidating this ancient object he was able to separate the mask and enable the body be taken to the CAT scanner located by Cairo Museum.

Back in the coffin in the debris was found the beard off the mask and the left ear. Restoration allowed the mask to be restored to its true shape matching. We were shown how tricks of the trade using special solutions and magnets to deal with torn ends and fibres which were rejoined to return the mask to its original shape. Also we saw the techniques that enabled the mask to be cleaned, distortions corrected one at a time, so cracks began to close as it was restored to its original shape and colours.

Our delightful modern day restorer highlighted how the mask had had damage covered up four thousand years ago. It was very interesting to see that not all damage had been repainted and what was important to the craftsmen/ repairers in ancient times.

The coffin also need a lot of work using acrylic solutions consolidated the flaking paint and it was incredible to see how the old paint became flexible to an expert so it sticks back to the wood until at a later time the acrylic is removed.

A slide showing the lid partially cleaned showed not only the difference in brightness of the colours but how an article is transformed by a patient professional such as Richard. So we get to look at how it appeared thousands of years ago. We were shown how heavy timbers with jesso inside the coffin that revealed techniques and clues to the carpentry techniques in Ancient Egypt.

A fascinating find, beautifully shown on the screen, was a tiny-5cm- small bronze chisel left in a crack on the inside of the coffin when there had been restorative work on it all those years ago. Also continuing with the part-restorer and part-detective work of Richard we saw that the mummy had been laid the other way presenting anatomical contortions for the mummy if it was to use the wedjat-eye on the outside of the coffin.

The excavation may not have revealed any funeral items but through the work of Richard and his team a rare chance to remove an intact cartonage mask had been very intriguing then and especially to us. We saw how a portable laser micro probe could perform a non- destructive analysis of the paint and bindings before the next task was to design and build a Perspex structure and display so the mask would be able to travel to and around Japan on a three year display tour. The second part of the evening was to see the work that went into restoring three terracotta statues from the 4th Dynasty found at Abu Sir. Behind a non-too exciting retaining wall at Dashur was to provide exciting finds especially as they related to a well known but barely found Khufu of Great Pyramid fame.

There was a problem that not all the pieces were present. Where pieces were found that didn’t obviously fit with another then again it was fascinating to see the restorer’s technique of coating the break with an acrylic barrier to stabilize it. Thankfully although working to a tight deadline the professional judgement to use locally produced plaster worked and we saw picture of an unbaked mud construction of a recumbent lion found at the same time proved to be an inspiration to see how the other pieces could go together, gradually piece by piece especially with the precision to get the angle of face on the statue exactly right.

There was an intake of breath, even at Stafford, when having gradually built up the statue he realised the cartouche between the paws wasn’t correctly in the middle. With an Hack saw he quickly cut in to his reconstruction we could only imagine the reaction from his colleagues at the time. To get the reconstruction right had meant a realignment of the paws, moving them a centimetre, to get the right flaring at the joint of the lion’s front leg.

The detail we were shown in how this and two more statues were reconstructed especially with the extra complication of not only working on a 3-D model but with missing pieces meaning significant skill was required to reconstruct the statues. Some ancient repairs had to be dismantled to find the original and correct alignment. With Richard’s expertise cracks came together and objects connected to one of the greats in Ancient Egypt – Khufu- were beautifully reconstructed especially as there are so few pieces connected to the man who left us such a massive structure – the great Pyramid!

The items shown have arrived back in Egypt and as with all the evenings at SES those privileged to have seen the story behind the specific restoration of these items by Richard and the work of Waseda University will have such a greater appreciation and enjoyment of the artefacts should they see the items displayed in Egypt.

It was evident from the questions and reaction of the audience that the excellent skill, dedication and delivery of Richard Jaeschke proved once again that members had been treated to friendly and informative meeting. We thank Richard for a fascinating evening.

Dylan Bickerstaff 6th May 2009
The Curse of Amun

The Society welcomed Dylan Bickerstaff for our May meeting who had kindly stepped in at short notice. Our original speaker had been experiencing delays with her visa for work in Egypt which meant as she
was delayed going, there was uncertainty whether she would be back in England in time. Dr Elizabeth Bloxam is now coming to see us next year. So we were given the chance to meet Dylan, well known for his TV work, lectures and leading tours to Egypt, and instead of waiting until next year we've benefited from the fates conspiring to bring him to us earlier than first thought and enabled him to talk to us about "The
fury of Amun".

Dylan also gave us interesting updates and views on recently "identified "mummies and autographed his book "Identifying the Royal mummies" only recently published. Now I should stress immediately that neither Dylan nor Amun had anything to do with Dr Bloxam's difficulties. Circumstances did conspire to enable the audience to enjoy an enthralling evening learning about a true story subtitled "The cursed play in the Valley of the Queens".