The site that I have chosen to investigate is the Dakhleh Oasis Project (DOP). This is a continuing study of a region that is located within an enclosed area in the Dakhleh Oasis. This oasis is located in the western desert of Egypt but the project also includes the all-inclusive area of the Paleoasis. The period of time that is being examined is from the Middle Pleistocene, when the first arrival of humans occurred to this area approximately 400,000 years ago to present–day oasis farmers. The studies occurring in this area include all of the activity of humans and the varying environmental changes that have occurred over this period of time.
Many aspects of life within the Dakhleh Oasis have been, and are being examined by a large number of experts from different areas. A few of these areas that are being studied include architecture, dietary habits, flora and fauna through the ages, paleoepidemiology, geoarchaeology and cultural practices such as child rearing, religion and burial practices.
The Dakhleh Oasis is situated in Egypt, 800 km SSE of Cairo within the eastern Sahara desert. The coordinates are 25 degrees 30’N and 20 degrees 07’E. The Dakhleh Oasis was believed to be first occupied 12,000 years ago at the end of the Pleistocene period by Neolithic and earlier populations and is still occupied today. In 2002, the population was approximately 75,000.
This locale has been the site of many studies. Under the Dakhlah Oasis Project (DOP), which began in 1978, the goal is to understand the correlation between environmental change and the activities of humans through the last 250,000 years in this locality. This project is a cooperative study between the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities and the Royal Ontario Mus...
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...E. (1998). The Spread of Christianity in Egypt in Light of Recent discoveries from Ancient Kellis. PhD thesis, Monash University.
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During the New Kingdom of Egypt (from 1552 through 1069 B.C.), there came a sweeping change in the religious structure of the ancient Egyptian civilization. "The Hymn to the Aten" was created by Amenhotep IV, who ruled from 1369 to 1353 B.C., and began a move toward a monotheist culture instead of the polytheist religion which Egypt had experienced for the many hundreds of years prior to the introduction of this new idea. There was much that was different from the old views in "The Hymn to the Aten", and it offered a new outlook on the Egyptian ways of life by providing a complete break with the traditions which Egypt held to with great respect. Yet at the same time, there were many commonalties between these new ideas and the old views of the Egyptian world. Although through the duration of his reign, Amenhotep IV introduced a great many changes to the Egyptian religion along with "The Hymn", none of these reforms outlived their creator, mostly due to the massive forces placed on his successor, Tutankhamen, to renounce these new reforms. However, the significance of Amenhotep IV, or Akhenaten as he later changed his name to, is found in "The Hymn". "The Hymn" itself can be looked at as a contradiction of ideas; it must be looked at in relation to both the Old Kingdom's belief of steadfast and static values, as well as in regards to the changes of the Middle Kingdom, which saw unprecedented expansionistic and individualistic oriented reforms. In this paper I plan to discuss the evolvement of Egyptian Religious Beliefs throughout the Old,
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Perhaps the most notorious of burial practices originating in Egypt is that of mummification. Why such an extraordinary attempt was made to preserve cadavers may seem
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Weeks. The strength of this report resided in the exponential amount of detail and recording of all available data, including measurements, photographs, charts, hieroglyph translation, drawings, and even chemical analysis of pigments and plaster. An additional strength within this report would be the detailed description of conservation methodology which can be adapted and used at archaeological sites around the world. The only notable weaknesses within this report would be the inclusion of excessive description of flood debris which is not extremely relevant to future research, and the lack of explanation regarding the claim that this tomb is the final resting place of the sons of Rameses
The location is best described as a vacant desert where the only living creatures surrounding it are the man and its camels and the accompany of
Hawass,Zahi. Egyptology at the Dawn of the Twentity-first Century. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press, 2000.
Bioarchaeology is unique in that it bridges biology and social science to create new theories and ask more meaningful questions. The art of bioarchaeology and why it is important is that it is a heavily question based field. It contextualizes all fields of anthropology that can span into answering specific questions asked by researchers in archaeology, culture studies, and physical anthropology. The questions that bioarchaeologists seek to answer can range from demography, diet, identity, food-ways, and mortuary analysis. In general, the study of gender in anthropology is a relatively recent phenomenon that spans all subfields. Since anthropology is the study of all thing human, it is interesting that study of identity and gender are only
Chamberlain, Andrew, and Pearson Michael Parker. Earthly Remains: The History and Science of Preserved Human Bodies. New York: Oxford UP, 2001. Print.
The Oriental Institute featured an exhibit focused on the development of ancient Middle East Pioneers to the Past: American Archaeologists in the Middle East 1919–20 January 12 - August 29, 2010. And this was the exhibit I found most intriguing and most i...
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The first humans to settle on the Arabian Peninsula adopted foraging to survive approximately 15-20 thousand years ago. Fifteen thousand years ago, the last ice cap melted and the geography of the peninsula changed drastically (“History”). The climate reshaped from a savannah to a dry and arid desert (“History”). Approximately, 75% of the Arabian Peninsula is covered by deserts such as the Arabian, Syrian, and Rub al-Khali Deserts (“The Islam Project”). Because of the climate change, nomadic tribes dispersed to land rich in nutrients found in the Fertile Crescent and along the border of the peninsula. The Fertile Crescent is located between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers and provided an excellent water source during the Neolithic Revolution, when nomads settled and discovered agriculture (“The Islam Project”). However, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers run parallel to one another and are known to flood unpredictably causing devastation among to settle...