EGYPT, INDIA AND URUGUAY:
A DREAM COME TRUE
by JUAN JOSÉ CASTILLOS
On 8 August 2002, Tathagata Neogi, a young Indian High School student from Calcutta, having learnt of the existence of our Uruguayan Institute of Egyptology, sent us a message enquiring about signing up in order to become a professional egyptologist at our institution.
This then seventeen year old boy declared himself to be "the first man from my country India to study Egyptology anywhere in the world", and confessed to be very much alone in his country in the pursuit of the study of ancient Egyptian civilization.
In fact, I could not remember having ever read any academic paper or book written by a colleague from that country, so after almost two hundred years of the birth of egyptology, when Champollion occupied the first chair on the subject in his native land, France, it was about time that India should join the rest of the world in the study of one of the world's greatest civilizations.
I started by advising him first of all to graduate from High School and then either begin, as an undergraduate, studies in Egypt itself, within reach of its ancient monuments, or to apply for scholarships in US or European universities where egyptology is taught.
I warned him that although our institutional fees are very low, the trip to Uruguay and living expenses would be perhaps beyond his means, that the other alternatives I suggested were more feasible and he would also be closer to home in order to visit his family once in a while.
After several frustrated attempts to get in touch with Egyptian universities, he gave up and accepted to finish High School and then make fresh moves toward the opportunities I suggested.
Then, and after more unsuccessful attempts, he accepted my advice to study History at an Indian university, and after graduation, try again to get a scholarship or some other assistance to study egyptology abroad, in Egypt or, for instance, in the UK, using the services of the local British Council.
His early writings on ancient Egypt at this time, which he shared with me, were rather coarse essays, contaminated by much of the inaccuracy one finds in the media when dealing with this subject. Its poverty of reliable references and up-to-date academic views was understandable as the product of the pen of a High School graduate.
Tathagata took very graciously my criticism and I could see later on that his writings took a more scholarly approach as the university where he studied started to transmit to him more correct ways to deal with historical data.
For instance, a second essay on the death of king Tutankhamun, was better conceived, although still infused with much of the contemporary media noise which took his death as surely murder and just debated who had done the foul deed.
I put him right here too, and the third and fourth time he wrote about mainly Ptolemaic trade between Egypt and India and about floods in the ancient world, I had to make fewer objections.
The problem he faced then, when he was about to graduate with a BA in History from Jadavpur University in Calcutta, was where to pursue his graduate studies in egyptology.
After submitting applications to several British universities, he finally succeeded in being accepted at Exeter, although the field he would have to do research into there was not predynastic Egypt, as he wanted, but the New Kingdom.
The remarkable aspects of this academic Indian Odyssey, as we could call it, are that in today's world nobody is really alone in anything, if they are familiar with the conveniences of modern technology, that encouragement and support can be given in spite of enormous distances and of cultural and age differences, as long as our goal is to help our fellow man achieve his noble and legitimate aspirations, and that India, a great country with a long and rich history of its own, home to many cultures and civilizations, a land of 1.2 billion people, will have at last professional egyptology.
I am providing below the exchanges we had over the years, which I hope will give encouragement to other young people considering such a career and facing similar difficulties, as well as underline the fact that beyond official and bureaucratic links and exchanges, people from distant countries at a personal and direct level can do more to bring the inhabitants of those lands together, thus establishing strong bonds of friendship among the nations of our planet.
Date:Thu, 8 Aug 2002 09:05:46 +0100 (BST)
From: "Tathagata Neogi"
<tathagata_neogi@yahoo.co.in>
Subject:study egyptology
To:juancast@yahoo.com
Sir/Madam,
I came to know about your esteemed institution through
internet & even visited your website.As I want to be a
Egyptologist,among all other institutions offering courses I
found yours will suit me the best, so I want to get admitted
there.
I am the first man from my country INDIA to study
Egyptology anywhere in the world.So I am alone here & none to
guide me here.Can you make me a perfect Egyptologist through
your 3 years courses?I want to know your fees including living
and tuition charges in Indian currency or in US$.When and where
I should register my name.Have I to sit for any admission
tests.When do your courses begin?Can I register for this year’s
courses?
I've gathered some knowledge on this subject through
books,T.V,internet,etc.
I will be waiting for your reply.If I can register my
name for this new session then I will be lucky.
With regards,
Yours faithfully,
Tathagata Neogi,
Kolkata,WB,
I N D I A
Dear Mr. Neogi,
Thank you for your interest in our Egyptology career,
please be aware that it is FOUR years, not three, the
registration fees for our Institute is U$S 100 per year
besides that, although you can borrow books from our
library, you would find it convenient from time to time
to buy your own, so you should allow about U$S 200 to
300 per year for that, living expenses in Uruguay would
be about U$S 500 per month. We are a non-profit Institute
that doesn´t receive any funds from our government so
we cannot offer scholarships.
It´s too late for this year´s courses, they start in
March/April till September/October, allowing time for
people to prepare for their exams. There are no admission
tests, you only have to be a high school graduate, most
of our books are in English and you would learn some
Spanish to attend the courses in the months before they
start. After you graduate here you could continue with
Master and PhD programs abroad, like Belgium for instance,
where they offer assistance to students from developing
countries up to 100% of tuition.
Perhaps in your case, and although we would be glad to
have you studying here, you might find it convenient to
explore possibilities to study in Cairo, Egypt, where there
is Cairo University and the American University in Cairo
and where the cost of living is much lower and you can
see the monuments and the dozens of museums with Egyptian
antiquities.
Sincerely,
J. J. Castillos
Internet: http://www.oocities.org/juanjosecastillos/
Date:Fri, 9 Aug 2002 09:02:45 +0100 (BST)
From: "Tathagata Neogi"
<tathagata_neogi@yahoo.co.in>
Subject:need some help
To:juancast@yahoo.com
Respected Sir,
I have recieved your letter.But one thing sir if I do
stay in here for my graduate then I have to wait two years.But
that's too much for me.I am really desperate to study my
favourite subject.Can you take me as an undergraduate
student?I am ready to give any tests on egyptology.I am
specially interested in Egyptian old kingdom i.e from so
called dynasty 0 of Nagada to dynasty 6 or 7.But if I am to be
a Egyptlogist then I have to learn about all the dynasties
up to the ptolemies.
Sir,as I am the first one from my country so none to
help me here.I've already contacted with American university
in Egypt and Brown university.But they can't help me.But I
believe you at least can help me.PLEASE SIR.You at first
discuss it with your board and then reply.I am available till
17th of this month.
That's all.
With Regards,
Your's faithfully,
TATHAGATA NEOGI
KOLKATA,INDIA
Dear Mr. Neogi,
Our courses are of university level so it would not
be possible to accept any student who has not graduated
from High School, a minimum requirement everybody has
everywhere for this kind of studies, even so, you would
start as an undergraduate like all our students here.
I´m sure you can find ways to speed up things there by
sitting for exams so as to have your High School Diploma
as soon as possible.
The career here, you can see the list of courses in
http://www.oocities.org/Athens/Troy/8458/ ,
covers all periods of ancient Egyptian history, from the
remotest prehistory to the end of the Roman rule in the
country, as well as all cultural aspects such as art,
literature, architecture, science, religion, etc. and
the ancient Egyptian language in its written forms (two
years of Middle Egyptian).
Believe me, no serious, worthwhile Institute or
University will accept you if you don´t have at least
a High School Diploma. You haven´t mentioned either
your age, how old are you? That is also pertinent
information we would like to have as well.
Sincerely,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Sat, 10 Aug 2002 09:24:21 +0100 (BST)
From: "Tathagata Neogi"
<tathagata_neogi@yahoo.co.in>
Subject:okay sir
To:juancast@yahoo.com
Sir,
Thank you.I'll be waiting for that day to come.I am 17
years of age & I read in STD-X in Ramakrishna mission
vidyapith,purulia, West Bengal,India.But Sir can you give me
information about the third dynasty vizier Imhotep's tomb
excavation?The last information I have is that Polish
Egyptlogist Mishlawiecs and Dr. Zahi Hawass failed to unearth
the same in their digsite in the west side of the Djoser
pyramid, instead they unearthed an underground funerary chappel
of a sixth dynasty vizier Merekh Nebekh by name surnamed as
Phephi (not pharaoh Pepi I,II).I'm interested in this stuff
too.
I've seen in the NEWSPAPER today that two statues of
4500 years old have been discovered in the basement of the
Egyptian museum that's for your information.Don't be angry for
unnessecarry writings.Sir atleast be a freind to me.
This much today,
with regards,
your freind,
TATHAGATA NEOGI, KOLKATA ,INDIA
Hi,
Ancient Egyptian objects were found in the basements of
many museums, not everything is exhibited and these things
tend to happen.
You will find the information you want in the following
webpages:
http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/imhotep.htm
http://www.warsawvoice.pl/v564/News00.html
http://www.warsawvoice.pl/v473/Arch00.html
No tomb of Imhotep has been found yet...
Sincerely,
J. J. Castillos
Date:13 Oct 2002 06:39:53 -0000
From:"Tathagata neogi" <tategypt@rediffmail.com> |
To:juancast@yahoo.com
Respected sir,
I am the same Tathagata but as my other id is exhausted so I
am informing you.
I have mailed you a letter by post have you got it?
If not I am writing you what it contained.
I just wanted to know a good web to learn hieroglyphs.
please provide me with the same.
Your's faithfully,
Tathagata
INDIA
Hi,
I haven't got your letter yet, a good way to learn hieroglpyhs
is to buy the book A. H. Gardiner's "Egyptian Grammar" and follow
his method, there are more up-to-date books but this is still good
for beginners. You can buy it at any major bookstore that can get
it for you from European distributors, it shouldn't be more than
30 or 40 dollars.
Sincerely,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Mon, 21 Oct 2002 09:43:09 +0100 (BST)
From: "Tathagata Neogi"
<tathagata_neogi@yahoo.co.in>
Subject:request for help
To:juancast@yahoo.com
Respected Sir,
While offering you my grateful thanks for sending the websites
on Imhotep for getting more information about him, I wish to
exchange some of my recent thinkings of studying Egyptology,
devoting my future life for the sake of Egyptology, etc. etc.
Truly speaking, the information I downloaded from the Web sent
by you, helped me a good deal in preparing my wtire-up on
discovery of Imhotep's tomb and where to find it. Besides the
abovementioned papers I consulted our library books on the
same subject including Encyclopaedia (Britannica and
Americana), watched keenly the National Geographic and
Discovery Channel TV programmes and went through the relevant
copies of the National Geographic Magazine and at last
prepared an article entitled SUGGESTING A PLAN FOR EXCAVATION
OF IMHOTEP'S BURIAL CHAMBER IN EGYPT.
Sir, I know very little about the subject. I may send my
chidish article to you if you kindly allow me to do so. Kindly
take the trouble of going through it and point out my mistakes
so that I can enrich myself more on the matter. This is my
earnest appeal to you, please help me to remain in Egyptology
fully.
NOW SOME OTHER POINTS.
(1) According to your suggestions I contacted with the
American University in Cairo.
They sent me a information packet. I cannot contact the Cairo
University as I cannot get their e-mail address. But I visited
their website.
(2) I am in a hoax about where to study. I belong to a middle
class family and unable to spend a fabulous amount for my
higher studies abroad. Though I wish very much only to become
an Egyptologist and nothing else.
(3) The course fee of your Institute is very much
accommodative for me. But as you wrote, the cost of living at
Uruguay is higher than that of Cairo. Again the course fee per
semester in AUC is higher which is out of reach of my parents.
Moreover, 1 US$ equals to 50 Indian Rupees! The course of
living and study per semester comes to 6370 US$ at AUC. So I
have decided to stick to your Institute for the purpose which
may indulge me to accept some painstakingness. Kindly let me
know whether there is any possibility of pulling down my board
and lodging expenses at Uruguay by finding some cheap
accommodation and by earning some Pesos towards leisure time
jobs.
KINDLY EXTEND YOUR HELPING HANDS TOWARDS THIS LITTLE FRIEND OF
YOURS. Please do not hesitate to take time to reply me for
which I can wait for months together.
With loving regards,
Yours affectionately,
TATHAGATA NEOGI.
P.S. : Please mail me at this address. If you have received my
rediffmail.com e-mail. I have regained my Yahoo address.
Tathagata Neogi
Flat No. - 1
Surendranath Co-operative
238, Satin Sen Sarani
Calcutta - 700 054
INDIA
Dear Mr. Neogi,
I fully understand your situation and I have come to believe that
you really want to study Egyptology. American University in Cairo
fees are expensive, but don´t forget there is also the Cairo
University in Egypt (and many others) which being government-run
universities must be free of charge or very cheap compared to
AUC, besides being in Egypt you can visit the monuments and
have a much better approach to its history and archaeology,
also being closer to home, you could visit your family often.
My advise to you is to approach the Egyptian Embassy in India
(or Consulate in Calcutta) and find university addresses to
get in touch with them, explaining your wishes and your economic
limitations, I´m sure they will be happy to assist a foreign
student interested in the past of their country. Egyptian
universities grant MAs and PhDs in Egyptology and take you to
participate in archaeological projects.
As to Uruguay, the country is currently in a very serious economic
crisis, unemployment is around 17%, salaries have become very low
and people here are having a hard time to make a living so it is
not the best time to expect to come and earn some money for your
purposes.
I´ll be happy to read your paper if you send it to me but you
will perhaps realize that it is a bit daring and presumptuous to
write papers on where Imhotep may be buried after reading some
National Geographic magazines and some books, usually students
spend years studying at university BEFORE even thinking of writing
any papers, except their course assignments, for internal use.
Egyptology has become a vast (social) science with a huge body
of knowledge that has at least in part to be assimilated by a
student in order to enable him to come up with new ideas, you
should perhaps avoid the sad habit of people with very little
knowledge of Egyptology to write whole books on these matters with
strange or unusual theories, actually knowing VERY little on the
subject. They are never taken seriously by scholars.
With best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Mon, 4 Nov 2002 09:18:58 +0000 (GMT)
From: "Tathagata Neogi"
<tathagata_neogi@yahoo.co.in>
To:juancast@yahoo.com
Subject: Imhotep
Professor J J Castillos
Respected Sir,
The letter you very kindly sent through e-mail in reply to
mine seemed to be very helpful for me and I gratefully
acknowledge receipt of the same.
I am proceeding towards my goal according to your valuable
advice and I am going to contact the Egyptian Embassy at New
Delhi and Egyptian Consulate at Mumbai for the names and
addresses of the institutes which will suit me best to study
Ancient Egyptian History/Egyptology at undergraduate level. I
will be going to inform you the progress I have made from time
to time for having your affectionate and valuable advice on
the same. Kindly put your affectionate eyes over me and help
me achieving the target.
Now about my 'Paper'. I feel very much delighted that you have
very kindly agreed to go through it. I have no hesitation to
agree fully with your viewpoint of writing papers with VERY
LITTLE knowledge on the vast subject. I think you have
misunderstood me reading the title on the article, which is
quite possible, and for this reason I am changing the title
and sending it to you for your comments thereby enriching me
on the subject. Observing the episode on Imhotep's burial
chamber on TV, I felt like writing a possible solution purely
based on my very little knowledge I acquired so far and it
resulted in which I am sending you herewith.
Please be rude enough to correct mercilessly my write up, not
disturbing your valuable preoccupations, slowly, and then
e-mail me your comments to update my knowledge on the subject.
With heartiest regards,
Affectionately yours,
Tathagata Neogi
Tathagata Neogi
Flat No. - 1
Surendranath Co-operative
238, Satin Sen Sarani
Calcutta - 700 054
INDIA
IMHOTEP'S BURIAL CHAMBER IN EGYPT -
IDEA OF ONE IN SCHOOL
BY
TATHAGATA NEOGI
Flat # 1, 238 Satin Sen Sarami,
KOLKATA - 700 054 (INDIA).
e-mail : tathagata_neogi@yahoo.co.in
About Myself
I am a student of Class - X (2002-03) studying at Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith, P.O. Vivekanandanagar, Dist. Purulia, West Bengal, India, PIN : 723147.
First I came to know about Egyptian Civilisation when I was reading in Class VI. At that time in 1998 I was of 13 years of age. Even then when my respected History teacher taught about the monumental construction of Egypt I became really surprised to see those pictures. I became so interested on ancient Egypt and Pyramid, Mummies, etc. I started haunting for more information in our school library and came across some volumes of eEncyclopaedia. I became more inclined after going through the beautifully illustrated pages on ancient Egypt.
After a year back, I suddenly watched a TV documentary on Pharaoh Djoser and Imhotep. I came to know that Imhotep's burial chamber could not be discovered in spite of several archaeological hunts.
I became addicted towards Imhotep and I started pondering over the question - where the burial chamber (tomb) may remain underneath. I put hard labour in studies in this direction (sometimes ignoring my academic studies) and luckily got some more information from an old issue of 'The National Geographic' (the pages of which I photocopied and pasted serially in a photo album) and I ventured to prepare this write up. The astonishing Egyptian architectural engineering skill of such an ancient period made my mental make up to study Egyptology and receive Egyptology as my profession in future.
Now I explain below my viewpoints with references and positive points in support of my thinking.
1. Who was Imhotep ?
The Hollywood featured his name as one of the villains in the Mummy who walked on the earth about 4652 years ago. He was not a myth, he was real. His name was Imhotep.
· The man who created the first Pyramid.
· The man who was identified with the son of the Memphite God Ptah.
· The man who was the High Priest, Vizier, doctor and an excellent engineer during King Djoser's time in ancient Egyptian third dynasty.
· The man who prpbably wrote first surgical treatise and performed first-ever surgical operations about thousands of years before Hipocrates, the so-called Father of Medicine.
But why he suddenly planned to build a Pyramid instead of building up a Mastaba ?
Why did he choose a triangle ?
Will the world regard him as the 'Father of Medicine '?
All these questions remain unanswered. The answers must be lying under the sands of Saqqarah in the Tomb of IMHOTEP.
2. The Tomb Hunt
(i) Early ideas : Years after Imhotep's death under the Ptolemies he was deified as the God of Medicine. Many stories of his miraculous power of healing were on the air till this day.
About 400 statues of Imhotep belonged to the Graiko-Roman age and the stories about Imhotep were created in much later age. So they confidently concluded : 'Imhotep is a myth, with no historical existence'.
(ii) Sesselfurth's findings : On 02 January 1926 Egyptologist Sesselfurth and his crew made a sensational discovery after digging the northern side of the Step Pyramid which promoted Imhotep from myth to a historical reality. What they found was a base of a statue of Pharaoh Djoser wherein some very interesting hierloglyph inscriptions were found which read :
CHANCELLOR OF THE KING OF LOWER EGYPT
THE BUILDER OF THE GREAT MANSION (indicating the Step Pyramid)
HIGH PRIEST OF HELIOPOLIS
And then, the name of of the man who held all these titles :
I M H O T E P
This was for the first time in the history of Egyptology that Imhotep's name appeared in a historical statue.
And this is the first finding in the history of Egyptology that the name of a Vizier or anybody out of royal blood has his name engraved in their Pharaos' statue. That indicates Djoser's love for Imhotep.
(ii) Walter Emre's finds : In the year 1931 Sesselfurth died. But Imhotep-search went on. The second major search was made by a British Egyptologist - Walter Emre - years after Sesselfurth in 1965. But what Emre found was a thousand times more important than that of Sesselfurth's finds.
Emre started to dig from exactly where Sesselfurth stopped. As days passed by Emre found some astonishing things which forced to conclude that he was closing in. His men found mummified Ibis which was a very significant bird on Imhotep's time. He continued digging.
Further digging resulted in unearthing 1/2 million mummified Ibis left as an offering to somebody who was very dignified. Could he be Imhotep ?
He went on and found a gallery constructed during Imhotep's time containing mummified Baboon and many other mummified creatures identifying the acquaintance of Imhotep. As he broke through these galleries he found a deep burial shaft. But there was something disappointing when he reached below the shaft. He found only a jar containing Djoser's seal and a dead end.
(iii) Mishlawiecs-Hawass Search : Polish Egyptologist Mishlawiecs and the Director of Egyptological Researches in Egypt Zahi Hawass started their search on Imhotep. In 1990 Zahi Hawass made a sensational discovery, a laborating dating from the time when Imhotep walked on this earth. That may be of Imhotep himself.
In the recent past in 1999-2000 dig-season, Hawass and Mishlawiecs started to work at a new digsite previously overlooked and decided to be un-Egyptological, the west side of the Step Pyramid.
As the dig started to continue, the Egyptologists found the remains left by pilgrims of the Graiko-Roman era who came here to heal themselves and there must be the tomb of someone regarded as the Lord of Medicine, perhaps Imhotep himself.
Graiko-Roman sources reveal that the sick and the wounded persons would approach to Imhotep's tomb to heal themselves. Mishlawiecs was sure to get success unlike others.
Slowly the third dynasty wall rose its heads. The success was near.
As the dig continued Mishlawiecs found blue tiles exactly like those found in the tomb of Djoser. Then they hit the letter 'P' which also occurs in our man's name. Mishlawiecs was sure that what lies behind the wall was what he was searching for, the tomb of Imhotep.
But as he broke through the wall, he was disappointed. It was a funerary chapel but not of Imhotep. It was of a vizier named Merekh Nebekh alias Phephi (not Pepi), who lived 400 years after Imhotep. This was first-ever underground chapel found in history.
As Mishlawiecs started to close the site, he made another find just atop another chapel. A corridor (underground) constructed at the time of Djoser's death and that 18 meter long corridor leads straight into the heart of the Step Pyramid.
3. Site Description along with Djoser Pyramid
Imhotep built the great mansion, i.e. the Step Pyramid, which was 204 ft. high and 400 ft. wide. It was the first stone building of the ancient world.
The whole complex of Step Pyramid consists of maze of false doors and dead ends to prevent burglery.
The complex contain deity chapel, an entrance collonade, ceremonial courts, subsidiary temples and Step Pyramid itself. The total area is equal to 6 New York's city blocks.
Inside the Pyramid also Imhotep created false doors and dead ends to prevent theft.
The Step Pyramid contains 400 subterennial rooms each packed with offerings and then a 90 ft. shaft leading to the place for which all these were constructed, the burial chamber itself.
But the sarcophagus contained no mummy but more neatly preserved right arm and left foot of Djoser was found. Imhotep failed to protect the tomb of his master.
But including all these that was a place which Egyptians admired about 2650 years before the birth of Jesus Christ.
DJOSER BURIAL COMPLEX AT SAQQUARA (2650 BRIT. / 2630 USA)
4. Utility of the 18 m et ers Path - My assumptions
As mentioned before, Mishlawiecs' crew found an 18 meters path just above one of the underground burial of a tomb. He said that the very chapel may be the entrance of the tomb properly belong to Imhotep.
But I don't think so.
According to me, the path was built for serving the purpose of theft. As the path leads straight into the heart of the Pyramid and as the Pyramid was plundered in very ancient times and hopefully thieves have connections with any of the workers engaged to built the great mansion and got information about false doors and dead ends to no risk and that was an easy way.
My second probable assumption was as follows:
Hopefully Imhotep never trusted any worker of the Step Pyramid. So he was not willing to show them the real entrance. The last batch of workers who entered into the place the sarcophagus of Djoser needed an exit. In case of the Gizeh Pyramids we see the same thing.
5. Why that can't be Imhotep's Burial Chamber's entrance ?
This question is very reasonable. But I hope no vizier could ever venture to place his own body within the burial chamber of his master, the Pharaoh whom the ancient Egyptians believed as the 'Son of God'. Imhotep was no exception.
6. Where might Imhot ep lay ?
Now let us go to the real and till now an unanswered question. Where is the tomb of that great man ?
But before that there are somke questions which remain still unanswered.
To whom those offeriengs of mummified Ibis and Baboons were placed ?
Graiko-Romans could make mistakes and thought Phephi's Chapel as Imhotep's burial chamber unlike Mishlawiecs. Couldn't they ?
I think those offering were given to Imhotep himself for after-life activities. I think Emre and Sesselfurth before him stoood over the great success that missed for an inch.
Hope Imhotep unlike his master's tomb secured his tomb too. So he constructed a dead end.
I hope the seal of Djoser indicates that Imhotep lies somewhere in it.
I think if anybody breaks through the dead end they can find Imhotep's tomb; as ancient Egyptian belief goes like this : Every false thing in this lif e becomes real in the aft er - l if e'.
7. Support in favour of the Tomb of Imhotep in North
· Imhotep came from Heliopolis which is situated in northern Egypt and the persons in ancient Egypt built their tombs according to their dwelling places.
· Imhotep wanted to join the northern stars which is regarded as Kingdom of Dead and he is to guide his King being in front of his tomb. And to drive away evils which would come in their way to heaven as there was no BOOK OF THE DEAD then.
The BOOK OF THE DEAD first appeared on the Pyramid texts of Pharaoh Unis, the last of 5th dynasty Kings.
References
i. The National Geographic
ii. Discovery Channel
iii. Encyclopaedia Britannica
Dear Tathagata,
I´ve read your article and I think it is well written, you
could perhaps submit it to a local newspaper for publication
because many people like to read about those things, but you
would have to correct the many spelling mistakes, specially in
the names (for instance, it is not "Emre" but Walter Emery who
excavated in Sakkara) and also some errors in concept like that
Imhotep didn´t want to join the stars, at this time that was
only a privilege of the Pharaohs and the thousands of animal
mummies in Sakkara (ibis, hawks, bulls) and Kom Ombo (crocodiles),
etc. were not an offering for Imhotep but because they were animals
sacred to certain gods and were mummified and buried as a sign
of respect for them and for the gods to which they were associated.
If you study hard I don´t see whay you couldn´t become, as you
wish, the first professional egyptologist in India. After all,
although your country has a very rich history, as old or older
than Egypt´s, people everywhere have to study other cultures in
order to understand the world they live in. If there are already
Chinese and Japanese egyptologists, why not Indian ones?
The references in your paper were very few and that gives an
impression of poverty, I´m sure that in your local university
there or at a public library there must be more books on ancient
Egypt that you could consult with profit.
The tomb of Imhotep could well be in Sakkara, where you say or
elsewhere, some day somebody will find it.
Best wishes in your studies.
J. J. Castillos
Date:Wed, 4 Dec 2002 09:01:53 +0000 (GMT)
From: "Tathagata Neogi"
<tathagata_neogi@yahoo.co.in>
Subject:request for suggestion
To:juancast@yahoo.com
Respected Sir,
I duly received your communication regarding my write up and
your encouraging comments for my future steps to be taken for
becoming an Indian Egyptologist. I felt very much encouraged
and already written to the Hon'ble Egyptian Ambassador in
India. Though I am yet to receive the reply.
I have come to know about the Distant Learning Courses of the
British Centre for Egyptian Studies through www.bcegypt.com.
They offer six modules for two years, three modules could be
studied each year. For the first year the modules are (1)
Introduction to Ancient Egypt, (2) Introduction to Hieroglyphs
and (3) Art & Craft. I want to learn a single module at
present, but I need your learned guidance as to :
(i) whether the courses will suit me to acquire some advanced
on the subject;
(ii) if yes, which of the modules should I take first?
Kindly guide me properly on the subject.
I have completed my last school examination recently and I am
approaching towards the first Board examination i.e. the
Secondary Examination after which I have to choose my stream
of studies i.e. Science or Commerce or Humanities. Of course,
I will opt for Humanities. Now kindly bless me so that I fare
well in the Secondary Examination which will commence from 03
March 2003 and will continue till 12 March 2003. I will fill
up the form for the Distant Learning Course in the meantime
after having your wishes and suggestions and will concentrate
on the same just after my examinations are over.
Kindly accept my loving regards on the occcasion of the MERRY
CHRISTMAS AND I WISH YOU A HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS FRUITFUL NEW
YEAR!
Yours affectionately,
TATHAGATA NEOGI.
Tathagata Neogi
Flat No. - 1
Surendranath Co-operative
238, Satin Sen Sarani
Calcutta - 700 054
--- Tathagata Neogi <tathagata_neogi@yahoo.co.in> wrote:
>
> Respected Sir,
>
> I duly received your communication regarding my write up and your
> encouraging comments for my future steps to be taken for becoming
> an Indian Egyptologist. I felt very much encouraged and already
> written to the Hon'ble Egyptian Ambassador in India. Though I am
> yet to receive the reply.
>
You have to be patient and insist if they don't reply, those
people are rather slow most of the time.
> I have come to know about the Distant Learning Courses of the
> British Centre for Egyptian Studies through www.bcegypt.com. They
> offer six modules for two years, three modules could be studied
> each year. For the first year the modules are (1) Introduction to
> Ancient Egypt, (2) Introduction to Hieroglyphs and (3) Art & Craft.
> I want to learn a single module at present, but I need your learned
> guidance as to :
>
> (i) whether the courses will suit me to acquire some advanced on
> the subject;
>
I'm afraid there are no shortcuts to becoming a proper, aced
egyptologist rather one of those self-styled "egyptologists" that
are many but lack proper credentials, which I think YOU DON'T WANT
TO BE... But until you can enrol in a recognized University or
Institute, it will teach you useful things. I would start in the
order they are given which seems quite reasonable to me.
> (ii) if yes, which of the modules should I take first?
>
I answered that above.
> Kindly guide me properly on the subject.
>
> I have completed my last school examination recently and I am
> approaching towards the first Board examination i.e. the Secondary
> Examination after which I have to choose my stream of studies i.e.
> Science or Commerce or Humanities. Of course, I will opt for
> Humanities. Now kindly bless me so that I fare well in the
> Secondary Examination which will commence from 03 March 2003 and
> will continue till 12 March 2003. I will fill up the form for the
> Distant Learning Course in the meantime after having your wishes
> and suggestions and will concentrate on the same just after my
> examinations are over.
I gladly bless you so you can be successful in your studies and
examinations.
>
> Kindly accept my loving regards on the occcasion of the MERRY
> CHRISTMAS AND I WISH YOU A HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS FRUITFUL NEW YEAR!
>
The same good wishes I send you and your family.
> Yours affectionately,
>
> TATHAGATA NEOGI.
>
>
Sincerely,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Wed, 11 Dec 2002 10:06:38 +0000 (GMT)
From: "Tathagata Neogi"
<tathagata_neogi@yahoo.co.in>
Subject:Thirst For Knowledge
To:juancast@yahoo.com
Respected Sir,
I have recieved your previous mail. Thank you for your
warning.
While watching a T.V programme the other day on sety I, his
tomb,robbery of his tomb & other tombs of the Valley of the
Kings.
There I came across a term ' The year of the Hyenas' in
1090bc according to them.but what exactly happened in it they
have not defined. So Sir please enlighten me with the events
happened in that year.
That's all for now.
Yours affectionately,
Tathagata Neogi.
Tathagata Neogi
Flat No. - 1
Surendranath Co-operative
238, Satin Sen Sarani
Calcutta - 700 054
INDIA
In ancient Egypt there were frequent famines due to plagues or
the uncertainties of the flood, that particular year was probably
called that way because the hyenas came to the fields to eat the
corpses of those who died of starvation and were lying there.
Every time you have a similar doubt, just use the search engines
in the Internet that will save you much time and trouble, for
example in this case, going to:
http://www.google.com/
and entering "year of the hyenas" you would have got, among many:
http://www.ohiou.edu/imts/NewVid.htm
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Mon, 7 Apr 2003 10:43:33 +0100 (BST)
From: "Tathagata Neogi"
<tathagata_neogi@yahoo.co.in>
Subject:No response from Egyptian embassy.
To:juancast@yahoo.com
Sir,
I have ended my school final exam.Now I am giving some time
on my Egyptology study.But I have not got any response from
the embassy in Delhi for three long months.I have also written
to Indian ambassador in Cairo but no response.I have also
mails to Cairo university.They have not responded yet.
Sir,what should I do now.I am seeing that you are the only
person to answer to my call and guide me so far.Others seems
to be not interested in this matter.Please help me and cast
some lights on what should I do next.
Awaiting a much desired reply,
Yours faithfully,
Tathagata
Kolkata,India
Tathagata Neogi
Flat No. - 1
Surendranath Co-operative
238, Satin Sen Sarani
Calcutta - 700 054
INDIA
I understand what you are going through, the same happened to
me many times, you have to realize that people are not like we
are, you see that I always try to reply and help as much as I can
but other are not like that, so, since it is in our interest, we
have to keep on insisting without losing the enthusiasm, patience
and perseverance will get you wherever you want to go, since they
don´t reply to youe letters, you will have to phone them and insist
or even go to Delhi and explain your situation, that will convince
them that you are REALLY interested, because they must get many
such letters from people who are just curious or not really deeply
interested. Don´t give up and one way or another you will get what
you want. As a last resort, you can travel to Cairo and find out
there how much your need to live and study there, life in Cairo is
very cheap so it is possible perhaps to live and work and study there
and all the antiquities and museums will be very near you.
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Mon, 14 Apr 2003 11:01:35 +0100 (BST)
From: "Tathagata Neogi"
<tathagata_neogi@yahoo.co.in>
Subject:Re: No response from Egyptian embassy.
To:"Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Sir,
I acknowledge with gratittude the receipt of yours of
7th April 2003.
I feel much enthused after having your note of encouragement
expressed in your letter. And accordingly I am going to send
reminders to the Embasies of Egypt in India and India in
Egypt. I am sure, they will remain silent this time too (for
the US/UK-Iraq disturbances, I presume) and I will be going
to repeat the process till I succeed.
Since I will soon be admitted to Higher Secondary course and
that I will have to remain in hostel, it is almost
impossible for me to visit the Capital City (New Delhi) but
I will look for somebody competent who will be visiting New
Delhi for some other work and can help me to knock at the
Embassy for gathering information on my behalf.
Meanwhile, I found an entry of the INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION
OF EGYPTOLOGISTS at Bonn University of Germany, while
surfing the internet. I became delighted to know that you
are a respectable member of IAE. I also a to the
Association for assistance. Their reply is yet to come.
I have also visited your personal website and came to know
more about you. Sir, you are my inspiration. I wish to have
a photograph of yours alongwith your autographed blessings.
Is it possible for you to grant my prayer ? You may very
kindly send it through ewhich I can download in my
father's office printer.
My father has taken a cellphone through which I can search
websites, etc. Today I was reading Edwin Smith Papyrus and
felt astonished to read the wonderful head injury healing
processes with fresh meat, honey, grease and linen, perhaps
once upon a time practised by IMHOTEP.
Side by side I am preparing myself for my admission test in
some residential colleges in Kolkata for admission into
Class XI.
I wish very much to view some educational CDs on Ancient
Egypt which is not available in India. Will you kindly cast
some light over the matter like wherefrom and how should I
get those.
With respectful salutations,
Affectionately yours,
TATHAGATA NEOGI.
Dear Mr. Neogi,
Thank you for your letter. If you to our main page at
http://www.oocities.org/juanjosecastillos/
you will find a photo of me right there, but also there are
other pictures in the page "Egyptology in Uruguay" and others
which are links in the page I gave you above, in the page
"Uruguayan Institute of Egyptology" I appear lecturing, etc.
If you search the Internet with www.google.com for CDs on
ancient Egypt, you will find many, but they are expensive, about
50 US dollars each.
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Fri, 2 May 2003 09:37:01 +0100 (BST)
From: "Tathagata Neogi"
<tathagata_neogi@yahoo.co.in>
Subject:Please.
To:juancast@yahoo.com
Sir,
I have one request to you.Why do you use Mr. before my name?
I am much inferior to you in everything including age. So I
donot deserve to be called Mr. by you.So please donot call me
Mr. anymore in your mails.
The second thing is that:Who do you think have killed
Tut-Ankh-Amun?
Is it Ay,Horemheb,Ankhensenpaaton(not sure about the
spelling).
I have voted in the website for Horemheb.Have I done the right
thing.Has the research been finished on this event?
That's all for now.
Your Sincerely,
Tathagata.
Tathagata Neogi
Flat No. - 1
Surendranath Co-operative
238, Satin Sen Sarani
Calcutta - 700 054
INDIA
Nothing is known yet whether Tutankhamun died of natural causes
or in an accident or if he was murdered, all you hear and read is
speculation, so I cannot of course have an opinion on "who killed
him"...
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Mon, 5 May 2003 09:17:03 +0100 (BST)
From: "Tathagata Neogi"
<tathagata_neogi@yahoo.co.in>
Subject:Re: Please.
To:"Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Sir,
I am very sorry for asking an absurd question.I saw that in
www.virtual-egypt.com they arrenged for such a voting on web
so I felt interested in that affair and voted for Horemheb
as they had three personalities to vote for they had Ay and
Ankhenasenpaaton.I am very sorry for asking such an absurd
question.
With regards,
Tathagata.
Date:Fri, 20 Jun 2003 09:50:08 +0100 (BST)
From: "Tathagata Neogi"
<tathagata_neogi@yahoo.co.in>
Subject:My secondary exam results
To:juancast@yahoo.com
Sir,
secondary examination results are just published.I have
obtained 75.75My % marks in that including letter marks
(80%) in English language and Life Science.now I am
going to take admission in the higher secondary section
of one of the reputed colleges of our state taking
humanities as the field of my study for next two years.
In the meanwhile I contacted Dr. Magdy AI Aly, the Greek
Papyrologist for getting informed about chances at Cairo
University and others.He in reply advised me to write Ms
Abeer Helmy.She helped me informing me about the Cairo
University course fees.I am yet to have more information
for which I am going on corresponding and watching the
respective websites.
Yours affectionately,
Tathagata.
Tathagata Neogi
Flat No. - 1
Surendranath Co-operative
238, Satin Sen Sarani
Dear Tathagata,
CONGRATULATIONS !
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Sun, 22 Jun 2003 11:17:30 +0100 (BST)
From: "Tathagata Neogi"
<tathagata_neogi@yahoo.co.in>
Subject:Thanks
To:juancast@yahoo.com
Sir,
THANK YOU FOR YOUR WISHES WHICH I WILL
LIKE TO HAVE ALWAYS!
-------TATHAGATA
Tathagata Neogi
Flat No. - 1
Surendranath Co-operative
238, Satin Sen Sarani
Calcutta - 700 054
INDIA
Date:Tue, 9 Sep 2003 10:00:54 +0100 (BST)
From: "Tathagata Neogi"
<tathagata_neogi@yahoo.co.in>
To:"Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
To
Prof. J. J. Castillos
Sir,
I have got admitted in the Ramakrishna Mission
Vidyamandira, a residential degree college with HS
section, for my Higher Secondary studies. My combination
of studies is History, Sanskrit, Political Science and
Philosophy.
Here we have a library where from I got a book entitled
'A Search in Secret Egypt' by Paul Braunton (1944
edition). Here I found some fake assumptions of the
author like:
He strongly advocated the Atlantis Theory.
He was in strong belief that the Sphinx was built by
the Atlantic's which was unearthed by Chepren and that
way he tried to establish that Atlantis was older than
that of Egyptian Civilisation.
But I have acquired some information from this book
which was unknown to me and I request you to kindly
enlighten me whether those are at all true:
Braunton said that French Scholars under Napoleon
found the Great Pyramid in a place which divides earth
vertically in equal proportions, which, according to
my little knowledge, is impossible since the Prime
Meridian Line is situated in England.
He wrote that Abdul Luteef who travelled Egypt in 12th
Century, narrated in his account that the Limestone
found in the body of the Great Pyramid was inscribed
with Hieroglyphs which he can't transcribe it and his
opinion was that the translation may cover 6000 pages.
I also came to know about the valuable contributions of
Edward Vyse, Nathenial Davison, etc. in Egyptology.
With love and regards,
Tathagata
Tathagata Neogi
Flat No. - 1
Surendranath Co-operative
238, Satin Sen Sarani
Calcutta - 700 054
Dear Mr. Neogi,
I'm very glad you have undertaken university studies, once you
graduate in History or any field, you will find that it will be
easier to pursue post-graduate studies in Egyptology elsewhere.
I'm also glad that you start to have a good critical eye for
books that are not really serious about the real ancient Egypt.
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Sun, 19 Oct 2003 05:36:03 +0100 (BST)
From: "Tathagata Neogi"
<tathagata_neogi@yahoo.co.in>
Subject:Article.
To:juancast@yahoo.com
Sir,
Hope you have by now recieved my greetings card through
your email.
I have written an article on Tutankhamun and his
mysterious death and want to print it in my college
magazine.Would you kindly check that article if I send
it through email?
Awaiting a reply,
Yours sincerely,
TATHAGATA.
Tathagata Neogi
Flat No. - 1
Surendranath Co-operative
238, Satin Sen Sarani
Calcutta - 700 054
INDIA
Yes, send it and I will tell you my opinion.
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Tue, 21 Oct 2003 14:54:22 +0100 (BST)
From: "Tathagata Neogi"
<tathagata_neogi@yahoo.co.in>
Subject: Tutankhamun
To:juancast@yahoo.com
Sir,
I am sending below the write up for your comments and corrections.
With Regards,
Tathagata.
Tathagata Neogi
Flat No. - 1
Surendranath Co-operative
238, Satin Sen Sarani
Calcutta - 700 054
INDIA
A PROBE INTO THE MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF 'KING TUT'
Tathagata Neogi
Almost 3,300 years have passed since the boy king of ancient Egyptian 18th dynasty started his journey for the afterlife. But questions are still asked about how the king died so young. The Egyptologists doubted for the first time when his mummified body was first unwrapped in 1925. They found a dark coloured lesion in his left cheek. The place is little depressed from the rest of the skin. It looked like a scab. Again it was found that the king died when he was only 18-19 years of age. That was quite unnatural for the Thutmosid rulers whose average life span was 40 years. Then in 1968 armed with X-Ray technology, the mummy of the King Tut was examined in the University of Liverpool. The radiographs of the mummy showed that the death of the king Tut was not natural. It ousted the previously assumed theory of Tuberculosis once and for all. The radiograph showed a fragment of bone separated from the skull. And this evidence is consistent with that of cheek lesion and it suggests and ancient story of murder. The boy king fell a prey to one or more of his subjects' betrayal and was compelled to cut off in the prime of his life.
As the last male heir of the Thutmosid dynasty he would have been in a strong protection of the elderly nobles. Yet, how did it happen? Who did it? What might be the motive? The common people would have no reason to kill Tutankhamen (or King Tut) as he delivered them from the hands of the heretical Amarna age. The priests in the temple would have no reason to have plotted against him as he replaced the worship of Aten to Amun and other traditional Gods of Egypt. Then who did it ? We can assume that the murder was committed for someone's personal benefit.
2
To know who, we must know why. Perhaps the cause of the murder dates back to the rule of Amenophis-IV who is popularly known in the history as Akhenaten. Tutankhamen was perhaps in very close relation to Akhenaten; perhaps his brother or half-brother. I can back this saying up by an anatomical evidence. The portrayos of Akhenaten in his tomb shows a deformity in head. The skull has been elongated much backwards. As the portrayo was found in his tomb, as the then Egyptians believed, it must have to be perfect for a perfect afterlife. The two baby sisters shown in the portrayo also had similar deformities on the skull. The portrayos of Tutankhamen and his wife Ankhensenaamen was seen to have same deformities. Was it a hereditary illness? Perhaps it was. If so, we may take it that Tutankhamen and Akhenaten were closely related. Again, a writing describes him as the 'Son of the King'. If we accept this, then Akhenaten and Tutankhamen were brothers. Moreover, Ankhensenaamen was one of Tutankhamen's half-sisters. Perhaps one of the daughters of Nefertiti and Akhenaten.
Tutankhamen was brought up in the palace of Amarna and was given in marriage with Akhnensenaaten (as she was called before Akhenaten's death) by Nefertiti and Ay. Akhenaten passed away and Tut-Ankh-Aten (as he was called before he attained the age of 11) takes the throne in the age of nine. In such a young age he needed a coregent and Ay, his grandfather-in-law, took the post. The boy king was growing enlightened and a perfect Pharaoh under the noble guidance of Ay. He was loved by all as he shifted the capital of Egypt from Amarna to Thebes and made Amun, the king of Gods again. Everyone who saw him cherished he will become the 'Great Pharaoh'. Tutankhamen and Ankhensenaamen, the young couple, were dreaming of building a golden empire.
3
But someone was thinking otherwise. Who was he? Who would be the greatest loser if Tutankhamen ruled for years. Perhaps it was Horemheb, the Military General. He was the person of a low birth who rose fast due to his calibre. He was one of the most beloved courtiers of Akhenaten. He was the second-most trusted man to Tutankhamen after Ay. But he was an ambitious person no doubt, who longed for the throne. This ambition perhaps lead him to kill Tutankhamen.
Motive
Horemheb longed to be the king. His aim first met with a disaster when Amenophis-III and one of his secondary wives gave birth to a son named Tutankhaten. Again, it so happened when the throne was secured by the marriage of King Tut and Ankhensenaamen -- another setback for Horemheb.
The next point is that the mummy of Akhenaten was not found where it should remain in his tomb in Amarna. The tomb was desecrated. But the band of mummies found in the side chamber of the tomb of Thutmosis-II dates back to Amarna age. One of these mummies was of Nefertiti. So, it is possible that the mummies of Akhenten and his royal followers escaped the rage of the common people. Perhaps Tutankhamen rescused those. He called Horemheb for help. He extended it gladly to earn his trust. Now Horemheb found a good reason to make the people turn against Tut. He plotted to describe this event to the High Priest of Amun as he knew that the Temple of Amun was very powerful within the State. He thought to get the throne but alas! Tutankhamen made Ay the High Priest and Horemheb failed again.
4
Horemheb knew that if he was to take the throne after Tutankhamen, he was to maintain influence within the royal court. He also knew well that the young Pharaoh
would grow up one day and take control over the army and of course send him with
his army in the border areas far away from Thebes to fight and conquer new lands like his predecessors. In that process, being away from the Capital it was impossible for Horemheb to keep his influence intact in the royal court. He never liked the throne to slip away from his grip.
Moreover, he would have feared the repetition of a past occurance. He feared that though Tutankhamen did not have any issue at that time, who could guarantee that he would not have any son or daughter if he lived long?
Evidences
(a) The first piece of evidence against Horemheb lies in the tomb of Tutankhamen. Here we find that the boy king was presented with memento from every one of his courtiers, wishing his safe afterlife journey, where only the memento from Horemheb was not present, I think for obvious reasons. In a civilisation like the ancient Egyptians where death was much important to the people, showing reverence to the dead Pharaoh would be the greatest piece of loyalty and not doing so would be the greatest vice.
(ii) The second piece of evidence is that, we see, after Horemheb succeeded Ay to the Pharaohhood, he ordered his chief masons to destroy all the statues and other remains of Akhenaten. Additionally, he ordered that all the remains of Tutankhamen and Ay either should be destroyed or re-inscribed with Horemheb's name. We find many such re-inscriptions where Horemheb's name was found over the belongings of Tutankhamen.
5
The demolition of Akhenaten is reasonable and perhaps according to the orders of the priesthood. But why the other two who showed reverence to Amun?
(iii) The last piece of evidence is that of a letter written by Ankhensenaamen to a Hittite King. Here she writes :
"My husband is dead and I have no son. People say that you have many sons. If you send me one of your sons, he will become my husband for it is repugnant for me to take one of my servants as husband."
This passage gives a clear idea of the happenings in Thebes after King Tut's death. Here the word 'servants' perhaps referred to Horemheb. Though many eminent Egyptologists want to prove that the 'servants' here referred to Ay. But perhaps it is more practical that one person calling someone not related to her as 'servants' could never be her grandfather (Ay).
What would really have happened ?
Horemheb was the second-most trusted Advisor of Tutankhamen. In some lonely time of the Pharaoh he would have entered his room and said, "I have some top secret to prebefore you, Your Majesty!" The Pharaoh would invite him to listen to his accounts when Horemheb must have demanded the Guards to quit. Tutankhamen ordered likewise. Now in some inattentive moment of the Pharaoh Horemheb struck his head with some heavy sort of thing. The boy king dropped down half-dead. Horemheb quickly fabricated the sequence in such a manner that the incident might pose a sudden accident. Tutenkhamen died after few days after passing his last days in deep comma.
6
After that Horemheb perhaps wanted to marry Ankhensenaamen to occupy the throne. But she worked fast. She knew that Tut will remain the king until his body is mummified which was a process of as long as seventy days. She wanted to take this chance and the above-quoted letter to the Hittite King. But somehow Horemheb came to know the plot and got the Prince, whom the Hittite King sent, murdered on his way.
When no Prince arrived, Ankhensenaamen with a brilliant move married Ay, his grandfather, to prevent Horemheb's tyranny. Thus Ay performed the 'Opening of Mouth' ceremony as the next Pharaoh and ascends the throne.
Thus, perhaps it is clear that Tutankhamen was murdered by Horemheb. Though many Egyptologists pointed their fingers at Ay, their only evidence was taking over Tutankhamen's throne and tomb by Ay.
But this exchange of tomb was quite reasonable. When Tutankhamen died, his tomb was incomplete. In such a situation, if he was placed in the incomplete tomb, his afterlife journey, according to the ancient Egyptian belief, would have been turned into a massacre. So Ay, by placing Tut in his completed tomb, had done the best and most loyal service to his Pharaoh.
Though it is very hard-to-solve mystery, still the culprit must be brought under the sun to make the noble Boy King becoming much more comfortable in his afterlife where he is living now.
Hello,
I have read your article and first of all I would recommend that
you correct the many spelling errors and faulty English expressions,
that you can do with someone there who masters this language.
Second, you assume that Tutankhamun was murdered, but the injury
could have been post-mortem or the result of an accident, so in
reality, he either died of natural causes, had an accident or was
murdered, we just don't know.
You say that one of the mummies found is that of Nefertiti, that
has not been proved at all, I recently read an angry release by
Dr. Zahi Hawass mentioning that Joanne Fletcher got her degree on
mummy wigs and doesn't know anything of physical anthropology, in
fact, her tutor, Dr. Rosalie David of Manchester, has said that
she is not qualified to make such statements.
Third, you say that Tutankhamun's mummy was studied in England,
that can't be possible since the mummy has never left Egypt...
Being an academic egyptologist means being scientific and refrain
from speculation, so with such a period full of uncertainties, it
is unwise (and looks bad) when you jump into unwarranted conclusions.
My advice is don't pay so much attention to TV productions that are
not rigorous or scientific but just want to entertain with all kinds
of mysteries.
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Mon, 27 Oct 2003 14:23:06 +0000 (GMT)
From: "Tathagata Neogi"
<tathagata_neogi@yahoo.co.in>
Subject:Re: Tutankhamun
To:"Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Sir,
Yours was an eye opener for me.Untill then I used
to engulf whatever information the TV programmes gave
without any judgement.But from now on I will try to
take out the essence from those programmes and only
believe them.
I ,from now on will try not writing any article untill
I major in the subject.Your valuable advise helps me
reach my goal so kindly do not forget to do so in
future till I achieve it.
With respectful pranams (meaning regards in India),
Yours affectionately,
TATHAGATA.
Date:Tue, 20 Jan 2004 06:08:24 +0000 (GMT)
From: "Tathagata Neogi"
<tathagata_neogi@yahoo.co.in>
Subject:Information needed
To:juancast@yahoo.com
Sir,
Hope you've recieved my belated greetings already.
Sir, I have something to ask to you.That is :While going
through the book" a search in secret Egypt"by Paul
Braunton I found that An arabian traveller of 12th
century AD namely ABDUL LUTEEF wrote that he saw the
limestone on the three pyramids of Gizeh were engraved
with "strange charecters "which he couldnot decipher.But
the decipherment according to himwould have taken
thousands of pages of translation.
Sir,is this true?If it is then where are those engraved
limestones now?what wastheir ultimate fate?
Awaiting a fast reply,
Yours affectionately ,
TATHAGATA
Tathagata Neogi
Flat No. - 1
Surendranath Co-operative
238, Satin Sen Sarani
Calcutta - 700 054
INDIA
Dear Mr. Neogi,
I think you have chosen a book that being part of the occult
studies of Egypt, is full of fantasy and few reliable facts. We
don't know if the limestone original covering of the pyramids,
practically all gone now and used to build palaces and mosques
in Cairo, had any inscriptions but since we cannot build on
assumptions or the wild stories told by Arab writers (remember
the Thousand and One Nights?), we have to say that we simply don't know. Maybe some day, when an old Cairo building is destroyed or is demolished and some of those blocks are found, we might find out.
I know that books such as Brunton's make entertaning reading,
but if you want to become an Egyptologist, try to concentrate
on good academic and more reliable books.
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Fecha:Sun, 11 Apr 2004 06:26:38 +0100 (BST)
De: "Tathagata Neogi"
<tathagata_neogi@yahoo.co.in>
Asunto:Seeking advice
A:juancast@yahoo.com
Sir,
I have finally to go for the AUC. But it fees--tuition +
accommodation are too much for me. Therefore I have
decided to stay out of the campus of AUC in any shared
flats or elsewhere. So Sir, can you suggest me the
amount of money I will be spending if I stay in a shared
flat in Cairo. If you do now know, please do suggest me
any other source from where I could know it. The
Egyptian Embassy in India has not responded even though
I have many mails to them in last one year and a
half. Same is the case of the Cairo University.
Sir, please let me know will it be wise on my part to
write Dr Hawass about this matter.
Sir, Can you suggest me any Website regarding the Trade
Relationship in between Ancient Egypt and India. I am
engaged in studying over this matter and will send the
progress of my study to you. I, abiding by your advice,
have not relied on any TV serial source. I based my
study on a report of Indian Embassy in Egypt, a First
Century AD Greek Text "The Periplus of the Erythrean
Sea" and a few other books.
You may be aware that 14 April (we call it Poila
Baisakh) is the Bengali New Years Day celebrated with
grandeur through this part of our country where I live
in. I will be sending some beautiful cards to you
through ebased on Ancient Indian Culture and seek
for your blessings.
My forthcoming Annual Exam is scheduled on and from 15
May and will be over by end May. After that I will find
more time to concentrate on my most liked subject for
one month during my Summer Recess.
Yours affectionately,
Tathagata Neogi
Flat No. - 1
Surendranath Co-operative
238, Satin Sen Sarani
Calcutta - 700 054
INDIA
Dear Mr. Neogi,
I am glad you decided to study in Egypt and in AUC, I think
it is the best place there. I don't have recent information on
accommodation in Cairo like you want, the best would be to write
an email to an Egyptology forum (and join it even better, they
send you emails to your box every day with much interesting
information) in eef@lists.yale.edu saying that you need to know
this, since many of the forum members live in Egypt, they will
be able to assist you, ask that the replies be sent privately
to your email address.
Writing to Hawass is OK, but I don't know if he will reply, he
is a very busy man. But if you state clearly that you want to be
the first Indian egyptologist and are firmly decided to do so,
he might be pleasantly surprised and reply and even help you.
You lose nothing by trying, right?
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Sun, 11 Apr 2004 09:12:10 -0700 (PDT)
From:"Juan Jose Castillos"
<juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject:Re: Seeking advice
To: "Tathagata Neogi"
<tathagata_neogi@yahoo.co.in>
--- Tathagata Neogi <tathagata_neogi@yahoo.co.in> wrote:
Sir,
Just now recieved your reply & became overwhelmed for the
promptness in favouring me with your valuable suggestion. I am
going to write to Egyptology Forum right now and will refer your
letter to them.
To take a chance, I will also write to Dr Hawass but I don't know
his email ID. Can you help me by providing this ? Otherwise I will
have to send him a letter by postal services and in that case I
will have to pass my days through uncertainty whether my letter at
all reaches him.
My regards, once again, Sir.
Yours affectionately,
Tathagata Neogi
Flat No. - 1
Surendranath Co-operative
238, Satin Sen Sarani
Calcutta - 700 054
INDIA
Dear Mr. Neogi,
The email addresses tend to change frequently, so I advise you
to include this request in your email to the forum I suggested,
they will have the most up-to-date one.
All the best,
J. J. Castillos
De: "Tathagata Neogi"
<tathagata_neogi@yahoo.co.in>
A:eef@lists.yale.edu
Asunto:EEF: Egyptology study in Egypt
Fecha:Sat, 29 May 2004 16:00:09 EDT
Respected List Members,
I have just got the opportunity to enter into the world of
my
so-long cherished Egyptology wherefrom it will be possible for me
to gather more knowledge about the subject I love, through the
letters
of the learned list members of EEF.
Let me introduce myself first. I am Tathagata Neogi from
Kolkata (India). I am at prestudying Humanities in Class XI and
hope to be promoted to Class XII within a few days since my final
examination of Class XI is over a week back.
When I was in Class VII, I watched a TV documentary on
IMHOTEP, which created some stir into my mind, and I felt inclined
to learn more about ancient Egypt. I started hunting my school
library
and got a pictorial account of Egypt, wherefrom I learnt about Old
Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, New Kingdom, etc.
My thirst for knowledge over ancient Egypt went on
increasing
but our library stock on the subject being too limited, I became a
bit
disappointed. My teachers also could not help me in this respect.
So the thirst went on mounting.
The search of Internet opened a vast world of colourful
Egypt within a few days when I came home for a vacation from
my hostel. I decided to be an Egyptologist or an ardent scholar of
ancient Egypt in future, a rare specimen in our country. For guidance
and formal higher studies I contacted through Internet various
Institutions teaching Egyptology all over the world and also some
persons mastering this subject. Many of my communications proved
to be futile but I am encouraged to say that few of them like you
acted positive and prompted me the next step I should take. I am
in touch with Professor J J Castillos of Uruguayan Institute of
Egyptology for the last few years. He guided me immensely at
once I sought for. And according to his advice I am approaching
you, the learned members, for further guidance and help so that
I can achieve my long-cherished target in the near future.
For UG study in Egyptology/Ancient Egyptian History/
Archaeology Professor Castillos advised me to try any University
in Egypt itself preferring AUC on the top. Accordingly, I contacted
the AUC and they were good enough to respond promptly and
send their information packet at once. I found the cost of study
is suitable for me and not the cost of living. It is not possible for
my parents to provide such huge expenses towards my study
at the AUC, though they agree that the Institute is quite OK for
study on the subject.
On the other hand, though I wrote letters several times
to the Universities under Egyptian Universities Network (EUN),
I am disheartened not receiving a single reply from anyone of those.
Moreover, I wanted to open correspondence with the Egyptian
Embassy in India through a number of mails, which yielded
negatively. I am preparing for undergoing an Arabic language
course here so that I do not face any communication problem
if I am granted admission to anyone of the EUN universities.
Now will anybody in the Forum be kind enough to -
(1) arrange some medium standard accommodation with
minimum expenditure at Cairo itself so that I can study at the AUC
and stay in some cheaper cost outside the AUC campus at Cairo;
kindly mention the range of staying expenses including food I may
be offered; I am now aged only 18 years and single;
(2) provide me detailed information regarding my UG studies
on the above subject at any good University under EUN; in that case,
kindly furnish me the involvement of study and living cost I will
have
to spend.
Please reply OFF-LIST
Yours affectionately,
TATHAGATA NEOGI.
tathagata_neogi@yahoo.co.in
Tathagata Neogi
Flat No. - 1
Surendranath Co-operative
238, Satin Sen Sarani
Calcutta - 700 054
INDIA
Date:Thu, 17 Jun 2004 17:45:01 +0100 (BST)
From:"Tathagata Neogi" <tathagata_neogi@yahoo.co.in>
Subject:Sending one more writing--prepared for your
knowledge-gathering rebuke
To:juancast@yahoo.com
Sir,
As I wrote you earlier regarding an article I was preparing on INDO-EGYPT
TRADE RELATIONS IN ANCIENT TIMES, I have finished the work. And I am
sending it to you for your brushing up and enabling me being enriched with
a small portion of your wisdom.
As per your advice, I have stopped gathering information relying on TV
sources. Instead, I depended solely on authentic archaeological reports of
the digs at different ports in Egypt and India and also Strabo's accounts
and the Periplus of Erythrean Sea.
Following your advice I became a member of the EEF and put before the
listmembers my problem regarding accommodation and study at Cairo. None
responded to it; instead, one octogenarian Egypt Photographer encouraged
me and said that he won't be of any help to me at this age. He me
some beautiful photographs of Egypt and its Archaeological/historical
spots.
Now I am thinking of being registered with an Agency in Mumbai which helps
its member-students in guiding and contacting the relevant Institutes
mostly in UK , USA, Australia and Canada. It seems they are not much
interested in Cairo or Egypt. But I am at a hoax and finding no other
helping hand, almost compelled to clasp their hands in this respect.
If I fail to manage entry into any suitable University elsewhere, KINDLY
NOTE THAT, MY LAST RESORT IS THE URUGUAYAN INSTITUTE OF EGYPTOLOGY AND
PROFESSOR CASTILLOS!!!
It is rainy season here. And you are having your winter season now, I
presume.
With regards,
TATHAGATA.
INDO-EGYPT TRADE RELATIONS IN THE ANCIENT TIMES
--Tathagata Neogi
It was another hot day with the scorching sun overhead at the
coast of Berenike (an ancient port on the Red Sea) in Egypt. A group of
archaeologists from the California University, U.S.A. were digging deep
down the sand and they found traces of an ancient shipwreck. They were
stunned by what they have found as they found the unexpected! It was an
Indian ship of first century BCE packed with spices, gems and other exotic
goods of merchandise. It was a sensational find as with this discovery it
was revealed a flourishing trade in between India and the entire Roman
Empire (Egypt was one of the Roman provinces during that period) in the
ancient period.
But the first direct contact between India and Egypt dates back
to the second century BCE when an Indian sailor was found almost dead on
one of the beaches of Red Sea. He was captured and taken to Alexandria
(the then headquarters of the Egypt province). He was then presented
before the Pharaoh Ptolemy Progetas. The sailor pleaded for his life from
the Pharaoh and promised to guide the Egyptians through the shortest
maritime route to India. As the voyages to the eastern lands were long and
strenuous in that period the Pharaoh accepted his proposal. He then
Youdoxi (a Greek sailor) to accompany the Indian sailor.
The indirect contact between India and Egypt, however, dates
back to the third millennium BCE when Egypt was gradually rising into
glory. The Egyptians during that period imported a plant named 'Dapania'
(Coriander) and clothes, which were used to wrap the mummies from the
Indus people. This trade went on indirectly through West Asia.
This commercial relationship was strengthened with the invasion
of Alexander in both of the countries. Manuscripts and sculptures found
both in India and Egypt refers to the presence of Indians in the city of
Alexandria and few other places in Egypt. Some Alexandrians (inhabitants
of Alexandria) also lived in the west coast of India.
Commercial Harbours of India
India had a flourishing trade with Egypt through the Indian
Ocean during the first century AD. This trade chiefly took place in the
month of July, which was remarked as the month of 'Indian Etesian Winds'
or the 'Epiphi' in the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea.
Before the direct navigation in between India and Egypt had
taken place, the Indian as well as the Egyptian merchants used to meet
each other to exchange goods at Eudaemon Arabia, a village by the shore of
Indian Ocean somewhere in the Arabian Peninsula. This place was the
kingdom of Charibael and had proper arrangement for anchorage.
The Indian goods were carried by the Egyptian ships from
Eudaemon to either Mussel Harbour or the Berenike Harbour from where the
camels used to carry those goods to Alexandria. Those goods then were
either sold up or to other parts of the then civilized world.
India had a great many number of prosperous harbours through
which she carried on trade with Egypt as well as the entire Greco-Roman
and Arabian world.
The ancient texts indicate the presence of two metropolises on a
river named Sinthus. That Sinthus is the modern day Indus is clear to us
as the texts also speak of its seven tributaries (Indus had seven
tributaries in ancient times in which two are obsolete now). There was a
harbour-town namely Barbaricum at its mouth. There were two metropolises
as mentioned above -- those were Scythia and Minnagara.
The ships used to be anchored at the Harbour of Barbaricum and
then the cargos were carried to the King of the two metropolises. They
imported :
1. Topaz
2. Coral
3. Storax
4. Frankincense
5. Glass Vessels
6. Silver and Gold Plates
7. Small amount of Wine
On the other hand, the port exported to Egypt :
Costus
Bdellium
Lycium
Nard
Turquoise
Lapis
Lazuli
Seric Skins
Cotton Clothes
And most astonishingly indigo.
The next important commercial coast of the country was Barygaza (now
Broach). The writer of the 'Periplus of the Erythrean Sea' gives the
description of the area in the following pattern ---
"It is a fertile country, yielding wheat and rice and sesame oil and
clarified butter, cotton and the Indian clothes made there from, of the
coarser sorts."
--- Thus from here we can figure out that Barygaza had a fabulous trade in
cotton products which was situated on a river named by the ancient Greek
texts as Nammadus (perhaps the
Modern day Narmada). It was very difficult for the sailors coming from the
ocean to find the mouth of the river Nammadus as-
"The shore is very low and cannot be made out
until you are close upon it".
(Periplus of the Erythrean Sea)
Moreover, the mouth of the river had shoals (the sand banks
which lay underneath the sea, often disturbing easy navigation), which
posed difficulty for the ships to go inside. Well, the Indians were much
more generous so that their trade would suffer if the ships from Africa
and Arabia could not reach Barygaza, the fishermen of the land used to
take their boats named 'Tappaga' or 'Cotymba' to a coast named
'Syrastrene' from which they used to pilot the foreign vessels to Barygaza
by steering them safely through the Shoals and ultimately stationed those
at a suitable place for anchorage.
Beyond the coast of Barygaza there was a city named Ozene. From
this city the goods of merchandise were brought down to Barygaza. The
goods those were exported to Egypt from Barygaza were ---
Agate
Carnelian
Indian Muslins
Mallow clothes
Ordinary clothing
Spikenard
Costus
Bdellium
This market imported ---
Wine
Copper
Tin
Lead
Topaz
Thin clothing
Bright coloured Girdles - a cubit wide
Storax
Sweet Clover
Flint Glass
Realgar
Antimony
Silver Coins
There were some special imports of this island for their King. Those were
-
1. Costly Silver Vessels
2. Singing Boys
3. Maidens for Harem
4. Fine Wines
5. Choicest ointments
"Beyond Barygaza the adjoining coast extends in a straight line from north
to south; and so this region is called Dachinabades....". (Periplus of the
Erythrean Sea)
That Dachinabades is the preDeccan or Dakshinatya is
evident. There were two important towns in this region viz. Paethana
(Paithan) and Tagara. Paethana chiefly exported a large quantity of
canelian. Tagara exported common clothes, all kinds of Muslins and mallow
clothes along with some other goods. Other market towns of this region
were Semylla, Mandagora, Palaepatmoe, Melizigara, Byzantium (the Indian
one!), Togarum, and Aurannoboas. Besides, there were some important
islands those were Naura, Tyndis, Muziris, and Nelcynda.
Tydnis and Muziris were situated in the kingdom of
Cerobothra (Chirabrata?). These places received cargos from Greek ships
and Arabian ships. Quite a distance from Muziris was the town of Nelcynda,
which was in the Pandian kingdom.
As it was not possible for the ships to reach Nelcynda due to a
good many number of shoals prethere, the ships exchanged goods from a
village named Bacare. These market towns chiefly exported -
1. A large amount of Pepper
2. Malabathrum
3. Fine pearls
4. Ivory
5. Silk clothes
6. Spikenard from the Gangetic region
7. Transparent stones of all kinds
8. Diamonds
9. Sapphires
10. Tortoise shells
The important market in the southernmost tip of India was a placed named
by ancient texts as Comari. This Comari is of course the Kanyakumari or
Cape Camorine. Beyond Comari there was a port named Colchi, which had a
flourishing trade of Pearl Fisheries. Another important harbour was
Argaru, which exported Muslins and were called Argaritic in the local
language.
Other important market towns in the Pandian kingdom were Camara, Poduca,
and Sopatma. An ancient text refers that -
"...and the greatest part of what is brought at any time from Egypt comes
here..."
Now let us cast light on Indo-Egyptian trade that went on through the
Gangetic valley. The port that was the market town, which was named as
Gangaridae. The recent historical researches revealed that the market town
of Gangaridae was situated in the Sundarbans. (Source : Adi Ganger Teerey
by Dr Prasit Roy Chowdhury). Gangaridae exported –
1. Malabathrum
2. Gangetic spikenard
3. Pearls
4. Finest Muslins
As a medium of exchange inhabitants of Gangaridae used the sort of gold
coin named Caltis.
Commercial Harbours of Egypt
'Of the designated ports on the Erythrean Sea, and the market towns around
it, the first is the Egyptian port of Mussel Harbour. To those sailing
down from that place, the right hand after 1800 stadia (1 stadia = 1/10th
of a Nautical Mile), there is Berenice. The harbours of both are at the
boundary of Egypt, and are the base opening from the Erythrean Sea.'
(Periplus of the Erythrean Sea)
The principal ports of Egypt on the Red Sea were Myos Hormos, Philoteras,
Leukos Limen and Berenike (Berenice). In the early Roman times Myos Hormos
was a port mostly frequented by the traders as the desert roads were less
secured during these times. This port also could be reached in a short
period of time than Berenike. But as the days passed by, Berenike gained
much importance than Myos Hormos. Lionel Casson, an author and retired
professor of classics of the New York University puts forward a cause
behind Berenike's rise into prominence.
"It had one great advantage over Myos Hormos; it was some 230 nautical
miles further south, and that spared homebound vessels days of beating
against the northerlies (kind of
Wind) that prevail in the Red Sea above latitude 20. Merchants might have
saved six to seven days in overland transport by sailing past Berenike to
discharge at Myos Hormos but they might well have lost a month in making
the attempt."
The port of Leukos Limen called by the Egyptians as Duau became functional
during the first century A.D.
Berenike was a chief port of Egypt from which she conducted her commercial
activities with India. The author of the 'Periplus Maris Erythraei', who
was an Egyptian Greek merchant trader, most likely lived at Berenike
during the first century A.D., showed that how beneficial was Egypt's
trade with India for the Egyptian, Greek, Roman traders through Berenike.
In order to do that he forged a comparison between Egypt's commerce with
Africa and India. He said that trade with Africa was a safe, time
consuming, biennial round trip, which was profitable to those having a
least capital. Trade with India even though was dangerous due to pirates
and storms, was quick i.e. annual round trip and was highly profitable.
From the port of Berenike, Egypt conducted trade with Africa, Arabia and
India. The biggest ships sailed to and from India to satisfy the
overwhelming demands for spices in the Mediterranean world. The ships left
Egypt in July to take the advantage of strong summer winds out of the
north in the Red Sea. In the Indian Ocean, the ships were steered by
southwest monsoon wind towards India.
The ships that came homewards from India usually departed in December or
January to have a favourable shift in winds.
In the initial stage, Arabs used to supply Indian goods at ports such as
Ocelis and Muza and concealed their sailing knowledge of Indian Ocean from
the Romans and the Greeks to maintain monopoly over the Indian goods.
This was the situation until the Roman financiers entered the Alexandrian
money market towards middle second century B.C. The increasing demand for
the Indian goods in the Mediterranean markets whetted the Alexandrian
traders to increase their shares in Indian trade. They realised that they
must by themselves sail directly across the Indian Ocean to get access to
the Indian markets and bring cargos of demand back to Egypt. Ptolemy VIII
- an Egyptian Pharaoh and a great friend of Rome was the biggest patron
for the Alexandrian traders to undertake this risky venture through the
pirate-frequented Indian Ocean. Soon an important office of administration
was created to facilitate this maritime trade with India. The office was
named 'Commander of the Red and Indian Seas', under Ptolemy XII, nicknamed
Auletes (80 - 51 B.C.). This information could be obtained from
'inscriptions Philae 52' (62 B.C.). This perhaps increased Egypt's
commercial interaction with India.
Strabo, who visited Egypt during 25 - 20 B.C.E opined in this aspect in
his 'Geography' on the following lines:
"...the diligent Roman administration that Egypt's commerce with India and
Troglodyte to show great an extent. In earlier times, not so many as
twenty vessels would have dared to traverse the Red Sea far enough to get
a peep outside the straits (Bab-el-Mandab), but at pretime, even
large fleets are dispatched as far as India and the extremities of
Aethiopia, from which most valuable cargoes are brought to Egypt and
thence forth again to other regions." (Strabo, 17.1.13)
To destroy the Arab medium, Augustus Ceaser in 26 B.C.E commissioned his
Prefect in Egypt Aelius Gallus to make a terrestrial invasion of South
Arabia. In A.D. 1, Augustus led a naval attack on Eudaemon Arabia (modern
day Aden), which crippled the once prosperous harbour town into a mere
village. Thus Eudaemon Arabia went out of action; merchants of Egypt began
to enjoy unrivalled trade with India.
Now, a question may certainly arise that in spite of being frequented by
the pirates why did the Egyptian, Greek, Roman merchants depended so much
on the port of Berenike and the maritime route to India? Why haven't they
used the land route to India through Mesopotamia, Iran, and Pakistan?
The Roman texts provide us with the answer. They revealed that in those
days, overland trade was twenty times more expensive than the maritime
trade. Thus relying on overland route would mean loss on their part.
According to Dr Steven E Sidebotham, the Co-director of the Archaeological
Excavations in Berenike, "Overland transport was incredibly expensive, so
whenever possible, people in antiquity preferred shipping, which was
vastly cheaper."
The Berenike : A Transfer Port
The Egyptian ports, chiefly the Port of Berenike, functioned as a transfer
port. It accepted cargo from India and then was moved above through the
Nile to the Port of Alexandria. From Alexandria the Indian products were
sold out in the European markets.
The researchers retraced a route, which moved cargo from Berenike into
Europe. Archaeologists Wendrich and Sidebotham opined that camels or
donkeys some 240 miles to the Nile River then carried the Indian cargos
being shipped to Berenike. There some smaller boats waited to transfer
those goods to Alexandria. Those cargos then moved from Alexandria to a
dozen of major Roman Ports and hundreds of minor ones in Europe.
In this procedure, the Indo-Roman trade in the ancient times flourished so
much so that the Roman Emperor Tiberius once remarked, out of utter
disappointment, "the ladies and their baubles are transferring our money
to the foreigners".
In 77 A.D. Pliny wrote that the Indian rulers had been exploiting the
Romans by absorbing great amount of money and giving merchandise in return
hundred times its prime cost.
Imports at Berenike
According to the 'Periplus Maris Erythraei' Berenike imported from India:
q Native spices
q Drugs
q Aromatics
Ø Costus
Ø Bdellium
Ø Lykion
Ø Nard
Ø Malabathrum
Ø Pepper
q Gems
Ø Turquoise
Ø Lapis
Ø Lazuli
Ø Onyx
Ø Diamond
Ø Sapphire
Ø Transparent gems
q Textiles
Ø Cotton cloth
Ø Cotton garments
Ø Silk from China
q Ivory
q Pearl
q Tortoise shell
This Port also had a rich export of Roman goods to India. Those were
emeralds, which Indian rulers wore on their crowns. It also exported Red
Corals, which were liked by Indian women and were used for making
jewelleries.
But the recent researches uncovered something more astonishing fact about
the exports and imports of this Port. A team of archaeologists discovered
among the ruins of the Roman period vast quantities of teak, a wood
imported from India and modern day Myanmar. But this wood could not be
grown in Egypt, Africa and Europe. The archaeologists believed that the
first century A.D. teak came to Berenike as hulls of shipping vessels.
When the ships became damaged and beyond repair, the Berenike residents
might have recycled it as building materials. The teams also found the
evidences of ship repairing activity including copper nails and metal
sheeting.
According to Sidebotham "You'd expect to find woods native to Egypt like
mangrove and acacia. But the largest amount of wood we found at Berenike
was teak."
Archaeologists also recovered written records in eleven different
languages including Sanskrit. They also uncovered the largest array of
ancient Indian goods ever found along Red Sea. These include the largest
single cache of Black Pepper of sixteen pounds. Black Pepper was only
grown in south India during first century A.D. That these Indian goods
were circulated around the world from Egypt becomes evident, as
Peppercorns of the same quality and of same period had been excavated in
Germany.
According to Dr Wendrich, "the spices used in Europe during antiquity may
have passed through this port."
Sailcloth dating back to A.D. 30 or A.D. 70 was found. Basket tree and
matting of first and second century A.D. were also uncovered. All these
exports from India were preserved all these years under the sand due to
Egypt's dry climate.
In a dump, which dates back to the Roman times, the team also found Indian
coconuts and Batik clothes along with Carnelian beads. Egypt's trade with
South East Asian countries entirely depended on India. The cargos from
Java, Vietnam, Thailand, etc. used to come to Egypt via India. The
archaeologists also suspects the existence of a three-point trade route
that took goods from southern Africa to India and then brought those goods
back to Egypt crossing the Indian Ocean.
Dr Sidebotham rightly placed this maritime trade route in the same
platform with the Silk Route. He said, "the Silk Road gets a lot of
attention as a trade route but we have found a wealth of evidence
indicating that sea trade between Egypt and India was also important for
transporting exotic cargo, and it may have even served as a link with the
Far East."
Historical Background of Berenike
As Berenike was the chief harbour conducting Indo-Egyptian trade we must
study its historical background to have a better knowledge about the topic
of discussion.
Writings of Strabo, Ptolemy, Pliny, and the 'Periplus Maris Erythraei'
reveal many facts about this harbour. Berenike was founded by Ptolemy II,
Philadelphus in the mid-century B. C. as a place of commerce with Africa
and Arabia. It was port chiefly used in early days for importing African
elephants to be used against the Indian elephants of the Seleucid Army.
Ptolemy IV, Philopater, was said to have imported seventy-three such
elephants through this port.
Several factors contributed to the choice of Berenike. It was just within
the Egyptian dominion and it was at this place where the Nile nears the
Red Sea coast. Moreover, the port of Berenike being situated in the south
was free from the strong winds of northern Red Sea. Finally, Berenike had
a large well-sheltered harbour, which facilitated loading and unloading of
ships.
Philadelphus named this harbour town after his mother 'Berenike' who came
to Egypt after death of her Macedonian husband Philip. She then became the
primary wife of Ptolemy I.
It was during Cleopatra, the last of the Ptolomies, the Greek and Roman
traders in Egypt learned how to use the monsoon in favour of them. Thus
they mastered the art of circumnavigating India touching and with all the
important Indian ports within one year. Despite the considerable danger,
the lure of profits caught many enterprising fellows, and trade between
India and Egypt and India and Rome increased dramatically. It was during
this time the traders defied to take the help of Arabs as expensive
middlemen.
But this flourishing port had a sad end. Though it was rebuilt in the
fourth century A.D., yet it had not destined to live long. In mid-sixth
century A.D. the harbour silted over, and was finally abandoned and
gradually vanished beneath the sand. It was then forgotten until excavated
recently. But the cause of its demise is still unknown.
Finds at Berenike
Myos Hormos: Another Port of Importance
Myos Hormos, as was stated before, was the most important port on Egyptian
Red Sea coast before the rise of Berenike into prominence. The Myos Hormos
of the past is the modern day Quseir-Al-Qadim. The archaeological
excavation in 1999 yielded a huge amount of textiles from the Greco-Roman
period of Egypt. The textiles measures in average 10 x 10 cm. to 30 x 20
cm. Even fairly large textiles i.e. 50 x 60 cm. textiles were also found.
Most exciting group of decorative textiles found was a group of resist
dyed cotton from India. Thirty-eight such textiles imported from India
were found their sizes ranges from very small scraps to pieces 46 x 16 cm.
in length. The textiles with pink flowers in a grid of yellow dots on a
blue background were found. Two pieces of textiles depicting Indian
elephants were also uncovered. Other than these, the textiles with the
combination of several dyes were also found.
Very high quality fabrics, including fragments of blue silk, green silk
with dark blue pattern was also found. There was one piece of embroidery,
which shows brilliant work upon linen with black, red and natural silk was
also uncovered among the ruins.
The search is still continuing at Myos Hormos and series of discovery of
Indian textiles is reproving beyond doubt that Indian textiles had an
international market in the past.
Thus the above discussion perhaps makes it clear that Indo-Egyptian trade
relations were not born in the twentieth century, during their struggle
against the common imperialist enemy, the English. The relation had not
flourished in the fifties, during Nehru in India and Nasser in Egypt
through the Non-alignment Movement. History offers sufficient evidence
that the interrelationship between these two cradles of ancient
civilization had started and intensified thousand years ago since the days
of the Pharaohs. May such friendly bond exist forever.
--------------------------------------------------
Reference:
Indus and Nile - Cradle of Great Civilisations: A report on
Indo-Egyptian Socio-economic and Cultural relationship since ancient
times published by the Indian Embassy in Egypt (2003-04).
The Periplus of the Erythrean Sea: Travel and Trade in the Indian Ocean
by An Anonymous Merchant of First Cent. A.D. (English translation by W H
Schoff (1912).
The International Herald Tribune report at www.int.com/64102.html
A report at www.popular-science.net/history/india_egypt_trade_route.html
Fs Ancient Mysteries report of 22nd July 2002
The Red Sea Ports and Trade With Other Regions: A report on Red Sea
trade
Reports of 1995 excavations at Berenike
The University of Southampton's archaeological department report on the
1999 excavations at Myos Hormos
The Red Sea Trade Route (250 B.C.-250 A.D.): A report at
www.nabataeans.net
Some Pictures from Berenike from the Internet:
Maps of Indian Ports Drawn by Ptolemy:
Figure One: Ptolemy and the Northwest Coast of India
Ozene regia (Ujjain, the capital) Upper right
Namadus flu (Narmada River) Lower center
Barigaza emporium (Broach) Lower left.
Figure Two: Hiding the Gems
Sardonyx Mountains in which (are) sardonyx stones Upper right
Figure Two: Hiding the Gems
Sardonyx Mountains in which (are) sardonyx stones Upper right
Figure Three: Ptolemy and the Southeast Coast of India.
Carura regia (Karur, the capital) Upper right
Muziris emporium (modern Cragnore?) Lower left
Figure Four: More Romancing of the Stone
Punnata (?) in which is beryl. Upper center.
Carura regia Cerotothri (Karur, capital of the Chera) Left center
Figure Five: And what of the famous Arikamedu?
Poduca emporium (Arikamedu-Virampattinam) Right center.
Cape Comorin and the Jaffna Peninsula. Lower left.
Figure Six: A century after Ptolemy, the Peutinger Table
Ganges River (Upper Right);Muziris (Lower Right); Scythia (Lower Left);
Taprobane (Sri Lanka) Island at Bottom
Sir some pictures were there but unfortunately those are not properly
copied so please consider it.
Tathagata Neogi
Flat No. - 1
Surendranath Co-operative
238, Satin Sen Sarani
Calcutta - 700 054
INDIA
My field of expertise lies rather with the origins of Egypt
than with its latest Graeco-Roman phase, so I cannot rule on
points of detail in this paper but it seems interesting and
much better than the one you sent me long time ago on Imhotep.
Still, I must warn you that when you write that the ancient
Egyptians in earlier Pharaonic times imported cloth from India
for their mummies, that sounds very unlikely since they used
mostly linen which was abundant in Egypt itself, I suggest you
remove this claim from your paper unless you have evidence
to the contrary that you don't mention.
About your coming to Uruguay to study Egyptology, we would
welcome you, but I think that with the U$S 500 a month that
you would need here, I think that you could support yourself
much better in Cairo, where life is cheaper than here, besides
being in the country that has all the monuments and where the
opportunities as you graduate, to establish contacts with
Egyptian archaeologists and take part in their projects, would
be much better than from far-away Uruguay.
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Tue, 22 Jun 2004 18:07:03 +0100 (BST)
From:"Tathagata Neogi" <tathagata_neogi@yahoo.co.in>
Subject:Thanks for Your advice
To:juancast@yahoo.com
Sir,
Thank you for your advice. Though I have found the information regarding
the export of the mummification clothes from India from a report named
"The Indus and the Nile - Cradle of great civilisation". The report was
published by The Indian Embassy in Egypt. I am quoting you the relevant
line from the report:
"This plant (Dapania) which resembles what we know today as Coriander was
originally imported from India by the ancient Egyptians, who also brought
cloth from India as indicated by the quality of the cloth in which the
Egyptian Mummies are draped."
But I think it is a tall claim and was an exaggerated one as each and
every Embassy would always try to expose their country in a prestigious
manner. So I think, what you have pointed out to be my fault in the
writing is indeed one.
But before I remove that claim will you kindly provide me with some
website wherefrom I can have firm belief on it.
With profound regards,
Yours affectionately,
TATHAGATA.
Better than an Internet page is a bibliographical quotation,
in Lucas and Harris, Ancient Egyptian Materials and Industries,
they wrote in page 143: "Flax has been grown in Egypt from
very remote times and was used for the production of linen
fabrics as early as the neolithic period"..................
"Pliny said that 'by its aid..... she [Egypt] imports the
merchandise of Arabia and India' and that it was from Egyptian
flax that 'the greatest profits are derived'." Perhaps the
confusion arose from this misinterpreted quotation.
J. J. Castillos
Date:Tue, 9 Nov 2004 03:40:37 +0000 (GMT)
From: "Tathagata Neogi" <tathagata_neogi@yahoo.co.in>
Subject:enquiry
To:"Jose Juan Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Sir,
It's long since I've mailed you last. Well, the purpose of this is
that today I stumbled on a question about the pyramids. That is why
Imhotep suddenly make a huge shift from a mastaba to a huge pyramid. What
was the obligation behind it? The websites say that he wanted to assure
the journey to the eternity of his king. But I am not convinced. Was their
eternity not assured by a mastaba? If not then why the previous pharaohs
built those? They also sought eternity as Djoser did. So I want to know
from you that were their any crisis in paying allegiance to the Pharaoh by
their subjects? If it were then it would be reasonable to build a massive
structure proclaiming the massive strengths of the Pharaohs and depicting
their name as immortal.
There may be another cause i.e. there might have been any need at that
time to unite the country with the sense of nationalism. So Imhotep as a
vizier and an advisor to the King formulated the undertaking of this
massive national project.
So, what I want to know that were there any such crisis reigning or
dawning in Egypt during the Third dynasty especially just before the
accession of king Djoser?
Yours faithfully,
TATHAGATA
Tathagata Neogi
Flat No. - 1
Surendranath Co-operative
238, Satin Sen Sarani
Calcutta - 700 054
INDIA
Dear Mr. Neogi,
You ask a very difficult question that in the absence of written
records to clarify it, nobody can answer for sure. The possibilities
you mention cannot be ruled out but if I had to put my money on an
idea, I would rather think that it reflected the rise of the gods
of Heliopolis and the solar religion, in which the dead king would
need a colossal staircase to ascend to heaven.
Sincerely,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Wed, 16 Feb 2005 14:48:30 +0000 (GMT)
From: "Tathagata Neogi" <tathagata_neogi@yahoo.co.in>
Subject:Information Required
To:"Jose Juan Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Sir,
Yesterday National Geographic Channel telecasted a programme on the
subject why the pyramid builders shifted places from time to time from
Saqqara to Gizeh to Abu roash to Dashur and Abu Sir etc. There they made a
claim that Egyptians at first chose saqqara as from there the temople of
heliopolis was visible. Then they shifted position to gizeh to avoid the
Citadel Rock which obstructed their vision from saqqara. Then they shifted
from there to other places for the same reason.
But Sir, I think this claim they made is not at all tenable. Because there
they also showed that in each and every site Straight Line vision of
Heliopolis temple was possible. But this I think is a false claim. You can
draw straight lines between any two points at any distance thus this is
not at all important.
Moreover, Though it is possible to see the Gizeh pyramids from Heliopolis
Temple but the Pyramids of Abu Roash or Abu Sir or Dashur I hope could
not be seen through naked eyes so easily.
Please you let me know your views in this issue.
Now about Myself. I am studying hard as my HS Exam is approaching fast.
This is the most important exam in my life and this would decide my future
studies.
So sir please to pray for my success in it and please bless me.
TATHAGATA
Tathagata Neogi
Flat No. - 1
Surendranath Co-operative
238, Satin Sen Sarani
Calcutta - 700 054
INDIA
Yes, I share your disbelief at these strange ideas that sadly
get into productions like National Geographic and others that
people watch, they seem to pick up mostly the wildest and more
unlikely theories rather than the hard facts about ancient Egypt.
I wish you the best of lucks in your exams and also someone else
who probably also wants to be "the first egyptologist in India" wrote
to me and you might like to contact him, see:
http://www.oocities.org/TheTropics/Lagoon/4128/index10.html
Sincerely,
J. J. Castillos
Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 04:42:53 +0100 (BST)
From: "Tathagata Neogi" <tathagata_neogi@yahoo.co.in>
Subject: Frustrated
To: "Jose Juan Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Sir,
It has been five years since I have started my search for Egyptological guidance. In all these years I have scores of mails in several Egyptian Universities and also to Egyptologists who reside at Egypt. Moreover I have scores of mails to other Egyptologists. But only you responded. None else came forward to my help. You asked me to study in Egypt. i am ready for that but i have not got any feedback from any Egyptian universities or any Egyptian Egyptologists. They seems to be unwilling to help an Indian who wants to pioneer the study of Egyptology from his country. I donot know why they are dumb but I am unwillinly forced to conclude that they are selfish. Now I am on the verge of passing High School awaiting the results of the final exam. If i want to get admitted in the UG level then this is the proper time. I really wanted to be an Egyptologist but perhaps it is not to be. I have studied well all these days keeping this single target in my mind. I cannot think of anything more than Egyptology. You also denied me to come to Uruguay where the living charges are high. But I am not ready to become anything other than an Egyptologist. I am no ready to become an Archaeologist in india where it is a Politicised descipline.
Show me some light what should I do now. I am really frustrated.
Yours Faithfully,
Tathagata Neogi
Tathagata Neogi
Flat No. - 1
Surendranath Co-operative
238, Satin Sen Sarani
Calcutta - 700 054
INDIA
Dear Tathagata,
I understand your frustration, I also had my share in my time,
but I think that people can be happy in life only if they succeed
in doing what they really like and want, so don't give up.
In spite of other people's selfish silence, you have several
options. I did not deny you studying in Uruguay but the cost of
living here makes it difficult. One option is for you to graduate
in India in archaeology, not to practice it there for the reasons
you name, but to have a university degree that opens many doors
abroad to specialize in egyptology. That knowledge of archaeology
will never harm you, to the contrary, it can be useful to you in
the future since archaeology is roughly the same everywhere. Or
to graduate in History or History of the Ancient Near East if that
is possible there.
In the meantime, you can work in whatever jobs you can get in
your town and start saving money. Then after a few years, with a
university degree and some money, you can go to Egypt, as a trip
to visit, that if you do on your own, without tours and tourist
hotels that makes it expensive, it can be quite cheap since the
cost of living in Egypt is fairly low (if you will live like an Egyptian,
not a tourist). You will be able to see the monuments for the first
time in your life, the Egyptian Museum, and also go in person to
the American University in Cairo, to the Cairo University, etc. and
explain your goals and how important they are to you. If you get
a scholarship to help with your expenses, fine, otherwise you
can seek a work permit while you study and live from your savings
and from your earnings there. I am sure Egyptian scholars will be
gratified that an Indian wants to study their history and be the first
Indian egyptologist and that will make things easier for you. But
you have to talk to them in person there, the only way they will
take notice.
Life has taught me that there are no barriers for someone
who is willing to work hard to attain a goal, determination
and sacrifice will get you where you want to go. Giving up
will only turn you into a frustrated and bitter man, which is
no good. Persistence will be the key to your success, and also
the support of your relatives, who must want to see you happy
and successful.
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Date: Mon, 16 May 2005 07:02:11 +0100 (BST)
From: "Tathagata Neogi" <tathagata_neogi@yahoo.co.in>
Subject: Suggestion
To: "Jose Juan Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Sir,
Here in India BA Courses in Archaeology are not available. Thus they offer the courses like simple History BA or Ancient Indian & world History BA course. I am attaching the syllabus of these two three year degree courses with this mail. You study those and please inform me which of the two would suit me for my purpose.
With Regards,
Tathagata
Tathagata Neogi
Flat No. - 1
Surendranath Co-operative
238, Satin Sen Sarani
Calcutta - 700 054
INDIA
Hello,
I'm surprised at how limited the outlook on History is there,
very little of the world and all about India... But because of
its slightly wider outlook, I would advise on the second one,
the one that includes at least some of ancient Egypt and other
civilizations.
Don't forget that obtaining that BA will be like an umbrella
that in any case will be useful to you to earn a living if your
egyptology studies don't in India, it never hurts to have it.
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Date: Tue, 17 May 2005 05:51:33 +0100 (BST)
From: "Tathagata Neogi" <tathagata_neogi@yahoo.co.in>
Subject: Pray
To: "Jose Juan Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Sir,
National Geographic India has organised an Egypt Quiz contest. They will give an all paid trip to Egypt. I have taken this chance and have participated in the contest. They will choose the winner in a lottery. Please pray that I emerge as the winner. Then I will get my chance to talk with Egyptologists. And see for myself the past of egypt. If I win that would be great. Please pray to God for me please. This contest is only open to the Indians.
Tathagata
Tathagata Neogi
Flat No. - 1
Surendranath Co-operative
238, Satin Sen Sarani
Calcutta - 700 054
INDIA
Dear Tathagata,
Congratulations and I wish you all the best in your future
university studies. You still stand a good chance of being the
first Indian professional Egyptologist...
Sincerely,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Fri, 10 Jun 2005 17:31:57 +0100 (BST)
From: "Tathagata Neogi" <tathagata_neogi@yahoo.co.in>
Subject:My Result
To:"Jose Juan Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Sir,
My school final result was finally out yesterday. I faired well and
ranked second in my school. My marks is 771 out of 1000 i.e 77.1%. My
marks are the following:
1. Bengali-- 116/200
2. English-- 129/200
3. History-- 136/200
4. Political Science-- 134/200
5. Sanskrit-- 147/200
6. Philosophy-- 169/200 (of 169, 109 marks was added to the total
but the FM was not added with it as per rules)
Now I am taking forms from colleges in India for getting admitted to
the UG course in History.
Yours Sincerely,
Tathagata
Tathagata Neogi
Flat No. - 1
Surendranath Co-operative
238, Satin Sen Sarani
Calcutta - 700 054
INDIA
Date:Tue, 21 Jun 2005 05:58:29 +0100 (BST)
From: "Tathagata Neogi" <tathagata_neogi@yahoo.co.in>
Subject:Admission
To:"Jose Juan Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Sir,
I have got admission in the UG archaeology course in one of the best
institutes in India at Baroda. The name of the institute is MS University.
Yet I do not know that whether I can reach them in due time as it is 36
hrs. journey from here. Yet I am trying hard. The news reached me
yesterday. And it is very difficult to get train ticket. Baroda has no air
connections with Kolkata. Yet this is a chance of my lifetime.
Tathagata
Tathagata Neogi
Flat No. - 1
Surendranath Co-operative
238, Satin Sen Sarani
Calcutta - 700 054
INDIA
I sincerely hope you can make it. Good luck.
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
From:"Tathagata Neogi" <pharaohkhufu05@hotmail.com
To:juancast@yahoo.com
Subject:After many days
Date:Fri, 30 Sep 2005 08:57:13 +0530
Sir,
I am extremely sorry that I cannot keep in touch with you for long.
First of
all I should say that I got admitted in Jadavpur University, Kolkata
which
earned the title of CENTER OF EXCELLENCE from the central government.
I took
up history in the UG level. Many eminent Indian archaeologists and
Historians said me that to be a successful archaeologist one must
have a
strong base in history and that is why they suggested me to take up
History.
In the meantime I have finished off with building a website of my
own. If
you wish you can view it http://tathagataneogi.tripod.com .Please
suggest me
also how to enhance the website.
OKEY, I am awaiting your reply.
Yours Affectionately,
Tathagata (Please reply in this ID & not in YAHOO)
I wish you all the best in your studies !!
J. J. Castillos
Date:Tue, 3 Oct 2006 20:37:39 +0530
From:"Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To:juancast@yahoo.com
Subject: Another picture
Sir,
Here is the picture of the Goddess as we worship today during our five day
long festival.
Yours affectionately,
Tathagata
She looks very pretty and powerful and I hope she fills
you with blessings.
Sincerely,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Tue, 3 Oct 2006 20:34:14 +0530
From:"Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To:juancast@yahoo.com
Subject: Mail from Tathagata
Sir,
It has been a long time since i mailed you last. Amidst this long
interval, some important developments occured and I want you to keep you
abreast with those. But first, let me offer you my respectful regards in
the holy occassion of Bijaya, which follows the great Indian annual
festival of Durga Puja, or worshipping Goddess Durga. I am attaching with
this mail, a picture of Goddess Durga, a sculpture that was excavated from
a place named Deulghata in Purulia and is some one thousand years old.
Alongwith that, I am sending you the picture of Goddess Durga, as we
worship her today.
Now about myself, I told you that after passing my High School with 77.1%
marks in humanities, I got admitted to Jadavpur University for doing my BA
in History. Currently I am in the second year of the three year BA course.
The results of my First and second semester exams were 60% and 67.33%
respectively, and I ranked 5th in my class. Now, for my masters degree, I
wish to take up Archaeology and i wish to study in the UK for that
purpose. I would have taken Egyptology, but the universities are looking
for a BA in Egyptology for consideration in their MA admission. So I will
be taking up archaeology in my MA which I plan to start in September 2008
in any UK university. I have already started atending the briefeng
sessions in our local British Council and got tied up with an eminent
education counsellor, who will look after my application procedure.
This is all about me in brief, but sir, what about you? How are you? I am
awaiting for your reply and suggestions in this purpose about my plans to
study Archaeology in UK etc. Please also inform me one more thing that will
it be possible for me to do my PhD in any sphere of ancient Egypt after
doing my MA in Archaeology? Or, do I need any Egyptology degree for that
purpose?
Awating your reply,
Yours affectionately,
Tathagata
Hello,
Thank you for your good news, I think you are in the right
track, after you get your MA everything should be easier, you
have been establishing useful contacts and the British give
many scholarships to study in Britain. Every university has
different requirements but with an MA in archaeology you
should have no problems.
I wish you very good luck in your studies and if you
persevere, you will succeed in your efforts.
Sincerely,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Sun, 8 Oct 2006 20:20:41 +0530
From:"Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To:juancast@yahoo.com
Subject:Referee
Sir,
Today I have been to my education UK counsellor. He informed me that I
need three letters of references while satrting my application procedure
to UK, which begins in september 2007. So he asked me to look for referees
who would write the letters for me. Sir,I request you to be one of my
referees, if you wish. So please let me know will it be possible on your
part to be one of my referees and write a letter of reference for me when
I need it just before the start of my application procedure?
Awating your reply,
Yours affectionately,
Tathagata
I will be happy to write that letter, to be sent by email,
when the time comes, mentioning your enthusiasm for
the subject and how much India needs to have professional
egyptologists like most other big countries in the world,
so its long term academic absence on this is ended.
Sincerely,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Mon, 9 Oct 2006 11:01:55 +0530
From:"Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To:"Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject:Re: Referee
Sir,
Thank you for your consent. I willl let you know when
I need the letter.
Yours affectionately
Tathagata
Date:Tue, 21 Nov 2006 19:27:46 +0530
From:"Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To:"Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject:Progress so far
Sir,
There has been some significant development on my way of going to UK in
2008 for my Masters in Archaeology. As I told you that I am guided in the
process by an eminent counsellor, and it is with his advice I decided to
apply for six universities in UK. My application procedure will begin from
september 2007 and before that by August, I have to get through the IELTS
exam. I am preparing for it. However, it is my third semester exam that is
knocking at the door and am pre-occupied by that currently.
Sir, I am mailing you my choice of universities and the courses that I
have decided to apply to. Please do comment on that and also give me
suggestions on these.
The Universities are as follows:
1. University of Liverpool: MA Egyptology or MA Archaeology
2. University of Durham: MA Archaeology with India, Egypt & Near East
strand
3. University of Sheffield: MA Archaeology
4. University of Glasgow: MA Mediterranean Archaeology
5. University of Reading: MA Archaeology
6. University of Manchester: MA Archaeology (General)
Sir, please let me know that which of these Universities have better
research prospects in Egyptology or Ancient Egypt.
Awating your reply,
Tathagata
Of the universities you mention, Liverpool and Manchester
are the best for egyptology, but the others are good too, so
if you get any of them, it is OK, because you can then, after
being settled down in the UK for a while, go for a PhD in
egyptology at London University College or Manchester or
Liverpool. I wish you the best of luck. It is nice to see that
the young fellow I started guiding so long ago, is finally on
his way to achieve his goal and be the first professional
egyptologist in India. Good for you.
Sincerely,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Fri, 24 Nov 2006 06:38:01 -0800 (PST)
From:"Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject:Re: language requirements
To:"Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
--- Tathagata Neogi <imhotep05@gmail.com> wrote:
Sir,
This is just to ask you that for Egyptology or Archaeology, do I
need to
learn any foreign language? I hope it will help. Please suggest me
what
language should I learn, the courses here will commence from
January and I
need to decide before that. Currently I am learning classical
Latin. But I
think I need to learn a modern language also. Please do enlighten
me.
Regards,
Tathagata
Hello,
For archaeology it depends on where you would be working,
but as to egyptology, the three official languages are English,
French and German, without at least a reading and understanding
knowledge of them you would not be a competent egyptologist
because the most important publications are in these languages.
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Wed, 20 Dec 2006 19:20:28 +0530
From:"Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To:"Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject:Liverpool question
Sir,
As per your advice, I decided to get enrolled in French language. But for
now, please let me know whether the university of Liverpool will accept me
as a MA student in Archaeology as I dont have a BA degree in that subject.
I mailed their egyptology department and they said they will not accept
anyone for MA Egyptology who do not possess a BA in egyptology or ancient
history or Archaeology. But I do not know about their archaeology
department. For knowing I mailed them but they have not replied as yet for
many days. So, sir, do you know anything about this? Please can you get me
the information somehow ? I need the information badly as without being
sure of it I cant start writing my SOP for Liverpool. Other universities
said they will accept me but Liverpool has not replied yet. So please can
you somehow get me the information?
Awaiting your reply,
Regards,
Tathagata
I don´t know where you got that information but in their
official webpage
http://www.liv.ac.uk/
it says that a bachelor degree in any "related discipline"
will be enough:
INDIA
Country Manager
Ursula Henry
Entry Requirements
Undergraduate
Academic Successful completion of examinations at standard X
and XII with minimum marks of approximately 70-85% according
to course applied for and exam board taken.
English Language 70% in English in 12th Standard
Postgraduate Taught
Academic Successful completion of a bachelor degree from a
recognised university with minimum first division (high
second division from some universities)
English Language 70% in English in 12th Standard
Postgraduate Research
Academic Masters degree – first class
English Language 70% in English in 12th Standard
Scholarships
Click here for information about University of Liverpool
scholarships. Students should also have a look at the
British Council India website to find out about additional
funding opportunities.
and also at
http://www.liv.ac.uk/sace/pgprosp/same.htm
they say:
Egyptology MA (SAME)
Closing date for 2006-07 entry: 30th June 2006
For bursaries information: click here
The MA is designed for graduates in Archaeology, Egyptology or
related discipline who wish to deepen their knowledge of Egyptian
archaeology and/or languages or study these as new topics. It is a
freestanding Masters degree, but will be particularly suitable to
those who intend to pursue post-graduate research in Egyptology or
related areas. Students will take 8 taught courses from a range
including core research skills, Egyptian Archaeology and Egyptian
language and will complete a 15,000 word dissertation. The programme
will include some opportunities for museum work and Egyptological
fieldwork. As far as possible within the options available the degree
programme will be tailored to suit individual requirements. Regarding
the dissertation element of the programme, we suggest that applicants
contact the Director of Studies (Dr Ian Shaw), preferably in advance
of submitting their application, to discuss likely research topics
and supervisors. We will take dissertation topics into account in
reaching decisions on applications.
Programme Overview
Degree: MA in Egyptology
Code: SAME
Programme length: 1 year (2 years part-time)
Part-Time Study: Available
Typical offer: A first class or good upper second class (Honours)
degree in Archaeology, Egyptology or a related discipline (or
equivalent for international students)
Key contact: Dr Ian Shaw
Tel: 0151 794 2467
Notes: Funding
Why don´t you write to the country manager for India,
Ms. Ursula Henry at her email address of u.t.henry@liv.ac.uk
or Dr. Ian Shaw at ishaw@liv.ac.uk and perhaps they will be
able to explain this better to you.
Liverpool has top scholars like Prof. Kitchen and Dr. Ian
Shaw in their staff.
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Wed, 20 Dec 2006 21:15:04 +0530
From:"Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To:"Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject:Re: Liverpool question
Sir,
I checked their webpage and have met Ursula Henry when she came to my
city. On her advice I mailed professor Ian Shaw and he said that without a
BA in Egyptology/ Archaeology/ Ancient History, I will not be accomodated
in MA Egyptology. And I am fearing the same for MA Archaeology and so I
mailed prof. Freeman, but he had not yet replied my mail. So I requested
you provide me with any information that you may have.
I am sorry if I have bothered you. But as you can understand that this is
important for me. Please do get me the information if you can as I am yet
to recieve any reply from Prof. Freeman.
Awaiting your reply,
With regards,
Tathagata
P.S. I am forwarding you the mail that Professor Shaw sent to me alongwith
the one that I sent to him.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Shaw, Ian <ishaw@liverpool.ac.uk>
Date: Dec 15, 2006 7:25 PM
Subject: RE: Admission in Egyptology
To: Tathagata Neogi <imhotep05@gmail.com>
Dear Tathagata
Thank you for your query concerning our MA in Egyptology. We
prefer applicants to have taken either an undergraduate degree
in Egyptology or a degree in something fairly closely related, i.e. archaeology, Classics or ancient history. I'm afraid that if your
current degree (you don't say what it is) is not any of the four
mentioned we'd be unlikely to accept you on the MA, as it requires
a good basic knowledge of the subject in advance. Do let me know
if you have any further queries.
Best wishes
Ian
Dr Ian Shaw
Senior Lecturer in Egyptian Archaeology
Director of Graduate Studies: SACE
Director of Studies: MA Egyptology
School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology
12 Abercromby Square
University of Liverpool Liverpool L69 7WZ
Phone (direct) +44 (0)151 7942452
-----Original Message-----
From: Tathagata Neogi [imhotep05@gmail.com]
Sent: Fri 12/15/2006 1:06 PM
To: Shaw, Ian
Subject: Admission in Egyptology
Respected Dr. Shaw,
I am Tathagata Neogi from Kolkata, India. I am currently doing my BA in
History from Jadavpur University, Kolkata. I wish to enrol myself for MA
in Egyptology in the University of Liverpool. I have some queries relating
to this. Sir, I met the University of liverpool representative Ursula Henry in
the UK Education Fair at Kolkata. I asked her whether I will be elligible to
apply in MA Egyptology at Liverpool as I am not studying the subject in
the UG level. She asked me to contact you for this purpose. So I am mailing
to you.
Please let me know whether I will be eligible for application in the said
course. My graduation would be complete by 2008 and thus I will be applying
for 2008 intake.
Awaiting your reply,
Regards,
Tathagata
Date:Thu, 4 Jan 2007 19:42:44 +0530
From:"Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To:"Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject:Ancient Egypt
Sir,
GREETINGS FOR THE NEW YEAR !!!
Its G R E A T feeling now as we are taught about ancient Egypt extensively
this semester alongwith Rome and Greece.........this is the first time so
in our Departments History, that Egypt is taught that extensively. Now we
are being taught the Black Athena Debate, and how the europeans viewed
Egypt over the ages. Infact our course structure includes the Greek,
Roman, Biblical, Rennaisance and Post Napoleonic perceptions of ancient
Egypt and how the image of Ancient Egypt was hailed by the Greeks, Romans
and the Bible and Rennaissance and how that image was undermined by
eurocentrists in Post Napoleonic era.
Other than these, we will be taught the State formation in Ancient Egypt
and selected portions from Pharaonic Egypt and her influences over other
civilisations.
Although the portion that we will cover a tiny portion of Ancient Egypt,
yet I am glad that at least the dumbness about Ancient Egypt in Indian
university syllabuses is ending finally. The process had probably begun.
Awaiting your response on the issue.
Yours affectionately,
Tathagata
Dear Tathagata,
I share your joy about egyptology coming of age in India
and also wish you a very good year 2007.
For Black Athena and its errors you can read
http://www.oocities.org/duarta/bernal.txt
also about afrocentrism you can explore our Forum at
http://www.oocities.org/duarta (it´s ten pages)
and about the beginning of Egypt I wrote recently a paper which
you might like to read (it´s my latest research):
http://www.oocities.org/jjcastillos/early.doc
I hope you can get on well with your studies in India and
in the UK.
J. J. Castillos
Date:Sun, 7 Jan 2007 10:37:10 +0530
From:"Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To:"Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject:Re: Ancient Egypt
Sir,
Thank You for the links. I am sure those will be very helpful for me.
with regards,
Tathagata
Date:Wed, 10 Jan 2007 20:29:58 +0530
From:"Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To:"Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject:Colours of Pharaohs
Sir,
Today we had a controversy in class about Egypt. Please tell me that
whether the pharaohs of Egypt and the general Egyptian population were
dark skinned like the negro population in africa or they had ordinary
complexion as the modern day egyptians like Dr. Hawass has? Do we have any
conclusive evidence pointing to the skin colours of the ancient egyptians?
Awating your reply,
Yours affectionately,
Tathagata
From the monuments, their paintings, we can infer that
there was then probably much the same differences we notice
today, that is, light skinned people in the north and dark
skinned people the farther south you went. Isn´t a similar
situation found in India itself? You can consult one of my
publications that showed that the ancient Egyptians were from
the very beginnng a mixed population at:
http://www.oocities.org/jeque8/index2.html
I hope this helps.
J. J. Castillos
Date:Wed, 10 Jan 2007 20:55:49 +0530
From:"Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To:"Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject:Re: Colours of Pharaohs
Sir,
Yes, Indian population is almost like that. I was telling that very thing.
But our professor has a typical belief that all the egyptians are
stereotypically dark skinned as the native african population. I hope he
is emphasizing on Black Athena too much. We are suggested to make Kemp's
book as our basic text. Is it good? or do you suggest any other book for
the beginners?
Awaiting your reply,
Tathagata
You have the link that I sent you with a very good critical
study of Black Athena, why don´t you mention it and give it for
others, including your teacher, to read? Kemp Anatomy of a
Civilization is a good book, although I don´t agree with all
he says, especially the latest edition is very original and
different from previous ones, emphasizing the social aspects.
You can also read Trigger, O´Connor and others, Ancient
Egypt, a Social History, which is also very good.
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Wed, 10 Jan 2007 21:32:37 +0530
From:"Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To:"Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject:Re: Colours of Pharaohs
Sir,
Thank you for your suggestion.....I will definitely give the link to my
professor and my classmates so that they develop a critical outlook about
Black Athena. I just finished reading your paper 'Ancient Egyptians, Were
They Black', and I will let my professor read this link too. I support
your view that there is no point in wasting time judging the race or more
specifically the colours of the Egyptians. It is far better to acknowledge
their wonderful creations from a scholastic angle.
Regards,
Tathagata
Date:Mon, 15 Jan 2007 18:19:02 +0530
From:"Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To:"Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject:Netherlands
Sir,
Today me and some of my friends got an offer from my university for doing
a fully paid MA course in Ancient History from the University of Leiden of
Netherlands. But I am actually in a dilemma whether to go forward with
that offer or to stick with UK. As you know that Egyptology and
Archaeology are my passions, would a degree in Ancient History serve my
purpose for doing my research on ancient Egypt? Moreover, will I have
international acceptence by having a degree from the Leiden University?
About UK, if I get 40-50% scholarship from any of the institutions for an
MA in Archaeology, I will abandon the Netherlands opportunity. Please let
me know what should I do? I am really in a dilemma.
Awaiting your reply,
With Regards
Tathagata
I advise you to contact the professors at the UK universities
you are interested in for your PhD in Egyptology and ask them if
an MA in Ancient History from Leiden University is acceptable to
them to go for their PhD in Egyptology, that will tell you which
way to go.
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Thu, 1 Feb 2007 21:27:44 +0530
From:"Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To:"Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject:origin of egyptian state
Sir,
Our professor is formulating impossible theories about the origin of
Egyptian state through kinship.......I am going to challenge him tomorrow.
Please let me clear my doubts from you.... I have gone through your paper
regarding the origins of classes in ancient Egypt. Please tell me that is
it true to claim that the city states of lower Egypt in pre-dynastic
period derived their affluence and power from the amount of elite control
over the resources of the region? What I mean is that, more the elite
control is over the resources, more powerful and affluent that city state
becomes and thus gains supremacy over others. Am I right in concluding so?
Please let me know also that whether the kinship theory of origin of
Ancient Egyptian state is valid or not.
Awaiting your reply,
Regards,
Yours faithfully,
Tathagata
If your professor is teaching "impossible theories", then you
can see the need for the appearance of professional egyptologists
in India.
I think it is valid to say that control of resources is a source
of power for local elites, but remember that Lower Egyptian cities
did not seem to have had very powerful elites until the end of the
Predynastic Period, the powerful elites were in the south, in Upper
Egypt.
Kinship most probably had an influence in the very early
Predynastic, like everywhere else in the world, but for complexity
to develop kinship had to be circumvented and replaced by other
kinds of loyalties, to the new chiefs and early regional kings,
above local kinship allegiances.
You will find lots of information on all this in:
http://xoomer.alice.it/francescoraf/hesyra/intro.htm
I notice more depth in your thoughts, you seem to be making
progress, no doubt about it. Good. Keep up the good work.
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Fri, 2 Feb 2007 19:45:22 +0530
From:"Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To:"Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject:Re: origin of egyptian state
Sir,
Thank you for your assessment of my view....but please tell me that
whereas the upper Egyptian centres like Nagada etc grew up into incipient
city states, what was the cause or rather difference that caused the lower
Egyptian city states to be weaker? Moreover, please let me know whether
game theory as used by Kemp can really explain the state formation in Egypt?
You know, I am quite fascinated with the origins of ancient Egypt
now.....I wish to do my research on this area and its my dream to do my
research under your guidance.
Awaiting your reply,
Yours faithfuly,
Tathagata
My answer to your first question is in a paper I published
recently, you will find it attached to this email. About Kemp
and his idea I don´t share it, like I don´t agree with him
when he writes that it was Hierakonpolis who united Egypt,
my answer to all that is in another paper I also published
recently, both appeared in Goettinger Miszellen, and which
I also attach to this email.
I am glad you like this subject and I will always be happy
to help you in any way I can, but I am sure will find very
good guidance in your UK university.
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Fri, 2 Feb 2007 22:06:20 +0530
From:"Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To:"Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject:Re: origin of egyptian state
Sir,
Thank you for your papers. My friend Prerana wishes to
contact you as she is also interested about state formation
and irritated by dangerous theories by our professor. Should
I ask her to contact you?
Regards,
Yours faithfully
Tathagata
No problem. But I wish she would explain better the
"dangerous" theories your professor is saying, because
I cannot have an opinion without knowing.
All the best,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Mon, 5 Feb 2007 19:22:37 +0530
From:"Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To:"Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject:Abydos
Sir,
I read your article on the pre-dominance of Abydos over Hierakonopolis as
reagrds the unification of Egypt. You have mentioned there that Abydos was
controlling more important trade routes that connected Egypt with Asia. So
is it fair to conclude that if there existed an understanding between
Abydos and Hierakonopolis then Abydos would always become the dominant
partner over Hierakonopolis as Hierokonopolitan elites would have been
dependent on Abydos for getting those more precious prestige goods. Is my
line of thinking correct?
Awaiting your review
Regards,
Your affectionately,
Tathagata
The way I see it is that it was a mutually profitable
arrangement for both and better than war: the Asian goods
for Hierakonpolis through Abydos and the African goods to
Abydos through Hierakonpolis for the benefit of both elites.
The greater standing of Abydos in this relationship would
be due to its greater wealth and resources. Besides, the
elite at Hierakonpolis had to deal with the ambitions of
Group A leaders in Nubia, a problem Abydos didn´t have in
its territory.
Sincerely,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Mon, 5 Feb 2007 20:53:57 +0530
From:"Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To:"Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject:Re: Abydos
Sir,
Okay, I got it now. Please tell me about your AD index........I dont
understand that.
Regards,
Tathagata
It´s a variable I invented to measure inequality which consists
of calculating the average of a group of data, then dividing the
group in two others, as below or above the average, calculating
the averages for each one of them (let´s say, poorer group and
richer group) and the difference between them is what I call the
Average Difference or AD. Other measurements of social inequality
try to minimize the absolute value of the variables for a number
of reasons but my AD shows these absolute values.
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Fri, 2 Mar 2007 18:24:34 +0530
From:"Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To:"Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject:Structure of Kingship
Sir,
While going through the history of Ancient Egypt, it apparently appears
that the structure of kingship in Egypt remains the same despite the
dynastic changes. This thing is unique in Egypt as in other countries, it
is often seen that the nature and the structure of kingship and
administration changes with the change of dynasty. Please tell me whether
the nature and structure of Egypt's kingship had undergone changes and
evolved thorughout the dynastic period or whether the apparent unchanged
appearance is also true in reality?
Also please suggest me a good website wherefrom it would be possible for
me to understand and learn the administrative and bureaucratic structure
in Egypt. And please tell me why is it that despite being a higly
centralised state, Egypt's nomarchs enjoyed a certain amount of freedom?
Awaiting your reply,
Yours affectionately,
Tathagata
It´s an appearance, although the theory of divine kingship
remained much the same through thousands of years, the
power of the kings and the administration changed according
to the new situations arising from the transition towards an
empire that included parts of the Sudan and Western Asia
and then the loss of such foreign sources of wealth.
The local governors enjoyed some degree of autonomy
because many of their responsibilities were local like the
control of the irrigation and the conservation of the network
of canals for agriculture, and their position changed from
time to time according to the political situation, in the First
Intermediate Period they held great power and virtual complete
autonomy but at other times the kings imposed their authority
over them and deposed them at will.
If you enter in
http://www.google.com
search words like
+ancient +egyptian +administration +bureaucracy
exactly like that, you´ll find much information. The sites
that have the "edu" word in them and belong to universities
and such are the most reliable ones.
You can use these search methods to find any information
you want in internet.
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Tue, 10 Apr 2007 18:15:37 +0530
From:"Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To:"Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject:Exam
Sir,
I have my exam on Ancient Egypt tomorrow and I wish to write
on the State Formation. I seek your blessings for this purpose
as you are my inspiration and I do worship you. So please bless
me and let me feel strengthened.
Yours affectionately,
Tathagata
Dear Tathagata,
Thank you. It is my pleasure to help you as much as I can,
but don´t "worship" people since we are all human and imperfect.
I wish you the best of luck in your exam tomorrow, feel
confident in your knowledge and it will be a great help,
don´t be afraid to express what you have learnt.
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Thu, 12 Apr 2007 20:49:46 +0530
From:"Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To:"Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject:Re: Exam
Sir,
The exam passed off well. Thank you for your valuable blessings.
Yours affectionately,
Tathagata
Date:Fri, 20 Apr 2007 20:17:14 +0530
From:"Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com> A
To:"Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject:Ma'at
Sir,
I got 80 % marks in Egypt test. Now, I am facing a bit of problem in
relating the concept of ma'at with the institution of kingship in Egypt. I
know that, pharaoh, as an incarnation of God ( as regarded by the anceint
Egyptians) was the sole controler of ma'at on this world. Now,did the
pharaoh's taking of the title of king of upper and lower Egypt and
wearing the dual crown, signify a symbol of balance between the true and
was it an attempt, may be unconsious, to assert the King's role in
establishing ma'at in this world?
Awaiting your reply,
Yours affectionately,
Tathagata
Hello,
Congratulations. You may find this useful, it was put up by
New York University:
http://homepages.nyu.edu/~og1/religion/RC13.htm
In the classical concept of Egyptian religion, the god acts and the
king reacts to his activity. The gods granted the king kingship as
their agent on earth, knowing in advance that he would carry out four
chief responsibilities: judging men and providing them with justice,
generally achieved by protecting the weak from the strong; satisfying
the gods, which is usually fulfilled by the maintenance of cult and
worship; realizing Maat; and annihilating Isfet. These activities
might all be subsumed under a single rubric—maintenance, i.e.
keeping
the world in the state in which it was found. Indeed, one of the
recurring images here is that of the king as the Good Shepherd and
humanity as the flock of the god’s (sometimes expressed as
"god’s
cattle"; or the god’s herd). Order, Maat, was not the natural
state
of the world and had to be imposed primarily from above—a notion
which later plays into imperialistic tendencies of the Egyptian New
Kingdom. Eventually, the notion of progress seldom enters into this
picture—remember my observation that Maat is often connected with a
sense of stasis—and the deity around whom this is centered is
essentially the sun god as creator.
The way in which you can answer many questions is using the
google search at:
http://www.google.com
and write, for example:
+relationship +maat +king
this brought the result I am giving you here and many more. Always
make sure that the source is academic (has .edu in its webpage) so
you don´t quote the nonsense other people often write.
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Date: Fri, 25 May 2007 12:55:58 +0530
From: "Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To: "Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject: MA from Ireland
Sir,
While searching for the universities in Europe outside the UK which offers MA in Archaeology in English, I found that the National University of Ireland offers the Degree in English. Then I asked some of the experts here and they spoke highly of the Archaeology Department there. But before proceeding any further, I wish to have your opinion on this. My aplication procedure for UK and if you suggest, then Ireland would start from this September.
Awaiting your reply,
Regards,
Tathagata
Dear Tathagata,
If you have no other possibilities in England (Liverpool,
London, Sheffield, Manchester, etc.), then go for it, it is
a European degree and is valid for postgraduate studies later,
but those others I mentioned would be perhaps better because
of their reputation.
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Thu, 21 Jun 2007 09:24:23 +0530
From:"Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To:"Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>,
"Rajen Chatterjee"
<rajenchatterjee@gmail.com>
Subject:Latin Exam
Sir,
My Latin (junior) exam results are out. I became second in the class by
scoring 60% marks. I will be joining French course on 26th this month.
Regards,
Tathagata
CONGRATULATIONS !!!
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Wed, 18 Jul 2007 20:09:45 +0530
From:"Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To:"Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject:Earliest social stratification
Sir,
I was thinking about the procedure by which the initial social
stratification starts in each and every eagalitarian society. Suddenly I
realised that I can study this phenomenon closely from the examples at
hand. I keenly observed my own friends group in my university. I found
that at the very begining when each and everyone got involved in the
group, all the individuals were equal to each other. Gradually, by virtue
of charisma or academic achievements or any other special attributes of a
single individual,all others in the group, knowingly or unknowingly has
accepted that very person as the leader. By leader, I mean they begin to
depend on that person, or even leaves the decision making of the group on
that very individual. And all of them does thsi either knowingly or
subconsiously. Now, I studied other existing groups in our class and found
the same phenomenon occuring there.
So, please tell me, is my conclusion right? And let me know if I could
apply this model on the earliest egalitarian societies including those in
ancient Egypt?
Awaiting your reply,
Regards,
Yours affectionately,
Tathagata
Hello,
Your observations show that some people will always
tend to rise to positions of leadership due to their abilities,
charisma, ambitions, etc. but that is only a first step because
those situations are temporary and can and will usually
lose those positions as time goes by for a number of reasons,
the significant change happened when those people managed
to make their position hereditary so that the early rajahs or
other leaders could pass their rank to their descendants.
It´s different stages in a process towards state formation.
Cheers,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Wed, 18 Jul 2007 21:07:22 +0530
From:"Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To:"Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject:Re: Earliest social stratification
Sir,
I understand. So now as these people rise above others and seeks to pass
on their prestige to their successors, they try to get access to resources
and here the status defining objects and such things appear. This quest
for status defining objects and resources triggers competition and
subsequently the winner in this contest commands allegiance of the
defeated. Am I right?
Regards,
Tathagata
Hello,
I think you have to beware of too simplistic interpretations.
The way I and some others view it, things were more complex
than that. Perhaps you will get a clearer picture in a webpage
I set up:
http://www.oocities.org/jjcastillos/complexity.html
in which accumulation of resources gives those people a
tool to manipulate others and try to push them by various
means (coertion, bribes, reciprocity debts, persuasion,
etc.) to support them, then as they become powerful local
leaders, they must underline their new status with prestige
goods, a religious support for their position, and alliances
with other such chiefs elsewhere for mutual support, etc.
It was a complex process, not exactly the same everywhere,
not all those leaders succeeded, we should avoid simplifying
it too much or making it like a rigid model because people
and societies differ in many ways in different regions.
Cheers,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Sat, 21 Jul 2007 10:48:22 +0530
From:"Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To:"Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject:IELTS Result
Sir,
My IELTS result is out. I scored 7.5 in overall band score. My individual
band scores are:
Listening 7.5
Reading 8.5
Speaking 7.5
Writing 7.0
I required 6.5-7.0 overall to be eligible to apply in UK.
Sir, now that I have cleared IELTS, I may start my application process
from this September. For doing so, I need a reference letter each from you
for each of the 5 Universities that I would apply to. You said that you
will send the reference letters through email, but the Universities said
that they would accept the reference letters written on the letter-heads
of the referee themselves and duly signed by them. So in that case, you
need to send the reference letters via post to me. If you can manage doing
so amongst your busy schedule, I would be sending you my application
details so that you can write the letters accordingly. I may send you a
self addressed envelope to your address if you so wish.
Awaiting your reply,
Regards,
Tathagata
Hello,
Congratulations. I suggest that you give me the details
and then I could send you each letter as a .doc attachment
to an email, with our letterhead and signed by me with a
pen, then you can print them in a colour printer and it will
be exactly the same as if I had sent you the letter.
I suggest this because letters between our two very
distant countries may take a very long time and by email
it would be much faster.
Cheers,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Sun, 22 Jul 2007 13:09:00 +0530
From:"Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To:"Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject:Re: IELTS Result
Sir,
That would be great. I will send you my details within a few days.
Regards,
Tathagata
Date:Tue, 24 Jul 2007 20:24:08 +0530
From:"Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To:"Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject: My details
Sir,
I am attaching with this mail, my details in the form of a CV alongwith
the names of the universities and the courses to those I would apply. I
have included a guideline for writing the reference letters, given to me
by my Education UK counsellor. You may use that if you wish.
Awaiting your reply,
Regards,
Tathagata
Attachments
Files:
CV_of_Tathagata_Neogi.doc (59k)
Curriculum Vitae
1. Name: MR. TATHAGATA NEOGI
2. Father's Name: Mr. Parthasarathi Neogi
3. Date of birth: 01 October 1985
4. Address: Surendranath Co-operative Housing Society,
Flat No. 1, 238 Satin Sen Sarani, Kolkata - 700 054.
Phone : (033) 2352-6485
Mobile: 9883176925
e-mail : imhotep05@gmail.com
ACADEMIC RECORD:
Institution Examination Passed Board/
University Subject Combination % of Marks
Year of Passing
Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith, Purulia
Madhyamik West Bengal Board of Secondary Education Beng., Eng., Hist., Geog., Phy. Sc., Life Sc. Maths,
Logic (Addl.) 75.75 2003
Ramakishna Mission Vidyamandira Belur Math Higher Secondary W.B. Council of H. S. Education Beng., Eng., Hist.,
Pol. Sc., Sanskrit, Philosophy 77.1 2005
Jadavpur University B.A. Hons.
in History
Jadavpur University History
1st Semester 60.0 2006
History
2nd Semester 67.33 2006
History
3rd Semester 64.0 2007
History
4th Semester 60.66 2007
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EXAM (IELTS/TOEFL):
IELTS: Overall band score 7.5 (Listening 7.5; Reading 8.5; Speaking 7.5; Writing 7)
CAREER OBJECTIVE:
I wish to become an Archaeologist and undertake research on Pre-Dynastic Egyptian archaeology.
LANGUAGE COURSES:
Language: Classical Latin (Junior)
· Organization: Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Golpark, Kolkata
· Duration: 1 year
· Scope: Understanding Classical Latin texts
Language: French (Junior)
· Organization: Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Golpark, Kolkata
· Duration: 1 year
· Scope: Understanding the language and considerable spoken skills
EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES:
· Stood 4th in J.J. Goodwin Memorial Annual Essay Competition organized by the Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandira, Belur Math, Howrah.
· Participated in plays like Abak Jalpan (1994), Bhim Bodh (1995; 2006), Solution X (2005), Tarapada & Co.(2006), and earned praise from the audience.
· Participated in the Annual Exhibitions of 2000 and 2001 as a student of Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith, Purulia and was a demonstrator for the Department of History.
· Stood 2nd in the Annual English Recitation Competition of Ramakrishna Mission, Vidyamandira, Belur Math, Howrah.
· Wrote history based articles for school magazine, which got published and praised by teachers.
· An active member of newly formed History Forum by the students of the department.
INTERESTS:
· Egyptology is my primary interest and Egyptologist Dr. Zahi Hawass is my idol.
· I am an aficionado of all kind of sports, especially soccer, cricket, tennis, Formula-1.
· I am a fan of Dan Brown's thrillers.
· I like watching the TV documentaries on Ancient Egypt or rather any field of Archaeology.
· I am a huge fan of Mel Gibson, and enjoy watching his movies as well as other good English, Hindi and Bengali movies.
· The tunes of John Denver, Scorpions, Chandrabindoo, Creed, Linkin' Park refreshes me.
· I enjoy reading research based articles on Ancient Egypt.
Universities & Courses
1. University of Liverpool: MA Archaeology
2. University of Sheffield: MA Archaeology
3. University of Manchester: MA Archaeology (general)
4. Glasgow University: MA Mediterranean Archaeology
5. University of Durham: MA Archaeology (Egypt, India & Near East)
Guidelines for Writing Reference Letters
Your referee should know you well enough to write about you and to say if you are suitable for higher education. References from family members, other relatives or friends are not accepted. Reference should be in original and on the Letter Head of the Referee.
Points to include:
1. Referee's Profile in context to the Reference.
2. Association with the student - Years known and in what capacity.
3. Academic Strength - General and related to the Subject.
4. Non Academic Strength - General, extra curricular, social etc.
5. Comment on English Proficiency level.
6. Candidate's ability to adjust to the challenges offered by UK in general and the course in specific.
7. Any other special mention
Dear Tathagata,
I am attaching to this email the letter you requested. You can
change in your computer the names of the universities and print
them in a colour printer and you´ll have them ready to submit.
I suggest you delete from your other interests the Dan Brown
books that may give a bad impression about the seriousness of
your interests.
I would also rephrase the Hawass sentence that "I admire Dr.
Zahi Hawass and all he is doing for the history of his country",
but avoid saying that anyone is your "idol"...
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Wed, 25 Jul 2007 18:27:03 +0530
From:"Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To:"Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject:Re: My details
Sir,
Thank you for your letter. I will definitely change the flaws those I have
in my CV. Thank you for pointing those out too. But I like Dan Brown only
as a writer and nothing else. The claims that he made in Da Vinci Code or
Angels and Demons appeared more speculative to me than real. I will keep
you updated about my application, etc.
Regards,
Tathagata
Date:Thu, 6 Sep 2007 17:30:22 +0530
From:"Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To:"Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject:Reference letter forms
Sir,
I will send you the forms that the referees has to fill up and send
alongwith their reference letters in a sealed envelope. The problem is,
this time round am afraid you need to send those forms to me by airmail
after you fill those up. This is because they require original signature
and the seal of the university in original. As you are one of my primary
referees, you need to fill this form up to make my application valid. I
can well understand that it would be a time consuming procedure, but then
in order to make my application packet complete, I need those filled up
forms along with original university seal and your signature. Please do
let me know whether I should foprward those forms to you as fast as
possible.
Awaiting your reply,
Regards,
Tathagata
P.S. Macquire University in Australia offers an MA in Egyptology for those
students who havent studied the subject before. Shpuld I go for that too?
Will an Australian certificate help me in my cause?
Hi,
No problem, send then as soon as possible and give me your
address again so I can send them back to you. Our address is:
4 de Julio 3068
Montevideo CP 11600
URUGUAY
The Australian MA is quite acceptable, as long as they pay your
expenses since living there can cost a lot.
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Fri, 7 Sep 2007 21:18:11 +0530
From:"Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To:"Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Reference letter forms
Sir,
I am attaching the forms of Glasgow and Manchester. You need to fill those
up as per instricted in the form and put those, alongwith the reference
letter that you have sent to me earlier, in seperate sealed envelopes and
post those back to me. Both the reference letter and the form would
perhaps require the seal of your university and your signature in
original.
Awaiting your reply
Regards,
Tathagata
My address:
Tathagata Neogi
Flat # 1
Surendranath Cooperative
238, Satin Sen Sarani
Kolkata, West BengalPIN: 700054
INDIA
P.S. Please do not type to fill these two forms up as I dont have the
software to enable typing facility in pdf format, so I will have to fill
my portion up by hand.
Hi,
I´ll print them, fill them up as required, stamp
and sign them, etc. and I´ll send them to you in the
sealed envelopes as they want. They will be on their
way to you early next week.
All the best,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Sat, 8 Sep 2007 11:55:27 +0530
From:"Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To:"Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject:Re: Reference letter forms
Sir,
I did think on this matter also.........if it is okay with you then I may
suggest something. You fill your part up and send those to me without
sealing the envelope. Thereafter, as the parcel reaches me, I will fill my
part up and put it in the same envelope and seal those and make those
ready. See if this is okay with you. Otherwise, I would do as you
suggested.
Regards,
Tathagata.
Dear Tathagata,
On second thought, after I read the forms, you must
print them, then fill in the parts that have to do with
you (Applicant´s details or To the Applicant) and then
I´ll fill in my referee parts, put it into an evelope
each, close them (seal them) and sign over the seals, as
they required.
If I write anything wrong in your parts, it might
delay or cause a rejection.
So please mail me the printed and filled forms as
soon as possible to my address and I will return them
to you as they want.
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Sat, 8 Sep 2007 21:08:22 +0530
From:"Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To:"Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject:Re: Reference letter forms
Sir,
I would do as you wish then. I will mail those to you as fast as possible.
Today something funny happened. I went to meet an Indian correspondent of
the Macquire University, Australia to explore my possibilities of studying
there. I told him that I wish to go for a MA in Egyptology. You know what
was the first reaction of that man? He asked me whether I am kidding. He
laughed and said that he never heard of such a course to have existed.
Then I had to produce my mail interactions with the department of
Egyptology at Macquire to make him trust me. Can you really believe this?
Isnt this funny and sad at the same time? When would the consciousness
come? When would people here break the barriers of stereotypical ideas
regarding ancient Egypt? I dont really know.
Awaiting your reflections on this.
Regards,
Tathagata
Hi,
I am afraid you must do as I suggested because I have
to sign the sealed envelopes AFTER they have been closed,
over the sealed part, in order to prevent adulteration.
Cheers,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Sun, 9 Sep 2007 09:40:12 +0530
From:"Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To:"Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject:Re: Reference letter forms
Sir,
I would definitely try and do that. I'll try and bring about this
consciousness amongst people here.
Regards,
Tathagata
P.S. I would be posting you the filled up forms by tomorrow.
Hi,
It´s very sad indeed. You might make a friend and collaborator
of him if you try to inform him of how necessary it is for India,
such a big and populous country, to have professional egyptologists
so India is not relegated to the fringe of culture by ignoring one
of the greatest civilizations the world produced. You might point
out to him that if people in India were to do so, they should not
be surprised if people from other countries also ignored India´s
long and wonderful past, which I am sure he would not like. Today
with globalisation all peoples in the world should learn about one
another if we are to achieve brotherhood and mutual love, respect
and tolerance. Hatred and contempt come from ignorance and
prejudices. If egyptology is studied as a career in most universities
of the USA, Canada, France, Britain, Germany, Italy, etc., why should
India be left ignorant of all that? Then he might be convinced, write
some articles in the press about this subject and help change such
wrong perceptions. It would be a very interesting headline: Indian
student wants to be India´s first professional egyptologist.
Cheers,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Thu, 13 Sep 2007 19:24:42 +0530
From:"Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To:"Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject:Post
Sir,
I have posted the forms to you. But the problem is.....the post office
said that speedpost service in between India and Uruguay is not available.
So I had to send thos via registered air mail. They said it would take a
fortnight to reach you. So I am tensed, because it would eat up a lot of
my precious time and application might be late. Dont know what to do.
Awaiting your reply,
Regards,
Tathagata
You might send an email to whoever set the time limit
(British Council or University) and explain the situation,
saying that you already have a signed reference letter from
me (they can contact me for authenticity) you can send now
and asking for a time extension due to post office delays
for the proper forms they require, given the enormous
distance between our two countries and how slow post
offices can be.
Cheers,
J. J. Castillos
Date:Mon, 17 Sep 2007 19:33:16 +0530
From:"Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To:"Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject:Good Book
Sir,
The other day I was going through the titles in the New Arrivals section
in a big public library here in my city. Suddenly, a book caught my
attention. Its name was 'Egyptology: The Missing Millenium: Ancient Egypt
in Medieval Arabic Writing'. It iswritten by Oksha El Daly and published
from the UCL press perhaps in 2005. I started reading the book and
realised that this person has done an excellent. He was opposing the
general belief that the moslem rule in Egypt saw the decline of interest
in the glorious pharaonic civilisation. He infact provides a model of
continuity of interest in ancient Egypt even by the arab scholars. This, I
think is a great contribution to the historiography of anceint Egypt and
how the Islamic rulers looked back to their pharaonic ancestors. What do
you think?
Awaiting your reply,
Regards,
Tathagata
Hi,
Yes, I think it is useful in changing the view some
have of Arab indifference towards the pharaonic past:
Review of Okasha El Daly's "Egyptology: The Missing Millennium"
Dr. Okasha El Daly - Egyptology: The Missing Millennium.
Ancient Egypt in Medieval Arabic Writings. UCL Press, 2005.
xx + 230 pp. [not 280 pp. as listed elsewhere]
ISBN 1-84472-062-4, Paperback, EUR 52, GBP 35.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The stated objectives of the book, which straddles the disciplines of
Egyptology and medieval Arabic studies, are threefold (p. vii):
(1) "to demonstrate that medieval Arabs were interested in, had
knowledge of and attempted to interpret the culture of Ancient
Egypt"
[thus countering the prevailing notion that it was Islam that cut off
the Egyptians from their pharaonic heritage],
(2) "to show the relevance of these materials to the study of
Ancient
Egypt by bridging the gap between the works of the Classical writers
and those of later Europeans [of the Renaissance]" [this is the
"missing millennium", covering the period from the Moslem
annexation
of Egypt in the 7th century CE until the Ottoman conquest in the 16th
century],
(3) "to encourage further study of the medieval Arabic material
available, some of which could help archaeologists with descriptions
and with the excavation and interpretation of sites, and perhaps even
to reconstruct monuments which have long since disappeared."
The following is a brief outline of the book's chapters, showing the
broad and interesting variety of topics covered, most of them being
enriched, in Chapters 3-9, with Arabic source material.
---
Ch. 1 Introduction
Shows how Western scholars past and present have mostly
systematically neglected or undervalued the medieval native Egyptian
interest in pharaonic Egypt. Egyptian Egyptologists have paid little
attention to their medieval heritage, partly because Western scholars
and institutes have dominated Egyptian Egyptology since Napoleonic
times. The chapter ends with an overview of earlier scholarly works
that, in contrast to this general trend, have dealt (be it in an
unsystematical way) with medieval Arabic sources relevant to
Egyptology.
Ch. 2 The Making of an Interpretatio Arabica of Ancient Egypt
The Arabic interest in ancient Egypt was not only fed by the mention
of Pharaoh in the Qur'an, but also by a general interest in the
universal history of mankind for its own sake. Sources available to
them were the observations by early Arabic travellers, the Copts, and
also Classical and Jewish sources. A survey of pre-Islamic contacts
between Arabia and Egypt is given, as well as the history of the
Moslem annexation of Egypt.
Ch. 3 Treasure Hunting
Stories about the wealth of the Pharaohs led to the establishment of
a medieval Arabic industry of treasure hunting -- sometimes state
controlled. Manuals for treasure hunting appeared, of which examples
are given. Some monuments were destroyed by this industry, and others
by their use as stone quarries, to the great sorrow and
disappointment of medieval Arabic scholars.
Ch. 4 Medieval Arab Archaeological Methods and Descriptions
Also Arabic scholars and rulers executed excavations, sometimes using
surprisingly modern methodology. Travellers gave detailed
descriptions of monuments visited, with special attention for the
pyramids, the Sphinx and ancient Egyptian temples.
Ch. 5 Medieval Arab Attempts to Decipher Ancient Egyptian Scripts
Medieval Arabs, notably those from alchemistic and Moslem Sufi
circles, showed a great interest in ancient Egyptian scripts.
Decipherments were attempted, often invoking the help of local Copts.
Ch. 6 Medieval Arabic Concepts of Ancient Egyptian Religion
Arabic scholars also showed a vivid interest in those contemporary
Egyptian religious and magical practices that were rooted in older
customs. The Sabaeans of Haran made pilgrimages to ancient Egyptian
sites, notably to the Sphinx (the story of its disfigurement is
recounted in this chapter).
Ch. 7 Egyptian Mummia, Mummification and Burial Practices in Medieval
Arabic Sources
Arabic writers differentiated between several forms of mummia, namely
natural products versus the product harvested from Egyptian bodies.
The latter became the subject of an extensive international trade.
Arabic descriptions of uncovered mummies are provided.
Ch. 8 Egyptian Science in Medieval Arabic Sources
Medieval Arabic scholars saw Egypt as the source of all sciences,
notably of the alchemistic crafts, a view that was stimulated by the
impressive monuments and the fame of the earlier Alexandrian scholars
on the one side, and the tales of Hermes Trismegistus on the other.
Ch. 9 Egyptian Kingship and State Administration
The image of the Pharaoh in the Qur'an is discussed, as well as
medieval Arabic theories on pharaonic state administration. The
Arabic writers showed a special interest in Queen Cleopatra.
Ch. 10 Conclusions
Summarizes the findings of the previous chapters and suggests
directions for further research.
There are fifteen pages of good quality Figures and Plates, but
unfortunately they are numbered in a somewhat impractical manner.
Appendix 1: Biographies of Arab Writers
Appendix 2: Books on Ancient Egypt Used by Al-Idrisi
Appendix 3: Primary Arabic Sources
The appendices provide an overview of the lives and backgrounds of
medieval Arabic scholars (20 pages) and of editions of their works
(10 pages), forming a very worthwhile reference tool for those
unfamiliar with this aspect.
---
The main strength of the book lies in its making available a wealth
of medieval Arabic extracts from manuscripts, many of which have
never been published before. Hopefully this book will act as an
incentive for the publication of more medieval Arabic source
material! The inclusion of this material, otherwise difficult or
impossible to access, makes reading this book an experience that many
readers will definitely enjoy, even if they may not always agree with
the interpretations and suggestions offered by the author. And I
disagree (often rather strongly) with many of the author's ideas --
notably with the linguistic and etymological theories proffered
throughout the book, and also with some of the historical
interpretations (for example those on p. 14-17 and p. 168). However,
these are mainly side issues or the result of unfortunate
phraseology.
I will shortly be focussing on two of the topics in the book which
have received a lot of press coverage -- Cleopatra as scholar and
Arab decipherment of hieroglyphs -- both of which have been
represented by the media in the usual sensational way, but before I
do so I would like to comment on Chapter 1. The suggestion that
Egyptian Egyptology was cut off from its medieval predecessors
because it imported European scholarship (scientific mindset, use of
sources) could well be valid. However, I am uncomfortable with the
fact that the term 'Eurocentrism' is invoked a lot in this chapter, a
loaded term that nowadays has all kind of negative associations
attached (creating an divisive atmosphere with overtones of racial or
cultural bias). Whereas it seems to me that the 'missing millennium'
is not so much (or not solely) the result of an European blindness,
let alone a wilful anti-Arab/anti-Islam bias, but of the more
'neutral' phenomena described below. My discomfort is only confirmed
by the two examples of suppposed 'bad' Eurocentric interpretation of
ancient Egyptian history given in this chapter -- Persians in Egypt
and Pre-Classical contacts between Egypt and India (p. 5-6) -- which
strike me as very unfortunately chosen, being based on too few, and
not always up-to-date (Petrie) or reliable (Stricker), opinions.
The 'neutral' phenomena to be considered are the following. Firstly,
the lack of accessible sources played (and still plays) an important
role. Arabic medieval sources are scattered, untranslated, unedited
and unpublished, in short, a lot less available than, for example,
the Classical sources. So it is hardly surprising that Egyptians, let
alone Europeans, of the distant past have made little use of these
medieval sources -- an outstandingly practical reason, rather than a
case of biased choice. Secondly, the Enlightenment saw itself as heir
of the Classical Age, and everything in between as a Dark Age
dominated by religion and superstition. Thus information from, and
scholarship in, this intermediate period were undervaluated if not
neglected. If medieval Christian Europe itself received such an
unfair treatment, then it should not surprise us that medieval
Islamic Arabia would be dealt with in like manner. There is indeed a
bias at work here -- but it is an anti-medieval one rather than an
anti-Arabic one. (Question: how much Byzantine or medieval European
material dealing with ancient Egypt do you know?) Thirdly, it cannot
be denied that much of the Arabic material about ancient Egypt has a
very 'Arabian Nights' flavour. In my opinion, the present book,
unwittingly, confirms rather than disproofs this in many of the cited
examples. In these circumstances it is not surprising, though no less
regrettable, that the baby was thrown out with the bath water. That
is, the rational reaction of modern Arabic scholars was to reject all
the material as being of doubtful quality -- just as their European
counterparts would have done.
All this said, the author is of course quite right in pointing out
that it is a great pity that Egyptophiles and Egyptologists usually
completely ignore Egypt's Islamic period -- even though such a strict
and artificial separation into 'Classical' and 'post-Classical'
disciplines for a country is not exactly exceptional, and hardly can
be avoided for practical reasons (contrary to being a matter of
"prejudice", p. 12). Overcoming this separation makes for a great
topic, and the present book deserves all praise for being an "Opener
of the Ways"! However, I think that a work that aims at fulfilling
such a bridging function has a lot to benefit from being very
critical and from avoiding the danger of 'overshooting' by going from
one extreme into the other. I would have preferred a less speculative
and possibly a less over enthousiastic approach to that taken by the
present author. However, this does not in any way diminish the fact
that the book is a treasure trove of possibilities for further, and
deeper, research, since the present work, by its very nature of being
a pioneer, can provide only the initial impulse to the development of
these fresh ideas. To give only two examples that especially appealed
to me: in Chapter 2, the account of the strong contacts between South
Arabia and Egypt during the Greco-Roman period is intriguing (p.
14-16), and one hopes that this topic will get a more systematic and
more critical monograph in the future; the same can be said of the
intriguing suggestion by the author in Chapter 9 that the ancient
Egyptian institution of the _Xrdw n k3p_ may have survived in a
medieval Arabic Egyptian institute called "Children of the Room" (p.
128-129).
It is also in Chapter 9 that we find the case study of how the Arabic
sources dealt with Queen Cleopatra, a topic that has received a lot
of attention in the press, see for example "The Virtuous Scholar"
(URL); "Cleopatra: Scientist, Not Seductress?" (URL); "Cleopatra
seduced the Romans with her irresistible . . . mind" (URL).
The first problem with such reports is that what the press calls "the
modern Western perception" of the Queen is of course coloured by the
cinema, rather than by the Classical Western sources, and even the
author lumps together all Western images too succinctly (p. 131). I
could well be wrong but I think that the contrast between the Arabic
image of the Queen and the Greco-Roman image of her is not really
that strong (possibly only a matter of different accentuations).
Western sources do have an eye for her intellectual qualities (they
are just less expounded upon). For example, Plutarch in his 'Life of
Anthony' (section 27) says that her irresistible charm had not much
to do with physical beauty but more with her character and "the
persuasiveness of her discourse", so with her intelligence, which is
demonstrated by her multi-lingual abilities (see the full section
online at URL). In Renaissance Europe, she did apparently have a
scientific reputation even if only because of a misunderstanding of
Galen's 'Cleopatra' (cp. URL).
The second problem with most of these press reports is that they
suggest that the Arabic image of the Queen is better than (this is
'corrects') the Western image of her. They confuse the Arabic
'romance' about Cleopatra with how the Queen really was. This is not
the fault of the author, as the book does signal some causes of that
'romance'. For example, the stories about Cleopatra writing books for
a large part seem to stem from the existence of books written by
others but dedicated to the Queen (p. 134) and by confusing her with
famous female scholars (p. 135-136). It is also noted that Cleopatra
was conflated with strong female rulers from Arabia (p. 133, 136).
That the Roman and Arabic images emphasised and exaggerated different
aspects should not surprise us. It is not unusual for people faced
with cultures which they experience as 'exotic', to stereotype these
other cultures as either 'dark' (with barbaric bloodthirsty males and
loose ensnaring women) or as 'paradisiacal' (with noble warriors and
all-knowing priestesses) -- perhaps one could even call these the
"Colonial model" versus the "New Age model". Such models say much of
the ones who adopt them and hardly anything of the cultures that they
are concerned with. That the Romans, for political reasons, picked a
model of the first type (Cleopatra as a shrewd seductress) should not
surprise us, nor that the Arabs, for esoteric reasons (alchemists
wanting to see Egypt as the land of secret science and hidden
wisdom), preferred a model of the second type (Cleopatra as virtuous
scholar). Neither representation says much about the real Cleopatra.
I see no reason to think that the Arabic vision of the Queen is less
biased, and more factual, than the Greco-Roman vision; it seems not
based on original Ptolemaic facts but on medieval 'fancies'.
Chapter 5 deals with the interest in Egyptian scripts shown by the
medieval Arabic scholars. This is a topic which has also generated
many press reports, from relatively reasonable ones like "Scholar
says: Muslims had insights into hieroglyphs" (URL) to
sensationalistic ones such as "Arab scholar 'cracked Rosetta code'
800 years before the West" (URL). The book is not to be blamed for
headlines such as the last one. On the other hand, possibly the
author could have phrased things more carefully in order to avoid
such misconceptions. Terms like "the Egyptian alphabet" and
"decipherment" are constantly used as if either of these two things
had a basis in reality, instead of merely existing in the Arabic
mind. (The term "Egyptian alphabet" does not here refer to the
consonant order used in Egypt during the Greco-Roman Period, nor to
the Egyptological transcription 'alphabet' -- although unsuspecting
readers may easily think the latter is meant. What happened is that
Arabic writers paired hieroglyphs with their own alphabet.)
The author clearly believes that the Arabic writers knew the meanings
of some hieroglyphs, due either through transmitted knowledge or via
bilingual texts, though this is not shown convincingly. Because the
book gives the medieval manuscript pages (script tables) without
detailed analysis, many readers will have a hard time judging the
author's deductions. And the few cases which are examined fail to
impress. (Example: a clear O9 (Nephthys sign) is identified by Ibn
Wahshiyah as _al-'adl_ "justice" (p. 72), which the modern author
counts as correct because "temples (were places) where justice was
dispensed" [sic!].) Further, most 'hieroglyphs' given in the Arabic
charts are not recognizable as such. This leaves one rather sceptical
about the press report statement that "three Arab scholars between
them correctly identified about 10 of the several dozen hieroglyphs
that they thought made up a phonetic alphabet" (the book itself says:
"several scholars succeeded in deciphering at least half of the
Egyptian alphabetic signs"; p. 57). But even if the number of 10 had
been correct, then it still would leave the reader wondering about
the statistical chance of there being a few possible hits among many
misses. Add to this that one Arabic writer seems to employ more than
one alphabet (Abu al-Qasim, Fig. 23 vs. Fig 21 and Fig. 22), a
problem which is not addressed and which only strengthens the
impression that those alphabets are just alchemistical Spielerei.
The claim (p. 72, 140), that Ibn Wahshiyah "correctly identified
determinatives, which he distinguishes from alphabetical letters"
left me puzzled, as what seems rather to be the case is that Ibn
Wahshiyah suggested that hieroglyphs might represent sounds as well
as ideas, a notion which does not have much to do with an accurate
knowledge of ideograms versus phonograms, let alone determinatives.
All things considered lead me to the conclusion that there was no
such thing as an Arabic decipherment of hieroglyphs. And thus there
was no knowledge of the script that could be used by medieval Arabic
writers to gain knowledge of ancient Egyptian concepts, as the author
seems to suggest throughout the work. Nor is there sufficent evidence
to convince one in even the small matters of designing blazons (p.
66; those in Fig. 14 are not really recognizable hieroglyphs) or the
knowledge of titles (p. 134). It is thus difficult to accept that the
medieval Arab work on hieroglyphs has Egyptological value, in the
sense that it would not have advanced (genuine) decipherment had it
developed further in Egypt or had it been known in Europe, nor can it
help us in any way today. It does, however, deserves credit for
breaking away from the notion that hieroglyphs were just symbolic,
and for suggesting that they had phonetic values. In that way, the
work of some medieval Arabic scholars may well have inspired, via
Kircher (p. 58), the work of Champollion.
Of course even without decipherment, there is the possibility of oral
transmission. But unlike the author, I did not become convinced that
the medieval Arabic writers had "knowledge of ancient Egypt" in the
form of genuine, independent knowledge that was preserved and
transmitted to them ('independent' in the sense of knowledge other
than that based on the observation of still-standing monuments and
sites or derived from Greco-Roman and Coptic written sources). Future
research may well prove that such a continuity of knowledge existed,
but the present book does not really succeed in doing this, in my
opinion. Of course, there's the -- already known -- exception in the
form of material surviving in folk religion, and what medieval
writers have to say on that topic may provide an important extra
source. And perhaps the author is correct by stating that oral
transmission of some lost Demotic stories not otherwise preserved may
have occurred (p. 25), but these are not yet attested, and it seems
to me that the genuine would be difficult to distinguish from the
fictional fantasy tales. For example, most unknown kings with tales
attached to them do not bear recognisably Egyptian names (Zalma,
Shadat, Qumis, etc) and seem inventions. (The case of Aq, p. 53, is
not a valid counterexample, for the Dodson article (ZAeS 108 p. 171)
deals with King *BikkA, not really a "similar name"). The cases in
which the names are recognizable do not form independent knowledge
since they are based on Manetho and known Demotic tales. The material
on technologies (Ch. 8) has the same fantastic nature, fitting the
exaggerated alchemistic notion of the "wisdom of Egypt", and although
also here one could leave room for the hope that one day some of
these "mirabilia" will prove to have a grounding in reality (for
example in an Alexandrian milieu), until then a firm scepsis is
demanded.
To the question whether the author has fulfilled his three stated
objectives, I would have to answer "Yes, with flying colours",
despite all my criticisms. The book has convinced me that the Arabic
writers had a serious historical interest in ancient Egypt, an
interest which has been undervalued considerably. It also convinced
me that Arabic travel reports, geographical surveys, and perhaps even
treasure manuals deserve closer attention in the future, for such
medieval material may hold information about monuments and sites that
cannot otherwise be gained. And I do not think that anyone who has
read this book, would still speak about the 'missing millennium' as
if it was a complete void, like an Egyptian professor from Alexandria
still did, when telling his audience in June 2005 that "the arrival
of Islam in Egypt virtually obliterated all previous pasts, [until]
the rediscovery of Egypt in the 19th century by European scholarship
changed all that" (URL).
Aayko Eyma
ayma@tip.nl
June 28, 2005
Cheers,
J. J. Castillos
Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2007 20:30:38 +0530
From: "Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To: "Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject: Forms
Sir,
Have you recieved the referee forms those I mailed to you? I am attaching the form of University of Sheffield here alongwith this mail. As this form needed to be filled up electronically, please do fil it up and send it to me with all the others. Please do fill up my personal imformation too as I can't save any information in it. You will get my details in the CV that I sent to you.
Awaiting your reply,
Regards,
Tathagata
Attachments
Files:
Sheffield.pdf Sheffield.pdf (97k)
Hello,
I sent you the forms by registered airmail a week ago, they
should be about to reach you.
I printed the Sheffield one as a doc file, I filled in my part,
you can fill in yours and send it. It goes attached here.
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Attachments
Files:
Sheffield.doc Sheffield.doc (76k)
Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 20:27:24 +0530
From: "Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To: "Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject: Packet arrived
Sir,
The packet that you mailed me a week earlier reached
me this evening. Thank you for this huge favour. Now I
can start sending applications to the universities.
Thanks again,
Regards,
Tathagata
Date: Wed, 31 Oct 2007 19:32:32 +0530
From: "Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To: "Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject: Enquiry
Sir,
I needed to be assured whether you have included the reference letters alongwith the reference forms in the sealed envelopes? Or do I need to include the letters alongwith your sealed envelopes?
Awaiting your reply,
Regards,
Tathagata
Inside the sealed envelopes I put the form and the
reference letter they required, I sent you copies of
all I put inside so you could read what I said.
Good luck !!
J. J. Castillos
Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2007 09:03:33 +0530
From: "Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To: "Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Enquiry
Sir,
Thank you. My applications would be reachiing UK by mid-next week.
Regards,
Tathagata
Date: Tue, 6 Nov 2007 18:36:44 +0530
From: "Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To: "Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject: Applications sent
Sir,
I have already applied for the universities. Now awaiting their decision. The universities might mail you as you are one of my referees. Seeking your blessings for my upcoming semester exam and the university applications.
Regards,
Tathagata
You have my blessings and best wishes for your
success in these attempts to be able to study in
the UK.
Sincerely,
J. J. Castillos
Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2007 09:55:58 +0530
From: "Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To: "Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject: Exeter form
Sir,
I decided to apply to another university in UK. The University of Exeter. Please do fill up the reference form attached with this mail. I have filled up my portion. Now you please fill your portion up and put your signature and official stamp on it and send it to me via email.
Awaiting your reply,
Regards,
Tathagata
Dear Tathagata,
You will find it attached to this email. You can attach to
it one of the other signed letters I sent you with our letterhead.
Good luck !
Attached JJC_India_Form.bmp and JJC_India_Form.jpg
J. J. Castillos
Date: Wed, 14 Nov 2007 10:24:08 +0530
From: "Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To: "Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Exeter form
Sir,
Thank you for the form. But there is a small mistake in it. In the first page of the form, you wrote I have graduated already. But infact am in the final year of my graudation now and according to rules, Indian students needs to apply to UK universities for MA taught course while they are studying in their final year. So please do change that portion. Am resending the form to you.
Awaiting your reply,
Regards,
Tathagata
OK, here go the corrected forms. Good luck !
J. J. Castillos
Date: Fri, 23 Nov 2007 10:26:54 +0530
From: "Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To: "Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject: Suggestion needed
Sir,
Yesterday I went to meet the UK university delegates during the ongoing Education-UK exhibition in my city. I talked to them and like the courses of two universities. One of them is MA Ancient Egyptian Culture of the University of Wales, Swansea, and the other one is MA Archaeology of the University of Reading. I have collected the application froms of these two. Please do suggest me whether I should put in the applications in these two also? If you d consent, I will send you the referee forms of these two universities by post as those are hardcopy forms so cannot forward you through email.
Awaiting your suggestion,
Regards,
Tathagata
I agree with going for those two as well, now please
understand that I want to help you but the cost of the
Post Office here is now quite high, especially to far
away places like India, the last time the posting of
the forms cost me 20 US dollars, I paid it with pleasure
to help you, but now again would be too much for my
limited budget.
So you have two options: you can send me everything
by post and also a 20 US dollar bill to cover the mailing
expenses here or you can scan the documents and send
them to me me attached to an email and I would fill in the
scanned versions and email them back to you, at no extra
cost, so you can print them there and send them. If they
demand that I seal and sign the envelopes, I am afraid
you will have to use the regular post and the first option.
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Date: Fri, 23 Nov 2007 21:44:42 +0530
From: "Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To: "Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Suggestion needed
Sir,
I can understand that budget is a concern.....it is the same for me. But they want signed and sealed envelopes. So I need to use the post. But please let me know the options through which I can transfer the money to you. Like credit cards, or any other. Also let me know whether the universities in which I have applied already, has contacted you yet? If it is not possibe for me to afford $ 20....then I would look for one of my professsors here to write a reference for me. Would that be alright?
Awaiting your suggestion,
Regards,
Tathagata
I don´t use credit cards and banks here charge exorbitant
fees to cash cheques for small amounts. You would have to
include the bank note for 20 US dollars with your letter and
other papers. In my experience that is no problem because
nobody knows there is money in it.
The universities have not contacted me yet, but thay may
not consider it necessary or they may do so later on.
If you cannot afford the postal expenses, then a reference
from one of your professors there should also be OK.
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Date: Fri, 23 Nov 2007 22:08:56 +0530
From: "Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To: "Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Suggestion needed
Sir,
Ok, am trying to arrange things. But don't know whether I could be able to manage it in the end. The Universities did not contact you, they did not contact me either. Now that´s a big concern as am not sure whether they received my application at all. Moreover, as have applied thorugh a counselling organisation recognised by the universities, the universities would contact them....but then they have not forwarded any such mails to me as yet. Let´s see what happens.
Regards,
Tathagata
Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2007 21:17:59 +0530
From: "Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To: "Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject: Offer
Sir,
I recieved an offer from the university of Exeter today. It would not have been possible if I have not got help. Please to bless me.
Awaiting your reply
Regards,
Tathagata
Dear Tathagata,
I send you my blessings and best wishes for
your success.
J. J. Castillos
Date: Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:39:56 +0530
From: "Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To: "Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject: Northern Egyptian pre-dynastic
Sir,
I was reading Anciet Egypt : A Social History, there I found that Trigger mentions that in the Northern Egyptian Pre-Dynastic sequence, the Fayum A, Merimda as well as El Omari and Ma'adi settlements had granaries and they used to store grains in earthen pots butried to the neck in the ground. However, I failed to understand why such a system develped there. Why would they bury the storage pots to the neck in the ground? Was it merely for preservation reasons or any other?
Awaiting your reply,
Regards,
Tathagata
Hello,
There are many such granaries in other parts of Predynastic
Upper Egypt as well, holes in the ground, often given a coat of
clay, or also large coarse pots buried in the ground, preservation
was probably the main reason, so they were out of people´s way
but were within easy reach. Pots buried in the ground have less
chance of being accidentally broken and the contents spilled
and lost.
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2007 18:19:30 +0530
From: "Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To: "Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Northern Egyptian pre-dynastic
Sir,
Now into Upper Egypt. Trigger shows in his work,how the middle-eastern cultural trends are gradually defused into Egypt and help the growth of civilisation and culture in Upper Egypt. However, I cannot understand that if the cultural trends from Palestine and elsewhere like Lebanon and Syria did cross Sinai and enter Egypt, why would it fail to stimulate comprehensive cultural growth in the Northern Egyptian sites (provided Merimda represented more or less a rudimentary culture when Amratian culture in south was making huge progress, craft specialisation and all)? I believe, the Khartoum Neolithic played a far greater role in the earlier stages of the development of Upper Egyptian culture i.e. the Badarian phase, and it is essential to discuss the influence of Khartoum Neolithic than look for middle-eastern influences in the earlier stages of developement of the southern culture.
I also understand that though Khartoum neolithic might have provided some basic influence, it was basically the rich mineral base of UE and agricultural abundance that definitely was the deciding factor of this development.
I have another question also. Trigger mentioned that in the Amratian culture, some graves specifially meant for the burial of animals like dogs or donkey were found. Can this be regarded as the origin of zoomorphic religious cults in any sense........that people started to revere some animals as these became useful in their daily life? Also Trigger mentions the finding of some knives with depictions of human head and concludes that that might have been used for ceremonial purposes.So was this the period when Upper Egypt saw the emergence of cults??
My observations might be silly, but please do forgive me if they are.
Awaiting your reply.
Regards,
Tathagata
Hello,
Your remarks are not silly at all, on the contrary,
they reassure me that the recommendations I made on
your behalf will not reflect badly on me because your
questions are very relevant.
As to the first, I feel you are quite right, I think
the Sudan played the main role rather than Western Asia.
As to animal graves, it is hard to say but due to the
lack of very elaborate funerary endowments and other
treatment I would see them at this stage as mainly
display of wealth and power over nature by some
individuals (ie. the elephant burials at Hierakonpolis).
As to the knives, maybe, but in that case I would find
them in sacred enclosures like the very early temple
complex at Hierakonpolis rather than in funerary contexts.
Religious beliefs started very early, beyond the neolithic
for sure, but I believe we cannot say when yet with any
accuracy.
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2007 08:58:02 +0530
From: "Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To: "Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Northern Egyptian pre-dynastic
Sir,
Thank you. But could you please state some specific archaeological trends which generally points to the begining of religion? At least rudimentary cults? And what are the pre-conditions for such an outgrowth?
Awaiting your reply,
Regards,
Tathagata
Hello,
Well, I´d say that with all the necessary precautions
to avoid reading too much into such practices, the
burial of the dead and more if already with funerary
offerings, that speaks of a belief in a life beyond death,
rock art may have involved a belief in a kind of magic
in which the animals represented could be more easily
and successfully hunted, ritual dances, certain members
of communities represented wearing masks and skins
of animals and other ornaments which could be early
shamans, in villages buildings with no clear dwelling
or other prosaic purposes and that have associated
images or fetishes of early gods, the burial of animals
with special endowment as elaborate or more than
those of humans, etc.
In my opinion the preconditions for the beginning of
such beliefs and practices include a certain degree of
mental development, say from Neanderthal on, since none
have been observed yet in earlier man, that could stimulate
people´s imagination in an attempt to make sense of the
world and its realities.
There are books on the subject that deal with the
archaeology of death and with early religion, that
you will easily get once you are in a British university.
It´s a subject I must occasionally deal with but being
an atheist makes me uncomfortable for having to do with
irrationality and superstition which have led in the past
to intolerance and countless crimes and injustices in all
countries in all ages, because once you renounce reason,
emotion and passions take over and it all ends very badly.
Think of India in Ghandi´s times, for example.
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2007 10:03:57 +0530
From: "Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To: "Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Northern Egyptian pre-dynastic
Sir,
I definitely understand your concerns. Much blood is spilled in the name of religion since its early days. Gandhi tried to harmonize diverse religious beliefs, but he failed and the separation politics of the British and several other factors ultimately saw the partition of our country and bloody riots. Such attrocities shamefully raise their heads even today. If you look at the riots in the state of Gujarat and all. Even global terrorism.
However, I view the early religion and birth of theology in its earliest form as merely an attempt on the part of our ancestors to understand and theorise the outer nature and more so, to establish his own identity amidst the vastness of the nature and determining how man would communicate with the forces of nature which he deemed uncontrolable.
Sir, recently my short writing on the Global Flood Legends got published in my class' departmental magazine. Am attaching it with this mail. Please do review it and point out my mistakes.
Awaiting your reply,
Regards,
Tathagata
Global Flood Legends
----Tathagata Neogi
"God said Noah, "I have decided to put an end to all mankind. I will destroy them completely because is full of their violent deeds. Build a boat for yourself out of good timber; make rooms in it and cover it with tar inside and out. Make it 133 metres long, 22 metres wide and 13 metres high… I am going to send a flood on the earth to destroy every living being. Everything on the earth will die"
(The Old Testament Genesis 6.9- 6.17)
Thus began one of the most popular Biblical events. God made a covenant with Noah and asked him to build an ark of a definite size and take his family into it. Along with his family, he was asked to take pairs of every living being into the ark so that life could continue on earth after the end of the devastating flood.
However, the composers of the Old Testament never masterminded this event of flood. In fact, it is quite possible that the flood tradition came down to them from their earliest predecessors.
The flood legends are one of the oldest existing legends of the world. Stories regarding a catastrophic flood exist from Babylonian mythology to the aboriginal mythology of the Hawaiians.
That the flood legend exists in every mythology does not mean that they are all interlinked. However, there are some more fascinating clues of their mutual linkages. It will be my primary objective to put forward those linkages through this article.
Firstly, in all these flood legends we find divine favour is granted on one (mostly) or two (as in Tanzanian legend) righteous men: as Noah in the Bible, Manu in India, Fuhi in China, Utnapishtim in Babylon, etc.
Secondly, in all these legends, the favoured were asked to take shelter into a vessel. In addition, almost in all the cases the God suggests the structure of the vessel.
Thirdly, in all the cases God orders the favoured to take with them pairs of each animal so that life can survive on earth.
Fourthly, almost in all of these legends, including that of Manu, the vessel comes to a stand still over a mountaintop.
Finally, the name of one single bird appears repeatedly almost in all the legends. That is dove. A dove (in some cases no specific bird was named), was sent out to see whether the water had subsided. This happens in all the legends.
So these above-mentioned typical characteristics could be found in all these flood legends. This may suggest that there was some possible connection between all these legends. It may be possible that all these legends, at least the basic structure of all these legends have evolved from a single source. This can well be provided as supporting evidence behind the single mitochondrial eve theory, which claims that men spread throughout the world from one single human group that resided in Africa.
Moreover, some historians believe that these depictions might suggest a kind of global flood that occurred at some point of time in history and the global population had suffered. These sufferings were later interpreted as God’s punishment to the humanity and the myth came down to the composers of the Old Testament through several modifications.
However, I believe that the flood was a local phenomenon and was experienced by one single human group as is stated by the supporters of the mitochondrial eve theory. In my opinion, if the flood would have been a global one then there might have been legends on it but in no way their basic structures would have been so much similar to one another. So it is quite possible that the flood had occurred locally maybe somewhere in Africa and experienced by our earliest ancestors at the dawn of human existence. The horrors and destruction of the flood remained in the human psyche and as the people spread out throughout the world the same legend appears in several human legends in different corners of the world. In addition to this we must remember that to the most ancients, their world meant the place they inhabited and the nearby areas. So though the Bible depicts it as a global flood, we must take into account what actually "global "meant to the actual creators of the legend.
Sources
1. The Old Testament
2. Regional flood legends collected from the website
Hello,
I think it´s quite well written and argued, a vast improvement
over your early efforts as I remember them (Imhotep and the
like), when you are in the UK you´ll be able to add weight to
your ideas by quoting much more recent bibliography on those
subjects.
Bear in mind another possibility: that floods happen almost
everywhere at one time or another and the memory of one of
those can have stayed in the minds of those people as a divine
punishment with all the lessons the religious leaders then wanted
to convey to their people (ie. natural disasters are not random
but have a divine origin and can therefore be avoided by being
pious, a more reassuring notion to people than being victims of
blind chance).
That some of those details have common traits (boat to survive
it, gods telling how to build them, some animals saved in it, the
boat ends up sitting on top of a rock, etc.) are rather normal in
such events as told and would normally tend to agree without
need of direct or indirect connections.
Besides, pushing back that flood to the earliest hominids is a
bit too stretched, it must have links to a more recent event like
that found by Woolley in southern Iraq going back a few thousand
years of which he found evidence in his digs and which must have
happened in recent times almost everywhere at different times.
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Date: Thu, 3 Jan 2008 17:45:21 +0530
From: "Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To: "Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject: Wishes
Sir,
Wish You a Very Happy New Year !!!
I received the offer from University of Manchester a few days back. However, their international fees are too high for me. Lets see what happens. But am looking forward to accept the Exeter offer. However, if finance becomes the deterrent factor in all these. I decided something that might sound weird though. I decided to apply to your institute during the next intake as its not possible for me to part with Egyptology any longer....can I do that? I know it might sound weird as I will then be doing a Four Year UG course after already becoming a graduate....but really can't help it.
Awaiting your reply,
Regards,
Tathagata
I also send you my best wishes to you for 2008.
At least the four year programme at our Institute gives you
a Diploma in Egyptology, which is the subject you want to study.
But bear in mind that although we have a very low annual fee
of only 100 US dollars, with travelling expenses to Uruguay as
well as living expenses of about 500 US dollars a month, which
I don´t know if you can afford, you´d perhaps be better off in
the UK working part time to cover expenses for your studies
there or even in Cairo studying egyptology for a doctorate at
any of their universities, where you can also work part time
and the cost of living is very cheap, besides being in the
country with all the monuments nearby to see and study.
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Date: Thu, 3 Jan 2008 21:34:24 +0530
From: "Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To: "Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Wishes
Sir,
I have considered all these too. But my calculations suggests that the sum that I would be spending in four years in Uruguay (if I can't make it to UK for fiscal reasons) would be far lesser in ammount than that I am expected to spend in UK during one year MA programme. As for Egypt, they donot teach in English and so no way. I will definitely let you know regarding my final decision. Please do inform me regarding how could I apply to your institute....I mean the process of application alongwith when to start the procedure. Moreover when does the course commence? Finally, tell me whether I can proceed for MA or Phd after I have done a diploma there in Uruguay. And what would be the pathway then.
Awaiting your reply,
Regards,
Tathagata
Perhaps you should investigate further, I understand that the
courses in the American University in Cairo are in English and
life is much cheaper there and is much closer to India.
Besides in the UK if you study and work part time, that should
cover your expenses for the whole programme if they grant you
some kind of scholarship through the British Council.
If you have financial problems now without having spent all
your money coming here, you´ll most likely have no funds to pay
for MA or PhD programmes anywhere and you would have to be
content with our Diploma.
We should go into details once you take a firm decision, but
our courses start in May so there is still plenty of time.
Sincerely,
J. J. Castillos
Date: Thu, 10 Jan 2008 09:43:50 -0000
From: "WOOD H." <helen.wood@durham.ac.uk>
To: juancast@yahoo.com
Subject: REFERENCE
Dear Professor Castillos,
Applicant: Tathagata Neogi
The above person has given your name to us as a referee. Please
can you provide a reference ?
You may e-mail it to me at helen.wood@dur.ac.uk or by post/fax at the
address below.
Many thanks
Helen
Helen Wood
Postgraduate Secretary
Department Of Archaelogy
Dawson Building
South Road
Durham
DH1 3LE
United Kingdom
Tel: 0191 334 1100
Fax: 0191 334 1101
Dear Dr. Wood,
Yes, I provided a reference for Mr. Neogi of India, subject
which I will deal with below.
I have known Mr. Tathagata Neogi from India for about four years
now. He first got in touch with me when he was in High School and
expressed an interest in the subject I teach and do research,
Egyptology, and over the last few years I have been in regular
contact with him by email.
At first he showed a youthful and enthusiastic interest in ancient
Egypt, but because of the lack of professional egyptology in his
country, I noticed that he was unable to some extent to separate
facts from the so common fiction that plagues the field.
I hope I provided guidance in this and I could see that he was
becoming more skeptic of certain claims and theories about ancient
Egypt. It was then that he expressed a wish to be an Egyptologist and
asked for my advice.
I suggested that he finished High School, studied History or
Archaeology in India and then applied for a scholarship to do
postgraduate work in the UK or other countries where Egyptology is
firmly established.
As he continued to contact me about several egyptological subjects
I noticed that his approach and ideas were more sober and scholarly,
even allowing for his lack of experience and specialized
bibliography. His contacts showed that his interest in egyptology was
not a passing fancy but a genuine call to take up these studies and
eventually do research in this field.
His English has constantly improved, as shown by his marks, and he
has also been quite successful at his university, as his CV
eloquently shows.
I feel he has a genuine wish to be India´s first professional
egyptologist and the UK can provide the adequate academic
environment for his success in this task, so I hope you can help
him and contribute to incorporate a subject that deals with one of
the world´s greatest civilizations into India´s academic environment,
since such neglect does little honour to a country of over 1.2
billion people, home of several great local civilizations as well.
Even if you can provide him with a MA in Archaeology, Anthropology
or Ancient History, that will be very useful to him and put him on
his way for a PhD in Egyptology there or elsewhere in the UK.
I understand that his funds are very limited, he does not belong to
a wealthy family, so any assistance you can provide him will be
probably very welcome.
I am a Member of the International Association of Egyptologists and
a Member of the Board of the Société Française d´Égyptologie, I
have been teaching Egyptology at the Uruguayan Institute of Egyptology
in Montevideo, Uruguay since 1984 and I have published extensively in
the field, as you can see at:
http://www.oocities.org/jjsuarez8/index.html
I would be happy to reply to any further enquiries you might have
about Mr. Neogi´s suitability to enter any of your university
postgraduate programmes.
Yours sincerely,
Prof. Juan José Castillos
Uruguayan Institute of Egyptology
4 de Julio 3068
Montevideo - URUGUAY
CP 11600
Tels. (598 2) 622 5352 628 0743
email: juancast@yahoo.com
P. S. - You can enquire about me with the Keeper of Egyptian
Antiquities of the British Museum, Dr. Davies and his wife, also
a prominent Egyptologist, Dr. Friedman. As a matter of fact, I´ll
be lecturing at the British Museum on 30 July on my latest research.
Date: Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:48:10 +0530
From: "Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To: "Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: REFERENCE FOR MR. TATHAGATA NEOGI
Sir,
This is quite unusual......I included one of your reference
letters in the application packet alongwith other things.
Why did they do it? I have no clue about this uncanny affair.
Thank you for this again.
Awaiting your reply,
Regards
Tathagata
Because many people may forge false references,
they may be just making sure that I did provide
the reference.
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2008 09:46:42 +0530
From: "Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To: "Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: REFERENCE FOR MR. TATHAGATA NEOGI
Sir,
Haha !!! Am not going to accept Durham anyway...maybe it
would be Exeter where I would go if finance permits.
Another thing, sir, do you know Egyptologist Prof Robert
Morkot of Exeter university? The head of the department
of the university Prof. Anthony Harding referred me to him
for discussing my research topic. I mailed him regarding
my area of interest i.e. Pre-Dynastic Egypt and also told
him about your immense contribution (sorry, I am out of
words to express what I mean), in my life and studies. Am
awaiting his suggestion. I would let you know what topic
he suggests me.
Regards,
Tathagata
Yes, I know them and I hope you can accept any of
the UK offers that would put you on the path to a very
good career.
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2008 17:40:54 +0530
From: "Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To: "Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject: Fwd: MA subject
Sir,
As I told you earlier that I have been referred to Prof. Robert Morkot of Exeter University to discuss my MA subject as well as regarding PhD prospects. He replied my mail today and am forwarding it to you. The study of New Kingdom would be interesting I believe, however, if I do so, would that be a problem in shifting to Pre-Dynastic at a later phase of my career? Please do suggest me what aspects of material culture of Later Bronze Age ancient Egypt might interest me?
Awaiting your suggestion,
Regards,
Tathagata
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Morkot, Robert <R.G.Morkot@exeter.ac.uk>
Date: Jan 14, 2008 3:48 PM
Subject: RE: MA subject
To: Tathagata Neogi <imhotep05@gmail.com>
Dear Tathagata
You wrote that you were interested in the emergence of the Egyptian state, which is a fascinating subject, and one which is being discussed by a number of Egyptologists at the moment. However, from the purely practical point of view, this is not my own specialist area and our resources in Exeter are not really the sort that would support research in this area. Would you be interested in a later period Egypt? My own specialist areas are Late Bronze Age to Roman, and Nubia, although this does not exclude earlier periods for you to work on. We also need to bear in mind that two supervisors are required for a PhD so we need to have a subject area that another member of staff can contribute to. Our specialist areas are material culture, landscape, experimental archaeology. As an historian, material culture would seem a good area to focus on. Is there anything Egyptian that you are particularly interested in? At this stage I think that the PhD proposal should be fairly vague. If you can give me some ideas of your interests I will try to come up with some suggestions.
Look forward to hearing from you
yours
Robert
Dr Robert Morkot
Lecturer
Department of Archaeology
University of Exeter
Room 319, Laver Building,
North Park Rd, Exeter, EX4 4QE
Hi,
It seems you would not be able to complete your PhD at
Exeter on the subject you want, but it would also be unwise
to tell them so.
So I advise you to choose any aspect of New Kingdom or
later Egypt that you may like to study (temple economics
and the monarchy at the time, its evolution, or the wisdom
of Amenemope and the Western Asia context, or whatever
other subject) and go for it, telling them that you might pursue
further the same subject or similar (for instance Deir el
Medina social life and economics) for your PhD.
After you are in the UK and until you complete your MA you
can enquire with many universities there to see which would
offer you the best PhD on early Egypt (definitely London,
maybe also Liverpool and Manchester and others) and switch
to the one who offers you the best deal.
The thing is to get to the UK, once you are there you can
make contacts much more easily and get to know many
people that will make things easier for you.
If they don´t let you change university, AFTER you are in
the UK, you can try to persuade your Council advisor to let
you change university for your PhD or you can choose any
aspect of Egyptian archaeology of the period they provide
for a PhD at Exter and after you graduate, then you can
concentrate on research on early Egypt as postgraduate
diplomas at London or elsewhere.
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Date: Tue, 15 Jan 2008 09:36:08 +0530
From: "Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To: "Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject: Fwd: Research Topic
Sir,
I mailed Prof. Morkot and specified two topics-- Deir-el Medina and the issue of temple and state. This is what he replied. But what to do about learning Ancient Egyptian? It is essential for New Kingdom to know ancient Egyptian.
Also, can you tell me whether the books of Trigger, Kemp and the book of TGH James be suficient for the momment in composing a 500 word proposal on temple?
Awaiting your reply,
Regards,
Tathagata
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
R.G . MORKOT <R.G.Morkot@exeter.ac.uk>
Date: Jan 14, 2008 11:56 PM
Subject: RE: Research Topic
To: Tathagata Neogi < imhotep05@gmail.com>
Dear Tathagata
This sounds much more feasible. While you are taking the Ma it would be a good idea to take the two courses Introduction to Egyptian Archaeology and Understanding Ancient Egypt (this is based largely on Deir el-Medina material). I wold suggest that for the Phd proposal we put together a rather vague subject at present: I would suggest that we focus on material culture. The issue of the temples and royal power is interesting to me: i think that this is worth looking at. Although I can do some language teaching this is not included within our curriculum, so there are issues about time.
Could you write a 500-word proposal on the power of temples and priesthoods in relation to royal power and I will look over it?
Yours
Robert
Dr Robert Morkot
Lecturer
Department of Archaeology
University of Exeter
Room 319, Laver Building,
North Park Rd, Exeter, EX4 4QE
He says that he could teach you the language
but that time is an issue, you will have to
discuss that later with him once you are in
the UK, the main thing now is to impress him
about how serious you are and the talent you
may have to be worthy of being helped to study
in the UK, so write your 500 word text and send
it to me first, before sending it to him. You
see that he liked your (our) choice, we are
scoring good points already.
Try to be cautious in your wording of the text,
avoiding following exaggerations by some authors
that the priests and the temples had more power
than tne king at this time or that priests were
rather independent of royal power, which was not
so. Some temples were rich and powerful centres but
not independent sources of political and economic
power.
The main thing is for you to get into the UK,
then all the rest will gradually fall into place.
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Date: Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:26:30 +0530
From: "Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To: "Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Fwd: Research Topic
Haha....yes I think we are scoring good points. The credit goes to you. But it is not 500 pages...just 500 words. So not much to write. I think you can understand that it is very tough for me to move into New Kingdom all on a sudden from the formative periods. I would try my best though to compose a 500 word proposal and then I would send it to you. But what would be the points that I should emphasize upon?
Oh another thing......am sorry to say that I differ with Trigger regarding his Mesopotamian Cultural Influence thesis. He, on one hand opposes the theory of Derry's Dynastic race, yet on the other hand presents a picture of a magnificient Mesopotamian influence in Upper Egypt in the pre-dynastic. I cannot really digest it. Trigger speaks of an artefact which depicts a man andprobably he is taming some animals. Trigger concludes that this is a pointer of Mesopotamian influence and that this representation is a depictionof the Epic of Gilgamesh. But I would rather differ on this point also. In the Indus Valley Civilisation, the archaeologists obtained a seal depicting a meditating person sitting in the middle and he is surrounded by some animals. But this seal is purely Indian, and not Mesopotamian for that matter. The idea it proclaims is quite similar to that Egyptian artefact. I think it could better be theorised as expressions of early men announcing their supremacy on animal world. Ad not any Epic or stuff. Not definitely Mesopotamia.
Awaiting your observations,
Regards,
Tathagata
Yes, you are right, in the rush I wrote pages instead of words...
I fully understand your plight, but you are young and have a
whole life ahead of you to specialize on what you want later on,
and being all Egypt, it will be useful and somewhat on a subject
that you like.
It´s a small price you pay for UK degrees that are recognized
and valued all over the world. After you graduate, you might even
be offered or apply for positions in UK universities to teach and
study.
I also agree with you that the so-called Mesopotamian influence
has been much exaggerated. You expressed your thoughts here
quite eloquently and I agree.
If I want to check your 500 word text is because it must convey
some idea of what your research is going to be, after a short
introduction to the subject, what major kinds of temples there
were in ancient Egypt (solar, funerary, house-of-god), their
characteristics, resources, functions, economic clout, number
of people they employed, etc., the lines of research that you
intend to explore (temple inscriptions, royal texts and decrees,
priestly stelae and other texts of a personal nature, etc.), once
you are in the UK for your MA thesis.
The thing is to get you in the UK and that Morkot gives a
favourable report on your prospects as a graduate student.
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Date: Tue, 15 Jan 2008 20:55:59 +0530
From: "Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To: "Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Fwd: Research Topic
Thank you sir........I would send you my writing in as early as possible.
Regards,
Tathagata
I am attaching to this email two articles that may
be useful to you for the purpose at hand.
J. J. Castillos
Attachments
Files:
Smith__Food_Fit_for_the_Soul_of_a_Pharaoh__The_Mortuary_Temple_s_Bakeries_and_Breweries.pdf (306k)
Troy__Resource_management_and_ideological_manifestation.pdf (170k)
Date: Wed, 16 Jan 2008 09:58:17 +0530
From: "Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To: "Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Fwd: Research Topic
Sir,
Thank you for the articles. I think in order to show the gradual evolution of the power of temple and the fact that despite being powerful enough, these temples and priests remained under the control of the pharaoh, I should discuss a bit regarding the Egyptian Worldview i.e. the concept of Ma'at, I believe that it is important because it was because of the concept of Ma'at and the Egyptian worldview of eternal coninuity that the priesthood, despite being powerful enough, did not always dare to stand up against the paharaoh or try and dominate him as theologically, the power of the priesthood emanated from the pharaoh. And I think it was due to this purpose that in the third intermediate period the priestly rulers of Egypt ruled as a PHARAOH and not as priest kings. They did not dare to alter the system.
Awaiting your observations,
Regards,
Tathagata
Hi,
Yes, maybe, but remember:
- they were Upper Egyptian rulers (not rulers of Egypt, as you say).
- that the XXIst Dynasty Upper Egyptian ones dared not assume the
prerogatives of a pharaoh except in a subdued and local way, giving
nominal allegiance to the pharaohs ruling from Lower Egypt and
during that dynasty they claimed more to be military men than high
priests of Amun, both titles went together.
J. J. Castillos
Date: Thu, 17 Jan 2008 19:13:38 +0530
From: "Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To: "Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Fwd: Research Topic
Ok..........Thank you sir.
Regards,
Tathagata
Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2008 20:33:38 +0530
From: "Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To: "Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject: Contacts
Sir,
I have studied the materials this week and hope to write down the proposal by midweek. In the meantime, I found one of my juniors in my university to be interested in archaeology of ancient Egypt and expressed his interest in pursuing research in it. I told him about you and he wishes to mail you and discuss certain things. Do I have your permission?
Moreover, my dad heard everything about you and the way you helped me till this day and now he wishes to contact you personally. Maybe he has something to ask you or maybe he just wants to get acquainted with you. Could he contact you?
Awaiting your reply,
Tathagata
Yes, of course, tell them it is OK.
J. J. Castillos
Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2008 11:42:13 +0000 (GMT)
From: "Parthasarathi Neogi" <psneogi@yahoo.co.in>
Subject: Mail from Tathagata's father
To: juancast@yahoo.com
Respected Professor Castillos,
I am Parthasarathi Neogi, father of Tathagata, your loving connoisseur. I should have come in contact with you earlier, and I thought doing so, but could not do so out of hesitation. You are a learned Professor and I being a layman, the hesitation came from that side.
I gratefully noticed the cordial and loving care you provided so far towards my son and his thirst of knowledge regarding Egypt and its history and culture, and your prompt reaction towards his questions, discussions, etc. And that generated courage in my mind to write to you and express my gratitude towards a noble and dedicated educationist of the globe.
I hear from my son the deeds of yours towards spread of Egyptology, your activities towards the same, and the tireless efforts you put for the purpose. Your love for Egypt helped, helping and will continue to help Tathagata to accept firmly the study of the subject and frame his future career on the line of his most cherished subject.
I hail from a middle class family of Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal state of India . I work in a branch centre of Ramakrishna Mission, a philanthropic international organization, founded by Swami Vivekananda, of whom you might have known. I work as a Stenographer and only after two years I will retire from service since I am 58 now. It is your encouragement that roused strength in me to think of Tathagata’s studies in the UK within my very limited earning.
I feel proud of Tathagata that his zeal and inquisitiveness have been able to draw love and inspiration from a person of International acclaim like Professor J J Castillos. I myself feel proud for my son in this respect.
Hope to receive some words from you soon.
With profound regards,
Parthasarathi Neogi
Dear Sir,
Thank you for your very kind words. Life has taught me that
the very important rewards one gets in life are not the material
ones but the spiritual instead, if you can help your fellow man
all you can within your capabilities, that is what brings happiness.
I sincerely hope Tathagata gets his scholarship to study in the
UK and then in the future you will have an opportunity to feel
even more proud of his accomplishments.
Sincerely,
J. J. Castillos
Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2008 10:24:51 +0530
From: "Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To: "Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject: Research proposal
Sir,
I finished with the proposal. It was a bit long though-- of 773 words.
Please trim it where necessary.
Awaiting your reply,
Regards,
Tathagata
Research Proposal
Egypt’s advancement from a mere cluster of egalitarian communities residing in the Nile valley, to the emergence of a mature state in the New Kingdom, is an enigmatic journey. Along with the evolution of Egyptian state system into seasoned maturity, there emerged a reasonably powerful cult of priesthood, housed in massive temple complexes dedicated to the New Kingdom (esp. XVIII Dynasty) state deity Amun. This phenomenal parallel development of a well organized and imperial pharaohnic state and an unprecedented strong cult of Amun, is an important area of research. Was there any clear demarcation between the religious and secular powers? In other words, did the powerful priesthood of Amun in any way or the other was constantly trying to encroach on the powers of the pharaoh? Was there a constant friction among the priesthood and the pharaoh? The principal objective of my research at Exeter would be to address this problematic seek some satisfactory explanation.
In the society of the ancient Egyptians, the modern divide between secular and religious was non-existent. Religion permeated every aspect of Egyptian life. Therefore, it is quite obvious that the temples and shrines of principal gods, and the priesthood that served them, would command a considerable prestige from the society, which definitely entailed a great deal of power. However, in the earlier part of the Egyptian history, especially during the Old Kingdom and a considerable part of the Middle Kingdom, the pharaohs chose either to immortalize their existence trough the construction of massive pyramids or cared about the country’s security by building super-fortresses along the Nubian border. Religious structures, such as shrines, and solar temples were constructed with mud-brick and not stones—probably answering the fact that why no trace of legendary sun temple at Heliopolis is yet recovered.
As Egypt moved from a relatively secured and introvert society and undertook an imperial policy of Egyptianising her neighbors, perhaps the need of divine favour was felt ever more than before. As a result, the temples of Egypt evolved from mud-brick structures to well polished and massive stone temple complexes, dominating the landscape of important Egyptian cities. With the victories of Egyptian troops abroad, the plunders and riches from the foreign lands poured into these temples (esp. Karnak) as offerings of gratitude by the pharaohs. The Karnak temple, along with other important shrines of Egypt, including the mortuary temples of the pharaohs became extensively rich and its priesthood, at least those who sat at the top of the hierarchy, like the High Priest of Amun and his prestiged subordinates, wielded extreme power. From mere places of worship, the Houses of God, Solar temples and the mortuary temples became focal points of Egypt’s economy. These temples often served as the local representatives of state, thus combining both civil and religious administration. Perhaps this explains the usage of both religious as well as secular titles by priests of this period. This also explains the fact that the priests were thus mere state officials answerable to the pharaoh. This perhaps diminished the chances of a priestly coup. The state often provided farmlands to these temples, and the temples employed peasants to cultivate these lands and produce foods. The offerings of the temples were re-distributed among these peasants and other dependants as wages. The economic wings of the temples, or the Shenas looked after the provisioning and distribution of these supplies and even controlling economic transactions with other temples or foreign traders.
All these, especially the economic clout of the temples especially that of Amun at Karnak, provided its priesthood with huge power and influence in the society, economy and politics of the country. But it would be too long a leap if it is concluded that the temples often defied the pharaoh’s rule and became autonomous. At least theologically speaking, this was impossible. Pharaoh was the supreme in every aspect of Egyptian life, and he had a special relation with the gods. In fact pharaoh was the harmony of all gods in one. The priesthood was mere representatives of the pharaoh, and maintained the relationship with the cosmic world in the absence of their overlord. The wall paintings in the tombs and carvings in the temple walls re-asserted this story all over again. However, what was actually going on behind the theological scene is what interests me the most. To unveil the reality through my research in Exeter, I wish to explore through an array of available temple inscriptions, royal decrees, and priestly stelae and also writings of personal nature. I hope to succeed in my research under active cooperation, teaching and support from the able professors of the department.
Hi,
I advise you to read carefully your previous text with
my corrections side-by-side so you realize how to moderate
and adapt your writing style to that of normal academic
writing, avoiding exaggerations and unwarranted ("coup")
statements, that you want to pursue several avenues of
research at Exeter, not only this one in the long run,
also your English since I found several elementary mistakes
(did with was in one sentence, its when it referred to
several people and should be their, etc.).
But it seems quite all right and should impress
Morkot with the idea that you are serious and very
willing to work hard to add to our knowledge on this
subject.
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Research Proposal
Egypt’s advancement from a mere cluster of egalitarian communities
residing in the Nile valley, to the emergence of a mature state in
the Old KIngdom and then in the New Kingdom, is an enigmatic journey.
Along with the evolution of the Egyptian state system into seasoned
maturity, powerful priesthoods emerged, housed in massive temple
complexes dedicated to the New Kingdom (esp. XVIII Dynasty) state
deity Amun. This phenomenal parallel development of a well organized
and imperial pharaonic state and an unprecedented strong cult of
Amun, is an important area of research. Was there any clear
demarcation between the religious and secular powers? In other words,
was the powerful priesthood of Amun in any way constantly trying to
encroach on the powers of the pharaoh? Was there a constant friction
between the priesthood and the pharaoh? One of the main objectives of
my research at Exeter would be to address this problem trying to look
for a satisfactory explanation.
In the society of the ancient Egyptians, the modern divide between
secular and religious was non-existent. Religion permeated every
aspect of Egyptian life. Therefore, it is quite obvious that the
temples and shrines of principal gods, and the priesthoods that
served them, would command a considerable prestige from the society,
which definitely entailed a great deal of power. However, in the
earlier part of the Egyptian history, especially during the Old
Kingdom and a considerable part of the Middle Kingdom, the pharaohs
chose either to immortalize their existence through the construction
of massive pyramids or cared about the country’s security and
prosperity by building super-fortresses in Nubia. Religious
structures, such as shrines, and solar temples were constructed with
mudbrick and not stones—probably explaining the fact that no trace
so far of the legendary sun temple at Heliopolis has been recovered.
As Egypt moved from a relatively secure and introvert society and
undertook an imperial policy of Egyptianising her neighbors, perhaps
the need for divine favour was felt ever more than before. As a
result, the temples of Egypt evolved from mudbrick structures to well
polished and massive stone temple complexes, dominating the landscape
of important Egyptian cities. With the victories of Egyptian troops
abroad, the plunder and riches from the foreign lands poured into
these temples (esp. Karnak) as offerings of gratitude by the
pharaohs. The Karnak temple, along with other important shrines of
Egypt, including the mortuary temples of the pharaohs became very
rich and their priesthoods, at least those who sat at the top of the
hierarchy, like the High Priest of Amun and his subordinates, wielded
great power. From places of worship, the Houses of God, Solar temples
and the mortuary temples, became focal points of Egypt’s economy.
These temples often served as the local representatives of the state,
thus combining both civil and religious administration. Perhaps this
explains the usage of both religious as well as secular titles by
priests of this period. This also explains the fact that the priests
were thus mere state officials answerable to the pharaoh. This
perhaps diminished the chances for priestly political ambition. The
state often provided farmlands to these temples, and the temples
employed peasants to cultivate these lands and produce food. The
offerings of the temples were re-distributed among these peasants and
other dependants as wages. The economic wings of the temples, or the
Shenas looked after the provisioning and distribution of these
supplies and even controlling economic transactions with other
temples or foreign traders.
All these, especially the economic clout of the temples especially
that of Amun at Karnak, provided their priesthoods with huge power
and influence in the society, economy and politics of the country.
But it would be too long a leap if it is concluded that the temples
ever defied the pharaoh’s rule and became autonomous. At least
theologically speaking, this was impossible. Pharaoh was supreme in
every aspect of Egyptian life, and he had a special relation with the
gods. In fact pharaoh was the harmony of all gods in one. The
priesthoods were mere representatives of the pharaoh, and maintained
the relationship with the cosmic world in the absence of their
overlord. The wall paintings in the tombs and carvings in the temple
walls re-asserted this story all over again. However, what was
actually going on behind the theological scene is what interests me
the most. To unveil the reality through my research in Exeter, I wish
to explore through an array of available temple inscriptions, royal
decrees, and priestly stelae and also writings of personal nature. I
hope to succeed in my research under active cooperation, teaching and
support from the able professors of the department.
Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2008 21:57:10 +0530
From: "Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To: "Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Research proposal
Sir,
Thank you very much. I am doing as you said and after I finish with the correction, I would send it to Pof. Morkot. I would let you know what he thinks regarding it. As you can perceive perhaps as you read my writing that I was a bit uncomfortable with the topic. But am trying hard to gather knowledge in this aspect as much as I can.
Oh one more thing..........my dad asked me to convey his thanks and regards to you.
Regards,
Tathagata
Hi,
I fully understand your feelings on this, I would feel
the same since predynastic Egypt is the field in which
I am really interested.
Perhaps it is one of the reasons why I haven't got
involved in archaeological work in Egypt, besides the
main one which is lack of funds, because you will most
likely come up with remains of many different periods
and it is your duty as a professional archaeologist to
deal with all of them exhaustively and thoroughly and
then publish the lot, which in my case would mean
investing years of my life in work that I read about
with interest but in which I would rather not participate.
Not everybody can be as lucky as Friedman in Hierakonpolis
or Midant-Reynes in Adaima where they found and dealt almost
exclusively with predynastic remains.
However, you can't be a competent professional egyptologist
without having a thorough knowledge of ALL stages of ancient
Egyptian civilization, since that is essential to understand
the earlier evidence which is part of a cultural continuity
that spread over millennia.
So, your studies at Exeter on the New Kingdom and on
ancient Egyptian language (hieroglyphs, hieratic, demotic)
will be very valuable to you in later years, specially if
you plan to inaugurate Egyptological studies at an Indian
university, but you should also undertake other relevant
studies while you are in the UK, on modern Egyptian
archaeological techniques, museology (you'll also have
many museums to visit in the UK for useful examples to
apply to Indian museums with Egyptian objects, that I heard
are perhaps not very well preserved and exhibited), Egyptian
art, religion, science and technology, zoology, basic geology
of the country, etc., wherever they are provided in the UK.
Therefore, cheer up and don't think you are wasting your
time, on the contrary, you will be acquiring knowledge that
sooner or later will come very handy to avoid writing nonsense
on the earlier times because of not knowing in the required
depth what happened later on in Egypt.
Besides, try to read as many academic articles in English
as you can in order to learn how to write properly (and avoid
mention of things like "coups" which belong rather to modern
history).
Think that being so young, you will probably spend the
next five or six years of your life on those other studies,
and then forty or fifty more years doing research on what
you really like. From that perspective, it seems like just
a while compared to a whole later lifetime, don't you think
so? It is perhaps worth paying that little price for all you
are going to learn for later use.
Sincerely,
J. J. Castillos
Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2008 08:49:28 +0530
From: "Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To: "Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Research proposal
Sir,
Thank you for these inspiring words. I would definitely remember it by heart in the days to come. I would now concentrate more on what is at hand and then afterwards I would dedicate myself to the earlier times of Egypt. I definitely dream to form a Department for Egyptological studies in an elite Indian university. You know, Egyptology should come to India also. I would prepare myself for that as best as I can.
As for museum exhibits on Egypt, the Indian Museum at Kolkata has an Egyptian gallery along with a mummy that they claim to be of some 4,500 years old. The mummy is well preserved but the artifacts are not. You see the authorities even jumbled up the tags of the artifacts. Say for example, at one place there is a replica of Narmer Palette, but the tag identifies it to be something else. I mailed the museum quite a lot of time...but to no avail. Even I was not permitted to meet the curator, me being merely a student and not an expert. I want to change all this. I want to transform the way the Indians perceive ancient Egypt. I want to tell them that Egypt is not curse or horror. Egyptology should come to my country.
Let me share something with you. A few days back, my dad mailed to one Bikas Sanyal (not sure about the surname). He is currently a high ranking officer of UNESCO and lives in Paris. My dad had previous acquaintence with him. Dad asked him whether UNESCO offers any scholarship for studying MA Archaeology in UK. First of all he misunderstood the question and thought that my dad was asking him to pay for my studies......and then he wrote --
" Why does he have to come to United Kingdom to study this subject? My suggestion would be for him to complete his Masters in Archeology in India and if possible go ahead for a PhD in India. Then try for a Post doctoral work abroad. If he does well he will go far and will be able to satisfy his academic zeal. That is what I did. That is what I shall recommend for Tathagata. Don't send him to UK for preliminary studies That will be looked as a luxury by many. Of course if he gets a place with financial assistance he must accept that. But don't spend 15 lakh Rupees for his Archaeology study in UK ."
This is what even the Indian intelligentsia.......most of them, feel about Archaeology....Egyptology thus would make them faint probably.
Regards,
Tathagata
Hi,
Thanks for the interesting information and that my views
seemed acceptable to you.
I remember that a few years ago the local newspapers
reported that a janitor in an Indian museum had damaged
an Egyptian mummy when he used a vacuum cleaner to
remove the dust that covered it.
I also have something to confess: if you succeed in
graduating even as an MA in the UK, I plan to write and
publish a book or article about your story, I have copies of all
our emails since 2002 and the title would be something
like "Egypt, India and Uruguay: A dream come true" which
would show how people in the world separated by 16,000
kilometres can still reach for each other and achieve
things thanks to the magic of internet. It should be
an inspiration to others in similar situations and how
we egyptologists should help and encourage young
people interested in our subject.
My wife is also curious about you since I´ve mentioned
you several times (she is English and we speak English
at home since I am also a Canadian citizen) and I would
appreciate if you can send me a few good (clear) photos
of you and perhaps your family so I can show her, as an
attachment to one of your emails.
Best wishes,
J. J. Castillos
Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2008 19:23:25 +0530
From: "Tathagata Neogi" <imhotep05@gmail.com>
To: "Juan Jose Castillos" <juancast@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Research proposal
Sir,
I don't know what to say.........am overwhelmed. But am I
really worthy of all these? I do not really know. I'll do my
best to make you proud and make my parents and my
country proud.
Regards,
Tathagata
Hi,
You may very well prove yourself worthy of all that
if you succeed in your plans, but the main purpose of
such a publication would be to emphasize how people
can have dreams and make them come true if they are
firm in their approach and if they persevere, also how
thanks to internet people from very distant countries
can cooperate to help each other in many ways, also
how a country of 1.2 billion people got to have its first
professional egyptologist, and last but not least, how
nowadays thanks to globalisation peoples of the world
that previously hardly knew anything about one another
can develop closer ties and know each other better, so
you see, it would not be only about you as a person but
about the growing feeling in the world that we are all
brothers and in fact citizens of our planet Earth, feeling
that should in due course eliminate suspicion, hatred,
hostility among different people once and for all.
Sincerely,
J. J. Castillos
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