THE ANCIENT EGYPT FOUNDATION

Out of copyright Egyptological publications of many kinds and in various languages (some specially translated) will be made available on the Foundation’s website as free pdf downloads. This will facilitate the dissemination of information and material which until now has been difficult of access to students, scholars, and the public at large.

The Foundation’s website will be in a continual process of expansion and enlargement as additional material is added.

THE TEMPLE AT ESNA

Restoration of the astronomical ceiling of the Temple of Khnum at Esna.

The Foundation has been funding a seven-year project to clean and restore the astronomical ceiling of the Temple of Khnum at Esna. The work is being undertaken by a team under the joint supervision of Professor Christian Leitz of the University of Tübingen in Germany and Hisham el-Leithy of the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities. The cleaning and restoration is approximately half-way through. The 2000 years of soot from campfires had preserved the colours underneath very well, and the colours being revealed are clear and bright. Much is also being revealed about ancient Egyptian astronomy. The temple was recently visited by the Egyptian Prime Minister, as a result of the widespread interest in the Esna temple, and the considerable numbers of tourists who have begun to visit the site and stare at its revealed beauty.

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New Publication

The Age and Purpose of the Pyramids as Indicated by Sirius
by Mahmoud-Bey (Translated by Dr. Tessa Dickinson)

The English translation of a manuscript in the Foundation's archive written in 1862 by Mahmoud-Bey, Astronomer to the Viceroy of Egypt at that time was published on September 15, 2023. On facing pages are scans of the original manuscript. Its title is The Age and Purpose of the Pyramids as Indicated by Sirius. Mahmoud-Bey (Mahmoud Ahmed Hamdi al-Falaki) carried out meticulous studies of the Great Pyramid, which are described in detail in his book. This book, published by Eglantyne Books Limited of London, was subsidised by the Foundation. The translation from the original French is by Dr. Tessa Dickinson.

Download the Press Release from Eglantyne Books

Senior ResEARCH FELLOWS

The Foundation’s two current Senior Research Fellows are:
Dr. Joanna Popielska-Grzybowska (Poland)
and Dr. Alexandra von Lieven (Germany)

The Temple of Seti I at Abydos

Amice Calverley’s Record of the Temple of Seti I.

Commencing in 1933, a series of four huge (elephant folio sized) volumes was published entitled The Temple of King Sethos I at Abydos, edited by Alan H. Gardiner, and largely devoted to the superb and beautiful copies of the wall paintings of the temple done by Ms. Amice Calverley.

The Foundation has its own set of the four volumes, and has commenced a lengthy process of making high resolution scans of the entirety of Ms. Calverley’s images found in the four volumes.

Abydos: Le Temple de Séti Ier, Jean Capart, 1912.

Plates and Illustrations from the publication by the Musées Royaux, Brussels.

The Foundation’s project to make the Temple of Seti I at Abydos better known to the public commences with this online publication of the illustrations which appeared in 1912 in a rare book published at Brussels by the Musées Royaux. The book was entitled Abydos: Le Temple de Séti Ier, with a lengthy introductory essay (not reproduced here) written by Jean Capart.

DeNDerah

Auguste Mariette’s monumental work, Denderah

Please click on the image below to be taken to the download page.

The Foundation is pleased to make available for free download pdfs of all six volumes of Auguste Mariette’s monumental work, Denderah. Mariette was often called Mariette Bey, Bey being a title of honour in the Egypt of that time under the Khedive (to whom the volumes are dedicated). Mariette was born February 11, 1821, in France, and died January 19, 1881, in Cairo. He was one of the ‘founding fathers’ of modern Egyptology. His volumes represent a complete publication of the wall paintings and carvings and texts of the Temple of Hathor in five volumes, plus a final text volume comprising extended captions and comments for all the illustrations in the five plate (planche) volumes. These six volumes were all published between 1870 and 1875 in both Paris and Cairo. The illustrations as preserved here represent some of imagery which later suffered damage or degradation, so that in some cases, the only full and correct representations are to be found in the Mariette volumes.

ANCIENT EGYPTIAN FOUNDATION
TRANSLATION SERIES

Sponsored Books

The Foundation is sponsor of the series of volumes of Sources of Alchemy and Chemistry: Sir Robert Mond Studies in the History of Early Chemistry published by the Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry as free  supplement volumes for subscribers to the Society’s international journal, Ambix.

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Jean-Antoine Letronne: Part I

Jean-Antoine Letronne, Critical, Historical and Geographical Studies of Fragments of Hero of Alexandria, or: ‘On the Egyptian Measurement System’, considered from its basis, in relation to the Greek and Roman itinerary measurements and considering the modifications that have been applied to this data from the reigns of the Pharaohs until the Arab Invasion.

Part I.


King Lists

Egyptian Chronology and Material Relating to Surviving Ancient King Lists.

The Foundation has an enduring concern with ancient Egyptian chronology. As part of its work in this area, we commence by making some basic materials available online. More images and material will be added from time to time.

Richard Lepsius, Königsbuch der Alten Ägypter (Bessersche Buchhandlung, Berlin, 1858.

King List of the Ancient Egyptians

Carl Richard Lepsius The Foundation has an enduring concern with ancient Egyptian chronology. As part of its work in this area, we commence by making some basic materials available online. More images and material will be added from time to time.

NILOMETERS

Borchardt's Study of Nilometers etc....

In 1906 Ludwig Borchardt published his comprehensive book Nilmesser und Nilstandsmarken (Nile Gauges and Nile Level Markers) (Berlin, Royal Academy of Sciences, 1906, 55 pp.). It contained 37 illustrations plus 5 folding plates at the rear.

Ètienne Drioton Les Origines Du Nilométre de Rodah (The Pharaonic Origins of the Nilometer of Rodah)

Carl Richard LepsiusHere we make available as a pdf download the full text of the article in French by the Egyptologist Étienne Drioton (1889-1961), who was Director General of Antiquities of Egypt from 1936 to 1956 and in 1957 became Chief Curator at the Louvre.



PROJECTS