Day 1: Arrival We arrive at our hotel which is in Giza, on the outskirts of Cairo, conveniently situated for the Pyramids. Day 2: Giza Early morning wake-up call, the first one of so many more to come! A small drive by coach to the Pyramids of Giza, their silhouettes looming on the horizon from afar: The largest of the three, the Great Pyramid of Khufu, is the only survivor… Read more
Eugen Bracht: Memory of Gizeh, 1883 In a recent post, Claudie Cox shared her impressions and photos from a tour in Egypt. And a couple of years ago, the Herodotus Study Group was reading Book 2 of Herodotus’ Histories, which included his observations of Egypt and accounts of its history and customs. So this brought to mind a few of the passages from Book 2 that stood out for us.… Read more
In 460 BCE the Athenians were underway to carry out a mission—a raid on Cyprus to collect some more of the treasures of that island—when they was ordered by Perikles, after a voting process in Athens, to divert his fleet to Egypt.[1] The objective was to give naval support to the Libyan ruler Inaros II, who was leading a revolt against the Persian presence in that area. Charitimides led the… Read more
Finding Helen in texts is frustrating. Many contradictory facts may be encountered. Who was Helen? What about her life, her power, her birth, her beauty? Was she hated or was she loved? If we were to write a short biography, it might read like this: Helen was the daughter of Leda and Tyndareus/Zeus, and Clytemnestra, Castor and Polydeuces’ sister. Penelope was her cousin. She married Menelaos king of Sparta,… Read more
Classical Inquiries has a guest blog post ‘Blond hair in the tomb of Meresankh?’ by Dr. Peter Der Manuelian. He is the Philip J. King Professor of Egyptology and Director of the Harvard Semitic Museum. His primary research interests include ancient Egyptian history, archaeology, epigraphy, the development of mortuary architecture, and the (icono)graphic nature of Egyptian language and culture in general. He has published on diverse topics and periods… Read more