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A Cobblestone Publication
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EXPLORING WORLD HISTORY
WHERE?
WHEN?
EGYPT
18TH Dynasty (c. 1570–1293 B.C.)
35
Mummy
Mystery
Solved wit
h a Tooth
F E A T U R E S
3
9
2 Most Noble of
Noble Women
10 Symbols of Power
by Joyce Tyldesley
12 Egypt on the March
4 Divine Kingship
by Noreen Doyle
by Charles F. Baker
by Salima Ikram and
Janice Kamrin
16 Eternal Egypt
34 Family Values
6 Women of
Achievement:
Queen Tiy
35 Who’s Who?
19 Foreman of the
Foremen
by Salima Ikram and
Janice Kamrin
by Angela Murock Hussein
by Charles F. Baker
38 Queens Rule
24 Looking to the Future
7 The Woman
Who Would Be King
by Joyce Tyldesley
by Angela Murock Hussein
28 Female Sphinxes
by Joyce Tyldesley
42 Modern Women of
Achievement
by Charles F. Baker
30 Reversal of Fortune
9 What’s in a Beard?
by Eric H. Cline
by Ramadan B. Hussein
DEPARTMENTS
2 Musings
ACTIVITIES
41 Make Your Own Mummy Hand
15 Map: The World of Hatshepsut
by Ken Feisel
44 An Obelisk of Words
15 Time Line
by Charles F. Baker
22 Fun With Words
20
by Edward Brovarski
by Ramadan B. Hussein
by Janice Kamrin and
Salima Ikram
14
33 Women of
Achievement:
Al-Khansa
by Charles F. Baker
45 Off the Shelf
45 On the Net
46 Ask CALLIOPE
47 From Our Readers
48 FROM PAST TO PRESENT
Legacy of a Female Pharaoh
by Angela Murock Hussein
29
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Indexed and/or Abstracted in: Children’s Magazine Guide,
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CALLIOPE (ISSN 1050-7086) (USPS 000-943) is published 9 times a year, monthly except for
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Find every issue of CALLIOPE at CobblestoneOnline.net
48
CONSULTING EDITORS
CALLIOPE would like to thank Eric H.
Cline (archaeologist and Associate
Director [USA] of the Megiddo
Excavations in Israel), Noreen Doyle
(Egyptologist), Angela Murock
Hussein (archaeologist), Ramadan
B. Hussein (adjunct professor of
anthropology at Rhode Island
College), Salima Ikram (professor
of Egyptology at The American
University in Cairo), Janice Kamrin
(Egyptologist), and Joyce Tyldesley
(lecturer in Egyptology at Manchester
University and research fellow at
Liverpool University) for their
invaluable help with this issue.
ABOUT THE COVER:
“I’m Hatshepsut! Let me introduce you
to my world!” This statue fragment
was found at Hatshepsut’s mortuary
temple at Deir el-Bahri (see pages
24–27). (PHOTO: © THE SUPREME COUNCIL
OF COUNCIL OF ANTIQUITIES [SCA], EGYPT,
AND THE HAWASS LIBRARY)
5
Lou Waryncia Editorial Director
Ann Dillon Art Director
Patricia Silvestro Rights & Pe missions Coordinator
Marcia Lusted Editorial Assistant
2
The Nile has two main tributaries,
the White Nile (named for its milky-like appearance)
and the Blue Nile. The two tributaries join together
in Sudan, and then flow north through Egypt to
the Mediterranean Sea.
3
If you add the lengths of the Nile and
its tributaries, the sum total is 4,132
miles, the longest river system
in the world.
4
The source of the White Nile is in
Rwanda; of the Blue Nile, Ethiopia.
The water system, as a whole,
Andre W. Carus Chai man and Publisher
Marianne Carus Editor in Chief
Jason Patenaude Chief Operating Offi er
Amy Reisinger Marketing Manager
Karen Dauck Production Manager
CALLIOPE is pronounced
kuh LIE o pee. In ancient
Greek and Roman mythology,
Calliope was the Muse of
epic poetry and eloquence.
The ancients honored the
Muses as the goddesses of
the arts and sciences.
FACTS
1
CARUS PUBLISHING COMPANY
ADVISORY BOARD
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NILE
The ancient Egyptians called this waterway the
“River of Life.” The ancient Greeks called it
Neilos, “River Valley,” the root of its name today.
TM
Rosalie F. Baker, Charles F. Baker Editors
Susan Gilzow Designer
Stephen L. Thompson Copy Editor
Eileen T. Terrill Proofreader
NEWSY
flows through 10 countries
in Africa.
5
Unlike many of the world’s
waterways, the Nile’s waters
flow from south to north.
S
MUSING
H AT S H E P S U T
I have no enemy
in any land,
all countries are
my subjects.
—Inscription carved on the base of
one of Hatshepsut’s obelisks at Karnak
WHY DID HATSHEPSUT,
A WOMAN,
CHOOSE TO BE A KING?
An interesting question—but one with a
simple answer. In the ancient Egyptian
language, the word for “king” was masculine
and the word for “queen” meant “Great
Royal Wife.” Thus, even though it was not
a perfect fit, “king” seemed the best choice.
There are, however, two other questions that
are also intriguing: “How did Hatshepsut
come to be king?” and “How did she perform
in this role?” This time the answers are not
so simple. In fact, scholars are still trying to
find the most accurate answers. For the latest
on one of history’s most intriguing
personalities, read on!
2
Most
Noble
of
Noble
Women
by Joyce Tyldesley
H
atshepsut may have been only
12 years old when she became
the wife of Egypt’s king. Her
husband, Thutmose II, was her halfbrother and had inherited the throne
of Egypt from their father, Thutmose I,
around 1492 B.C. Thus, Hatshepsut
was the “King’s Daughter” and “King’s
Sister.” And, Hatshepsut was the
child of her father’s Great Royal Wife,
Ahmose, while Thutmose II was the
son of one of their father’s minor wives.
Wife and Mother
We know little about this stage of
Hatshepsut’s life. Images of her at the
time show a typical Egyptian lady
wearing a tight sheath dress and a long
wig. We know that she had a daughter,
Above: Majesty and might still greet all
those who visit Hatshepsut’s mortuary
temple at Deir el-Bahri.
Neferure, but no son, and that she took
the important religious position of “God’s
Wife of Amun,” a position that allowed
her to participate in the religious rituals
performed in the Karnak temple. And we
know that she built a tomb in the Wadi
Sikkat Taka ez-Zeida, a remote ravine on
the west bank of the Nile at Thebes.
A Suitable Tomb
Hatshepsut had her tomb built high up
a cliff, facing west. It was a site chosen to
discourage robbers, and, indeed, it proved
almost inaccessible for its excavator,
Howard Carter. Actually, he managed
to gain access to the tomb by dangling
precariously from a rope.
Carter discovered that the tomb
consisted of an entrance stairway
descending to a doorway that led to a
gallery, an antechamber, and a second
gallery with a burial chamber. One of the
galleries housed a sarcophagus made of
quartz. Its lid, which was found propped
against a corner of the coffin, was
inscribed with a prayer to the goddess Nut:
young child or even a baby when he came
to the throne.
As Iset was not considered sufficiently
royal to act on behalf of her son,
Hatshepsut ruled for him. This
arrangement, known as a regency, was
not unusual. Rather, it was accepted
practice that a widowed queen should
rule for her minor son. Hatshepsut,
however, was being asked to act on behalf
of a boy who was not her own son.
For several years, Hatshepsut allowed
the records to show the young Thutmose
taking precedence in all activities. She did,
however, commission a pair of obelisks—
tall, thin, stone shafts whose gold-coated
tips shone in the strong sunlight. These
were placed in front of the Karnak
temple. By the time the obelisks were
cut, Hatshepsut had become king of
Egypt, and her new titles were engraved
on the stone shafts.
Joyce Tyldesley, a lecturer in Egyptology at
Manchester University and a researcher at
Liverpool University, is Dr. Dig for CALLIOPE’s
sister magazine, DIG.
O my mother Nut, stretch over me so
that you may place me amongst the
undying stars that are in you, and
that I may not die.
Hatshepsut’s tomb, however, had never
been used. It was abandoned before the
shaft, which had been cut into the floor of
the burial chamber, could be completed.
The Making of a Queen
When Thutmose II died unexpectedly
after just 13 years on the throne, the crown
passed to Hatshepsut’s stepson, Thutmose III.
He was the son of Thutmose II and a lady
named Iset. His exact age at the time of his
accession is unrecorded, but given that he
reigned for more than 50 years and that
his mummy was not that of an elderly
man, we can conclude that he was a
Hatshepsut (left) honors
the creator god Atum
in this relief carved on
a pillar she had built
at Elephantine,
an island
in the Nile
River.
3
T
he king of
Egypt was the
only person
who could talk to the
gods. In fact, he was
considered a god
himself. During his
lifetime, he was
thought to be the god
Horus on earth. After
his death, he became
the god Osiris, and the
new pharaoh became
the new Horus.
The story of Horus
and Osiris played an
important role in the
Osiris
Four sons
of Horus
Isis
Divine Kingship
by Salima Ikram
and Janice Kamrin
ancient Egyptians’
ideas about kingship.
The Egyptians
believed that long,
long ago, during
the
Ques Have A
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Golden Age before history,
CALLI ion? As
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ruled
Egypt. Osiris and Isis
@car
uspu
b.com had a brother named Seth,
who was married to their other
sister, Nephthys. Seth was jealous of Osiris,
and wanted to be king himself, so he formed
a plan to murder his brother.
4
An Evil Brother
Seth hosted a party and invited his
brother to come. During the party, he
brought out a wooden box that he had
had specially designed to match Osiris’
measurements. All the party guests tried out
the box, as if playing a game. When it was
Osiris’ turn, Seth watched as his brother
stepped in and lay down, and then slammed
the lid shut. With the help of his evil friends,
he tossed it into the Nile.
The box floated all the way to
Byblos, on the coast of modern
Lebanon, where it got magically
hidden inside a tree. The tree was
then cut down and used as a pillar
in a palace. When Isis went looking
for her husband, she found the box
inside the pillar. The princess of Byblos
gave her the pillar, and Isis brought it
back to Egypt so that she could bury
Osiris properly.
Seth was very angry when he
discovered that Isis had found Osiris’
body. He dug up the box and chopped
the body into 14 pieces, which he
scattered throughout Egypt. Isis, with
the help of Nephthys, gathered all the
pieces and magically put Osiris back
together. She then brought him back
to life. Osiris went down into the land
of the dead and became king there.
A Divine
Challenge
Isis had become pregnant
after she brought Osiris back
to life. Nine months later, she gave
birth to a baby boy, whom she named
Horus. While he was a child, she
kept him hidden in the marshes of
This gracefully carved figure of Ahmose shows
her pregnant with Hatshepsut. The relief adorns
Hatshepsut’s mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahri.
Hatshepsut as Mut
hen Hatshepsut was queen, she played the role of the goddess Mut.
As the wife of the king of the gods, Amun-Re, Mut was not only
the queen of the gods, but also a mother-goddess. This meant that she
protected all females, including both humans and animals. She also
helped women give birth and watched over children. In art, the Egyptians
identified Hatshepsut with Mut by portraying her wearing a vulture
headdress. The hieroglyph for Mut, which translates as “mother,” was a
vulture. The connection was appropriate as vultures are very good mothers
and guard their young with their lives. The figure of Mut at left shows her
wearing a vulture headdress beneath the crown of Upper and Lower Egypt.
W
—Salima Ikram
and Janice Kamrin
5
Seth slays Osiris.
the Delta to stop his evil uncle Seth, who
now ruled Egypt, from harming him.
When Horus grew up, he decided to
avenge his father’s death and seize the
throne from Seth. To do so, he challenged
his uncle to a series of contests. The two gods
battled for many years, until finally Horus
won. The council of gods awarded Horus
his father’s crown and made him king
of Egypt. Seth was given control over
the desert, and became god of the areas
surrounding Egypt.
When Hatshepsut became king, she
became, like all pharaohs, Horus on earth.
Her father, Thutmose I, had become Osiris
when he died. Therefore, Hatshepsut, as his
child, was the living Horus and the rightful
heir to the throne of Egypt.
Salima Ikram, an Egyptologist, professor, and author,
is presently studying the Kharga Oasis in Egypt’s Western
Desert. Janice Kamrin, an Egyptologist and author,
works for the American Research Center in Egypt at the
Cairo Museum.
A list of the names and accomplishments
of women who have contributed much to
Egypt’s history would extend far beyond
the pages of this magazine. Historical
accounts must, by necessity, focus on
those aspects considered the most
important and the most representative of
each decade or century. Only by crossreferencing texts, novels, and journals
can you begin to understand the roles
Egyptian women have played through
the centuries. The brief biographies of the
Egyptian women highlighted in this issue
will help illustrate this fact.
Queen Tiy (c. 1387–c. 1340
B.C.)
Queen Tiy was the consort of 18th Dynasty pharaoh
Amenhotep III. A member of the Egyptian aristocracy and
married to Amenhotep at an early age, Tiy became the
Great Royal Wife. Her shrewd and capable mind
won her husband’s respect and trust.
Tiy’s name appeared with Amenhotep’s
on official documents, and she
participated in state affairs and
public ceremonies.
During this period of
prosperity and peace, a great
building program was initiated,
including the main portions of
the temple of Luxor in central Egypt. Tiy survived her
husband and became advisor to her son Amenhotep IV
(later Akhenaten). The renowned Nefertiti was her
daughter-in-law. In 1976, Tiy’s mummy was identified
and laid to rest in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Egypt.
6
—Charles F. Baker
The
Woman
Who Would Be King
by Janice Kamrin and Salima Ikram
Listen, all you noble people,
and common folk—
as many as you are—I have done these things
by the device of my heart. I never slumbered
as one forgetful, but have made strong what
was decayed. I have raised up what
was dismembered…
7
Hatshepsut wears the Jubilee, or Heb Sed, robes.
A royal festival, Heb Sed honored the continued reign
of a pharaoh and was celebrated after ruling for
30 years, and then every three years after. Hatshepsut,
however, celebrated her Jubilee in her 15th ruling year.
Thutmose II and became his Great Royal
Wife. She also took on the important title
of God’s Wife of Amun, making her the
highest-ranking priestess in the land.
Several monuments have been found that
show Hatshepsut during this period of her
life. In these, she is shown as a traditional
queen, wearing the vulture crown that
linked her with the goddess Mut, wife of
the great god Amun.
King, I Am!
HATSHEPSUT
is one of the best-known kings in Egyptian
history. This is mostly because she was a
female pharaoh, one of only a few women
to claim this title. But it is also because she
ruled for many years and built many
beautiful monuments that have survived
until today.
When she was a young woman,
Hatshepsut married her half-brother
H AT S H E P S U T
Khgnemet-Amun-Hatshepsut
shall be the name of this my
daughter… . My soul is hers…
my crown is hers, that she
may rule the Two Lands.
—Mandate of the mighty god Amun,
inscribed on the walls of Hatshepsut’s
funerary temple at Deir el-Bahri
8
When Thutmose II died, his son by Iset,
a less important wife, became king. His
name was also Thutmose, like his father and
grandfather, so we call him Thutmose III.
Thutmose III was very young when he
became king, so Hatshepsut, as the chief
queen and most important royal woman,
became the regent. During this period,
she was still represented as a queen, much
as before, but with Thutmose III instead
of Thutmose II. After only a few years,
however, she began to turn herself into
a pharaoh. First, she took on a “throne”
name. This was a special kind of name
taken by kings when they came to the
throne. Hatshepsut’s throne name was
Maatkare. On temple walls, she began
to show herself wearing royal crowns.
She also called herself “King of Upper and
Lower Egypt,” one of the main titles of
the pharaoh. She was still shown with
Thutmose III, but as his equal rather than
just his queen. She continued to wear
female clothing.
By the seventh year of Thutmose III’s
reign, Hatshepsut had begun to show herself
not only as a king, but as a male king.
Instead of a long dress, she wore a royal
kilt, leaving her chest bare. Like any other
What’s in a Beard?
I
n ancient Egypt, statues of kings and gods had special
features, such as the cobra on the forehead (see page 10),
the headdress known as the nemes (at right), and the
false beard. Royal statues usually have a plain beard
with a straight or squarish end, sometimes decorated
with horizontal lines. A shorter type of royal beard is
found in paintings that include high-ranking officials.
The god’s beard, known as the “divine” type,
is usually braided, and has a curved end. This curvedtype beard is also found on statues of dead kings,
as a symbol of their deification.
—Ramadan B. Hussein
pharaoh, she wore a bull’s
tail made of gold and semiprecious stones, and carried the royal
crook and flail, symbols of kingship (see
also page 10). In inscriptions, she sometimes
used male instead of female pronouns.
Daughter of a God
Proclaiming herself pharaoh was very
unusual, and Hatshepsut needed to prove to
the people of Egypt that this was the right
thing to do. Kings were supposed to be the
children of Amun-Re, king of the gods. So
Hatshepsut told the story of her divine birth
on the walls of her memorial temple at Deir
el-Bahri. According to this tale, Amun-Re
came to her mother, Ahmose, disguised as
Thutmose I. The god and the queen spent
a night together, and Ahmose became
pregnant. The child was Hatshepsut.
Hatshepsut ruled for more than 20 years.
She was a very active and energetic ruler.
She built many temples to the gods, both in
Egypt and in Nubia, and restored temples
built by earlier kings that had fallen into
disrepair. She had a pair of granite obelisks,
stone pillars with small pyramids covered
in gold on top, carved to honor Amun-Re.
Modern scholars believe that Hatshepsut
and Thutmose III were an excellent team.
As soon as he was old enough, he took care
of military affairs, while she focused on
domestic matters. Their joint reign made
Egypt prosperous and strong.
Ahmose,
Hatshepsut’s
mother,
wearing
a vulture
headdress
9
Symbols of
by Charles F. Baker
Symbols have played, and do play, an important role in
history. Leaders use them to represent power and beliefs.
So, too, do nations. Some symbols are short-lived, falling out
of use when the person or country that relies on them loses
power. Others outlive their designers and authors. The
symbols used by the ancient Egyptian rulers to represent
their power and relationships with the gods are among the
few that have endured for more than 3,000 years.
Uraeus —The uraeus was
worn on royal crowns and
headdresses. It was in the
shape of a cobra, the form
associated with Wadjet, the
goddess of Lower Egypt. It was
always positioned in the middle
of the crown, just above
the pharaoh’s brow and
was designed to be
rearing up. The
cobra’s hood was
extended as if to
warn enemies
to beware the
Uraeus
power of the king.
While a queen’s
uraeus usually
included only
a cobra, a king’s
brow was also
adorned with the head
of the vulture goddess
Nekhbet of Upper Egypt.
Hekat (Crook) —The hekat represented
10
the pharaoh and his responsibility to protect
and guard the people of the Nile River
region, the way a good shepherd guards
his flock.
Flail —The flail
represented the
power of the
Egyptian pharaohs.
Sculptors usually
fashioned statues
of deceased
pharaohs holding
the crook and flail.
Osiris, the
Egyptian
Hekat
god of the
Flail
dead with
whom the dead
king was identified,
always appeared in art
holding both.
Atef
Hedjet —The hedjet was the
tall white crown that represented
Upper Egypt. Sometimes, it was called
the wereret, meaning “Great Crown.”
Deshret —The deshret was the red basket
crown that represented Lower Egypt.
Sekhemty —The sekhemty was the double
crown that represented Upper and Lower
Egypt. To form it, the
hedjet was placed
inside the
deshret.
Hedjet
Sekhemty
Deshret
Power
Coronation
Rituals
The heir to the throne was usually a
Khepresh —
pharaoh’s eldest son by his Great Royal
The khepresh was
Wife. His actual coronation, however,
the war helmet used
did not take place until the dead
by the pharaohs.
pharaoh had been buried properly.
The process required that the body
Khepresh
be specially treated to prevent decay,
Atef —The atef was
a process that took approximately 70 days.
the ram’s horn crown.
The
prepared body, or mummy, was then
A pharaoh wore this, the
laid to rest in the pharaoh’s royal tomb,
most decorative crown, at his coronation
which had been decorated inside with
and on other solemn occasions.
Atef
religious texts to ensure his continued life
Usually, the atef was a
in the underworld. Tradition required that
combination of the hedjet and
each pharaoh attend the burial rites of
uraeus, with the addition of
his predecessor.
two feathers and ram’s horns.
The coronation always took place during
a
national
festival that represented hope for
Sma-tawy —This design showed
the future. The ceremonies were elaborate
the papyrus plant and a lotus (a type of
and lasted several days. It was at these
water lily) entwined. Found on thrones,
celebrations that a new pharaoh formally
royal boats, and palace and temple walls,
received the symbols of Egypt. Various
it represented the unification of Upper and
crowns were place on his head to symbolize
Lower Egypt. At the coronation ceremony,
his responsibilities and powers. His name
a stake with the sma-tawy twisted around
was written in hieroglyphs, within a
it was driven into the
cartouche or oval. With the crook and
ground in front
flail in hand, the new ruler was led in a
of the building
procession around the walls of the
where the
capital city.
new
A
His name was
pharaoh
Have sk Me!
Serekh
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honored
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Egyptian belief, the
Egypt.
deities inscribed each new
pharaoh’s name on the leaves
Serekh —The
of
this tree.
serekh was a design
representing the façade
of a palace and associated with the Horus
Charles F. Baker is the co-editor of CALLIOPE.
falcon and the Horus name, or title, used
by the king.
11
EGYPT on the March
by Noreen Doyle
ome historians believe that, as a
woman, Hatshepsut had no interest
in military matters. She preferred,
they say, to boast about her peaceful
achievements, such as moving enormous
obelisks or dispatching a trading expedition
down the Red Sea coast to the exotic land of
Punt. Yet, the fragments of an inscription
from Hatshepsut’s funerary temple at Deir
el-Bahri indicate that the Egyptian army
defeated Nubian rebels during her reign.
The text records a “slaughter” of uncounted
numbers of the enemy. In another
inscription, found near the border between
Egypt and Nubia, Chief Treasurer Ti claims
to have witnessed the king herself defeating
Nubians and destroying their lands.
S
12
Propaganda?
Whether these inscriptions are accurate or
just propaganda to exaggerate Hatshepsut’s
military talent, we will probably never
know. What is certain is that Hatshepsut,
like any other pharaoh, officially served
as Egypt’s supreme military commander,
heading a complex bureaucracy that ranged
from the commander-in-chief and generals
down to army scribes and infantrymen.
In practice, of course, the king could not
personally control everything. When
Hatshepsut’s stepson Thutmose was old
enough, she appointed him commanderin-chief of her army.
Most of her soldiers came from towns
and villages, recruited or drafted to become
low-ranking infantrymen. Mercenaries also
“Let’s go!” the five men urge
each other. Hatshepsut’s soldiers march
along with battle axes and standards of
their army units.
made up an important part of the Egyptian
military, particularly Nubian warriors,
who were especially prized for their skill
as archers. As in a modern army, officers
drilled and disciplined their troops at
military camps. Each soldier received his
pay in the form of bread, beer, and other
food. Soldiers could also receive rewards
of land, livestock, slaves, and other goods,
especially upon retirement.
Deadly Weapons
Although infantrymen made up the bulk
of the army, during the New Kingdom the
key component of the Egyptian military
machine was the chariot. Pulled by a pair
of horses, each agile, two-wheeled vehicle
served as a mobile archery platform. The
charioteers formed an elite branch of the
military, and their equipment and horses
were expensive to maintain in proper
fighting condition.
Although Egyptians had been hunting
and fighting with the bow and arrow
since before recorded history, by the time
Hatshepsut came to the throne, bowmakers
had introduced improvements to these
weapons. Using techniques first developed
in western Asia, they began to make bows
by gluing together layers of wood, horn,
and sinew. With a range of up to 600 feet,
The Hardships of a Soldier
o the dismay of their teachers, some boys and young men found the life of a soldier attractive.
In the Papyrus Lansing, written more than 300 years after Hatshepsut’s lifetime, a scribe
warned his pupil why he should not abandon school to join the army:
T
A soldier had many superiors, who could wake him at any hour of the day or night, treat him as a
donkey, and allow him no rest. The soldier was always hungry, because he was never given enough
to eat, and the water he drank was salty and stank. The enemy surrounded him, and his body was
weak from illness. After the battle, the spoils went to the king, while the soldier had to march home
again with his knapsack on his back. But he would drop the sack because a captive woman would
faint and he had to carry her instead. If he deserted the army, his family would be imprisoned.
And, if a soldier died on the march, he was left behind in the desert, where no one would remember him.
—Noreen Doyle
13
“Death to enemies of Egypt!”
yells the pharaoh in his war helmet as
he pulls his bow. The lion-headed Maahes
was honored as the god of war.
type, known as a khepesh, was similar in
shape to the sickle. It had a cutting edge on
the inside of its curved blade, which made it
an excellent slashing weapon. The halberd,
a long pole with a blade, was also good for
slashing and kept the enemy at a greater
distance. The Egyptian army also continued
to use one of humanity’s most ancient
weapons, the spear. For defense, in addition
to shields, some 18th Dynasty soldiers wore
armor made of metal disks sewn onto
leather shirts. Egyptian troops secured their
country’s borders and put down rebellions
among the local populations in conquered
territories.
When Duty Calls
a composite bow could shoot farther than
one made only of wood, and it could rain
heavier arrows down upon the enemy.
Another weapon, the battle-ax, had
become longer and narrower, capable of
delivering an even deadlier blow. Daggers
were now longer and sword-like. One
H AT S H E P S U T
Egypt was made to work with
bowed head for her, the excellent
seed of the god, who came
forth from him.
—Inscription recording the ascension of
Hatshepsut and Thutmose III to the throne of
Egypt, found in the tomb of the official Ineni
14
As the source of precious commodities
and as trading partners, both Nubia and
the Middle East played vital roles in Egypt’s
economic well-being. Fortresses occupied
by Egyptian soldiers safeguarded these trade
routes and kept military headquarters
informed of all activity, including even
the number of nomads who passed by.
Calliope says: A third century B.C.
Egyptian priest and historian named
Manetho compiled a list of Egypt’s kings,
starting with Menes as the first historical king
around 3100 B.C. As the last Egyptian king to
rule in ancient times, he listed Nectanebo II,
whose reign ended in 342 B.C. Manetho
divided the kings into 30 family groupings,
d
now called dynasties. Historians later divide
the dynasties into time periods:
Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, and New
Kingdom. The years between these periods
are referred to as the First, Second, and Third
Intermediate periods. While Egyptologists do
,
not agree on the exact dates for each period
the divisions are accepted universally.
EUROPE
Black Sea
ASIA
GREECE
N
W
CYPRUS
Mediterranean Sea
E
SYRIA
• KADESH
AFRICA
S
LIBYA
NILE DELTA
EGYPT
••
(CAIRO)
d
Re
MEMPHIS
a
Se
LOWER
EGYPT
EGYPT
NUBIA
(SUDAN)
Ni
le
Ri
ve
r
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UXO
K (L
A
N
ABYDOS
KAR
VALLEY OF THE KINGS •• • THEBES
• DEI
S
RE
L-B
OF EN
UPPER
AH
Y UE
E
RI
L EQ
EGYPT
L
A
H
V T
ASWAN
•
LEGEND
• ANCIENT SITE
(MODERN SITE)
•
•
COUNTRY
• ANCIENT CITY
ABU SIMBEL •
(MODERN CITY)
Sea or Ocean
River
ISLAND
AREA
CONTINENT
Almost as soon as Thutmose became
king, Egypt’s rival, the kingdom of Mitanni,
incited a revolt among cities in the Middle
East. The siege of the city of Megiddo, led
by Thutmose himself, lasted seven months.
Even after the Egyptians won, Thutmose
spent about another 20 years waging war in
the region, establishing an Egyptian empire
and later earning the modern nickname
“the Napoleon of ancient Egypt.”
However, not every military campaign
was part of a war. When the time came
to transport Hatshepsut’s colossal obelisks
from the quarry at Aswan to the temple at
Karnak, the army supplied the labor. And,
when she dispatched a trade expedition
by sea to the land of Punt, miles away on
the Red Sea coast, she sent the army.
Noreen Doyle has degrees in anthropology, art history,
nautical archaeology, and Egyptology. She lives in Maine,
where she works as a writer and editor.
PU
NT
Foreman
of the Foremen
by Angela Murock Hussein
W
ithout a doubt, Senmut was a
close friend and confidante
of Hatshepsut—and he even
may have been more. From a humble
background, he nevertheless held some
of the most prestigious positions in Egypt.
In fact, Senmut is one of the most
important individuals we can identify
from the reign of Hatshepsut.
Most likely from the town of Armant
in the south of Egypt, he was the son
of Ramose and Hatnefer. His parents
do not seem to have been involved in
government or to have held any special
titles. Life became more difficult for the
family after Ramose died young, leaving
his wife, Senmut, and at least
Cradled in Senmut’s arms
six other children. Hatnefer,
is Neferure, holding a royal
however, lived to see her son
scepter in her hands. Note
the traditional children’s
achieve wealth and power
hairstyle, a sidelock on the
in the royal court.
right side of her head.
We do not know exactly
how Senmut came to serve in the palace.
The first evidence of his working for
the royal family dates to the reign of
Thutmose II, when he was made tutor
to Princess Neferure, daughter of the king
and his queen, Hatshepsut. Senmut was
extremely proud of this prestigious
title and commissioned many
statues of himself holding
the child.
19
Confidant of the Queen
Senmut next became Great Steward to
Hatshepsut herself, managing the affairs
and household staff. Senmut was the
person charged with carrying out her
orders. At the time, she was still queen
under Thutmose II.
When Hatshepsut became pharaoh,
Senmut became her closest advisor and
was granted many honors and titles.
His most important was that of the Great
Steward of Amun, the overseer of the
temple of the god at Karnak. He also was
charged with supervising many significant
building projects. It was Senmut who
oversaw the transport of the two granite
obelisks for the Temple of Amun, the
opening of stone quarries south of Thebes
for building stone, and the construction
of the Temple of Mut (Amun’s wife) at
Karnak. His most celebrated commission,
however, was his supervision of
Hatshepsut’s mortuary temple at Deir
el-Bahri (see pages 24–27), for which he
may have been the architect.
Hatshepsut was so pleased with his
handling of these projects that she
allowed him to place small images of
himself on the walls behind doorways
in her mortuary temple, the temple of
Mut, and presumably other shrines.
Such an honor usually was reserved
for members of the royal family.
Therefore, for Senmut to be worthy
of this type of favor was significant.
He was also allowed to place statues
of himself in temples, a privilege that
also required royal permission. These
images show him in many different
guises, representing his many jobs.
We have statues of him in his position
as surveyor and architect, the tutor of
Neferure, and the presenter of the name
of Hatshepsut, a scene that represented
his role of carrying out her wishes.
20
Below: Is this
Senmut? Perhaps!
The image was
found carved on a
piece of discarded
limestone near his
tomb complex.
Opposite: A carved
head of Hatshepsut.
Hatsh
Sen
An Impossible Love
t
u
s
p
e
h
+ ut
nm
Close to Hatshepsut in life, he was near
to her in death as well. The queen granted
Senmut permission to construct his tomb
complex next to her mortuary temple.
This complex included a tomb for
Senmut, as well as smaller tombs for
his many family members, including
Hatnefer and Ramose, whose remains
were moved from an older tomb in
Armant. Senmut does not, however,
appear to have had a wife or children
of his own.
Some scholars believe that Senmut
was more to Hatshepsut than a steward
and assistant, that the two may have
been in love. It is true that he was
awarded honors usually reserved for royal
individuals and evidently was especially
favored by her above all the other
officials. In addition, Senmut never
married, and Hatshepsut never remarried
after the death of Thutmose II. The two
certainly worked as partners throughout
her reign and were so close that rumors
of their romance apparently circulated
while Hatshepsut was pharaoh. In
Senmut’s tomb complex at Deir el-Bahri,
the builders left behind graffiti carved
into the rock that showed Senmut and
Hatshepsut together, implying that
the workmen knew that they were
a couple. Yet, in ancient Egyptian
society, it would have been
impossible for a commoner such
as Senmut to marry Hatshepsut,
a queen and mother of the daughter
of a king. Any relationship between
them would have had to remain
private.
Angela Murock Hussein is an archaeologist who
has worked on digs in Israel, Italy, Greece, and
Egypt. She lives in Providence, Rhode Island, with her
husband and son.
21
FUN
WITH
WORDS
WORD STORIES
by Kimberly Reishus
DESPOT
WORD ORIGINS
PATRIARCH Ever heard of
“patriarch”? How about the phrase
“patriarch of the family”? By definition,
the word describes the father, ruler,
or founder of a family, tribe, religion,
business, or the like—quite appropriate
if we dissect “patriarch.” It is actually
a combination of the Latin noun pater
(“father”) and the Greek verb
archein (“to rule”).
Here’s a word whose
meaning has changed considerably over
the centuries. The ancient Greeks used their
term despotes to refer to those in charge
of a household and to husbands. In time,
however, the word was used to refer to
rulers who acted like tyrants, masters who
ruled with unlimited power, caring only
for themselves and their concerns and
having little regard for
the people they
governed.
MONARCH
A simple word,
“monarch” is one of the first
words we learn in history
class. It refers to the
sole ruler of a country,
a person who usually
has inherited the
position from a mother or
father. And, this
definition exactly
reflects its
two Greek
roots: monos
(“alone”) and
archein
(“to rule”).
22
illustrated by Tom Lopes
SOVEREIGN
We all know that the
word “reign” means “royal power or
authority.” So why precede it with the
letters “sove”? Perhaps the answer is just
simply to make the word even more regal.
Let’s dig a bit deeper into the history of
“sovereign.” The syllable “reign” traces
its roots to the Latin verb regere, meaning
“to rule.” The letters “sove” are actually an
adaptation of the Latin preposition super,
meaning “above” and “over.” Next time,
you want a word that means “above or
superior to all others,” why not use
“sovereign”?
LET’S LEARN EGYPTIAN!
Here are a few words—not written in hieroglyphs, but in our alphabet according to how
Egyptologists think they were pronounced:
EGYPTIAN COLORS
MEANING
desher
red
kem
black
khenet (or kenet)
yellow
khesbedj
blue
khedj
white
sab
variegated (a variety of different colors together)
wadj
green
EGYPTIAN
GEOGRAPHICAL TERMS
MEANING
Deshret
Egypt, the Red Land (desert area)
Hwt-ka-Ptah
House of the Ka (spiritual essence or soul) of Ptah—
that is, the land of Egypt
Khemet or Kmt
Egypt, the Black Land (fertile Nile riverbanks)
Ta-Seti
Nubia (present-day
Sudan)
Ta-Meht
Lower Egypt
Ta-Resu
Upper Egypt
Uat-ur
Mediterranean Sea
(literal translation:
“the Great Green”)
23
Harp player carved into the wall of Hatshepsut’s chapel
Values
I
n family groups depicted on tomb
walls or in statuary, wives have an
arm around their husbands’ waists or
shoulders and children cling to the staffs
their fathers are shown holding. Clearly,
there was great affection between the
generations. But children were also expected
to respect their fathers, be kind to their
mothers, and love their siblings.
Women’s Rights
The status of women was freer in ancient
Egypt than in many parts of the world
today. They could inherit, own, and pass
on property. There was no segregation of
the sexes, and, at dinner parties, men and
women intermingled. Even so, well-to-do
ladies mostly stayed at home and supervised
the chores of their servants. This may help
explain why women are depicted with
yellow flesh. In contrast, men worked
primarily outside the home and
got deeply sunburned in the
process, which is why they are
shown with red or red-brown skin.
Among the social graces
mastered by upper-class women
were dancing, singing, and
playing the harp, either for their
parents and husbands or for the
king himself. They also served
“Let’s hunt!”
And the tall figure of
the deceased in this tomb painting
prepares to hunt birds. His wife and son
accompany him, and the family cat has
already caught three birds.
34
as priestesses of the mother goddess Hathor
and the creator goddess Neith. Sometimes
they filled the same role as priestesses in
the funerary cults of fathers or husbands.
Some working-class women labored
beside their men in the fields or at weaving,
baking, and brewing; others were domestic
servants in upper-class homes. Sometimes
they acted in a supervisory capacity.
Education Counts!
Reading, writing, and arithmetic were
important in ancient Egypt and most likely
formed the route to advancement for many
ambitious young men. Boys with a father or
relative in an official position probably had
an advantage, since most trades and crafts
were learned by means of an apprenticeship
system. Female physicians, even chief
physicians, are known to have existed, and
they, too, must have been able to read and
write in order to use the medical texts.
Edward Brovarski is an adjunct professor in Egyptian
archaeology at Brown University.
Hatshepsut’s mummy,
displayed in Cairo,
June 2007
by Salima Ikram and Janice Kamrin
hen Hatshepsut was still
a queen, she started building a
tomb for herself in a place called
Wadi Gabbanat el-Qurud, or Valley of the
Monkeys. This is located on the west bank
of modern Luxor, not far from the Valley of
the Kings. The tomb was carved into the
limestone mountains, and archaeologists
found a beautiful sarcophagus made of
yellowish-red stone inside it. Hatshepsut,
however, was not buried here.
As soon as Hatshepsut became pharaoh,
she abandoned this tomb and started
digging a new one for herself in the Valley
of the Kings. Many Egyptologists think
that this was the very first tomb in the
Valley of the Kings. It is now called KV 20
(KV stands for King’s Valley).
W
‘C’-Shaped
KV 20 was cut deeply into the side of
the Valley and actually looks like a long,
narrow “C.” There are almost 650 feet of
passageways and stairways that lead to an
oval room. A short corridor connects this
room to a rectangular chamber and three
smaller rooms. Two wonderfully decorated
stone sarcophagi were discovered inside the
rectangular room. One was carved with
the name of Hatshepsut; the other with
the name of her father, Thutmose I.
We do not know where Thutmose I was
originally buried. We think that Hatshepsut
took his mummy from his own tomb and
35
moved it to hers. She did this so that she
could be buried beside her father, whom
she loved very much.
KV 20 was only one part of Hatshepsut’s
tomb. The other part was her memorial,
or mortuary, temple, also known as “Temple
of Millions of Years.” This was built in a
bay of cliffs and is now called Deir el-Bahri.
Today it takes 20 minutes to drive from the
Valley of the Kings to Deir el-Bahri, but the
tomb and its temple are actually back-toback. If you dug a tunnel from the end of
KV 20 to the temple, the tunnel would be
only 820 feet long!
Mysterious Package
Neither the mummy of Hatshepsut nor
the mummy of her father was found in
the tomb. In fact, only two royal mummies
Which is which? Close inspection of the two
mummies has led Zahi Hawass (standing) to identify the
mummy directly in front of him as that of Hatshepsut.
36
from the 18th Dynasty were discovered
in their tombs—Amenhotep II’s and
Tutankhamun’s. Most of the other royal
mummies have been found in what are
called caches, places where valuables can
be hidden. In the 21st Dynasty—about 300
years after Hatshepsut—priests had moved
the mummies from their own tombs to the
caches to protect them from tomb robbers.
But Hatshepsut and Thutmose I were
not in any of the royal caches either. Many
scholars thought that a mummy in the
largest cache, which was tucked away in the
hills not far from Hatshepsut’s temple, was
Thutmose I, but analysis showed it was too
young to be Hatshepsut’s father. Also, the
mummy did not have his arms crossed over
his chest, which is how kings were buried
at this time. The only trace of Hatshepsut
in either of the caches was a small wooden
box with her name on it. Inside was a
mysterious package. It was too big for the
box and had been
wrapped in linen and
covered with black
oils and resins.
In 1903, Howard
Carter (who later
discovered the tomb
of Tutankhamun)
found a small tomb
not far from KV 20.
He called this KV 60.
Inside the burial
chamber were two
mummies. One was
in a wooden coffin;
the other was lying
on the floor. The
mummy in the coffin
was a short woman
with long hair and
one arm crossed over
her chest. Carved into
the coffin was the word In,
the name of Hatshepsut’s
nanny. The other mummy
was a very fat woman,
who also had one arm
crossed over her chest.
The Answer
in a Tooth
No one paid much
attention to these
mummies until, years
later, an Egyptologist
named Elizabeth Thomas
suggested that the fat
lady might be Hatshepsut.
She thought that KV 60
was the tomb of
Hatshepsut’s nanny and
that 21st Dynasty priests
had moved Hatshepsut’s
mummy there for
safekeeping. Other scholars
argued that perhaps the
smaller mummy was
Hatshepsut, and the fat
one was the nanny.
In 2007, Zahi Hawass,
the director of the Supreme
Council of Antiquities
in Egypt, decided to try
and solve the mystery of
Hatshepsut’s missing mummy. Using a
CT scanner, a machine that takes thousands
of pictures similar to X-rays but with more
detail, he made a photographic record of
the two mummies from KV 60, as well as
two other unidentified female mummies
from the royal caches. He also scanned
the wooden box with the mysterious
package inside.
The results were astonishing. Inside the
wooden box, along with other body parts,
was a tooth. Study of the mummy of the fat
Check out the X-ray
of Hatshepsut’s mummy’s jaw.
Now just imagine Zahi Hawass
putting the tooth from the box
into the hole!
A
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lady had shown she was missing
a tooth. When the tooth in the
wooden box was put into the hole inside
the mouth of the fat lady, it was a perfect
fit! The fat lady was indeed Hatshepsut,
and the mystery was solved.
37
UEENS
RULE
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS BELIEVED
THAT THERE MUST ALWAYS BE A KING
ON THE THRONE OF EGYPT. IDEALLY,
THIS KING WOULD BE THE SON OF THE
PREVIOUS, NOW-DEAD, KING. BUT,
IF THERE WAS NO SON AVAILABLE,
IT WAS ACCEPTABLE FOR A WOMAN
TO RULE. AT LEAST SIX QUEENS RULED
EGYPT AS “FEMALE PHARAOHS.”
THE EARLIEST OF THESE QUEENS
ARE MYSTERIOUS, SHADOWY
FIGURES, AND WE KNOW
LITTLE ABOUT THEM.
THE LATER ONES
LIVED IN MORE
LITERATE TIMES, SO WE
UNDERSTAND MORE ABOUT
THEIR REIGNS.
“Meritneith” is a female name.
Egyptologists believe that she was
the daughter of King Djer and the
wife of King Djet. Following her
husband’s early death, Meritneith
ruled Egypt temporarily on behalf
of her infant son, Den.
Nitocris
Legend tells us that near the end of the
Old Kingdom (around 2152 B.C.), Egypt was
ruled by the beautiful and brave Nitocris.
Nitocris had succeeded her murdered
brother on the throne and was determined
to avenge his death. After drowning his
murderers in a specially constructed
underground chamber, she committed
suicide. However, there is no archaeological
evidence to support this story, and it is
probably not true.
Sobeknofru
There is, however, good archaeological
evidence that says Queen Sobeknofru,
daughter of King Amenemhat III, ruled
Egypt for three years, ten months, and
twenty-four days at the end of the Middle
Kingdom, around 1787–1783 B.C. We have
three headless statues of the queen and
some of her personal possessions, but her
pyramid tomb has not yet been discovered.
The royal necropolis at Abydos. Egyptians once thought
it the burial place of Osiris and brought offerings. Today,
the area is covered with shards, broken pieces of pottery.
Meritneith
Queen Meritneith, who
reigned some time between
2920 and 2770 B.C., was buried
in a huge mud-brick tomb in
the royal cemetery of Abydos,
in southern Egypt. The
first Egyptologists to
investigate the site
thought that she
was a male king, but
it is now understood that
39
“Use them well,” counsels the
Tawosret
We know far more about Queen
Tawosret, who ruled Egypt during
the latter part of the New Kingdom,
around 1198–1196 B.C. The wife of
King Seti II, she was the stepmother
of his son Siptah, who had inherited
his father’s throne as a young boy.
Siptah’s mummy has a twisted leg,
suggesting that he suffered from
cerebral palsy. Queen Tawosret
helped her young stepson to rule
and was supported by an important
politician, the “Chancellor of the Whole
Land, Bay.” For four years, Bay was the
dominant figure in Egyptian politics.
A simple brief note in an official document
records his execution on unknown charges.
Siptah died in his early 20s. With no
children to succeed him, Tawosret become
the female king: “Daughter of
Re, Lady of Ta-merit, Tawosret
chosen of Mut.” This was
not a good time to rule Egypt,
however. The empire was
shrinking and suffered from both
high inflation and occasional
food shortages. In addition,
along Egypt’s western border,
Libyan tribes were threatening
the security of the Nile Delta.
Tawosret ruled Egypt for just
two years. Her only substantial
monuments are an unfinished
mortuary temple and a tomb
in the Valley of the Kings.
Cleopatra VII
Ancient Egypt’s last ruling
queen, Cleopatra VII, came to
the throne in 51 B.C., sharing
power with her brother,
Ptolemy XIII. Ptolemy was
unhappy with this situation
and plotted to have his sister killed. Warned
in time, Cleopatra raised an army. By the
summer of 48 B.C., the forces loyal to
Tawosret shakes the
sistrum (see back
cover) in a relief carved
into the walls of a
temple in Nubia, to the
south of ancient Egypt.
40
falcon-headed god Horus,
as he gives pharaoh the
symbols of royal power
(see pages 10–11).
Right: Goddess Isis, crowned
with cow’s horns and the
solar disk topped with the
symbol for throne.
Ptolemy and Cleopatra
were preparing to fight each
other in the Nile Delta
when the Roman general
Julius Caesar intervened.
After summoning the two
to Alexandria, Caesar
declared his support for Cleopatra. Angered,
the people of Alexandria rebelled, and
Cleopatra and Caesar spent the winter
trapped in the city. Roman reinforcements
did not arrive until March 47 B.C. After the
city was liberated, Ptolemy XIII fled and
drowned in the Nile. Cleopatra was restored
to her throne with Roman support, taking as
her husband and co-ruler her 11-year-old
brother Ptolemy XIV.
When Ptolemy XIV died in 44 B.C.,
Cleopatra’s three-year-old son, Ptolemy
Caesar (also known as Caesarion),
became king Ptolemy XV, but Cleopatra VII
remained the effective sole ruler of Egypt.
Cleopatra now allied herself with the
Roman Mark Antony. Together, they
planned an empire to rival the growing
might of Rome. But their loss to the Romans
under Octavian at the Battle of Actium in
31 B.C. dashed their plans. In August of
the following year, Cleopatra committed
suicide in Alexandria.
ACT
IV
Here’s your chance
to feel like an ancient
embalmer and freak
out your friends at the
same time. Your mummy hand
won’t be just a scary sculpture,
but will make a great paperweight,
YOU NEED:
doorstop, or even a back scratcher!
chicken bones
ITY
modeling clay
white glue
by Ken Feisel
white fabric
Make Your Own
paint
an old toothbrush
MUMMY HAND
Attach the fingers to the
palm with more modeling clay.
Tear the fabric into strips about
1@ “ wide. Dip the strips into
a mixture of equal parts white
glue and water, then completely
wrap your mummy hand.
Allow it to dry thoroughly.
Next time you eat chicken, save
the leg and thigh bones (they
will be the mummy fingers).
Wash them thoroughly in soap
and water and let them dry for
a few days. While they dry, sculpt
a palm and wrist, like the one
above, out of modeling clay.
Now make your hand look
moldy and old, as if it came
from the body of an ancient
mummy. First paint it light
brown, then use an old
toothbrush to spatter it
with several different colors
of paint.
The next time someone asks you to lend them a hand, you’ll be ready!
41
Ask
C
?
allIopE
illustrat
ed by He
idi Graf
Can you tell me what portolan
maps are?
—Amelia, Web post
ASK Calliope
30 Grove St., Peterborough, NH 03458
or [email protected]
46
Portolan charts were first drawn
in the late 1200s as mariner
charts and were in use at the time of
Christopher Columbus’ voyages. They
offered a realistic picture of the lands
and navigational hazards sailors would
encounter in coastal waters. The term portolan
traces its origin to the Italian word portolani,
which originally referred to books of written
lists or tables of sailing directions and
information.
I love CALLIOPE’s “Fun With
Words”! Can you tell me the
origin of the word “monk”?
—Chris, Web post
Sure! The word “monk” is a religious
term and comes from the Greek
adjective monos, meaning “alone.”
Monks, especially in centuries
past, often spent solitary lives
seeking to know more about
the meaning of life, the
universe, and the creator of the
universe in places away from
the temptations and distractions
of human society.
What’s a midden?
—Elizabeth, Web post
The term “midden” is actually a
shortened form of the phrase “kitchen
midden,” which is actually a
derivative of the Danish word
kokkenmodding, meaning “a pile
of muck.” By definition, a midden
is a heap of shell, pottery, tool,
and ash waste material that was used and then
discarded by food gatherers, especially those
who lived in prehistoric times. In other words,
a midden is a pile of garbage, and that is
exactly why it is so important.
Are there really “talking
drums”?
From Our
Readers
EDITOR: Look here ea
ch month
for submissions from
our readers.
And, the Muse Calliop
e looks
forward to receiving
yours soon!
ANCIENT
EGYPT
—Quincy, 10, Web post
Yes! For an example, let’s travel to
West Africa, and the land of the Yoruba
people. Long ago, when they wanted to send
messages from village to village, they created
a drum that imitated their intricate tonal
language. The drum seemed to “talk.” Because
it is narrow in the middle, it is often called an
hourglass drum. Skilled Yoruba woodcarvers
transform tree trunks into these hollow drums
with bowl-shaped ends and slender waists that
vary in length from one foot to two or more
feet. The drums’ heads are made of goatskin
and are beaten with a curved stick. To make
the drum “talk,” a drummer squeezes the
rawhide lacings with his left arm to tighten the
drumheads, which, in turn, raises the tone.
Egypt, with fabulous Pharaohs
flamboyantly flaunting
Pompous Pyramids
proudly protruding,
Shriveled Mummies
abruptly disturbed,
Voiceless Sphinx.
Monotheist Akhenaten attempting change,
Notable Tutankhamun pricelessly prized,
Despairing Desert desolately depleted,
Generous Nile.
—KATHERINE KERSWELL
FAIRLAWN, NEW JERSEY
, and his
EDITOR: We’re sure Akhenaten
d this
wife Nefertiti, would have enjoye
with the
poem. And, Katherine, great job
alliteration!
47