#Egyptian Mummy Project

[maked-artyshenanigans]

So, I saw this image on Facebook, and it was supposedly showing what Queen Nefertiti would have looked like in real life:

Now, I thought this AI generated garbage was just truly terrible on a number of levels; first off, she looks wayyyyyy too modern - her makeup is very “Hollywood glamour”, she looks airbrushed and de-aged, and as far as I’m aware, Ancient Egyptians didn’t have mascara, glitter-based eyeshadows and lip gloss. Secondly, her features are exceptionally whitewashed in every sense - this is pretty standard for AI as racial bias is prevalent in feeding AI algorithms, but I genuinely thought a depiction of such a known individual would not exhibit such euro-centric features. Thirdly, the outfit was massively desaturated and didn’t take pigment loss into consideration, and while I *do* like the look of the neck attire, it's not at all accurate (plus, again, AI confusion on the detailing is evident).

So, this inspired me to alter the image on the left to be more accurate based off the sculpture’s features. I looked into Ancient Egyptian makeup and looked at references for kohl eyeliner and clay-based facial pigment (rouge was used on cheeks, charcoal-based powder/paste was used to darken and elongate eyebrows), and I looked at pre-existing images of Nefertiti, both her mummy and other reconstructions. While doing this, I found photos of a 3D scanned sculpture made by scientists at the University of Bristol and chose to collage the neck jewellery over the painting (and edited the lighting and shadows as best as I could).

Something I see a lot of in facial recreations of mummies is maintaining the elongated and skinny facial features as seen on preserved bodies - however, fat, muscle and cartilage shrink/disappear post mortem, regardless of preservation quality; Queen Nefertiti had art created of her in life, and these pieces are invaluable to developing an accurate portrayal of her, whether stylistic or realistic in nature.

And hey, while I don't think my adjustments are perfect (especially the neck area), I *do* believe it is a huge improvement to the original image I chose to work on top of.

I really liked working on this project for the last few days, and I think I may continue to work on it further to perfect it. But, until then, I hope you enjoy!

Remember, likes don't help artists but reblogs do!

[artifacts-and-arthropods]

2,000-Year-Old Fayum Portraits from Roman Egypt: also known as "mummy portraits," these funerary paintings were often fastened to the coffins of the people they depicted

Above: Fayum portrait of a woman from Roman-occupied Egypt, c.100-110 CE

Fayum portraiture was a popular funerary practice among the upper-class families of Roman Egypt from about 50 CE to 250 CE. Given the high mortality rates for children during this period, many of these portraits depict children and youths, but adults were often featured, too.

Above: portrait of a youth wearing a golden wreath, c.130-150 CE; the wreath and the background of the portrait are both gilded

The population of the Faiyum Delta, where most of these portraits were found, largely contained individuals with both native Egyptian/North African and Greek heritage. The Greek lineages can be traced back to the Ptolemaic period, when the Greeks gained control of Egypt and began to establish settlements throughout the region, gradually leading to a cultural diffusion between the Greek and Egyptian populations. The Romans eventually took control of Egypt in 31 CE, absorbing it into the Roman Empire and colonizing much of North Africa, but the demographics of the Faiyum Delta remained largely unchanged.

Above: portrait of a man with a mole on his nose, c.130-150 CE

Many of these Fayum portraits reflect the same blend of ethnic and cultural roots, depicting individuals with both Greek and native Egyptian heritage (a claim that is supported by both archaeological and genetic evidence). Some portraits may also depict native Egyptians who did not have any European ancestry, but had been integrated into Greco-Roman society.

Above: portrait of a bearded man, c.170-180 CE

These representations of native Egyptians provide us with unique insights into the actual demographics of Roman-occupied Egypt (and the ancient world at large). Non-European peoples are rarely included in depictions of the classical world; it's also interesting to see the blend of cultural elements that these portraits represent.

Above: portrait of a priest of Serapis, c.140-160 CE; the man in this portrait is shown wearing a fillet/crown that bears the seven-pointed star of the Greco-Egyptian god, Serapis

As this article explains:

In the 1800s and early 1900s, Western art historians didn’t know what to make of these portraits. Scholars of Roman history labeled them Egyptian. Scholars of Egyptian history labeled them Greco-Roman. These binary academic classifications failed to capture the true complexity of the ancient (or, indeed, modern) Mediterranean. In reality, Fayum portraits are a syncretic form, merging Egyptian and Greco-Roman art and funerary practices. They reflect the cosmopolitanism of both Roman and Egyptian history.

Above: portrait of a man, c.80-100 CE (left); portrait of a bearded officer, sometimes referred to as "Perseus," c.130-175 CE (right)

Above: portrait of a young woman in red, c.90-120 CE

Nearly 1,000 of these portraits are currently known to exist.

Above: portrait of a man wearing a gilded ivy wreath, c.100-150 CE

Above: portrait of a bearded man, c.150-170 CE

Sources & More Info:

Curationist: Fayum Portraits

Harvard Art Museums: Giving the Dead their Due: an Exhibition Re-Examines Funerary Portraits from Roman Egypt

Getty Museum: APPEAR Project

Getty Museum: Faces of Roman Egypt

National Geographic: Ancient Egypt's Stunning, Lifelike Mummy Portraits

The Athens Centre: The Myth of Whiteness in Classical Sculpture

Forbes: Whitewashing Ancient Statues: Whiteness, Racism and Color in the Ancient World

[rustyarcade]

✨A Dream?✨

My first fishbride fic!!! So excited to share more of this ship with you guys cuz I love it sooo much!!!!

Summary: Khalis revives Nina! Her and the Bride have a long talk.

Read it on Ao3 or below the cut!

…

…

…

And suddenly there was light.

Nina sat up quickly in the bed she was placed in. Her vision was blurry as the bright fluorescent lights reflected greatly against the white walls. Her body plugged in with several wires.

The lab… she was back in that damn lab… In a panic, she thrashed about the bed. “DADDY!” She called out. To her this was a flashback. Some sick cruel nightmare about the night she became her slimy aquatic self. “DADDY!” She yelled out again violently. She was about to rip the wires off of her body and run before a gentle bandaged hand stopped her. And a voice, “Whoa…! Easy there…”

This bandaged hand was connected to a bandaged man. Underneath the bandages was a corpse, much like the bride, but dried out, with a golden Egyptian crown on his head. He smiled warmly at the girl. “Ha! I’ve still got it!” He laughed quietly to himself.

Nina looked around the room. Several doctors in stark white lab coats stared in awe. But for once, not at her jarring appearance. It was a different kind of awe. Like they had discovered something grand.

“What… What am I doing here? Who are you? Where am I?” Nina began her barrage of questions.

“Ms. Mazursky,” a doctor spoke out and walked towards her. “My name is Doctor Alandy. You were attacked during you and your comrades’ mission in Pokolistan-“

“Don’t sugarcoat it, doc,” the mummy interrupted. “She died.”

Nina’s eyes widened. “What…?”

“Do you remember what happened to you when you ambushed Princess Ilana?” The doctor continued.

Nina did remember slightly. It felt like a blur. She remembered the princess’s swift evasion of her attack. She remembered the blade slashing into her stomach repeatedly. She remembered the world fading to black.

She simply nodded.

“You were killed, Ms. Mazursky. But, with Khalis’s magical powers, we were able to bring you back.”

Nina didn’t know what to say. She… died? And now she’s back? With the power of this mummy’s magic? She touched her face with her hand. But something was missing. She hastily searched for her water suit. She began to hyperventilate which caused her to panic even more.

“No worries, Ms. Mazursky. For whatever reason, Khalis’s powers took away your need to breathe oxygen through water,” Doctor Alandy assured her.

Nina took a deep breath. And breathed out. She couldn’t believe it.

“I’ve… I’ve been cured,” she squeaked out. Tears stung her eyes. If only her father could see her… breathing without the need for a suit.

“Cured as much as possible, my girl. There’s no cure for that fish face of yours!” Khalis chuckled. Alandy gave him a dirty look. She turned to her fellow medical staff. “Please give Ms. Mazursky some clothing and food. Khalis, follow me. She needs to be well rested for her visitors later today,” Alandy said as she marched out of the room. “An honor to finally meet you, Ms. Nina. Our comrades told me a lot about you. They will be overjoyed to see you again,” Khalis bowed to Nina. Nina bowed her head to him, “Thank you.” He slowly walked out of the room as the nurses and doctors began to feel and clothe Nina.

———

Nina sat nervously in her bed. She ran her hands across her arms, amazed at the sensation of dry skin touching her own dry skin. She was given some bread and water. Bread tasted so much better dry. And drinking water felt strange to her. It’d have to take some getting used to.

The door clicked open and she whipped her head. Alandy peeked her head in. “Ms. Mazursky, you have visitors,” she announced as she opened the door. Weasel was the first to scurry in. He quickly ran up to her and began sniffing her. Nina giggled at the sight of her old friend. Weasel licked her face in greeting which caused her to laugh harder. “Hi Weasel!!! How’ve you been, buddy?” She smiled as she held his face in her hands. He panted and wagged in his tail in response.

“Down, boy,” a familiar voice chimed in. Weasel obliged, still ever so happy. A limping Rick Flag with a cane and Phosphorus walked in. Phosphorus got close to her bedside and looked deeply into her eyes in awe. “You’re… you’re here… you’re really here… you’re back…” he whispered softly. “Are you smiling because you’re happy to see me again or because you always just look like you’re smiling?” Nina responded playfully. Phosphorus chuckled. “You don’t know how happy I am to see you again, kid,” he muttered as his voice cracked. He quickly turned away and coughed to try to cover up his emotion.

“Nina,” Rick caught her attention. “The team told me about your excursion. Great job, soldier.” He saluted. She saluted back.

A large clanking came from the door. A, now huge, GI robot marched into the room. Nina gasped. “GI!!!” She cheered. “Friend Nina!!!” GI Robot called back. Nina reached her hand to him. GI stared her hand and grabbed it awkwardly. “Hello!” He replied. “He was easy to rebuild, it just took a while for his upgrades. Unlike you, young lady,” Flag chimed in. “Now instead of being able to kill 120 nazis in one battle, the scientists say I may be able to kill up to 598 nazis in one battle! Perhaps even 599,” GI informed. “Oh, friend Nina, will you accompany me again to kill Nazis once again? As we did in Pokolistan?” Nina nodded. “I’d love to, GI.”

The slow clacking of heels emerged. Everyone turned to see who had arrived. The Bride stood with her eyes widened in shock at Nina in the bed. Her legs, visibly trembling. “Bride!” Nina called out. Tears instantly streamed down Nina’s face. The Bride remained still. “It’s so glad to see you again!” The Bride slowly walked to her. Nina felt a wave of guilt creep into her. “I’m… really sorry I messed up the mission… I tried to kill the princess. I really did try… I just-“ The Bride finally arrived at the side of her bed. She reached a hand out to cup Nina’s face. Her touch was… soft. She rubbed her thumb against her cheek. Nina leaned into her hand. “You’re… here…” was all the Bride was able to mutter out. Nina nodded with a soft smile. “I missed you most of all, scarecrow,” Nina whispered playfully. Suddenly, the Bride pulled her into a tight hug. Loud messy sobs slowly erupted from the Bride. Nina could feel her shaking.

“Oh, my Nina… I’m so sorry…” The bride whined out in between cries. Tears sprinkled into Nina’s neck. “I should have never made you try to kill her. You weren’t prepared…” Nina didn’t know what to say, but she hugged her back. “Bride… it’s ok… I forgive you-“

“NO!” The bride yelled which startled everyone around her. “I sent you out to die… I killed you.” Nina replied sternly, “No, you didn’t, Bride. Ilana did. You were just doing what was best for the mission.”

“You didn’t deserve to die. You’re the kindest one out of all of us. The kindest being in the universe,” the Bride mumbled. “Guess it’s good I’m back then, huh softie?” Nina replied. The Bride chuckled ever so softly. “My friend…” Bride breathed out. “My best friend…” Nina answered as she held her even tighter.

———

The commandos stayed in that hospital room chatting for hours, that to them passed like minutes.

Soon enough, Dr. Alandy asked the Commandos to leave. Nina pleaded that they’d stay longer, but they all assured her that they needed to rest.

“Wait!” Nina grabbed the Bride’s arm. “Can the Bride at least stay?” She asked Alandy. “I'd rather not be alone here.”

“As long as the Bride agrees and promises not to become violent, then she may stay,” Alandy affirmed. The Bride nodded in agreement which made Nina giddy.

The Bride sat in a chair next to Nina as they continued their talk.

“Wait, so you killed the princess?”

“Yeah, it's a bit complicated though. We thought she was evil. Then they called off the attack too late. Then it turns out she was evil. It’s really weird,” the Bride explained.

“I’ll say… But why did you kill her? I mean you saw the tapes and caught her with Clayface, but… if Waller didn’t have a directive to eliminate her anymore, why did you do it? Surely, you didn’t have some kind of moral shift.”

The Bride smiled at her comment, but quickly changed her expression to one that was serious.

“No… not exactly a moral shift, I suppose. After my father’s death, I never cared for much. I wanted to be alone. Away from that filthy creature that claimed I was his to own. Away from the entire world around me. I never held onto anything… anyone… I could care less if the princess was going to destroy the world. But… she took you away from me. My only friend. The one thing I’ve cared about in hundreds of years. It enraged me. I had to do something. Not just because of our relationship, but because you truly didn’t deserve to die. I meant it when I said you were the kindest being in the universe. I didn’t care for justice. I just wanted vengeance.”

Nina’s heart tugged at the Bride’s words. “Oh Bride… you…” The Bride wiped tears away from her eyes. “Goodness me, I haven’t cried like this since you… since you left.”

“What… What did I look like? When I died?”

“A body floated up to the surface and with blood leaking all around. I ran to see who it was. I… I have no words to describe the emotion I felt when I saw it was you. Shock, horror, despair… Those words can’t even begin to explain how I felt when I saw your lifeless body. I was the one that carried you out of the water. You were limp in my arms. Blood gushing out of your stomach. I’ve carried much heavier things in my times, but… when I held onto you… it felt like I couldn’t move. There was a weight holding me down inside of you.”

Bride’s voice trembled. Nina grabbed her hand, reminding her she was here again.

“We held a service for you in Pokolistan. The princess’s ‘gift’ as an apology for killing you. I wanted to tear the place apart, kill everyone there, rip you from your coffin, and wake you up.”

Nina leaned onto the Bride’s shoulder. “That’s so sweet of you, Bride.” The Bride leaned into her as well. “I’m just glad you’re back.”

“”I’m glad to be back too. What’s the new team like?”

“They’re all a bunch of brutish, morally gray losers. Like us.” Nina giggled at her response.

“You’ve met Khalis. He’s an old geezer, but a solid magic user. Then there’s Nosferata. That bitch who knocked your food out of your plate with that stupid ape friend we broke the jaw of. I still haven’t fully forgiven her, but she’s fine for the most part. And then there’s Nanawe. I have a feeling you’re gonna like him.”

“They all sound nice,” Nina yawned as she rubbed her tired eyes. “Someone looks sleepy,” The Bride smirked as she stood up from her chair. “I’ll leave you to rest, Nina. Being alive takes a lot of energy.” Nina’s hand grabbed her arm again. “Wait! Stay!” She cried.

The Bride stopped.

“I… I don’t like being in hospitals. Can you stay the night with me? Please?” Her voice littered with desperation.

The Bride shrugged. “Why not? Not like I got anything better to do. I’ll ask the nurses if they got an extra chair around here somewhere so I can prop my feet up.”

“You can stay in my bed… if you’d like. You’ll fit!” Nina chimed.

The Bride hesitated. “Are you sure? I want you to sleep well.”

“Cmon, Bride! It’ll be like a sleepover! I’ve never been to one, but I heard they’re fun.” Nina smiled. The Bride still looked hesitant.

“Please… I don’t want to be alone again,” Nina pleaded. She trembled slightly. She remembered the long lonely nights at hospitals from her childhood.

The Bride signed softly, “Alright. But just because it’s been a while since I didn’t sleep in those shitty cardboard beds at Belle Reve.”

Nina squealed in excitement. She scooted over to allow space for the Bride, who took off her shoes and jacket.

They nestled into the bed, fitting together perfectly like puzzle pieces. They positioned themselves facing away from each other.

“Rest well, Nina,” the Bride whispered as she turned the lights off from the bedside control.

Several minutes had passed. There was still an air of restlessness. Nina kept staring at the clock on the wall. 11:54 pm. They turned off the lights twenty minutes ago. But as tired as her body was, her brain kept racing, unable to let her rest. She squirmed and moved around. She nudged at the Bride who grumbled in response.

“Mmmm… what’s going on? Are you okay?” She mumbled annoyed.

“I don’t want to fall asleep,” she whispered in response:

“Oh for fucks sake-“ she moaned.

“I just… I’m worried this is all a dream. A sick beautiful dream. Or worse, I’m still dead… And I’m in heaven and I’ll never see you or the rest of the commandos again. What if I fall asleep and never wake up?” Nina’s voice shook which caused the Bride to go full alert.

“Nina… shhhhh…” she shushed, wrapping her arm around her and pulling her in close. “I promise you’re not dreaming. I’m right here and I’m not going anywhere else.”

“Can we keep talking? Just until I fall asleep?”

“Sure,” The bride shrugged.

“So we’re both zombies now?”

“I beg your damn pardon?”

Nina elaborated, “Well you know… we’re both reanimated corpses. Doomed to walk this Earth for the rest of time and space. An affront to God and humanity.”

The Bride scoffed sarcastically. “Ok drama queen, if anything is an ‘affront’ to God, it’s Weasel’s existence. This life is not as existential as you might think it is. You’re just sort of… there. Your heart beats but almost too rhythmically.

“Like someone else is pumping it, not you,” Nina finished.

“Exactly.”

A pregnant pause filled the air.

“Can we be zombies together?” Nina suggested.

“Is that not what we’re doing currently?”

“You know what I mean…” Nina gently elbowed the Bride’s side. “forever. I want to be your best friend forever. I want to be with you forever. Kicking bad guy butts and taking Weasel out for walks and making fun of Flag…” Nina yawned yet again. She rested her head on the Bride.

“I hope you know I have a stalker that has been following me around for hundreds of years now and he’s shown no signs of stopping,” she reminded her.

“And I’ll fight him. I’ll kick his ass every time. He’ll scurry away like a dog with a tail between his legs. And I’ll be just as ready for him the next time he rears his ugly head.”

The Bride laughed at Nina’s offer. “No, no… remember the last time we tried making you fight?”

“I’d do it again,” she sleepily assured her. “If it meant saving my friends, I’d die a million times to make sure you’re ok.”

“You’re too good for this world, Nina,” she sighed.

“You’re good too. You just don’t realize it yet,” Nina replied, barely making any coherent words as she slowly drifted off to sleep.

Nina picked herself up for a brief second and placed a quick kiss on the Bride’s cheek. She then settled back into her sleeping position up against her. “Goodnight, softie,” she murmured.

The Bride felt taken aback by her friend’s action for a second. For once, her heartbeat felt like her own, as it picked up its speed exponentially. She stared at Nina, who was fast asleep. The last time she saw her close her eyes, she believed she’d never see them open ever again. But here she was. Back with her. The Bride placed a soft and tender kiss on Nina’s head. She pulled her even closer.

“Goodnight, fish,” she whispered.

———

Nina woke up. She quickly looked around.

The sunrise shone beautifully into the hospital room. It cast beams illuminating her freed, dry skin. She turned to find the Bride slowly waking up as well. The light shone magnificently onto the Bride’s face, casting shadows from the hard edges of her chiseled face. Her black hair, messy from sleep with strands of her white stripes peeking around. She gave a big stretch and yawned as she sat up. She too looked at the sunrise and gave a faint smile as she noticed Nina sitting up in front of her.

“So it wasn’t a dream…” they said at the same time. They laughed at themselves for it.

Nina leaned into the Bride as they watched the sunrise. Together. Again. For good.

[egypt-museum]

Mummy of the screaming man, likely identified as Prince Pentawer

Recent studies using CT scans and DNA, done by the scientific team of the Egyptian Mummy Project revealed that the mysterious screaming mummy found in the Royal Cachette was related to Ramesses III—leading researchers to conclude it was the body of conspiring prince Pentawar, who was forced to commit suicide by hanging as a punishment for his involvement in the killing of his father, in what is known as the Harem Conspiracy.

The murderous son was punished by not being embalmed; his body was wrapped in a sheep skin, which indicates that he was considered "unclean" and that his fate was to be punished in the afterlife. Other mummies were wrapped in white linen and carefully mummified.

Photograph by Brugsch Pasha, The Royal Mummies, University of Chicago

[whencyclopedia]

Food & Drink in Ancient Egypt

Food and drink in ancient Egypt relied on barley and wheat, the primary crops cultivated along the Nile. The Egyptian diet was based on bread, beer, and vegetables. Meat was expensive and only rarely eaten. The majority of people ate fairly basic meals, while the upper classes consumed more exotic and varied dishes.

Pantry Scene, Tomb of Menna

The Yorck Project (Public Domain)

Bread & Porridge

Breads and porridges were the base of the Egyptian diet. They were both typically made with barley or emmer wheat, the two staple crops of Egypt. Grain was ground by hand with stone querns to produce flour. Despite efforts to prevent it, grit and sand often found its way into flour while it was being processed and transported. Many mummies have teeth worn down from years of eating gritty bread.

Egyptian cuisine in fact allowed for the preparation of bread in all possible shapes: flat, conical, spherical, sometimes molded into shapes of objects or animals, and extremely varied ingredients could be added to the dough for sweetening or aroma: lupine seeds, coriander, a decoction of figs, and poppy or ryegrass seeds. (Tallet, 320)

The most common style of bread was a dense flatbread made with flour, salt, and water. The dough was typically formed into round or triangular shapes, but it could also be shaped into human or animal figures. This could be baked on a stone inside an oven, on the floor of the oven itself, or even buried in hot embers.

Because bread was so important, many different varieties were invented. Some types of bread included fats, oils, eggs, or dairy in addition to the basic ingredients of flour and water. Leavening was used to create fluffier loaves. Special types of ovens and pans were used to bake bread of different shapes and consistencies. Bread was sometimes topped with seeds, seasonings or nuts before baking.

Model of Bakers from Meketre's Tomb

Metropolitan Museum of Art (Copyright)

Continue reading...

[fruityyamenrunner]

they made Israel into a mummy. Joseph too. They put Joseph in a scarmophogoghs. it's easy to read "the physicians embalmed him" and imagine some almost medical procedure, but when egyptians mummified someone they were doing magic to them

part of the reason there is a whole, probably fictive, section where the Israelites are in Egypt is because a) it provides a more desirable parentage and b) it turns the Exodus (and therefore Hebrew dominance over Canaan) into a rewilding project

and what a fantasy it is. "the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we". They are, as it were, the real Egyptians. Pharaoh's little "Come on, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply" rhymes with God at Babel amusingly. It's not difficult to see why commies like to read this as class warfare, with the Israelites taking their origin in some sort of uprising of a subaltern class, c.f. the linking of "Hebrew" to "habiru" supposedly being some term meaning "nomad", or "marginal" or "gypsy" or "nigger" or something w i l d🦁

The first time "Hebrew" actually appears is in the bit with "Hebrew midwives" not complying with pharaoh's demand for infanticide, or a "late term abortion" really -- the excuse offered is that the baby has come out by the time the midwife-abortionist gets there. it's left ambiguous whether we are meant to believe this racial difference is real or just a ruse. Either way, "God dealt well". the plain infanticidal stage of the genocide (also apparently a fantasy, and one which the apparently mighty Hebrews take rather placidly) only comes after abortion fails.

the baby moses is kept in an "ark" with "slime" and these are both magic words signalling the catastrophic end of a dispensation.

The Old Testament holds some clues that the character of Moses did not originate as a Hebrew. First, he is raised as an Egyptian with an Egyptian name. Second, when he kills an Egyptian for mistreating an Israelite, Moses escapes into exile, where he marries not a Hebrew, but a Midianite woman, Zipporah.

Perhaps logically, God chooses this border-crossing man to be his intermediary in approaching Pharaoh about freeing the enslaved Hebrews. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, God decides to kill Moses. And that's where the third clue comes in.

In Exodus 4:24-26, Moses is on the road to accost Pharaoh when the Lord comes to execute the death sentence. Zipporah, apparently understanding the reason for the attack, immediately grabs a piece of flint and whacks off their son's foreskin, dropping it at Moses' feet and calling him a "bloody spouse," her Midianite heritage possibly rebelling against this painful, gory practice. God is appeased.

The context: Immediately before this, God has instructed Moses to tell Pharaoh that Israel is God's firstborn, and unless the Chosen People are released, God will kill Pharaoh's firstborn. The unstated implication is that Moses, in order to utter such a challenge, must stand worthy in the case of his own firstborn -- who, contrary to the Covenant, is not circumcised.

Given that the son, Gershon, is the offspring of a gentile woman and of Moses, who was raised by Egyptians, the retention of his prepuce up to that point doesn't seem unlikely. In fact, Exodus suggests that, although circumcision was practiced -- not universally -- by Egyptians (a fact not mentioned in the Torah) as well as by Hebrews, Moses himself was not circumcised.

The veiled revelation of this condition arrives in Exodus 6:12 and again in 6:30. Moses is complaining about being assigned as an interlocutor despite his lack of qualifications: He calls himself what the New American Bible translates as a "poor speaker" and the King James Version more literally renders as "of uncircumcised lips." For "uncircumcised," Moses uses the Hebrew word "arel," which at root refers to something loose or disordered, particularly a foreskin. Moses' choice of terminology (he says "uncircumcised" twice, and the word doesn't relate to lips anywhere else in the Old Testament) is hard to justify unless he intends to imply that it applies "as above, so below."

[crazy-hazy-sims]

I swear to god if i see one more fucker on here yelling like a dumbass about "Mr. Beast rented the pyramids???!!!!

First of all how very fucking ironic the website that talks about fact checking and reading comprehension will not fact check this particular thing specifically i wonder why ??(I'll tell you why in short: racism more on that later)

The pyramids cannot be rented. What Mr. Beast did was acquire a filming permit the same one any YouTubeer or movie crew or TV show crew must obtain before filming

THE SAME ONE I GOT WHEN I WAS MAKING FASHION GRADUATION PROJECT AND HAD TO HAVE TAKEN PICS OF MY INSPIRATION MYSELF

The same one my colleagues got for taking pictures for various other historical places in Egypt

the same one you have to get if you are in the grand Egyptian museum and want to take professional photos or videos

If you ever see a scene in movie filmed with the pyramids in the background or at the base of the pyramids guess what fuckers the director had to obtain the same permit Mr. Beast got

But ofc this fucking website and the people on it who fact check every word anyone posts ever decided collectively to believe this and not look into it

Why? Its because all of you don't realize you Believed and internalized the idea that 3rd world countries don't actually know or understand the value of their history and only seek to exploit it while YOU (the white tumblrienas) feel so sad that this "disrespect" happened

(I'm not even gonna dignify the dumbass people talking about curses and traps and shit please put down the indiana jones and lara croft movies and read a fucking book)

If you really care about the disrespect of the tombs of ancient Egypt why don't you go and petition your fucking museums to return our dead hmm? Yes i am talking about the mummies they are not some fantasy creatures they are dead people my ancestors my great great great great grandparents and your Museums stole them and made them into inhuman creatures, if you really cared stop lying on the internet and go bother your Museums to give them back along side Their belongings, what you guys so primitively call treasure

this website keeps swinging between violently racist to violently anti racist i do not understand how does this even happen LIKE FUCKING PICK A SIDE EITHER FALL FOR ALL THE PROPAGANDA OR FACT CHECK ALL OF THE PROPAGANDA YOU BITCH

[jstor]

Any suggestions for articles relating to “Romanisation”* in Egyptian art and architecture 100 bce - ce 100?

* please note the scare quotes I hate that term as much as anyone

Here is an Open Access book titled "Mummy Portraits of Roman Egypt: Emerging Research from the APPEAR Project"!

[void-writing]

Okay I’m back on my Mummies nonsense and I’m thinking about the untapped potential of Amanda Carnovan and wanting to bite something.

Like, I get that this is a late 90s Y7 show so of course the normal adults aren’t necessarily going to be involved very much given who the target audience is but we could have had SUCH FUN DYNAMICS between Amanda—technically mother of the pharaoh and also a certified Egypt nerd—and the Mummies. The Mummies, who would be an ancient civilization researcher’s WET DREAM because they’d be the ULTIMATE primary sources to their era of ancient Egyptian history. I may be projecting a bit, but having people who LIVED IN a civilization three thousand years ago AND who would be able to verbally talk about their experiences (biases and all) would be so cool.

Plus, I think Amanda and the Mummies would have gotten along so well. Like, they canonically respect her despite never really interacting with her purely on account of what Presley says about her.

I can see Amanda talking parenting and leadership with Ja-Kal and them confiding their doubts and hardships to each other that they wouldn’t talk about with anyone else. Like, for example, Amanda is a single mother working a full time job, and Ja-Kal struggled with balancing his responsibilities as the prince's guard with his duties as a father and husband. I think both of them would have a lot to talk about regarding work-life balance. Plus, Ja-Kal in the show was edging very close to "dad who stepped up" territory. I'm not saying that Ja-Kal and Amanda would get a romantic subplot (Amanda doesn't seem to be interested in looking for a boyfriend and Ja-Kal isn't either) but I feel like they'd become platonic co-parents in the right circumstances.

I can see Amanda just absorbing every historical and arcane lesson Rath gives and chiming in with her own knowledge. They’d butt heads and argue over specific facts for hours, both being entirely too stubborn at times to give the other an inch, but at the end of it all they’d do it again because they’re both nerds and love the pain of their research.

I can see Amanda and Nefer-Tina becoming gal pals, maybe at first being friends solely because they’re the only women in the group but ultimately enjoying each other’s company; Amanda affirming that Nefer-Tina isn’t wrong for being fascinated by modern advances while Nefer-Tina gets Amanda to break out of her shell a bit by dragging her along to experience the modern world with her (I can see circumstances conspiring to get them stealing a car together and I think I’m right about it).

I can see Amanda and Armon bonding over cooking and exchanging recipes from their respective cultures, even if they may have to substitute a few key ingredients for Armon’s recipes (I doubt Amanda would be able to get her hands on hippo steak, sadly).

Plus! I also want to see Amanda’s reaction to hearing that 1) her baby boy is the reincarnation of a murdered Egyptian prince from three thousand years ago (and one she made a full exhibit about and probably rambled to Presley about for months), and 2) the man who killed him the first time is still around in present day trying to not only do that AGAIN, but use her son’s soul to attain immortality for generally nefarious purposes.

What I’m saying is I wish we could have seen Amanda’s reaction to the Mummy Nonsense because she would have been a WELL of interesting character interactions and also likely caused Scarab headaches personally by beating him up for trying to repeatedly murder her son.

And don’t even get me STARTED on Walter! He was presented to the audience as Presley’s best friend but we hardly see him at all! We could have had Walter as the best friend sidekick! The non-chosen character stuck in the chosen’s orbit! He could have been a Toby Domzalsky or a Connie Maheswaran before those characters even EXISTED! We could have had Walter struggling with pressure from the Mummies to be as dogged and dedicated in his defense of Presley as they are because they see Walter as Presley’s last line of defense, someone who can protect Presley where they can't. After all, the Mummies can’t follow Presley into school and have to be careful about going out in public on account of their whole undead situation. It could be really interesting to see Walter get continuously pressured by these adults who literally died in the line of duty to follow in their footsteps, even if it meant meeting the same fate as them. It would have been interesting to see the Mummies be struck with the realization that they made themselves forget that Walter is a kid too and someone very dear to Presley, and that they were wrong to try and pressure him into becoming a warrior like them. It would have been interesting to see them try to atone for the way they treated Walter as another soldier for their cause. It would have been interesting to see how Walter buckled under the pressure the Mummies heaped on him and even more so if Scarab tried to exploit it because in his darkest moment, Walter would have just wanted all of this Mummy Nonsense to STOP and for everything to go back to how it was before (even though that’s impossible) and almost costing Presley his life because of it.

And Elaine! How cool would it have been if she didn’t have her memories conveniently wiped and she just elbowed her way into the Mummies’ and Presley’s crazy world of gods and monsters out of rabid interest in getting the truth, even if she has to learn a lesson about how not all truths are created equal and sometimes lies and secrets are made and kept to protect the innocent! We could have had an episode where Elaine gathered proof of the Mummies and Presley’s involvement with them and was SECONDS away from publishing before she’s confronted with the reality that Presley keeps his involvement with the Mummies under wraps (ba dum tss) because the anonymity surrounding his modern identity is the only thing keeping an immortality obsessed madman from turning up on his doorstep or in his class to LITERALLY KILL HIM AND EAT HIS SOUL. We could have had her be the reason Scarab learns Presley’s modern identity and her having to atone for putting him in MORE danger.

Ugh. There's just so much wasted potential and it makes me sad.

[crisalidaseason]

Whenever I see people ask why The Kane Chronicles are so underrated I want to rant about it so here it goes:

Releasing it too soon. The Red Pyramid was released in 2010, only a year after The Last Olympian. After the success of his first series people were hungry for Percy Jackson. It did not help that it was announced a sequel so soon, with The Lost Hero programmed to release in 2010. Maybe if they did not announce the sequel of Percy Jackson so soon and pushed The Lost Hero for 2011, leaving 2010 solely for The Red Pyramid, the fans would feel more compelled to read the Kane Chronicles as a way to pass the time or maybe have a Percy cameo.

Writing style. Although I like the idea of multi-POV and the two siblings sending the author a recording, it felt badly executed at times. There were situations that I forgot it was supposed to be a recording and sometimes the change between Sadie and Carter broke the flow of the situations. I believe many people did not enjoy this style. I don't hate it at all, but it could have been better executed.

I know people won't like what I'm about to say, but I don't care. The initial dislike for Carter Kane simply for being black. Many people from the communities I participated in complained about Carter Kane. Saying he was not interesting, he was annoying or a cheap copy of Percy. But I have my suspicions people did not give the book a chance because most readers could not project on Carter. Carter is the first narrator we are introduced: a black teenage boy. Because of that, many people dislike the book from the start. Many white folks have a hard time projecting onto characters that are explicitly described as being POC. You can try to fight me on this, but it's the plain truth.

Egyptian mythology was not that explored in fiction. Unless you consider the Mummy franchise - which does not really talk about mythology - there was almost nothing regarding Egyptian mythology targeting kids/teens media. As a consequence, it made people not really interested in reading The Kane Chronicles in the first place.

Now, those are my opinions as to why this series has not received so much attention from the fandom, I am not saying this is the truth at all! You can have a different opinion and share your thoughts as long as you are respectfull - or else I'll block you.

[cricketnationrise]

Updates on Sundays!

In which Alex would like to fucking rest, but a combination of a determined Henry and an Ancient Egyptian Curse (TM) conspire against him. Good thing he's got a lot of weapons.

The Mummy AU has landed y'all. Holy guacamole. I wrote the first drabble in this universe back in SEPTEMBER 2022 and gdocs says i'm over 23k right now with at least 4 chapters left to write. WILD.

[heinous-eli]

WE NEED MORE DANCING MUMMIES

There are fewer music videos featuring dancing mummies than I expected. 1997 had two, Around the World by Daft Punk and Everybody (Backstreet's Back) by Backstreet Boys. Nearly a quarter of a century went by until we had another, Nadiyon Paar (Let the Music Play Again) from the 2021 Bollywood movie Roohi.

Music videos that I expected to have Ancient Egypt-theming but don't for some reason (?!) are 1979's Egypt by Kate Bush (more modern Egypt/ruins-themed, OK fine) and, most surprisingly, 1986's Walk Like an Egyptian by The Bangles.

Granted, those were still relatively early days for music videos, but damn, Walk Like an Egyptian really phoned it in. Not even a little Cleopatra eyeliner for the performance or a picture of a pyramid projected on the background or something? Just a quick blink-and-you'll-miss-it flash for a few seconds of the four members of the Bangles in some really bad costumes that read more Temu Ancient Greek than anything? Weaksauce.

There are lots of music videos that are Ancient Egypt-themed but are sorely lacking in dancing mummies.

- King Tut by Steve Martin (1978) - Egypt (The Chains Are On) by Dio (1984), which is technically a concert recording (Live at The Spectrum 1984) but it's themed as fuck so it counts - Tut-Ench-Amon by Falco (1984) - Valley of the Kings by Blue Murder (1989) - Remember the Time by Michael Jackson (1992) - Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See by Busta Rhymes (1997) , which features a pastiche of themes but that's OK, it slaps - The Curse by Josh Ritter (2010) - Dark Horse by Katy Perry (2013)

Honorable mention: Suraj Hua Maddham from the 2001 Bollywood movie Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. Because pyramids.

[rjalker]

coffin grasshopper robot.

(the guy is naked because he had to swim to shore from a shipwreck and had to take his clothes off to not get pulled under)

[ID: A painted cover for the July edition of the magazine Astounding Stories, which originally cost 20 cents, showing a scene from The Doom From Planet 4, by Jack Williamson. We see a naked man staring in shock at a large robot that is shaped like a coffin with four articulated legs, a searchlight mounted on its back, and two arms. On its back is a raised ring surrounded by white light. The two are surrounded by rocks, and on a mountain in the background is a larger version of the ring, outlined against a stormy black sky. End ID.]

___

Suddenly he was struck with the thought that it was not thunder that had wakened him. The noise he had heard had not the rumbling or booming quality of thunder. As he stood there he again became conscious of the low, whirring sound, behind him. He whirled around to face it. The shock of what he saw left him momentarily dizzy and trembling—though undoubtedly his surroundings had much to do with its effect upon him.

The sound came from a glistening metal machine which stood half-hidden in the brush a dozen yards away looking at him!

The thing was made of a lustrous, silvery metal, which Dan afterwards supposed to be aluminum, or some alloy of that metal. Its gleaming case was shaped more like a coffin, or an Egyptian mummy-case, than any other object with which he was familiar, though rather larger than either.

That is, it was an oblong metal box, tapering toward the ends, with the greatest width forward of the middle. Twin tubes projected from the end of it, lenses in them glistening like eyes. Just below them sprang out steely, glistening tentacles several feet long, writhing and twitching as if they were alive. The tangle of green brush hid the thing's legs, so that Dan could not see them.

Suddenly it sprang toward him, rising ten feet high and covering half the distance between them. It alighted easily upon the two long, jointed metal limbs upon which it had leapt, and continued to keep the lens-tubes turned toward Dan, so he knew that the grotesque metal thing was watching him.

The limbs, he observed, were similar to the hind legs of a grasshopper, both in shape and position. And evidently the thing leapt upon them in about the same way. Then he noticed another curious thing about it.

Three little bars of metal projected above the thickest part of its case, on the upper side. Their ends were joined by a little ring, three inches across. The tiny metal ring glowed with purple luminosity. A purple haze seemed to cling about it, as to the huge ring Dan had seen on the towers above the peak. And suspended inside this ring was a tiny metal needle, shimmering with pulsating white fire.

On the back of this metal monster was a miniature replica of the strange mechanism upon the pinnacle. The little needle pointed up the canyon. A glance that way showed Dan that it pointed at the great device upon the mountain, which looked even more brilliant on this gloomy morning than in the uncertain radiance of the moon. The colossal ring was shrouded in a splendid mantle of purple flame; and the long, slender needle, which seemed to have swung on down to follow Mars below the horizon, still throbbed with scintillating white fire.

For several minutes the two stood there, studying each other. A naked man, tense and bewildered in the presence of mysterious forces—and a grotesque machine, cased in gleaming white metal, whose parts seemed to duplicate most of the functions of a living creature.

Then one of the writhing tentacles that shot from the "head" of the machine reached back under the metal case, and reappeared grasping what appeared to be a flat disk of emerald, two inches across and half an inch thick.

This green disk it held up, with a flat side toward Dan. There was no sound, but a flash of green light came from it, cutting a wide swath into the jungle, and littering its path with smoking and flaming debris.

But Dan, expecting something of the kind, had flung himself sidewise into the shelter of the boulder beside which he had slept. Behind it, he gathered his feet under him, picked up a rock of convenient size for throwing, and waited, ready and alert.

He heard the soft humming sound on the other side of the boulder. A glittering object flashed above him. Crashing through the brush the metal monster came to earth on the same side of the boulder with him.

But the metal thing had not turned in its flight: consequently its rear end was toward Dan. As it began cumberously to turn about, he hurled his rock with an accuracy that came of a boyhood on the farm. Instinct had made him try for the little ring and needle on the back of the monster, apparently its most vulnerable part.

Whether by luck or skill, the rock struck the gleaming ring, crushing it against the needle—and instant paralysis overtook the metal thing. Its tentacles and limbs became fixed and rigid, and it toppled over in the brush.

Dan walked over to it, and examined it briefly. The green disk had fallen on the ground, and he picked it up. It was made of emerald crystal, it had a little knob of glistening metal set in one side. Rather afraid of it, Dan forebore to twist the knob. But he still clutched it in his hand a few moments later, when, partly for fear that others of its kind would come to succor the fallen monster, and partly to secure shelter from the threatening rain, he retired into the shadows of the tangled jungle.

[mysticsparklewings]

Obscutober 2024 Day 9: Arenose ⏳

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Arenose (adj.)

sandy, gritty; full of sand

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This is I think the 3rd time I've managed to squeeze my interest in Ancient Egypt into an #Inktober piece, so that means I had quite a bit of fun today. 😉

Could've had more if I'd started on it earlier, though. 😅

Click the "Keep Reading" and we'll talk about it! ✨

⭐️ Like My Art and Want to see more of it? Here's All My Links! ⭐️

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Well, if I didn't like the late start I got on yesterday's mandala, today certainly wasn't any better. 😅 But this is totally my fault; I spent some more time today working on a different project that really could've waited until after the mandala was done, but as I tend to do I said, "Oh I'll just work on it a little and then move on..." And then, y'know, didn't. So excuse me while I attempt to fly through this description...

That said, this one was very fun—ticking clock aside—but I do think it could have been better if I'd given myself more time to chew on it.

Granted, the concepts are very simple: First thing I think of when I think of "sand" is Egypt (and loyal Sparklers won't be surprised by that; remembering that even though it doesn't come up too often that I habor a long-time fascination with Ancient Egypt and more specifically mummies). The second thing I think of is an hourglass—Especially in this case since the prompt is "full of sand," not just "sand."

And then trailing behind in a distant third would be sand castles. I did think of the beach, but A. I already got very beach-y back on Day 2 and didn't want to rehash too much of that just yet, and B. I genuinely didn't think of sand castles specifically at all until I'd already mostly finished my little hourglass motifs you see here. 😅

That said, you can definitely see the Egypt inspiration took center stage here. The hourglasses were my first priority, then I put tiny Pyramids in them, then took a brief detour to do the sand castles, and then the rest of the time was spent decorating/accenting what I had with mostly Egyptian or Egyptian-inspired imagery. In particular, you'll notice I couldn't help myself and got some teeny-tiny mummies in there, beneath the sand castles as if they were tombs.

The blue beetles are supposed to sort of be scarab bettles, which are very common in Ancient Egyptian iconography, and while I didn't really put them there with that as a plan, they did turn into a nice way to get an additional pop of blue color towards the center to tie in with the blue on the outer edges.

Speaking of: Those spiky blue things towards the corners are meant to be Egyptian Lotus Flowers. I've definitely seen them before but kinda forgot they existed until I went looking for more things I could use as motifs and noticed very mandala-esque depictions of them kept popping up. Then I went out of my way to get some references and did my best to bring them in, albeit simply, because I was really missing something between the hourglasses and the dead space above the sand castles.

Plus by that point I'd already had ideas of incoporating a darker blue as is semi-common in Ancient Egyptian jewelry. In the end I didn't push the color quite that dark because I didn't want it to be too distracting, but the blue did make it in at least a little.

A nice bonus was that I found out while I was Googling things that I somehow missed or overlooked that "Arenose" can also mean reddish-yellow, as in more like the color of sand and colors that work very well with an Egyptian theme. So that really sealed the deal on the color scheme for me. I already knew the traditional color of sand had to be there, that just told me to veer further from the browns that might make this look more like Day 3 and lean into the rusty reddish colors that are a step or two off from reds also seen in Ancient Egyptian jewelry alongside that blue color I mentioned.

Earlier, just after I'd finished the hourglasses, I was really starting to worry that this one might come out a little too far on the simple side for my taste, but I feel like letting the Egypt theme guide me really helped turned things around. As I said at the beginning, I do still wish I'd been able to give myself more time to chew on things and maybe get some more detail still in there, but this is still fun.

...I realize that's kind of my conclusion with every Obscutober (and even Inktober, looking to the past) piece, but in a way that's one of the main points of the challenge for me: Making something I'm happy with even if it's not 100% what I planned or if I would've handled things differently on a different time frame. And then this year, since I'm handling things so differently from usual, I would hope as a side effect that I'm training myself at least a little bit just to be faster at the creation process.

Obviously if my hope in that last point has any validity to it, it remains to be seen so far. 😅 But we're not quite 1/3 into the month yet, so there's still time! "Rome wasn't built in a day" and all that!

Mm, okay, actually I think at the very least I've managed to get a little faster at the cross-posting part as I've gotten more used to it and found a few small ways to try and streamline things, but that doesn't really help with the actual creative process. 🫠

Speaking of which, I think I covered all of the things I wanted to say about the art here—At the very least, I can't seem to think of anything I left out—So if you Sparklers will excuse me, I best be getting to said cross-posting now.

But let us all take a moment and hope I can prepare for tomorrow's at least a little better since I've got some IRL things going on that I'll have to work around...🤞

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See the Prompt List

Artwork  © me, MysticSparklewings

Obscutober Concept Inspired by nikolas_tower

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⭐️ Like My Art and Want to see more of it? Here's All My Links! ⭐️

[erintoknow]

I really wanted to like this book, and like, I don't intrinsically have any problems with a protagonist who effectively is the reason the antagonist's plans work out, or is kind of a dumbass but like, it kind of undermines the girl empowerment vibes of having an opinionated and independent aspiring young woman in the 1800s going against the cultural grain only for the male characters to have been right all along to want to put her back on the boat home because yeah, she really did fuck everything up and make it all worse! Also, can we like, talk about how much pains this book takes to performatively call out the colonial exploitation of the time period and find ways to alleviate the guilt of setting a story in the zeitgeist of the worst of it while neglecting to make any native Egyptian character a central focus of the story? The ones we get are strictly background or permission givers to participate. That kind of sucks! I'm white, so like, maybe I'm just completely off base here - I've caught myself having blindspots before, but... like, if you want to go full in on the Hollywood fantasy of it, sure fine, whatever, I'm on board, but it's weird as hell to rub our nose in the horrible reality of it while making no actual effort to rectify or meaningfully change up the trope. By which I mean, this book fundamentally does not care about Egypt or egyptian history, you know? It's all just window dressing around a weird conflux of action archeology where 'we gotta race to find the tomb before the bad guys do!!' and family drama. You could set that literally anywhere in the world with ancient ruins around and nothing would meaningfully change. The narrator keeps telling me I should care about this exploitation and theft of history and context from the people it belongs to while the story itself happily engages in that very same practice! If that's something you want to investigate, and you want to stick with having our main character be native Argentinian then why not have the archology plot happening in Argentina? Why not dig into that directly? Because then it's not a Mummy riff? Is it purely just the nostalgia for that Hollywood exploitation image??? I just don't think enough is done with the shared understanding of suffering under colonialism angle to justify it when our main character doesn't actually meaningfully befriend any of the people actually effected by this colonial project - nevermind the fact that she comes from big money and was largely sheltered from the material effects of such in her home country! It just all comes off as a weirdly performative desire to have the cake and eat it too, I dunno my dudes. Like, I loved The Mummy (1999) too, but I'm not gonna pretend it doesn't have problems.

[wanderingskemetic]

I'm going to get to do a research project involving a real Egyptian mummy this semester. I'm so excited! Dua Djehuty! Dua Anpu! Dua Wesir! Sin Menrva!