‘Amenemhat II’ at Metropolitan Museum - Review

A giant 4,000-year-old Egyptian visitor looms over the crowd of live humans milling antlike throughout the vast entry hall of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He is an extraordinary specimen of regal manhood. Carved from a single block of dark gray granodiorite, he sits in a form-fitting kilt on a cubic throne covered by hieroglyphics. He has the broad shoulders, narrow waist and muscular legs of a well-developed athlete. Sporting a headdress of folded striped fabric, he gazes out over the masses with imperturbable self-assurance and open eyes set in a round, youthful face. He is as thrilling as anything in the Met’s great Egyptian collection.

Metropolitan Museum This pharaoh, 4,000 years old and 10 feet tall, comes to the Great Hall from Berlin; he is to stay for 10 years. More Photos »

The latest on the arts, coverage of live events, critical reviews, multimedia extravaganzas and much more. Join the discussion.

Scholars think this 10-foot tall, almost nine-ton monument originally portrayed the 12th-dynasty pharaoh Amenemhat II, who reigned from about 1919 to 1885 B.C. Later artists evidently altered the facial features to make him more like Ramesses II, the king who ruled from about 1279 to 1213 B.C. He has belonged to Berlin’s Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection since 1837. But now the courtyard in Germany where he usually presides is under reconstruction, so he will be a guest of honor in New York for the next 10 years.

Ancient Egyptian art has captivated Western imaginations for a long time. It inspired the ancient Greeks and Romans and the artists and intellectuals of the European Renaissance. In the 19th century it caused a veritable epidemic of Egyptomania, which infected Art Deco design in the 20th century, along with scores of scary movies, from “The Mummy” of 1932 to “The Mummy” of 1999.

“Amenemhat II” feels at once deeply familiar and otherworldly. Its tension between geometric abstraction and organic naturalism, its ambition to transform inert material into something that seems to live and breathe, anticipates the basic aesthetic terms that would define Western art from the Greeks to the start of Modernism. Despite its rigid stillness, the statue has an uncanny animated feeling, as if it were inhabited by some eternal consciousness. That, at least, is what the Egyptians wanted their viewers to experience. For them the pharaoh was truly a divine being.

Around the time “Amenemhat II” was created, Egyptian artists achieved something close to perfection in sculpture, and the idea of such exacting excellence as something to aim for — in art and in life — must be counted among the Egyptians’ important contributions to human history. Before then, it seems, people just did the best they could. But the trouble with perfection is that it cannot be exceeded, which may explain why Egyptian art changed so little over its 5,000 years (and why fascists are so fond of it). For a viewer accustomed to the churn of styles in a world of historical flux, “Amenemhat II” seems an emissary from a place where time stands still.

A year from now “Amenemhat II” will be moved into the Met’s Egyptian wing. That should be a good thing. Big as it is, it is dwarfed by the expanse of the Great Hall, and its aura of silent majesty is dampened by the distracting bustle of ordinary mortals. It needs a room of its own to frame its awesomeness properly.

“Amenemhat II” is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; (212) 535-7710, metmuseum.org.

View the original article here

Earliest image of Egyptian ruler wearing 'white crown' of royalty brought to light

ScienceDaily (Aug. 5, 2011) — The earliest known image of an Egyptian ruler wearing the "White Crown" associated with Egyptian dynastic power has been brought to light by an international team of archaeologists led by Egyptologists from Yale University.

Carved around 3200 BCE, this unique record of a royal celebration at the dawn of the Egyptian dynastic period was found at a site discovered almost a half-century ago by Egyptologist Labib Habachi at Nag el-Hamdulab, on the West Bank of the Nile to the north of Aswan.

The site had been partially damaged in recent years, and the Yale-led team -- which also included Egyptologists from the University of Bologna, Italy and the Provinciale Hogeschool of Limburg, Belgium -- relied on Habachi's photos (now stored with the Epigraphic Survey in Luxor) and cutting-edge digital methodology to reconstruct and analyze the images and hieroglyphic text inscribed in several areas within the larger site.

According to Maria Carmela Gatto, director of the project, the group of images and the short inscription represent the earliest depiction of a royal Jubilee, complete with all the identifying elements of the Early Dynastic period known from later documents, such as the so-called Palermo Stone (Egyptian royal annals from the First through the Fifth Dynasties): an Egyptian ruler wearing a recognizable Egyptian crown, and an inscription alluding to "the Following of Horus," i.e., the royal court.

John Coleman Darnell, director of the Yale Egyptological Institute in Egypt, professor of Egyptology, and chair of the Near Eastern Languages and Civilization Department, whose important discovery of a Middle Kingdom city in the Egyptian Western Desert was reported a year ago, says: "The Nag el-Hamdulab scenes are unique, and bridge the world of the ritual Predynastic Jubilee in which images of power -- predominately boats and animals -- are the chief elements, and the world of the royal pharaonic Jubilee, in which the image of the human ruler dominates the events. The Nag el-Hamdulab cycle of images reveal the emergence of the ruler as supreme human priest and incarnate manifestation of human and divine power.

Furthermore, he notes, "The Nag el-Hamdulab cycle is the last of the old nautical Jubilee cycles of the Predyanstic Period, and the first of the pharaonic cycles over which the king, wearing the regalia of kingship -- here the oldest form of the White Crown -- presides. The Nag el-Hamdulab cycle is also the first of such images with a hieroglyphic annotation."

Darnell translated the text, in which a reference to a vessel of the "Following" (from the "Following of Horus") leads him to speculate that the inscription is the earliest record of Egyptian tax collection and the first expression of royal economic control over Egypt and "perhaps at least some portion of northern Nubia."

Darnell, Stan Hendrickx of Belgium and Gatto date the Nag el-Hamdulab cycle of images to the late Naqada period, around 3200 BCE, the time between the beginning of Dynasty 0 and Narmer, first ruler of Dynasty 1. Darnell, who has considerable experience with early Egyptian rock inscriptions, said the latest finding from Nag el-Hamdulab is so important that it already figures in a new documentary series from Germany, which will soon be available worldwide.

The Aswan-Kom Ombo Archaeological Project -- AKAP -- is a joint venture between Yale and the University of Bologna, led by Gatto and Antonio Curci, with an international research team from Europe, America and Egypt that includes Hendrickx and Darnell. Now in its seventh season, the project aims to survey and rescue the archaeology of the region between Aswan and Kom Ombo, in the southern part of Upper Egypt.

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by Yale University.

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

View the original article here

AGU Fall Meeting: News media registration opens; book hotels now

Public release date: 17-Aug-2011
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Maria-Jos? Vi?as
mjvinas@agu.org
202-777-7530
American Geophysical Union

Contents of this message:

Find out what's new (and important) in the Earth and space sciences U.S. visa regulations for international reporters Book hotel rooms now for the best selection News Media registration information News Media Registration Form

1. Find out what's new (and important) in the Earth and space sciences

The American Geophysical Union's Fall Meeting returns to the Moscone Convention Center, located at 747 Howard St. in San Francisco, California. The dates are Monday?Friday, 5-9 December 2011. More than 19,000 scientists from all over the world are expected to assemble for this premier meeting of the Earth and space sciences. The meeting will take place in the convention center's West, North and South buildings.

For journalists, Fall Meeting is an opportunity to learn about the latest research in fields as diverse as climate change, space weather, planetary exploration, volcanism and seismology, and Earth's magnetic field?just for starters. The preliminary program lists over 880 scientific sessions, which are described at http://sites.agu.org/fallmeeting/scientific-program/session-search/ . Note: Some of these proposed sessions may be dropped or modified, and others added.

For public information officers of universities, government agencies, and research institutions, Fall Meeting is an opportunity to present your research to more than 150 reporters through press releases, participation by your scientists in press conferences, and of course one-on-one contact with the media. Please get in touch with us if you are interested in pitching us press conference ideas.

A link to our online News Media Registration Form for use by both reporters and PIOs is at the end of this message.

A full program of press conferences is in development and will be announced in later advisories.

NOTE: We will not be organizing a field trip for News Media registrants this year.

2. U.S. visa regulations for international reporters

All journalists who are not United States citizens or permanent residents need a visa to cover scientific meetings in the U.S. This applies equally to journalists from "Visa Waiver Program" countries (e.g., Western Europe), who do not normally need visas to enter the U.S. as tourists. This is not a new requirement, but it is now being enforced strictly.

The visa for journalists is an "I" visa, issued by the American Embassy or an American Consulate in your home country. If you are planning to cover Fall Meeting, please apply early for your "I" visa. The procedure is not complicated, but depending on the volume of total visa applications, it may take some time to be issued.

The U.S. Department of State has posted a fact sheet about visas for journalists on its Web site, which you are urged to consult: http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/types/types_1276.html

3. Book hotel rooms now for the best selection

With over 19,000 scientists and some 200 journalists and press officers expected at Fall Meeting, it makes sense to book your hotel room now at preferential rates. Cancellations are allowed without penalties up to 72 hours prior to arrival. By booking now, you are more likely to get your preferred location or rate, whichever is your top priority.

Thirty-eight hotels offer rooms at rates starting as low as $97 per day, plus tax. Hotel reservations are made on a first-come, first-served basis. Special AGU room rates are subject to availability after the 1 November reservations deadline.

To see the list of available hotels, their rates and amenities, as well as a map (red circle with a white "C" is Moscone Convention Center West and South), and an online booking form, go to https://www.cmrhousing.com/AGU_6U/Welcome.aspx

NOTE: AGU will not be providing shuttle service from the hotels to Moscone Center this year.

4. News Media registration information

News Media registrants receive, at no charge, a badge that provides access to any of the scientific sessions of the meeting, as well as to the Press Room and Press Conference Room. The locations of these rooms have not yet been finalized. No one will be admitted without a valid badge.

Eligibility for press registration is limited to the following persons:

Working press employed by bona fide news media: must present a press card, business card, or letter of introduction from an editor of a recognized publication. Freelance science writers: must present one of the following: a current membership card from NASW, CSWA, ISWA, SEJ, or one of the 38 other associations of science journalists recognized by the World Federation of Science Journalists; or evidence of bylined work pertaining to science intended for the general public and published in 2010 or 2011; or a letter from the editor of a recognized publication assigning you to cover Fall Meeting. Public information officers of scientific societies, educational institutions, and government agencies: must present a business card.

Note: Representatives of publishing houses, for-profit corporations, and the business side of news media must register at the main registration desk at the meeting and pay the appropriate fees, regardless of possession of any of the above documents; they will not be accredited as News Media at the meeting.

Scientists who are also reporters and who are presenting at this meeting (oral or poster session) may receive News Media credentials if they qualify (see above), but must also register for the meeting and pay the appropriate fee as a presenter.

5. News Media Registration Form

The News Media Registration Form is set up for online submission only. Go to: http://registration.experient-inc.com/showagu111?link=press

The last day for advance News Media registration, assuring that your badge will be waiting for you when you arrive, is Monday, 28 November 2011. You may also register onsite at Moscone Center.

[ | E-mail | Share ]
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

View the original article here

Ancient wild horses help unlock past

Public release date: 23-Aug-2011
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: David Garner
david.garner@york.ac.uk
44-019-043-22153
University of York

An international team of researchers has used ancient DNA to produce compelling evidence that the lack of genetic diversity in modern stallions is the result of the domestication process.

The team, which was led by Professor Michi Hofreiter from the University of York, UK, has carried out the first study on Y chromosomal DNA sequences from extinct ancient wild horses and found an abundance of diversity.

The results, which are published in Nature Communications, suggest the almost complete absence of genetic diversity in modern male horses is not based on properties intrinsic to wild horses, but on the domestication process itself.

Professor Hofreiter said: "Unlike modern female domestic horses where there is plenty of diversity, genetic diversity in male horses is practically zero.

"One hypothesis to explain this suggests modern horses have little Y chromosome diversity because the wild horses from which they were domesticated were also not diverse, due in part to the harem mating system in horses, implying skewed reproductive success of males. Our results reject this hypothesis as the Y chromosome diversity in ancient wild horses is high. Instead our results suggest that the lack of genetic diversity in modern horses is a direct consequence of the domestication process itself."

The Y chromosome is a valuable tool in population genetics, providing a means of directly assessing evolutionary processes that only affect the paternal lineage. So far mitochondrial DNA studies have failed to discover the origin of domestic horses. However, these new Y chromosomal markers now open the possibility of solving this issue in detail.

As part of the study, researchers sequenced Y chromosomal DNA from eight ancient wild horses dating back from around 15,000 to more than 47,000 years and a 2,800-year-old domesticated horse. The results were compared to DNA sequences from Przewalski horses - the only surviving wild horse population ? and 52 domestic horses, representing 15 modern breeds, which had been sequenced previously.

Domestication of horses dates back approximately 5,500 years. DNA from the skeletal remains of a 2,800-year-old domesticated stallion from Siberia showed that in contrast to modern horses, Y chromosomal diversity still existed several thousand years after the initial domestication event for horses.

Professor Hofreiter said: "This suggests some level of Y chromosomal diversity still existed in domestic horses several thousand years after domestication, although the lineage identified was closely related to the modern domestic lineage."

The study was carried out in Germany by Sebastian Lippold, from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. The results were then independently replicated at the Centre for GeoGenetics at Copenhagen University, Denmark.

Sebastian Lippold said: "Working on ancient Y chromosomal DNA was especially challenging but the only opportunity to investigate Y chromosomal diversity in wild horses. For now we have a first idea of ancestral diversity and therefore a better impression of how much diversity has been lost. Basically this was an important first step and points to the potential the Y chromosomal marker could have in order to further investigate domestication history in horses."

Beth Shapiro, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at the Pennsylvania State University, USA, carried out the analysis and interpretation.

She said: "Most ancient DNA research until now has focused on a different part of the genome ? the mitochondrion ? which is much more abundant in cells and therefore much easier to work with when the DNA is degraded. This has been a serious limitation in ancient DNA research, because we generally only have a good idea what happened along the maternal line. Here, we've been able to look at what happened along the paternal lineage, and, probably unsurprisingly, we see something different going on in males than in females.

"This is exciting stuff, and means we can start getting a much better picture of how events like domestication and climate change have shaped the diversity of organisms alive today."

Researchers had found that Przewalski's horse displays DNA haplotypes not present in modern domestic horses, suggesting they are not ancestral to modern domestic horses. However, while the Y chromosome data supported historic isolation, it also suggests a close evolutionary relationship between the domestic horse and the Przewalski's horse, since the Przewalski Y chromosomal haplotype is more similar to the two domestic ones than any of the ancient wild horse haplotypes.

[ | E-mail | Share ]
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

View the original article here

ARCHAEOLOGY, September/October 2011

Editor's Letter: Issues of Scale

This issue of ARCHAEOLOGY makes one thing clear: Anything at all can be regarded as an artifact. Investigation of the past can feature undertakings as outsized as lifting an entire ship from the bottom of the sea—with even the silt surrounding it intact—as in "Pirates of the Marine Silk Road." Here, author Lauren Hilgers gives us a lead on just how quickly marine archaeology and preservation are proceeding in China, and discusses the latest evidence of Ming Dynasty trade.

In "The Edible Seascape," science writer Jude Isabella reports that what once seemed to be random rock formations along the northwest coast of North America are now being understood as technologies engineered by ancient peoples to manage their supply of fish and other seafood. The most significant artifacts? Fish bones no larger than your fingernail.

Much of the evidence gathered in Virginia and North Carolina's Great Dismal Swamp is even more miniscule, but nonetheless poignant testament to the determination of the escaped slaves who built self-sufficient communities in some of the most inhospitable territory imaginable. In "Letter From Virginia: American Refugees," journalist Marion Blackburn tells their story.

"Defending a Jungle Kingdom," by senior editor Zach Zorich, provides new, landscape-wide evidence from the border zone between Mexico and Guatemala of the intensely competitive relationship between the ancient Maya cities of Yaxchilan and Piedras Negras.

Of course, there's much more. Fragile murals offer a new point of view on the ancient Peruvian elite. The Persian Empire's eastern extent is explored. And there are new clues about a long-standing mystery centering on hundreds of broken Bronze Age figurines.

Finally, through the considered work of artist Gary Staab, detailed in "Pompeii's Dead Reimagined" by executive editor Jarrett A. Lobell, we are invited to reflect on the meaning of the word artifact.

I also would like to say a word about a colleague who has been extremely important to us. This is the 65th issue of ARCHAEOLOGY that design director Ken Feisel has helped us produce. Ken was originally brought on board in 1999 to design dig, our former archaeology publication for children, and quickly took on responsibilities here at the "grown up" magazine. He has created countless maps and vivid layouts—all providing the essential visual side of the archaeology story. Ken will be leaving us as we send this issue to press, and I know we will all miss waiting for him to say, as he sorts through images of far-flung sites, exotic landscapes, and artifacts of all shapes and sizes, "Oh...now that's cool."

Claudia Valentino
Editor in Chief

Features

Pirates of the Marine Silk Road
A shipwreck in the South China Sea advances China's emerging field of underwater archaeology
by Lauren Hilgers

Hidden Scenes of a Royal Court
Thirty years after they were first glimpsed, murals reveal a vibrant life in ancient Peru
by Roger Atwood

The Edible Seascape
A reevaluation of evidence along North America's western coast shows how its earliest inhabitants managed the sea's resources
by Jude Isabella

Defending a Jungle Kingdom
Newly uncovered fortifications reveal how ancient Maya rulers struggled for wealth and territory
by Zach Zorich

Pompeii's Dead Reimagined
An artist interprets the ancient city's most evocative artifacts
by Jarrett A. Lobell

Edge of an Empire
An ancient Afghan fortress offers rare evidence of Persia's forgotten eastern territories
by Andrew Lawler

Departments

From the President
The Belitung Shipwreck
by Elizabeth Bartman

From the Trenches

World Roundup
Artifacts track the birth of the African-American middle class, how llama dung sustained the Incas, a fungus in Tut's tomb, and did the Neanderthals meet their end in the Arctic Circle?

Letter from Virginia
Thousands of escaped slaves made a new life in one of the world's most unwelcoming places—the Great Dismal Swamp—for a chance at self-determination

Artifact
A tombstone tells the 1,800-year-old story of a Roman gladiator felled by a ref's bad call

View the original article here

Indian Ocean pirates impede climate observations

Public release date: 9-Aug-2011
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Craig Macaulay
Craig.Macaulay@csiro.au
61-362-325-219
CSIRO Australia

Australian scientists have sought the help of the United States and Australian navies to plug a critical gap in their Argo ocean and climate monitoring program caused by Somali pirates operating in the western Indian Ocean."We have not been able to seed about one quarter of the Indian Ocean since the increase in the piracy and that has implications for understanding a region of influence in Australian and south Asian weather and climate," says CSIRO Wealth from Oceans Flagship scientist, Dr Ann Thresher.

Over 30 nations contribute to the multi-million dollar Argo project, in which 3,000 robotic instruments provide near real-time observations of conditions such as heat and salinity in the top 2,000 metres of the ocean.

Australia, through CSIRO and the Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS), ranks second among countries based on the number of profilers providing data, with more than 325 profilers reporting to international data centres from the Indian, Pacific and Southern Oceans and the Tasman Sea. At nearly two metres in length the drifting profilers, or 'floats', are programmed to drift at 1000m for 10 days, then fall to 2000m and sample as they ascend to the surface to upload their data to satellites.

Although the Argo project offers shipping and defence benefits, its primary objective is to monitor ocean heat and salinity patterns that drive the climate and monsoonal systems which bring rain to Australia.

Dr Thresher said the program is heavily reliant on commercial shipping and research and chartered vessels to deploy the instruments."With the region north of Mauritius being a no-go area for most vessels due to pirate activity, we have approached the US and Australian navies to assist us in deployments of around 20 profilers, including 10 provided by the United Kingdom Argo project.

"This level of international and military cooperation is tremendously important to us in building a sustainable operating ocean-borne system that is providing the data at the core of current weather and climate observations and prediction," Dr Thresher said.

CSIRO is shipping one profiler to Florida for deployment by the US Navy, and is asking the Royal Australian Navy for help deploy another eight instruments in the area of highest risk.

A 20-metre South African yacht, Lady Amber, is under charter to CSIRO and has successfully deployed seven instruments near Mauritius in the Western Indian Ocean. Her working area, however, was severely restricted by pirate activity in this area and the positions of several profilers had to be changed to accommodate these restrictions. She will deploy another 15 instrument as she transits between Mauritius and Fremantle, where she will pick up another 39 floats for deployment northwest of the Australian North West Shelf ? an area thankfully free of piracy.

The International Argo Steering Team is co-chaired by CSIRO oceanographer, Dr Susan Wijffels and Professor Dean Roemmich from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (US).

Dr Wijffels said Argo is now an essential climate and ocean-observing infrastructure and researchers are continuing to review its coverage to ensure gaps in the global network do not open us, such as in the western Indian Ocean. In the future Argo measurements might extend below 2,000 metres and reach into the ocean beneath the polar ice, where currently few measurements are routinely made

[ | E-mail | Share ]
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

View the original article here

Gene study sheds new light on origins of British men

Public release date: 24-Aug-2011
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Eleanor Cowie
eleanor.cowie@ed.ac.uk
44-131-650-6514
University of Edinburgh

New genetic evidence reveals that most British men are not descended from immigrant farmers who migrated east 5,000-10,000 years ago ? contrary to previous research.

Instead, scientists from the Universities of Oxford and Edinburgh say that most European men can trace their lineage to people ? most likely hunter-gatherers ? who had settled in Europe long before that time.

The latest study, based on the most common genetic lineage in European males, aims to correct an analysis of genetic data, published last year. It had reported that most British men came from people who migrated west, with the spread of agriculture, from the Near East.

More than 100 million European men have a set of genes called R-M269, including about three-quarters of British men. A key question in understanding the peopling of Europe is when this group spread out across Europe.

Researchers say their work shows that the set of genes chosen to estimate the age of this group of men vary the outcome enormously. They add that the previously reported east-west pattern is not found in their larger and more comprehensive dataset. This, the Oxford ? Edinburgh team says, leaves little evidence for a farmer-led dispersal of this major group.

According to Dr Cristian Capelli, the Oxford geneticist who led the research, the study "resets" the debate on the peopling of Europe. He says, "Our works overturns the recent claims of European Y chromosomes being brought into the continent by farmers."

Co-author, Dr Jim Wilson of the University of Edinburgh's Centre for Population Health Sciences, adds that the paper shows for the first time that certain properties of the genes studied strongly influence the accuracy of the date estimate.

"Estimating a date at which an ancestral lineage originated is an interesting application of genetics, but unfortunately it is beset with difficulties and it is very difficult to provide good dates. Many people assume that the more genes the more accurate the dates, but this is not the case: some genetic markers are more suited to dating than others."

The study also reports multiple subgroups of the R-M269 group that are very common in different parts of Europe, consistent with expansion of these different groups in each place.

The peopling of Europe and the cautionary tale of Y chromosome lineage R-M269 is published online in the Proceedings of the Royal Society.

For more information please contact Eleanor Cowie, Press and PR Office, on Tel: 0131 650 6514 or Eleanor.Cowie@ed.ac.uk

[ | E-mail | Share ]
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

View the original article here