Ellen Morris
Barnard College, Classics and Ancient Studies, Faculty Member
- Columbia University, Classical Studies, Faculty Memberadd
- 1st Millennium BC (Archaeology), Gender and Performance, Kerma, Funerary Archaeology, Myth (Archaeology), Administration (Archaeology), and 138 moreDeath and Burial (Archaeology), Aegean Egyptian Interrelatlations, Late Bronze Age archaeology, Archaeology, Archaeology and Performance Theory, Boundaries (Archaeology), Bronze Age Interconnections (Egyptology), Ritual theory and practice (Archaeology), Imperial Infrastructure (Archaeology), Assyrian archaeology, Old Kingdom (Egyptology), Second Intermediate Period (Egyptology), Minoan art and archaeology, Anthropology of Borders, Funerary Belief (Egyptology), Nubia, Military Architechture, New Kingdom (Archaeology), Rise of Civilization (Archaeology), Near East (Archaeology), Anthropology of the State, Archaeology of ethnicity, Archaeology of Ritual and Magic, Predynastic (Egyptology), Ptolemaic (Egyptology), The archaeology and ethnography of human-animal social relationships, Bronze Age (Archaeology), Egyptology, Late Iron Age (Archaeology), Acculturation and 'Romanisation', Anatolian Archaeology (Archaeology), Middle Kingdom necropoleis (Egyptology), Religious Texts (Egyptology), Egyptian Texts, Burial Practices (Archaeology), Ritual and Performance (Egyptology), Roman Egypt, Aegeo-Egyptian relations, Nubian-Egyptian Relations, Famines, Ugaritic Studies, Egyptian Deserts, Western Desert of Egypt, Ancient Egyptian Military, Oases of Egypt, Social History (Ancient Egypt), Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt, Ancient Cities, Ancient Urbanism, Urbanism (Archaeology), Contested Peripheries, Hellenistic Egypt, Graeco-Roman Egypt, Ancient Egyptian Religion, Egyptian Art and Archaeology, Egyptian Archaeology, Levantine Archaeology, Syro-Palestinian archaeology, Egypt and Canaan, Hyksos, Dreams, Ptolemaic Period, Dakhleh Oasis, Rock Art, Fortifications, Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt, Egyptian-Hittite relations, New Kingdom (Egyptology), Egyptian History, Abydos, Oracles, Greek Papyrology, Execration figures, Graeco-Roman Alexandria, Terracotta Figurines, Edfu, First Intermediate Period, Ancient Egyptian Art and Archaeology, Late Period in ancient Egypt, 25th Dynasty (Egyptology), Votive practice, Kharga Oasis, Pompeii (Archaeology), Herculaneum, Archaeology of Colonialism, Historical Archaeology, Archaeology of the Levant, Kushite Archaeology, Nile Delta archaeology, Archaeology of Empires, Old Kingdom Administration, Dionysos, Ancient Egyptian cults in Greek and Roman World, Ancient Lycia, Anthropology of Colonialism, Sea Peoples, Late Bronze Age Levant and new kingdom Egypt, The archaeology of Mitanni, Mitanni, Ancient Near East, Ancient Near East (Archaeology), Ancient Greek History, Punt, Borders and Borderlands, Tell Kazel, Qantir Piramesses, Tell el Daba, Egypt, the Sea Peoples, XIX - XX Dynasty in Egypt, the Hittites, the Late Bronze Age in the Eastern Medittaranean, Negev, Archaeology of the Negev and Sinai, Early Bronze Age in the Southern Levant, Egyptian Temples, Uruk Expansion, ancient Red sea ports, Doukki Gel, the Neolithic of the Southern Levant, Archaeology of the Southern Levant, Badarian Egyptian Predynastic, Early Dynastic (Egyptian History), Middle Kingdom (Egyptology), Middle Bronze Age Southern Levant, Archaeology of Ancient Israel, Middle Bronze Age Levant, Neo Assyrians, Meroe, Aksumite Archaeology, Bronze Age Greece, Late Bronze Age, Desert Road Archaeology, Thonis-Heracleion, 4.2 ka BP event, Admonitions of Ipuwer, The Libyan Period, Deir el-Medina, Mycenaean era archaeology, Ptolemaic Egyptian History, Philistines, and The Philistines and Sea Peoples Culturesedit
This Element is about the creation and curation of social memory in pharaonic and Greco-Roman Egypt. Ancient, Classical, Medieval, and Ottoman sources attest to the horror that characterized catastrophic famines. Occurring infrequently... more
This Element is about the creation and curation of social memory in pharaonic and Greco-Roman Egypt. Ancient, Classical, Medieval, and Ottoman sources attest to the horror that characterized catastrophic famines. Occurring infrequently and rarely reaching the canonical seven-years' length, famines appeared and disappeared like nightmares. Communities that remain aware of potentially recurring tragedies are often advantaged in their efforts to avert or ameliorate worst-case scenarios. For this and other reasons, pharaonic and Greco-Roman Egyptians preserved
intergenerational memories of hunger and suffering. This Element begins with a consideration of the trajectories typical of severe Nilotic famines and the concept of social memory. It then argues that personal reflection and literature, prophecy, and an annual festival of remembrance functioned-at different times, and with varying degrees of success-to convince the well-fed
that famines had the power to unseat established order and to render a comfortably familiar world unrecognizable.
intergenerational memories of hunger and suffering. This Element begins with a consideration of the trajectories typical of severe Nilotic famines and the concept of social memory. It then argues that personal reflection and literature, prophecy, and an annual festival of remembrance functioned-at different times, and with varying degrees of success-to convince the well-fed
that famines had the power to unseat established order and to render a comfortably familiar world unrecognizable.
Research Interests: Ancient Egyptian Religion, Egyptology, Old Testament Prophecy, History of Plague, Social and Collective Memory, and 11 moreSocial Memory, Ptolemaic Egyptian History, Ancient Egyptian History, Famine Studies, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Ancient Egyptian Art and Archaeology, Greco Roman History in Egypt, First Intermediate Period, Carnival, Prophecy, and Nile River
Research Interests: Egyptology, Egyptian History, History of Imperialism, Nubian-Egyptian Relations, Egypt and Canaan, and 7 moreAncient Egyptian History, Ancient Egyptian Art and Archaeology, Imperialism, Archaeology of the Levant, Bronze Age Cultural Interconnections and Trade, Ancient Egyptian social history, and Colonialism and Imperialism
Research Interests: Syro-Palestinian archaeology, Ancient Near East, Nubian-Egyptian Relations, Imperial Infrastructure (Archaeology), Egypt and Canaan, and 12 moreAncient Egyptian History, Archaeology of Empires, Ancient Egyptian Art and Archaeology, Fortifications, Ancient Egyptian Military, Libyan Studies, Late Bronze Age Levant and new kingdom Egypt, Ancient Near East, Ancient Syria, Egyptian Imperialism, Syro Palestinian History, Syro Palestinian Religions, and Colonialism and Imperialism
https://brill.com/view/journals/jeh/jeh-overview.xml The Journal of Egyptian History aims to encourage and stimulate a focused debate on writing and interpreting Egyptian history ranging from the Neolithic foundations of Ancient Egypt to... more
https://brill.com/view/journals/jeh/jeh-overview.xml
The Journal of Egyptian History aims to encourage and stimulate a focused debate on writing and interpreting Egyptian history ranging from the Neolithic foundations of Ancient Egypt to its modern reception. It covers all aspects of Ancient Egyptian history (political, social, economic, and intellectual) and of modern historiography about Ancient Egypt (methodologies, hermeneutics, interplay between historiography and other disciplines, and history of modern Egyptological historiography).
The journal is open to contributions in English, German, and French.
The Journal of Egyptian History aims to encourage and stimulate a focused debate on writing and interpreting Egyptian history ranging from the Neolithic foundations of Ancient Egypt to its modern reception. It covers all aspects of Ancient Egyptian history (political, social, economic, and intellectual) and of modern historiography about Ancient Egypt (methodologies, hermeneutics, interplay between historiography and other disciplines, and history of modern Egyptological historiography).
The journal is open to contributions in English, German, and French.
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Queen Ahhotep took three daggers, four axes, and nine miniature axes with her to the grave. Two of the weapons in this otherworldly arsenal-an axe and a dagger-were stunning and bear testament to a robust artistic interconnection that... more
Queen Ahhotep took three daggers, four axes, and nine miniature axes with her to the grave. Two of the weapons in this otherworldly arsenal-an axe and a dagger-were stunning and bear testament to a robust artistic interconnection that linked the early Eighteenth Dynasty court to the high culture of the Minoan and Mycenaean world. Because of their beauty, these objects are often written about in isolation. This chapter places these two ceremonial weapons in dialogue with the entire assemblage of the queen's weapons, with other elements of her grave goods, with gender politics, and with the mortuary culture of Egypt and Nubia in the Second Intermediate Period and early Eighteenth Dynasty. When taken together, the weapons provide strong evidence that the queen had been married to Kamose, that her court was well acquainted with Pan-Grave military culture, and that in ancient Egypt (as in so many other contexts) times of war offered women unprecedented opportunities to exercise typically masculine authority as they kept the home fires burning.
Research Interests: Nubian-Egyptian Relations, Mycenaean era archaeology, Second Intermediate Period (Egyptology), Ancient Egyptian Queenship, Ancient Egyptian History, and 11 moreMinoan Archaeology, Ancient Nubia, Ancient Egyptian Art and Archaeology, Minoan and Mycenaean economy and administration, Sex and Gender in Ancient Egypt, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Ancient Egyptian Military, Pan-Grave Culture, Ancient Egyptian social history, Nubian Archaeology, and King Ahmose
To judge from wisdom literature and artistic production, the ideal man in pharaonic Egypt was as polite and even-tempered as he was well groomed. This article examines the evidence for warrior burials from periods when the state was... more
To judge from wisdom literature and artistic production, the ideal man in pharaonic Egypt was as polite and even-tempered as he was well groomed. This article examines the evidence for warrior burials from periods when the state was decentralized or relatively weak and argues that conceptions of manhood in fact oscillated between an irenic ideal and a more violent counterpart. Drawing upon comparative case studies
and advice given by Niccolò Machiavelli to his prince, I argue that hegemonic masculinity in Egypt did not simply reflect the character of the times. Rather, rulers actively promoted the type of masculinity that best served their purpose. To an ambitious local ruler engaged in enlarging his core territory, it was beneficial to appeal to and
encourage ideals of valor among potential soldiers and supporters. Once peace had been established, however, violent masculinities proved disruptive. Based on internal evidence as well as observations of authoritarian governments that aimed similarly to solidify their power and pacify their realms, I suggest that pharaohs and their advisors
likely employed five specific strategies to neutralize potential competitors and transform an honor-bound warrior aristocracy into courtiers and bureaucrats.
and advice given by Niccolò Machiavelli to his prince, I argue that hegemonic masculinity in Egypt did not simply reflect the character of the times. Rather, rulers actively promoted the type of masculinity that best served their purpose. To an ambitious local ruler engaged in enlarging his core territory, it was beneficial to appeal to and
encourage ideals of valor among potential soldiers and supporters. Once peace had been established, however, violent masculinities proved disruptive. Based on internal evidence as well as observations of authoritarian governments that aimed similarly to solidify their power and pacify their realms, I suggest that pharaohs and their advisors
likely employed five specific strategies to neutralize potential competitors and transform an honor-bound warrior aristocracy into courtiers and bureaucrats.
Research Interests: Near Eastern Studies, Gender History, Comparative History, Egyptian Archaeology, Old Kingdom (Egyptology), and 15 moreSecond Intermediate Period (Egyptology), Court Culture, New Kingdom (Egyptology), Ancient Egyptian History, Mortuary archaeology, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Ancient Near Eastern History, Gender and sexuality in the ancient world, Norbert Elias: 'Court Society' and 'Civilising Process', Hegemonic Masculinity, Sex and Gender in Ancient Egypt, First Intermediate Period, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Egyptian Pharaohs, and Ancient Warriors
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Research Interests: Ancient Egyptian Religion, Egyptology, Gender Studies, Women's Studies, Religion and Sexuality, and 15 moreEgyptian Archaeology, Gender and Sexuality, Sexuality And Culture, Middle Kingdom necropoleis (Egyptology), Myth (Archaeology), Ancient Egyptian Iconography, Ancient Egyptian Art and Archaeology, Figurines, Anthropomorphic Figurines, Middle Kingdom (Egyptology), Anthropomorphic Figurine Studies, Ancient Egyptian women, Female Figurines, Egyptian Temples, and Egyptian Temple Art Architecture & Ritual
This essay examines the archaeological contexts of late Old Kingdom and Middle Kingdom hand-shaped clappers and argues three main points. First, the sites with the greatest concentration of clappers were those located near mortuary... more
This essay examines the archaeological contexts of late Old Kingdom and Middle Kingdom hand-shaped clappers and argues three main points. First, the sites with the greatest concentration of clappers were those located near mortuary temples. Given that clappers were frequently found with female figurines and mirrors, they may have been utilized in mortuary temples by Hathoric performers who danced for the dead king as Re. Second, clappers were an integral part of birth magic and are frequently found in the company of two and three dimensional male and female lion-headed daemons and other protectors (sAw) of the sun god and of those about to be born or reborn. Finally, it is argued that, like many Middle Kingdom grave goods, clappers had been ‘rediscovered’ and religiously re-envisioned by sacral authorities who encountered Protodynastic and Early Dynastic votive material during temple renovations and perhaps also during work at the pilgrimage site of Umm el-Qa’ab.
Research Interests: Ancient Egyptian Religion, Egyptology, Egyptian Archaeology, Archaeology of Religion, Archaeology of Ritual and Magic, and 9 morePredynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt, Ancient Egyptian Cosmology, Ancient Egyptian Iconography, Ancient Egyptian Dance, Middle Kingdom, Ancient Egyptian Magic, Ancient Egyptian Art and Archaeology, Ancient Egypt, and birth magic
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Research Interests: Egyptology, History of Slavery, Ramesses II, Ancient Near East, Acculturation, and 18 moreHurrian, Egypt and Canaan, Ancient Egyptian History, Ancient Warfare, Theban Tombs, Ancient Egyptian Art and Archaeology, Ancient Near Eastern History, Warfare in the Ancient World, 1) cultural interconnections and trade (Egypt and Levant), Foreign relations during Ancient Egypt`s New Kingdom, Ancient Near Eastern Studies, Ancient Slavery, History of slavery in the Mediterrenean, Thutmose III, Theban Necropolis (Ancient Egypt), Hurrian, Mittanni, Indo-Aryan, Mitanni, and Egypt Eighteenth Dynasty
Research Interests: Ancient Egyptian Religion, Egyptology, Egyptian Art and Archaeology, Levantine Archaeology, Egyptian Archaeology, and 14 moreAncient Near East, Ancient Near East (Archaeology), Egypt and Canaan, New Kingdom (Egyptology), Ancient Near Eastern Religions, Foreign relations during Ancient Egypt`s New Kingdom, Ancient Egyptian Statuary, Ancient Canaanite Religion, Late Bronze Age Levant and new kingdom Egypt, Archaeology of the Levant, Sanctuary/Temple and Cult, Egyptian Temples, Ancient Near Eastern Diplomacy, and Levantine Bronze Figurines and Statues
Research Interests: Ancient Egyptian Religion, Egyptology, Levantine Archaeology, Egyptian Archaeology, Syro-Palestinian archaeology, and 10 moreAncient Near East, Late Bronze Age archaeology, New Kingdom (Egyptology), Ancient Egyptian History, Syria (Archaeology), Ancient Egyptian Art and Archaeology, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Near Eastern Religions, Late Bronze Age Levant and new kingdom Egypt, and Archaeology of the Levant
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Margins, borders, and buffers are areas of exceptional interest. In such contact zones, people who normally occupy different social worlds and often hold radically different ontological viewpoints come into close proximity or form... more
Margins, borders, and buffers are areas of exceptional interest. In such contact zones, people who normally occupy different social worlds and often hold radically different ontological viewpoints come into close proximity or form relations based on trade or mutual antipathy for state structures. This work investigates the use of deserts, marshes, and mountains as shatter zones or regions of refuge by ancient Egyptians and those located within their empire.
Research Interests: Ancient Egyptian Religion, Egyptology, Egypt, Mountain communities, Ancient Egyptian History, and 8 moreAncient Egyptian Literature, Ancient Egyptian Art and Archaeology, Social Banditry, Cultural Landscape, Sinai, Western Desert of Egypt, Coastal marshes, and Apiru Bedu Hapiru Bedu (Late Bronze Age Canaan)
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Research Interests: Egyptology, Border Studies, Egyptian Archaeology, Late Bronze Age archaeology, Fortified Settlements (Archaeology), and 11 moreAncient Egyptian Architecture, Ancient Egyptian History, Ancient Egypt, Borders and Frontiers, Sinai, Egyptology and anthropology, Ancient Egyptian Military, Borders and Borderlands, Late Bronze Age Levant and new kingdom Egypt, Desert Road Archaeology, and Ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Levant and Aegean Sea
This is the original English version of : Morris, E. 2018 Théorie insulaire et affordances des oasis du désert égyptien, trans. Lise Garond. In Mer et désert de l’Antiquité à nos jours: visions croisées, ed. G. Tallet and T. Sauzeau.... more
This is the original English version of :
Morris, E.
2018 Théorie insulaire et affordances des oasis du désert égyptien, trans. Lise Garond. In Mer et désert de l’Antiquité à nos jours: visions croisées, ed. G. Tallet and T. Sauzeau. Rennes: Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 63-90.
When citing, please cite the published article, available at
https://barnard.academia.edu/EllenMorris
Morris, E.
2018 Théorie insulaire et affordances des oasis du désert égyptien, trans. Lise Garond. In Mer et désert de l’Antiquité à nos jours: visions croisées, ed. G. Tallet and T. Sauzeau. Rennes: Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 63-90.
When citing, please cite the published article, available at
https://barnard.academia.edu/EllenMorris
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Autobiographical texts composed during Egypt’s First Intermediate Period and the somewhat later related genre of ‘pessimistic’ literature both describe a natural world gone awry, people suffering from acute hunger, and a society riven... more
Autobiographical texts composed during Egypt’s First Intermediate Period and the somewhat later related genre of ‘pessimistic’ literature both describe a natural world gone awry, people suffering from acute hunger, and a society riven with strife. The trend in modern scholarship has been for these ancient sources to be dismissed, either as tendentious or as purely literary meditations on the theme of theodicy. This contribution argues that these autobiographical and literary texts deserve to be taken far more seriously as sources for understanding Egypt’s social history. In the last two decades alone numerous and varied scientific studies have assembled compelling evidence for a centuries-long megadrought, now known as the 4.2-kiloyear BP aridification event. Taking this recent research into account, this contribution draws on records of extreme famines in both Medieval and Ottoman Egypt, as well as on accounts of catastrophic famines elsewhere, to argue that, when contextualized, neither the autobiographical nor the pessimistic texts read as hyperbolic
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This essay places a much-maligned exemplar of lamentation literature in dialogue with recent climate data, medieval and Ottoman period Egyptian famines, studies of famine and plague cross-culturally, writings about cultural memory, and... more
This essay places a much-maligned exemplar of lamentation literature in dialogue with recent climate data, medieval and Ottoman period Egyptian famines, studies of famine and plague cross-culturally, writings about cultural memory, and trauma studies to argue that the text sheds valuable light on Egypt's social history.