I earned my PhD from the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA Dec 2032. My dissertation research examines the manipulation of the experience of smell within ancient Egypt, particularly in the Late Bronze Age/New Kingdom, as an organizing factor for society. Supervisors: Willeke Wendrich and Kara Cooney
Despite the senses being foundational to how we interact with our environments, archaeologists ra... more Despite the senses being foundational to how we interact with our environments, archaeologists rarely consider the significance of the senses to past lives. Thus, I examine in this dissertation the extent to which a culture’s understanding of the human body experience (i.e., the senses) affects their society. I argue that sensory experience permeates every aspect of our lives (i.e., the ideological, the social, the economic, and the political), and, by focusing on sensory experience in humanistic studies, we might eliminate false dichotomies (e.g., religious/secular) and discrete categories (e.g., economic/political). Ancient Egypt serves as a case study for how the senses are central to the ways we organize our lives. Specifically, I investigate the values attributed scent and smelling in New Kingdom Egypt (1550 BCE–1050 BCE)—considering how scented products figured in economic negotiations and across socio-political and religious spheres. After examining the visual, written, and material evidence of scent from New Kingdom Egypt, I argue that the ancient Egyptians employed scent as an organizing feature in their society, from dictating proper etiquette for celebrating holidays and expressing endearment, to praising the gods, healing bodies, and purifying spaces. Pleasant fragrances communicated one’s identity and presence, and also functioned as the manifestation of life itself. To smell was more than a physiological reaction to environmental stimuli but was a physical presence that exerted influence over individuals. This study, furthermore, demonstrates the dangers of ignoring the senses in humanistic studies. Sensory experiences can be manipulated to control and order populations. In the ancient Egyptian context, the high ideological and social values attributed pleasant scents resulted in a foundational need among the populace for access to sweet-smelling air. In valuing the experience of pleasant scents across social contexts, the demand for these products increased beyond their earlier limited uses. High prices and an emphasis on foreign scents, however, restricted general access to the most desirable aromas. Ultimately, social hierarchies were established and maintained based on access to these products and an industry was developed to support these relationships.
Ancient Egyptian Society: Challenging Assumptions, Exploring Approaches, 2022
Archaeological evidence from ancient Egypt overwhelmingly originates in religious and mortuary co... more Archaeological evidence from ancient Egypt overwhelmingly originates in religious and mortuary contexts. This fact biases our interpretations and often is cited as a disadvantage within the field. To counteract this assumption, I offer a sensory approach to the study of ancient materials, which promises to dissolve the boundary between the religious and the mundane. Such discrete categories limit our understanding by ignoring the fluidity of experience. Because much of the evidence for the blue water-lily comes from tomb assemblages, religious texts, and wall scenes, it has been branded as a symbol of rebirth. This discussion of the blue water-lily need not end with the mortuary context, however, as it is relevant to any experience that involves its scent. In this study, I investigate the connection of its pleasant scent to social identity and, more generally, life itself. By breaking down the division between the religious and the mundane, this approach will shift the researcher’s focus from neat epistemologies to complex ontologies of experience.
Sensory analyses of ancient cultures actively investigate the experiential world of ancient actors to reveal the e/affects of sensory experience on the organization of society. Such a perspective breaks down the mind/body dichotomy by demonstrating that a human is “a mind with a body” that is limited in its understanding by the extent to which that body is embedded in the world. Ancient Egyptian dance functioned within a system that connected sensory stimulation with the experience of life. Dance incorporated a variety of sensory experiences that not only defined the extent of a ritual space, but established a shared identity among participants, whether alive or dead, mortal or divine. In fact, the human act of dancing was both a calling for and an announcement of divine presence. Thus, dance served as a transformative ritual that facilitated the interaction between the humane and divine worlds.
Integral to these processes was the dress of the participants. In this context, dress was both practical and performative. Though costumes often incorporate a variety of sensory stimuli, previous discussions on ancient dress have focused largely on the visual realm, namely the material and the aesthetic. Alternatively, in this paper, we will suggest it was the entire sensescape produced by dress-in-motion that made ancient Egyptian dance functional in the ways described above. Sweet smells exuded by whirling linen garments, the quiet tinkling of hollow beads, and the acrobatic movements of mostly nude bodies would only have been perceptible by nearby persons. Thus, these costume elements such as veiled nudity, perfumed linens, beaded girdles, and loud hair styles contributed to the bounding of a ritual space. It was the totality of the sensory attributes of the dress in the dance that made it effective as a transformative ritual.
An Educator's Handbook for Teaching About the Ancient World, 2020
Price, Robyn. 2020. “Inspiring Student Motivation through Multimodal Learning.” In P. Durgun (ed.... more Price, Robyn. 2020. “Inspiring Student Motivation through Multimodal Learning.” In P. Durgun (ed.), An Educator's Handbook for Teaching About the Ancient World. ArchaeoPress, Access Archaeology Series. Open Access.
In this chapter, I will explore how the incorporation of a public facing, multi-modal podcast project, in place of a traditional essay, might help to increase student motivation to learn and improve. I will take the course GE30CW: Now as Then as an example. In this course, students explore how both implicit and explicit bias effects our understanding and interpretation of ancient contexts. This course is of particular interest because it was offered in-person in the Spring 2019 quarter and remotely over Zoom in Spring 2020, as a result of the measures undertaken at UCLA in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. This chapter, thus, will articulate the differences between these two iterations of the course, while also demonstrating how my students’ multi-modal writing assignments affected their desire to learn and grow as researchers.
Science and the Stories of the Egyptian Mummies and Coffins at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science
In this examination, the authors sought to identify the materials present in several museum sampl... more In this examination, the authors sought to identify the materials present in several museum samples from DMNS, as a way of contributing to the larger discussion of how the coffins were decorated. Furthermore, this chapter discusses the usefulness and limitations of both destructive and non-destructive analytical techniques and the procedural concerns that must be considered when such methods are applied.
All knowledge of the world is shaped by the way our senses perceive it. In archaeology, and espec... more All knowledge of the world is shaped by the way our senses perceive it. In archaeology, and especially in Egyptological studies, a visual approach has predominated the analysis of ancient material remains. When viewed from a sensorybased framework, however, a new, dynamic dimensionality of the material record might be revealed. This approach to the study of the past promises to open both innovative and rewarding avenues for exploration. Such work fosters an environment for interdisciplinary study involving researchers in such diverse fields as neuroscience, psychology, ethnography, and the digital humanities. This paper aims to explore the applications of sensory analysis to Egyptology by focusing on New Kingdom tomb depictions of banquets and relevant mortuary texts to champion this paradigm as one that has potential to truly humanize the past.
The invisibility of merchants both in the ancient Egyptian material record and in published work ... more The invisibility of merchants both in the ancient Egyptian material record and in published work on ancient Egypt is striking, especially when compared with the data from and publications on contemporary societies in the Levant and Mesopotamia. With knowledge of shipbuilding and access to the necessary resources, in addition to the centrality of the Nile to ancient Egyptian life, one might assume the presence of full-time merchants. When considering the ancient Egyptian evidence for merchants, however, one is restricted to a few tomb scenes, the actual presence of foreign goods, and a few unique texts. Indeed, with such foreign goods as incense and cedar being considered so valuable, it would be logical for those who were responsible for their attainment, transportation, and sale to possess some level of prestige and so leave behind a record of their work. Yet, there are not even any titles from ancient Egypt that strictly deal with the responsibilities of traders. This limited corpus of evidence for ancient Egyptian merchants stands in contrast to contemporary evidence from Ugarit to Mesopotamia in which merchants could achieve, at least, some prestige. This paper will investigate the evidence for merchants moving goods from Egypt abroad using both Egyptian-based sources and non- Egyptian-based sources. In framing this discussion within Liverani’s (1990) understanding of the dual nature of the Egyptian state, this paper suggests that the evidence for merchants that does exist can move beyond the simple conclusion: there were no ancient Egyptian merchants.
Session: Archaeology of Egypt I (Friday, Nov 22 12:20 PM)
Institute for Art and Olfaction Invited Lecture, 2020
In this discussion, we will take a close look at the art and archaeology of smell in ancient Egyp... more In this discussion, we will take a close look at the art and archaeology of smell in ancient Egypt as a way of exploring the types of materials the ancient Egyptians used to make products such as incense, unguent cones, and floral garlands. How might these products have been made? Where did the raw materials come from? Who actually used them and why? Following this, we will explore more specifically the misconceptions, uses, and symbolic meanings of the ancient Egyptian blue ‘lotus’ and unguent cone.
PhD candidate Robyn Price has been exploring the significance of smelling in ancient Egypt since 2013. Archaeologists face many difficulties when trying to identify ancient recipes and materials. Despite those challenges, we have a fairly good picture of how the ancient Egyptians used scented products, and how such products were procured and manufactured. Robyn shares some of the research she’s done for her PhD thesis in this talk.
Experimental Scent Summit at the Institute for Art and Olfaction Los Angeles, 2020
Sensory experience in Ancient Egypt was conceptualized differently from the cognitive models popu... more Sensory experience in Ancient Egypt was conceptualized differently from the cognitive models popularized by Descartes and popular today. It is possible to perceive this difference by exploring how scent contributed to the organization and maintenance of Ancient Egyptian society. For example, unlike today where hygiene and cleanliness often are associated with dryness and sterility, the ancient Egyptians found sweet scented oils and unguents to be the most effective means of purifying spaces through their invocation of divine presence. In my talk, I will discuss how the ancient Egyptians conceived these sweet scents as indicators of divine presence, as well as share some of the implications of these beliefs.
This paper uses sensory related imagery in early 18th dynasty Theban tombs to discuss our ability... more This paper uses sensory related imagery in early 18th dynasty Theban tombs to discuss our ability to access the ancient sensory past, while also establishing a strategy for conducting such analyses.
All knowledge of the world is biased by the way our senses perceive it. In the modern world, the ... more All knowledge of the world is biased by the way our senses perceive it. In the modern world, the visible and the tangible have taken prominence above the tasteful, audible, and the scented. In the archaeological record, and especially in Egyptological studies, all these aspects of the past, other than what can be seen in the present, largely have been ignored. In fact, when viewed from a sensory-based framework, a new, dynamic dimensionality of the material record might be illuminated. Just in Egypt, written, visual, and physical attestations to incense burning, unguent use, the sensory experience of craft production, the smells of the deceased and the divine, and even references to smell in love poems all hint at the viability of such an analytical technique. This anthropological, body-first approach to the study of the past promises to open both innovative and rewarding avenues for exploration, while also creating an environment for interdisciplinary work involving researchers in such diverse fields as neuroscience, psychology, ethnography, and the digital humanities. This paper aims to explore the applications of sensory analysis to Egyptology by focusing specifically on New Kingdom tomb depictions and texts to champion this paradigm as one that has potential to truly humanize the past.
Lady Wallis Budge Symposium, July 24-27, 2017 Christ’s College,
Cambridge
Ancient Egyptian art often includes depictions of the act of smelling and of smell-carrying objec... more Ancient Egyptian art often includes depictions of the act of smelling and of smell-carrying objects. Though the act of smelling and the objects themselves are visibly recognizable, both underline the presence of an invisible force, that of scent. In this analysis, I argue that the visible presentation of scent-rich environments in Theban tomb wall paintings from the Eighteenth Dynasty was meant to mark divine presence, another invisible force. Textual evidence from mortuary literature reveals that the Egyptian gods could be identified by their smell. Thus, if the deceased were to take on this smell (i.e., identity) of the gods, the resulting change in identity would facilitate a successful transition into the afterlife. In addition, smell may also be linked with the "breath of life," which could be invoked to call the deceased back to the living world to receive offerings.
Despite the senses being foundational to how we interact with our environments, archaeologists ra... more Despite the senses being foundational to how we interact with our environments, archaeologists rarely consider the significance of the senses to past lives. Thus, I examine in this dissertation the extent to which a culture’s understanding of the human body experience (i.e., the senses) affects their society. I argue that sensory experience permeates every aspect of our lives (i.e., the ideological, the social, the economic, and the political), and, by focusing on sensory experience in humanistic studies, we might eliminate false dichotomies (e.g., religious/secular) and discrete categories (e.g., economic/political). Ancient Egypt serves as a case study for how the senses are central to the ways we organize our lives. Specifically, I investigate the values attributed scent and smelling in New Kingdom Egypt (1550 BCE–1050 BCE)—considering how scented products figured in economic negotiations and across socio-political and religious spheres. After examining the visual, written, and material evidence of scent from New Kingdom Egypt, I argue that the ancient Egyptians employed scent as an organizing feature in their society, from dictating proper etiquette for celebrating holidays and expressing endearment, to praising the gods, healing bodies, and purifying spaces. Pleasant fragrances communicated one’s identity and presence, and also functioned as the manifestation of life itself. To smell was more than a physiological reaction to environmental stimuli but was a physical presence that exerted influence over individuals. This study, furthermore, demonstrates the dangers of ignoring the senses in humanistic studies. Sensory experiences can be manipulated to control and order populations. In the ancient Egyptian context, the high ideological and social values attributed pleasant scents resulted in a foundational need among the populace for access to sweet-smelling air. In valuing the experience of pleasant scents across social contexts, the demand for these products increased beyond their earlier limited uses. High prices and an emphasis on foreign scents, however, restricted general access to the most desirable aromas. Ultimately, social hierarchies were established and maintained based on access to these products and an industry was developed to support these relationships.
Ancient Egyptian Society: Challenging Assumptions, Exploring Approaches, 2022
Archaeological evidence from ancient Egypt overwhelmingly originates in religious and mortuary co... more Archaeological evidence from ancient Egypt overwhelmingly originates in religious and mortuary contexts. This fact biases our interpretations and often is cited as a disadvantage within the field. To counteract this assumption, I offer a sensory approach to the study of ancient materials, which promises to dissolve the boundary between the religious and the mundane. Such discrete categories limit our understanding by ignoring the fluidity of experience. Because much of the evidence for the blue water-lily comes from tomb assemblages, religious texts, and wall scenes, it has been branded as a symbol of rebirth. This discussion of the blue water-lily need not end with the mortuary context, however, as it is relevant to any experience that involves its scent. In this study, I investigate the connection of its pleasant scent to social identity and, more generally, life itself. By breaking down the division between the religious and the mundane, this approach will shift the researcher’s focus from neat epistemologies to complex ontologies of experience.
Sensory analyses of ancient cultures actively investigate the experiential world of ancient actors to reveal the e/affects of sensory experience on the organization of society. Such a perspective breaks down the mind/body dichotomy by demonstrating that a human is “a mind with a body” that is limited in its understanding by the extent to which that body is embedded in the world. Ancient Egyptian dance functioned within a system that connected sensory stimulation with the experience of life. Dance incorporated a variety of sensory experiences that not only defined the extent of a ritual space, but established a shared identity among participants, whether alive or dead, mortal or divine. In fact, the human act of dancing was both a calling for and an announcement of divine presence. Thus, dance served as a transformative ritual that facilitated the interaction between the humane and divine worlds.
Integral to these processes was the dress of the participants. In this context, dress was both practical and performative. Though costumes often incorporate a variety of sensory stimuli, previous discussions on ancient dress have focused largely on the visual realm, namely the material and the aesthetic. Alternatively, in this paper, we will suggest it was the entire sensescape produced by dress-in-motion that made ancient Egyptian dance functional in the ways described above. Sweet smells exuded by whirling linen garments, the quiet tinkling of hollow beads, and the acrobatic movements of mostly nude bodies would only have been perceptible by nearby persons. Thus, these costume elements such as veiled nudity, perfumed linens, beaded girdles, and loud hair styles contributed to the bounding of a ritual space. It was the totality of the sensory attributes of the dress in the dance that made it effective as a transformative ritual.
An Educator's Handbook for Teaching About the Ancient World, 2020
Price, Robyn. 2020. “Inspiring Student Motivation through Multimodal Learning.” In P. Durgun (ed.... more Price, Robyn. 2020. “Inspiring Student Motivation through Multimodal Learning.” In P. Durgun (ed.), An Educator's Handbook for Teaching About the Ancient World. ArchaeoPress, Access Archaeology Series. Open Access.
In this chapter, I will explore how the incorporation of a public facing, multi-modal podcast project, in place of a traditional essay, might help to increase student motivation to learn and improve. I will take the course GE30CW: Now as Then as an example. In this course, students explore how both implicit and explicit bias effects our understanding and interpretation of ancient contexts. This course is of particular interest because it was offered in-person in the Spring 2019 quarter and remotely over Zoom in Spring 2020, as a result of the measures undertaken at UCLA in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. This chapter, thus, will articulate the differences between these two iterations of the course, while also demonstrating how my students’ multi-modal writing assignments affected their desire to learn and grow as researchers.
Science and the Stories of the Egyptian Mummies and Coffins at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science
In this examination, the authors sought to identify the materials present in several museum sampl... more In this examination, the authors sought to identify the materials present in several museum samples from DMNS, as a way of contributing to the larger discussion of how the coffins were decorated. Furthermore, this chapter discusses the usefulness and limitations of both destructive and non-destructive analytical techniques and the procedural concerns that must be considered when such methods are applied.
All knowledge of the world is shaped by the way our senses perceive it. In archaeology, and espec... more All knowledge of the world is shaped by the way our senses perceive it. In archaeology, and especially in Egyptological studies, a visual approach has predominated the analysis of ancient material remains. When viewed from a sensorybased framework, however, a new, dynamic dimensionality of the material record might be revealed. This approach to the study of the past promises to open both innovative and rewarding avenues for exploration. Such work fosters an environment for interdisciplinary study involving researchers in such diverse fields as neuroscience, psychology, ethnography, and the digital humanities. This paper aims to explore the applications of sensory analysis to Egyptology by focusing on New Kingdom tomb depictions of banquets and relevant mortuary texts to champion this paradigm as one that has potential to truly humanize the past.
The invisibility of merchants both in the ancient Egyptian material record and in published work ... more The invisibility of merchants both in the ancient Egyptian material record and in published work on ancient Egypt is striking, especially when compared with the data from and publications on contemporary societies in the Levant and Mesopotamia. With knowledge of shipbuilding and access to the necessary resources, in addition to the centrality of the Nile to ancient Egyptian life, one might assume the presence of full-time merchants. When considering the ancient Egyptian evidence for merchants, however, one is restricted to a few tomb scenes, the actual presence of foreign goods, and a few unique texts. Indeed, with such foreign goods as incense and cedar being considered so valuable, it would be logical for those who were responsible for their attainment, transportation, and sale to possess some level of prestige and so leave behind a record of their work. Yet, there are not even any titles from ancient Egypt that strictly deal with the responsibilities of traders. This limited corpus of evidence for ancient Egyptian merchants stands in contrast to contemporary evidence from Ugarit to Mesopotamia in which merchants could achieve, at least, some prestige. This paper will investigate the evidence for merchants moving goods from Egypt abroad using both Egyptian-based sources and non- Egyptian-based sources. In framing this discussion within Liverani’s (1990) understanding of the dual nature of the Egyptian state, this paper suggests that the evidence for merchants that does exist can move beyond the simple conclusion: there were no ancient Egyptian merchants.
Session: Archaeology of Egypt I (Friday, Nov 22 12:20 PM)
Institute for Art and Olfaction Invited Lecture, 2020
In this discussion, we will take a close look at the art and archaeology of smell in ancient Egyp... more In this discussion, we will take a close look at the art and archaeology of smell in ancient Egypt as a way of exploring the types of materials the ancient Egyptians used to make products such as incense, unguent cones, and floral garlands. How might these products have been made? Where did the raw materials come from? Who actually used them and why? Following this, we will explore more specifically the misconceptions, uses, and symbolic meanings of the ancient Egyptian blue ‘lotus’ and unguent cone.
PhD candidate Robyn Price has been exploring the significance of smelling in ancient Egypt since 2013. Archaeologists face many difficulties when trying to identify ancient recipes and materials. Despite those challenges, we have a fairly good picture of how the ancient Egyptians used scented products, and how such products were procured and manufactured. Robyn shares some of the research she’s done for her PhD thesis in this talk.
Experimental Scent Summit at the Institute for Art and Olfaction Los Angeles, 2020
Sensory experience in Ancient Egypt was conceptualized differently from the cognitive models popu... more Sensory experience in Ancient Egypt was conceptualized differently from the cognitive models popularized by Descartes and popular today. It is possible to perceive this difference by exploring how scent contributed to the organization and maintenance of Ancient Egyptian society. For example, unlike today where hygiene and cleanliness often are associated with dryness and sterility, the ancient Egyptians found sweet scented oils and unguents to be the most effective means of purifying spaces through their invocation of divine presence. In my talk, I will discuss how the ancient Egyptians conceived these sweet scents as indicators of divine presence, as well as share some of the implications of these beliefs.
This paper uses sensory related imagery in early 18th dynasty Theban tombs to discuss our ability... more This paper uses sensory related imagery in early 18th dynasty Theban tombs to discuss our ability to access the ancient sensory past, while also establishing a strategy for conducting such analyses.
All knowledge of the world is biased by the way our senses perceive it. In the modern world, the ... more All knowledge of the world is biased by the way our senses perceive it. In the modern world, the visible and the tangible have taken prominence above the tasteful, audible, and the scented. In the archaeological record, and especially in Egyptological studies, all these aspects of the past, other than what can be seen in the present, largely have been ignored. In fact, when viewed from a sensory-based framework, a new, dynamic dimensionality of the material record might be illuminated. Just in Egypt, written, visual, and physical attestations to incense burning, unguent use, the sensory experience of craft production, the smells of the deceased and the divine, and even references to smell in love poems all hint at the viability of such an analytical technique. This anthropological, body-first approach to the study of the past promises to open both innovative and rewarding avenues for exploration, while also creating an environment for interdisciplinary work involving researchers in such diverse fields as neuroscience, psychology, ethnography, and the digital humanities. This paper aims to explore the applications of sensory analysis to Egyptology by focusing specifically on New Kingdom tomb depictions and texts to champion this paradigm as one that has potential to truly humanize the past.
Lady Wallis Budge Symposium, July 24-27, 2017 Christ’s College,
Cambridge
Ancient Egyptian art often includes depictions of the act of smelling and of smell-carrying objec... more Ancient Egyptian art often includes depictions of the act of smelling and of smell-carrying objects. Though the act of smelling and the objects themselves are visibly recognizable, both underline the presence of an invisible force, that of scent. In this analysis, I argue that the visible presentation of scent-rich environments in Theban tomb wall paintings from the Eighteenth Dynasty was meant to mark divine presence, another invisible force. Textual evidence from mortuary literature reveals that the Egyptian gods could be identified by their smell. Thus, if the deceased were to take on this smell (i.e., identity) of the gods, the resulting change in identity would facilitate a successful transition into the afterlife. In addition, smell may also be linked with the "breath of life," which could be invoked to call the deceased back to the living world to receive offerings.
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Publications by Robyn Price
Ancient Egypt serves as a case study for how the senses are central to the ways we organize our lives. Specifically, I investigate the values attributed scent and smelling in New Kingdom Egypt (1550 BCE–1050 BCE)—considering how scented products figured in economic negotiations and across socio-political and religious spheres. After examining the visual, written, and material evidence of scent from New Kingdom Egypt, I argue that the ancient Egyptians employed scent as an organizing feature in their society, from dictating proper etiquette for celebrating holidays and expressing endearment, to praising the gods, healing bodies, and purifying spaces. Pleasant fragrances communicated one’s identity and presence, and also functioned as the manifestation of life itself. To smell was more than a physiological reaction to environmental stimuli but was a physical presence that exerted influence over individuals.
This study, furthermore, demonstrates the dangers of ignoring the senses in humanistic studies. Sensory experiences can be manipulated to control and order populations. In the ancient Egyptian context, the high ideological and social values attributed pleasant scents resulted in a foundational need among the populace for access to sweet-smelling air. In valuing the experience of pleasant scents across social contexts, the demand for these products increased beyond their earlier limited uses. High prices and an emphasis on foreign scents, however, restricted general access to the most desirable aromas. Ultimately, social hierarchies were established and maintained based on access to these products and an industry was developed to support these relationships.
materials, which promises to dissolve the boundary between the religious and the mundane. Such discrete categories limit our understanding by ignoring the fluidity of experience. Because much of the evidence for the blue water-lily comes from tomb assemblages, religious texts, and wall scenes, it has been branded as a symbol of rebirth. This discussion of the blue water-lily need not end with the mortuary context, however, as it is relevant to any experience that involves its scent. In this study, I investigate the connection of its pleasant scent to social identity and, more generally, life itself. By breaking down the division between the religious and the mundane, this approach will shift the researcher’s focus from neat epistemologies to complex ontologies of experience.
Sensory analyses of ancient cultures actively investigate the experiential world of ancient actors to reveal the e/affects of sensory experience on the organization of society. Such a perspective breaks down the mind/body dichotomy by demonstrating that a human is “a mind with a body” that is limited in its understanding by the extent to which that body is embedded in the world. Ancient Egyptian dance functioned within a system that connected sensory stimulation with the experience of life. Dance incorporated a variety of sensory experiences that not only defined the extent of a ritual space, but established a shared identity among participants, whether alive or dead, mortal or divine. In fact, the human act of dancing was both a calling for and an announcement of divine presence. Thus, dance served as a transformative ritual that facilitated the interaction between the humane and divine worlds.
Integral to these processes was the dress of the participants. In this context, dress was both practical and performative. Though costumes often incorporate a variety of sensory stimuli, previous discussions on ancient dress have focused largely on the visual realm, namely the material and the aesthetic. Alternatively, in this paper, we will suggest it was the entire sensescape produced by dress-in-motion that made ancient Egyptian dance functional in the ways described above. Sweet smells exuded by whirling linen garments, the quiet tinkling of hollow beads, and the acrobatic movements of mostly nude bodies would only have been perceptible by nearby persons. Thus, these costume elements such as veiled nudity, perfumed linens, beaded girdles, and loud hair styles contributed to the bounding of a ritual space. It was the totality of the sensory attributes of the dress in the dance that made it effective as a transformative ritual.
In this chapter, I will explore how the incorporation of a public facing, multi-modal podcast project, in place of a traditional essay, might help to increase student motivation to learn and improve. I will take the course GE30CW: Now as Then as an example. In this course, students explore how both implicit and explicit bias effects our understanding and interpretation of ancient contexts. This course is of particular interest because it was offered in-person in the Spring 2019 quarter and remotely over Zoom in Spring 2020, as a result of the measures undertaken at UCLA in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. This chapter, thus, will articulate the differences between these two iterations of the course, while also demonstrating how my students’ multi-modal writing assignments affected their desire to learn and grow as researchers.
Talks by Robyn Price
Session: Archaeology of Egypt I (Friday, Nov 22 12:20 PM)
PhD candidate Robyn Price has been exploring the significance of smelling in ancient Egypt since 2013. Archaeologists face many difficulties when trying to identify ancient recipes and materials. Despite those challenges, we have a fairly good picture of how the ancient Egyptians used scented products, and how such products were procured and manufactured. Robyn shares some of the research she’s done for her PhD thesis in this talk.
Lady Wallis Budge Symposium, July 24-27, 2017 Christ’s College,
Cambridge
MA Thesis by Robyn Price
Ancient Egypt serves as a case study for how the senses are central to the ways we organize our lives. Specifically, I investigate the values attributed scent and smelling in New Kingdom Egypt (1550 BCE–1050 BCE)—considering how scented products figured in economic negotiations and across socio-political and religious spheres. After examining the visual, written, and material evidence of scent from New Kingdom Egypt, I argue that the ancient Egyptians employed scent as an organizing feature in their society, from dictating proper etiquette for celebrating holidays and expressing endearment, to praising the gods, healing bodies, and purifying spaces. Pleasant fragrances communicated one’s identity and presence, and also functioned as the manifestation of life itself. To smell was more than a physiological reaction to environmental stimuli but was a physical presence that exerted influence over individuals.
This study, furthermore, demonstrates the dangers of ignoring the senses in humanistic studies. Sensory experiences can be manipulated to control and order populations. In the ancient Egyptian context, the high ideological and social values attributed pleasant scents resulted in a foundational need among the populace for access to sweet-smelling air. In valuing the experience of pleasant scents across social contexts, the demand for these products increased beyond their earlier limited uses. High prices and an emphasis on foreign scents, however, restricted general access to the most desirable aromas. Ultimately, social hierarchies were established and maintained based on access to these products and an industry was developed to support these relationships.
materials, which promises to dissolve the boundary between the religious and the mundane. Such discrete categories limit our understanding by ignoring the fluidity of experience. Because much of the evidence for the blue water-lily comes from tomb assemblages, religious texts, and wall scenes, it has been branded as a symbol of rebirth. This discussion of the blue water-lily need not end with the mortuary context, however, as it is relevant to any experience that involves its scent. In this study, I investigate the connection of its pleasant scent to social identity and, more generally, life itself. By breaking down the division between the religious and the mundane, this approach will shift the researcher’s focus from neat epistemologies to complex ontologies of experience.
Sensory analyses of ancient cultures actively investigate the experiential world of ancient actors to reveal the e/affects of sensory experience on the organization of society. Such a perspective breaks down the mind/body dichotomy by demonstrating that a human is “a mind with a body” that is limited in its understanding by the extent to which that body is embedded in the world. Ancient Egyptian dance functioned within a system that connected sensory stimulation with the experience of life. Dance incorporated a variety of sensory experiences that not only defined the extent of a ritual space, but established a shared identity among participants, whether alive or dead, mortal or divine. In fact, the human act of dancing was both a calling for and an announcement of divine presence. Thus, dance served as a transformative ritual that facilitated the interaction between the humane and divine worlds.
Integral to these processes was the dress of the participants. In this context, dress was both practical and performative. Though costumes often incorporate a variety of sensory stimuli, previous discussions on ancient dress have focused largely on the visual realm, namely the material and the aesthetic. Alternatively, in this paper, we will suggest it was the entire sensescape produced by dress-in-motion that made ancient Egyptian dance functional in the ways described above. Sweet smells exuded by whirling linen garments, the quiet tinkling of hollow beads, and the acrobatic movements of mostly nude bodies would only have been perceptible by nearby persons. Thus, these costume elements such as veiled nudity, perfumed linens, beaded girdles, and loud hair styles contributed to the bounding of a ritual space. It was the totality of the sensory attributes of the dress in the dance that made it effective as a transformative ritual.
In this chapter, I will explore how the incorporation of a public facing, multi-modal podcast project, in place of a traditional essay, might help to increase student motivation to learn and improve. I will take the course GE30CW: Now as Then as an example. In this course, students explore how both implicit and explicit bias effects our understanding and interpretation of ancient contexts. This course is of particular interest because it was offered in-person in the Spring 2019 quarter and remotely over Zoom in Spring 2020, as a result of the measures undertaken at UCLA in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. This chapter, thus, will articulate the differences between these two iterations of the course, while also demonstrating how my students’ multi-modal writing assignments affected their desire to learn and grow as researchers.
Session: Archaeology of Egypt I (Friday, Nov 22 12:20 PM)
PhD candidate Robyn Price has been exploring the significance of smelling in ancient Egypt since 2013. Archaeologists face many difficulties when trying to identify ancient recipes and materials. Despite those challenges, we have a fairly good picture of how the ancient Egyptians used scented products, and how such products were procured and manufactured. Robyn shares some of the research she’s done for her PhD thesis in this talk.
Lady Wallis Budge Symposium, July 24-27, 2017 Christ’s College,
Cambridge