Papers by Mostafa I . Tolba
Tolba, et al. 2024. Plant Remains from the Tomb of Sennedjem (TT1) in Deir el-Medina. In Christian Leitz, Janice Kamrin, Mohamed Ismail Khaled (eds.), Kingdom of the Mummies: Essays in Memory of Ramadan B. Hussein, 485–506. Supplément aux Annales du Service des Antiquités de l’Égypte 46. Cairo: M..., 2024
After the discovery of the intact tomb of Sennedjem (TT1) in 1886, all objects were first sent to... more After the discovery of the intact tomb of Sennedjem (TT1) in 1886, all objects were first sent to the Boulaq Museum and then a great part of the assemblage was distributed to various museums overseas. Due to the dispersion of the collection, a number of studies have attempted to make an inventory of the objects and their current place of display/storage. However, none of these studies have paid adequate attention to the plant remains discovered in the tomb. Thus, this paper investigates the discovery and provides a catalogue of the plant remains found in the tomb of Sennedjem. The catalogue records a total of eighteen botanical items, including a palm trunk, fruits and seeds, bouquets and garlands, classified into four categories. It also presents some remarks on the catalogued items, mentioning parallel examples from the same period.
Tolba, M. I. 2023. On the Trail of Ahmed Fakhry: The Legacy of an Egyptian Archaeologist. In Hana... more Tolba, M. I. 2023. On the Trail of Ahmed Fakhry: The Legacy of an Egyptian Archaeologist. In Hana Navratilova, Thomas L. Gertzen, Marleen De Meyer, Aidan Dodson and Andrew Bednarski (eds.), Addressing Diversity: Inclusive Histories of Egyptology, 277–307. Investigatio Orientis: Beiträge zur Wissenschaftsgeschichte der Orientalistik 9. Münster: Zaphon.
Journal of the Faculty of Archaeology, Cairo University, 2022
The tomb of Sennedjem (TT1) is lavishly painted with spells and vignettes of the so-called Book o... more The tomb of Sennedjem (TT1) is lavishly painted with spells and vignettes of the so-called Book of the Dead except for some parts. One of these exceptions is the lower register of the south wall, which is separated by the entrance door. The two sides of the entrance are decorated with the funerary banquet scene through which the relatives of the deceased broke the fast following the burial. The purpose of the banquet scene is to commemorate the tomb owner by showing his presence together with the living and his involvement in their activities. However, the fact that the tomb owner is dead led to include elements that should help him to be born in the afterlife.
This article provides a glimpse into the discovery of the tomb of Sennedjem, briefing its decoration program, and reviewing its previous studies. Whereas, it focuses on plant identification and interpretation, revealing the phyto-religious symbolism of plants depicted within the funerary banquet of Sennedjem. The identification is made based on the morphological features with a mention of the valid Latin binomial and the updated taxonomy together with English meaning. Whereas, the interpretation is derived from the textual reservoir of Egyptian religious corpus, as well as scenes and tomb texts. The article gives through plant iconography an example of studying human-plant interaction, which is among the principal objectives of Environmental Archaeology.
Conference Presentations by Mostafa I . Tolba
Egypt through the Eyes of Ahmed Fakhry International Workshop, 2023
This lecture explores three sets of unpublished documents in Fakhry’s archival collection at the ... more This lecture explores three sets of unpublished documents in Fakhry’s archival collection at the DAIK. They include photographic documentation of the Mulid of Sidi Abu el-Haggag in Luxor, Fakhry’s first journey into the Egyptian Eastern Desert and his notes on the tribe of al-Ababdah residing there, and lastly records on Nubian traditions of wedding, divorce, birth, as well as death and funerals.
ONLINE WORKSHOP Researching the History of Egyptology: Current Practices and Futures of Transmission, 2021
Egyptian Pioneers in Egyptology: Writings and Archives, 2020
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Papers by Mostafa I . Tolba
This article provides a glimpse into the discovery of the tomb of Sennedjem, briefing its decoration program, and reviewing its previous studies. Whereas, it focuses on plant identification and interpretation, revealing the phyto-religious symbolism of plants depicted within the funerary banquet of Sennedjem. The identification is made based on the morphological features with a mention of the valid Latin binomial and the updated taxonomy together with English meaning. Whereas, the interpretation is derived from the textual reservoir of Egyptian religious corpus, as well as scenes and tomb texts. The article gives through plant iconography an example of studying human-plant interaction, which is among the principal objectives of Environmental Archaeology.
Conference Presentations by Mostafa I . Tolba
This article provides a glimpse into the discovery of the tomb of Sennedjem, briefing its decoration program, and reviewing its previous studies. Whereas, it focuses on plant identification and interpretation, revealing the phyto-religious symbolism of plants depicted within the funerary banquet of Sennedjem. The identification is made based on the morphological features with a mention of the valid Latin binomial and the updated taxonomy together with English meaning. Whereas, the interpretation is derived from the textual reservoir of Egyptian religious corpus, as well as scenes and tomb texts. The article gives through plant iconography an example of studying human-plant interaction, which is among the principal objectives of Environmental Archaeology.