Research master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (research) (MA)
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In this thesis, Guido delle Colonne's Historia Destructionis Troiae will be analysed anew. Scholars have often assessed the work and its author very negatively: they claimed the work had no moral...Show moreIn this thesis, Guido delle Colonne's Historia Destructionis Troiae will be analysed anew. Scholars have often assessed the work and its author very negatively: they claimed the work had no moral message, that it was badly written, and that Guido was very misogynistic in his depiction of women. In this thesis, the Historia will be analysed intertextually to show that Guido was not a bad translator of the French Roman de Troie (his main point of focus), but that he played with his pre-text to create an original work of history with its own moral aims and messages. In the second chapter, a case study of the character of the Amazonian queen Penthesilea will show how learned and complexly constructed the work actually is. Penthesilea questions the traditional gender norms, showing that not all women are bad in Guido's work. By transcending these gender norms, she is able to question a social construct that is even more important to reform in Guido's eyes: chivalry and its intricate connection with warfare. Guido wishes to show that chivalry has no place in warfare and that eventually, war brings destruction and misery upon all. While reading this work, the reader is constantly invited to delve further into the material and extract valuable moral lessons from it.Show less
Research master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (research) (MA)
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This thesis examines the role of Altered States of Consciousness (ASCs) in relation to the goddess Hathor, as found in Hathoric festivals in the New Kingdom. Theories from the fields of psychology...Show moreThis thesis examines the role of Altered States of Consciousness (ASCs) in relation to the goddess Hathor, as found in Hathoric festivals in the New Kingdom. Theories from the fields of psychology and anthropology are introduced to establish a working definition of ASCs and to give an overview of the terminology in use for ASCs in contexts of religion. Various types of ancient Egyptian sources are discussed, such as myths, hymns, temple and tomb decoration, love poems and dream reports. The sources provide insight into the occurrence of ASCs, their role and their connection to the goddess Hathor.Show less
Research master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (research) (MA)
open access
The Late Bronze Age presents a peak in the cultural interactions between the different empires of the Eastern Mediterranean. Both bulk goods and small quantities of luxury products were exchanged...Show moreThe Late Bronze Age presents a peak in the cultural interactions between the different empires of the Eastern Mediterranean. Both bulk goods and small quantities of luxury products were exchanged between the kings and the local elite over long distances. In April 2019, one of these luxury products was discovered at the Cypriot site of Pyla-Kokkinokremos. This was an Egyptian calcite-alabaster drop jar incised with geometric and floral decorations. This master's thesis places this unique find in a broader context by undertaking a detailed comparative study of all the decorated calcite-alabaster drop jars discovered in Egypt, the Levant, and Cyprus. By doing this, the function, value, and role of the calcite-alabaster drop jar throughout the Eastern Mediterranean during the Late Bronze Age will be proposed. For all the calcite-alabaster drop jars discovered in Egypt, the Levant, and Cyprus, the shapes, decorations, find contexts, and associated finds will be described in detail. Furthermore, a closer look will be taken at the faience and bronze drop jars, the iconographical representations, textual sources, and results of the residue analyses of the preserved remains inside of several drop jars. In Egypt, drop-shaped ceramic vessels were starting from the First Intermediate period commonly used as storage jars. This drop shape was starting from the New Kingdom adopted for smaller vessels produced in more precious materials, such as calcite-alabaster, bronze, and faience. The find of these drop jars in a rich variety of contexts, not only in Egypt, but also throughout the Eastern Mediterranean, makes this group of objects exceptional. Eight calcite-alabaster drop jars were discovered in Egypt, originating from mainly royal and elite tombs buried with a variety of other precious objects. In addition to the calcite-alabaster drop jar discovered at the short-lived trading settlement of Pyla-Kokkinokremos, three calcite-alabaster drop jars were unearthed in the royal palace at Megiddo and in a rich tomb in the Kharji cave at Beirut. The finds of the drop jars in a variety of contexts throughout the Eastern Mediterranean constitute of compelling evidence for the function and value of the calcite-alabaster drop jar in Egypt, the Levant, and Cyprus, and its role in the diplomatic exchanges.Show less
Research master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (research) (MA)
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Since the 1990s the field of phenomenological Landscape Archaeology has gained more traction in Egyptology. Since then it has been used to illuminate the experienced landscape(s) of the ancient...Show moreSince the 1990s the field of phenomenological Landscape Archaeology has gained more traction in Egyptology. Since then it has been used to illuminate the experienced landscape(s) of the ancient Egyptians. This thesis seeks to critically examine this approach and further illuminate the experienced landscape in ancient Egypt, specifically its role in religion. To this end, the author poses three primary research questions: 1) Did landscape influence the conception of places of power? 2) Do landscape associations change over time, and if they do: how do they change? 3) Did Egypt’s physical landscape influence conceptions of the landscapes of the afterlife? The sources reveal that the Egyptians experienced the landscape as embodied and meaningful. Iconography and text also support the notion of locations in the landscape which were infused with meaning beyond the mundane. These places of power sometimes held a strong relation with the surrounding landscape. In certain cases it is likely that a landscape-induced hierophany was the direct cause for their inception. Yet, it is difficult to ascribe a single coherent characteristic to these locations. Egypt’s physical landscape did not only influence experiences of religious awe, but also influenced the conception of landscapes of the afterlife. The afterlife reflects a bucolic ideal of Egypt’s physical landscape. Some scholars have proposed specific referents for the landscapes of the afterlife, but it seems imprudent to attribute such specific Vorlage-landscapes to these religious ideas. Phenomenological Landscape Archaeology allows us to further investigate landscape experience in ancient Egypt. Yet, a recurring issues in the implementation of phenomenological Landscape Archaeology is the over-excitement of Egyptologists to attribute a meaning to landscape features which has little or no support in the extant sources. This treacherous pitfall stems from the inability to acknowledge the difference in spatial conceptualisation between us and the ancient Egyptians, and the all-too-easy assumption that our views of extraordinary geomorphology are similar to those of the ancient Egyptians. Therefore, this thesis warns against all-too-quick attributions of the influence of landscape on the inception and meaning of religious locales.Show less
Research master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (research) (MA)
open access
2021-09-25T00:00:00Z
The status and political organization of Cyprus during the Late Bronze Age (c. 1600-1100 BC) is a controversial topic. On the one hand the king of Alashiya ‘Cyprus’ is mentioned as an equal to the...Show moreThe status and political organization of Cyprus during the Late Bronze Age (c. 1600-1100 BC) is a controversial topic. On the one hand the king of Alashiya ‘Cyprus’ is mentioned as an equal to the Egyptian King in the Amarna Letters. Various texts from Egypt, Hatti and Ugarit reveal the increasing activity of the island in the trade networks of the eastern Mediterranean area and its dominant role as a copper supplier. On the other hand, the archaeological data inside the island display a society with simple socio-economic structures. The few signs of economic intensification, surplus manipulation and craft specialization are not enough to prove the “supremacy” of a certain elite or even a king. The current study aims to investigate these data, identify the urban and administrative centers of Late Bronze Age Alashiya and to reconstruct the networks within the island and the Eastern periphery. The results of this survey will reveal possible hierarchy among the urban sites and attempt to clarify the political organization of Late Bronze Age Cyprus. Did the 'King of Alashiya' truly exist?Show less
Research master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (research) (MA)
closed access
The thesis argues that the language of Aeneas Tacticus, writer of the earliest Greek manual on warfare, can be better understood when studying it as a 'technical treatise', accordingly written in a...Show moreThe thesis argues that the language of Aeneas Tacticus, writer of the earliest Greek manual on warfare, can be better understood when studying it as a 'technical treatise', accordingly written in a technical register.Show less
Research master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (research) (MA)
open access
2021-12-12T00:00:00Z
Dots found in administrative texts are known from the Old Kingdom onwards. Sometime during the late New Kingdom and early Third Intermediate period the occurrence and functions of dots augment and...Show moreDots found in administrative texts are known from the Old Kingdom onwards. Sometime during the late New Kingdom and early Third Intermediate period the occurrence and functions of dots augment and form a new system that reaches its pinnacle in the abnormal hieratic documents of the 25th and 26th dynasties. In one abnormal hieratic text of 26 lines over 100 dots are written with 10 different functions, such as ending sentences, introducing relative clauses, indicating a suffix pronomen and more. The system of dots is still partly noticeable in the early demotic material. This thesis analyses the different dots, strokes and ticks in 19 abnormal hieratic texts and includes a transcription of each one, as well as a list of corrections to readings from previous publications.Show less
Research master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (research) (MA)
open access
When the god Dionysus arrives in Thebes with a band of Asian worshippers, he throws the city into complete disorder. By expelling all female citizens of Thebes to Mount Cithaeron, he puts in motion...Show moreWhen the god Dionysus arrives in Thebes with a band of Asian worshippers, he throws the city into complete disorder. By expelling all female citizens of Thebes to Mount Cithaeron, he puts in motion several developments that this thesis examines from the perspective of group dynamics. What happens when a new group arrives somewhere and attracts other members? What are the mechanisms at work in and dangers arising from certain groups? And what happens to the behaviour of people who are emphatically not part of the group? This thesis centres around these questions. By looking at different aspects related to the group of Theban women, who go through a radical transformation after Dionysus’ arrival, and by applying insights from modern social psychological theory, I argue that Euripides has intended to convey more universal truths about the workings of social groups and to invite the spectator to reflect on certain mechanisms in his own reality.Show less
Research master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (research) (MA)
open access
This study describes the realization of Tense, Aspect and Modality (TAM) in Jewish Palestinian Aramaic, a specific variety of Western Aramaic, roughly attested during the first 1,500 years of the...Show moreThis study describes the realization of Tense, Aspect and Modality (TAM) in Jewish Palestinian Aramaic, a specific variety of Western Aramaic, roughly attested during the first 1,500 years of the common era. It compares it to the realization of TAM in both Biblical Hebrew (with which JPA was in contact through the legacy of the Bible) and Achaemenid Official Aramaic (which is more closely related in a genealogical sense).Show less
Research master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (research) (MA)
under embargo until 2025-01-01
2025-01-01T00:00:00Z
The ancestors and conceptions of the afterlife have always been one of the most prevalent topics of research within Egyptology. From the ‘scenes of daily life’ in the tombs of the Old Kingdom to...Show moreThe ancestors and conceptions of the afterlife have always been one of the most prevalent topics of research within Egyptology. From the ‘scenes of daily life’ in the tombs of the Old Kingdom to the New Kingdom books of the afterlife, a variety in interpretation is not lacking. It is perhaps due to this wealth of later evidence that the Early Dynastic period (c. 3000 – 2613 BCE) remains somewhat of a ‘Dark Age’ in the history of ancient Egypt. This dissertation explores the Early Dynastic attitude towards the tomb, the ancestors, and the afterlife by a holistic examination of the parts of the Early Dynastic tombs that were accessible after the interment of the tomb owner: the tomb superstructure and enclosure space. The corpus of the thesis consists of published superstructures from the Memphite area, that being the capital of Egypt at the time and most densely populated. The spaces are examined in a heuristic manner in Chapter One, with little initial reliance of previous identification and theory. Chapter Two features an examination of the material through the lenses of modern theories and methodologies. Included here are landscape biographies, the structure of the authority of things, human-thing entanglement, ancestor identity, and the ontological turn. The final chapter sees the reintegration of the material into a wider Egyptological framework. The resulting thesis has suggested that little to no uniformity can be seen in regards to post-mortem existence other than the social importance of the individual, and a subsequent wish for acknowledgement and offerings.Show less
Research master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (research) (MA)
closed access
It is a well-known fact that hunting was an integral part of the ancient Egyptian society. From the Early-dynastic period onwards, hunting appears as an important subject in iconographical as well...Show moreIt is a well-known fact that hunting was an integral part of the ancient Egyptian society. From the Early-dynastic period onwards, hunting appears as an important subject in iconographical as well as in textual sources. In Egyptology hunting is often represented as a symbolic act of fighting the forces of evil, manifesting itself in animals. This idea is often applied to many sources in every historical period of Egyptian history, without taking into consideration the occurring changes on how hunting is represented to us in Egypt’s long history. The question is then: how did the concept of hunting and its significance develop from the Early-Dynastic Period to the New Kingdom 20th dynasty, and what are the main problems encountered when studying the development, and significance of hunting in ancient Egypt? In order to answer this question we must analyse the primary sources themselves. Iconographic depictions of hunting appear on royal monuments as well on monuments dedicated to the elite such as tombs, but also on objects used in daily life. Besides there are also textual sources which tell us about hunt. This great variety in contexts means it is paramount to study these sources in their proper context. This proves that most sources have their own significance in their own context, and that we cannot apply one single interpretation to all sources concerned with hunting. The primary sources indicate that the iconographical representation, and ideological meaning of hunting changed throughout Egyptian history. It is these changes that will be discussed during in this thesis. Different kinds of hunting will be discussed such as fishing, fowling, the hippopotamus hunt, and desert hunt.Show less
