Selected Papers by Rennan Lemos
Scientific Reports, 2024
While there is a considerable body of data regarding the sources of minerals employed in Bronze A... more While there is a considerable body of data regarding the sources of minerals employed in Bronze Age Egypt, the supply chains to Sudanese Lower Nubia are virtually unknown. This paper presents results of lead isotope analysis of 11 samples of kohl from C-group, Pan-grave and New Kingdom funerary contexts across the Debeira and Ashkeit areas in Sudanese Lower Nubia during the Bronze Age. The samples could be divided in two groups based on their lead isotope ratios. A comparison between the kohl samples from Sudanese Lower Nubia and galena ores from various mining sites on the Red Sea coast of Egypt indicated that some of the galena used in kohl mixtures in Sudanese Lower Nubia came from the Pharaonic mining site of Gebel el-Zeit. The second group of Nubian samples seems to have originated from an alternative galena source yet to be determined. This is the first time that kohl samples from Sudanese Lower Nubia are integrated into known northeast African networks of supply by using Lead isotope analysis.
Antiquity, 2024
Textual sources from the Egyptian New Kingdom highlight a societal desire to preserve tombs for l... more Textual sources from the Egyptian New Kingdom highlight a societal desire to preserve tombs for life after death, yet extensive architectural renovations and tomb robbing often followed the interment of elite individuals. Rather than posing a threat to conceptions of the afterlife, the author argues that these post-mortem activities were conducted with respect and the intention of forming connections. Using the identification of an unusual ritual structure from the Third Intermediate Period inside the reused Nineteenth Dynasty tomb of Paenmuaset (TT362) at Thebes (Luxor) as a basis, the author explores respect in ever-changing burial spaces as a key feature of tomb reuse.
Arts (Ancient Egyptian art studies: Art in motion, a social tool of power and resistance, edited by Kara Cooney and Alisée Devilers), 2024
Monumental rock-cut tombs decorated with wall paintings or reliefs were rare in New Kingdom colon... more Monumental rock-cut tombs decorated with wall paintings or reliefs were rare in New Kingdom colonial Nubia. Exceptions include the 18th Dynasty tombs of Djehutyhotep (Debeira) and Hekanefer (Miam), and the 20th Dynasty tomb of Pennut (Aniba). The three tombs present typical Egyptian artistic representations and inscriptions, which include tomb owners and their families, but also those living under their direct control. This paper compares the artistic and architectural features of these decorated, monumental rock-cut tombs in light of the archaeological record of the regions in which they were located in order to contextualize art within its social setting in colonized Nubia. More than expressing cultural and religious affiliations in the colony, art seems to have been essentially used as a tool to enforce hierarchization and power, and to define the borders of the uppermost elite social spaces in New Kingdom colonial Nubia.
Archaeological Review from Cambridge 38.1 (Archaeology and Colonialism), 2023
The Archaeological Review from Cambridge is a biannual journal of archaeology. It is run on a non... more The Archaeological Review from Cambridge is a biannual journal of archaeology. It is run on a non-profit, voluntary basis by postgraduate researchers at the University of Cambridge. Although primarily rooted in archaeological theory and practice, the ARC invites a wide range of perspectives with the aim of establishing a strong, interdisciplinary journal which will be of interest to a variety of fields.
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2023
Samples taken from the canopic jars of Djehutyhotep, chief of Tehkhet (Debeira), Lower Nubia, and... more Samples taken from the canopic jars of Djehutyhotep, chief of Tehkhet (Debeira), Lower Nubia, and local versions of Egyptian canopic jars from Sai, Upper Nubia, suggest that the materials used for mortuary ritual unguents in Nubia may have differed from those used in Egypt. Nubian samples consisted of plant gum and bitumen, whereas those from Egypt conformed to the standardizing black resinous liquid recipe used for mummification and other funerary rituals. However, there may be time frame issues to be considered as most samples analyzed from Egypt date to later periods. A standard black funerary liquid was used at Amara West, Upper Nubia, probably poured over a wrapped body, which might suggest that the gum and bitumen mixture was reserved for filling canopic jars, perhaps indicating that the use of canopic jars in Nubia differed from their use in Egypt. Evidence from the canopic jars of Djehutyhotep, local versions of canopic jars from Sai, and the sample from Amara West also indicate a source of bitumen that was not the Dead Sea, which was the main (although not only) source used in Egypt. The new results from the analysis of the Djehutyhotep canopic jars and previously published results from Sai point towards alternative ritual practices associated with local conceptions and uses of canopic jars in colonized Nubia. These samples and data from Amara West further reveal that the bitumen used in mortuary contexts in Nubia originated elsewhere than bitumen used in Egypt, which might have implications for our understanding of colonized Nubia as part of other trade networks independently from Egypt.
Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 2022
Archaeology in Sudan and Nubia has been greatly impacted by modern colonialism in northeast Afric... more Archaeology in Sudan and Nubia has been greatly impacted by modern colonialism in northeast Africa. In theory and practice, the discipline's history in the region includes interpretations of past realities that worked as intellectual bases for colonization. From a postcolonial standpoint, Sudan and Nubia offer us an opportunity to investigate complexity in the past beyond oversimplifying colonial narratives entangled with the practice of modern archaeology in the region. However, more complex, postcolonial interpretations of the ancient past have played only a small part in 'decolonizing' initiatives aiming to reframe archaeological practice and heritage in Sudan and Nubia today. In this paper, I discuss the different trajectories of postcolonial and decolonial theory in archaeology, focusing on Sudan and Nubia (roughly the region south of Egypt from Aswan and north of Sudan up to Khartoum). I will argue that bridging postcolonial and decolonial theory through what I will refer to as 'narratives of reparation' can offer us ways to address both conceptual problems underlying theory and practice and avenues for an all-encompassing decolonization of the field.
Material culture worked as an essential supporting pillar of the ancient Egyptian colonization of... more Material culture worked as an essential supporting pillar of the ancient Egyptian colonization of Nubia. During the New Kingdom colonial period (1550-1070 BCE), the material culture of various colonial sites in Nubia consisted of a majority of Egyptian-style objects (including both imported and locally produced objects). Egyptian-style objects materialized foreign presence in local contexts and allowed communities to negotiate identities and positions in a colonial situation. However, far from homogenizing local realities, foreign objects performed different roles in local contexts. This sheds light on the social dimensions of culture contacts in colonial situations and allows us to identify how the local adoption and uses of foreign objects in local contexts produces marginality in the colony.
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A gypsum plaster relief fragment from the Amarna Royal Tomb is currently kept at the Museum of Ar... more A gypsum plaster relief fragment from the Amarna Royal Tomb is currently kept at the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology of the University of São Paulo, Brazil. The fragment consists of an addition to the corpus of relief fragments from the Royal Tomb compiled by G. T. Martin. This paper presents the object and contextualises the relief fragment within the decorative scheme of the Amarna Royal Tomb.
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RESUMO: Até recentemente, a literatura especializada na Núbia do Reino Novo (1.550-1.070 a.C.) en... more RESUMO: Até recentemente, a literatura especializada na Núbia do Reino Novo (1.550-1.070 a.C.) enfatizava a egipcianização das populações núbias, isto é, a adoção, quase que completa, de práticas culturais egípcias por tais populações. Nuanças desse tipo de abordagem incluíam identificar focos de resistência especialmente por parte dos chefes núbios, que escolheriam se egipcianizar como forma de obter, entre outras coisas, poder e prestígio. Hoje em dia, pelo contrário, novas pesquisas e escavações no Sudão, em sítios que datam do Reino Novo, estão revelando interações mais complexas entre as culturas egípcias e núbias no cotidiano dessas populações. Tais interações materializavam-se, entre outros tipos de objetos, em potes e pratos associados aos atos de armazenar, preparar e servir comida encontrados em sítios urbanos, sobretudo na Alta Núbia. Este artigo busca analisar as interações entre egípcios e núbios com base na coleção cerâmica produzida por escavações em diferentes sítios do Sudão e em dados bioarqueológicos relativos à dieta dessas populações à luz de uma teoria da consubstancialidade das relações de gênero, raça e classe. O objetivo é demonstrar como práticas culturais tão enraizadas como preparar, servir e consumir alimentos são difíceis de serem modificadas e guardam, portanto, um potencial de resistência cultural frente à imposição imperial de determinados costumes.
Chyla, J., J. Dębowska-Ludwin, K. Rosińska-Balik and C. Walsh eds., Current Research in Egyptology 2016: Proceedings of the Seventeenth Annual Symposium
Papers by Rennan Lemos
Scientific Reports, 2024
While there is a considerable body of data regarding the sources of minerals employed in Bronze A... more While there is a considerable body of data regarding the sources of minerals employed in Bronze Age
Egypt, the supply chains to Sudanese Lower Nubia are virtually unknown. This paper presents results
of lead isotope analysis of 11 samples of kohl from C-group, Pan-grave and New Kingdom funerary
contexts across the Debeira and Ashkeit areas in Sudanese Lower Nubia during the Bronze Age. The
samples could be divided in two groups based on their lead isotope ratios. A comparison between
the kohl samples from Sudanese Lower Nubia and galena ores from various mining sites on the Red
Sea coast of Egypt indicated that some of the galena used in kohl mixtures in Sudanese Lower Nubia
came from the Pharaonic mining site of Gebel el-Zeit. The second group of Nubian samples seems to
have originated from an alternative galena source yet to be determined. This is the first time that kohl
samples from Sudanese Lower Nubia are integrated into known northeast African networks of supply
by using Lead isotope analysis.
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Selected Papers by Rennan Lemos
Papers by Rennan Lemos
Egypt, the supply chains to Sudanese Lower Nubia are virtually unknown. This paper presents results
of lead isotope analysis of 11 samples of kohl from C-group, Pan-grave and New Kingdom funerary
contexts across the Debeira and Ashkeit areas in Sudanese Lower Nubia during the Bronze Age. The
samples could be divided in two groups based on their lead isotope ratios. A comparison between
the kohl samples from Sudanese Lower Nubia and galena ores from various mining sites on the Red
Sea coast of Egypt indicated that some of the galena used in kohl mixtures in Sudanese Lower Nubia
came from the Pharaonic mining site of Gebel el-Zeit. The second group of Nubian samples seems to
have originated from an alternative galena source yet to be determined. This is the first time that kohl
samples from Sudanese Lower Nubia are integrated into known northeast African networks of supply
by using Lead isotope analysis.
Egypt, the supply chains to Sudanese Lower Nubia are virtually unknown. This paper presents results
of lead isotope analysis of 11 samples of kohl from C-group, Pan-grave and New Kingdom funerary
contexts across the Debeira and Ashkeit areas in Sudanese Lower Nubia during the Bronze Age. The
samples could be divided in two groups based on their lead isotope ratios. A comparison between
the kohl samples from Sudanese Lower Nubia and galena ores from various mining sites on the Red
Sea coast of Egypt indicated that some of the galena used in kohl mixtures in Sudanese Lower Nubia
came from the Pharaonic mining site of Gebel el-Zeit. The second group of Nubian samples seems to
have originated from an alternative galena source yet to be determined. This is the first time that kohl
samples from Sudanese Lower Nubia are integrated into known northeast African networks of supply
by using Lead isotope analysis.