Books by Sarah Symons
"Clock time", with all its benets and anxieties, is often viewed as a "modern" phenomenon, but an... more "Clock time", with all its benets and anxieties, is often viewed as a "modern" phenomenon, but ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern cultures also had tools for marking and measuring time within the day and wrestled with challenges of daily time management. This book brings together for the rst time perspectives on the interplay between short-term timekeeping technologies and their social contexts in ancient Egypt, Babylon, Greece, and Rome. Its contributions denaturalize modern-day concepts of clocks, hours, and temporal frameworks; describe some of the timekeeping solutions used in antiquity; and illuminate the diverse factors that afected how individuals and communities structured their time.
Book Chapters by Sarah Symons
Translating Writings of Early Scholars in the ancient Near East, Egypt, Rome, and Greece - Methodological Aspects with Examples, 2016
In: D. Bawanypeck and A. Imhausen, eds., Traditions of written knowledge in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, Alter Orient und Altes Testament. Münster: Ugarit-Verlag, pp. 91–122., 2014
Lists of star names (“decan lists”) have been preserved in several distinct contexts in Egypt fro... more Lists of star names (“decan lists”) have been preserved in several distinct contexts in Egypt from the First Intermediate Period (around 2200 BC) to the second century AD. This chapter looks at both the content and the context of these texts and how each evolved, adapting to different locations and purposes, and accreting new elements. Hypotheses of why and when changes occurred, the function of star lists in funerary decoration, the relationship of the lists to the reality of the star sky, and the possible observational motives for development are discussed. Sources include diagonal star tables, star lists within and accompanying astronomical ceilings and zodiacs, and texts such as the Fundamentals of the Course of the Stars (Book of Nut) and the Naos of the Decades which also describe decanal stars.
J.M. Steele, ed., Calendars and Years: Astronomy and Time in the Ancient World. Oxford: Oxbow Books, pp.1–33., 2007
In C. L. N. Ruggles, ed., Handbook of Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy, Springer, pp. 1495-1500, 2014
Diagonal, transit, and Ramesside star clocks are tables of astronomical information occasionally ... more Diagonal, transit, and Ramesside star clocks are tables of astronomical information occasionally found in ancient Egyptian temples, tombs, and papyri. The tables represent the motions of selected stars (decans and hour stars) throughout the Egyptian civil year. Analysis of star clocks leads to greater understanding of ancient Egyptian constellations, ritual astronomical activities, observational practices, and pharaonic chronology.
J.M. Steele and A. Imhausen, eds., Under One Sky: astronomy and mathematics in the Ancient Near East., Alter Orient und Altes Testament. Münster: Ugarit-Verlag, pp.429–446., 2002
Website by Sarah Symons
Egyptology Papers by Sarah Symons
Ancient Egypt furnishes us with examples of different types of sundial from the New Kingdom (c. 1... more Ancient Egypt furnishes us with examples of different types of sundial from the New Kingdom (c. 1500 B. C.) onward. Some objects that have been described as sundials are better evidenced as time-keeping devices than others. Hypotheses about the development and even the method of using sundials remain controversial in a few cases. New finds also add to our understanding of the development of sundials in Egypt. Here, we describe an attempt to catalogue ancient Egyptian sundials, and the results that are emerging from the investigation.
Journal for the History of Astronomy, 46(1), 66-75, 2015
The diverse group of 81 numbered ‘monuments’ in Egyptian Astronomical Texts, Volume 3 (Neugebauer... more The diverse group of 81 numbered ‘monuments’ in Egyptian Astronomical Texts, Volume 3 (Neugebauer and Parker, 1969) represents a collection of several different types of document, arranged chronologically from the Middle Kingdom (c. 2000 B.C.) to the Roman Period (second century A.D.). Neugebauer and Parker’s system of families presents one basis for classification. This paper suggests a second, complementary, way of looking at the documents, with the aim of opening up the possibilities for further analysis of the relationships between the texts and the modes of information transmission for the astronomical information they contain.
Journal for the History of Astronomy, Vol 45, pp 197-208, May 2014
We report the discovery of a previously unpublished fragment of a diagonal star table (also known... more We report the discovery of a previously unpublished fragment of a diagonal star table (also known as diagonal star ‘clocks’ or ‘calendars’). It appears on a coffin lid belonging to Hnyt and until recently was on public display in the Mallawi Monuments Museum. We argue that the fragment may belong to a previously catalogued diagonal star table.
S16C, a diagonal star table located in the Egyptian Museum at Cairo, is updated. The coffin, belonging to Nxti, is on public display but the underside of the coffin lid, where the diagonal star table is located, is not. Decans in fifteen cells are newly-identified in the table, including seven decans not previously reported on this table.
We also briefly mention S1C, another table in the Egyptian Museum at Cairo, regarding the contents of its horizontal strip.
All three coffins originate from the early Middle Kingdom (around 2100 B.C.), possibly slightly earlier for S1C.
PalArch’s Journal of Archaeology of Egypt / Egyptology, 2013
"We present updates for two ancient Egyptian diagonal star tables on coffins A1C and S2Hil. A1C... more "We present updates for two ancient Egyptian diagonal star tables on coffins A1C and S2Hil. A1C reveals a new triangle decan, HAt sAbw, which brings the total number of triangle decans to 13 and the total number of unique triangle decans to 12 (because of the duplication of nTr DA pt). We discuss its relevance, why it has likely remained hidden for so long, and why it may have been lost on other star tables.
S2Hil is re-examined with new photographs provided by the Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum, Hildesheim. We find several striking features of this table that make it unique among the current collection, and also present more information of this table not previously identified."
Journal for the History of Astronomy, 2013
A coffin belonging to an Egyptian Middle Kingdom official Hor-em-hetepu, on public display in the... more A coffin belonging to an Egyptian Middle Kingdom official Hor-em-hetepu, on public display in the Mallawi Monuments Museum, Egypt, contains a previously-unpublished diagonal star table (or ‘diagonal star clock’). This table adds to the other twenty-four examples of this type of astronomical record or calendar from around 2100 B.C. The table displays a regular diagonal pattern of decan (star or asterism) names, with some interesting points of content, epigraphy, and typology.
Egyptian Archaeology, 30, pp.11–13., 2007
Journal for The History of Astronomy, 2002
Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society, 66., 2000
Bulletin of the British Sundial Society, 98.3, pp.30-36, 1998
A. McDonald and C. Riggs, eds., Current Research in Egyptology 2000. Oxford: Archaeopress, pp.111–114., 2000
Conference Proceedings by Sarah Symons
Proceedings of the 11th International Congress of Egyptologists, 2017
Diagonal star tables on 12 Middle Kingdom coffin lids and one monument were described in 1960 in ... more Diagonal star tables on 12 Middle Kingdom coffin lids and one monument were described in 1960 in Neugebauer and Parker’s Egyptian Astronomical Texts Volume 1. Since then, the number of published tables on coffins has more than doubled, with additional examples being excavated and, chiefly, identified in museum collections. No additional monumental examples have been found. The McMaster Ancient Egyptian Astronomical Tables Project was conceived with the goal of re-assessing all the coffin-based tables and collating existing and new information in one place. The work included museum visits and photographic requests, careful collation with previous publications, and the construction of an online resource acting as a data repository. This paper summarizes the findings of the Project’s survey of diagonal star tables.
N. Strudwick, ed., Information Technology and Egyptology 2008: Proceedings of the meeting of the Computer Working Group of the International Association of Egyptologists (Informatique et Egyptologie), Vienna, 8-11 July 2008. Piscatawy, NJ: Gorgias Press, pp.129–146., 2008
"Complex systems is the study of emergent collective behaviour in sets of agents that can be repr... more "Complex systems is the study of emergent collective behaviour in sets of agents that can be represented as interacting according to simple rules. It is a fast-growing field which brings together many disciplines. The area crosses between computational science and sociology and can provide insight into the development of cultural practices. Early civilisations provide interesting backgrounds for models: for example, Anasazi society has been studied using agent-based modelling (Dean et al. 2006). Conversely, a model of, for example, ancient Egypt can be used to illustrate concepts from complex systems theory and test the un iversality of these concepts. In the Fractal House of Pharaoh Lehner outlines a complex systems view of ancient Egyptian civilisation (Lehner, 2000). We build on some of the aspects of this view in an agent based computer model.
The model presented here is designed to investigate the spread of information and population aggregation in an agrarian society. The model is based on an abstracted Egyptian landscape containing villages, flood plain, and river. The agents represent farming families which exchange information and migrate around the landscape motivated by the availability of surplus food (used as a proxy for quality of life). We shall use this to illustrate some of the key ideas of agent- based modelling and complex systems. Future work will attempt to construct more realistic models to explore the impact of special features of Egyptian geography and society on the development of the civilisation.
References
Dean, J. S., Gumerman, G. J., Epstein, J. M., Axtell, R. L., Swedlund, A. C., Parker, M. T., and McCarroll, S. Understanding Anasazi culture change through agent-based modeling. In Epstein, J. M. Generative Social Science: Studies in Agent-Based Computational Modeling (Princeton Studies in Complexity). Princeton University Press, 2006
Lehner, M. Fractal house of pharaoh: ancient Egypt as a complex adaptive system, a trial formulation. In T. A. Kohler and G. J. Gumerman, Eds., Dynamics in Human and Primate Societies: Agent-Based Modeling of Social and Spatial Processes, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2000, pp275-353"
We describe a course on the propagation of electromagnetic waves that is built around a problem-b... more We describe a course on the propagation of electromagnetic waves that is built around a problem-based learning (PBL) problem. The paper will describe how the problem was integrated into a pre-existing course that was perceived as highly successful (and hence not apparently in need of enhancement) by linking theory with experiment. The problem involves possible methods of searching remotely for leaks in water pipelines crossing a desert region by comparing the dielectric constant of wet and dry sand at various frequencies. The potentially wide-ranging learning objectives are restricted to the various properties of the reflection of plane waves at interfaces. Even so, any one PBL group can carry out only a small subset of the possible experiments in the allotted time. Thus, an interesting feature of the problem is that the reason that the experiments do not appear to give results with textbook accuracy can only be discovered by cooperation amongst the groups. This gives an added focus to the group presentations.
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Books by Sarah Symons
Book Chapters by Sarah Symons
Website by Sarah Symons
Egyptology Papers by Sarah Symons
S16C, a diagonal star table located in the Egyptian Museum at Cairo, is updated. The coffin, belonging to Nxti, is on public display but the underside of the coffin lid, where the diagonal star table is located, is not. Decans in fifteen cells are newly-identified in the table, including seven decans not previously reported on this table.
We also briefly mention S1C, another table in the Egyptian Museum at Cairo, regarding the contents of its horizontal strip.
All three coffins originate from the early Middle Kingdom (around 2100 B.C.), possibly slightly earlier for S1C.
S2Hil is re-examined with new photographs provided by the Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum, Hildesheim. We find several striking features of this table that make it unique among the current collection, and also present more information of this table not previously identified."
Conference Proceedings by Sarah Symons
The model presented here is designed to investigate the spread of information and population aggregation in an agrarian society. The model is based on an abstracted Egyptian landscape containing villages, flood plain, and river. The agents represent farming families which exchange information and migrate around the landscape motivated by the availability of surplus food (used as a proxy for quality of life). We shall use this to illustrate some of the key ideas of agent- based modelling and complex systems. Future work will attempt to construct more realistic models to explore the impact of special features of Egyptian geography and society on the development of the civilisation.
References
Dean, J. S., Gumerman, G. J., Epstein, J. M., Axtell, R. L., Swedlund, A. C., Parker, M. T., and McCarroll, S. Understanding Anasazi culture change through agent-based modeling. In Epstein, J. M. Generative Social Science: Studies in Agent-Based Computational Modeling (Princeton Studies in Complexity). Princeton University Press, 2006
Lehner, M. Fractal house of pharaoh: ancient Egypt as a complex adaptive system, a trial formulation. In T. A. Kohler and G. J. Gumerman, Eds., Dynamics in Human and Primate Societies: Agent-Based Modeling of Social and Spatial Processes, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2000, pp275-353"
S16C, a diagonal star table located in the Egyptian Museum at Cairo, is updated. The coffin, belonging to Nxti, is on public display but the underside of the coffin lid, where the diagonal star table is located, is not. Decans in fifteen cells are newly-identified in the table, including seven decans not previously reported on this table.
We also briefly mention S1C, another table in the Egyptian Museum at Cairo, regarding the contents of its horizontal strip.
All three coffins originate from the early Middle Kingdom (around 2100 B.C.), possibly slightly earlier for S1C.
S2Hil is re-examined with new photographs provided by the Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum, Hildesheim. We find several striking features of this table that make it unique among the current collection, and also present more information of this table not previously identified."
The model presented here is designed to investigate the spread of information and population aggregation in an agrarian society. The model is based on an abstracted Egyptian landscape containing villages, flood plain, and river. The agents represent farming families which exchange information and migrate around the landscape motivated by the availability of surplus food (used as a proxy for quality of life). We shall use this to illustrate some of the key ideas of agent- based modelling and complex systems. Future work will attempt to construct more realistic models to explore the impact of special features of Egyptian geography and society on the development of the civilisation.
References
Dean, J. S., Gumerman, G. J., Epstein, J. M., Axtell, R. L., Swedlund, A. C., Parker, M. T., and McCarroll, S. Understanding Anasazi culture change through agent-based modeling. In Epstein, J. M. Generative Social Science: Studies in Agent-Based Computational Modeling (Princeton Studies in Complexity). Princeton University Press, 2006
Lehner, M. Fractal house of pharaoh: ancient Egypt as a complex adaptive system, a trial formulation. In T. A. Kohler and G. J. Gumerman, Eds., Dynamics in Human and Primate Societies: Agent-Based Modeling of Social and Spatial Processes, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2000, pp275-353"
Our results show that students are attracted to the iSci Program because of the opportunities for research-based learning and skills development. We also found that in-program students value research skill development as a tool for successful completion of their degree and for their future academic or career plans. We conclude that our study methods help identify areas where we can support our students by building their research confidence and, in particular, their time-management skills.
Our methods include weaving pedagogical research design into course design in a novel way, embedding reflective writing into students’ workflow, and using qualitative data analysis software to help identify and map fields of “impact” on student attitudes, behaviours, and decision-making processes. These elements are transferable to courses in a wide range of fields, and our results will be used to demonstrate the range of insight that this type of reflection-based research can provide instructors.
by Sarah Symons, Robert Cockcroft, Jesse Bettencourt
McMaster University
ABSTRACT: We describe a new online resource for Egyptologists, historians of science, and other scholars interested in astronomical activities in ancient Egypt. The database documents Egyptian stars, constellations, and astronomical tables, including those which have been discovered since the publication of Neugebauer and Parker’s Egyptian Astronomical Texts in the 1960s. The resource currently contains all known diagonal star tables and will grow to include all other texts, diagrams, and instruments which record star names.