Books by James Gill
"This volume makes a significant contribution on the archaeology of the Dakhleh Oasis. More impor... more "This volume makes a significant contribution on the archaeology of the Dakhleh Oasis. More importantly, however, Gill’s study provides a manual for others working in the wider region who will now be able to recognise and characterise their own Ptolemaic pottery, or who will be able to say with certainty that it is indeed absent."
Jennifer Gates-Foster, Antiquity Vol.91, No.355 (2017), 263-264.
"James Gill’s 2016 monograph… is a terrific example of how to write history from material evidence… Gill’s concluding chapter is a deeply satisfying read – both because he offers so many large and persuasive insights and also because they all rest on his painstakingly careful amassing of ceramic data. For those of us committed to the study of pottery, this monograph demonstrates how substantial the pay-off for such study can be… This is a very important book, full of necessary new information, ideas, and syntheses. It is the best kind of pottery study, because it makes of that mundane material historical testimony."
Andrea M. Berlin, Journal of Hellenistic Pottery Vol.2 (2017), 184-190.
"The book provides an enormously strong scientific impulse for changing the obsolete and evidently misleading opinion that the Roman era was a time of enormous agricultural expansion and population increase in the Western Desert. It is time to abandon this fixation on the Roman and accept evident facts that already the powerful Ptolemaic rulers were interested in exploring and exploiting the rich and seemingly endless material resources of the Western oases by founding new and supporting existing large and complex settlements. Thus, this comprehensive and lavishly illustrated publication cannot be ignored by any specialist of Ptolemaic ceramics, because it presents results of good research which is based on its author’s excellent knowledge of material."
Květa Smoláriková, Ancient West and East Vol.17 (2018), 388-389.
Edited Books by James Gill
Edited by A.R. Warfe, J.C.R. Gill, C.R. Hamilton, A.J. Pettman and D.A. Stewart, Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 289, Peeters, 2020
This volume brings together fifty-four studies on ancient Egypt and its interconnections with nei... more This volume brings together fifty-four studies on ancient Egypt and its interconnections with neighbouring regions to celebrate the career of Colin Hope. Presented by friends, colleagues and former students, contributions to the volume offer original research and fieldwork discoveries informed by new interpretations and insights on contemporary issues in Egyptology. In recognition of Colin Hope’s extensive research interests, the subjects of discussion are wide-ranging in their exploration of the art, archaeology, language and literature of Egypt from prehistory to the pharaonic period, the Roman period and later. Also included are studies on the reception of Egyptology and discussions on museum collections and material conservation. A feature of the volume is the range of studies that come from contexts within the Nile Valley proper and the desert regions beyond. Together, the contrasting perspectives reflect important directions in an ever-expanding discipline and in the long-standing contributions made to it by Colin Hope.
Contents:
A History of Egyptology at Monash University, Melbourne (C. Hope);
1) Trade and Pow... more Contents:
A History of Egyptology at Monash University, Melbourne (C. Hope);
1) Trade and Power: The Role of Naqada as a Trading Centre in Predynastic Egypt (J. Cox);
2) Antecedents to the Ptolemaic Mammisis (V. Crown);
3) Ptolemaic ‘Black Ware’ from Mut el-Kharab (J. Gill);
4) The Decorative Program of the Amarna Rock Tombs: Unique Scenes of the Egyptian Military and Police (E. Healey);
5) The Use of Myth in the Pyramid Texts (J. Hellum);
6) The Application of Cladistics to Early Dynastic Egyptian Ceramics: Applying a New Method (A. Hood & J. Valentine);
7) Searching for an Oasis Identity: Dakhleh Oasis in the Third Intermediate Period (C. Hubschmann);
8) Ambiguous Images: The Problems and Possibilities of Analysing Rock-art Images in the Egyptian Western Desert (D. James);
9) The Ruler of Kush (Kerma) at Buhen during the Second Intermediate Period: A Reinterpretation of Buhen Stela 691 and Related Objects (C. Knoblauch);
10) On Interpreting the Meaning of Amulets and Other Objects using the Frog Motif as an Example (J. Kremler);
11) Administrative Control of Egypt’s Western Oases during the New Kingdom: A Tale of Two Cities (R. Long);
12) It Really is Aha: Re-examining an Early Dynastic Ink Inscription from Tarkhan (L. Mawdsley);
13) Invisible History: The First Intermediate Period in United Kingdom (UK) Museum Exhibitions (M. Pitkin);
14) The Inscriptions of Hatshepsut at the Temple of Semnah: An Art-historical and Epigraphic Re-appraisal (A. Shackell-Smith);
15) Characterisation and Legitimisation in the Doomed Prince (D. Stewart);
16) The Typology of 26th Dynasty Funerary Figurines (S. Volk).
Articles by James Gill
Metropolitan Museum Journal, v. 55, 2020
Dust, Demons and Pots: Studies in Honour of Colin A. Hope, 2020
Ancient Cultures at Monash University: Proceedings of a Conference held between 18-20 October 2013 on Approaches to Studying the Ancient Past, 2015
This paper argues that, like the Fayum, the oases of Egypt’s Western Desert were targeted by the ... more This paper argues that, like the Fayum, the oases of Egypt’s Western Desert were targeted by the Ptolemaic rulers for development. This involved a process of new settlement foundation and agricultural exploitation, which together was designed to increase both the population of the oases and the amount of arable land under cultivation. In this way, the Ptolemies ensured that additional food supplies were made available to the temple estates of the Nile Valley, which was particularly important during times of low-inundation when food stores were at their lowest.
Vienna 2 - Ancient Egyptian Ceramics in the 21st Century: Proceedings of the International Conference held at the University of Vienna 14th-18th of May, 2012, 2016
R.S. Bagnall, P. Davoli and C.A. Hope (eds), The Oasis Papers 6: Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference of the Dakhleh Oasis Project, Oxbow Books, Oxford, 231-241., 2012
This paper presents a preliminary analysis of Ptolemaic Period pottery from Mut al-Kharab in Egyp... more This paper presents a preliminary analysis of Ptolemaic Period pottery from Mut al-Kharab in Egypt's Western Desert. It includes a discussion of key fabrics and forms, and identifies the features that characterise the Ptolemaic pottery assemblage.
Egyptology in Australia and New Zealand 2009: Proceedings of the Conference held in Melbourne, September 4th-6th, 2012
This article examines the current state of research on Ptolemaic Black Ware in Egypt and presents... more This article examines the current state of research on Ptolemaic Black Ware in Egypt and presents previously unpublished examples from the site of Mut el-Kharab, located within Dakhleh Oasis in Egypt’s Western Desert.
Teaching Documents by James Gill
Teaching History, 2019
Teaching resource for Stage 4 (Years7-8).
PhD Thesis by James Gill
This thesis challenges the accepted view that there is comparatively little evidence for Ptolemai... more This thesis challenges the accepted view that there is comparatively little evidence for Ptolemaic Period activity in Egypt’s Western Oases. It looks beyond the meagre inscriptional evidence and focuses on the ceramic remains in order to determine the extent of Ptolemaic settlement in the oases and to offer new insights into the nature of this settlement.
It presents an analysis of recently discovered Ptolemaic pottery from Mut al-Kharab in Dakhleh Oasis, as well as a re-examination of pottery collected by the Dakhleh Oasis Project during a survey of the oasis from 1978-1987. It also presents a discussion of Ptolemaic activity in Dakhleh, as well as a survey of Ptolemaic evidence from the wider Western Desert, specifically the oases of Kharga, Farafra, Bahariya and Siwa. This thesis rejects the widely held assumption that the Western Oases experienced a sudden increase in agricultural exploitation and a dramatic rise in population during the Roman Period, and argues that such changes had already taken place under the Ptolemies.
This thesis presents a corpus of Ptolemaic pottery from Dakhleh Oasis, as well as a catalogue of Ptolemaic sites in the Western Oases. It thus represents the first major synthesis of Ptolemaic Period activity in the Western Desert of Egypt.
Conference Presentations by James Gill
This paper presents an overview of the current state of research into the Ptolemaic Period occupa... more This paper presents an overview of the current state of research into the Ptolemaic Period occupation of Dakhleh Oasis and summarises the available evidence. It proposes that the Ptolemaic rulers specifically targeted Dakhleh, together with the other oases, as areas for increased settlement and agricultural development, which laid the foundation for continued development during the Roman Period.
Until recently, evidence for Ptolemaic Period activity in Dakhleh Oasis was thought to be rather ... more Until recently, evidence for Ptolemaic Period activity in Dakhleh Oasis was thought to be rather limited, especially when compared to the abundant evidence for Roman Period activity. Research conducted by the author has demonstrated that this view is no longer valid, as a significant number of Ptolemaic sites have now been identified. Whilst the number of sites alone has important implications for the study of Ptolemaic Dakhleh, when we look at the distribution of these sites it is possible to see certain patterns emerge, which provide further insight into the nature of human settlement in the oasis during this period. The results of such an analysis support the author’s contention that the oasis was subject to a substantial increase in settlement and agricultural exploitation already during the Ptolemaic Period, and that this expansion did not take place suddenly during the Roman Period.
The aim of this paper is to present new research regarding the Ptolemaic Period occupation of Dak... more The aim of this paper is to present new research regarding the Ptolemaic Period occupation of Dakhleh Oasis. It has previously been thought that the population of the oasis increased significantly during the Roman Period; however, this theory can now be challenged. An examination of pottery from the oasis, including a reanalysis of pottery found during the survey conducted by the DOP, has demonstrated that many more Ptolemaic sites existed than initially thought. This paper will present an overview of the results.
Bes Vessels have a long history and are found at a large number of sites throughout Egypt. Despit... more Bes Vessels have a long history and are found at a large number of sites throughout Egypt. Despite this, little is actually known about their role and whether they were always used in the same way throughout history. Previous studies have focused primarily on examples dating to the New Kingdom and Late Period. While some of these studies address the problem of the identity of the ‘Bes’ image, and others attempt to create a typology of vessels, few actually discuss the function of these vessels.
A large proportion of Bes Vessels are of unknown provenance, which makes it difficult to assess the function of these vessels. The fact that examples have been discovered in both funerary and settlement contexts only serves to complicate the issue further.
In this paper I will present a series of fragmentary and complete Bes Vessels from Dakhleh Oasis, mostly from the site of Mut el-Kharab. These appear to date to both the Late Period and Ptolemaic Period, although some examples may fall outside of this range. I will then attempt to answer a series of questions in relation to these vessels:
a) Can the vessels be placed in some form of relative chronology?
b) What do the find contexts tell us about the role of these vessels?
c) Should we discuss these vessels as a single group or do different types reflect
different functions?
d) Are we correct in identifying these vessels as representations of the god Bes?
Unlike the Late Period vessels presented here, the Ptolemaic Period examples do not appear to have parallels elsewhere in Egypt. This may be a reflection of the paucity of research on Ptolemaic Bes Vessels, yet it may also point to a local oasis style that is not encountered elsewhere. This issue will also be addressed in the paper.
Seminar Presentations by James Gill
Uploads
Books by James Gill
Jennifer Gates-Foster, Antiquity Vol.91, No.355 (2017), 263-264.
"James Gill’s 2016 monograph… is a terrific example of how to write history from material evidence… Gill’s concluding chapter is a deeply satisfying read – both because he offers so many large and persuasive insights and also because they all rest on his painstakingly careful amassing of ceramic data. For those of us committed to the study of pottery, this monograph demonstrates how substantial the pay-off for such study can be… This is a very important book, full of necessary new information, ideas, and syntheses. It is the best kind of pottery study, because it makes of that mundane material historical testimony."
Andrea M. Berlin, Journal of Hellenistic Pottery Vol.2 (2017), 184-190.
"The book provides an enormously strong scientific impulse for changing the obsolete and evidently misleading opinion that the Roman era was a time of enormous agricultural expansion and population increase in the Western Desert. It is time to abandon this fixation on the Roman and accept evident facts that already the powerful Ptolemaic rulers were interested in exploring and exploiting the rich and seemingly endless material resources of the Western oases by founding new and supporting existing large and complex settlements. Thus, this comprehensive and lavishly illustrated publication cannot be ignored by any specialist of Ptolemaic ceramics, because it presents results of good research which is based on its author’s excellent knowledge of material."
Květa Smoláriková, Ancient West and East Vol.17 (2018), 388-389.
Edited Books by James Gill
A History of Egyptology at Monash University, Melbourne (C. Hope);
1) Trade and Power: The Role of Naqada as a Trading Centre in Predynastic Egypt (J. Cox);
2) Antecedents to the Ptolemaic Mammisis (V. Crown);
3) Ptolemaic ‘Black Ware’ from Mut el-Kharab (J. Gill);
4) The Decorative Program of the Amarna Rock Tombs: Unique Scenes of the Egyptian Military and Police (E. Healey);
5) The Use of Myth in the Pyramid Texts (J. Hellum);
6) The Application of Cladistics to Early Dynastic Egyptian Ceramics: Applying a New Method (A. Hood & J. Valentine);
7) Searching for an Oasis Identity: Dakhleh Oasis in the Third Intermediate Period (C. Hubschmann);
8) Ambiguous Images: The Problems and Possibilities of Analysing Rock-art Images in the Egyptian Western Desert (D. James);
9) The Ruler of Kush (Kerma) at Buhen during the Second Intermediate Period: A Reinterpretation of Buhen Stela 691 and Related Objects (C. Knoblauch);
10) On Interpreting the Meaning of Amulets and Other Objects using the Frog Motif as an Example (J. Kremler);
11) Administrative Control of Egypt’s Western Oases during the New Kingdom: A Tale of Two Cities (R. Long);
12) It Really is Aha: Re-examining an Early Dynastic Ink Inscription from Tarkhan (L. Mawdsley);
13) Invisible History: The First Intermediate Period in United Kingdom (UK) Museum Exhibitions (M. Pitkin);
14) The Inscriptions of Hatshepsut at the Temple of Semnah: An Art-historical and Epigraphic Re-appraisal (A. Shackell-Smith);
15) Characterisation and Legitimisation in the Doomed Prince (D. Stewart);
16) The Typology of 26th Dynasty Funerary Figurines (S. Volk).
Articles by James Gill
Teaching Documents by James Gill
PhD Thesis by James Gill
It presents an analysis of recently discovered Ptolemaic pottery from Mut al-Kharab in Dakhleh Oasis, as well as a re-examination of pottery collected by the Dakhleh Oasis Project during a survey of the oasis from 1978-1987. It also presents a discussion of Ptolemaic activity in Dakhleh, as well as a survey of Ptolemaic evidence from the wider Western Desert, specifically the oases of Kharga, Farafra, Bahariya and Siwa. This thesis rejects the widely held assumption that the Western Oases experienced a sudden increase in agricultural exploitation and a dramatic rise in population during the Roman Period, and argues that such changes had already taken place under the Ptolemies.
This thesis presents a corpus of Ptolemaic pottery from Dakhleh Oasis, as well as a catalogue of Ptolemaic sites in the Western Oases. It thus represents the first major synthesis of Ptolemaic Period activity in the Western Desert of Egypt.
Conference Presentations by James Gill
A large proportion of Bes Vessels are of unknown provenance, which makes it difficult to assess the function of these vessels. The fact that examples have been discovered in both funerary and settlement contexts only serves to complicate the issue further.
In this paper I will present a series of fragmentary and complete Bes Vessels from Dakhleh Oasis, mostly from the site of Mut el-Kharab. These appear to date to both the Late Period and Ptolemaic Period, although some examples may fall outside of this range. I will then attempt to answer a series of questions in relation to these vessels:
a) Can the vessels be placed in some form of relative chronology?
b) What do the find contexts tell us about the role of these vessels?
c) Should we discuss these vessels as a single group or do different types reflect
different functions?
d) Are we correct in identifying these vessels as representations of the god Bes?
Unlike the Late Period vessels presented here, the Ptolemaic Period examples do not appear to have parallels elsewhere in Egypt. This may be a reflection of the paucity of research on Ptolemaic Bes Vessels, yet it may also point to a local oasis style that is not encountered elsewhere. This issue will also be addressed in the paper.
Seminar Presentations by James Gill
Jennifer Gates-Foster, Antiquity Vol.91, No.355 (2017), 263-264.
"James Gill’s 2016 monograph… is a terrific example of how to write history from material evidence… Gill’s concluding chapter is a deeply satisfying read – both because he offers so many large and persuasive insights and also because they all rest on his painstakingly careful amassing of ceramic data. For those of us committed to the study of pottery, this monograph demonstrates how substantial the pay-off for such study can be… This is a very important book, full of necessary new information, ideas, and syntheses. It is the best kind of pottery study, because it makes of that mundane material historical testimony."
Andrea M. Berlin, Journal of Hellenistic Pottery Vol.2 (2017), 184-190.
"The book provides an enormously strong scientific impulse for changing the obsolete and evidently misleading opinion that the Roman era was a time of enormous agricultural expansion and population increase in the Western Desert. It is time to abandon this fixation on the Roman and accept evident facts that already the powerful Ptolemaic rulers were interested in exploring and exploiting the rich and seemingly endless material resources of the Western oases by founding new and supporting existing large and complex settlements. Thus, this comprehensive and lavishly illustrated publication cannot be ignored by any specialist of Ptolemaic ceramics, because it presents results of good research which is based on its author’s excellent knowledge of material."
Květa Smoláriková, Ancient West and East Vol.17 (2018), 388-389.
A History of Egyptology at Monash University, Melbourne (C. Hope);
1) Trade and Power: The Role of Naqada as a Trading Centre in Predynastic Egypt (J. Cox);
2) Antecedents to the Ptolemaic Mammisis (V. Crown);
3) Ptolemaic ‘Black Ware’ from Mut el-Kharab (J. Gill);
4) The Decorative Program of the Amarna Rock Tombs: Unique Scenes of the Egyptian Military and Police (E. Healey);
5) The Use of Myth in the Pyramid Texts (J. Hellum);
6) The Application of Cladistics to Early Dynastic Egyptian Ceramics: Applying a New Method (A. Hood & J. Valentine);
7) Searching for an Oasis Identity: Dakhleh Oasis in the Third Intermediate Period (C. Hubschmann);
8) Ambiguous Images: The Problems and Possibilities of Analysing Rock-art Images in the Egyptian Western Desert (D. James);
9) The Ruler of Kush (Kerma) at Buhen during the Second Intermediate Period: A Reinterpretation of Buhen Stela 691 and Related Objects (C. Knoblauch);
10) On Interpreting the Meaning of Amulets and Other Objects using the Frog Motif as an Example (J. Kremler);
11) Administrative Control of Egypt’s Western Oases during the New Kingdom: A Tale of Two Cities (R. Long);
12) It Really is Aha: Re-examining an Early Dynastic Ink Inscription from Tarkhan (L. Mawdsley);
13) Invisible History: The First Intermediate Period in United Kingdom (UK) Museum Exhibitions (M. Pitkin);
14) The Inscriptions of Hatshepsut at the Temple of Semnah: An Art-historical and Epigraphic Re-appraisal (A. Shackell-Smith);
15) Characterisation and Legitimisation in the Doomed Prince (D. Stewart);
16) The Typology of 26th Dynasty Funerary Figurines (S. Volk).
It presents an analysis of recently discovered Ptolemaic pottery from Mut al-Kharab in Dakhleh Oasis, as well as a re-examination of pottery collected by the Dakhleh Oasis Project during a survey of the oasis from 1978-1987. It also presents a discussion of Ptolemaic activity in Dakhleh, as well as a survey of Ptolemaic evidence from the wider Western Desert, specifically the oases of Kharga, Farafra, Bahariya and Siwa. This thesis rejects the widely held assumption that the Western Oases experienced a sudden increase in agricultural exploitation and a dramatic rise in population during the Roman Period, and argues that such changes had already taken place under the Ptolemies.
This thesis presents a corpus of Ptolemaic pottery from Dakhleh Oasis, as well as a catalogue of Ptolemaic sites in the Western Oases. It thus represents the first major synthesis of Ptolemaic Period activity in the Western Desert of Egypt.
A large proportion of Bes Vessels are of unknown provenance, which makes it difficult to assess the function of these vessels. The fact that examples have been discovered in both funerary and settlement contexts only serves to complicate the issue further.
In this paper I will present a series of fragmentary and complete Bes Vessels from Dakhleh Oasis, mostly from the site of Mut el-Kharab. These appear to date to both the Late Period and Ptolemaic Period, although some examples may fall outside of this range. I will then attempt to answer a series of questions in relation to these vessels:
a) Can the vessels be placed in some form of relative chronology?
b) What do the find contexts tell us about the role of these vessels?
c) Should we discuss these vessels as a single group or do different types reflect
different functions?
d) Are we correct in identifying these vessels as representations of the god Bes?
Unlike the Late Period vessels presented here, the Ptolemaic Period examples do not appear to have parallels elsewhere in Egypt. This may be a reflection of the paucity of research on Ptolemaic Bes Vessels, yet it may also point to a local oasis style that is not encountered elsewhere. This issue will also be addressed in the paper.