h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

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but you say in the Entry:

Akhenaten died relatively young, in his thirties



Everything else is done, except for:

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Sorry, I can't find that, can you tell me which Entry it's from, please?

Sorry, typing from memory. Akhenaten died in the 17th year of his reign, while aged around 30-something (accurate age unknown).

'Old Kingdom' is a header in the History Part 2 article. It currently reads 'Old Kingdom (2686 - 2181)', whereas to fit with the other headers, it should read 'Old Kingdom (2686 - 2181 BC)'.

Incidentally, found an interesting reference in W***pedia. Can we add something like:

'Part of the reason for the sudden and massive collapse of the Amarna regime may have been a devastating plague that decimated Egypt at this time. It has been suggested that this may have been polio, influenza or bubonic plague. In any event it was unprecedented and, combined with the loss of territory, was taken as a sign that the gods were displeased with the new regime. This may have contributed to the effectiveness with which the Amarna regime was erased from Egyptian history. '

It would fit neatly at the end of History 4a.

Gif

A25159340 - Egyptian Mummies

natron -- you should say what natron is at the first mention of it, since it is not a common household chemical

all done

Hi GB,

I've discovered that, throughout the Guide, we've been using alternativve spellings for Smenkhare.

In my Entry on Hatshepsup and in this Entry on The Amarna Period, the spelling 'Smenkhare has been used.

In your Entry on Nefertiti you've used 'Smenkhkare' withiout suggesting the alternative.

This makes it difficult to cross-reference between the various 'Egypt' Entries.

I'm wondering whether on this Entry on 'The Amarna Period, my Entry on Hatshepsup and yours on Nefertiti, we should offer the alternative spelling in Footnotes to make cross-referencing easier.

Aren't Egyptian dates and spellings fun?

Gif

Good plan, Big Al

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I've reported that at EF

I'll report Hatshepsup once she hits the FP tomorrow.

Oh? You got a crystal ball?

No, I had an email on Friday to say that it had been approved, then a subsequent email to apologise, saying that they'd approve the wrong batch and that Hatshepsup would be FPd on Monday.

Which way did the Egyptians spell Smenkh(k)are's name? Shouldn't we use that?

Well, yes - if h2g2/GML could deal with the ancient Egyptian alphabet .

This is what w*k* says about it:

'Ankhkheperure Smenkhkare (sometimes spelled Smenkhare and Smenkare; meaning "Vigorous is the Soul of Ra")...'

A25088709 - History of Egypt Part 1 - General Notes

the Ptolomaic period --> the Ptolemaic period

3000 years of history --> 3,000 years of history

A25709853 - History of Egypt Part 2 - The Rise of Egypt

"Narmer may have been a king during this dynasty, if he was distinct from Menes."

This is phrased as if you had already been talking about Narmer and Menes, when in fact it is the first time you mention them. You need to introduce them better:

Narmer is the first king of Egypt who we have a name for, and that only ...
Menes is the first king on the list made 3,000 years later by Manetho, and given in that list as the man who united Upper and Lower Egypt.

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Well, yes - if h2g2/GML could deal with the ancient Egyptian alphabet



Oh, thank you.

That's the funniest thing I've read since Opti wrote "in 1948 his body was resumed and moved to Drumcliff churchyard"

I'll deal with your last comments in the morning Gnomon, I can't see well enough at the moment to do any editing.

Goodnight everyone

It wasn't meant to be funny, GB. The consonants of the Egyptian names are very clearly written down, even if we don't know the vowels, so there should be no problem identifying the correct pronunciation.

Some more:

A25089609 - History of Egypt Part 3 - Rebuilding

You give the dates of the First Intermediate Period as (2181 - 2050 BC) and then say "Some sources claim this may have been significantly earlier, from 2117 BC onwards" but that wouldn't be earlier, it would be later. 2117 BC is later than 2181 BC. So there's something wrong here.

Mentuhopte III and Mentuhopte IV --> Mentuhotep III and Mentuhotep IV

even ventured as far as Punt -- you should put a footnote saying where Punt was, or is believed to have been.

A25089762 - History of Egypt Part 4 - From the Depths to the Heights

"Once again, it would take a brilliant leader " -- put a new paragraph mark before this, and then combine it with the next paragraph which starts "This is the period of history ...". As it stands at present, it sounds as if it is the Second Intermediate Period that is the period which best reflects the schoolchild image of Egypt.

"captured the Upper Egyptian town of Avaris" -- surely Avaris was in the Delta, which would make it a Lower Egyptian town?

obliterated from history for over 3000 years --> obliterated from history for over 3,000 years

reinstating worship of other Gods --> reinstating worship of other gods

The Edited Entry on Tutankhamun gives his dates as 1367 - 1350 meaning he was 17 when he died. You have him as 1361 - 1352, meaning he was only only 9 when he died. Surely it is possible to tell from the mummy whether he was 9 or 17?

You talk about removing all memory of the Amarna period but you never say what the Amarna period was. You should mention in the paragraph about Akhenaten that he moved the capital to Amarna.

This de facto division of Egypt spelt beginning of the end -->
This de facto division of Egypt spelt the beginning of the end

A25160375 - History of Egypt Part 4a - The Amarna Period

cuniform --> cuneiform

have plotted the entire downfall of the Armana court -- it's _Amarna_

A25090175 - History of Egypt Part 5 - The Long, Slow Decline

23rd Dynasty (818 - 715) -- you've left out the BC in this header

at Megiddo -- you might like to add a footnote - "Also known as Armageddon".

"invaded in 525 BC. They founded the city now known as Cairo"
Are you sure of this? The founding of Cairo is normally attributed to the Arabs about a thousand years later.

his general Ptolomy --> his general Ptolemy

It is worth mentioning that all the male rulers of the Greek period were called Ptolemy and all the female rulers were called Cleopatra.

for nearly 2000 years --> for nearly 2,000 years

'The consonants of the Egyptian names are very clearly written down, even if we don't know the vowels, so there should be no problem identifying the correct pronunciation.'

Well, I don't think it's to do with pronunciation. All these alternatives are pronounced pretty much the same. I'm sure better Egyptian linguists than ourselves have put long hours into trying to interpret the Egytian symbols, and come up with these 3 alternatives which are now published in various encyclopaediae



Moving asway from w*k* this is what the 'Biography Research Guide' website www.123exp-biographies.com/t/00034152744/ - 9k says:

'Smenkhkare
Ankhkheperure Smenkhkare (sometimes spelled Smenkhare and Smenkare; meaning "Vigorous is the Soul of Ra") was a Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty who may have been the immediate successor of Akhenaten, and was a predecessor of Tutankhamun.'

The point is that these alternative spellings are 'out there', so we need to incorporate them into our Entries to faciliate someone coming in armed with any one of these names being able to access our Entries.

>>Well, I don't think it's to do with pronunciation. All these alternatives are pronounced pretty much the same. I'm sure better Egyptian linguists than ourselves have put long hours into trying to interpret the Egytian symbols, and come up with these 3 alternatives which are now published in various encyclopaediae

I wouldn't agree at all. The three alternatives Smenkhkare, Smenkhare and Smenkare are pronounced completely differently from each other. Remember, the kh is pronounced the same as the ch in the Scottish word Loch or the German word Achtung.

So we have chk, ch and k as the three different versions.

I'd say its more a question of the Egyptian linguists knowing exactly how the name is pronounced, but people not bothering to spell things correctly. With a bit of work we should be able to find out the correct pronunciation and use it, even if we supply the alternatives in a footnote.

For a start, the symbol in Smenkhkare's cartouche which looks like two hands pointing upwards is 'ka'. So the name includes the syllable ka. This definitely rules out Smenkhare - it is a mispelling and not an 'alternative'. I don't know the symbol before the ka sign - I'll have to check it in my book at home, where it may be listed. But I can see it is not the standard 'men' sign, which looks like a Lego brick. This suggests that it is more likely to be 'menkh'. So I'd favour Smenkhkare. I'll try and confirm that later.

Yes. I just looked to see what Encyclopaedia Brittanica Online says and, although I can't access the whole article, it does seem to favour Smenkhkare

There's a lot here, so I'll just say what I've not done, and leave it for Giford to comment.

A25089609 - History of Egypt Part 3 - Rebuilding

You give the dates of the First Intermediate Period as (2181 - 2050 BC) and then say "Some sources claim this may have been significantly earlier, from 2117 BC onwards" but that wouldn't be earlier, it would be later. 2117 BC is later than 2181 BC. So there's something wrong here.

even ventured as far as Punt -- you should put a footnote saying where Punt was, or is believed to have been.

A25089762 - History of Egypt Part 4 - From the Depths to the Heights

"captured the Upper Egyptian town of Avaris" -- surely Avaris was in the Delta, which would make it a Lower Egyptian town?

A25090175 - History of Egypt Part 5 - The Long, Slow Decline

"invaded in 525 BC. They founded the city now known as Cairo"
Are you sure of this? The founding of Cairo is normally attributed to the Arabs about a thousand years later.