Sofia Aziz

It was an honour to present my research on “The Function & Importance of the Human Brain in Ancient Egypt” at the 11th World Congress on Mummy Studies - Cusco 2025.
Grateful to the organising committee in Peru for their hard work and dedication. Thank you for a wonderful conference.

Attitudes to the Brain in Ancient Egypt - Lecture by Sofia Aziz Sofia Aziz is the author of The Human Brain in Ancient Egypt, which examines what the ancient Egyptian physicians understood about the workings of the brain.

I'm delighted to be giving a lecture this Saturday for the Hapy Egyptology Society. If you're able to attend, I'd love to see you there! #Egyptology #Neurology #mummification

Here's a cat(?) that added their "signature" to a tax receipt in The Royal Ontario Museum.
(It took me a while to find this post again, but the search led me to some other gems).

Call for contributions to edited book: Unearthing Ancient Horrors Representations and Receptions of Uncanny Archaeology Editor: Gabriel Moshenska, UCL Institute of Archaeology, London Archaeology is a powerful and pervasive theme in horror. Meddlesome antiquarians, cursed artefacts, empty tombs and ambulant mummies have been mainstays of fiction and popular culture for centuries, shaping public perceptions of archaeology and the ancient world. The aim of the proposed book is to bring together critical reflections on uncanny archaeologies, to highlight the quality and variety of contemporary studies, and to encourage future developments and new directions in scholarship. Send c.200 word abstracts to g.moshenska@ucl.ac.uk by Friday 14 March.

Call for abstracts: I’m putting together an edited book on archaeology and horror. Details below. Contact me for full CFP or to discuss potential submissions. 🏺👻🧟🏛️

The Great Egyptian Museum is almost complete. It will become a new icon of archaeology The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), also known as the Giza Museum, is one of the most ambitious museum projects of the 21st century. Located just 2km from the Giza pyramid complex, it will become the lar...

The Grand Egyptian Museum #GEM is almost complete. It will become a new icon of archaeology
#Egyptology
I will definitely visit on my return to Egypt this fall!!!
www.whitemad.pl/en/the-great...

It was a pleasure to talk to Times Radio about the discovery, identification and unveiling of Thutmose II's tomb.

Humpback whale songs are structured like human language Languagelike patterns in whale songs could make them easier for whales to learn

A new study published reveals an unexpected similarity between human and humpback vocalisations

Oldest section of China’s Great Wall discovered, pushing back its origin by 300 years Archaeologists have unearthed the earliest section of the Great Wall of China, predating previous estimates by approximately 300 years

Oldest section of China’s #GreatWall discovered, pushing back its origin by 300 years
#archaeology
archaeologymag.com/2025/02/olde...

Prof Kitchen, riding a donkey, during an early visit to Egypt.

Prof Kitchen in a University of Liverpool departmental photograph, dating from around 1990.

The writer attaching a microphone before commencing Prof Kitchen’s lengthy interview, in 2008, for the Egypt Exploration Society Oral History Project.

Prof Kitchen smiling in his garden in 2008.

Devastated by the passing of my dear friend and Egyptological mentor Professor Kenneth Anderson Kitchen (1932-2025). He was an extraordinary scholar, a precise philologist, a twinklingly erudite lecturer, and a charming, affable, and engaging man. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him. Vale!

Out of Africa: celebrating 100 years of human-origins research A landmark study reporting the discovery of Australopithecus africanus one century ago put the African continent at the centre of the story of humanity.

“A landmark study reporting the discovery of Australopithecus africanus one century ago put the African continent at the centre of the story of humanity”

The cranium from the Octagon in Ephesos - Scientific Reports Scientific Reports - The cranium from the Octagon in Ephesos

Fascinated but not greatly surprised to learn that the skull discovered in the Octagon of Ephesos was, just last month, revealed, after almost a century, NOT to be that of Arsinoë IV, assassinated on the orders of her half-sister Cleopatra VII. #Egyptology #Ptolemies www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Fayum Mummy Portraits: Ancient Diseases Captured in the Brush Strokes of Realism Archaeological excavations in the Fayum Oasis during the late 19th and early 20th century led to the unveiling of hundreds of striking painted mummy portraits. Many represented such profound realism, ...

In this article, I explore the fascinating connection between Fayum mummy portraits and the depiction of ancient diseases. These remarkably lifelike portraits offer more than just artistic value—they provide unique insights into the health and conditions of individuals from thousands of years ago.

Thursday, January 30, 2025
7:00 PM ET
Join Via Zoom
Ancient and Modern Egyptian Species Extinctions
by @debborahdonnelly.bsky.social
Presented by the Toronto Chapter of the SSEA
Free & open to all
Click Here to Register us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Multianalytical investigation reveals psychotropic substances in a ptolemaic Egyptian vase - Scientific Reports Scientific Reports - Multianalytical investigation reveals psychotropic substances in a ptolemaic Egyptian vase

An interesting paper: “Multi analytical investigation reveals psychotropic substances in a ptolemaic Egyptian vase”

Title card for the BBC2 documentary series, TUTANKHAMUN’S EGYPT, showing the series’ title against an image of the king’s funerary mask.

Egyptologist Cyril Aldred (1914-1991) addressing the camera from within the British Museum’s record-breaking TREASURES OF TUTANKHAMUN exhibition.

Watching the first episodes of TUTANKHAMUN’S EGYPT for the first time in fifty-three years, I’m struck by the series’ elegant gravity, the clarity of Cyril Aldred’s script, the sense of remoteness imparted by the sound effects and Delia Derbyshire’s extraordinary score: truly evocative! #Egyptomania

Vital Organs: A Re-evaluation of Ancient Egyptian Mummification T he year 1837 marked the beginning of the Victorian era, a dynamic period of social transformations, medical advancements, and huge technological strides, but also marred by slums and heart-wrenching...

My latest article, 'Vital Organs: A Re-evaluation of Ancient Egyptian Mummification’

Violence and Gender in Ancient Egypt Violence and Gender in Ancient Egypt shifts the focus of gender studies in Egyptology to social phenomena rarely addressed through the lens of gender – war and violence, exploring the complex intersec...

In the current world political “anti-gender” climate it is important to remember that gender systems and asymmetric relations of power rely and relied on different forms of violence,some direct visible and physical, others more symbolic and structural.
#Egyptology

www.routledge.com/Violence-and...

I've read your book, and it's excellent. I highly recommend it!

The African wild dog is an endangered species with only four remaining populations in Africa, including one in Kruger National Park. Feel very privileged to have seen them🙏 #krugernationalpark #wilddogs

#krugernationalpark #SouthAfrica

This is for all Egyptology enthusiasts! 😊We saw dung beetles hard at work, rolling their dung balls. They’re surprisingly adorable! Discover the intriguing connection between dung beetles and Egyptian mythology in my article! #ancientegypt #kruger
Check it out here: www.academia.edu/44615227/The...

I felt incredibly fortunate to witness this magnificent leopard in its natural habitat at Kruger National Park.
This beautiful leopard was asleep in a tree, draped across the branches with a grace and ease that was simply mesmerising.

Egypt uncovers blocks from 18th dynasty Queen Hatshepsut temple Archaeologists have uncovered intact portions of the foundation wall of pharaonic Queen Hatshepsut's valley temple in Luxor and the nearby tomb of Queen Teti Sheri, grandmother of Ahmose I, the first pharaoh of Egypt's golden New Kingdom era.

Recent discoveries made by the Egyptian Mission in the area of Asasif & the mortuary complex of Hatshepsut: over 1000 fragments of Hatshepsut’s Valley Temple, Middle Kingdom tombs, 17th Dynasty burial shafts & the later Ptolemaic necropolis. Many congrats to all the Egyptians involved in this work!

Disability in the Ancient Mediterranean World How did cultures like the Egyptians, Romans and Greeks recognise and react to the complex array of impairments and conditions that we now refer to as disabilities today?

On Friday 7th February, I'll be giving an in-person lecture at the Verulamium Museum (@stalbansmuseums.bsky.social) about Disability in the Ancient Mediterranean, exploring Egyptian, Greek & Roman attitudes to disability.

£10 entry, doors open @ 6:30pm:

www.stalbansmuseums.org.uk/whats-on/dis...

The Tomb of the “Magician of the Goddess Selket”, a High-Ranking Physician of the Old Kingdom, Discovered in Egypt In the southern area of the Saqqara archaeological zone, known for housing the tombs of high officials from the Egyptian Old Kingdom, a joint Franco-Swiss archaeological team has made an exceptional d...

The Tomb of the “Magician of the Goddess Selket”, a High-Ranking Physician of the Old Kingdom, Discovered in Egypt!