Shows
Afterlives of Ancient Egypt with Kara CooneyFeeding the Aten: Akhenaten's Offering ObsessionAkhenaten physically manifested his cult to the sun, building a capital city at a break in the cliffs that created the perfect sunrise hieroglyph on the east bank, a city filled with open air temples into which the sun’s rays could reach directly. He created no statues to represent divine solar power, no intercessor between god and king; the sun’s warmth and light could not be contained in a cult statue. To honor the sun god, Akhenaten created a simple and literal system of giving back what the sun god had given to his people: his Aten temp...
2025-09-261h 53
Afterlives of Ancient Egypt with Kara CooneyTutankhamun, Nefertem, and the Lotus of Rebirth[Content Warning: This episode includes discussions of sexual themes(!), power(!!), and the exploitation of bodies(!!!).]Join Kara Cooney and Amber Myers Wells for a deep dive into one of the most peculiar and beautiful objects from the tomb of Tutankhamun (we think!)—a painted wooden head emerging from a blue lotus. Was it meant to show the child god Nefertem? A cosmic birth scene? A sensual drug trip? Or all of the above? In this episode, we explore the sculpture’s religious symbolism, Amarna influences, sketchy findspot, and what it tells us about birth, rebirth, and the powe...
2025-08-2059 min
Afterlives of Ancient Egypt with Kara CooneyThe "Younger Memnon": A Colossal Case of Ancient Reuse and Modern EmpireWhat happens when an ancient Egyptian king recycles a statue—and then an empire steals it more than 3,000 years later? In this episode of Afterlives of Ancient Egypt, Kara Cooney and Amber Myers Wells take you on a deep dive into the life, reuse, and relocation of the colossal statue fragment known as the “Younger Memnon” (British Museum, EA 19). Once a towering monument to Amenhotep III, then reused by Ramses II, and finally carted off to London as a result of 19th-century colonialism, this statue has lived many lives—and it still looms large in the British Museum. It’s the firs...
2025-06-231h 30