Further to my posts: Queen Sesheshet and Noblewomen's Tomb In Saqqara, and from Haaretz.com:The pyramid in which the queen, Sesheshet, was buried, was discovered in November 2008 - it is the 118th found in Egypt. Its discovery in Teti's burial compound surprised the researchers to some extent, since the site had been thoroughly combed through over the past 150 years. In addition to the pyramid where the king himself was buried, two "satellite pyramids" were found, the tombs of his two principal wives: The one belonging to Iput I was discovered about 100 years ago; the second, of Khuit, was discovered in 1994.
In a papyrus document that includes medical prescriptions, her name is mentioned alongside a request for a preparation that was supposed to strengthen thin hair. Nevertheless, it is possible that the "pharmacists" used her name to lend a bit of prestige to the prescription, and did not necessarily prepare it for her. Another inscription mentions her as being the mother of the king, and in several reliefs of the same area the name "Sesheshet" appears. However, these do not contribute substantial information about the king's mother. Scholars believe she played a very important role in her son's ascent to the throne, thanks, among other things, to her success in mediating between two rival factions within the royal family.
Dr. Deborah Sweeney, an expert on ancient Egypt from the archaeology department of Tel Aviv University, says researchers assume that Sesheshet belonged to the close circle of the last king of the Fifth Dynasty, Unas. He had no sons to inherit the throne and Teti may have been his grandson. Since it is not known when she died, researchers can only guess that the pharaoh's mother was alive during almost 20 years of his reign, which extended from 2323 to 2291 B.C.E.
From the Times of India:Scientists have conducted a DNA analysis on bones believed to have been relics of Georgian queen Ketevan preserved in St Augustine's complex at Old Goa, but the mystery continues as a matching analysis of her other relics in Georgia needs to be done to confirm the findings.
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Goa, received the DNA report recently from the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad. "We were able to isolate the ancient DNA but the amplification and sequencing needs to be done following a different protocol, which is still not commercially available in the laboratory, and we require an advanced kit to carry out a phase 2 analysis," N Taher, deputy superintending archaeologist, Goa said.
A matching DNA report of the queen's remains in Georgia will also help carry the research to its logical conclusion. "We are not very sure if the bone relics belong to the queen and we will request a Georgian delegation coming to Goa later this month to do a sequencing of their specimen for verification," Taher added.
Augustinian Friars, who also had their mission in Iran, came in contact with the Georgian Queen (1565-1624) in Shiraz, Iran, and held her in high esteem. She was put to death by Shah Abbas I of Iran in 1624 after several years of imprisonment for her refusal to give up Christianity.
The Augustinian Friars exhumed her body after four months and took the relics to Georgia and interred them at the Alaverdi Cathedral, and also brought a hand and palm to Goa.
After the ASI started excavations to conserve the site at St Augustine's complex two decades back, in 2004-05, archaeologists found three bones in the chapter chapel in the convent of St Augustine.
Bone relics of other dignitaries were also being preseved in six chamber boxes in the chapel. "The remains of five chamber boxes can be seen at the site, except for the one with Queen Ketevan's remains," Abhijit Ambekar, an archaeologist said.
A long bone was found below the second window within the chapel and two more fragments behind the second window close to the coping stone of the chamber box. Research will continue to find out whether the remains were also taken anywhere out of the complex, sources said. St Augustine's complex crumbled after materials were sourced for construction elsewhere. It was also neglected after the Portuguese asked the Augustinian Friars to leave in 1835.
The search for the queen's remains may take longer as relics in other tombstones may have to be examined, Taher said. "As scientific analysis is available, we may have to take up other specimens of bone relics for analysis."
The Georgian team comprises Fr R Georgi, dean of St Kethevan church in Tibilisi, capital of Georgia, and a team of archaeologists and media persons.
Concluded Taher, "The Georgians are coming to Goa as they have an emotional tie with the events related to their patron saint and St Augustine's complex is significant to them."
From Physorg.com:"Tel Aviv University archaeologists Prof. Shlomo Bunimovitz and Dr. Zvi Lederman of the Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Civilizations have uncovered an unusual ceramic plaque of a goddess in female dress, suggesting that a mighty female "king" may have ruled the city. If true, they say, the plaque would depict the only known female ruler of the region.
The plaque itself depicts a figure dressed as royal male figures and deities once appeared in Egyptian and Canaanite art. The figure's hairstyle, though, is womanly and its bent arms are holding lotus flowers - attributes given to women. This plaque, art historians suggest, may be an artistic representation of the "Mistress of the Lionesses," a female Canaanite ruler who was known to have sent distress letters to the Pharaoh in Egypt reporting unrest and destruction in her kingdom.
Around 1350 BCE, there was unrest in the region. Canaanite kings conveyed their fears via clay tablet letters to the Pharaoh in Egypt, requesting military help. But among all the correspondence by kings were two rare letters that stuck out among the 382 el Amarna tablets uncovered a few decades ago by Egyptian farmers. The two letters came from a "Mistress of the Lionesses" in Canaan. She wrote that bands of rough people and rebels had entered the region, and that her city might not be safe. Because the el-Amarna tablets were found in Egypt rather than Canaan, historians have tried to trace the origin of the tablets."
In 2007, 236 schools teaching girls were burned down. In 2008, there were attacks on 256 schools that left 58 dead. Teachers have been killed in front of students and schoolgirls attacked with acid. Honor killings are up, burqas are back in many places. A 75-year-old woman was nailed to a tree and killed, and an Afghan member of parliament had her daughter legally taken away by a husband after he married a second wife.
''Human rights are not a Western concept,'' says Sima Samar, chair of the Afghan human rights commission, ''but universal, and necessary for all human beings.'' Somewhere in southern Afghanistan another little girl is being ''protected'' from school, another woman shrouded in the anonymity of a burqa is begging permission to walk out her front door.
From the Examiner:"She collected a hit off of the legendary Satchel Paige. She's traveled to Japan with Joe DiMaggio and dined with Penny Marshall. Ohio State University calls her one of the finest and most versatile athletes to ever play for the Buckeyes.
At $800 a season, she was the highest paid rookie to ever come through the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, memorialized in the 1992 film "A League of Their Own."
The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League emerged in the spring of 1943 after World War II had forced most minor league teams into obscurity and taken many quality players away from the major league clubs.
The league was three seasons into its existence before Hohlmayer even heard of it. While at Ohio State, she played nearly every club sport the Buckeyes offered - soccer, field hockey, badminton, archery, volleyball, basketball and softball.
It was at a national softball tournament in Cleveland in 1945 that Hohlmayer's athletic career took an unexpected turn."
Web LinksAll American Girls Baseball League - wikipediaA League of Their Own - wikipedia
From the Telegraph"..... Dr Starkey said he found it "bizarre" that so much historical effort was now focused on the monarch's wives."But it's what you expect from feminised history, the fact that so many of the writers who write about this are women and so much of their audience is a female audience. Unhappy marriages are big box office." Dr Starkey went further, by saying that modern attempts to paint many women in history as "power players" was to falsify the facts. "So, its okay for men to write about men but not okay for women to write about women?? And we should now not delve into history and write about women who had both power and influence because its all about the male ego and the male achievements. Nor should we womenfolk concern ourselves with the marital goings-on of our historical monarchs, much less write about such flights of fancy (ala Mills & Boon). Do I detect the rantings of a man still stuck in the pages of history himself???? Maybe Dr Starkey should direct his attention to Dr John Knox for his next book - they have so much in common! The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of WomenLetter to the Queen Dowager, Regent of Scotland
Following on from The Story of Hafsah, comes more stories on the wives of The Prophet.From Adil Salahi, writing for the Arab News:Zaynab: The Poor's Mother"One of them, however, has an additional title of motherhood. She is Zaynab bint Khuzaymah, known as the mother of the poor. She earned this title because of her compassionate heart and her ready generosity. She was apparently always kind to the poor, and her kindness became greater when she married the Prophet."A Woman of Character: Umm Salamah"Umm Salamah, a widow, was a woman who combined beauty with character, noble birth and a wealth of experience. Her deceased husband was one of the early converts to the new faith when Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) began preaching his message in secret. Being a woman of sagacious mind, she joined him in declaring her belief in Islam, realizing that idolatry is an absurdity, which defies human logic."Aishah"Aishah was the first he married in Madinah, but others followed her into his home as and when the need arose. As she watched these developments, she wanted to keep her position. She realized that she could not do anything to stop these marriages, which were often dictated by circumstances. Hence, she worked to achieve her goal through clever manipulation. Soon there were two camps, one headed by Aishah and the other by Umm Salamah, who combined maturity with beauty and strong character."Khadijah"Happiness is the word that sums up the first marriage of the Prophet (peace be upon him). Khadijah gave him all that a man needs from a loving, caring and thoughtful wife. When we remember that Khadijah was a woman of sound mind and willing to place duty above comfort, we realize that the Prophet had nothing to worry about at home as he went about delivering his message and discharging the task assigned to him by God. He appreciated all that she gave him and her memory remained alive with him to his last day. As it is well known, the Prophet lived with Khadijah for 25 years without ever entertaining a thought of marrying another woman, although polygamy was accepted as perfectly normal in his community, if not throughout the world. After she passed away, he married several wives but she retained her supreme position in his heart."Please read the stories of these amazing women who were so prominent at the beginning of The Prophet's ministry.
A new Afghan law makes it legal for men to rape their wives. The President Hamid Karzai has been accused by human rights groups of signing the legislation in order to garner support from the Shiite community in the face of August elections.Many have criticised the introduction of these somewhat harsh laws, following the fall of the Taliban's repressive regime, as Parliament had neither the opportunity to discuss nor debate this legislation before it was hastily rushed through.From the Khaleej Times:"A new law for Shia Muslims in Afghanistan has provoked anger among some lawmakers and the United States and United Nations said they were concerned about its impact on women’s rights in the former Taliban state.The law passed by parliament and signed by President Hamid Karzai, but not yet promulgated in the official gazette, is meant to legalise minority Shia family law, which is different from that of the majority Sunni population. Shia Muslims make up about 15 percent of the population."From Newsday:"Safia Sidiqi, a lawmaker from Nangarhar province who condemned the legislation, said she cannot remember parliament debating or even voting on the law and she does not know how it came to be signed by Karzai. She called for the law to be recalled to parliament for debate.Sayed Hossain Alemi Balkhi, a Shiite lawmaker involved in drafting it, defended the legislation saying it gives more rights to women than even Britain or the United States does. He said the law makes women safer and ensures the husband is obliged to provide for her."
From Wednesday's Herald Sun (Melbourne):"Researchers in modern Germany have used a modern medical procedure to uncover a secret within one of ancient Egypt's most treasured artworks - the bust of Nefertiti has two faces.A team led by Dr Alexander Huppertz, director of the Imaging Science Institute of Berlin's Charite medical school, discovered a detailed stone carving that differs from the external stucco face when they performed CT scans on the bust. These revealed that the stone core is a highly detailed sculpture of the queen, Dr Huppertz said."See also: Nefertiti got extreme makeover: researchers
