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Cosmological
Structures of Ancient Egyptian City Planning
David O'Connor
Cosmological structures underlay much ancient Egyptian city planning and the modes of life (ceremonial, political and other) that this planning was intended to promote. This cosmological structuring is fundamental to such Egyptian entities as tomb, temple, palace and house and, as a natural development, extends into city and townscapes. These cosmological principles are manifest not only in royal cities such as Thebes and Tell el Amarna (where there presence can be demonstrated relatively easily) but can be shown to have been applied in seemingly much less obvious contexts, such as the much smaller, tightly planned (orthogonal) pyramid city of Kahan.
Dr. David O'Connor,
is the Lila Acheson Wallace Professor of Ancient Egyptian Art at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University and is known in Philadelphia for his long association with the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology where he is Curator Emeritus of the Egyptian Section and Professor Emeritus in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. O'Connor has a diploma in Egyptology from the University of London and a Ph.D. in Egyptology from Cambridge University, England.
Since 1964 he has been co-Project Director of the Pennsylvania-Yale-Institute of Fine Arts excavations at Abydos in southern Egypt. His recent work in Abydos has included the discovery of twelve boat graves (1991) and the excavation of an enormous and enigmatic cult enclosure, one of several built in Abydos for early Egyptian Kings (ca. 3,000-2,700 B.C.E.). Field work on the enclosure in 1997 revealed that it may be the earliest built and that its location bears a significant relationship to the twelve boat graves. Besides his work in Abydos, Dr. O'Connor has excavated at a number of sites in Egypt and Sudan commencing in 1960 as a field archaeologist working under the late Professor W. B. Emory.
Dr. O'Connor has published a number of books and articles on Egyptian and African history. These include Amenhotep III : Perspectives on His Reign (ed. 1998), Ancient Nubia, Egypt's Rival in Africa (1994), A Short History of Ancient Egypt (1990), Ancient Egyptian Society (1990) and Cities and Towns in Egypt's Golden Age: the Art of Living in the New Kingdom (1982).He is currently preparing a book on the field work at Abydos for the Thames and Hudson series New Aspects of Antiquity.
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