A dung beetle rolling its ball across the sand navigates by the Milky Way. The Egyptians made it a god.
They knew it was extraordinary. They just didn’t know how.
A selection of my articles, free to read online.
Vital Organs: A Re-evaluation of Ancient Egyptian Mummification · Nile Magazine, 2024
Re-examines nineteenth-century interpretations of canopic jars alongside textual evidence and modern CT imaging, arguing the Sons of Horus protected the whole body cavity rather than specific organs.
Tutankhamun: 100 Years of Forensic Investigation · Nile Magazine, 2022
A century on from the first autopsy, what four examinations of the mummy have and have not established about his health and how he died.
The haunting intensity of the eyes and the distorted features in these painted portraits offer a window into the health of people who lived nearly two thousand years ago.
Sleep and Dream Therapy in Ancient Egypt · Nile Magazine, 2019
Why the Egyptians turned to dream therapy to solve dilemmas, predict events and cure maladies, and how they guarded against nocturnal demons.
Animals in Magic and Medicine · Nile Magazine, 2019
How the evolution of animal cults and deities was shaped by the emergence of rudimentary biomedical science, from bull dissection to nature’s pharmacy.
The Celestial Scarab · Nile Magazine, 2018
What led the Egyptians to venerate the dung beetle, and how the insect’s orientation dance connects to solar worship and Egypt’s most popular amulet.
Sekhmet: Patron Goddess of Healers and Physicians · Nile Magazine, 2018
How a goddess of terror became the patron of physicians while keeping her destructive edge.
Plutarch’s account tested against Egyptian ophiology and the Brooklyn Papyrus snake list.