An expedition to Egypt
Nicky Van De Beek
by Nicky B
4M ago
In November of 2022 I went on an expedition to Egypt together with my dear friend Marein. My goal was to travel from south to north, visiting sites and tombs along the way to get a feel for the the landscape while documenting landscape scenes in the tombs that we passed. This in light of my ongoing PhD research at Mainz University, in which I study the ancient Egyptian concept of landscape (chiefly marshland and desert) and how this is reflected in the images (and words) on the tomb walls. We started our epic journey in Giza. The Atlantis Pyramids Inn was a quaint guest house with an unrivalle ..read more
Visit website
From bright sunshine to shady tombs: the photographic journey of an Egyptologist
Nicky Van De Beek
by Nicky B
4M ago
In the fall of 2019 (BC: Before Covid) I packed my bags and my mum to spend one month in sunny Luxor. Staying in a flat on the rural west bank of the Nile, I planned to relax, work on a PhD proposal and take lots of photographs. With the assistance of Julia Thorne from Tetisheri and a friendly employee at the camera store, I had selected the camera that would suit my needs: the Sony α7 II with standard kit lens (my budget had run out at that point). I can’t say I’m a good photographer. But what matters most – like with any creative pursuit – is that I thoroughly enjoy it. As a child, I would p ..read more
Visit website
Dealing with grief
Nicky Van De Beek
by Nicky B
2y ago
It was a hot day for a funeral. The local cemetery was basking in sunlight. The family was sat inside, socially distanced, with the open coffin in front. A grandchild stood up to speak, “Goddamn it, grandma,” began the speech. I was not a part of this. It was not my family. I sat outside on a bench beneath a tree, awaiting the end of the service. Finally the family exited the brooding hall, taking positions to accompany the coffin to its final resting place – a newly dug grave in a barren part of the cemetery. The trees did not yet have a chance to grow, but out of experience I knew they would ..read more
Visit website
Thomas Cook and the way to see the Nile
Nicky Van De Beek
by Nicky B
2y ago
When Thomas Cook went bankrupt in September 2019, hundreds of thousands of holiday makers were stranded. Tens of thousands of employees were out of a job, including many local service providers. Thomas Cook and Son was a household name in the travel industry, two men who single-handedly invented organised travel, and paved the way for how many first time travellers to Egypt still experience the Nile today. When Amelia Edwards visited Egypt in the winter of 1873, the thing to do was to travel by dahabiya, an elegant house boat with sails. After the arrival at Shepheard’s Hotel in Cairo, many ti ..read more
Visit website
Egyptologists’ Notebooks
Nicky Van De Beek
by Nicky B
2y ago
Egyptologists’ Notebooks (2020) Chris Naunton Thames & Hudson 264 pages, 242 ill. ISBN: 9780500295298 Publisher link To be fair, the reason I wanted to review this book was simply to have it in my possession. It being a gorgeous bound and embossed volume with matte paper that beautifully brings out the 242 sketches, maps, plans, watercolours, facsimiles, notebook pages and photographs that form the core of its appeal. In five sections, 32 short biographies are given of (as history would have it, predominantly white male) explorers and Egyptologists. Each richly illustrated with their own w ..read more
Visit website
Digging up the past in films
Nicky Van De Beek
by Nicky B
2y ago
I’ve been meaning to write another blog for a while now, but my past year has been an incredible mess. As you may know my mother died very suddenly short of a year ago, just as I was starting my PhD in Mainz between two waves of the pandemic. When I gained the courage to return to Germany six months later, I was suddenly rushed back to the Netherlands because my father was on the ICU in critical conditions. The doctor could not promise me that he would still be alive when I arrived that afternoon. Luckily he did and made excellent recovery (it was a bumpy ride), although several health issues ..read more
Visit website
Dealing with the Dead
Nicky Van De Beek
by Nicky B
2y ago
Dealing with the Dead in Ancient Egypt: The Funerary Business of PetebasteKoenraad Donker Van Heel AUC Press ISBN 9781617979965 156 pp. $29.95 After three delightful popular books about entrepreneurs in ancient Egypt (see reviews here and here), Koen Donker van Heel is back with a worthy fourth installment in the series. It deals with mortuary priest Petebaste, a so called choachyte who lived in 7th century Thebes (before Christ of course). Simultaneously, the author has published a scientific edition of the 2700 year old papyrus archive in a volume published by Brill. The reason Donker v ..read more
Visit website
Short update and a museum game
Nicky Van De Beek
by Nicky B
2y ago
So it’s been a million years since I last blogged, because three things happened: 1) Covid (don’t even get me started) 2) Getting a funded PhD position and subsequently moving to Germany 3) My mother died So 2020 has been a hell of a bumpy ride, and I am nowhere near recovering. Right now I am in the Netherlands, trying to get some work done and refraining from banging my head against the wall. I’ve been meaning to write a blog post since forever, but the subject matter (funerals) is a bit tough with everything that’s been going on. However, I was playing a little museum app game the other day ..read more
Visit website
People of the Cobra Province
Nicky Van De Beek
by Nicky B
2y ago
With The People of the Cobra Province in Egypt (Oxbow Books, 2020), Wolfram Grajetzki attempts to write a ‘history from below’ of the Wadjet nome, a province south of Asyut in Middle Egypt. Here, about 5000 burials have been uncovered of the farming population, many of which are poor surface burials. Little Old and Middle Kingdom houses have been found, leaving the inhabitants to speak through their artefacts. Theoretical considerations The book starts with an interesting question: were there classes in ancient Egypt? And if so, was there a middle class? Grajetzki points out that we inevitably ..read more
Visit website
Luxor Journal
Nicky Van De Beek
by Nicky B
2y ago
On this 91st consecutive Sunday since lockdown, I thought it might be nice to write about my stay in Egypt in November-December of last year. It’s based on my actual journal, with some accompanying photos. Enjoy! 18 November 2019 On a dreary Monday in November, after my short contract working on a project in a large Dutch museum had ended, we set off to the airport to board a small plane to Cairo. This time with the intention to stay in Luxor for a month, in order to write, draw, work, reflect and do some slow-paced sightseeing. We being my mother and I, as a modern day Henriëtte and Alexandri ..read more
Visit website

Follow Nicky Van De Beek on FeedSpot

Continue with Google
Continue with Apple
OR