The History of Egypt Podcast

Was Pharaoh literally a god? Listener Questions 1

Dienstag, 30. Juni 2026 · 52 min

MP3

Shownotes

Bonus episode. I took some listener questions in a livestream, and here they are. We cover topics like: Was pharaoh literally a god? How common was tattooing? Was there an ancient canal between the Nile and Red Sea? What are my recommended Egyptology books? And much more...

If you'd like to join future Q-and-A sessions you can find them at patreon.com/egyptpodcast. If you would like to submit a question, drop it in the comments!

There is a (shorter) video version of this QnA available at patreon.com/egyptpodcast/posts/qna-ask-me-june…

Questions

Top 3 Egyptology books:

Royal family tombs (like KV5):

Tattooing?

Was Pharaoh literally a god?

Linen - who made it and how?

What is the biggest misconception people have about ancient Egypt?

Perfumes: What do we know about them?

How long do you need at the GEM?

Best book about gods/mythology?

How do you pronounce Ra (or Re?)

What happened to Mortuary Temples after their owner died?

What role did dwarfs / little people play in ancient Egyptian society?

What role did foreigners play? Could they reach high status?

Could Beketaten be the mother of Tutankhamun?

Did Canaanite religion influence Egypt more, or vice versa?

Did Egyptian solar religion influence the Roman cult of Sol Invictus?

Gods and Goddesses: how prominent are the LOCAL deities in different regions?

When was the "Canal of the Pharaohs" connecting the Nile and Red Sea?

What are the most common biases in Egyptology?

The Oxford Encyclopedia

The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt on Internet Archive: Vol.1 (archive.org/details/oxfordencyclopediaofancien…) (A-F); Vol. 2 (archive.org/details/oxfordencyclopediaofancien…) (G-O); Vol. 3 (archive.org/details/oxfordencyclopediaofancien…) (P-Z).

Tattooing

Booth, C. (2001). Possible tattooing instruments in the Petrie Museum. Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 87, 172--175. jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/3822379.pdf

Fletcher, J. (2005). The decorated body in ancient Egypt: Hairstyles, cosmetics and tattoos. In L. Cleland, M. Harlow, & L. Llewellyn-Jones (Eds.), The clothed body in the ancient world (pp. 3--13). Oxbow.

Also, researcher Anne Austin has done some work on tattooing in ancient Egypt, and has uploaded some of it to YouTube (link (youtube.com/watch?v=352_7RpaxQ0)) and her website: anneeaustin.com/tattooing-in-ancient-egypt

Perfumes

Perfumes: I recommend the work of Dora Goldsmith: Academia.edu (fu-berlin.academia.edu/DoraGoldsmith) and Instagram (instagram.com/prof_dora)

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