Scholarship

PROJECTS

Oriental Institute Demotic Ostraca Online (O.I.D.O.O.)

Transmission of the Book of the Dead, part of the Critical Editions for Digital Analysis and Research (CEDAR) Project, funded by the University of Chicago’s Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society.

BOOKS

Brian P. Muhs, Foy D. Scalf, and Jacqueline E. Jay. The Archive of Thotsutmis, Son of Panouphis: Early Ptolemaic Ostraca from Deir el Bahari (O. Edgerton). Oriental Institute Publications 146. Chicago: Oriental Institute, 2021.

The Archive of Thotsutmis, Son of Panouphis presents for the first time one of the largest collections of Demotic ostraca to have been discovered intact by archaeologists in the twentieth century. Rarely have such deposits been found in situ. Excavated by Ambrose Lansing on behalf of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1915-16 at the site of Deir el-Bahari, the integrity and context of this find are critical to the proper understanding of the texts it contained. Through the publication and analysis of this archive of Demotic and Greek texts recorded on ostraca, Muhs, Scalf, and Jay reconstruct the microhistory of Thotsutmis, son of Panouphis, and his family, who worked in Egypt on the west bank of Thebes as priests in the mortuary industry during the early Ptolemaic Period in the third century BC. The forty-two ostraca published in this volume provide a rare opportunity to explore the intersections between an intact ancient archive of private administrative documents and the larger social and legal contexts into which they fit. What the reconstructed microhistory reveals is an ancient family striving to make it among the wealthy and connected social network of Theban choachytes and pastophoroi, while they simultaneously navigated the bureaucratic maze of taxes, fees, receipts, and legal procedures of the Ptolemaic state.

Foy Scalf (ed.). Book of the Dead: Becoming God in Ancient Egypt. Oriental Institute Museum Publications 39. Chicago: Oriental Institute, 2017.

This book explores what the Book of the Dead was to the ancient Egyptians, what it means to us today, what it was believed to do, how it worked, how it was made, and ultimately what happened to it. Edited by Foy Scalf, PhD, this volume includes fourteen essays showcasing the latest research on the Book of the Dead written by thirteen internationally renown experts as well as a complete catalog of the forty-five objects on display in an associated exhibit at the Oriental Institute Museum. Two famous Book of the Dead papyri, Papyrus Milbank and Papyrus Ryerson, are reproduced in their entirety with full-color photographs among nearly 400 illustrations for the first time. Discover how the ancient Egyptians controlled their immortal destiny and sought close association with the gods through the Book of the Dead.

Foy Scalf. Passports to Eternity: Formulaic Demotic Funerary Texts and the Final Phase of Egyptian Funerary Literature in Roman Egypt. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Chicago, 2014.

ARTICLES

  1. Foy Scalf. “The Funerary Literature Related to the Book of the Dead.” In Rita Lucarelli, and Andreas Stadler (eds.), The Oxford Handbook to the Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022.
  2. Foy Scalf. “Oriental Institute Museum Notes 17: An Abydos Setting for a Stela of Osiris Sety I.” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 81 (2022), 85–98.
  3. Brian P. Muhs and Foy Scalf. “Making a Living Off the Dead: Body Brokers in Ptolemaic Egypt.” Oriental Institute News & Notes 251 (2022), 16–19.
  4. Foy Scalf. “Adult Education at the Oriental Institute in the Twenty-First Century.” Journal of Archaeology and Education 5, Perspectives on Teaching, Learning, and Doing Archaeology and Anthropology Online (2021), 1–7.
  5. Foy Scalf. “Foreword.” In The Egyptian Book of the Dead, Translated by E. A. Wallis Budget. New York: Skyhorse Publishing, 2021, v–xvi.
  6. Foy Scalf. “The First Book of Breathing: A New Assessment Based on an Edition of Papyrus FMNH 31324.” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 79:2 (2020), 151–182.
  7. Robert K. Ritner and Foy D. Scalf. “Erotica from Roman Egypt: A Demotic Magical Spell to Induce Lovesickness.” Oriental Institute News & Notes 246 (Summer 2020), 4–9.
  8. Foy Scalf. “‘Where a Shattered Visage Lies.’ Digital Restoration of Oriental Institute Books of the Dead.” Oriental Institute News & Notes 244 (Winter 2020), 28–31, with contributions by Lucía Díaz-Iglesias Llanos and Mareike Wagner.
  9. Robert K. Ritner and Foy D. Scalf. “Anubis, Archer Figures, and Demotic Magic.” Göttinger Miszellen 259 (2019), 185–212.
  10. Foy Scalf. “The Pragmatics of Interment: How the Placement of Funerary Papyri Embodied the Divine in Roman Egypt.” Maarav 23:1 (2019), 151–175.
  11. Foy Scalf. “A Kind of Paradise: The Research Archives of the Oriental Institute.” In Discovering New Pasts: The OI at 100, edited by Theo van den Hout. Chicago: Oriental Institute, 2019, 134–158.
  12. Foy Scalf and Anne Flannery.” Printing God’s Words with the Devil’s Infernal Machine: The Hieroglyphic Printing Font in the Oriental Institute.” Oriental Institute News & Notes 242 (Summer 2019), 18–24.
  13. Foy Scalf. “The Papyrus of the Treasury Scribe Iry-Iry: A New Ramesside Source for a Memphite Hymn to Osiris and the Book of Caves (BD 168).” Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 104 (2018), 9–27.
  14. Anne Flannery, Foy Scalf, and Knut Boehmer. “Listening is Good for People: The Oriental Institute Oral History Project.” Oriental Institute News & Note 240 (2019), 24–27.
  15. Foy Scalf. “An Embalmer’s Bowl with Demotic Inscription (Oriental Institute Museum E9115).” In Robert K. Ritner (ed.). Essays for the Library of Seshat: Studies Presented to Janet H. Johnson on the Occasion of Her 70th Birthday. Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilizations 70. Chicago: Oriental Institute, 2017, 311-323.
  16. Foy Scalf. “Reviving the Book of the Dead at Chicago’s Oriental Institute.” KMT 29 (2017), 58–67.
  17. Foy Scalf. “What is the Book of the Dead.” In Foy Scalf (ed.), Book of the Dead: Becoming God in Ancient Egypt, Oriental Institute Museum Publications 39. Chicago: Oriental Institute, 2017, 19–30.
  18. Foy Scalf. “The Death of the Book of the Dead.” In Foy Scalf (ed.), Book of the Dead: Becoming God in Ancient Egypt, Oriental Institute Museum Publications 39. Chicago: Oriental Institute, 2017, 139–150.
  19. Foy Scalf. “Book of the Dead: Becoming God in Ancient Egypt.” Oriental Institute News & Notes 235 (2017), 4–11.
  20. Foy Scalf. “Demotic and Hieratic Scholia in Funerary Papyri and their Implications for the Manufacturing Process.” Journal of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities 42 (2015-2016), 69–82.
  21. Foy Scalf. “Magic.” In Edwin M. Yamauchi and Marvin R. Wilson (eds.). Dictionary of Daily Life in Biblical and Post-Biblical Antiquity. Volume III: I-N. Peabody: Hendrickson, 2016, 201–220.
  22. Foy Scalf and Anne Flannery. “Managing Our Past for the Future: The Oriental Institute Integrated Database Forges New Connections to the Worlds of Big Data and Digital Humanities, at a Critical Moment for Cultural Heritage Stewardship.” Oriental Institute News & Notes 228 (2016), 10–13.
  23. Foy Scalf. “From the Beginning to the End: How to Generate and Transmit Funerary Texts in Ancient Egypt.” Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions 15:2 (2015), 194–215.
  24. Foy Scalf. “Resurrecting an Ibis Cult: A Collection of Demotic Votive Texts from the Oriental Institute Museum of the University of Chicago.” In Fayza Haikal (ed.). Mélanges offerts à Ola el-Aguizy. Bibliothèque d’Étude 164. Cairo: Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale, 2015, 361–388.
  25. Friedhelm Hoffmann, Franziska Naether, Foy Scalf, and Ghislaine Widmer. “Demotistische Literaturübersicht XXXIV.” Enchoria 34 (2014-2015), 143–210.
  26. Foy Scalf and Jackie Jay. “Oriental Institute Demotic Ostraca Online (O.I.D.O.O.): Merging Text Publication and Research Tools.” In M. Depauw, Y. Broux and W. Clarysse (eds.). Acts of the Tenth International Congress of Demotic Studies, Leuven, 26-30 August 2008. Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 231. Leuven: Peeters, 2014, 243–261.
  27. Friedhelm Hoffmann, Franziska Naether, Foy Scalf, and Ghislaine Widmer. “Demotistische Literaturübersicht XXXIII.” Enchoria 33 (2012-2013), 113-184.
  28. Foy Scalf. “The Role of Birds across the Religious Landscape of Ancient Egypt.” In Rozenn Bailleul-LeSeur (ed.). Between Heaven and Earth: Birds in Ancient Egypt. Oriental Institute Museum Publications 35. Chicago: Oriental Institute, 2012, 33–40.
  29. Foy Scalf. “Is that a Rhetorical Question? Shipwrecked Sailor (pHermitage 1115) 150 Reconsidered.” Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde 136:2 (2009), 155–159.
  30. Foy Scalf. “The Magical Bricks of the Oriental Institute Museum.” Studien zur altägyptischen Kultur 38 (2009), 275–295, plates 9–18.
  31. Foy Scalf and Jackie Jay. “Accounting for Life in Ptolemaic and Roman Thebes: Online Access to Ancient Archives.” Oriental Institute News & Notes 200 (2009), 13–17.
  32. Foy Scalf. “Rereading the 7th Count of Sneferu in the Palermo Stone.” Göttinger Miszellen 220 (2009), 89–93.
  33. Foy Scalf. “Oriental Institute Museum Collection Highlights. Magical Bricks from Ancient Egypt.” Oriental Institute News & Notes 203 (2009), 23.
  34. Foy Scalf. “Statements of Identity and the m of Predication.” Lingua Aegyptia 16 (2008), 135–151.
  35. Foy Scalf. “Recovering the Lost Story of the Rise of Man: The Research Archives of the Oriental Institute.” Oriental Institute New & Notes 197 (2008), 6–7.

CATALOG ENTRIES

  1. Foy Scalf. “Human Remains,” “Catalog No. 1: Lady from Akhmim” (with Michael Vannier),” “Linen Bandages,” “Heart Scarabs,” “Catalog No. 7: Heart Scarab Inscribed with BD 30B in Hieroglyphs” (with Peter Dorman),” “Catalog No. 8: Gilded Heart Scarab Inscribed with BD 30B in Hieroglyphs,” “Catalog No. 9: Heart Scarab with Human Face Inscribed with BD 30B in Hieroglyphs,” “Sarcophagi and Coffins,” “Catalog No. 10: Fragment from the Coffin of Djehutymes Inscribed with BD 15,” “Papyri Cases,” “Catalog No. 18: Papyrus Scroll with Linen Wrapping,” “Magic Bricks,” “Catalog No. 27: Funerary Figures of Khaunbastet,” “Stelae,” “Catalog No. 29: Stela of Harsiese Inscribed with BD 15,” “Tomb Reliefs,” “Catalog No. 30: Relief from the Tomb of the Vizier Bakenrenef Inscribed with BD 39,” “Catalog No. 32: Demotic Graffiti from the Tomb of the Vizier Nespeqashuty,” “Statues and Figures of Deities,” “Catalog No. 33: Statue of Osiris,” “Catalog No. 37: Amulet of Nephthys,” “Catalog No. 41: Amulet of Re,” “Catalog No. 42: Statue of Sobek,” “Catalog NO. 43: Amulet of Thoth,” “Scribal Materials,” “Catalog No. 44: Scribal Palette.” In Foy Scalf (ed.), Book of the Dead: Becoming God in Ancient Egypt. Oriental Institute Museum Publications 39. Chicago: Oriental Institute, 2017, 173–176, 183, 185, 187–193, 198, 310–311, 323–324, 328–331, 334–337, 343, 348–352.
  2. Foy Scalf. “Birth of the Beautiful Gods,” “Exorcism (in Egypt),” “Feast of the Valley,” “Inara,” “Khonsu,” “Montu,” “Nekhbet,” “Offering Table,” “Pyramid Texts,” “Renenutet,” “Saqqara,” “Shai,” Wennefer (Onnophris).” In Eric M. Orlin, Lisbeth Fried, Michael Pregill, Michael Satlow, and Jennifer Knust (eds.). The Routledge Encyclopedia of Ancient Mediterranean Religions. London: Routledge, 2016, 144–145, 328, 342, 450–451, 511, 645, 665, 785, 808, 849.
  3. Foy Scalf. “Catalog No. 1: Ostrich Egg,” “Catalog No. 2: Three Vignettes, Thebes, tomb of Queen Nefretete, Ramesses II, 1292-1225 B.C.,” “Catalog No. 29: Demotic Letter to Thoth,” “Catalog No. 34: Ba Bird Statuette.” In Rozenn Bailleul-LeSeur (ed.). Between Heaven and Earth: Birds in Ancient Egypt. Oriental Institute Museum Publications 35. Chicago: Oriental Institute, 2012, 131–134, 177, 192–193, 201–202.

REVIEWS

  1. Foy Scalf. Review of Susanne Bickel and Bernard Mathieu (eds.), D’un monde à l’autre: Textes des pyramides & Textes des Sarcophages. BdÉ 139 (Cairo: IFAO, 2004). Journal of Near Eastern Studies 70 (2011), 321–325.
  2. Foy Scalf. Review of I. Guermeur. Les cultes d’Amon hors de Thèbes: Recherches de géographie religieuse. Bibliothèque de l’École des Hautes Études Sciences Religieuses 123 (Brepols: Turnhout, 2005). Journal of Near Eastern Studies 70 (2011), 126–127.
  3. Foy Scalf. Review of J. Assmann, Death and Salvation in Ancient Egypt (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2005). Journal of Near Eastern Studies 70 (2011), 124–126.
  4. Foy Scalf. Review of M. Chaveau, Cleopatra Beyond the Myth and P. Jones, Cleopatra: A Sourcebook. Journal of Near Eastern Studies 69 (2010), 108–109.
  5. Foy Scalf. Review of Mitteilungen des deutschen Archäologischen Instituts Abteilung Kairo 60 (2004) and 61 (2005). Journal of Near Eastern Studies 68:4 (2010), 306–308.

REPORTS

  1. Foy Scalf. “Individual Research.” Oriental Institute Annual Report 2020–2021.
  2. Foy Scalf. “Research Archives.” Oriental Institute Annual Report 2020–2021.
  3. Foy Scalf. “Individual Research.” Oriental Institute Annual Report 2019–2020.
  4. Foy Scalf. “Research Archives.” Oriental Institute Annual Report 2019–2020.
  5. Foy Scalf. “Integrated Database.” Oriental Institute Annual Report 2019–2020.
  6. Foy Scalf. “Research Archives.” Oriental Institute Annual Report 2018–2019, 203–208.
  7. Foy Scalf. “Integrated Database.” Oriental Institute Annual Report 2018–2019, 185–187.
  8. Foy Scalf. “Research Archives.” Oriental Institute Annual Report 2017–2018, 231–237.
  9. Foy Scalf. “Integrated Database.” Oriental Institute Annual Report 2017-2018, 215–220.
  10. Foy Scalf. “Individual Research.” Oriental Institute Annual Report 2017-2018, 203.
  11. Foy Scalf. “Research Archives.” Oriental Institute Annual Report 2016–2017, 220–227.
  12. Foy Scalf. “Integrated Database.” Oriental Institute Annual Report 2016–2017, 209–213.
  13. Foy Scalf. “Research Archives.” Oriental Institute Annual Report 2015–2016, 221–229.
  14. Foy Scalf. “Integrated Database.” Oriental Institute Annual Report 2015–2016, 208–215.
  15. Foy Scalf. “Research Archives.” Oriental Institute Annual Report 2014–2015, 222–230.
  16. Foy Scalf. “Integrated Database.” Oriental Institute Annual Report 2014–2015, 210–216.
  17. Foy Scalf. “Research Archives.” Oriental Institute Annual Report 2013–2014, 202–211.
  18. Foy Scalf. “Integrated Database.” Oriental Institute Annual Report 2013–2014, 191–198.
  19. Foy Scalf. “Research Archives.” Oriental Institute Annual Report 2012–2013, 175–181.
  20. Foy Scalf. “Research Archives.” Oriental Institute Annual Report 2011–2012, 207–212.
  21. Foy Scalf. “Research Archives.” Oriental Institute Annual Report 2010–2011, 178–188.
  22. Foy Scalf. “Research Archives.” Oriental Institute Annual Report 2009–2010, 154–160.
  23. Foy Scalf. “Research Archives.” Oriental Institute Annual Report 2008–2009, 175–185.
  24. Foy Scalf. “Research Archives.” Oriental Institute Annual Report 2007–2008, 166–170.