Hatshepsut: The Uppity Woman

Way to go Judith! No - not chess icon GM Judit Polgar but archaeologist Judith Weingarten, who hosts the fantastic blog Zenobia: Empress of the East. JW's website showed up in Explorator Edition 12.04 for this post on a giant but unfinished obelisk commissioned by the "uppity woman" Pharaoh Hatshepsut. Fantastic photos! Mr. Don and I took these photos of Hatshepsut artifacts while visiting the Met and the Brooklyn Museum: (1) Taken by dondelion at the Met, May 13, 2009 - a collection of Hatshepsut artifacts. (2) Taken by Jan at the Brooklyn Museum, May 17, 2009. Photo (3) below is the identifying tag to the exhibit. Originally the archaeologists hedged on the identity of this sculpture, but recent research has led experts to conclude that it is, indeed, an image of Hatshepsut and not her step-son Thutmose III.

More on the Tomb of Djehuty Discoveries

Judith Weingarten, archaeologist and author, blogs about Hatshepsut's valued Treasurer, Djehuty, and the recent discovery of a tomb beneath Djehuty's tomb. Great reading at a great blog (Zenobia, Empress of the East), check it out. Judith gives the background and historical context to Djehuty's life and times - and presents a mystery. I'm rather snooty (some would say anal) when it comes to blog links. Judith's blog is in my short list of links because her blog is uniformly excellent, interesting and informative. I did a couple of posts on the "tomb beneath the tomb": http://goddesschess.blogspot.com/2009/03/more-on-discovery-of-gold-jewelry-from.html http://goddesschess.blogspot.com/2009/03/gold-jewelry-discovered-in-3500-year.html

Guest Blogging!

Hola darlings! I spent all day after 11:30 a.m. yesterday working on my April column for Chessville. I made good progress; some hours working today adding images of the chess femmes and fact-checking should wrap it up. I was so wrapped up in working on the column that I didn't do any blogging here or any research that I'd intended to do this weekend. I'm just not as energetic as I used to be and I pooped out last night around 7 p.m., just in time to watch "On the Beach" on PBS. What an absolutely depressing movie. I cried through most of it and will never watch it again - ever! The piece that I promised Judith Weingarten back in November is now up and running at her blog, Zenobia: Empress of the East; it's a brief look at a few reasons why chess may have been invented in Persia and not in northern India (most chess historians accept the out of India theory). Please check it out and while you're there, take a look at Judith's great blog!