Massimiliano Franci
Professor of Egyptian Art and Archaeology and Anthropology of Food at CAMNES-LdM Institute and of Egyptology, Islamology, Ancient Near Estaern Art and History, and History of Christianity at the University Continuous Formation and Long-Life Learinig of Florence (Italy) and holder of the course of Archaeology and Egyptology for the training of tourist guides in Siena, Florence and its province. He is also Professor of Ancient Egyptian Language and Sumerian Language at CAMNES.Memebr of the International Association of Egyptologist, he has been the secretary of the last International Congress of Egyptologists (Florence 2015). He is also member of the Foundation Andrei Tarkovsky, the Italian Society of History of Religions, and the International Association of History of Religion. His main research fields are in the Egyptian Linguistics and Philology, Egyptian Cultural Identity, and on History of Deir el Medina Village.His monography about Ancient Egyptian Astronomy has been recently translated in Arabic an officially presented at the Cairo University in Egypt, where he awarded the Cairo Accademic distinction.He is the author of many scientific contributions, most relevant among which are the articles: “Semitic /’a/- prefix in Ancient Egyptian execration text toponyms: protethic particle or elative case?”(2002, Egyptian Museum Collections Around the World), “Egypto-Semitic Lexical Comparison (1): New Correspondences and Phonetic Problems in the Lexicon Field of Anatomy and Physiological Functions” (2005, Franco Angeli Editore), “Quelques considérations sur le champ sémantique du déterminatif mw” (2005, L’Erma di Bretschneider), “Considerazioni fonetiche e morfologiche sui toponimi semitici dei Testi di Esecrazione egiziani” (2007, Rubbettino Editore), “Considerazioni sulla fonetica egiziana” (2007, Unipress), “Rapporti particolari tra egiziano e semitico all’interno della comparazione afroasiatica: i prestiti” (2008, Unipress), “Egypto-Semitic Lexical Comparison (2): New Correspondences and Phonological Problems in the Lexicon of Physical Environment, Spontaneous Vegetation and Wild Animals” (2009, Pułtusk Institute of Anthropology and Archaeology), “Il causativo in egiziano” (2009, Unipress), “Extension de la racine dans la comparaison égypto-sémitique” (2010, Sargon Edizioni), “Elementi di dialettologia egiziana” (Unipress 2010)
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Books by Massimiliano Franci
Often only the place names to enlighten us on the passage of peoples and languages in various geographical areas. In fact, the search of a placename's origin, allows you to see the documentation in the course of time; obtaining information of any kind, relating to the history of colonization of a country, the origins of a people; its religions, its social frame and especially the own linguistic environment with its own peculiarities.
The conservative character of the place name is shown by the following example: a mountainous area east of Cairo today is called in Arabic Gebel Ahmar, 'Red Mountain'. From the story of Sinuhe, we can have the name of the area used at the time of the XII Dynasty, at the beginning of the second millennium BC: Nbw dw dšrt, the 'Lady of the Red Mountain'. Both the definitions show the geographical feature of the area to be designated: the red granite quarries used throughout history for the Egyptian sculptures, which are in that location. Over time the placename has undergone significant changes in the significante (the Egyptian language was replaced by Arabic, and it has simply reinterpreted the name). But the meaning it has remained nearly the same (the word 'Lady' which refers to a divinity, disappears because we don’t see the utility, there were significant changes in worship).
The placename also stands for a language change, documenting the changing cultures and their migration, accounting for a proof of the presence of specific people, specific colonization, extension of migration, which remains as the sole and only track in the language 'photographed' in place names. They usually reflect the current use of language at the time that the placename was formed, providing important information, even if unstable, the historical period in which it is 'created', because, as Conti Rossini wrote: ‘ ...il nome proprio di luogo è rimasto invariato, mentre il genio della lingua trasformavasi’. The placename may therefore be regarded as fossil guide showing archaic stages of phonetics and morphology, because it is a crystallized form that reaches us from distant historical periods from today's talk.
The purpose of this research is to verify the data relating to place names relating to Semitic language and to the geographic Syro-Palestine area, in the corpus of Egyptians Execration Texts (by now EET). Extraordinary documents which hidden in the Egyptian graphemics (placenames and personal names) clearly Semitic origin. In these texts we find the evidences of the most ancient Semitic dialects of the Syro-Palestinian area. And the present investigation is done in this context, through the analysis of place names of the Syro-Palestinian region in EET; studying the language or languages that are hiding behind, and highlighting the characteristics as detailed as possible.
All this through the examination of handwriting; criticizing the interpretation and the location proposed in the literature already exists, and where possible were put forward new hypotheses. Particular care has been put in trying to identify the characteristics of language documentation, in the hope of determining the type of hidden language in place names.
Problems
There are various difficulties in toponymy research. The egyptian graphemics system that often leads to reading 'ambiguous' in the reproduction of certain sounds unknown to their language. The uncertainty of the writing for some placenames, so we can not say with certainty the meaning. Uncertainty of localization. The lack of direct semitic documentation. In this perspective will be studied here the documentation of place names and their variants in synopsis, so that we can now highlight parallels, trends, innovations, etc.; starting from the transcripts made by the major scholars of the subject - Seth, Posener, Koenig - and where it was possible, we tried to study the material directly, through photographs, or for some fragments direct vision at the Egyptian Museum of Cairo.
Iter
Materials has been cataloged, dated and explained in egyptian context, as will be seen in Chapter I, the last paragraph of whom will deal with specifically the analysis of the formulas of Execration Texts.
Chapter II will be devoted to the study of the material: for each place name will be specified graphemics variants, will be made a criticism of the geographical hypothesis proposed by the different scholars (among the most active in the sector), and finally will be develop a linguistic analysis, hence highlight phonetic corrispondences, morphological elements and where it seemed sure, the etymology of the placenames.
The majority of the mean of toponyms became dull through the ages. It will attempt to provide a transparent label for them; or to make certain assumptions in accordance with the Semitic place names already attested, using first geographic names still exist in the later documentation.
Chapter III will be devoted to phonetics. In Chapter IV will study the morphological characteristics. The results of these together with those of phonetics will be used to assume a more precise as possible the language, or languages, of the Execration Texts; or at least some obvious characteristics that give rise to those notes.
In Chapter V, devoted on etymological analysis, we seek to highlight the divisions of placenames in class, commonly recognized; obviously for those placenames for which it was possible to propose a valid etymological hypothesis. It then attempts to determine the reasons that led to the foundation settlement, and to the choice of that particular name. Finally, follow the 'technical' chapters devoted to index, bibliography, drawings and maps.
The maps selected show only those places surer and more known; and give a particular idea of the spatial limits between the places of discovery of the materials used here, and the localities described therein.
INDEX
Preface
Problems
Chapter I: Materials
Ancient Egyptian Execration Texts(EET)
Subject of the present work
The Jars of Thebes (JT)
The statuettes of Saqqara (SS).
The jars and statuettes of Mirgissa (SM).
The ideological context of the EET
Historical background
Chapter II: Analysis of documents
Introduction
Princes and Countries Section
Aamw Section
Part Two: The language of Place names
Chapter III: Phonology
3.1 Linguistic relations between Egyptian and Semitic
3.2 The syllabic orthography
3.2.1 History of Studies
3.2.2 Sillabic Orthography
3.4 Egyptian Phonology
3.5 Phonetics Analysis: phonetic correspondences between Egyptian and Semitic
3.5.1 Introduction
3.5.2 The graphemics system
3.5.2.1 Bilabials
3.5.2.2 Velar and Uvular plosives
3.5.2.3 Dentals
3.5.2.4 Interdentals fricative and sibilants
3.5.2.5 Glottals, phariyngeals and velar fricative voiceless
3.5.2.6 Semivowel
3.5.2.7 Nasal, vibrant and lateral
3.5.2.8 Biconsonantal, triconconantal signs and group of writings
3.5.2.9 Vowels
3.5.2.10 Phonetic phenomena
3.5.2.11 Concluding remarks
Chapter IV: Morphological analysis
4.1 Introduction
4.1.2 Stems extended with prefixes
4.2.1 Pattern /'aqtal-um/
4.2.1.1 The stem 'v12v3- in Semitic languages
4.2.1.2 Conclusions.
4.2.2 Stem /yaqt(v)l-um/
4.2.2.1 Conclusion
4.2.3 Stem /m(a)qtal-um/
4.3 The suffixes
4.3.1 The suffix -(i)y(um)
4.3.2 The suffix /-(a)nu(m)/
4.3.3 The abstract –ut
4.3.4 The suffix –a
4.4 Declination
4.5 Construct case
4.6 Absolute case
4.7 Mimation
4.8 Conclusions
4.9 The choice of the corresponding
Chapter V: Etymology
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Fitotoponyms and agricultural activities
5.3 Zootoponyms
5.4 Idrotoponyms
5.5 Geonymy
5.6 Lexicon of Building
5.7 Anthropomorphic metaphors
5.8 Cultual vocabulary
5.9 Concluding remarks
Appendix A: The formulas of Execration Texts
Bibliography
Papers by Massimiliano Franci
The learning paradigm lays the foundation for developing novel information tools for automatic document recognition, classification, and, most importantly, the language translation task.
Often only the place names to enlighten us on the passage of peoples and languages in various geographical areas. In fact, the search of a placename's origin, allows you to see the documentation in the course of time; obtaining information of any kind, relating to the history of colonization of a country, the origins of a people; its religions, its social frame and especially the own linguistic environment with its own peculiarities.
The conservative character of the place name is shown by the following example: a mountainous area east of Cairo today is called in Arabic Gebel Ahmar, 'Red Mountain'. From the story of Sinuhe, we can have the name of the area used at the time of the XII Dynasty, at the beginning of the second millennium BC: Nbw dw dšrt, the 'Lady of the Red Mountain'. Both the definitions show the geographical feature of the area to be designated: the red granite quarries used throughout history for the Egyptian sculptures, which are in that location. Over time the placename has undergone significant changes in the significante (the Egyptian language was replaced by Arabic, and it has simply reinterpreted the name). But the meaning it has remained nearly the same (the word 'Lady' which refers to a divinity, disappears because we don’t see the utility, there were significant changes in worship).
The placename also stands for a language change, documenting the changing cultures and their migration, accounting for a proof of the presence of specific people, specific colonization, extension of migration, which remains as the sole and only track in the language 'photographed' in place names. They usually reflect the current use of language at the time that the placename was formed, providing important information, even if unstable, the historical period in which it is 'created', because, as Conti Rossini wrote: ‘ ...il nome proprio di luogo è rimasto invariato, mentre il genio della lingua trasformavasi’. The placename may therefore be regarded as fossil guide showing archaic stages of phonetics and morphology, because it is a crystallized form that reaches us from distant historical periods from today's talk.
The purpose of this research is to verify the data relating to place names relating to Semitic language and to the geographic Syro-Palestine area, in the corpus of Egyptians Execration Texts (by now EET). Extraordinary documents which hidden in the Egyptian graphemics (placenames and personal names) clearly Semitic origin. In these texts we find the evidences of the most ancient Semitic dialects of the Syro-Palestinian area. And the present investigation is done in this context, through the analysis of place names of the Syro-Palestinian region in EET; studying the language or languages that are hiding behind, and highlighting the characteristics as detailed as possible.
All this through the examination of handwriting; criticizing the interpretation and the location proposed in the literature already exists, and where possible were put forward new hypotheses. Particular care has been put in trying to identify the characteristics of language documentation, in the hope of determining the type of hidden language in place names.
Problems
There are various difficulties in toponymy research. The egyptian graphemics system that often leads to reading 'ambiguous' in the reproduction of certain sounds unknown to their language. The uncertainty of the writing for some placenames, so we can not say with certainty the meaning. Uncertainty of localization. The lack of direct semitic documentation. In this perspective will be studied here the documentation of place names and their variants in synopsis, so that we can now highlight parallels, trends, innovations, etc.; starting from the transcripts made by the major scholars of the subject - Seth, Posener, Koenig - and where it was possible, we tried to study the material directly, through photographs, or for some fragments direct vision at the Egyptian Museum of Cairo.
Iter
Materials has been cataloged, dated and explained in egyptian context, as will be seen in Chapter I, the last paragraph of whom will deal with specifically the analysis of the formulas of Execration Texts.
Chapter II will be devoted to the study of the material: for each place name will be specified graphemics variants, will be made a criticism of the geographical hypothesis proposed by the different scholars (among the most active in the sector), and finally will be develop a linguistic analysis, hence highlight phonetic corrispondences, morphological elements and where it seemed sure, the etymology of the placenames.
The majority of the mean of toponyms became dull through the ages. It will attempt to provide a transparent label for them; or to make certain assumptions in accordance with the Semitic place names already attested, using first geographic names still exist in the later documentation.
Chapter III will be devoted to phonetics. In Chapter IV will study the morphological characteristics. The results of these together with those of phonetics will be used to assume a more precise as possible the language, or languages, of the Execration Texts; or at least some obvious characteristics that give rise to those notes.
In Chapter V, devoted on etymological analysis, we seek to highlight the divisions of placenames in class, commonly recognized; obviously for those placenames for which it was possible to propose a valid etymological hypothesis. It then attempts to determine the reasons that led to the foundation settlement, and to the choice of that particular name. Finally, follow the 'technical' chapters devoted to index, bibliography, drawings and maps.
The maps selected show only those places surer and more known; and give a particular idea of the spatial limits between the places of discovery of the materials used here, and the localities described therein.
INDEX
Preface
Problems
Chapter I: Materials
Ancient Egyptian Execration Texts(EET)
Subject of the present work
The Jars of Thebes (JT)
The statuettes of Saqqara (SS).
The jars and statuettes of Mirgissa (SM).
The ideological context of the EET
Historical background
Chapter II: Analysis of documents
Introduction
Princes and Countries Section
Aamw Section
Part Two: The language of Place names
Chapter III: Phonology
3.1 Linguistic relations between Egyptian and Semitic
3.2 The syllabic orthography
3.2.1 History of Studies
3.2.2 Sillabic Orthography
3.4 Egyptian Phonology
3.5 Phonetics Analysis: phonetic correspondences between Egyptian and Semitic
3.5.1 Introduction
3.5.2 The graphemics system
3.5.2.1 Bilabials
3.5.2.2 Velar and Uvular plosives
3.5.2.3 Dentals
3.5.2.4 Interdentals fricative and sibilants
3.5.2.5 Glottals, phariyngeals and velar fricative voiceless
3.5.2.6 Semivowel
3.5.2.7 Nasal, vibrant and lateral
3.5.2.8 Biconsonantal, triconconantal signs and group of writings
3.5.2.9 Vowels
3.5.2.10 Phonetic phenomena
3.5.2.11 Concluding remarks
Chapter IV: Morphological analysis
4.1 Introduction
4.1.2 Stems extended with prefixes
4.2.1 Pattern /'aqtal-um/
4.2.1.1 The stem 'v12v3- in Semitic languages
4.2.1.2 Conclusions.
4.2.2 Stem /yaqt(v)l-um/
4.2.2.1 Conclusion
4.2.3 Stem /m(a)qtal-um/
4.3 The suffixes
4.3.1 The suffix -(i)y(um)
4.3.2 The suffix /-(a)nu(m)/
4.3.3 The abstract –ut
4.3.4 The suffix –a
4.4 Declination
4.5 Construct case
4.6 Absolute case
4.7 Mimation
4.8 Conclusions
4.9 The choice of the corresponding
Chapter V: Etymology
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Fitotoponyms and agricultural activities
5.3 Zootoponyms
5.4 Idrotoponyms
5.5 Geonymy
5.6 Lexicon of Building
5.7 Anthropomorphic metaphors
5.8 Cultual vocabulary
5.9 Concluding remarks
Appendix A: The formulas of Execration Texts
Bibliography
The learning paradigm lays the foundation for developing novel information tools for automatic document recognition, classification, and, most importantly, the language translation task.
On behalf of the Organizing Committee, we thank you for responding to the 1st Circular of the International Congress of Egyptologists XI which will be held in Florence from 23 to 30 August 2015. This 2nd Circular includes updated and additional information for registration deadlines, fees and payment methods, abstract submission, preliminary program and on accommodation options.
Each year CAMNES with the complicity of the Christmas spirit organizes a special evening open to everyone and dedicated to its faithful audience. Every Christmas conference focuses on a topic tangent archeology and the ancient studies, but of great curiosity, fascination and popular interest .
Agatha Christie and Archaeology
This year we decided to dedicate the conference to Agatha Christie, the mystery writer par excellence, which few people know as the wife of one of the greatest archaeologists of the past, Max Mallowan. Not only Agatha Christie has used the knowledge of her husband and was left inspired by his pioneering expeditions in the Middle East, the famous author followed her husband for two decades writing novels and experiencing firsthand some adventures and exceptional archaeological finds as well as participating to the excavations.
As shown in our last Christmas Conference, 'Investigating the Past', archaeological investigation is extremely similar to Police investigation. Who better then Agatha Christie embodies this dual approach in the reconstruction of past events ?!
The conference will be presented by dr. Massimiliano Franci of CAMNES , Egyptologist and Philologist that many have already known as the curator of our 2nd Cycle of Archaeological Lessons dedicated to the ancient Egypt, and will be held Friday, December 20th, at 17:30 at the Auditorium S. Jacopo in Via Faenza, 43 Florence (Italy).
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In fact, as the cultural community develops it identifies over the course of time, a set of common values that are perceived as something unique, individual and collective by members of the group who scrupulously protect and pass them on to future generations: lifestyle, laws, customs, art and religion . Therefore, one cannot “propagandistically” consider the cultures of others valuable.
Yet, the near eastern region creates the requirements for which art, artifacts and high culture assume a privileged meaning which justifies the possibility of considering those objects worthy of transmitting cultural significance and their need to be collected. This mental shift takes place across 5,000 years of history: belonging to the chaos of other cultures, appreciation as spoils of war, an exchange of “prestigious” diplomatic gifts, objects of exotic taste; a cultural document on which to consider.
So for the first time in Mediterranean history, the Near East creates the same idea of collection and musealization.
Ex Oriente Lux, and from the east seeds of this magnificent institution spread all over the world.
Nel corso degli ultimi due decenni la Linguistica Egizia ha avuto un notevole impulso, sia dagli ambienti egittologici, sia da quelli afroasiatici, sviluppando e approfondendo interessanti ricerche e ipotesi nei differenti campi del lessico, della fonologia, della morfologia e della sintassi; arrivando a definire diverse scuole di pensiero, le principali delle quali sono la cosiddetta Old School e la Rossler School. In questa nota si delineerà un’analisi di alcuni dei principali elementi linguistici indagati: la fonologia, il bilinguismo, l’ergatività, la dialettologia e la comparazione afroasiatica presentando uno studio sul causativo egizio.
The myth of Osiris is of extreme importance for our knowledge of the history of ancient Egypt. The figure of the god allows us to understand some of the fundamentals of Pharaonic civilization such as the functioning of the monarchy and the right of succession, the natural cycle of the Nile River -as Osiris symbolized his regeneration- and the belief in the possibility of a life beyond death. New exhibition in recent times on its figure as “Isis und Osiris” (Hannover 2017-2018); “Osiris. Dios de Egipto. El ser que permanece perfecto” (Barcellona 2016), “Osiris. Egypt’s sunken mysteries” (Paris 2016, London 2016, Zurich 2017 and soon Saint Louis Art Museum in Missouri 2018), witness not only the great interest on Osiris’ figure, but mainly the important role as paradigm played by this cornerstone god; toward whom Pharaohs, men (Egyptian and foreign) and also gods, had measured their personal identity, moral and juridical values, both in daily and afterlife.
In the light of the new exhibitions organized around the world and the new discoveries made (e.g. new Osiris Tomb in Sheikh Abd el-Gourna), following different analytic perspectives (e.g. personal god concept vs. cultural god concept, images of god vs. images of man), and making challenging questions (e.g. What is the nature of the relationship between Osiris and the world? Does the world existence depend upon Osiris?), it is useful to re-consider its pivotal and multifaceted function, which attracted so much interest during the millennia, rethinking Osiris at the dawn of the Third Millennium. One might re-think the conceptualization of the vast and heterogeneous body of material that bears upon what is conventionally known as ‘Osirian religion’.
Papers are welcomed from scholars belonging to various fields of scholarship, and specialists of different historical and cultural areas. The scholars who wish to participate must use the form below to submit a contribution proposal containing an abstract of their paper (max 300 words) by September 30, 2018. Speakers must hold a MA degree or equivalent. Papers must be presented in English. Presentations should not exceed 30 minutes, including 10 minutes for questions and discussion. The organizing committee will select abstracts according to specific criteria such as new or original field data and innovative theoretical and methodological approaches.
More information and Submissions online: https://camnes.org/rethinking-osiris