Udjahorresnet

My latest essay on Udjahorresnet, entitled “Udjahorresnet the Persian: Being an Essay on the Archaeology of Identity,” has just been published in an open access special issue of the Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections. The entire issue is dedicated to Udjahorresnet, who frankly deserves the attention. I was reluctant at first to participate, because I am trying very deliberately to take my research in a somewhat different direction, not because I have anything against Egypt per se, but because I feel as if I’ve said most everything I have to say on the topic. But I decided that this special issue was a good opportunity to think hard about Achaemenid identity and its material correlates, which is in fact a topic to which Udjahorresnet’s naophorous statue speaks very clearly. In the end I am very happy with this paper, even though it is an Egyptian paper that is not about Egypt, but turns out to be about Egypt after all. I guess that’s what JAEI is for!