Papers by Guilherme Borges Pires
Ophiussa, 2025
A primeira campanha do Projecto de Documentação da Mastaba de Akhmerutnisut (MAD‑P, na sigla ingl... more A primeira campanha do Projecto de Documentação da Mastaba de Akhmerutnisut (MAD‑P, na sigla inglesa) teve lugar entre o final de 2023 e o início de 2024. Tal projecto corresponde à primeira colaboração luso‑brasileira em solo egípcio e visa documentar o túmulo de Akhmerutnisut, oficial da V dinastia do Império Antigo, localizado na necrópole ocidental de Guiza (G 2184). Primeiramente escavado nas décadas iniciais do século XX, a mastaba carece ainda de uma publicação completa, evidenciando importantes sinais de rápida deterioração. A par da devida contextualização do monumento funerário e respectivo proprietário, o presente artigo traça uma breve panorâmica dos trabalhos realizados no local aquando da referida campanha, com particular ênfase nas metodologias adoptadas, e sinaliza ambições e intenções a desenvolver em futuros regressos ao túmulo, alertando para a necessidade de preservação, conservação, estudo e publicação das estruturas tumulares de Guiza datadas das V e VI dinastias egípcias.
English title and abstract:
Return to the Tomb: The First Season of the Mastaba of Akhmerutnisut Documentation Project [G 2184, Giza, Egypt]
The first season of the Mastaba of Akhmerutnisut Documentation Project (MAD‑P) took place between the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024. This project, which aims to document the tomb of Akhmerutnisut, is the first luso‑brazilian collaboration in Egypt. Akhmerutnisut was a Fifth Dynasty official of the Old Kingdom, whose tomb was built in the Western Cemetery of Giza (G 2184). Initially excavated in the early twentieth century, the mastaba has never been fully published and is currently deteriorating rapidly. The present article starts by contextualizing the funerary monument and its owner, later providing an overview of MAD‑P’s first season, focusing in particular on the methodologies employed in the study of G 2184. Future plans are also discussed, as is the urgent need for further preservation, conservation, and publication of the many understudied tombs from the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties in Giza.
«Introdução (Vol. 38.3/2024). Divino Masculino, Divino Feminino, Divino Outro»
Revista Diacrítica, 2024
Diacrítica, 2024
O volume 38.3 da Diacrítica reúne o dossiê temático Divino Masculino, Divino Feminino, Divino Out... more O volume 38.3 da Diacrítica reúne o dossiê temático Divino Masculino, Divino Feminino, Divino Outro: Teorias, Práticas e Expressões Generizadas do Fenómeno Religioso, que explora as intersecções entre género e religião sob múltiplas perspectivas teóricas e metodológicas. Resultado de uma reflexão plural e conjunta, inicialmente espoletada pelo colóquio Género e
Religiões (2022) e pelo subsequente ciclo de conferências homónimo, que visaram fomentar um debate interdisciplinar em torno das implicações do género no fenómeno religioso em diversos contextos históricos, culturais e sociais, este volume apresenta estudos de caso referentes a diferentes temáticas, cronologias e geografias. Para além de uma apresentação sumária dos contributos, a presente introdução oferece um breve enquadramento conceptual, ao mesmo tempo que traça um panorama sintético da evolução das abordagens ao género e à religiosidade, destacando o impacto do aparato crítico pós-moderno e feminista, e enfatizando a contribuição dos aportes académicos ibero-americanos para o tema. Além disso, sublinha-se o caráter dinâmico e permanentemente (re)negociado do género e da religião, vistos como construções sociais
interligadas, realçando-se a importância das abordagens interseccionais. Em suma, o volume não apenas reflete os debates académicos prévios, como também se propõe como um passo adicional num diálogo contínuo, promovendo olhares plurais que transcendem os limites cronológicos, geográficos e teóricos tradicionais.
Palincaş, N., Martins, A.C. (eds) Gender and Change in Archaeology, 2024
The present paper constitutes a preliminary attempt to (re)address gender issues in the Egyptian ... more The present paper constitutes a preliminary attempt to (re)address gender issues in the Egyptian divine world, revisiting some Egyptological assumptions in this regard. After a brief overview of the different ways Egyptology has been receiving and applying Gender Studies' methodology and theory, the Egyptian pantheon will be considered as a device that embodies (en)gender(ed) ideas and reflects a given gender order. Firstly, it will be argued that instances suggested as a challenge to the Egyptian binary gender system shall be revisited, as they are either somehow dubious or a reinforcement of a particular gender order. Then, the cosmogonical moment ('First Time', sp tpy) is analyzed as the gender-duality's origin. Next, two of the main arguments often utilized to argue in favor of the Creator's 'androgyny' or 'gender-ambiguity' are discussed and (re-)considered: the demiurgic masturbatory act and the binomial 'father/mother'. It will be suggested that the former is indeed a male act/feature rather than an 'androgynous' one, while the latter can be envisaged as a religious phraseological tool employed to convey an all-encompassing and primordial figure who is mostly thought of as a male (except for Neith). Finally, some other deities-such as Hapy, Anat, Seth, Osiris, and Isis-are briefly considered regarding their (non)-binary gender expressions, characters, and performances. Hence, it will be argued that the Egyptian pantheon reflects and promotes a particular gender order.
Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections, 2023
The present article consists of a brief discussion of excerpts from six New Kingdom religious hym... more The present article consists of a brief discussion of excerpts from six New Kingdom religious hymns (Cairo CG 58038, BM EA 10471.21, Leiden I 350 recto, Leiden I 344 verso, TT 221’s and TT 65’s ceilings) centered around the creation of Time. Through the examination of their phraseological contexts as well as the analysis of the textual devices and strategies included in them to allude to the temporal genesis, it will be argued that no clear distinction is made in these sources between “creating” and “making” Time. Two primary arguments are advanced to maintain this idea: the predominance of the lexeme jr(j) and the more general creatio continua setting of the hymnal passages at issue. Throughout the article, related sources will be mentioned, and some remarks on the temporality of the Creator will be provided.
ICE XII. Proceedings of the Twelfth International Congress of Egyptologists. 3rd-8th November 2019, Cairo, Egypt, edited by Ola EL-AGUIZY and Burt KASPARIAN, II:1039–46. Bibliothèque Générale 71. Le Caire: Institut Français d’Archéoologie Orientale; Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, 2023
Egyptian Archaeology, 2023
Guilherme Borges Pires reports on his volunteer work at the EES on the collection of travel magaz... more Guilherme Borges Pires reports on his volunteer work at the EES on the collection of travel magazines, which contribute towards the understanding of the history of Egyptology and portray the diverse ways Egypt has been (re)imagined in the last 100 years.
M. H. TRINDADE LOPES & A. PATRÍCIO (Eds.), Images, Perceptions and Productions in and of Antiquity,, 2023
The present paper constitutes a brief preliminary approach to the Creator’s
self-genesis in the E... more The present paper constitutes a brief preliminary approach to the Creator’s
self-genesis in the Egyptian New Kingdom religious hymns (ca. 1539–1077
BC) in the context of an on-going PhD research on the Creator deity and
creation in the New Kingdom’s hymnology. This feature is referred to in
numerous different manners in this corpus, which might be grouped into
three main categories—self-emanation/manifestation, self-begetting/birth,
and self-cast/construction—through which the present paper is structured.
The term xpr is fundamental regarding the first, as it conveys the idea of
“coming to existence” or “assuming/taking shape”. As for the second
category, one finds attestations of the deity’s self-creation rendered by an
allusion to biological processes, where the Creator would have engendered
(wtT) and given birth (msj) to himself. Finally, the third group relates to
manual/craftwork with the use of different terms such as qd. However, it
will be argued that these groups are not to be taken as entirely separate units
but rather as operative categories. Msj, for instance, might refer to both a
biological process and a manual task. To sum up, this paper deals with the
phraseology employed to depict the Creator’s self-coming into existence in
this corpus, navigating its diversity and taking its complexity into account.
Apostola, E. and C. Kekes (eds.), Current Research in Egyptology 2021. Proceedings of the Twenty-First Annual Symposium, University of the Aegean, 9-16 May 2021, 2022
The present paper consists of a brief discussion of excerpts from six New Kingdom hymns (Cairo CG... more The present paper consists of a brief discussion of excerpts from six New Kingdom hymns (Cairo CG 58038, the Great Hymn to the Aten, Hymn of Tura, BM EA 9901.1, BM EA 10684, and Leiden I 344 verso) centred around the creation of animals. It will be argued that one can refer to 'zoogony' in the religious hymns of the New Kingdom, considering the different textual strategies and devices attested in the aforementioned sources. The main goal is to ponder on the possible meanings and interpretations that arise from the references to this creative outcome in this set of texts. By evaluating the place of animals in said textual sources, it will be shown how members of the animal kingdom partake in the cosmogonical activity performed by the Creator, being listed among the various beings and entities the deity brings into existence, alongside both deities and humans. Particular attention will be paid to: i) the employed vocabulary to point to different animal species/groupings; ii) the phraseological contexts in which they occur as well as the different textual ways to allude to it; iii) the distinct fashions through which animals are said to come into existence; iv) and their ontological position in the hierarchy of living beings conveyed by these sources. Related sources will be mentioned throughout the paper, and a few quantitative remarks will be presented in its final section.
Monteiro, Maria do Rosário & Kong, Mário S. Ming, (eds.), Tradition and Innovation, 2021
In ancient Egypt, the Demiurge was responsible for the creation of every cosmic entity and being,... more In ancient Egypt, the Demiurge was responsible for the creation of every cosmic entity and being, including deities and human beings. These two creative processes – theogony and anthropogeny, respectively – are narrated and accounted in several different manners, both diachronically and synchronically. One of the most enduring conceptions is linked to the Demiurge’s body: the creatures would emanate from the Creator’s own biology and corporeality. The Pyramid and Coffin Texts settle a cosmogonical motif that would be continued throughout Egyptian history: deities are the result of mouth-related activities and humans the outcome of an ocular act. However, Egyptian sources exhibit several departures from this tradition, presenting phraseological and content-wise innovations and variations, whilst never abandoning the previous religious and conceptual backgrounds altogether.
This paper focuses on this issue, arguing for a textual and religious continuity of theogonical and anthropogenic conceptions suggested by the Egyptian texts expressed, namely, in the persistence of an efflux-based theology and on the permanence of the wordplay tool in several corpora across time, whilst pointing to innovative shifts between different (con)texts and periods. By pinpointing selected sources, this paper aims at understanding the complexity surrounding ancient Egyptian theogonical and anthropogenic mentions as bio-physic demiurgic acts in the light of the “tradition/innovation” binomial.
Lusitana Sacra 40, 2019
O antigo Egito é, indubitavelmente, uma das grandes civilizações fluviais do mundo . O Nilo, cuja... more O antigo Egito é, indubitavelmente, uma das grandes civilizações fluviais do mundo . O Nilo, cuja inundação possibilitou o florescimento e manutenção da civilização egípcia, era concebido como um curso aquático mimético do Nun, o oceano primordial que teria servido de matéria e gérmen no momento genesíaco . Destarte, a sacralidade do elemento fluvial em solo egípcio acompanha o pulsar deste grupo humano desde o seu amanhecer .
Não obstante, o Nilo não configura o único corpo aquático egípcio . As “Duas Terras” são banhadas por águas sal- gadas, mais concretamente, os mares Mediterrâneo e Vermelho . Embora um dos adjetivos com que habitualmente nos reportamos a esta geografia e cronologia seja precisamente “nilótico/a”, à luz das investigações mais recentes, parece inegável a existência de uma matriz marítima no devir egípcio .
Este artigo pretende pensar o lugar do mar no edifício religioso egípcio, norteando a reflexão em torno de duas perguntas fundamentais: terão sido os mares objeto de uma leitura sacra por parte dos antigos egípcios? Existiria uma hierarquização subjectiva das superfícies aquáticas no “País das Duas Margens”?
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Ancient Egypt is undoubtedly one of the great fluvial civilizations of the world . The Nile, whose annual flood enabled the flowering and maintenance of the Egyptian civilization, was perceived as mimesis of the Nun, the primordial Ocean that would have been the stage of genesis, containing all the potentialities of the world to come . Thus, the sacredness of the Egyptian river permeates this human collective since its very beginning .
Nevertheless, the Nile is not the single Egyptian waterbody . The “Two Lands” are bathed by salty waters, more specifically, the Mediterranean and the Red Seas . Despite the common description of this particular geography and chronology employing the adjective “Nilotic”, in the light of the most recent research, the existence of a maritime matrix in the Egyptian becoming seems undeniable .
This paper aims to think about the place of the sea in the Egyptian religious structure, navigating through two core questions: are the seas subjected to a sacred perception by the ancient Egyptians? Is there a subjective ranking of the aquatic surfaces in the land of the “Two Riverbanks”?
MARAVELIA, Alicia, GUILHOU, Nadine (eds.), Environment and Religion in Ancient and Coptic Egypt: Sensing the Cosmos Through the Eyes of the Divine, 2020
Res Antiquitatis 1, 2019
In ancient Egypt, Time was part of the whole "being" that was brought into existence in the "Firs... more In ancient Egypt, Time was part of the whole "being" that was brought into existence in the "First Time" (sp tpj). Following a linear conception (D.t) of Time we might ask: if Time had a beginning, should we expect for it to come to an end? However, the simultaneous Egyptian circular approach to Time (nHH) turns each end into a new beginning. How should we approach Time before its existence? Can we refer to a "post-Time"? Is the "end" definitive or temporary, awaiting for the (re)start of a new Demiurge's action? Is the immobility of the pre-Creation similar to one after the "end of the world"? This paper intends to be a preliminary approach to this issue. We will follow the traces suggested by some textual sources, focusing on the Demiurge, an entity connected to Time by means of creation and destruction.
Thinking Symbols Interdisciplinary Studies, 2017
A symbol is a “mystery’s epiphany” (Gilbert Durand). In that sense, symbols do not have a “meanin... more A symbol is a “mystery’s epiphany” (Gilbert Durand). In that sense, symbols do not have a “meaning” per se but rather evoke multiple senses, which cannot be reduced to a single definition. The daily expression of the symbol, function of which is mainly to reconcile the human being with the universe, is the symbolic language; composed by central metaphors. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to show how water can be regarded as a vital symbol and a metaphor by the Ancient Egyptians. As stated by the historian of religion Mircea Eliade, the Waters pre-existed the Earth, hence it should be the first element we focus on. In fact, the Waters are fons et origo, being the means by which every creation takes place. The Ancient Egyptians perfectly assimilated this as they regarded their origins from the Primeval Waters, believing everything started in Nun, the primordial ocean that gave life to all living forces and beings, from gods to plants. The Nile, the river that enabled the continuing fertility of the Valley, was seen as the mimetic watercourse of Nun, sacred and eternal. Although it was true that the Waters opened the path to existence it was also undeniable that they represented the end of life, destruction and alienation. Each year, the Nile’s flood caused several damages, which partially explains why the Egyptians thought their apocalypse would be a return to the Waters. The destruction embodied a new beginning: after the flood subsided, the fields would be ready to be cultivated and once again the Egyptians would not starve. However, considering the water symbol in Ancient Egypt, it is also crucial to observe the other waterways; for instance, the Mediterranean Sea, an opportunity and a threat to the Nilotic people. It is precisely this complexity surrounding the Waters in Ancient Egypt that we intend to explore.
Current Research in Egyptology 2016 Proceedings of the Seventeenth Annual Symposium Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland 4–7 May 2016 , 2017
Sacred Space is not uniformly perceived. The landscape is experienced in
diff erent ways, with gr... more Sacred Space is not uniformly perceived. The landscape is experienced in
diff erent ways, with greater or lesser human adhesion. The case of the Egyptian civilisation is no exception. Indeed, the different components of the Egyptian land are assigned to different gods. Contrary to the idea of ‘Mother-Earth’, the most common Egyptian associations with earth are expressed through male deities. Connecting theoretical contributions of the phenomenology of landscape with the core of relations between Egyptian nature and religious beliefs, I intend to (re)consider topics on sacred nature, cosmic sacredness but also fertility in ancient Egypt.
Egypt 2015: Perspectives of Research. Proceedings of the Seventh European Conference of Egyptologists. 2nd-7th June 2015, Zagreb, Croatia, 2017
Facing the Egyptology’s history, we must recognise the fundamental contributions of natural scien... more Facing the Egyptology’s history, we must recognise the fundamental contributions of natural sciences, philology and
archaeology to the progress of our knowledge about the Pharaonic civilisation. We should also not obliterate the input offered by
social sciences to our research. In this paper, the author intends to demonstrate how these domains of knowledge, such as philosophy,
anthropology or history of religion, can be very profitable to Egyptology, more specifically to the study of the Sacred Space
in Ancient Egypt. Thus, the aim of this paper is to acknowledge the importance of studying the sacralisation of space by the Nilotic
people from the perspective of the social sciences and to understand its benefits in the construction of a more solid and coherent
model of Egiptological studies.
Actas V Congreso Ibérico de Egiptología. Cuenca 9-12 de Marzo 2015, 2017
Resumo: O objectivo primordial da comunicação que nos propomos realizar caracteriza-se por uma ap... more Resumo: O objectivo primordial da comunicação que nos propomos realizar caracteriza-se por uma aproximação epistemológica à seguinte pergunta: como sacralizavam os antigos Egípcios o espaço em que identitariamente se inscreviam e reconheciam? Assim, a nossa temática central será a da sacralização do espaço, em contexto civilizacional nilótico, mais concretamente, do(s) espaço(s) terrestre(s) e aquático(s). Entenderemos o conceito de «espaço» em sentido lato, referindo-nos à camada telúrica egípcia e às superfícies aquáticas e não a um espaço específico, como a «casa» ou o «templo». Trata-se assim, de compreender, a forma como o colectivo humano egípcio foi sentindo e narrando o seu espaço sagrado, pelo que a realidade espacial será abordada, essencialmente, na sua capacidade construtora da identidade de um povo. Simultaneamente, e porque nos reportamos sempre a uma aproximação à temática, acreditamos ser fundamental mencionar e explorar noções provindas de contributos da Antropologia, da Filosofia e/ou da História das Religiões. Abordaremos assim processos, concepções, questões e problemáticas, nunca olvidando, é claro, as principais referências bibliográficas, que nos permitirão chegar mais perto, trilhando caminho, desta realidade insofismável da condição civilizacional humana, isto é, a leitura sagrada do espaço vivido e sentido.
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Papers by Guilherme Borges Pires
English title and abstract:
Return to the Tomb: The First Season of the Mastaba of Akhmerutnisut Documentation Project [G 2184, Giza, Egypt]
The first season of the Mastaba of Akhmerutnisut Documentation Project (MAD‑P) took place between the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024. This project, which aims to document the tomb of Akhmerutnisut, is the first luso‑brazilian collaboration in Egypt. Akhmerutnisut was a Fifth Dynasty official of the Old Kingdom, whose tomb was built in the Western Cemetery of Giza (G 2184). Initially excavated in the early twentieth century, the mastaba has never been fully published and is currently deteriorating rapidly. The present article starts by contextualizing the funerary monument and its owner, later providing an overview of MAD‑P’s first season, focusing in particular on the methodologies employed in the study of G 2184. Future plans are also discussed, as is the urgent need for further preservation, conservation, and publication of the many understudied tombs from the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties in Giza.
Religiões (2022) e pelo subsequente ciclo de conferências homónimo, que visaram fomentar um debate interdisciplinar em torno das implicações do género no fenómeno religioso em diversos contextos históricos, culturais e sociais, este volume apresenta estudos de caso referentes a diferentes temáticas, cronologias e geografias. Para além de uma apresentação sumária dos contributos, a presente introdução oferece um breve enquadramento conceptual, ao mesmo tempo que traça um panorama sintético da evolução das abordagens ao género e à religiosidade, destacando o impacto do aparato crítico pós-moderno e feminista, e enfatizando a contribuição dos aportes académicos ibero-americanos para o tema. Além disso, sublinha-se o caráter dinâmico e permanentemente (re)negociado do género e da religião, vistos como construções sociais
interligadas, realçando-se a importância das abordagens interseccionais. Em suma, o volume não apenas reflete os debates académicos prévios, como também se propõe como um passo adicional num diálogo contínuo, promovendo olhares plurais que transcendem os limites cronológicos, geográficos e teóricos tradicionais.
self-genesis in the Egyptian New Kingdom religious hymns (ca. 1539–1077
BC) in the context of an on-going PhD research on the Creator deity and
creation in the New Kingdom’s hymnology. This feature is referred to in
numerous different manners in this corpus, which might be grouped into
three main categories—self-emanation/manifestation, self-begetting/birth,
and self-cast/construction—through which the present paper is structured.
The term xpr is fundamental regarding the first, as it conveys the idea of
“coming to existence” or “assuming/taking shape”. As for the second
category, one finds attestations of the deity’s self-creation rendered by an
allusion to biological processes, where the Creator would have engendered
(wtT) and given birth (msj) to himself. Finally, the third group relates to
manual/craftwork with the use of different terms such as qd. However, it
will be argued that these groups are not to be taken as entirely separate units
but rather as operative categories. Msj, for instance, might refer to both a
biological process and a manual task. To sum up, this paper deals with the
phraseology employed to depict the Creator’s self-coming into existence in
this corpus, navigating its diversity and taking its complexity into account.
This paper focuses on this issue, arguing for a textual and religious continuity of theogonical and anthropogenic conceptions suggested by the Egyptian texts expressed, namely, in the persistence of an efflux-based theology and on the permanence of the wordplay tool in several corpora across time, whilst pointing to innovative shifts between different (con)texts and periods. By pinpointing selected sources, this paper aims at understanding the complexity surrounding ancient Egyptian theogonical and anthropogenic mentions as bio-physic demiurgic acts in the light of the “tradition/innovation” binomial.
Não obstante, o Nilo não configura o único corpo aquático egípcio . As “Duas Terras” são banhadas por águas sal- gadas, mais concretamente, os mares Mediterrâneo e Vermelho . Embora um dos adjetivos com que habitualmente nos reportamos a esta geografia e cronologia seja precisamente “nilótico/a”, à luz das investigações mais recentes, parece inegável a existência de uma matriz marítima no devir egípcio .
Este artigo pretende pensar o lugar do mar no edifício religioso egípcio, norteando a reflexão em torno de duas perguntas fundamentais: terão sido os mares objeto de uma leitura sacra por parte dos antigos egípcios? Existiria uma hierarquização subjectiva das superfícies aquáticas no “País das Duas Margens”?
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Ancient Egypt is undoubtedly one of the great fluvial civilizations of the world . The Nile, whose annual flood enabled the flowering and maintenance of the Egyptian civilization, was perceived as mimesis of the Nun, the primordial Ocean that would have been the stage of genesis, containing all the potentialities of the world to come . Thus, the sacredness of the Egyptian river permeates this human collective since its very beginning .
Nevertheless, the Nile is not the single Egyptian waterbody . The “Two Lands” are bathed by salty waters, more specifically, the Mediterranean and the Red Seas . Despite the common description of this particular geography and chronology employing the adjective “Nilotic”, in the light of the most recent research, the existence of a maritime matrix in the Egyptian becoming seems undeniable .
This paper aims to think about the place of the sea in the Egyptian religious structure, navigating through two core questions: are the seas subjected to a sacred perception by the ancient Egyptians? Is there a subjective ranking of the aquatic surfaces in the land of the “Two Riverbanks”?
diff erent ways, with greater or lesser human adhesion. The case of the Egyptian civilisation is no exception. Indeed, the different components of the Egyptian land are assigned to different gods. Contrary to the idea of ‘Mother-Earth’, the most common Egyptian associations with earth are expressed through male deities. Connecting theoretical contributions of the phenomenology of landscape with the core of relations between Egyptian nature and religious beliefs, I intend to (re)consider topics on sacred nature, cosmic sacredness but also fertility in ancient Egypt.
archaeology to the progress of our knowledge about the Pharaonic civilisation. We should also not obliterate the input offered by
social sciences to our research. In this paper, the author intends to demonstrate how these domains of knowledge, such as philosophy,
anthropology or history of religion, can be very profitable to Egyptology, more specifically to the study of the Sacred Space
in Ancient Egypt. Thus, the aim of this paper is to acknowledge the importance of studying the sacralisation of space by the Nilotic
people from the perspective of the social sciences and to understand its benefits in the construction of a more solid and coherent
model of Egiptological studies.