Rita Lucarelli, Ph.D. (Leiden University, the Netherlands, 2005)
Associate Professor of Egyptology
266 Social Sciences Bld
Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
About Rita Lucarelli:
Rita Lucarelli studied at the University of Naples “L’Orientale,” Italy, where she received her MA degree in Classical Languages and Egyptology. She holds her Ph.D. from Leiden University, the Netherlands (2005). Her Ph.D. thesis was published in 2006 as The Book of the Dead of Gatseshen: Ancient Egyptian Funerary Religion in the 10th Century BC. From 2005 to 2010, Lucarelli held a part-time position as a Lecturer of Egyptology at the University of Verona, Italy. From 2009 to 2012, she worked as a Research Scholar on the Book of the Dead Project at the University of Bonn, Germany. She was a Visiting Research Scholar at the Italian Academy of Advanced Studies of Columbia University (2009) and at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (ISAW) of NYU (2012). Until June 2014 she worked as a Research Scholar and a Lecturer (Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin) at the Department of Egyptology of Bonn University, and she held a part-time position as a Lecturer of Egyptology at the University of Bari in Italy.
Rita Lucarelli is a Faculty Curator of Egyptology at the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology of the University of California, Berkeley and Fellow of the Digital Humanities in Berkeley. She is presently working at a project aiming at realizing 3D models of ancient Egyptian coffins of the Hearst Museum; the magical spells decorating these objects are taken as case-study for investigating the materiality of the text in relation to ancient Egyptian funerary literature.
Rita Lucarelli is completing a monograph on demonology in ancient Egypt and she is one of the coordinators of the Ancient Egyptian Demonology Project: http://www.demonthings.com.
Website for the project "The Book of the Dead in 3D" on the visualization of ancient Egyptian coffins through photogrammetry:
http://3dcoffins.berkeley.edu/
PUBLICATIONS
Monographs
In preparation Agents of Punishment and Protection: Assessing the Demonic in First Millennium BCE
Egypt. Brill, Leiden-New York(under contract, projected publication date 2019; 100,000 words) (Peer-reviewed)
2006 The Book of the Dead of Gatseshen: Ancient Egyptian Funerary Religion in the 10th Century BC. Egyptologische Uitgaven 21, Leiden, 305 pp. (Peer-reviewed)
Edited Books
In preparation Handbook of the Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead, co-edited with Martin Stadler
Oxford Handbooks, Oxford University Press (under contract, projected publication date 2019) (Peer-reviewed)
2012 Herausgehen am Tage. Gesammelte Schriften zum altägyptischen Totenbuch, co-edited with Marcus Müller-Roth and Annik Wütrich. Studien zum Altägyptischen Totenbuch 17, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, 250 pp. (Peer-reviewed)
Articles
2017"Gods, Spirits, Demons of the Book of the Dead." In: Foy Scalf (ed.), Book of the Dead:
Becoming God in Ancient Egypt. Oriental Institute Museum Publications 40, Chicago: Oriental Institute, 2017, pp. 127-36 (Peer-reviewed)
2017 “The Coffin of Padiamun,” with Cynthia-May Sheikholeslami, Alain Dutant and Luca Miatello. In K.A. Kóthay (ed.), Burial and Mortuary Practices in Late Period and
Graeco-Roman Egypt. Proceedings of the International Conference held at the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, 17-19 July 2014. Budapest: Museum of Fine Arts, pp. 179-195.
2017 “The Donkey in the Greco-Egyptian Papyri.” In Emanuele Ciampini and Sabina Crippa (eds.), Languages, Objects, and The Transmission of The Rituals: An Interdisciplinary Analysis of Some Unsearched Ritual Practices in The Graeco-Egyptian Papyri (PGM.) Ca’ Foscari, Venice, pp. 89-103
2017 “Illness as Divine Punishment: The Nature and Function of the Disease-Carrier Demons in the Ancient Egyptian Magical Texts.” In Siam Bhayro and Catherine Rider (eds.), Demons and Illness from Antiquity to the Early-Modern Period. Magical and Religious Literature of Late Antiquity 5, Brill, pp. 53-60 (Peer reviewed)
2016 “Funerary Papyri of the 21st Dynasty Found at Bab el-Gusus.” In Cynthia May Sheikholeslami (ed.), Forgotten Discovery: Tomb of the Priests and Priestesses of Amun, pp. 17-18. Cairo: Ministry of Antiquities
2016 “Images of Eternity in 3D. The Visualization of Ancient Egyptian Coffins through Photogrammetry.” In Monica Berti and Franziska Naether (eds.), Altertumswissenschaften in a Digital Age: Egyptology, Papyrology and Beyond; Proceedings of a Conference and Workshop in Leipzig, November 4-6. Leipzig, Beitrag 24, 3 pages (Peer-reviewed) http://www.qucosa.de/recherche/frontdoor/?tx_slubopus4frontend[id]=20168
2016 “Les démons dans l'Egypte ancienne.” In Arnaud Quertinmont (éd.), Dieux, génies et démons en Égypte ancienne: à la rencontre d'Osiris, Anubis, Isis, Hathor, Rê et les autres... : [exposition, Morlanwelz, Musée royal de Mariemont, 21 mai-20 novembre 2016]. Paris, Somogy-Musée royal de Mariemont, pp. 55-60 (Peer-reviewed)
2016 “Magia y religion.” Desperta Ferro Arqueología e Historia, 4 (2015-2016): Egipto. El Libro de los Muertos, pp. 40-42
2015 “Ancient Egyptian Demons:The Evidence of the Magical and Funerary Papyri of the New Kingdom and of the Third Intermediate Period.” In Panagiotis Kousoulis and Nikolaos Lazardis, Proceedings of the Tenth International Congress of Egyptologists, University of the Aegean, Rhodes, 22-29 May 2008-2015, Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 241, Peeters, Leuven-Paris-Bristol, Vol. 1, pp. 1187-94
2015 “The Inhabitants of the Fourteenth Hill in Spell 149 of the Book of the Dead.” In Ludwig D. Morenz and Amr el Hawary (ed.) Festschrift für die Ägyptologin Ursula Röβler-Köhler zum 65. Geburtstag. GOF (Göttinger Orientforschungen) 53, Harrassowitz,Wiesbaden, pp. 275-91 (Peer- reviewed)
2014 “Fälschungen für die Toten: gefälschte Papyri des altägyptisches Totenbuch,” with Marcus Müller-Roth. IBAES (Internet-Beiträge zur Ägyptologie und Sudanarchäologie) XV, pp. 41-50 (Peer- reviewed)
2013 “Towards a Comparative Approach to Demonology in Antiquity: The Case of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia.” Archiv für Religionsgeschichte (ARG) 14, pp. 11-25 (Peer-reviewed)
2013 “Ancient Egyptian Demonology.” Èskhaton Publishing, 6 pp.
http://www.radicalmatters.com/radical.matters.cd.cdr.catalogue.asp?tp=1&c=586
2012 “The So-Called Vignette of Spell 182 of the Book of the Dead.” In Rita Lucarelli, Marcus Müller-Roth and Annik Wütrich (eds.), Herausgehen am Tage. Gesammelte Schriften zum altägyptischen Totenbuch, Studien zum Altägyptischen Totenbuch 17, Wiesbaden, pp. 79-92 (Peer-reviewed)
2011-2012 “Ancient Egyptian Demonology: An Introduction.” Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities (SSEA) Newsletter, Toronto, pp. 4-5
2011 “Demonology during the Late Pharaonic and Greco-Roman Periods in Egypt.” Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions (JANER) 11, pp. 109-25 (Peer-reviewed)
2010 “Making the Book of the Dead.” In John H. Taylor, (ed.). Journey through the Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead. The British Museum Press, London, 264-87 (Peer-reviewed)
2010 “The Guardian Demons of the Book of the Dead.” British Museum Studies in Ancient Egypt and Sudan 15, pp. 85-102 (Peer-reviewed)
http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/online_journals/bmsaes/issue_15/lucarelli.aspx
2009 “Two Fragments of a Ptolemaic Book of the Dead on Mummy Wrappings with Spells 32-38 and the Occurrence of Spells to Ward off Dangerous Animals on Linen.” In Burkhard Backes, Marcus Müller-Roth und Simone Stöhr (Hrsg.). Ausgestattet mit den Schriften des Thot. Festschrift für Irmtraut Munro zu ihrem 65. Geburtstag, Studien zum Altägyptischen Totenbuch 14. Wiesbaden, pp. 105-18 (Peer-reviewed)
2009 “Popular Beliefs in Demons in the Lybian Period: the Evidence of the Oracular Amuletic Decrees.” In Gerard P.F. Broekman, Robert J. Demarée and Olaf E. Kaper (eds.). The Libyan Period in Egypt. Historical and Cultural Studies into the 21st- 24th Dynasties: Proceedings of a Conference at Leiden University, 25-27 October 2007, Egyptologische Uitgaven 23, pp. 231-39 (Peer-reviewed)
2009 “The Colophon of the Book of the Dead of Gatseshen: A Working Issue.” Göttinger Miszellen 220, pp. 125-27
2008 “Le “Lettere ai Morti” e le manifestazioni dei defunti sulla Terra nell’antico Egitto.” Studi Tanatologici 4, pp. 147-60 (Peer-reviewed)
2008 “Il Libro dei Morti dall’epoca faraonica all’epoca greco-romana.” Atene e Roma 3-4, pp. 210-20 (Peer-reviewed)
2008 “Kha: Il Libro dei Morti.” In Beppe Moiso (ed.), Ernesto Schiaparelli e la tomba di Kha,
Torino, pp. 167-80
2008 “L’uso dei papiri funerari presso il clero femminile di Amon a Tebe nella XXI dinastia.”
In Sergio Pernigotti and Marco Zecchi (eds.). Sacerdozio e società civile nell’Egitto antico. Atti del terzo Colloquio di Egittologia e di Antichitá Copte. Bologna – 30/31 maggio 2007, pp. 105-13
2007 “The Vignette of Ch. 40 of the Book of the Dead.” In Jean-Claude Goyon and Christine
Cardin (eds.), Proceedings of the Ninth International Congress of Egyptologists, Grenoble, 6-12 September 2004. OLA 150. Paris. Vol. I, pp. 1181-86
2007 “Per una lettura della cultura funeraria dell’Egitto greco-romano: la tradizione dei papiri del Libro dei Morti.” In Lucio Cristante e Ireneo Filip (eds.) Incontri triestini di filologia classica VI (2006-2007). Atti della giornata di studio in onore di Laura Casarsa, Trieste 19 gennaio 2007, Trieste, EUT, pp. 247-54 (Peer-reviewed)
2006 “Demons in the Book of the Dead.” In Burkhard Backes, Irmtraut Munro und Simone
Stöhr (eds.), Totenbuch-Forschungen. Gesammelte Beiträge des 2. Internationalen Totenbuch-Symposiums. Bonn, 25. bis 29 September 2005, Studien zum Altägyptischen Totenbuch 11, Wiesbaden, pp. 203-12 (Peer-reviewed)
2006 “Colui che inghiotte l’asino”: epiteti e iconografia di un demone dell’aldilà.” In Patrizia
Minà (ed.), Imagines et Iura personarum nell’Egitto antico per i novantanni di Sergio Donadoni. Atti del IX Convegno Internazionale di Egittologia e Papirologia, Palermo, 10-13 novembre 2004. Studi e Ricerche 48, Palermo, pp. 157-62 (Peer-reviewed)
2006 “La protezione del territorio e la simbologia del numero 4 nell’universo magico-religioso dell’uomo egizio.” In Sergio Pernigotti and Marco Zecchi (eds.), La terra, gli uomini e gli dei: il paesaggio agricolo nell’Antico Egitto. Atti del secondo Colloquio. Bologna – 22/23 maggio 2006, Bologna, pp. 151-57
2006 “I demoni nel Libro dei Morti.” In Aegyptus. Rivista italiana di Egittologia e di Papirologia, Anno LXXXV, Gennaio-Dicembre 2005: La pratica della religione nell’antico Egitto. Atti del X Convegno Nazionale di Egittologia e Papirologia (Roma, 1-2 febbraio 2006), Milano, pp. 33-39 (Peer-reviewed)
2005 “A Libation Text in the Book of the Dead of Gatseshen.” In Alessia Amenta, Michela M. Luiselli e Maria N. Sordi (eds.), L’acqua nell’antico Egitto. Vita, rigenerazione, incantesimo, medicamento. Proceedings of the First International Conference for Young Egyptologists, Italy, Chianciano Terme 15-18 October 2003, Roma, pp. 319-28
2003 “Ch. 41B of the Book of the Dead.” Jaarbericht van het vooraziatisch-egyptisch genootschap Ex Oriente Lux (JEOL) 37, pp. 41-51 (Peer-reviewed)
2003 “Innovation versus the Tradition of the Genre in the Book of the Dead of Gautseshen.”
In Zahi Hawass (ed.). Egyptology at the Dawn of the Twenty-first Century. Proceedings of the Eight International Congress of Egyptologists, Cairo 2000. Vol. III, pp. 270-74
2003 “Il Libro dei Morti di Gatseshen.” Aegyptus. Rivista italiana di Egittologia e di Papirologia, Anno LXXXII, Gennaio-Dicembre 2002: La visione dell’altro nell’antico Egitto. Atti dell’VIII Convegno Nazionale di Egittologia e Papirologia (Torino,11-13 aprile 2003), Milano, pp 81-91 (Peer-reviewed)
2002 “Untying the Magic of the Pharaoh.” In Rosanna Pirelli (ed.), Egyptological Essays on State and Society. Serie Egittologica II. Napoli, pp. 79-93
1999 “Some Remarks on Ch. 178 of the Book of the Dead.” In Rosanna Pirelli (ed.), Egyptological Studies for Claudio Barocas. Serie Egittologica I. Napoli, pp. 37-54
Encyclopedia and Catalogue Entries
Forthcoming: in Lisa Sabbahy (Ed.), All Things Ancient Egypt: An Encyclopedia of the Ancient Egyptian World, ABC-CLIO; Entries: “Magic”, “Seth”, “Weighting of the Hearth”.
2017In Foy Scalf (ed.), Book of the Dead: Becoming God in Ancient Egypt, Oriental Institute Museum Publications 40. Chicago: Oriental Institute (publication date 2017). Entries: “Sarcophagus Fragment with Divine Guardian”, pp. 196-97; "Papyrus Inscribed with the First Book of Breathing,” pp. 302-05; "Relief from the Tomb of the Vizier Bakenrenef Inscribed with BD 36 and 37," pp. 332-33; "Statuette of the Ba," p. 347 (Peer-reviewed)
2016 Dictionnaire universel des dieux, déesses et demons. Editions du Seuil. Paris. Entries:
“Apophis,” 66-67; “Bat,” 128-29; “Nefertoum,” 586-87; “Noun,” 601; “Ounout,” 63; “Routy,” 692 ; “Sia,” 731-732; “Tefnout,” 771-772 (Peer-reviewed)
2010 “Demons (Benevolent and Malevolent).” UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology. Department of
Near Eastern Languages and Cultures. UC Los Angeles, 11 pp. (Peer-reviewed)
http://escholarship.org/uc/item/1r72q9vv
Book Reviews and Review Articles
2016 Review of Stephen Quirke, Going out in Daylight - prt m hrw: the Ancient Egyptian Book of the
Dead: Translation, Sources, Meanings. Golden House Publications Egyptology 20, Golden House Publications, London, 2013; in Bibliotheca Orientalis LXXIII, pp. 64-70
2016 Introduction to the Art Catalogue of Gaspare O. Melcher, Ägyptische Tagebücher/Egyptian Diaries, Herausgegeben von Luciano Fasciati im Verlag Edescha-art, pp. 19-22
2013 Review Article of Ancient Egyptian Demonology: Studies on the Boundaries between the
Demonic and the Divine in Egyptian Magic (ed. by Panagiotis Kousoulis), OLA 175, Peeters 2 011; in Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft 8, pp. 99-105
2011 Review Article of Holger Kockelmann, Untersuchungen zu den späten Totenbuch-Handschriften
auf Mumienbinden, Wiesbaden, 2008; in Chronique d’Égypte 86, 137-42
2006 Review of Burkhard Backes, Wortindex zum späten Totenbuch (pTurin 1791), SAT 9,
Wiesbaden 2005; in Bibliotheca Orientalis LXIII, pp. 505-08.
2004 Review Article of Frederic Servajean, Les formules des transformations du Livre des Morts à la lumière d’une théorie de la performativité, BiEtud 137, Cairo 2003; in Bibliotheca Orientalis LXI, pp. 293-98
1998 Review Article of Horst Jaritz et alii (eds.), Pelusium. Prospection archéologique et topographique de la région de Kana’is 1993 et 1994, BÄBA 13, Stuttgart 1996; in Archeologia Classica L, pp. 462-64