Colin Hope - School of Historical Studies Staff

Personal History

My B.A is in Egyptology with Coptic from Liverpool University (UK ), including introductory Akkaddian and the Prehistory of Europe; my PhD is from University College London on ancient Egyptian painted ceramics. Whilst undertaking the latter I was also G. A. Wainwright Research Fellow in Near Eastern Archaeology at the University of Oxford (1976-81). Subsequent to this research I held post-doctoral research fellowships at The University of Melbourne and Macquarie University, and then was a contract lecturer at The University of Melbourne and Monash University, and Curator of Mediterranean Antiquities at Museum Victoria. I have taught the archaeology, history and language of ancient Egypt at Monash University since 1990, and am co-founder of its archaeology of the ancient Mediterranean programme. I am an advisor to the National Gallery of Victoria and associate of Museum Victoria.

I have participated in archaeological fieldwork in Jordan (1971-3), Syria (1973), the Sinai (1976) and Egypt (annually since 1974); in the latter I have worked at Malkata, Saqqara and in the Dakhleh Oasis, and on material also from Memphis and Karnak North. Since 1978 I have been a co-investigator on the Dakhleh Oasis Project responsible for the study of the ceramics from the prehistoric to late Roman periods. In 1986 I commenced excavations at the Roman period settlement of Ismant el-Kharab and in 2000 at the multi-period site of Mut el-Kharab, both in Dakhleh Oasis; these excavations are on-going. The excavations have been funded through the Dakhleh Oasis Project, The Australian Research Council, Monash University, the Egypology Society of Victoria, Australians Studying Abroad and Columbia University.

Current Research

I continue a life-long interest in the study of ancient Egyptian ceramics and their use in the reconstruction of ancient society; I am currently preparing for publication the New Kingdom blue-painted pottery from Karnak North (excavations by the French Institute in Cairo) and Memphis (excavations by the Egypt Exploration Society, London), while also trying to finalize the publication of the 18th Dynasty ceramics from Malkata (University of Pennsylvania excavations).
Concurrently I research the history and nature of settlement in Egypt's Western desert, especially Dakhleh Oasis through my excavations; I am working on the publication of 5 late Roman houses excavated at Ismant el-Kharab.

Major Publications

Books: sole authored
2001 Egyptian Pottery, 2nd ed., Princes Risborough, 64pp.
1989 Pottery of the Egyptian New Kingdom: Three Studies, Melbourne; 126 pp.
1988 Gold of the Pharaohs (Exhibition Catalogue), Sydney; 143 pp.
1978 Jar Sealings and Amphorae of the 18th Dynasty, Warminster; 75 pp.

Books: jointly authored
2006 Akhmim in the Old Kingdom Part II: The Pottery, Decorative Techniques and Colour Conventions; Warminster; with Ann MacFarlane; 264pp.
1990 Living with Egypt's Past in Australia, Melbourne; collaborator with R.S. Merrillees and G.L. Pretty; 78 pp.
1987 Ceramics from the Dakhleh Oasis: Preliminary Studies, Melbourne; with W.I.Edwards and E.R.Segnit; 106 pp.

Co-edited volumes
2004 The Oasis Papers III: Proceedings of the Third International Conference of the Dakhleh
Oasis Project, Oxford; with G. E. Bowen; 382pp.
2002 Dakhleh Oasis Project: Preliminary Reports on the 1995-1996 to 1998-1999 Field
Seasons, Oxford; with G. E. Bowen; 349 pp.
1999 Dakhleh Oasis Project: Preliminary Reports on the 1992-1993 and 1993-1994 Field Seasons, Oxford, with A. J. Mills; 103 pp

Chapers in books: sole authored
2007 Egypt and 'Libya' to the end of the Old Kingdom: a view from Dakhleh Oasis, in Z. Hawass and J. Richards, eds, The Archaeology and Art of Ancient Egypt: essays in honor of David B. O'Connor, Cairo, Volume 1, 349-415.
2005 From Kellis to Begram: new evidence for an Egyptian origin of the painted glass in the Begram Hoard, in A. A. di Castro and C. A. Hope, Cultural Interaction in Afghanistan c 300 BCE to 300 CE, Clayton, 19-31.
2004 Ancient Civilizations in the International Collections of the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 9-41; with A. Dunsmore, A. Fyfe, H. Jackson, M. Miller and J. Ryan; 128pp.
2004 Ostraka and the Archaeology of Ismant el-Kharab, in K. A. Worp, ed.,Ostraka from Kellis, Oxford, 5-27.
2003 Ancient Egypt in Melbourne and the State of Victoria, Australia, in Imhotep Today:
Egyptianizing Architecture, M. Price and J-M Hubert, eds, London, 161-181.
2002 Early and Mid-Holocene Pottery from the Dakhleh Oasis, in Egypt and Nubia: Gifts of the Desert, R. Friedman, ed., London, 33-56..
2002 The Excavations at Ismant el-Kharab during the 1995 to 1998-1999 Field Seasons, in Dakhleh Oasis Project: Preliminary Reports on the 1994-1995 to 1998-1999 Field Seasons, eds, C. A. Hope and G. E. Bowen, Oxford, 167-208.
2001 Gold and the Ancient World, in Gold and Civilisation, T. Stannage, ed., Art Exhibitions Australia National Museum of Australia, 113-122.
2001 Observations on the Dating of the Occupation at Ismant el-Kharab,Oasis Papers I, M. Marlow, ed., Oxbow, 43-59.
1999 The Archaeological Context, in Coptic Documentary Texts from Kellis Volume 1, I. Gardner et al., eds, Oxford, 96-111, 115-122.
1999 Some Remarks on Potmarks of the Late XVIIIth Dynasty, in Studies on Ancient Egypt in Honour of H. S. Smith, A. Leahy and J. Tait, eds, London, 121-146.
1999 Pottery Manufacture in the Dakhleh Oasis, in Reports from the Survey of the Dakhleh Oasis, C. S. Churcher and A. J. Mills, eds, Oxford, 215-250.
1998 Some Memphite Blue-Painted Pottery of the mid-XVIIIth Dynasty, in Ancient Egypt, the Aegean, and the Near East: Studies in Honour of Martha Roades Bell, J. Phillips, ed., (San Antonio), 249-286.
1998 Objects from the Temple of Tutu, in Egyptian Religion: The Last Thousand Years, W. Clarysse et al., eds, Leuven, 803-858.
1997 The Find Context of the Kellis Agricultural Account Book, in The Kellis Agricultural Account Book, R. S. Bagnall, ed., Oxford, 5-16.
1993 The Jar Sealings, in Stone Vases, Pottery and Sealings from the Tomb of Tut'ankhamun, J. Baines, ed., Oxford, 87-138.
Pottery kilns from the oasis of el-Dakhla, in An Introduction to Ancient Egyptian Pottery, Do. Arnold and J. Bourriau, eds, Cairo, 121-127.

Chapters in books: jointly authorship
2006 Cobalt-blue Painted Pottery from 18th Dynasty Egypt, in M. Maggetti and B. Messiga, eds, Geomaterials in Cultural Heritage, London, 91-9; with A J Shortland and M S Tite.
2004 The Excavations at Ismant el-Kharab from 2000 to 2002, in The Oasis Papers III: Proceedings of the Third International Conference of the Dakhleh Oasis Project, G. E. Bowen and C. A. Hope, eds, Oxford, 207-289; with short contributions by O. E. Kaper and H. Whitehouse.
2004 The Gladiator Jug from Ismant el-Kharab, in The Oasis Papers III: Proceedings of the Third International Conference of the Dakhleh Oasis Project, G. E. Bowen and C. A. Hope, eds, Oxford, 291-310; with H. Whitehouse.
2002 Dedication Inscriptions from the Main Temple, Dakhleh Oasis Project: Preliminary Reports on the 1994-1995 to 1998-1999 Field Seasons, eds, C. A. Hope and G. E. Bowen, Oxford, 323-331; with K. A. Worp.
2002 Oasis amphorae of the New Kingdom, in Egypt and Nubia: Gifts of the Desert, R. Friedman, ed., London, 95-131; with M. Eccleston, P. Rose and J. Bourriau.
2000 A Greek Account on a Clay Tablet from the Dakhleh Oasis, in Studia in honorem Johannis Bingen octogenarii, H. Melaerts, ed., Leuven, 471-486; with K. A. Worp.
2000 Appendix (pages 508-9)to Two fourth century accounts from Kellis, in Studia in honorem Johannis Bingen octogenarii, H. Melaerts, ed., Leuven,495-509; with R.S. Bagnall and K. A. Worp.
1999 Interim Report on the West Tombs, in Dakhleh Oasis Project: Preliminary Reports on the 1992-1993 and 1993-1994 Field Seasons, C. A. Hope and A. J. Mills, eds, Oxford, 53-68; with J. Mckenzie.
1999 A Painted Panel of Isis, in Dakhleh Oasis Project: Preliminary Reports on the 1992-1993 and 1993-1994 Field Seasons, C. A. Hope and A. J. Mills, eds, Oxford, 95-100; with H. Whitehouse.

Articles: sole authored
2004 The Excavations at Ismant el-Kharab and Mut el-Kharab in 2004,Bulletin of the Australian Centre for Egyptology 15, 19-49.
2003 The 2001-2 Excavations at Mut el-Kharab in the Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt,Artefact 26, 51-75.
A Note on some Ceramics from Mut, Dakhleh Oasis, Cahiers de la céramique Egyptienne 7, 99-121.
2002 Excavations at Mut el-Kharab and Ismant el-Kharab in 2001-2,Bulletin of the Australian Centre for Egyptology 13, 85-107.
2001 Egypt and Libya: the excavations at Mut el-Kharab in Egypt's Western Desert, Artefact 24, 29-46.
2000 Excavations at Ismant el-Kharab in 2000: a brief report, Bulletin of the Australian Centre for Egyptology 11, 49-66.
1999 Dakhla Oasis, Ismant el-Kharab, in K. Bard (ed), Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt, London and New York, 222-6.
1999 The Excavations at Ismant el-Kharab in 1998/9: a brief report,Bulletin of the Australian Centre for Egyptology 10, 59-66.
1998 Early Pottery from the Dakhleh Oasis, Bulletin of the Australian Centre for Egyptology 9, 53-60.
1997 The Archaeological Context of the Discovery of Leaves from a Manichaean Codex, Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 117, 156-61.
1995 The Excavations at Ismant el-Kharab in 1995: A Brief Report,Bulletin of the Australian Centre for Egyptology 6, 51-8.
1994 Isis and Serapis at Kellis: A Brief Note, Bulletin of the Australian Centre for Egyptology 5, 37-42.
1991 The 1991 Excavations at Ismant el-Kharab in the Dakhleh Oasis,Bulletin of the Australian Centre for Egyptology 2, 41-50.
Blue-Painted and Polychrome Decorated Pottery from Amarna,Cahiers de la Céramique Egyptienne II, 17-92.
1987 Dakhleh Oasis Project: Ismant el-Kharab 1988‑1990, Journal of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities (hereafter JSSEA) XVII, 157-76.
1988 Three seasons of Excavations at Ismant el-Gharab in the Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt, Mediterranean Archaeology I, 160-178.
1987 Innovation in the Decoration of Ceramics in the mid-18th Dynasty,Cahiers de la céramique Egyptienne I, 97-122.

Articles: jointly authored
2006 A painted residence at Ismant el-Kharab (Kellis) in the Dakhleh Oasis, Journal of Roman Archaeology 19, 312-328; with H. Whitehouse.
Miniature Codices from Kellis, Mnemosyne LIX, 226-58, with K. A. Worp.
2005 Brief Report on the Excavations at Ismant el-Kharab and Mut el-Kharab in 2005, Bulletin of the Australian Centre for Egyptology 16, 35-83; with appendices by H. Whitehouse and A. R. Warfe.
2000 Kegs and Flasks from the Dakhleh Oasis, Cahiers de la Céramique Egyptienne VI, 189-234; with M. Eccleston, S. Marchand and D. Darnell.
1998 A New Fragment of Homer, Mnemosyne LI.2, 206-10, with K. A. Worp.
1997 The Excavations at Ismant el-Kharab in 1995/6 and 1996/7: A Brief Report, Bulletin of the Australian Centre for Egyptology 8, 49-64 with Gillian E. Bowen.
1993 A Brief Report on the Excavations at Ismant el-Kharab in 1992-93,Bulletin of the Australian Centre for Egyptology 4, 17-28, with G. E. Bowen and O. E. Kaper.
1992 Excavations at Ismant el-Kharab - 1992, Bulletin of the Australian Centre for Egyptology 3, 41-49, with O. E. Kaper and G. Bowen.
1989 Dakhleh Oasis Project: Ismant el-Kharab 1991-92, JSSEA XIX, 1-26, with O.E. Kaper, G.E. Bowen and S.F. Patten.

Areas of Research & Supervision

The archaeology of ancient Egypt with particular reference to the Western Desert, and cultural interaction between ancient Egyptians and their western neighbours; ancient Egyptian and western desert ceramics; Egyptianizing monuments in Australia and collections of Egyptian antiquities in Australia.

Teaching

AAH1010 - Ancient Cultures: the Bronze Age
AAH1020- Ancient Cultures: the Age of Empires
AAH2/3230 - Imperial Egypt and the Mediterranean World
AAH2/3580 - The Middle Kingdom in Egypt
AAH2/3970 - The Early Dynastic Period and Old Kingdom in Egypt
AAH2/3990 - The New Kingdom in Egypt
AAH3950 - Kleopatra's Egypt
AAH4060 - Predynastic Egypt
AAH4740 - Reading the Ancient Past
Postgraduate study of ancient Egyptian language and Archaeological Theory reading group.