Building Tutankhamun's Digital Afterlife

Summary:Kara and Jordan welcome Griffith Institute staff Daniela Rosenow and Lara Bampfield to discuss the new Tutankhamun Spatial Archive, a searchable, metadata-driven platform that reconnects Carter’s excavation records to the tomb spaces, seasons, people, and objects. We learn about the trials and tribulations behind such an endevour, future plans for the project, and some of the fabulous stories behind lesser-known pieces in Tut’s tomb. Tutankhamun Spatial Archive Guest Bios:Lara Bampfield has recently submitted her DPhil in Assyriology at the University of Oxford. Her research investigates change and continuity in the motifs of Old Babylonian and Kassite cylinder seals, applying advanced digital methods such as 2D and 3D modelling, image-annotation software, and machine learning to analyse these transformations. In 2025 Lara joined the Griffith team as research assistant for the Tutankhamun Spatial Archive project focusing on the digital and metadata components.Daniela Rosenow studied Egyptology and Classics at the Humboldt University Berlin where she obtained her PhD on Late Period sacred architecture. She has worked at UCL’s Institute of Archaeology, the British Museum, the University of Munich and the German Archaeological Institute Cairo. In February 2021 Daniela joined the Griffith Institute, University of Oxford, where she co-curated the exhibition “Tutankhamun – Excavating the Archive“, and she is now the Manager of the Griffith Institute.Show Notes:Griffith Institute Main WebsiteTutankhamun Spatial Archive The latest story on the Egyptian WorkforceCast of Characters* Francis Llewellyn Griffith* Kate Bradbury * Nora MacDonald* Howard Carter* Harry Burton* Phyllis CarterOEB- Online Egyptological BibliographyTOB- Topographical Bibliography Middle Coffin (Compare)* Tutankhamun’s Floral Wreath* Hamza, N. M. (2020) Study and Investigations of Archaeobotanical Remains From Tutankhamun Tomb. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses.* For more information about the Egyptian workers – Quirke, S. (2010) Hidden hands : Egyptian workforces in Petrie excavation archives 1880-1924 / Stephen Quirke. London: Duckworth.* Smithsonian Magazine, “Remembering the Unsung Egyptians Who Helped Discover King Tut’s Tomb”* 1939 BBC Radio: playing of Tut’s trumpet with modern mouthpiece* Minnie Burton’s Diary Ancient/Now is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Ancient/Now at ancientnow.substack.com/subscribe