
Suzanne L. Onstine
Associate Professor
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https://www.memphis.edu/history/egyptology/
Education
PhD University of Toronto, MA University of Toronto, BA University of Arizona
Fields of interest
Egyptology: social history, women and gender, religion, archaeology, Theban Tombs, New Kingdom, Third Intermediate Period, Late Period, Predynastic era, Nubia, environment and human interaction
Courses taught
1110 World Civ. I
3320 Ancient World
4320/6320 Ancient Near East
4321/6321 Egypt of the Pharaohs
4322 Ancient Rome
4323Ancient Greece
Ancient Nubia
Archaeology and History
A History of Crafts
Graduate seminars on Egyptology (7320, 8320) on topics such as: Gendered Experiences
in Ancient Egypt, Religion in Ancient Egypt, Archaeology of Egypt, Historiography,
Nubian archaeology
Representative Publications
Books Published/Accepted for Publication
- The Tomb of Panehsy in Dra abu el-Naga: a study of use and reuse in the Theban necropolis (under contract with E.J Brill of Leiden).
- The Role of the Chantress (Smayt) in Ancient Egypt (2005, British Archaeological Reports, London)
Journal Articles
- “The deified Amenhotep I and Ahmose Nefertari in TT16” in Exalted Spirits. Yasmine el Shazly, ed. (forthcoming AUC press 2026)
- "Theban Tomb 16 in the 1st Millenium BCE" in Thebes to Tanis: Egypt during the 21st Dynasty. Rogerio Sousa, ed. (forthcoming 2025)
- "Secondary Burials in Theban Tomb 16" in Proceedings of the International Congress of Egyptologists, August 2023, Leiden. Olaf Kaper, ed. (forthcoming 2025)
- "The Egyptian pyramid chain was built along the now abandoned Ahramat Nile Branch" Eman Ghoneim, Timothy Ralph, Suzanne Onstine, Raghda (Didi) El-Behaedi, Gad El-Qady, Amr Fahil, Mahfooz Hafez, Magdy Atya, Mohamed Ahmed, Ashraf Khozym, and Mohamed Fathy in Nature Communications Earth & Environment. (May 2024) https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01379-7
- “Ancient Egyptian Religion” in Religion and Gender E. Franke and B. Heller (eds.) (2024).
- “University of Memphis Work in Theban Tomb 16.” In ICE XII: proceedings of the Twelfth International Congress of Egyptologists, 3rd-8th November 2019, Cairo, Egypt 1, 281-287. Cairo; Institut français d'archéologie orientale. O. Aguizy, B. Kasparian (eds), (2023)
- “Women’s health issues as seen in Theban Tomb 16” Co-authored with Jesús Herrerín López, Nataša Sarkić, Miguel Sanchez, Rosa Dinarès Solà in Women in Ancient Egypt: Current Research and Historical Trends Mariam Ayad ed. (2022)
- “Women’s health issues reflected in case studies from Theban Tomb 16” co-authored with Jesús Herrerín López, Miguel Sanchez, Rosa Dinarès Solà. In The Ancient Egyptians & the Natural World. Flora, Fauna, and Science. Salima Ikram, Jessica Kaiser, and Stéphanie Porcier, eds. (2021)
- “Panehsy’s Afterlife and the Underworld of TT16” in His Good Name: Essays on Identity and Self-presentation in Ancient Egypt in Honor of Ronald J. Leprohon. Christine Geisen and Jean Li, eds. (2021).
- "Women's participation in the religious hierarchy of Ancient Egypt" in Women in Antiquity: Real Women Across the Ancient World. Stefanie Budin and Jean Turfa eds. (2016)
- "Prosthesis for the Afterlife. Mummified Individuals Found in the Ramesside Tomb of Panehsy, Theban Tomb (TT) 16. Luxor Egypt." Co-authored with Jesus Herrerín, Miguel Sanchez, Elizabeth Warkentin, Virginia Reckard, and Tiffany Redman. Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 50, (2014).
- "A Preliminary Report on the Clearance of Theban Tomb 16 in Dra abu el Naga at Thebes" Book chapter in Archaeological Research in the Valley of the Kings and Ancient Thebes (2013). Ed. Pearce Paul Creasman. pgs. 227 - 240
- "A brief report on the University of Memphis mission to Theban Tomb 16 in Dra abu el-Naga." Newsletter of the Society of the Study for Egyptian Antiquities summer 2012.
- "University of Memphis Mission to Theban Tomb 16: The life of Panehsy, chanter and priest" Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 47, 2011, p. 231-236.
- "Gender and the Religion of Ancient Egypt" in Religion Compass online journal of religion http://http://www.blackwell-compass.com/subject/religion/article_view?article_id=reco_articles_bpl178
- "Mesaid Miscellanea", Journal of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities 32(2005) [published 2007].
- "Musician Priestesses in Ancient Egypt", The Ostracon. Vol. 13, no. 2; Summer 2002.
- "Women in Ancient Egypt" Egypt Revealed June, 2001.
- "The Relationship between Re and Osiris in the Book of Caverns", Journal of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities 25 (1995) [published 1998].
Administration/Service
I am the faculty advisor for the Egyptology Graduate Student Association (EGSA), the RSO group for our Egyptology graduate students. I am also a founding Board Member of the Tennessee chapter of the American Research Center in Egypt; this group promotes education about Egypt through lectures and social events.
I am currently serving a 3-year term on the College of Arts and Sciences Research Council.
Current research projects
I am the director of the University of Memphis Mission to Theban Tomb 16 (Panehsy). We are studying and conserving a 19th dynasty tomb and the secondary burials in it through epigraphy, archaeology, and forensic studies of the human remains.
I am also the co-director of an NSF funded research project investigating the ancient Nile river and it’s prior locations/branches. This multi-disciplinary project uses remote sensing and geophysical methods to locate and ground truth ancient waterways and relates them to the ancient human landscape. Our open-access article in Nature Communications Earth and Environment can be found here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01379-7