Prof. Gay Robins

Biography

Professor Gay Robins studied Egyptology as an undergraduate at the University of Durham, and then obtained a D.Phil. from Oxford University in 1981 under the supervision of Professor John Baines. From 1979 to 1983 she was the Lady Wallis Budge Research Fellow in Egyptology at Christ’s College, Cambridge. She was appointed assistant professor in the art history department at Emory University in 1988, obtaining her promotion to associate professor in 1994 and to professor in 1998, with a subsequent appointment as Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Art History in 2003. From 1988-1997, she was also Faculty Curator of Ancient Egyptian Art in Emory’s Michael C. Carlos Museum, during which time she curated three exhibitions relating to ancient Egypt. Over the course of her career, she has published numerous articles and books on the topics of ancient Egyptian art, the decoration of eighteenth dynasty non-royal Theban tombs, and women and gender issues in ancient Egypt. She retired in 2018 and is now Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor Emerita of Art History.

Books

Egyptian Painting and Relief. Shire Egyptology 3. Princes Risborough, UK: Shire Publications, 1986.
The Rhind Mathematical Papyrus: an Ancient Egyptian Text. London: British Museum Publications and Dover Publications, 1987; reprinted 1990, 1998 (with C.C.D.Shute).
Women in Ancient Egypt. London and Cambridge, MA: British Museum Press and Harvard University Press, 1993.
Proportion and Style in Ancient Egyptian Art. Austin and London: University of Texas Press and Thames and Hudson, 1994.
The Art of Ancient Egypt. London and Cambridge, MA: British Museum Press and Harvard University Press, 1997, rev. ed. 2008.
Egyptian Statues. Shire Egyptology 26. Princes Risborough, UK: Shire Publications, 2001.
Exhibition Catalogues

Beyond the Pyramids: Egyptian Regional Art from the Museo Egizio, Turin. Atlanta: Emory University Museum of Art and Archaeology, 1990 (editor and contributor).
Reflections of Women in the New Kingdom: Ancient Egyptian Art from The British Museum. San Antonio, Texas: Van Siclen Books, 1995 (assisted by Sheramy D. Bundrick).
Published papers

“Amenhotpe I and the child Amenemhat,” Göttinger Miszellen 30 (1978), 71-5.
“The relationships specified by Egyptian kinship terms of the Middle and New Kingdoms,” Chronique d'Égypte 54/108 (1979), 197-217.
“The value of the estimated ages of the royal mummies at death as historical evidence,” Göttinger Miszellen 45 (1981), 63-8.
“Hmt nsw wrt Meritaton,” Göttinger Miszellen 52 (1981), 75-81.
“Ahhotpe I, II and III,” Göttinger Miszellen 56 (1982), 71-7.
“Meritamun, daughter of Ahmose and Meritamun, daughter of Thutmose III,” Göttinger Miszellen 56 (1982), 79-87.
“sAt nsw nt Xt.f tjaA,” Göttinger Miszellen 57 (1982), 55-6.
“Determining the slope of pyramids,” Göttinger Miszellen 57 (1982), 49-54 (with C.C.D. Shute).
“The length of the forearm in canon and metrology,” Göttinger Miszellen 59 (1982), 61-75.
“The god's wife of Amun in the 18th dynasty of Egypt,” in: Averil Cameron and Amélie Kuhrt (eds). Images of Women in Antiquity. London and Canberra: Croom Helm, 1983, 65-78.
“Natural and canonical proportions in ancient Egyptians,” Göttinger Miszellen 61 (1983), 17-25.
“A critical examination of the theory that the right to the throne of ancient Egypt passed through the female line in the 18th dynasty,” Göttinger Miszellen 62 (1983), 67-77.
“Amarna grids: 1,” Göttinger Miszellen 64 (1983), 67-72.
“Anomalous proportions in the tomb of Haremhab (KV 57),” Göttinger Miszellen 65 (1983), 91-96.
“The canon of proportions in the tomb of Ramesses I (KV 16),” Göttinger Miszellen 68 (1983), 85-90.
“The physical proportions and living stature of New Kingdom Pharaohs,” Journal of Human Evolution 12 (1983), 455-465 (with C.C.D. Shute).
“Two statues from the tomb of Tutankhamun,” Göttinger Miszellen 71 (1984), 47-50.
“Isis, Nephthys, Selket and Neith represented on the sarcophagus of Tutankhamun and in four free-standing statues found in KV 62,” Göttinger Miszellen 72 (1984), 21-5.
“The proportions of figures in the decoration of the tombs of Tutankhamun (KV 62) and Ay (KV 23),” Göttinger Miszellen 72 (1984), 27-32.
“Analysis of facial proportions in Egyptian art,” Göttinger Miszellen 79 (1984), 31-41.
“Estimating living stature from female skeletal remains,” Göttinger Miszellen 83 (1984), 71-76 (with C.C.D. Shute).
“Amarna grids: 3. Standing figures of the king in the early style,” Göttinger Miszellen 84 (1985), 51-64.
“The stature and physical proportions of the brothers Nakhtankh and Khnumnakht (Manchester Museum nos. 21470-1),” Zeitschrift für ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde 112 (1985), 44-48.
“Wisdom from Egypt and Greece,” Discussions in Egyptology 1 (1985), 35-41 (with C.C.D. Shute).
“Mathematical bases of ancient Egyptian architecture and graphic art,” Historia Mathematica 12 (1985), 107-122 (with C.C.D. Shute).
“Slopes of the double feathers of Amon-Re in the temple of Ramesses III within the great enclosure of Amun at Karnak,” Discussions in Egyptology 2 (1985), 51-58.
“Standing figures in the late grid system of the 26th dynasty,” Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur 12 (1985), 101-116.
“The slope of the front of the royal apron,” Discussions in Egyptology 3 (1985), 49-56.
“Amarna grids 2: Treatment of standing figures of the queen,” Göttinger Miszellen 88 (1985), 47-54.
“Predynastic Egyptian stature and physical proportions,” Human Evolution 1 (1986), 313-324 (with C.C.D. Shute).
“The role of the royal family in the 18th dynasty up to the reign of Amenhotpe III: 1. Queens,” Wepwawet. Research Papers in Egyptology 2 (1986), 10-14.
“The role of the royal family in the 18th dynasty up to the reign of Amenhotpe III: 2. Royal children,” Wepwawet. Research Papers in Egyptology 3 (1987) 15-17.
“Proportions in Persian and Egyptian art,” Bulletin of the Egyptological Seminar 9 (1987/88), 53-60.
“Ancient Egyptian Sexuality,” Discussions in Egyptology 11 (1988), 61-72.
“The living stature and physical proportions of the Naqada people,” in Sylvia Schoske (ed.) Akten des vierten internationalen ägyptologen Kongresses München 1985. Band 1: Methoden und Geschichte der Ägyptologie, Informatik, Keramologie, Anthropologie. Hamburg: Buske, 1988, 301-306 (with C.C.D. Shute).
“Some images of women in New Kingdom art and literature,” in: Barbara S. Lesko (ed.) Woman's Earliest Records from Egypt and Western Asia: proceedings of the Conference on Women in the ancient Near East, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, November 5-7, 1987. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1989), 105-116.
“The reign of Nebhepetre Montuhotep II and the pre-unification Theban style of relief,” in Gay Robins (ed.). Beyond the Pyramids: Egyptian Regional Art from the Museo Egizio, Turin. Atlanta: Emory University Museum of Art and Archaeology, 1990, 39-45.
“The 14 to 11 proportion in Egyptian architecture,” Discussions in Egyptology 16 (1990), 75-80 (with C.C.D. Shute).
“Problems in interpreting Egyptian art,” Discussions in Egyptology 17 (1990), 45-58.
“While the woman looks on: gender inequality in New Kingdom Egypt,” KMT 1 no.3 (Fall 1990), 18-21, 64-65.
“Proportions of standing figures in the North-west Palace of Ashurnasirpal II at Nimrud,” Iraq 52 (1990), 107-119.
“Irrational numbers and pyramids,” Discussions in Egyptology 18 (1990), 43-53 (with C.C.D. Shute).
“The mother of Tutankhamun,” Discussions in Egyptology 20 (1991), 71-73.
“Composition and the artist's squared grid,” Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 28 (1991), 41-54.
“The mother of Tutankhamun (2),” Discussions in Egyptology 22 (1992), 25-27.
“Masculine and feminine traits in male figures in Egyptian two-dimensional art from the late 4th dynasty to the 26th dynasty,” Sesto Congresso Internazionale di Egittologia. Atti 1. Turin: Intrnational Association of Egyptologists, 1992, 535-541.
“Queens and queenship in 18th dynasty Egypt before the Amarna Period,” Bulletin of the Canadian Society for Mesopotamian Studies 26 (1993), 53-58.
“The representation of sexual characteristics in Amarna art,” Journal of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities 23 (1993), 29-41.
“Some principles of compositional dominance and gender hierarchy in Egyptian art,” Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 31 (1994), 33-40.
“A painted fragment from the tomb of Daw at Deir el Gebrawi,” Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 31 (1994), 21-32 (with James F. Romano).
“Women and children in peril: pregnancy, birth and infant mortality in ancient Egypt,” KMT 5 no.4 (Winter 1994-1995), 24-35.
“On supposed connections between the 'canon of proportions' and metrology,” Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 80 (1994), 191-194.
“Canonical proportions and metrology,” Discussions in Egyptology 32 (1995), 91-92.
“Mathematics, Astronomy, and Calendars in Pharaonic Egypt,” in: Jack M. Sasson, John Baines, Gary Beckman and Karen S. Rubinson (eds). Civilizations of the Ancient Near East 3. New York: Charles Scribner's, MacMillan Library Reference, Simon and Schuster MacMillan, 1995, 1799-1813.
“Dress, undress and the representation of fertility and potency in New Kingdom Egyptian art, in: N.B. Kampen (ed.). Sexuality in Ancient Art: Near East, Egypt, Greece, and Italy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996, 27-40.
“Abbreviated grids on two scenes in a Graeco-Roman tomb at Abydos,” in: Peter Der Manuelian (ed.). Studies in Honor of William Kelly Simpson 2, Boston: Department of Ancient Egypt, Nubian and Near Eastern Art, Museum of Fine Arts, 1996, 689-695.
“Women in Egypt,” in: D. Silverman (ed.). Ancient Egypt. London: Oxford University Press and Piatkus, 1997, 80-89.
“The ‘feminization’ of the male figure in New Kingdom two-dimensional art,” in: E. Goring, N. Reeves, and J. Ruffle (eds). Chief of Seers: Egyptian Studies in Memory of Cyril Aldred. London and New York: Kegan Paul International, 1997, 251-265.
“Women and votive stelae in the New Kingdom,” in: Jacke Phillips (ed.). Ancient Egypt, the Aegean, and the Near East: Studies in Honour of Martha Rhoads Bell 2. San Antonio: Van Siclen Books, 1997, 445-454.
“Piles of offerings: paradigms of limitation and creativity in ancient Egyptian art,” in: C.J. Eyre (ed.). Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of Egyptologists, Cambridge, 3-9 September 1995. Leuven: Peeters, 1998, 957-963.
“The enigma of Hatshepsut,” Archaeology Odyssey 2 no.1 (1999), 30-41.
“Women in ancient Egypt,” in: Bella Vivante (ed.). Women's Roles in Ancient Civilizations: a Reference Guide. Westport, CT and London: Greenwood Press, 1999, 155-187.
“Hair and the construction of identity in ancient Egypt, c.1480-1350 BC,” Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 36 (1999), 55-69.
“An unusual statue of a royal mother-in-law and grandmother,” in: Anthony Leahy and John Tait (eds). Studies on Ancient Egypt in Honour of H.S. Smith. London: Egypt Exploration Society, 1999, 255-259.
“The names of Hatshepsut as king,” Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 85 (1999), 103-112.
“The use of the squared grid as an artist's technical aid in eighteenth dynasty painted tombs,” in: W.V. Davies (ed.). Colour and Painting in Ancient Egypt. London: British Museum Press, 2001, 60-62.
“Problems concerning queens and queenship in eighteenth dynasty Egypt,” NIN, Journal of Gender Studies in Antiquity 3 (2002), 25-31.
“The organization and order of queens’ titles in the eighteenth dynasty before the reign of Akhenaten,” in: Tobias Hofmann and Alexandra Sturm (eds). Menschenbilder - Bildermenschen. Kunst und Kultur im Alten Ägypten. Norderstedt: Books on Demand, 2003, 203-226.
“Image and reality in Amarna art,” in: Nicolas Grimal, Amr Kamel and Cynthia Sheikholeslami (eds). Hommages à Fayza Haikal. Cairo: Institut français d’archéologie orientale, 2003, 225-229.
“Cult Statues in Ancient Egypt,” in: Neal H. Walls (ed.). Cult Image and Divine Representation in the Ancient Near East. Boston: American Schools of Oriental Research, 2005, 1-12.
“The decorative program in the burial chamber of the tomb of Tutankhamun (KV 62),” in: Zahi Hawass and Janet Richards (eds). The Archaeology and Art of Ancient Egypt: Essays in Honor of David B. O’Connor 2. Cairo: Conseil Suprême des antiquités de l’Égypte, 2007, 321-342.
“Art,” in: Toby Wilkinson (ed.). The Egyptian World. Abingdon and New York: Routledge, 2007, 355-365.
“The decoration of the inner doorway in the tomb chapel of Amenemhab (TT 85),” in: Ogden Goelet and Daphna Ben-Tor (eds). Studies in Honor of James F. Romano. New York: Egyptological Seminar of New York, 2007, 209-226.
“Male bodies and the construction of masculinity in New Kingdom Egyptian art,” in: Sue D’Auria (ed.). Servant of Mut: Studies in Honor of Richard A. Fazzini. Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2008, 208-215.
“Ideal beauty and divine attributes,” in: Christiane Ziegler (ed.). Queens of Egypt from Hetepheres to Cleopatra, exhibition catalogue, Monaco and Paris: Grimaldi Forum and Somogy, 2008, 118-130.
“Space and movement in pre-Amarna eighteenth dynasty Theban tomb chapels,” in: Alexandra Woods, Ann McFarlane, and Susanne Binder (eds). Egyptian Culture and Society: Studies in Honour of Naguib Kanawati 2. Cairo: Supreme Council of Antiquities, 2010, 129-142.
“The small golden shrine of Tutankhamun: an interpretation, in: Zahi Hawass and Jennifer H. Wegner (eds). Millions of Jubilees in Honor of David P. Silverman 2. Cairo: Supreme Council of Antiquities, 2010, 207-232.
“The decorative program in single-roomed pre-Amarna 18th dynasty Theban tomb chapels,” in: Elizabeth Frood and Angela McDonald (eds), Decorum and Experience: Essays in Ancient Culture for John Baines. Oxford: Griffith Institute, 2013, 170-173.
“Gender and sexuality,” in: Melinda Hartwig (ed.). A Companion to Ancient Egyptian Art. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2014, 120-140.
“Constructing elite group and individual identity within the canon of 18th dynasty Theban tomb chapel decoration,” in: Kim Ryholt and Gojko Barjamovic (eds). Problems of Canonicity and Identity Formation in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press, 2016, 201-215.
“The flying pintail duck,” in: P. Kousoulis and N. Lazaridis (eds). Proceedings of the 10th International Congress of Egyptologists, Rhodes: University of the Aegean, 22-29 May 2008. Leuven: Peeters, 2016, 1833-1838.
“Meals for the Dead: the image of the deceased seated before a table of offerings,” in: Catherine M. Draycott (ed.). Dining and Death: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the ‘Funerary Banquet’ in Ancient Art, Burial and Belief. Leuven, Peeters, 111-127.
“Ancient Egyptian art,” in: Art History - Oxford Bibliographies, unpaginated. DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199920105-0142, 2020.
Entries in dictionaries and encyclopedias

"Egypt (Ancient)" in: Helen Tierney (ed.). Womens Studies Encyclopedia 3. History, Philosophy, and Religion. New York: Greenwood Press, 1991, 127-129.
“Proportion,” The Dictionary of Art 9. London and New York: Macmillan, 1996, 799-801.
"Subject matter," The Dictionary of Art 9. London and New York: Macmillan, 1996, 804-812.
“Color symbolism,” The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt 1. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2001, 291-294.
“Gender roles,” The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt 2. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2001,12-16.
“Grid systems,” The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt 2. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2001, 68-71;
“Legitimation,” The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt 2. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2001, 286-289.
“Queens,” The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt 3. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2001, 105-109.
“Women,” The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt 3. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2001, 510-516.
Reviews
Review of Detlef Franke Altägyptische Verwandtschaftsbezeichnungen im Mittleren Reich, in: Bibliotheca Orientalis 41 (1984), 602-606.
Review of H. Schäfer Principles of Egyptian Art, in: The Burlington Magazine July 1987, 462.
Review of Michel Gitton Les divines épouses de la 18e dynastie in: Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 73 (1987), 272-276.
Review of Robert Hari New Kingdom Amarna Period, in: Bibliotheca Orientalis 44 (1987), 109-117.
Review of Claude Sourdive La main dans l'Égypte pharaonique, in: Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 74 (1988), 261-263.
Review of Lana Troy Patterns of Queenship in ancient Egyptian Myth and History, in: Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 76 (1990), 214-220.
Review of Douglas J. Brewer and Renée F. Friedman Fish and Fishing in Ancient Egypt, in: Discussions in Egyptology 19 (1991), 103-105.
Review of Whitney Davis The Canonical Tradition in ancient Egyptian Art, in: Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 29 (1992), 222-223.
Review of Lynn Gamwell and Richard Wells (eds.) Sigmund Freud and Art: His Personal Collection of Antiquities, in: Bibliotheca Orientalis 50 (1993), 496-500.
Review of Sheila Whale The Family in the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, in: Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 79 (1993), 294-297.
Review of Rosalind M. and Jac. J. Janssen Growing up in Ancient Egypt, in: Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 80 (1994), 232-235.
Review of Mohammed el-Saghir Das Statuenversteck im Luxortempel, in: Journal of the American Oriental Society 115 (1995), 170.
Review of Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood Pharaonic Egyptian Clothing, in: Journal of the American Oriental Society 115 (1995), 553.
Review of Eberhard Dziobek Das Grab des Ineni. Theben Nr. 81, in: Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 81 (1995), 262-263.
Review of Saphinaz-Amal Naguib Mirroirs du passé, in: Journal of Near Eastern Studies 56 (1997), 306-307.
Review of Dominic Montserrat, Sex and Society in Graeco-Roman Egypt, in: Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 84 (1998), 256-258.
Review of Patrick F. Houlihan, The Animal World of the Pharaohs and of Salima Ikram, Choice Cuts: Meat Production in Ancient Egypt, in: Journal of the American Oriental Society 119 (1999), 170-171.
Review of Erika Feucht, Das Kind im alten Ägypten: Die Stellung des Kindes im Familie und Gesellschaft nach altägyptischen Texten und Darstellungen, in: Journal of Near Eastern Studies 59 (2000), 47-48.
“Engendering Egypt,” review of Tom Hare, ReMembering Osiris: Number, Gender, and the Word in Ancient Egyptian Representational Systems, in: Cambridge Archaeological Journal 10 (2000), 382-385.
Review of Dieter Kessler, Tuna el-Gebel II: Die Paviankultkammer G-C-C-2, in: Journal of Near Eastern Studies 61 (2002), 70-71.
Review of Michel Baud, Famille royale et pouvoir sous l’Ancien Empire égyptien, in: Journal of Near Eastern Studies 62 (2003), 54-55.
Review of Silke Roth, Die Königsmütter des alten Ägypten von der Frühzeit bis zum Ende der 12. Dynastie, in: Journal of Near Eastern Studies 63 (2004).
Review of Silke Roth, Gebieterin aller Länder. Die Rolle der kniglichen Frauen in der fiktiven und realen Aussenpolitik des ägyptischen Neuen Reiches in: Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 90 (reviews supplement), 32-4.
- Review of Dieter Arnold, Middle Kingdom Tomb Architecture at Lisht in: Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 69:3 (2010), 440-1.
Exhibitions

Monuments and Mummies: The Shelton Expedition to Egypt, Emory University Museum of Art and Archaeology, February 8th to June 25th, 1989.
Beyond the Pyramids: Egyptian Regional art from the Museo Egizio, Turin, Emory University Museum of Art and Archaeology, October 24th to March 10th, 1991.
Reflections of Women in the New Kingdom: Ancient Egyptian Art from the British Museum, Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University, February 4th to May 14th, 1995.