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After a reign of approximately eleven years, the Horus Men-Ma’at-Ra (Sety I) passed to the west. He died in reasonably good health, and studies of his mummy reveal a tall, physically robust individual. So, what killed him? We explore these questions, and the history of his Memorial Temple, where the King’s body lay in state ready for burial…
Music by Bettina Joy de Guzman www.bettinajoydeguzman.com.
Music and interludes by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.net.
Music by Luke Chaos www.chaosmusick.com.
Additional music “Sety’s Funeral” by Ihab Mahna https://www.instagram.com/imahna/.
Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast.
Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.
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It's time to visit Egypt again. In November 2025, we are doing a 9-day visit to Luxor for the "Glories of Thebes!" Starting in Cairo (with the GEM) we head south to visit the Valley of the Kings, Memorial Temples, Deir el-Medina, Abydos, Karnak, and so much more.
Note: Future tour groups will be smaller than previous years (because I don't have to travel so far, from NZ, anymore). Places are limited, so get in touch!
If you're interested and want to add extra days in Cairo for pyramids, Saqqara, etc, let AWT know in your contact email. Things can always be arranged!
Logo image: Scene from the tomb of Thutmose III, which we visit on a special permit.
Details and contact forms:
Tour page with all details: History of Egypt Podcast 2025 — Ancient World Tours.
Reserve your place: Booking — Ancient World Tours.
Travel enquiries: Contact Ancient World Tours.
History enquiries: Contact me here.
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News from the Field 2025, Part 1. In February 2025, the breaking news was the discovery of a royal tomb. An archaeological mission working in Luxor are confident they have located the grave of King Thutmose II. The tomb itself was discovered in late 2022, and the team announced it publicly in 2023. I reported on that initial find in the news roundup for that year. Now, another season has passed, and the team’s work has come to fruition...
I am also joined by Dr. Chris Naunton, former Director of the Egypt Exploration Society, who was discussed the new find on his blog, and joins us to share some wider context and speculation.
Music interludes by Keith Zizza and Luke Chaos.
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Paser, servant of Sety I and Ramesses II (c.1300--1270 BCE). In the later years of his reign, King Sety promoted one of his servants to the highest political/government office. Paser, the Vizier, enters our story...
Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com.
Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast.
Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.
Music and interludes by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.net.
Music and interludes by Luke Chaos www.chaosmusick.com.
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My guest today is Prof. Elizabeth Frood, Associate Professor of Egyptology and Director of the Griffith Institute at the University of Oxford, UK. In a lively discussion, Dr. Frood shares her insights into ancient lives and how people living in the non-royal sphere approached their immortality. Statues, texts and graffiti show us the minds of these people and how they depicted their concerns, beliefs and ideas. It's a great conversation and I think you'll really enjoy it!
Prof. Frood's book: Biographical Texts from Ramessid Egypt, 2007.
Academic pages:
https://www.orinst.ox.ac.uk/people/elizabeth-frood
https://oxford.academia.edu/ElizabethFrood
Prof. Frood's story:
http://www.ox.ac.uk/news/arts-blog/returning-egypt-acquired-disability-and-fieldwork#
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2281439122175384
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-oxfordshire-42739901/the-infection-which-took-my-nose-and-legs
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The Place of Beauties (Ta-Set-Neferu). In the reigns of Ramesses I and Sety I (c.1304—1292 BCE), the Valley of the Queens finally earned its moniker. Having been a burial ground for royal children and courtiers, the wadi south of Deir el-Medina now began to host ruling women. In the days of Sety I, the Queen Mother Sitra and the Queen Tuya both received new tomb constructions in this site. Their monuments include evocative passages from the Book of the Dead (Chapter 17), and hints of the wonders to come in future generations…
Tombs discussed in this episode:
Princess Iah-Mes / Ahmose: Museo Egizio, Turin and Theban Mapping Project.
Queen Sitra: Theban Mapping Project.
Queen Tuya: Theban Mapping Project.
Queen Nefertari: Theban Mapping Project and digital reconstruction at Nefertari Tomb.
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Understanding the deities requires us to move beyond inherited preconceptions and prejudices. Fortunately, there are many gods worthy of the effort. From the deified Sphinx Horemakhet, to the meme-lord Medjed, to the deified lover-boy Antinous, the pantheon is rich in variety and personalities. It is a subject that today’s guest, Dr. Tamara L. Siuda, has devoted a great deal of time. Her new book, The Complete Encyclopedia of Egyptian Deities (2024) is a comprehensive guide to many of these figures…
Dr. Tamara Siuda’s website: https://tamarasiuda.com/
For a limited time, 20% off the purchase of The Complete Encyclopedia of Egyptian Deities at Llewellyn.com. Code: CEED20. Valid: 1/23/25 – 2/28/25. Offer cannot be combined with other discounts. Must be logged in to your Llewellyn account for coupon to apply to cart.
Dr. Siuda has generously offered a permanent discount code on any item in her bookstore. Visit http://tamarasiuda.com/shop and use the coupon code historical to receive 20% off any order. Valid for one order per customer.
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The Book of the Sky Cow. In the waning years of the 18th Dynasty (the reign of Tut’ankhamun) royal artisans began decorating tombs and funerary equipment with a new text. Sometimes known as “The Destruction of Mankind,” the book tells of a distant age, when Ra ruled on earth. But as the sun-god aged, a group of humans perceived his weakness, and plotted rebellion. Faced with an uprising, Ra marshalled his supporters and sent forth an enforcer. The goddess Hat-Hor (and her alter ego Sakhmet) began to wreak havoc upon the lowly, wayward humans…
The Book of the Sky Cow:
Part I and Part II, and the Shrines of Tutankhamun, available in Piankoff, The Shrines of Tut-Ankh-Amon. Available at Internet Archive Open Access.
Part I and Part II available in Simpson, The Literature of Ancient Egypt, pages 289—298. Available at Internet Archive Open Access.
Part I (the Rebellion) available in Lichtheim Ancient Egyptian Literature Volume II: The New Kingdom. Available at Academia.edu.
The History of Egypt Podcast:
Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com.
Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast.
Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.
Music and interludes by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.net.
Music and interludes by Luke Chaos www.chaosmusick.com.
Music and interludes by Luke Chaos www.chaosmusick.com.
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Hathor's temple at Dendera is one of the best in Egypt. Constructed in the late 1st Millennium BCE (but with roots stretching back to the Old Kingdom), Hathor’s house preserves amazing art, hieroglyphs, and secrets. It is a temple that today’s guest, José M. Barrera, devoted a great deal of energy to documenting. The result is a wonderful study of Hathor’s celestial realm…
See José's amazing photography of Dendera's ceiling and learn more about his book Dendera: The Temple of Time (2024) at his website: https://josemariabarrera.com/dendera/
See the video version of this interview at https://youtu.be/7xjUzTcRMH0
Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com.
Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast.
Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.
Music and interludes by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.net.
Music and interludes by Luke Chaos www.chaosmusick.com.
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Livestream recording. The tombs of Deir el-Medina are some of the most vibrant and beautiful in Waset (Thebes). How did they build them, which artists decorated them, and how did folk like Sennedjem pay for the construction and furnishing?
Video version available at Patreon, with extended artistic discussion.
Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com.
Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast.
Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.
Intro music by Bettina Joy de Guzman www.bettinajoydeguzman.com.
Music and interludes by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.net.
Music and interludes by Luke Chaos www.chaosmusick.com.
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New Year, New Home. My wife and I are moving to the UK in February 2025. How will this improve / affect the podcast? Details inside.
Next livestream: “How to Make Your Own Tomb,” based on the artists’ tombs at Deir el-Medina. Held on YouTube live: https://youtube.com/live/500MMqMUlH8.
Date and time zone conversion:
Auckland: Sun, 29 Dec 2024 at 9:00 a.m. NZDT
Sydney: Sun, 29 Dec 2024 at 7:00 a.m. AEDT
Cairo: Sat, 28 Dec 2024 at 10:00 p.m. EET
Berlin: Sat, 28 Dec 2024 at 9:00 p.m. CET
London: Sat, 28 Dec 2024 at 8:00 p.m. GMT
New York: Sat, 28 Dec 2024 at 3:00 p.m. EST
Chicago: Sat, 28 Dec 2024 at 2:00 p.m. CST
Los Angeles: Sat, 28 Dec 2024 at 12:00 Noon PST
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Sety’s final campaign. In winter of year 8 (approx. December 1296 BCE), the King of Egypt Sety I received news: rebellion in the south. In a land called Irem, now in modern Sudan, locals were resisting Egypt’s monarch. Sety gathered an army of infantry and chariots and set off to war. The story is told by Egyptians participating in the event, and by monuments erected to commemorate it…
Logo image: Captive Nubians in distinctive clothing, accompanied by cattle. From TT40, the tomb of Amunhotep Huy, reign of Tutankhamun, by Kairoinfo4u https://www.flickr.com/photos/manna4u/albums/72157665011702090/.
See the temple of Beit el-Wali at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Temple_of_Beit_el-Wali
Music by Bettina Joy de Guzman www.bettinajoydeguzman.com.
Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com.
Music and interludes by Luke Chaos www.chaosmusick.com.
Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast.
Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.
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Livestream recording. The village of Deir el-Medina first arose in the 18th Dynasty (c.1550—1310 BCE), but the historical records really multiply in the 19th and 20th Dynasties (c.1310—1070 BCE). In this livestream recording, I set the scene for the village and introduce you to some of its inhabitants. We explore houses and families, and a couple of intact tombs that shed light on the inhabitants…
Video version available at https://www.patreon.com/posts/livestream-deir-117598390.
Deir el-Medina Village
Museo Egizio excavation photos: https://archiviofotografico.museoegizio.it/en/archive/theban-region/deir-el-medina/excavations-at-the-village-temple-and-chapels/?photo=C00949
Kairo info4u: https://www.flickr.com/photos/manna4u/albums/72157615031342678/
Wikimedia: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Deir_el-Medina
TT1 Sennedjem and Family
Kairoinfo4u: https://www.flickr.com/photos/manna4u/albums/72157645191206615/
Metropolitan Museum of Art: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search?q=sennedjem&geolocation=Thebes&sortBy=AccessionNumber&showOnly=withImage
TT8 Tomb of Kha & Merit
Museo Egizio excavation photos: https://archiviofotografico.museoegizio.it/en/archive/theban-region/deir-el-medina/tt8-tomb-and-chapel-of-kha-and-merit/?photo=C02053
Museo Egizio objects collection https://collezioni.museoegizio.it/en-GB/search/?action=s&provenance=Deir%20el-Medina%20%2f%20tomb%20of%20Kha%20(TT8)
The History of Egypt Podcast:
Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com.
Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast.
Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.
Intro music by Ihab.
Music and interludes by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.net.
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Deir el-Medina’s Golden Age (Part 1). In the age of Sety I, the village of the tomb-builders expanded significantly. Likewise, our evidence for daily life, families, households, and business begins to proliferate. Historians can identify individuals from tombs and connect them with specific houses. We can track their movements, as they form relationships, get married, have children, and pass things to their descendants. Written records tell us about the village’s operations, including their funding from the pharaoh’s government. Around 1300 BCE, we stand on the threshold of some truly detailed stories…
DEIR EL-MEDINA LIVESTREAM, open to the public, see details here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/116333133.
See photos of Deir el-Medina by:
Kairoinfo4u https://flickr.com/photos/manna4u/albums/72157615031342678/
Margaret Lucy Patterson https://flickr.com/photos/24729615@N00/albums/72157625707940536/
Heidi Kontkanen https://flickr.com/photos/plingthepenguin/albums/72157657026077070/
For personal items, including food discovered in tombs, see the collection of the Museo Egizio, Turin (English database).
People and families of Deir el-Medina: Davies, B. G. (1999). Who’s Who at Deir el-Medina: A Prosopographic Study of the Royal Workmen’s Community. Available free from the publisher and author at https://www.nino-leiden.nl/publication/whos-who-at-deir-el-medina and https://www.academia.edu/10955578/Whos_Who_at_Deir_el_Medina.
Music and interludes by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.net.
Music and interludes by Luke Chaos www.chaosmusick.com.
Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com.
Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast.
Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.
Logo image: The Workman Sennedjem and his wife Iy-Nefret worship the sky goddess Nut, who emerges from a sycamore tree (Photo Chris Ward).
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Sety I in the Valley of the Kings (Part 1). Archaeological remains and ancient texts reveal a great deal about tomb-building in the 19th and 20th Dynasties (c.1303—1070 BCE). Records, artefacts, and art all combine to inform us of the workers and their practices. In this episode, we use the sepulchre of Sety I (KV17) as a case-study, to understand an ancient tomb project.
Logo image: The cartouche of Sety I from the ceiling of his tomb (Photo Dominic Perry).
Explore the tomb of Sety I in a 3D Walkthrough by MuseEd https://mused.com/guided/926/tomb-of-seti-i-valley-of-the-kings/
Archaeological information for Sety's tomb at the Theban Mapping Project: https://thebanmappingproject.com/index.php/tombs/kv-17-sety-i
Photos of Sety’s tomb by Kairoinfo4u: https://flickr.com/photos/manna4u/albums/72157687439529835/
For up-to-date studies and discussions of the royal tombs and their history, see The Oxford Handbook of the Valley of the Kings: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-oxford-handbook-of-the-valley-of-the-kings-9780190052072. Individual articles may be available via their authors if you do a web search of the author + article title.
Music and interludes by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.net.
Music and interludes by Luke Chaos www.chaosmusick.com.
The History of Egypt Podcast:
Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com.
Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast.
Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.
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In 1881, a remarkable discovery took place in Luxor, Egypt. In the hills of Deir el-Bahari, a secret tomb held the reburied mummies of Egypt’s famous pharaohs. Figures like Sety I, Ramesses II, Thutmose III, and Amunhotep I lay in rest, in carefully hidden coffins. However, the caskets themselves hold many secrets, which today’s guest has spent years exploring.
VIDEO VERSION available on YouTube.
Interview guest:
Prof. Kara Cooney (UCLA) presents Recycling for Death:Coffin Reuse in Ancient Egypt and the Theban Royal Caches. Part of the UCLA Coffins Project https://arce.org/project/ucla-coffins-project/. Available via AUC Press https://aucpress.com/9781649031280/recycling-for-death/.
Kara Cooney’s website: https://karacooney.squarespace.com/.
The Deir el-Bahari cache and the royal coffins & mummies:
Coffin of Sety I https://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/coffinofsetii. Possible evidence of its origin as a queenly coffin via Dr. Peter Lacovara https://peterlacovara.com/portfolio/coffin-conundrum/.
Daressy, G. (1909). Cercueils des cachettes royales: Nos 61001-61044. https://archive.org/details/DaressyCercueils1909.
Maspero, G., & Brugsch, É. (1881—1887). La Trouvaille de Deir-el-Bahari, 2 vols. https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/maspero1881bd1 and https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/maspero1887bd2.
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The plan of an honest ruler. Around 1300 BCE, as today, gold was big business. King Sety I personally led an expedition into the eastern desert, to establish a new mining operation. Back in the Nile Valley, high-ranking officials leave monuments testifying to their work delivering, securing, and recording that gold. And thanks to art and artefacts, we can reconstruct the items these gold-workers produced. From the Red Sea Mountains to the Temple of Abydos, we follow the paths of gold…
Logo image: Silver and gold statuette of a New Kingdom pharaoh, possibly Sety I (Louvre).
For records of Sety and his contemporaries, see Kenneth Kitchen. Ramesside Inscriptions, Volume I. Versions: Hieroglyphs; English translations; References and Commentary.
Photos of Sety’s Temple at Kanais in the Wadi Barramiya.
Sety’s monuments including the Abydos and Kanais temples, in P. J. Brand, The Monuments of Seti I: Epigraphic, Historical and Art Historical Analysis (2000). Available free online at Academia.edu.
Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com.
Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast.
Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.
Music and interludes by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.net.
Music and interludes by Luke Chaos www.chaosmusick.com.
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Sety in the Desert. Around 1300 BCE, King Sety led an expedition into the Red Sea hills. His purpose? Gold. The King brought soldiers and charioteers out to mine precious metals for his treasuries. The journey was difficult, traversing a dry and rocky landscape far from the comforts of home. Fortunately, Sety left detailed descriptions of the event; and art and artefacts from this era allow us to reconstruct the journey...
Episode details:
Logo image: Soldiers make camp, setting up tents for commanders. Tomb of Horemheb at Saqqara (Martin 2016).
Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com.
Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast.
Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.
Music and interludes by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.net.
Music and interludes by Luke Chaos www.chaosmusick.com.
The Wadi Barramiya, in which Sety’s expedition travelled, by Hakatani Tenfu at Flickr.com.
The Kanais Temple of Sety I, in the Wadi Barramiya, by Mutnedjmet at Flickr.com.
Select bibliography:
A. Dodson, Sethy I King of Egypt: His Life and Afterlife (Cairo, 2019).
H. Gauthier, ‘Le temple de l’Ouâdi Mîyah (el Knaïs)’, Bulletin de l’Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale 17 (1920), 1--38. Available online.
K. A. Kitchen, Ramesside Inscriptions Historical and Biographical, I (Oxford, 1975).
R. Klemm and D. Klemm, Gold and Gold Mining in Ancient Egypt and Nubia: Geoarchaeology of the Ancient Gold Mining Sites in the Egyptian and Sudanese Eastern Deserts (Berlin, 2013).
G. T. Martin, Tutankhamun’s Regent: Scenes and Texts from the Memphite Tomb of Horemheb (EES Excavation Memoir 111; London, 2016).
C. D. Reader, A Gift of Geology: Ancient Egyptian Landscapes and Monuments (Cairo, 2022).
R. D. Rothe et al., Pharaonic Inscriptions from the Southern Eastern Desert of Egypt (Winona Lake, 2008).
B. M. Sampsell, The Geology of Egypt: A Traveler’s Handbook (Cairo, 2014).
See website for complete listing.
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Ramesses Rising. Traditionally, Egyptian princes are almost invisible. The pharaohs downplayed the presence of their sons, to reduce political competition and maintain religious order. Sety I (c.1300 BCE) changed this habit. In art and monuments, he promoted young Ramesses II to a position of prominence and power. The exact nature of this promotion is slightly controversial among Egyptologists. In this episode, we explore Ramesses’ rise and some of the thorny issues. Additionally, Prof. Peter Brand joins us to discuss some of the harder questions on these period.
Peter Brand, The Monuments of Sety I (2000), available free at Academia.edu.
Peter Brand, Ramesses II: Egypt’s Ultimate Pharaoh (2023) available from Lockwood Press.
Music and interludes by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.net.
Music and interludes by Luke Chaos www.chaosmusick.com.
Outro music: “River Lullaby” from The Prince of Egypt (1998) – Harp cover by The Knitting Harpist (YouTube).
The History of Egypt Podcast:
Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com.
Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast.
Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.
Music and interludes by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.net.
Music and interludes by Luke Chaos www.chaosmusick.com.
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In the Temple of Sety I at Abydos, an out-of-the-way corridor preserves a unique image. The King of Egypt, and his eldest son, wrangle and subdue a bull. This scene appears simple, at first glance. But it has a wealth of deeper symbolism and meanings. In this episode, we explore the idea of Bulls as images of power and violence, and their relationship with gods like Osiris and Seth…
Episode logo: Ramesses and the Bull, by artist Brenna Baines (commissioned by The History of Egypt Podcast). Full version available on my Patreon (link below).
The Bull Hall photos by Heidi Kontkanen at Flickr.com.
The Bull Hall in Peter Brand, Monuments of Sety I (2000) available free online.
The History of Egypt Podcast:
Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com.
Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast.
Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.
Music and interludes by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.net.
Sound effects purchased from Pond5.
Select Bibliography:
M. Abuel-Yazid, ‘Architecture of the Slaughterhouse of the Seti Temple at Abydos’, in I. Regulski (ed.), Abydos: The Sacred Land at the Western Horizon (2019), 7—24.
L. Baqué, ‘“On that Day When the Long-Horned Bull was Lassoed...” (PT [254] 286). A Scene in the “Corridor of the Bull” of the Cenotaph of Sethos I in Abydos: An Iconologic Approach’, Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur 30 (2002), 43—51.
P. J. Brand, The Monuments of Seti I: Epigraphic, Historical and Art Historical Analysis (2000). Available free online.
R. H. Wilkinson, The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt (2003).
J. M. Galán, ‘Bullfight Scenes in Ancient Egyptian Tombs’, Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 80 (1994), 81—96.
See website for complete reference list.
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