Catharina van Delden grew up in the Dutch East Indies; prior to theJapanese occupation during World War II she lived inYogyakarta.[1] In 1946 or 1947 she married Johan Willem Blankenberg (born 26 July 1907 inMuntok). In July 1947 she was repatriated fromBatavia to the Netherlands on M.S. "Kota Baroe". Her husband was killed on 14 November 1949 inBrebes (Java) during an attack on his place of work.[2]
Blankenberg-Van Delden read Egyptology atLeiden University withAdolf Klasens starting from 1963. In 1969 she published her groundbreaking study into thecommemorative scarabs of Amenhotep III.[3] The catalogue includes all copies known at the time, including photographs or line drawings, plus transcription and translation of the texts on the scarabs.
Blankenberg-Van Delden's designation of commemorative scarabs has become standard in Egyptology: category (indicated by a letter) and a sequence number, allowing for continuous numbering of newly found scarabs. The categories are, based on the text inscribed on the "belly" of the scarab:
A.‘Marriage’ Scarabs (text about QueenTiye and her parents)
B.Wild Bull-Hunt Scarabs (account of aroyal hunt, regnal year 2)
C.Lion-Hunt Scarabs (account of several royal hunts, regnal years 1-10)
D.Gilukhepa Scarabs (arrival ofMitanni princessGilukhipa, regnal year 10)
E.Lake Scarabs (construction of an artificial lake for Queen Tiye, regnal year 11)
F.Forgeries
LSLost Scarabs (scarabs that have been documented, but are now lost)
In 1976 and 1977 Blankenberg-Van Delden published additional scarabs; she transferred her materials gathered thereafter to R.J. Demarée who published them in 2011.
‘Gedenkscarabeeën van Amenhotep III in het Rijksmuseum van Oudheden te Leiden’.Oudheidkundige mededelingen uit het Rijksmuseum van Oudheden 42 (1961), 7–12.
‘Blankenberg-van Delden, Catharina (1906-1994)’. In:M.L. Bierbrier (ed.),Who Was Who in Egyptology (5th Revised Edition). London:Egypt Exploration Society, 2019; p. 55.
O.E. Kaper, ‘De geschiedenis van de egyptologie aan Nederlandse universiteiten’. In:O.E. Kaper,J.G. Dercksen (red.),Waar de geschiedenis begon. Leiden:NINO, 2014; p. 57.
M.J. Raven, ‘Chapter 5 - The Netherlands’. In:A. Bednarski,A. Dodson,Salima Ikram (eds.),A History of World Egyptology. Cambridge University Press, 2021; p. 148.
^Although Klasens reportedly urged her to pursue the subject, the publication was dedicated to the memory ofJozef M.A. Janssen, who suggested this investigation.
