Her research in Egyptian military history has led to the first recreation of the tactics of the Battle of Perire, c. 1208 BCE and her study The Great Karnak Inscription of Merneptah "replaces all other earlier studies of the key historical narratives relating Merneptah's war against the Libyans." Her research on the military role that Tutankhamun might have taken on as pharaoh of Egypt contributed to Tutankhamun's Armies: Battle and Conquest in Ancient Egypt's Late Eighteenth Dynasty and was featured in the historical section of the documentary "King Tut Unwrapped." Through books and documentaries, Darnell has brought ancient Egyptian warfare and tactics to the broader public. In Egypt, she has made several important archaeological discoveries as the director of the Moalla Survey Project, an ongoing archaeological project.
Biography
Darnell studied for her undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at Yale, gaining her PhD in 2005. In 2006 she was appointed assistant professor and director of undergraduate studies, working alongside Chair of the Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations department Prof. John Darnell. Darnell was promoted to associate professor in 2010. She had married John Darnell and left Yale by 2015 after allegations emerged that she and Darnell had engaged in a long-running affair, beginning when she was a student under Darnell's supervision. She was listed as visiting professor of art history at the University of Hartford in 2015.
Archaeological work
In 2008, she created the Moalla Survey Project, an archaeological survey expedition in Egypt that has discovered several important new sites on the east bank of the Nile approximately 45 south of Luxor, ranging in date from the late Predynastic period through the late Roman period. In 2010, she discovered an extensive late Roman settlement with over a hundred distinct structures. Within the necropolis of Moalla, the Moalla Survey Project also discovered a Nubian Pan Grave cemetery, and the importance of the Nubian cemetery at the site of Moalla has been recognized in other publications. In 2010, Darnell presented the first identification of Nubian pottery manufactured at the site of Umm Mawagir in Kharga Oasis. This ceramic analysis reveals new interactions between Nubian and Egyptian populations in the oases.
Museum work
As curator of "Echoes of Egypt: Conjuring the Land of the Pharaohs," Darnell assembled nearly one hundred objects, ranging from ancient Egyptian objects to pieces that span two millennia of fascination with ancient Egypt. Critically acclaimed in a review by The New York Times, the exhibition has been called “an ambitious... landmark exhibition,” with “careful curation," the exhibit has achieved critical success. The exhibition is accompanied by a print catalog and a complete online catalog, including a driving tour of Connecticut Egyptian revival buildings. The online tour of the exhibit makes "Echoes of Egypt" one of the first internationally available on-line exhibits.
2003 , Yale Egyptological Studies 5, New Haven: Yale Egyptological Seminar. Winner of the Samuel and Ronnie Heyman Prize for Outstanding Scholarly Publication, 2008
