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1997
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Egyptian Time Scale
by Gary James
1996 Clinical Press (Bristol, U.K.); $8.50/£ 4.99; ISBN
1-85457-0404
Over the years there have been numerous attempts at producing a pocket-sized graphic representation of Egyptian history. Most of these, however, have been basic in the extreme, and generations of undergraduates (and other beginning Egyptophiles) have been reduced to affixing hand-written or reduced photocopied and diagrams of pharaohs, dynasties and periods to their study walls in order to provide adequate "one stop" reference material.
Now British artist Gary James has devised this little gem, whose five-foot spread folds out to show the sweep of 10,000 years of Egyptian history, with all its periods and dynasties, beginning in Paleolithic times and ending in the present day. Not only this, but every single pharaoh is named and his reign-length indicated. Considerable skill is shown by James in his indication of overlapping royal (and high-priestly) lines of the Third Intermediate Period. It is a pity, however, that this comprehensiveness is not continued for the Roman emperors, caliphs, sultans, khedives, kings and presidents ruling Egypt that comprise the last part of the time line, only the most significant ones being mentioned. The visitor -doing+ the mosques and mausolea of Cairo would have found a full listing of the Islamic Period rulers particularly handy. It is also unfortunate that the first president of the Republic of Egypt, Mohammed Naguib, is also omitted.
The upper margin of the scale is filled with beautifully drawn vignettes, beginning with the typical pots of the Naqada cultural phases, moving on to Archaic Period tombs, scale-sketches of almost every important pyramid, and assorted temples, tombs and monuments that are relevant to a given period. The present day is characterized by the Aswan High Dam - appositely given its construction+s implications for Egypt ancient and modern.
The time scale is tipped within a sturdy, full-color card cover, which features a Nilescape with an ancient ship, a Nineteenth Century dahabiyeh and a Twentieth Century cruise boat; the inside of the cover bears maps of Egypt and the ancient Near East. The whole comes enclosed in a protective clear-plastic sleeve.
The Egyptian Time Scale is to be thoroughly recommended as a handy -
and very attractive - reference tool, which deserves to be owned by anyone
interested in (or planning to visit) Egypt. A.Dodson
House of Eternity: The Tomb of Nefertari by John K. McDonald
1996, J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles);
116 pages, profusely illustrated in color and b/w; softcover, $24.95; ISBN
0-89236-415-7
John K. McDonald's House of Eternity: The Tomb of Nefertari, illustrated with photographs by Guillermo Aldana (and others) is a handsome popular book on Nefertari's famous sepulcher in the Valley of the Queens. The Table of Contents divides the book into nine main parts, although these are somewhat difficult to distinguish in the book itself.
There are a Forward and Conclusion written by members of the J. Paul Getty Trust, which deal with the problems of the deterioration and conservation of the Egyptian monuments, and which make a plea to people who visit them to do everything possible to cooperate in their preservation, even if this means viewing mockups rather than the originals. These are valuable contributions to the book, as they raise awareness of the extreme vulnerability of the Egyptian ruins surviving from antiquity, and the problems that must be overcome if these monuments are to be here for future generations to be awed by and to enjoy. Too few books picturing the temples, tombs and pyramids of Egypt point out that without care they will all deteriorate and eventually vanish (well, perhaps not the great pyramids), especially given the modern environment plagued by industrial pollution, a high Nile water-table resulting in increased salts in the soil, a changing climate (due in part to the Aswan High Dam) and an excess of human presence.
House of Eternity proper starts with a brief Introduction that discusses the Getty Trust's involvement with the conservation of the tomb. The first section deals with Queen Nefertari herself, providing a brief account of her role in the history of the Nineteenth Dynasty, and listing her epithets and titles. The next chapter encapsulates the history of the Valley of the Queens; it is a pity that it is so short. This chapter contains some very fine photographs of Ernesto Schiaparelli+s work in the Valley at the beginning of this century. In fact, the inclusion throughout the volume of the 1904 excavation photographs is a particularly nice touch.
The next chapter concerns Egyptian royal tombs generally; and, albeit briefly, it provides a very general overview of kings' and queens' tombs of the later-New Kingdom. There is also a nice "sidebar" section on the paint and painting techniques used in tomb decoration in antiquity. The following section is a short (and perhaps slightly irrelevant?) excursus on Deir el Medina.
The few remains found in Nefertari's tomb when it was excavated are presented in the next chapter, as well as a surprise find made by a conservator in 1988. Following this is a chapter summarizing the different disasters which have befallen the tomb, bringing about the Getty's involvement in its conservation.
The reader is treated next to a short explanation of the more common ancient Egyptian funerary beliefs, with a list of the deities which appear in Nefertari+s tomb decoration. The final chapter of House of Eternity is perhaps the best, providing a fairly detailed walk-through of the tomb, with plans, illustrations of the painted-relief decoration, and translations of the texts which appear on the walls of the various chambers and passages. This lavishly illustrated section is a splendid guide to the site, regardless of whether one has been fortunate enough to have actually visited it or not. In fact, due to Aldana+s marvellous color photographs, this chapter is the next best thing to being there! The only problem with this part of the book is that the abundance of differently colored text-boxes sometimes interferes with a full appreciation of the beauty of the colors in the tomb, as captured in the photographs.
It is unfortunate that more information concerning the actual conservation work done in the tomb was not included in the book. A slightly detailed section on the conservation methodology employed (perhaps in the chapter on the Getty+s involvement) would have been a useful addition, with pre- and post-conservation photos side by side, demonstrating what was accomplished by the Getty's effort.
The only real criticism this reader has of the work is the presence of large,
distracting, ungainly orange text-boxes on the photographs that open each
chapter; they spoil the pictures themselves, and the text within them could just
have easily been included in the main body of the chapter text. Hopefully these
ill-conceived graphic devices will be deleted in the next edition of this otherwise
beautiful book.
Mistress of the House, Mistress of
Heaven:
S. Ikram
Women in Ancient Egypt
Anne K. Capel and Glenn E. Markoe, Eds.
Essays by Catharine H. Roehrig,
Betsy M. Bryan and Janet H. Johnson
1996, Hudson Hills Press (New York/Cincinnati Art Museum); 237 pages,
profusely illustrated with 117 color and 112 b/w photographs; $50.00
hardcover,
$34.95 softcover; ISBN 1-55595-129-5
Everyone associated with -Mistress of the House, Mistress of Heaven: Women in Ancient Egypt+ must have been terribly disappointed when printing complications prevented its catalogue from being available during the exhibition+s premier run at the Cincinnati Art Museum; no doubt a great deal of anticipated revenue was not realized as a consequence. Certainly the present volume would have -walked off the shelves- had it been on hand for exhibition visitors to have purchased.
-Mistress' conceivers and co- curators Anne Capel and Glenn Markoe are to be congratulated for both for having put together a landmark exhibition and for editing its handsomely illustrated and data-packed catalogue, Mistress of the House, Mistress of Heaven: Women in Ancient Egypt. This is a book that goes well beyond a standard exhibition -souvenir,- to qualify as a significant piece of Egyptological scholarship on an important subject, as well. Kudos, too, to Betty Binns for having designed a truly handsome volume.
The -Catalogue of the exhibition+ section of Mistress is preceded by two essays: Catharine Roehrig's -Woman's work; Some occupations of nonroyal women as depicted in ancient Egyptian art; -and Betsy Bryan's -In women good and bad fortune are on earth: Status and roles of women in Egyptian culture. Both are highly readable, if information-packed; and Bryan's discussion of the several royal women who ruled in the place of or as kings is especially useful to anyone interested in Hatshepsut and her ilk.
The catalogue section illustrates and discusses each of ninety-four works of art, decorative objects and artifacts which make up (present tense, since the -Mistress+ exhibition continues at its second venue, the Brooklyn Museum) the show. These are presented in four themed categories: -Public and Private Lives+ (subdivided into Family, Motherhood, Adornment and Occupations), -Female Royalty,+ -Goddesses,+ and -Afterlife.+ Many of the pieces are illustrated with a full-color large view and one or two smaller different views in black and white, which enables the reader to appreciate the work from more than a single angle. Detailed descriptions (mini-essays in many cases) accompany each catalogue entry, these being provided variously by curators Capel and Markoe, along with Egyptologists Richard A. Fazzini, James F. Romano, David P. Silverman and Donald B. Spanel.
The catalogue is followed by Janet H. Johnson+s highly instructive essay on -The legal status of women in ancient Egypt,+ which is something of a brief textbook on the subject, and is accompanied by several ancient-text translations giving the Egyptian firsthand view of women and the law.
All of the essays as well as the catalogue entries are accompanied by extensive notes, which are grouped together at the back of the large-format volume. Likewise at the back are a chronology, map and bibliography.
Mistress deserves a place on every serious Egyptophile+s bookshelf,
alongside other equally excellent recent exhibition catalogues, The American
Discovery of Ancient Egypt and The Royal Women of Amarna. D.
Forbes
A History of the Giza Necropolis, Vol. I
A reprint in facsimile of the original by Maurizio Martino Publisher
(Storrs-Mansfield, CT) and John William Pye Rare Books (Brockton, MA),
1997; limited to 300 copies
by George Andrew Reisner
1942, Harvard University Press (Cambridge); 607 pages, 75 multiple-image
b/w
plates, 325 figures in the text and three large, unbound maps
in
tipped-in sleeve; hardcover, $90 pre-publication, $125 thereafter.
This long study is not exactly rainy-day reading, but certainly is an invaluable resource for anyone who is researching the topic of Old Kingdom funerary practices and monuments, as such are represented in the mastaba cemeteries of Giza. And the price is practically a steal; if one should be lucky enough to come across an original copy of Giza Plateau, he or she should expect to pay out $1000 or more for same.
The only quibble this reviewer has with Giza Plateau is the reprint's
grayed-down reproduction of Reisner's original excavation photographs. In future
such projects, Pye and Martino might consider printing the photo-plates on
coated (glossy) stock, for illustrations with crisper, sharper contrasts. Even so, as
they stand, it is a treat to be able to peruse (on a rainy day!) these remarkable
images, which so nicely capture the -romance- of archaeology. D.
Forbes
A Journey Between Souls:
The Story of a Soldier and a Pharaoh
by Elaine Edgar
1997, White-Boucke Publishing (Lafayette, CO); 169 pages, numerous b/w
illustrations; $16.25 softcover; ISBN 1-888580-00-3
A Journey Between Souls relates the previously little-known story of Richard Adamson, a British soldier who was responsible for security at the tomb throughout the decade of its clearance. Adamson was truly a behind-the-curtain player in the drama which unfolded around the -cursed+ royal sepulcher, its horde of treasures and the cast of colorful on-stage principals, who now are, many of them at least, household names.
Author Elaine Edgar was a longtime friend and confidante of Adamson
(who died in 1982 at age eighty-one) and her brief account of the old soldier+s
otherwise rather mundane story focuses on his late-in-life personal recollections
of the Tutankhamen experience, as well as "reconstructions" by her of
non-existent diary entries, as they might have been written had Adamson kept
such a journal (these were approved by the subject's surviving family members,
as credible reflections of his verbally expressed thoughts on the various subjects
dealt with). D. Forbes
Getting Old in Ancient Egypt
by Rosalind M. and Jac J. Janssen
1996, The Rubicon Press (London); 167 pages, 59 b/w illustrations, three
maps;
softcover, $25.95, ú14.95; ISBN
0-948695-47-1
A run-down of chapter titles gives an idea of the book's range of contents: "Perceptions of the Older Generation," The Aged in Art," "Mummies and Medicine," "Households and Inheritance," "The Ancestors," "The Real and the Ideal Lifetime," "The 'Staff of Old Age,' " "The God's Father," "Care of the Elderly," "Old Age Pensions," "Long Lived Kings" and "Aged Administrators". A Postscript presents a biographical sketch of Egyptologist Margaret Murray, who herself lived to be a centenarian.
The Janssen's quote (in translation, of course) numerous ancient texts, so
that the Egyptians themselves are heard directly on the subject of aging and the
aged. The only criticism this reader has of Getting Old (aside from the
heavy-handed line drawings sprinkled throughout the photo-illustrations) is that
the Janssens frequently digress from their immediate topic under discussion. Not
that these brief digressions are not interesting reading; but it seems as if a topic
about which there is not all that much to expound on is being padded a little by
the authors. D. Forbes
Hatchepsut, The Female Pharaoh
by Joyce Tyldesley
1996 Penguin/Viking (London/New York); 270 pages, 17 b/w photos, 43
text
figures; hardcover, £ 22.50, $27.95; ISBN
0-670-85976-1
When the review copy arrived, this reader took up Hatchepsut by Joyce Tyldesley fully expecting it to be every bit as unsatisfactory as an earlier full-blown biography of the female pharaoh, Hatshepsut by Evelyn Wells (1969, New York). And what a pleasant surprise to discover by the end of Tyldesley's Introduction that what lay ahead was a thoroughly scholarly treatment of a controversial subject written in a lucid, highly readable style, in fact, scholarly writing with style.
In recent years there has been a revision of viewpoint about Hatshepsut (the "c" in the title is British), with most scholars abandoning the "wicked stepmother" and "weak pacifist" interpretations of the female king espoused by earlier male-biased commentators. The rise of feminism in Egyptological circles has played a part in this, to be sure. There has been rethinking, as well, about the relationship of Hatshepsut and her coregent/successor, this based on the realization that the defacing of her inscriptions and images and the dumping (quite literally) of her statuary were not the consequence of a knee-jerk vendetta of a long-wronged Thutmose III - once evil-auntie was out of the way - but instead took place over twenty years after Hatshepsut's disappearance from history. It was then that Thutmose, near the end of his very long reign, "rewrote" history the way it should have been rather than how it was.
Tyldesley presents a highly balanced discussion of King Hatshepsut, with a full presentation of the previous assessments of her character and reign, as well as the more current ones. The definitive biography to date. A must read! D. Forbes
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