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The Life of Meresamun: A Temple Singer in Ancient Egypt - Edited by Emily Teeter & Janet H. Johnson
University of Chicago - 2009 135pp, illus in colour and b/w throughout Paperback, £28
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| The Life of Meresamun: A Temple Singer in Ancient Egypt |
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Mummies are always the centre of attraction in any exhibition on Ancient Egypt, but here the editors, based on an exhibition in the Oriental Institute, February to December 2009, have brought Meresamun to life. Her beautifully decorated coffin, acquired by Chicago in 1920, carries her name and titles in an inscription down the front, and the style of the coffin indicates that she lived c. 800 BC. From these basic details the editors have drawn a rich picture of the life that Meresamun lived in Thebes where she served as a singer in the great temple of the chief of gods, Amun.
First, the Egypt of the Third Intermediate Period (1069-525 BC) is described. By bringing together in the exhibition objects of daily life to illustrate Egypt during her lifetime we are led inside the temple to the role and function of temple singers, the ritual music and objects, oracles and animal cults. Then follows Meresamun’s life outside the temple: home furnishing, household cults, fertility and birth rituals, and the social, economic, and legal rights of women and their employment. Ultimately, Meresamun’s mummy gives up her own secrets via the CT scanning and radiological report and illustrations of her mummy’s examination. Meresamun was probably in her late 20s or early 30s when she went to meet Osiris, the god of the dead. The mummy showed numerous fractures of the spine, collar bone and ribs, probably post mortem but still difficult to explain. Thousands of images were taken using high resolution scanning channels to a level of detail not previously used on a mummy. The results, in colour in the book, are quite astounding.
Together, the editors have achieved the dearest wish expressed in their prayers by all ancient Egyptians: ‘Speak my name that I may live’. Meresamun lives again. |
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Sites of Antiquity: From Egypt to the Fall of Rome - Charles Freeman
Blue Guides - 2009 248pp, 220 colour & b/w illus Hardback, £25
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| Sites of Antiquity: From Egypt to the Fall of Rome |
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I have long been a fan of the Blue Guides: detailed and scholarly in their unique way, yet accessible, well written with excellent plans and line drawings, a must for the culture vulture, and excellent on archaeology. With this in mind the writer eagerly awaited the arrival of the latest BG publication, with a selection of 50 sites that its subtitle claims ‘explain the Classical world.’ True to form, it does this admirably, and these sites are carefully selected from the ancient Egyptian, Greek, Hellenistic, Roman, and Early Christian worlds.
One of the most pleasing aspects of this book is its well-conceived structure. Each chapter begins with a concise historical overview before moving on to each site in turn. These are conveyed in an interesting way through a sensible balance of maps, plans, coloured drawings, images, time-lines and photos – many quite dramatic – combined with excellent focus panels on individual topics. The chapter on the Pyramids of Giza (pp.18-24) is a typical example, featuring an excellent plan of the mortuary complex, elevation of the Great Pyramid, an excellent frontal shot of the Sphinx (with the central of the three pyramids as a backdrop), tomb photograph, and good focus panels on the Sphinx, the Pyramid Texts, and death, burial, and the afterlife. Sites are also spiced up by quotations taken from ancient and more recent history, while paintings also enhance the pages of the book. In the case of ancient Egypt, these include quotes by Herodotus (5th century BC) and David Millard (1855); and paintings of Abu Simbel by Giovanni Belzoni (1817) and the so-called Kiosk of Trajan on the island of Philae by David Roberts (1846-50).
Specific parts of this book are especially thoughtful. There is a particularly good section on Olympia (pp.70-73) with an excellent plan of its buildings containing good captions explaining the particular function of each, including among others, the earliest athletic stadium, the gymnasium, Bouleuterion. An especially topical quote by the philosopher Epictetus complains that ‘There are enough irksome and troublesome things in life; aren’t things just as bad at the Olympic festival?’ This despondent point of view, written in the 2nd century AD, could easily have been penned by a British journalist in anticipation of the 2012 Olympics in London. The plan of the Athenian Agora (p.88) is also carefully explained in terms of its evolution and is well labeled and explained in the complementary text as such, beginning with the Panathenaic way in the 5th century BC and ending with the Roman forum constructed over the course of the 1st century BC.
The balance, format, and quality of the first two chapters set the trend for the later sections on the Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine periods, and it would be fruitless to repeat many more examples rather than to draw attention to the explanation of Roman arches, vaults, and domes (p.161); the pictorial and textual insight into Petra (pp.163-7), Pompeii (pp.172-9), Hadrian’s Villa and Wall (p.180-3; pp.184-7), and Ravenna (pp.218-221). Just a few examples from a book that could take pride of place on the bookshelf of the travelling archaeological enthusiast, student, or specialist. |
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