Ancient Egypt Magazine, August/September 2018

I hadn’t actually expected this to be my first real post on this blog, but the day after I launched the site, the latest issue of ‘Ancient Egypt Magazine’ dropped through my letterbox, and when I saw that one of the articles covered Seti I in Nubia, I had to immediately get to it. It then occurred to me that I might be missing an opportunity…and that I could do a write-up (I don’t think myself even remotely qualified as a reviewer, but still) of the magazine for the blog. I also subscribe to ‘Kemet’ and ‘Nile Magazine’, and I intend to cover those as they come out. I might do back issues, possibly, and certainly, of those two magazines, I’ll do the current issues in the near future.

The issue begins with the usual news of recent discoveries; I was especially interested in the discovery of two Old Kingdom dwellings at Giza; I suppose that like many others, I’m drawn to that period for a very…geometric reason, and any light that can be shed on this era is more than welcome. I also curse that I haven’t get got around to setting myself up with VR – meaning that a virtual visit to the Tomb of Nefertari is not yet an option, curse it! (In all seriousness – providing VR visits to sites like this is a fantastic idea, and much to be encouraged. Tourism is destroying so many of these wonderful sites forever, and preservation would be far easier without thousands or millions of visitors every year. I know I’d gladly pay to ‘visit’ one virtually, especially knowing that it was saving the site.

Starting with the article that naturally drew my interest first, the discussion of Seti I’s campaigns in Nubia by Dr. Nicky Nielsen – with the tantalizing suggestion that this might have been Ramesses II’s first taste of battle. (I must apologize; I can’t help reading this with a novelist’s eye. Call it an occupational hazard.) The article discusses some of the strategies used to defeat the Nubian rebels, though given that the armies were likely commanded by viziers, not Seti himself, I wonder who was the architect of the campaign – given communications lag, it would have been impractical for a campaign to be managed at range. I came away wanting to know more…and found that this is based on a book I’m very much looking forward to in September, ‘Pharaoh Seti I: Father of Egyptian Greatness.’ Appetite well and truly whetted!

The second article almost makes me wonder if this issue was written with me in mind; a discussion of emergency medicine in Ancient Egypt by Roger Forshaw. I’m going to be going through this one with a fine toothcomb during my later research period. We’re fortunate to have excellent evidence of Egyptian medical techniques – not least in the form of their mummified failures! The article covers the Ebers and Edwin Smith papyri, and it’s interesting to see that some of the techniques are surprisingly modern, whilst others are just outlandish. Such as the use of cattle feces…

A look at a fragment that likely represents a portion of a state of Senenmut comes next; a figure more popular in death than I suspect he was in life, the favourite of Hatshepsut carved in dozens of statues, most of which were destroyed. I love these articles on individual artefacts; the Manchester Museum has an outstanding collection of items, and the writer, the Curator himself, Dr. Campbell Price, always presents this well – these articles are usually one of the first I turn to in the magazine.

Ancient Egypt was always one of the jewels in the crown of Ancient Rome – whether being governed by Rome itself or from Byzantium, and the next article discusses one of the reasons why – the gold mines of Egypt, the source of much of the wealth of its rulers for centuries. The article, written by Barbara Tratsaert, examines a Roman-era mine, discussing the techniques that were used, as well as those that might have been imported from overseas. There’s often a romantic view about life in Ancient Egypt – but to borrow Hobbes, articles such as this make it clear that it was often ‘nasty, brutish and short.’

It’s always interesting to look back at the pioneers of Egyptology – I suppose I’m not the only one envious of the untouched academic wilderness that awaited them, the discoveries that were to be made. This article, by Dr. John Taylor, looks at the life and work of Thomas Joseph Pettigrew, pioneer of medicine and the writer of ‘A History of Egyptian Mummies’. I found it fascinating that he mummified a body himself, in 1852 – I’d love to know what became of the body, and whether it might be available for modern analysis. (I’d also have loved to go to the lecture tour he gave, notes for which are included in the article!

Now we get to another interesting period – the Sixteenth Dynasty, and the potential causes of the famines suffered during that time – a period about which far too little is known. Andrew Fulton brings a wide range of course into play in his analysis, notable the potential effects of the eruption of Santorini that brought Minoan civilization to its knees around that time. Certainly the Sixteenth Dynasty must have had a rather bad time of it, based on the evidence we have of the effects of this eruption elsewhere in the Eastern Mediterranean.

As usual, following the articles are the letters to the Editor and the book reviews – I rarely come away without having to rush to Amazon for something, but I’m trying to restrain myself at the moment after a recent spree…we’ll see just how long that lasts! I can’t recommend this issue specifically and the magazine in general enough for anyone with an interest in Ancient Egypt. It’s definitely a must-buy publication.