Review by Campbell Price
This finely produced book from AUC Press is written with eloquence by statue scholar and curator Simon Connor. Opening with recent debates about the role and identity of ‘public’ statues, the book sets out to investigate not just the iconographical meaning of statuary, but how it was (re)used in context.
Understanding ancient Egyptian ideas of how non-physical entities might be present in or through images is complex. Connor gives a comprehensive round-up of Egyptological debate concerning the ‘activation’ of images through rituals, before moving on to evidence of interactions with statues. The book considers different types of alterations, their perpetrators, and possible motivations. There are some key tips here for potential visitors to sites and museums: not every type of ‘damage’ is malign.
Much ancient Egyptian sculpture has sustained some sort of alteration, so Connor’s close analysis yields insight into the techniques for deliberate mutilation, reworking certain features, but also how to spot signs of restoration.
