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REVIEW BY CAMPBELL PRICE
One of the major issues in Egyptology is how prone we are to repeat assertions that were made – often provisionally – more than a century ago. Thus the lazy explanation of ancient Egyptian society as being like a pyramid, along with various other colonial clichés, persist in the literature.
This collection of essays attempts (as the subtitle states) to challenge assumptions and explore new approaches. It is not a textbook about what society was ‘really like’. Although the editors admit the arbitrariness of the groupings, the 27 articles are gathered under the headings ‘Power’, ‘People’, and ‘Place’. Initially arising out of a series of graduate seminars at UCLA, there is a flavour of active debate here that is very welcome – and compelling.
Each of the studies successfully contributes a new perspective, or at least seriously reconsiders older ones. There is not the space within this review to outline each one individually, but some personal highlights which seem especially current include: a longer discussion by John Baines of his often-cited concept of ‘decorum’ as both a recognised representational and lived social practice; an exploration by Shomarka Keita of race, origins, and identity; Nick Brown’s examination of pharaonic motifs in some modern works of Egyptian art; a critique of the ‘object biography’ paradigm by Gianluca Miniaci; and Amr Shahat’s use of archaeobotanical remains to understand the consumption of foodstuffs by non-elites.
There are also important articles concerning the social roles of the artist and craftsperson, violence and warfare, women and children, royal ideology, language, and conceptions of identity. Each illustrates that Egyptian society was not a monolithic – nor easily understood – group.
Contained within the volume is some very significant writing about Egyptology, informed by allied disciplines and theoretical perspectives. In some cases, the book contains the most extensive treatment – or the most pithy encapsulation – of a certain topic by one particular author associated with it. As such, this collection outshines most of the truly arbitrary collections on a particular theme, conference, or in honour of one individual. It succeeds in including genuinely outside-the-box thinking, and at the same time is actually much more digestible reading than most academic tomes of this type. This book contains writing that is likely to be cited for many years to come.
Ancient Egyptian Society: Challenging Assumptions, Exploring Approaches
edited by Danielle Candelora et al.
ROUTLEDGE, 2023
ISBN 978-0-3674-1828-1
HARDBACK £130; PAPERBACK £35.99
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