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REVIEW BY CAMPBELL PRICE
This is perhaps the most closely related set of papers to be included in a single Festschrift that I’ve ever encountered. Given Nicholas Reeves’ well-known work in the Valley of the Kings, and on Tutankhamun in particular, it is unsurprising that many papers focus on those themes, or more broadly on the Eighteenth Dynasty. This is definitely one for the ‘Tut-lovers’ (as the beautiful cover makes clear), but one of its most enjoyable aspects is that not every contributor agrees with the honouree on some Egyptological particularities. This makes for an unusually stimulating collection of what are usually disparate and unconnected discussions.
Papers on Tutankhamun discuss the treatment of his body, lunar symbolism of his jewellery, the royal court during his reign, and his building activities in Nubia. Only one paper fully tackles the thorny issue of the identity of Neferneferuaten and Tutankhamun’s immediate predecessors. Several contributions deal with previously little-known or unknown archival sources. Notable here are letters from and regarding John Pendlebury and his work at the site of Amarna; a lively correspondence between Howard Carter and the Crown Prince of Sweden; and early 19th-century accounts concerning precious objects from the (unidentified) tomb of the Thutmosid general Djehuty at Saqqara.
In deference to Reeves’ astute eye for pharaonic aesthetics, there are several art historical studies. Tom Hardwick draws attention to how rarely the irises of depicted eyes are distinguished from the pupils (think of those mournful black pools that have so arrested the attention of viewers of Tutankhamun’s golden funerary mask), and Ray Johnson provides further erudite insight into an Amarna period talatat block. There are object studies specifically of items from the Valley of the Kings. In particular, there are papers on a faience hes-vessel from Amenhotep II’s tomb, and on ostraca – an intriguing one describing a coffin for Merenptah, and several detailing workers’ absences during tomb construction in the Valley. Other items studied in article-length form include cattle brands, spoons, a mummy mask, and a royal statuette; and the influence (and actual inclusion) of pharaonic antiquities in 1920s Cartier jewellery. The sites of Amarna and Gurob feature, too, in more detailed archaeological studies.
Wonderful Things: Essays in Honor of Nicholas Reeves
edited by Peter Lacovara
LOCKWOOD PRESS, 2023
ISBN 978-1-9574-5491-7
HARDBACK, £102
