Customer Reviews

Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology

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A much awaited book, this is the latest comprehensive study of Ancient Egyptian materials, offering essays on subjects such as stone, metals, faience, glass, papyrus, textiles, leather, ivory, wood, oil, resins and food, and covering from the Predynastic to the Ptolemaic periods. Every chapter, which includes extensive bibliographical references, was written either by an Egyptologist or by a specialist of the subject; contributors include Janine Bourriau, Rosalie David, Joann Fletcher, Nigel Hepper, Salima Ikram, Barry Kemp, Geoffrey Killen, Paul T. Nicholson, Stephen Quirke, Ian Shaw and John Tait. Full illustrated, it also clearly explains the techniques used in the identification of materials. This is an excellent reference for every student and scholar of Egyptology.

This is an academic reference book, designed for a library shelf. It is a little bigger than its 702 pages would suggest, because it is printed on thick glossy paper in quite a good printing quality. The illustrations are in a style reminiscent of years long gone by (all B&W).

The chapter on wood consists of two sections. The first contains descriptions of some thirty trees: fairly elaborate botanical description, brief characterization of wood type, a few words on the use made of the wood and a listing of archaeological finds. For the anatomical description the reader is referred to a work that (finally) appeared as "Plants in Archaeology". It is obvious that not much research has been done on the wood in Ancient Egyptian objects. The second section deals with the technology (joints) and tools used by the Egyptians: a much more limited topic and one lending itself well to an overview.