God's Wife, God's Servant: The God's Wife of Amun (ca.740-525 BC) [Hardcover]

Mariam F. Ayad (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 4, 2009 | ISBN-10: 041541170X | ISBN-13: 978-0415411707 | Edition: 1

Mariam F. Ayad explores how five women were elevated to a position of supreme religious authority. Drawing on a variety of textual, iconographic, and archaeological evidence, and containing fifty-one black and white and colour illustrations, the volume discusses this often neglected subject, placing the women within the broader context of the politically volatile, turbulent seventh and eighth centuries BCE.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

University of Memphis, USA

Product Details

• Hardcover: 232 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (August 4, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 041541170X
• ISBN-13: 978-0415411707
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,045,829 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Immaculate Brilliant Late Egyptian Scholarship!, March 28, 2011

By 

John E.D.P. Malin (Cecilia, Louisiana, U.S.A.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: God's Wife, God's Servant: The God's Wife of Amun (ca.740-525 BC) (Hardcover)

Dr. Mariam F. Ayard's delightful treatise on the lives of five 'God's Wife of Amun' [Eg. hemet netjer en imen] accomplishes three things: a deligthful filling in of a confusing period in Egyptian history, where Egypt saw the rulership of three ethnic groups, Libyan, Nubian and Saite, to be followed by Persian rulership, within a span of 200 years; a much needed analysis of the Royal women (Queens, mothers, daughters & priestesses) in Egypt's aristocratic theocratic culture; and analysis of the royal ideology and propaganda of the ruling families during this very changing times in the Middle East.

Generally, reders here like to be given a reason for buying a book. This is usually accomplished by divulging juicy details of the book's content. Since one is able to peer inside, I need not do that. I merely wish to draw attention to its superb scholarship. It is in the high tradition of Lady Egyptologists who have come to fame so recently. Dr. Ayard is of the impeccable scholarship of Dr. Colleen Manassa of Yale University, even though her focus is more limiting in scope. Any lady scholar working on women issues, feminist rights or gender issues of rulership must buy and read this book. It is expensive, but it is well worth its cost. It is the sort of book one reads two or three times, so as to garner and retain all of its insights.

Dr. Ayard has written a masterpiece! It has set a very high standard in meticulous scholarship. Furthermore, it fills a dreadful gap in our understanding of the Egyptian women of royal rank. It also sheds light on how the Ptolemaic Queens acquired their royal ideological titulatures to legitimate their rulerships.

Buy and Enjoy! You want to buy the book, so you can caress the pages lovingly as you read and reread its precious offerings to the mind of humane sensibilities and refined sentiments of these exquisite ladies of the Great Land of Ancient Egypt---truly, the land of the Gods!

I am honored to be the first to review this seminal scholarship!

John E.D.P. Malin,

Informatica Corporation

Chairman of the Board & CEO

P. O. Drawer 460

Cecilia, LA 70521-0460