Egypt Exploration Society The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology

Egypt Exploration Society
Review
Author(s): Geoffrey T. Martin
Review by: Geoffrey T. Martin
Source: The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, Vol. 58 (Aug., 1972), pp. 316-317
Published by: Egypt Exploration Society
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3I6 REVIEWS
Dr. Dunham illustratesthe most importantof the burialswith photographs,together with sketch-plans
of the graves, showing the disposition of their contents. The less important are published in plan only.
The photographs,in view of their age, occasionallyleave somethingto be desired. A loose-leaf map of the
cemetery is provided. The anatomicalinformation derives from the work of Sir Grafton Elliot Smith.
There is little doubt that had the bodies and the contents of their stomachsbeen availablefor study by the
most up-to-date techniques, medical and dietary informationof the highest importancewould have been
revealed.There is, too, abundantmaterialfrom the cemetery for future Carbon 14 analysis.
However much one regrets that this unique site has not been publishedin the fullest possible detail, to
single out individual aspects for carping criticism would be invidious in the extreme: Dr. Dunham alone
was in a position to handle and understandthe mass of notes and photographsof the excavation,and to
comprehend the classificatorysystems used by the teexcavators. It is certain that if he had not sifted the
material,and selflesslypreparedit for publication(and that at an age at which most scholarswould claim a
well-earnedrespite from such work), the reportwould not have appearedin our lifetimes, if at all. He has
providedthe groundwork:it is up to Egyptologistsand anthropologiststo exploreand develop the material.
T. MARTIN
GEOFFREY
TheCambridge AncientHistory.3rdedn. Editedby I. E. S. EDWARDS, the late C. J. GADD,N. G. L. HAMMOND.

Vol. I. Cambridge, CambridgeUniv. Press, 1970-1. Part I, pp. xxii+758, 17 maps, 7 tables, 45 text-
figures. Price ?6. Part 2, pp. xxiii+1,058, i6 maps, 3 tables, 22 text-figures.Price ?8.
Readersof the Journalwill be familiarwith the individualfascicles of the revised edition of the CAH,
some of which have been reviewed or noticed from time to time in these pages. Now we are delighted to
welcome the bound (3rd) edition, which differs from the 2nd (the fascicles) only in the addition of maps,
indexes, and chronologicaltables. The editorshave also takenthe opportunityof incorporatinga number of
minor additionsand corrections.
Vol. I, pt. i (Prolegomenaand prehistory)covers an immense time-span, from the remotest geological
epochs to the end of the prehistoricperiod in Egypt, WesternAsia, the Levant, and the Aegean. Naturally
there are no written records to illustrate man's development during those periods, and deductions must
necessarilybe made from the often scanty materialremains.Vol. I, pt. 2 coversthe history of the Near East
and the Aegean from the beginning of the historic period (c. 3000 B.C.) to I750 B.C.
A long-standinggrievancewith the originaledition of the CAH was the lackof citationsof source-material
in the body of the work. This is now remedied in one of the most valuablefeaturesof the new edition: a
detailed bibliographyis provided for each individualchapter. The bibliographiesare here collected at the
end of each volume and arrangedin chapterorder. Footnote referencesto the bibliographyare given in the
text in code form. An additionalservice to the readerwould have been the provision of chapternumbers
over the text, if necessarilyin abbreviatedform. Referenceto the sources would thus be renderedmuch
speedier.
The price, which in view of the bulk of the volumes is reasonableby today's standards,will probably
deter most privateindividuals,who will in any case alreadyhave the separatefascicles covering their own
fields of interest. By and large the 3rd edition is a libraryedition. As befits a work which will be standard
probablyfor the next half century,it is impeccablyprintedand handsomelycased in the familiarred-brown
binding. A similar edition of Vol. II is in preparation. GEOFFREY T. MARTIN
The Large Commemorative Scarabs of Amenhotep III. By C. BLANKENBERG-VAN

DELDEN.Documenta et
Monumenta OrientisAntiqui, XV. Pp. xi+i98, pls. 35. Leiden, I969. No price quoted.
The author here publishes an exhaustive corpus of the well-known series of commemorativescarabs
issued under Amenophis III, and found not only in Egypt but also abroadat Tell ed-Duweir, 'Ain Shams,
Ras Shamra,Buhen, and Soleb.
The publicationof a corpusof material,whetherinscribedor uninscribed,is alwaysan event greatlyto be
welcomed, especially when, as here, the documentationis virtually complete. There is a need for a great
REVIEWS 3I7
deal more work of this kind in all branchesof Near Easternstudies. The importanceof the presentvolume
(177 commemorativescarabsare listed, including six forgeries included for comparativepurposes)will be
apparentwhen it is recollectedthat the inscriptionson these objectsform a sizeableproportionof what passes
for historicalinformationon the reign of Amenophis III. An Appendix notes a few commemorativescarabs
issued by Tuthmosis IV, Akhenaten,Ramesses II, Merenptah, Shabaka,and Necho II.
Though little in the way of new informationcould be expected from the corpus-the texts were already
well known-Mrs. Blankenberghas clearedup one or two dubious readings.For instance, it is now certain
that the place-nameon the 'Wild Bull-Hunt' series is Shetep and not Sheta, a readingcheckedby the present
writer in the case of B.M. 55585 (there certainlywritten I and I IT). Little can usefully be added to
the author's detailed analysisof the scarabsor to her translationof the texts. One disappointingfeature is
the lack of illustration of the typological detail of the scarabs, which is merely described. As the series
is dated absolutely, one would like to have known if the types changed significantly during the period
covered by the scarabs.The quality of the photographicillustrationsvaries considerably,but this is under-
standablesince it provedimpossibleto examineevery exampleof the commemorativeseries, and the author
has had to rely partly on photographs supplied by museums and private collectors. Most of them are
reasonablylegible. Some of the specimens have been examinedpetrographicallyby Dr. C. J. Overweeland
others, with results that will be new to most Egyptologists:the materialof some turns out to be 'hyper-
sthene' (belonging to the mineralgroup enstenite) ratherthan the generallyacceptedsteatite.
The question arisesas to the reasonfor issuing such scarabs.Evidentlythey were intendedby Amenophis
III as a permanentmemento of certainevents which took place in his reign. Probablythey were originally
mounted in a precious metal. Though mostly very large(on average8 cm. long), they are all pierced longi-
tudinally. It can hardly be true (cf. p. 4) that officials and others in remote localities received their first
intimation of royal activity through the medium of the scarabs-royal dispatches in Egypt must always
have been in the form of sealed papyrus documents, though such messages could have been given a more
permanentform at a later date-the CoronationDecree of Tuthmosis I (BAR 2, ??54-60) is an example.
Doubtless other specimens of commemorativescarabswill be brought to light by the publicationof the
present corpus (a list of 'Lost scarabs' is included). For instance, there is in University College, London
a plaster-cast and paper squeeze of a 'Lion-Hunt' scarab not featured in Mrs. Blankenberg'sbook. Its
present location is unknown, but it was in private hands in this country accordingto an accompanying
letter dated 6 January1949. GEOFFREY T. MARTIN
Die Felsengrdberder Qubbetel Hawa bei Assuan.II. Abteilung.Die althieratischenTopfaufschriften.

I. Band.
Die Topfaufschriftenaus den Grabungsjahren 1960, I96I, i962, I963 und I965. 2. Teil (Fortsetzung).
By ELMAREDEL.300 X 210 mm. Pp. xi+9-144 (pages I-8 are in the first part), pls. 7. Otto Harrassowitz,
Wiesbaden, 1970. Price DM 35. ISBN 3 447 0002I x.
This book contains the analysesof and commentariesupon the brief Sixth Dynasty hieraticinscriptions
which were writtenupon potteryvessels used by donorsto present food offeringsin the tombs at Qubbetel-
Hawa.The platesof facsimilesand transcriptionsinto hieroglyphswere publishedin 1967 and were reviewed
in JEA 55 (I969).
These inscribedpots, 902 in number,were in over 90 per cent of casesof a type reminiscentof the beer-jug
determinative(Gardiner'sSign List no. W 22). These are referredto by Edel as irr-potsbecause215 of them
were found in one shaft inscribedas containingthis item of food. The other pots were, with the exception
of two specimensonly, all with an egg-shapedinsteadof a flat base. These areshown by the texts upon them
to have been called nitt (ntt) or dnt.
The inscriptionson the pots have the following elements: pot-name+name of contents+personal name
(with or without titles and filiation)+clause descriptiveof the place of origin of the contents. No one pot has
all these elements, in fact well over half have only a statementof contents, while most of the remainderhave
either the contents and a personalname or a personalname only, of course with any filiationand titles that
happen to be added to that name.
Such a richmaterialmadeup of such briefitems invites detailedanalysisby tabularand statisticalmethods.
The text is, in fact, interspersedwith a series of tables which constitutethe backboneof the work. The main

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Egypt Exploration Society

TheCambridge AncientHistory.3rdedn. Editedby I. E. S. EDWARDS, the late C. J. GADD,N. G. L. HAMMOND.

The Large Commemorative Scarabs of Amenhotep III. By C. BLANKENBERG-VAN

Die Felsengrdberder Qubbetel Hawa bei Assuan.II. Abteilung.Die althieratischenTopfaufschriften.

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