«Der zierlichste Anblick der Welt....»: Ägyptische Porträtmumien by Barbara BorgReview by: Terry G. WilfongJournal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 120, No. 4 (Oct. - Dec., 2000), p. 665Published by: American Oriental SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/606645 .

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Reviews of Books Reviews of Books

been useful if there had been included a chapter dispassionately

outlining the pros and cons regarding the co-regency issue. The

non-specialist should be aware that that issue has profound im-

plications for our understanding of the political and religious situation during the last decade of Amenhotep III's reign. None-

theless there is remarkable consistency among the chapters in

interpreting the magnificent age of Amenhotep III.

EDWARD F WENTE

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

<Der zierlichste Anblick der Welt....>: Agyptische Portrdt-

mumien. By BARBARA BORG. Zaberns Bildbande zur Archao-

logie; Sonderhefte der Antiken Welt. Mainz: VERLAG PHILIPP

VON ZABERN, 1998. Pp. 107, maps, illustrations. DM 68.

Mummy portraits, the panel paintings in encaustic or tempera found on many Egyptian mummies of the Graeco-Roman pe- riod, have become increasingly popular manifestations of post- pharaonic Egypt. In the past few years, they have formed the

subject of several substantial studies and a series of major exhi-

bitions; mummy portraits also appear on the covers of a wide

range of books and in other contexts that show their increasing interest both to academics and the broader public. The appeal of these paintings is easy to understand: they were frequently done in a style both realistic and expressive and help to put a human "face" onto the otherwise remote inhabitants of Graeco-Roman

Egypt. The recent discovery of thousands of Graeco-Roman-

period mummies in the Bahriya Oasis is likely only to increase interest in the mummy portraits. The present volume is a wel- come addition to the growing list of books on mummy portraits and related artifacts. Not only is it handsomely produced with beautiful photographs, it also contains a serious study of these

portraits and their contexts. The present volume is an outgrowth of the author's 1996

volume Mumienportrdts: Chronologie und kultureller Kontext, itself a revision of her 1990 dissertation. This technical study provided a detailed examination of the dating of the mummy portraits (a topic that has been much debated) and the contexts from which they came. The present volume benefits greatly from the author's earlier work and wide expertise in the subject, as well as from the substantial amount of work by other scholars that was not available to the earlier study. The result is not so much a popularization of the 1996 volume, but an elaboration of many of the author's important points in a different format. The pres- ent volume is an accessible and up-to-date consideration of the

mummy portraits that packs a substantial amount of informa- tion and many images into just over a hundred pages.

The book opens with a fascinating account of the discovery of the mummy portraits and their reception in scholarly and popular

been useful if there had been included a chapter dispassionately

outlining the pros and cons regarding the co-regency issue. The

non-specialist should be aware that that issue has profound im-

plications for our understanding of the political and religious situation during the last decade of Amenhotep III's reign. None-

theless there is remarkable consistency among the chapters in

interpreting the magnificent age of Amenhotep III.

EDWARD F WENTE

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

<Der zierlichste Anblick der Welt....>: Agyptische Portrdt-

mumien. By BARBARA BORG. Zaberns Bildbande zur Archao-

logie; Sonderhefte der Antiken Welt. Mainz: VERLAG PHILIPP

VON ZABERN, 1998. Pp. 107, maps, illustrations. DM 68.

Mummy portraits, the panel paintings in encaustic or tempera found on many Egyptian mummies of the Graeco-Roman pe- riod, have become increasingly popular manifestations of post- pharaonic Egypt. In the past few years, they have formed the

subject of several substantial studies and a series of major exhi-

bitions; mummy portraits also appear on the covers of a wide

range of books and in other contexts that show their increasing interest both to academics and the broader public. The appeal of these paintings is easy to understand: they were frequently done in a style both realistic and expressive and help to put a human "face" onto the otherwise remote inhabitants of Graeco-Roman

Egypt. The recent discovery of thousands of Graeco-Roman-

period mummies in the Bahriya Oasis is likely only to increase interest in the mummy portraits. The present volume is a wel- come addition to the growing list of books on mummy portraits and related artifacts. Not only is it handsomely produced with beautiful photographs, it also contains a serious study of these

portraits and their contexts. The present volume is an outgrowth of the author's 1996

volume Mumienportrdts: Chronologie und kultureller Kontext, itself a revision of her 1990 dissertation. This technical study provided a detailed examination of the dating of the mummy portraits (a topic that has been much debated) and the contexts from which they came. The present volume benefits greatly from the author's earlier work and wide expertise in the subject, as well as from the substantial amount of work by other scholars that was not available to the earlier study. The result is not so much a popularization of the 1996 volume, but an elaboration of many of the author's important points in a different format. The pres- ent volume is an accessible and up-to-date consideration of the

mummy portraits that packs a substantial amount of informa- tion and many images into just over a hundred pages.

The book opens with a fascinating account of the discovery of the mummy portraits and their reception in scholarly and popular

realms. Finds of these portraits in the late nineteenth century created an enduring interest in them, and the author provides a

readable account of these times. (To the author's references, one should add the recent and very entertaining study of mummy

portraits in various nineteenth- and twentieth-century contexts:

Dominic Montserrat, "To Make Death Beautiful: The Other Life of the Fayum Portraits," Apollo 150 [July 1999]: 18-25.) Perhaps the most valuable part of this chapter is the section on archaeo-

logical sites where mummy portraits have been discovered. This

site-by-site survey provides an essential overview of the archae-

ological contexts of the mummy-portraits, from the earliest finds

to the 1991-92 excavations at Marina el-Alamein, illustrated with plans, archival photographs and in-situ views.

The next chapter covers the subject of mummy portraits as

representative of elite status in the multicultural society of

Graeco-Roman Egypt. Here the author uses a variety of evidence. The portraits themselves bear visual signals of status (clothing, hairstyle, jewelry). Occasionally textual indications of occupa- tion are given on the portraits. Finally, the portraits and the often

elaborately decorated mummies that bore them provide implicit evidence of funerary costs. The wealth of information in contem-

porary papyri (and the diversity of moder scholarship on them) allow the author to situate the subjects of the portraits in their socio-economic contexts. Another section surveys the religious and funerary significance and function of the portraits. These por- traits formed an integral part of a carefully constructed visual pro- gram, which reflected a well-defined set of funerary beliefs. In

addition, the portraits often show their owners in priestly costume or with religious attributes that provide further information about their religious contexts. The author traces the earlier roots of the beliefs reflected in the portraits; although the New Kingdom im-

ages with which the portraits are juxtaposed will be immediately recognizable, the reader might have been better served by a more detailed examination of the intermediate stages of the develop- ment of these beliefs over time. The final chapter explores the

religious, demographic, economic, and historical factors in the decline of the use of mummy portraits.

Full-color spreads of recent photographs of Graeco-Roman

Egyptian archaeological sites mark the division of sections

throughout the book and are particularly evocative of the modern environment from which these portraits come. These images are

particularly appropriate for a work that devotes so much atten- tion to context, and they-along with the beautiful photographs of mummy portraits and related artifacts, archival photographs, and drawings-complement a thoughtful text that will be of

great interest to anyone interested in Graeco-Roman Egypt.

realms. Finds of these portraits in the late nineteenth century created an enduring interest in them, and the author provides a

readable account of these times. (To the author's references, one should add the recent and very entertaining study of mummy

portraits in various nineteenth- and twentieth-century contexts:

Dominic Montserrat, "To Make Death Beautiful: The Other Life of the Fayum Portraits," Apollo 150 [July 1999]: 18-25.) Perhaps the most valuable part of this chapter is the section on archaeo-

logical sites where mummy portraits have been discovered. This

site-by-site survey provides an essential overview of the archae-

ological contexts of the mummy-portraits, from the earliest finds

to the 1991-92 excavations at Marina el-Alamein, illustrated with plans, archival photographs and in-situ views.

The next chapter covers the subject of mummy portraits as

representative of elite status in the multicultural society of

Graeco-Roman Egypt. Here the author uses a variety of evidence. The portraits themselves bear visual signals of status (clothing, hairstyle, jewelry). Occasionally textual indications of occupa- tion are given on the portraits. Finally, the portraits and the often

elaborately decorated mummies that bore them provide implicit evidence of funerary costs. The wealth of information in contem-

porary papyri (and the diversity of moder scholarship on them) allow the author to situate the subjects of the portraits in their socio-economic contexts. Another section surveys the religious and funerary significance and function of the portraits. These por- traits formed an integral part of a carefully constructed visual pro- gram, which reflected a well-defined set of funerary beliefs. In

addition, the portraits often show their owners in priestly costume or with religious attributes that provide further information about their religious contexts. The author traces the earlier roots of the beliefs reflected in the portraits; although the New Kingdom im-

ages with which the portraits are juxtaposed will be immediately recognizable, the reader might have been better served by a more detailed examination of the intermediate stages of the develop- ment of these beliefs over time. The final chapter explores the

religious, demographic, economic, and historical factors in the decline of the use of mummy portraits.

Full-color spreads of recent photographs of Graeco-Roman

Egyptian archaeological sites mark the division of sections

throughout the book and are particularly evocative of the modern environment from which these portraits come. These images are

particularly appropriate for a work that devotes so much atten- tion to context, and they-along with the beautiful photographs of mummy portraits and related artifacts, archival photographs, and drawings-complement a thoughtful text that will be of

great interest to anyone interested in Graeco-Roman Egypt.

TERRY G. WILFONG TERRY G. WILFONG

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

665 665

This content downloaded from 195.34.79.49 on Tue, 17 Jun 2014 16:21:06 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions