Book Review: Wadi Sura – The Cave of Beasts
The name “Cave of Beasts” comes from the strange headless creatures, an example of which can be seen on the cover of the book to the left. It comprises an estimated 8000 images over an area of some 120 square metres on the northeastern edges of the vast Gilf Kebir plateau. The book is edited by the much-published and respected archaeologist Rudolph Kuper, one of the major contributors to the archaeology of the area. [more…]
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Book Review: Dawn of Egyptian Art
The United States was blessed with two exhibitions about the Predynastic in the last two years: Before The Pharaohs at the Oriental Institute in Chicago (March 29th to December 31st 2011) and Dawn of Egyptian Art at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art (April 10th – August 5th 2012). Both museums produced books to both accompany the exhibition and serve as standalone works, edited by their curators, with contributions by a number of well-known scholars in Predynastic and Early Dynastic research. In this edition I will look at will look at Dawn of Egyptian Art. In Edition 9 I will review Before the Pharaohs. [more…]
Edition - September, 2011
Book Review: History of Ancient Egypt: Neolithic Period ot the Early Dynastic Period including Menes, Narmer, Hieroglyphs, Thinis and More.
By Andrea Byrnes. Published on Egyptological, 9th September 2011 History of Ancient Egypt: Neolithic Period ot the Early Dynastic Period including Menes, Narmer, Hieroglyphs, Thinis and More. Edited by Grace Windsor ISBN 9-781241314675 This is a self-published book, one in a series about Ancient Egypt, widely available on online book stores. Before I […] [more…]
A beginner’s guide to dating the Predynastic – Part 2
Introduction. The topic of relative dating was dealt with in Part 1, a previous post. A relative sequence was available for the period between the Badarian and the period when unification was thought to have taken place. However, although this sequence has formed the framework for all other sequences, no calendar dates were available. [more…]
A beginner’s guide to dating the Predynastic – Part 1.
Introduction. Predynastic chronology may not be the stuff of glossy magazines and coffee-table books and for those trying to get to grips with it, it can prove to be a challenge. Many people trying to understand how the Predynastic fits together have commented on the apparently conflicting dates for the earlier Predynastic period in various different books. [more…]