Dance, Dancers and the Performance Cohort in the Old Kingdom. BAR International Series, vol.

1809 by Lesley Kinney Review by: Joachim Friedrich Quack Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 129, No. 4 (October-December 2009), pp. 732733 Published by: American Oriental Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25766936 . Accessed: 14/10/2013 09:21
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732 Journal of theAmerican Oriental Society 129A (2009)

duties, and relationship to the king. That the title came to be held by individuals of arguably lower rank in the period is equated with changes in Egyptian imperial policy between the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Dynasties, although the implications of this are not fully Ramessid Dance, Dancers and thePerformance Cohort in theOld Kinney. BAR International Kingdom. By Lesley 2008. Series, vol. 1809. Oxford: Archaeopress, Pp. xvi + 265, illus. ?44 (paper). The book reviewed here resulted from a dissertation atMacquarie University. It intends to provide a compre hensive study of ancient Egyptian dance scenes, and the author has a personal background in dance. The dance scenes discussed tion scenes before the tomb-owner as well are attested in tombs within presenta as in burial

assessed (e.g., in the context of wider evidence as in Ellen Morris, The Architecture of Imperialism: Military Bases and the Evolution of Foreign Policy in Egypt's in its New Kingdom [Leiden: Brill, 2005]). However, presentation of primary data, including appendices of source lists and tables, the article provides a rich basis for further study. offers a pene (pp. 201-16) trating reassessment of evidence for the emergence of foreigners as high office holders in the royal courts of Thomas Schneider

scenes. The author begins with an overview of previous research and a statement of her own aims. This is fol lowed by a presentation of the different types and sub types of dance identified by the author. The performers and their titles are discussed, also with an aim to estab lish the social standing of the dancers by methods such as prosopography. Special attention is given to theEgyp tian word hnr.t, which has been understood by some (mostly earlier) researchers tomean "harem" or "con

theNew Kingdom. He argues that these officials should not be considered "foreign" as all would have been fully acculturated, a concept and process he discusses in detail. Such individuals only remain visible in the personal sources through the relatively rare occurrences of foreign names; Schneider suggests that these names represent themaintenance of a "private secondary cul

ture,"which was entirely acceptable in the diverse New Kingdom elite society he envisages. Although foreign names may not always equate with foreign origin, this argument is plausible, and the nineteen cases of inte gration over multiple generations which he identifies are a productive area for future work. Schneider provides a complex and plural interpretation of cultural exchange in theNew Kingdom and a nuanced analysis of the re lationship between identity, ethnicity, and status. The final two chapters, Andreas Wagner's (pp. 217?

cubines," while more recently there has been a tendency to understand it simply as a group of musical performers without the sexual implication of a "harem." Following especially Nord, the author adheres to the latter theory. After the detailed discussion of the scenes, some final conclusions are drawn. The following types of dance are distinguished: The "diamond dance" is characterized by the position of the hands meeting above the head. The "salute" has several feature is the raised right arm. is defined by the swastika-like formation of the arms; it can be subdivided according to whether the hand is holding either nothing, or a

subtypes; the common The "swastika dance"

30) examination of evidence for "court styles" in fea tures of discourse in selected Old Testament texts and reassessment of (pp. 231-66) Augustine buildings on Palatine Hill, sit somewhat un comfortably here, and the value of the comparisons they offer to the Egyptian material is not immediately Detlev Kreikenbom's clear. This discussion is in part because volume's aim is the spe cialist analysis of Egyptian material rather than wider successful

boomerang, a sistrum, or a baton. The "harvest dance" is a label applied by the author to certain rhythmicmove ments associated with harvest scenes. The "pair dance" is performed by two dancers facing each other and inter

of the definition and role of the court; a more interdisciplinary approach is Antony Spaw forth's edited volume, The Court and Court Society inAncient Monarchies

acting. The "pirouette" can have several subtypes. The a group characterized by their "dance of theMww" more is headdress, particular specifically connected with

funeral processions. The "boys' game" is defined by the specific actors. The "layout pose" is an acrobatic move ment with one leg kicking high into the air. The "mirror dance," finally, is unmistakable, given themirrors held by the dancers. Each type is followed in detail by a dis cussion of the chronology of its attestation, its develop ment, and main examples. Some of the types, especially the harvest scenes and the boys' games, are problematic in their interpretation

However, although and complementary a valuable

(Cambridge Univ. Press, 2007). the papers are not fully integrated in terms of theme, each represents

contribution to the understanding of features

of courts, particularly through the synthesis of wide ranging primary evidence and, in the case of Raedler and Schneider's this data. Elizabeth University Frood papers especially, new perspectives on

(as already admitted by the author); for the latter, a reference toC. Sourdive, La main dans I 'Egypte Recherches de morphologie structurale pharaonique: sur les objets 1984), 48-52, egyptiens comportant une main (Bern, 99-128, would have been in order. Furthermore, the reviewer asks himself whether the

as dances

of Oxford

types defined here always correspond to different dances or might rather constitute different sequences of one

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Brief Reviews
the "salute" could be a final single dance. Especially figure of many other dances, and a pirouette could be a specific highlight in different overall presentations. The fact thatmany of thewall scenes show dancers side by side in figures classified as different types could also be

733

Finally, conclusions about the "funerary" nature of scenes are sometimes drawn too hastily on the basis of of the pr-d.t (which is far from being univer as denoting a funerary establish sally acknowledged ment) or on that of the formula "for your Ka" (which actually has no intrinsic funerary background at all). mention In spite of its shortcomings, however, the book is certainly welcome as a handy and up-to-date collection and discussion of all dance scenes of theOld Kingdom. Joachim Friedrich Universitat Quack Heidelberg

an indication

as such are what

that individual figures more than dances can be differentiated by this sort of

could have profited from a more careful final redaction. An especially low point is p. 120 nn. 44-46, where a drawing erroneously inserted hides part of the text.A section already begun on p. 85 is begun in duplicate again on p. 87. Also a reference such as "ACE

scholarly typology. In general, the book

many

(and even more so, taking into account the fundamental discussion of the supposedly sha manic trance of the Sem-priest by H.-W. Fischer-Elfert, advisable most Die Vision von der Statue in Stein [Heidelberg, 1998]). The quality of the (scanned) images is in general unsatisfactory, doing no justice to the aesthetic quality of many of the scenes. Also, each of the dancing scenes

tea towel" (p. 126 n. 8) is likely to leave readers perplexed. On p. 37 the indication of a specific page within Ritner's book would have been

Le Tombeau de Petosiris

a Touna el-Gebel: Releve pho tographique. By N. Cherpion, J.-R Corteggiani, and J-Fr. Gout. BiGen, vol. 27. Cairo: Institut francais d'archeologie 2007. Pp. orientale, 193, plans (paper).

bulk (and cost) of the book. A good system of cross references would have resulted in a tighter appearance. The strength of the book certainly lies in the practical background

is presented at least twice in the book, once in the final catalogue and again in the discussion of the specific types, thus greatly contributing towards unnecessary

The tomb of Petosiris, a high priest of Thoth at (modern el-Ashmunein, c. 300 kilometers Hermopolis south of Cairo), is one of themost important Egyptian monuments of the early Ptolemaic period. This tomb is located at Tuna the west

of its author, which results in good formal descriptions of the different poses. Its principal weakness is the philological area where the reviewer nowhere sees any progress in the interpretation of the (sometimes quite some of the dancing difficult) captions accompanying scenes, and at the same time too great reliance is placed on other scholars' (sometimes problematic) interpreta

several members of his family as well, is the best known of the cluster of major tombs in the south of the site, and is one of themost artistically and architectur ally interesting monuments of early Ptolemaic Egypt. its importance, the only available photographs Despite have been fromM. Gustave Lefebvre's original three (Cairo: publication, Le Tombeau de Petosiris IFAO, 1923-24). Lefebvre's primary concern was with the texts; the photographs and drawings included with his work are largely inadequate for a detailed study of volume Lefebvre's

el-Gebel, a site seven kilometers to of Hermopolis which was the city's major necropolis during the Greco-Roman period. Petosiris' tomb, which served as a collective burial place for

tions, especially those of A. M. Roth. For example, the interpretation of the sign U 31 endorsed on p. 22 is based on an idea disproved in The Carlsberg Papyri 7: Hieratic ed. K. Ryholt Texts from the Collection, (Copenhagen, 2006), 148. The difficult question of the nature of the group designated by theEgyptians as hnr.t will certainly have to be taken up anew, especially taking into account the presence of this word in the In struction of Djedefhor (ed. Helck VII, 1) and its recep tion in the teaching of pBrooklyn 47.218.135, 4, 8f. (see J. F. Quack, WdO 24 [1994]: 14). The latter in stance certainly calls into question the theories of Nord endorsed by the author. It is perhaps symptomatic that idea (very at the same time Kinney takes up Nord's that R the in Westcar from the unlikely orthography) word (p. 22), as well as considering it (more plausibly) among the occurrences of counting hny.t (p. 39). Insufficient philological work often leads hnr.t is meant

the reliefs. This volume, a complement to a reprint of work, aims to correct this situation by pre review of the tomb succeeded admirably an excellent photographic record. The brief introduction presents most of the major

senting a complete photographic and its reliefs. The authors have in producing

issues surrounding the tomb. There has been some debate about its date, but there is now a consensus that it dates to the fourth century b.c.e. The authors of this volume just around settle for the last quarter of the fourth century, 300 b.c.e., based on the amphora forms tomb represented in the reliefs (p. 2, n. 7). Petosiris' is remarkable from both an artistic and an architectural standpoint. The form of the tomb is a temple inminia ture: it consists of a pronaos (forecourt) and naos (inner sanctuary), beneath which Petosiris and his family were buried. There seem to be very few antecedents for the

the author to problematic ideas and conclusions about the religious nature of certain dances, as for example the suggested combination of burial and rebirth (p. 145).

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