The cosmos of Khnumhotep II at Beni Hasan.

The cosmos of Khnumhotep II at Beni Hasan. JANICE KAMRIN. The cosmos of Khnumhotep II at Beni Hasan Beni Hasan:see Bani Hasan, village, Egypt. . xiv+202pages, 89 figures, 4 tables, 6 b&w plates. 1999. London & NewYork New York, state, United StatesNew York,Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of (NY): Kegan Paul International; 0-7103-0574-5 hardback 125 [poundssterling] & US$144.50. This lightly revised doctoral dissertation is an innovative studyof one of the best known and preserved Egyptian elite tombs of theMiddle Kingdom (c. 1850 BCE BCEabbr.1. Bachelor of Chemical Engineering2. Bachelor of Civil EngineeringBCEAbbreviation for before the Common Era. ). Kamrin begins stating her `thesis',and then reviews the conceptual background of studies on Egyptiancosmography cos��mog��ra��phy?n. pl. cos��mog��ra��phies1. The study of the visible universe that includes geography and astronomy.2. and tomb design, concentrating for the latter on thepreceding Old Kingdom, whose tombs have been studied more than those ofthe Middle Kingdom. The largest part of the book describes thedecoration of the tomb of Khnumhotep by area and unit of decoration. Theconclusion offers a fuller exposition of the basic thesis and a briefcomparison with other tombs. Essentially, Kamrin's conclusion is that the tomb exhibits asimilar cosmological patterning and expression of meaning to that oftemples of the Egyptian gods, royal tombs, and palaces. This patterningis relatively well known and is evident in many aspects of thearchitecture of whole structures and in the decoration of theirconstituent parts. In ethnographic literature in particular, houses tooare often interpreted cosmologically. Such a reading has not beenproposed for Egyptian houses, perhaps because of the paucity of evidencethey offer, but Kamrin's approach to the tomb is inherentlyplausible, since non-royal tombs from before about 1400 BCE lietypologically between houses, temples, and royal tombs. An obviousadditional question would be how far down the social and architecturalscale such analysis might be taken, especially since certain elements ofa tomb like Khnumhotep's travesty royal and possibly divine roles. There is a marked difference between royal and divine monuments andartefacts on the one hand, and non-royal works of earlier periods on theother. Non-royal monuments do not display the overt sacralization sacralization/sa��cral��iza��tion/ (sa?kral-i-za��shun) anomalous fusion of the fifth lumbar vertebra with the first segment of the sacrum. sa��cral��i��za��tionn. orcosmological symbolism of the other categories. This discrepancy can beinterpreted either as showing that the different categories havedifferent meanings, or that conventions of decorum DECORUM. Proper behaviour; good order. 2. Decorum is requisite in public places, in order to permit all persons to enjoy their rights; for example, decorum is indispensable in church, to enable those assembled, to worship. did not allow thenon-royal monuments to display the same features as royal ones eventhough their underlying meaning was similar. Those possibilities may notbe mutually exclusive Adj. 1. mutually exclusive - unable to be both true at the same timecontradictoryincompatible - not compatible; "incompatible personalities"; "incompatible colors" . Kamrin implicitly pursues the second possibility,but she does not argue for it in the way I have just sketched. Her basicapproach is to analyse each element in the decoration and to see whetherit can be interpreted cosmologically or in terms of mortuary provision,either in its content -- for example possible grave goods are shownbeing manufactured and are suggested to signify the preparation of theentire tomb (pp. 68-9) -- or in the distribution of motifs over thewalls. Thus, the reading is basically allegorical. Such a strategy isattractive. Conventional `literal' readings of the decoration asmagically enlivened simulacra devised for the deceased's physicalsustenance and recreation cannot be supported from inscriptions and areproblematic; something more imaginative, coherent, and defensible isdesirable. Kamrin is not, however, able to produce decisive arguments infavour of her interpretation, and some of her analyses of scenes readlike special pleading SPECIAL PLEADING. The allegation of special or new matter, as distinguished from a direct denial of matter previously alleged on the opposite side. Gould on Pl. c. 1, s. 18; Co. Litt. 282; 3 Wheat. R. 246 Com. Dig. Pleader, E 15. . No part of her work goes into great detail andher comparisons with other tombs could have been taken further.Kamrin's interpretation of individual elements in the decoration isnot always very precise. Her readings of the inscriptions are not veryconfident and contain some clear errors. Both here and in thereferences, which are not always up to date, the book is not fullyrevised. No citations are given for more satisfactory publications ofthe decoration than the line drawings included, even though relevantworks are present in the bibliography and a fair amount is scatteredthrough the literature, notably in Abdel Ghaffar Shedid's DieFelsgraber von Beni Hassan in Mittelagypten (1994). This is a stimulating work, but it is suggestive rather thanoffering a fully developed interpretation. I hope it will contribute tocreating overdue interpretive frameworks for the vast legacy ofdecorated tombs in Egypt. The book's 125 [pounds sterling] price cannot be justified:the work is not carefully edited and is printed from the author'scamera-ready copy, with line illustrations reproducing indifferentcomputer graphics and small photocopies of the original schematicdrawings from the 1890s. Reference SHEDID, A.G. 1994. Die Felsgraber von Beni Hassan in Mittelagypten.Mainz: Philipp von Zabern.JOHN BAINESOriental Institute, University of Oxford