Rome's diverse Egyptian deserts.

Rome's diverse Egyptian deserts. VALERIE MAXFIELD & DAVID David, in the BibleDavid,d. c.970 B.C., king of ancient Israel (c.1010–970 B.C.), successor of Saul. The Book of First Samuel introduces him as the youngest of eight sons who is anointed king by Samuel to replace Saul, who had been deemed a failure. PEACOCK. Topography and quarries (TheRolan imperial quarries: survey and excavation at Mons Porphyrites,1994-1998 Vol. 1). xi+339 pages, 372 figures, 9 tables. 2001. London:Egypt Exploration Society The Egypt Exploration Society (usually abbreviated EES) is the foremost learned society in the United Kingdom promoting the field of Egyptology.The Egypt Exploration Fund (EEF), as it was originally known, was formed in 1882, largely at the instigation of passionate ; 0-85698-152-4 hardback 65 [pounds sterling]. ROBERT B. JACKSON. At empire's edge: exploring Rome'sEgyptian frontier, xxvi+350 pages, 104 figures. 2002. New Haven (CT):Yale University Press; 0-300-08856-6 hardback 26 [pounds sterling]. The deserts of Egypt have been the focus of considerable attentionlately from specialists in Roman history and archaeology. Importantexcavations at Mons Clauclianus and Kellis, in the Eastern and WesternDeserts respectively, for example, have changed the way we think aboutlife in these marginal areas. The books under review contribute to thegrowing mount of literature in different ways. Maxfield & Peacock present the first of two volumes publishingthe results of five seasons of investigation at the site of MonsPorphyrites in the Eastern Desert. This volume covers the above-groundremains and is divided into seven chapters: an introduction, threechapters devoted to the central fort complex, the quarry villages, andthe quarries themselves, a more interpretive chapter considering theinfrastructure of the whole area, a chapter on pottery from surfacefinds and sherding, and finally a chapter on the geology, mineralogy andcharacterization of porphyry Porphyry, Greek scholarPorphyry(pôr`fĭrē), c.232–c.304, Greek scholar and Neoplatonic philosopher. He studied rhetoric under Cassius Longinus and philosophy under Plotinus. . There are numerous maps, diagrams, plans,and reconstructions, which help the reader to visualize the region. Oneirritation is that none are presented in colour, which gives the volumea rather dry feel, and omits a significant amount of visual information.This is presumably pre��sum��a��ble?adj.That can be presumed or taken for granted; reasonable as a supposition: presumable causes of the disaster. beyond the control of the authors; publishers shouldbe more willing to use colour. Given the quantity of material in this volume, I can only selectsome points of particular interest. The central complex in Wadi AbuMa'amel was the administrative centre of the region, and compriseda fort, possibly a bath-house, a worker's village, up to threetemples of Egyptian deities and, importantly, wells for water. Earlyindications suggest that the site developed over the roughlythree-century period of quarrying at Mons Porphyrites, but that it wasprobably a secondary feature, built after initial interest in theregion. The necropolis necropolis:see cemetery. necropolis(Greek: “city of the dead”) Extensive and elaborate burial place serving an ancient city. The locations of these cemeteries varied. associated with the complex has yielded a smallnumber of burials. The skeletal remains, found mainly in pit graves,show signs of wear and trauma commensurate with heavy labour; a featureof both male and female remains, for the latter, possibly caused bycarrying water and un-skilled quarry work such as clearing rocks. Futurearchaeobotanical study will confirm the quality of the diets of thoseliving at the site, but preliminary work suggests that it was diverseand plentiful--perhaps confirmed by the lack of any evidence ofdiet-deficiency disease in the skeletal remains. The remains of wells, acistern cistern/cis��tern/ (sis��tern) a closed space serving as a reservoir for fluid, e.g., one of the enlarged spaces of the body containing lymph or other fluid. and water troughs and channels suggest a complex system of watermanagement not surprising in such an arid environment. What marks Mons Porphyrites as different from its sister quarry,Mons Claudianus, is that the site is geographically widespread. Thequarries and their associated villages lay in outlying areas linked byfootpaths, too far away for the workers to be permanently based at thecentral complex. The `Bradford Village', discovered in 1995, hasproduced some important information. First, the existence of a Paneion,a shrine to the God Pan, is interesting in the light of otherexpressions of religious activity, such as a votive vo��tive?adj.1. Given or dedicated in fulfillment of a vow or pledge: a votive offering.2. sculptured footfound in another village. Pan is often associated with the desert, andvotive offerings suggest propitiation pro��pi��ti��a��tion?n.1. The act of propitiating.2. Something that propitiates, especially a conciliatory offering to a god.Noun 1. to him for protection in such ahostile environment. The `Bradford Village' has also yielded aninscription of Gaius Cominius Leugas, which dates the first exploitationof Mons Porphyrites to the reign of Tiberius, 23 July AD 18. Thequarries and their villages provide important information on theinfrastructure of the whole site, and on the organization and methods ofquarrying in the Roman period. At the Lykabettus quarries, for example,blocks of stone left in situ In place. When something is "in situ," it is in its original location. , quarry marks and inscribed letters (ofmeasurements and instructions) all serve to show how stone wasextracted, while the treacherous roads, slipways and loading ramps offerclues on the initial stages of transporting stone. Here the mostimportant point is the initial dressing or working of stone, which wasdone at the quarry sites, in an attempt to minimize the weight of theblocks for transportation. Finally, there is analysis of the pottery finds andcharacterization of porphyry. The pottery assemblage displayssimilarities to that of Mons Claudianus, although differences inmake-up, it is suggested, may result from different suppliers. This isdoubtful for a number of reasons: first, if the authors are correct intheir suggestion that Mons Porphyrites was the administrative centre ofthe two quarries, would this not suggest that they would use the samesuppliers, and as the quarries were state-controlled, would this too notimply co-ordination? What the pottery does show, however, isconcentrations of activity in the 1st century, the Trajanic period,which we know from other evidence was one of particular importance atMons Claudianus, and in the mid/late 2nd century. The final sectionreviews the geological setting of the quarries and the mineralogicalfeatures of porphyry. While the purpose and importance of Maxfield & Peacock'svolume is evident, this is not so clear with the second book underreview. Jackson's intention is to provide the reader with both ahistory and a gazetteer gazetteer(găz'ĭtēr`), dictionary or encyclopedia listing alphabetically the names of places, political divisions, and physical features of the earth and giving some information about each. of the deserts and frontiers of Egypt in theRoman period, based on his extensive travels through the deserts. Thebook is divided into three main parts, dealing in turn with the EasternDesert, the Upper Nile Valley and the Western Desert. Each contains acomprehensive survey of every important archaeological site in theregion, divided into chapters by sub-region. Each is well illustratedwith photographs, hut again none are in colour, and some are out offocus. Scholars working on the archaeology and history of the Egyptiandeserts will find little new in Jackson's book. His discussion ofeach site is derived in most cases from previous publications andreports. Occasional personal comments add flavour rather than substance.The notes to each chapter guide the reader to references in primaryhistorical sources and modern scholarship, but these are ofteninaccurately or carelessly cited (with overuse overuseHealth care The common use of a particular intervention even when the benefits of the intervention don't justify the potential harm or cost–eg, prescribing antibiotics for a probable viral URI. Cf Misuse, Underuse. of ibid.). While it isclear that Jackson has a good knowledge of the geography and topographyof the deserts and their sites, his control of historical material isless convincing. His transliteration of ancient names and place-names isoften inaccurate or inconsistent, but more worrying are occasionalerrors caused by unfamiliarity with the broader span of Greek and Romanhistory. For example, the revolt of the Alexandrian Firmus in AD 272 islikely to be fictional; there is no firm evidence on the itinerary ofAlexander the Great in Egypt; the so-called Kiosk of Trajan at Philae isnow thought to be Augustan in date; and, more precisely, the total valueof the cargo detailed in P. Vindob. Gr. 40822 should read 1154 talentsinstead of 131--a considerable difference. These criticisms aside, Jackson does provide a full roster of siteswith useful observations, but the real strength of the book is that thegeneral reader will find much which is unfamiliar and of great interest.The deserts of Egypt are usually ignored in favour Of better-knownPharaonic sites in the Nile Valley, but Jackson is interested in thelesser-known remains of the Eastern and Western Deserts dating to aperiod of Egyptian history which is too often forgotten and,importantly, the Meroetic kingdom of Nubia, with its impressivearchaeological record, is featured. As such, this book might standalongside the accounts of earlier travellers such as Tregenza, Murrayand Weigall, if a little less graceful in style, and being less of anaccount of travels. There is less attention paid to personal experiencesthan in these earlier works, which results in Jackson's booksitting uncomfortably between a history, a gazetteer and a travelogue. Both volumes make a valuable contribution in their own way to ourknowledge of the desert regions of Egypt. They illustrate the humanresponse to a harsh and unforgiving landscape. The excavations at MonsPorphyrites, when taken alongside the documentary evidence A type of written proof that is offered at a trial to establish the existence or nonexistence of a fact that is in dispute.Letters, contracts, deeds, licenses, certificates, tickets, or other writings are documentary evidence. preserved ininscriptions, papyri and ostraca os��tra��ca?n.Plural of ostracon. , will add greatly to our understandingof the industrial landscape of the Eastern Desert. What becomes clearfrom both volumes is the diversity of life in these marginal regions,and the fact that these fringes of empire were fully incorporated intothe economic and social life of the Roman world. COLIN ADAMS, School of Archaeology & Ancient History,University of Leicester HistoryThe University was founded as Leicestershire and Rutland College in 1918. The site for the University was donated by a local textile manufacturer, Thomas Fielding Johnson, in order to create a living memorial for those who lost their lives in World War I. , Leicester LE1 7RH, England.