she mentions the skeletal remains from
KV55, but most of this chapter is devoted to the three mummies from KV35:
the Elder Lady” (now identified as Queen
Tiye): a pre-pubescent boy (still to be positively identified, but possibly Akhenaten’s older brother, Thutmose); and the
Younger Lady (Luban’s Nefertiti). In
Chapter Three, “Blood and Time,” Luban summarizes her own theories regarding the much-debated coregency between Amenhotep III and Amenhotep
IV/Akhenaten and also how her own
ideas about the Amarna period have
evolved and changed since she first
wrote, prior to 1999, proposing that the
Younger Lady in KV35 is Nefertiti.
Chapter Four, “Genetics,” concerns the DNA results obtained from
Hawass’s previously noted studies. Also
mentioned is Scott Woodward’s 199394 DNA studies based on samples he
obtained from several of the Eighteenth
Dynasty royal mummies (with the exception of Tutankhamen). The DNA results described in this chapter can be a
little confusing, unless you are really
up on your DNA knowledge. In Chapter Five, “The Royal Couple,” Luban,
firm in her belief that the Younger Lady
in KV35 is Nefertiti, now offers several
arguments for her being the daughter
of Amenhotep III and Queen Tiye and
the sister of Akhenaten, stressing their
likeness to one another, even suggesting that Akhenaten resented the fact
that he resembled his wife and had his
sculptors strive to make his appearance
less like hers.
Chapter Six, “Chronology,” deals
with all the familiar theories regarding:
the coregency; Smenkhkare Djeserkheperu (was he a usurper rather than a legitimate king?); the identity of Ankh(et)
kheperure Neferneferuaten; Nefertiti as
coregent, with references to the “durbar” scene in the tomb of Meryre II at
Amar-na; the ages of the various principal players, including the “body” in KV55 (Akhenaten or Smenkhkare?); the
age of Tutankhaten at his succession
and length of reign, etc. Also discussed
are Manetho’s references to kings (or
queens) named “Acencheres.” Read it
carefully, so as not to be confused by
Luban’s conclusions.
Kmt 78
Chapter Seven, “Problems,”
delves more into the possible ages of
the major players and/or changes in
their appearance, e.g., when, later in
life, Nefertiti seems to have exchanged
her tall, flat-topped Blue Crown for the
more rounded “cap” one. Luban suggests that the persons depicted on a
painted-limestone slab — where the
male is shown with a “crutch” and the
female is offering him a bouquet of
flowers and mandrake fruit — is Akhenaten and Nefertiti rather than Smenkhkare and Meritaten, as has usually been
proposed. As the title suggests, there is
much more discussion in this chapter
elaborating on the problems presented
in the preceding chapter.
In Chapter Eight, “Propaganda,” Luban proposes that the stela found
in Karnak Temple’s Hypostyle Hall, supposedly erected on the order of Tutankhamen but usurped by Horemheb, is primarily a “propaganda” piece, to dispel
any memory of an Atenist king named
Tutankhaten and the possibility that he
was the son of the Heretic and might
have been the product of incest. She
notes that Tut’s successor, Ay, has been
taken to task in the past few decades,
even accused of being his murderer, but
was probably no worse than the other
opportunists of the earlier part of the
dynasty. She also discusses the wellknown story of widowed Queen Ankhesenamen writing to the king of the Hittites, seeking a marriage with one of his
sons, who would become king of Egypt,
since she was loath to marry her “servant,” possibly referring to either Ay or
Horemheb. “On that somber note ends the
saga of Nefertiti, Akhenaten and their children inasmuch as can be presently known.”
Luban herself has written to
Egypt, to say that our knowledge of the
Eighteenth Dynasty cannot go forward
without being able to consider the autosomal DNA of Thutmose IV. She will
continue to think about Nefertiti, her
family and her circumstances, knowing
that being right or wrong doesn’t matter.
Only the facts are important. Whether
or not Luban is correct in her identification will probably never be known
for sure, but for those readers who are
fascinated with the Amarna period and
must consume everything written about
it, by all means take Luban’s viewpoints
under consideration; and, as another
author said about the many theories regarding the death of Tutankhamen, it
can be any way you want it to be.
D. Moyer
WONDERFUL THINGS
A History of Egyptology
By Jason Thompson
2015, American University in Cairo
Press; 352 pages, hardcover, $39.95;
ISBN 978-9774165993
I
t’s easy to take Egyptology for granted, with new insights and intriguing discoveries regularly appearing
to delight and sometimes challenge us.
But we should never forget that our
evolving understanding was built on
the cumulative activities of our scholarly predecessors of varying merit, with
some exercising extraordinary energy
and creativity, resulting in both breakthroughs and dead-ends.
Historian Jason Thompson has
written a book that comprehensively
addresses the history of Egyptology from
its earliest inklings up to the year 1881.
It’s titled Wonderful Things and is, itself,
a wonderful thing. Presented therein is
a summary of the fascinating development of the study of ancient Egypt, and
it just didn’t begin with Napoleon and
his “savants,” or Jean-François Champollion. As the author points out, there
is evidence that some of the ancient
Egyptians themselves were interested
in their past and certainly the Greeks
and Romans were captivated, the latter
even exporting obelisks to Italy.
Especially fascinating are chapters that explore early Egyptological in-
quiries made during Medieval and Renaissance times, eras that are usually only vaguely discussed in most other general histories. The free-wheeling retrieval and exporting of Egyptian antiquities during the Nineteenth Century,
and attempts by Auguste Mariette and
others to rein it in, is also a story very
well-told.
Throughout the book one will
find names and events both familiar
and new, and Thompson has unveiled
more than a few individuals whose significant contributions have somehow
escaped notice. His approach is evenhanded. For example, some readers
might be surprised that Giovanni Belzoni wasn't necessarily a great villain,
as he is often portrayed, nor was Champollion a lone genius who single-handedly "solved" the mystery of the hieroglyphs. The role of personality, and relationships between the early Egyptologists is not ignored; and I found it startling how many didn't get along well
with each other, and how much of their
valuable work remains unpublished.
It's not often that I find a book
in which I can confidently state that I
found something interesting on nearly
every page. And as one who likes to consider himself an historian of archaeology, I learned much. Anyone with a serious interest in Egyptology surely will
benefit from reading Wonderful Things.
This volume is the first of three and I
eagerly await the two which will follow.
D.P. Ryan
came into his possession in 1835, along
with four mummies. This book tells in
great detail the story of these papyri and
the subsequent revelation by numerous
Egyptologists that they are really only
Late Period copies of the Egyptian Book
of the Dead.
That Smith claimed the papyri
and their vignette illustrations were one
thing — which with divinely channeled
inspiration he could read and interpret
— and, in fact, they are something quite
THE JOSEPH SMITH EGYPTIAN
different of course called into question
PAPYRI: A Complete Edition
what he asserted about translating MoRobert K. Ritner, Editor
roni’s no-longer-extant golden plates in
2013, Signature Books; 357 pp., 19 color 1830, thus undermining his credibility as
and b&w plates; softcover, $34.95;
a self-declared modern “Prophet of God.”
ISBN: 978-1560852322
The Smith papyri left the possession of the Saints (Smith was assassif the Church of Latter-day Saints’ nated in 1844), but resurfaced in 1947,
three official scriptures (The
when purchased by the Metropolitan
Book of Mormon, The Holy Bi- Museum of Art in New York City. The
ble and The Pearl of Great Price) two
Museum subsequently returned the paare “revealed,” meaning given directly
pyri to Mormon Salt Lake City headquartby God to Church founder Joseph Smith, ers in 1967; they are now no longer acJr. The Book of Mormon was divinely
cessible, obviously a very delicate topic
“translated” by Smith from golden plates for the LDS Church today.
which he claimed were presented to him
In addition to Egyptologist
by an angel named Moroni (who, the job Ritner’s long introduction, the volume
done, then took the plates back). The
has three essay contributions by Marc
Pearl of Great Price comprises Doctrines
Coenen, H. Michael Marquardt and
and Covenants, the Book of Abraham
Christopher Woods. The balance of the
and the Book of Joseph. The Covenants book is comprised of comparative transare divine “revelations” to Smith on how lations of the two Book of the Dead texts
to organize his new church. The books
and assorted fragments, plus full-color
of Abraham and Joseph are Smith’s trans- plates of same and related materials.
lations of two ancient Egyptian papyrus
A provocative, challenging read.
scrolls and assorted fragments which
D. Forbes
O
SAND SCARAB
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79 Kmt