I Actually Review a Book!

Reflections of Osiris: Lives from Ancient Egypt
by John Ray

Okay, I really enjoyed reading this book--as long-time followers will not be surprised to hear--so let me enumerate its weaknesses before I dive into any immoderate praise. The author attempted to tell the story of the history of ancient Egypt by making each new chapter a brief biography of an individual Egyptian--king, priest, or peasant--about whom we know something unusual, or the knowledge of whose existence has survived to modern times because an extraordinary document was discovered. As a result, the entire book feels somewhat disjointed, and the eponymous attempt to use Osiris (Egyptian god of the dead/underworld) as the common link for all those highlighted is weak, almost an afterthought in practice, though it works in principle if you already know a bit about the Egyptian theology of the afterlife.

Neith
(image by Jeff Dahl)

Now for the fun stuff. The scholarly author has an enjoyably readable style, and most importantly by far, I learned about a HOST of things of which I was previously unaware, and got much more detail about some things with which I was already familiar. So much so, in fact, that I lost a whole day researching Neith, patron goddess of the city of Sais, because of one passing reference in Ray's book that piqued my curiosity beyond endurance. Now that's MY kind of Egyptology read, especially since I've read enough on the subject by now that not just every book sparks a real quest for further detail like that anymore.

It's a lovely book, a quick read, and I can recommend it to those interested in the subject, from novices to armchair Egyptologists like me.

Nebkheprure, Lord of the Two Lands

Oh, my dears, after a whole week spent resting and readjusting to the rhythm of everyday life, I can finally sit down and chronicle for you the famous Fabulous Birthday Surprise referenced in the last post.

I turned 35 last week, and my family conspired to give me one of the most wonderful birthday weekends since the Queen's Jubilee.  First, you need to know that my mother-in-law is the lord high mucky-muck of all gift-givers.  I mean, this woman could figure out the one thing that Oprah doesn't already own but would simply love to have and find some way to get it for her.  Add to that the delightful fact that my husband actually loves me, and puts a great deal of thought into what would make me happy, and you have one hell of a birthday.

(Photo by Charlie Phillips)

Unbeknownst to me, a significant portion of King Tutankhamun's grave collection, along with numerous other wondrous Egyptian artifacts, have been in Seattle for some months at the Pacific Science Center.  My amazing mother-in-law, however, always watchful around birthday times and aware of my absolutely consuming passion for all things ancient Egyptian, spotted the advertisement with her eagle eye and bought Michael and I two tickets to the exhibit.  Moreover, she booked us in for two nights at the only hotel within walking distance of the museum (which was a very nice place, I might add).

On the evening of my birthday, Michael, the SuperToddler and I joined his parents and brother at Olive Garden for a lovely dinner (for which they paid, God bless them), and we finally had the big reveal.

Michael and I would be heading off to Seattle to commune with the great kings and queens of The Two Lands (as the Egyptians knew their kingdom)!  Meanwhile, Brigid would be enjoying a long weekend with Grandma and Grandpa, beginning right after that dinner and lasting until we got back into town from our trip on Sunday evening.  Wasn't it helpful of me to schedule my birthday over the Labor Day weekend?

So, while the SuperToddler went to her favorite place in the world--Grandma's house--Michael and I came home, watched some Mock the Week, slept in a bit the next day, packed and started our road trip to Seattle.

[Mock the Week on YouTube--YOU NEED IT IN YOUR LIFE!! But if you're easily offended, for God's sake don't ever watch it.  (Sucks to be you.)]

 

We checked in on our first night and roamed around for a bit, rustling up the nearest installation of my husband's favorite restaurant, Chipotle, and generally getting a bit lost and annoying Seattle's Yellow Cab drivers and dispatchers before we found our way back to our hotel.  The big event of the first evening in the big city was when we stumbled upon a Dr. Marten's store, in a lovely old building that obviously dated from the turn of the 20th century or before.  As the daughter of a shoe repairman, I grew up with the smell of leather and shoe polish, so I was whisked back to my childhood the moment we stepped in the door.  While Michael shopped for a much- and long-needed pair of black shoes that could be worn to work or for dress, I was captivated by a beautiful, burgundy leather bag that I could tell would make an excellent over-the-shoulder messenger-type purse.  It was expensive, but the beautiful thing about anything Doc Marten's is that it's virtually guaranteed to last longer than its owner!  My lovely Good Man Michael generously made the bag my other birthday present, along with the delightful surprise of an iPod Touch that he'd given me earlier, and I was a very happy birthday girl, indeed.  (I told him that for Christmas, I'd LOVE to have the matching women's wing-tipped leather shoes.  Hint, hint.)  (Photo courtesy of Doc Marten's website--who else?)

 

The next morning, of course, was the main event--the Lord of the Two Lands, Ruler of the Land of the Bee and the Sedge, Nebkheprure Tutankhamun Hekaiunushema--and any number of his royal friends and family.  (Believe it or not, those are just a very few of his names; he had many, many more.)

 

(Photo by dalbera)

 

It was an amazing exhibition, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself in the gift shop, picking up a copy of the official catalogue, the DVD walk-through of the exhibit, and some lovely stationery.  The SuperToddler, who adores all things Egypt as regular readers certainly know, got a lovely blue glass scarab magnet as a souvenir, which thrilled her heart and provided her hours of playful enjoyment when I got it home to her.  (She LOVES all the beetles everywhere in Egyptian art; we haven't delved into the whole bizarre relationship they have with DUNG yet.)

 

(Photo by Rick Vaughn)

 

We also explored the famous Pike Place Market, with its extremely fresh fish, myriads of tiny, funky little shops that sell a bit of everything--including "herbal refreshment" in a few of them, I suspected as we shuffled quickly past!--and we stumbled upon an Egyptian shop keeper who was thrilled by my smattering of Arabic and small knowledge of classical hieroglyphs.  His souvenirs, by and large, were much more satisfying than those in the museum gift shop, because they were actually MADE IN EGYPT.  (I know, right?  o.O  He felt the same way--"Why they don't sell things made in Egypt?  The things they sell have no soul!")  I bought a sterling silver pendant from him, bearing the two primary names of the Boy King on it, and he was so impressed with my meager skills that he gave me one of the traditional, pressed-paste scarab beads "to protect you--we give them everywhere in Egypt."  I was quite pleased, actually.  Proof positive that we're all still at least a little pagan.

 

(Photo by Frank Rytell)

 

Michael and I rounded out the evening with a lovely meal at P. F. Chang's and a brief saunter through the mall, where we stumbled upon a great little Japanese store in which I bought some adorable stationery with "English" sayings printed on them that make ABSOLUTELY no sense whatsoever.  (This is roughly akin to how we pick a new Chinese restaurant to try; if the name has been "translated" into English, and is utter gibberish, the food is pretty much guaranteed to be authentic Chinese cuisine, and therefore delicious.  Our all-time favorite was called "Rice Star," although "Pig Miracle Barbeque" certainly won honorable mention.)

 

And there you have it, dear readers.  The next day, Michael and I made our way back home, stopping in one of the towns along the way whose primary industry was tourism to visit a lovely bar and grill, enjoy an old-fashioned malted in their vintage 1950's ice cream stand, and take a brief ride on the remains of the historical railroad, now preserved in miniature as an excursion train for railroad enthusiasts.  My dad would have loved it.  I brought Brigid home a wooden Percy locomotive to add to her wooden Thomas the Tank Engine set; she was thrilled.

 

Snoqualmie Depot
(Photo by Max Richards)

 

All in all, I couldn't have asked for a more wonderful birthday weekend.  My health issues even behaved themselves.  I am a blessed woman.

I Review, Therefore I Am

Good evening, my dears.

I must admit at the outset that I've had a rather depressing week, with pain, nausea, and pills that may very well hurt more than they help.  After days of this, I've decided to shout a big "PISS OFF!" to everything that could be depressing me right now, and write you all a review of a lovely book, instead.  Shall we?

Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle

by The Countess of Carnarvon

If you haven't watched any of Downton Abbey, or have no idea what Downton Abbey even is, may I first congratulate you on finding so remote a rock under which to live for the past two years.  That aside, Downton Abbey is a "period piece" which is filmed, at least in part, on location at Highclere Castle, the seat of the Earls of Carnarvon for several generations now.

For those of you who may have some interest in Egyptology, yes, we are talking about THAT Carnarvon, the family that was to have such a crucial role in Howard Carter's discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun in the early 20th century.

Written by the current Countess, this book chronicles the setbacks and ultimate triumphs of one of her predecessors, another woman who married into the title and all that came with it.  (Such books are often ghost-written, of course, but I don't believe this one was; after all, the author is speaking--with great authority--about her own home in which she currently resides, and her acknowledgements make it very clear that she delved into the necessary archives herself.)  Almina was the 5th countess and wife of the 5th earl, the man who poured so much of his own blood and sweat, not to mention a great deal of his money, into excavations of the Valley of the Kings, so that he and Howard Carter could enter the tomb together as partners when King Tut was finally found.  Unfortunately, Carnarvon didn't live more than a few weeks after the dig began, but he did have his moment of triumph.

Still, the center of the story is Lady Almina and how she kept her husband's estate running smoothly through "wars and rumours of wars," and in all honesty, I found much of her story more compelling than the tapestry of fiction that has been woven around her house by the BBC.  I have enjoyed very much watching Downton Abbey and am anxiously awaiting the next season, but I have to wonder if I wouldn't have enjoyed it even more if they had included less of the fanciful and more of the facts of Highclere Castle's life.  I avidly read my way through this book, made quick work of it, really, and can recommend it to anyone who likes love stories, Egyptology, adventures, period pieces, Victorian or Edwardian history, or just wants a decent, simple, enjoyable read.

My Oscar

"You like me! You really"--okay, that'll be quite enough of THAT!  Still, it was very exciting to me to receive my first ever blogger award this week!  I know some bloggers consider awards of this type a very well-intentioned nuisance, but I am NOT one of those.  I suppose, if you've built up a huge following and would probably be getting an award from someone every other day, it would be impossible to deal with, as you're supposed to pass them on.  But for my little blog, which is only a few months old and slowly making its way toward 60 followers, this is red-letter day, and it feels wonderful to have someone recognize and enjoy all the hard work I've put into this venture.

Thank you so much, Jean of Finding Your Gibbee, for bestowing upon me the Versatile Blogger award, and now it is my responsibility to make the following public service announcement, after which I will have the joy of passing this award on to a few more bloggers.  Hopefully, it will make their day as cheerful as receiving it made mine.

The rules of this award are as follows.

-In a post on your blog, present at least 5 fellow bloggers with the Versatile Blogger Award.

-In the same post, include the Versatile Blogger Award.

-In the same post, thank the blogger who nominated you and link back to his or her blog.

-In the same post, share 7 completely random pieces of information about yourself.

-In the same post, include these rules.

-Inform each new winner of their award by posting a comment on their blog.

My chosen recipients are

1. Howling Frog Books

2. As the Spine Breaks

3. Tiny Library

4. A Strong Belief in Wicker

5. B's Book Blog

And finally, 7 random facts about me, your fascinating hostess.

*Blue has been my favorite color my entire life.  I'm really quite obsessive about it, actually.

*I love green cocktail olives, unadulterated with pimento or anything else.  All other types of olive I've ever tried tasted disgusting to me.

*I'm a PK.  (If you don't know what that means, just thank your lucky stars and go on about your life.)

*With a combined total from kindergarten to graduate work, I was in school for 25 years.

*My mother taught me to crochet, my paternal grandmother taught me embroidery, and I taught myself to knit.

*Thus far, I've been a fire-breathing Pentecostal, a member of the Eastern Orthodox church, and an Episcopalian, and that was just the first 34 years.  Imagine what I may get up to before I die!

*I'm an armchair Egyptologist.  My great ambition is to write a novel about ancient Egypt (because the world just doesn't have enough of those yet, right?)

Bonus Fact:

RAVENCLAW RULES!

The Further Adventures of Brigid the SuperToddler

You know, I figure if I tell you about nothing but my brilliant and adorable child all the time, you'll get bored pretty quickly, so I try not to make Brigid the focus of every post.

HOWEVER, that having been said, it occurs to me that I haven't given you all an updated, in-depth report on the SuperToddler's adventures in quite some time now, and since it's been very adventurous around here lately, there's no time like the present.

My daughter is much prettier than my artistic talents can ever reflect,
but her hair REALLY DOES lead this whole other life of quiet desperation sometimes.

First, the I Know You Won't Believe This, But I'm Going To Tell You, Anyway story.  SuperToddler is 2.75 years old.  (Yes, she'll soon be a toddler no more, and then I'll have to concoct a whole new nifty handle for her.)  I swear to God, I think she's reading on the sly.  You see, my two-year-old already recognizes the entire alphabet on sight.  No, I don't coach her and then she parrots me.  I stand in another room, hear her calling out, "D. E. R. B. Y!" and walk in to find her looking at a board book about horses.  I'm not even kidding.  Today, she told me all day long to "lisTen" to her, with a very pronounced T.  I'll give you a moment.  *Jeopardy theme song* Aaaaaaand the penny drops.  HOW DOES SHE KNOW THERE'S A 'T' IN THAT WORD?!  Exactly.  I've been wracking my brain all day.  I can only advance the following theory.

On one of her favorite tv shows, Charlie & Lola (I've already turned her into a BBC addict!), there's an episode called, "I am completely listening and also hearing," and they flash the title of each episode up on the screen at the beginning.  To my knowledge, this is the ONLY place Brigid has ever seen the word written out, and there is no way to know there's a T in that word just from hearing it pronounced in either British or American English.  If anyone has a better theory, I'm totally open to hearing it, because it's starting to creep me out a little.

The big excitement of the past two weeks, though, has been the discovery of an ancient civilization that has been one of MY obsessions for years.  Apparently, there's an Egyptology gene, and we have it.  Backstory: I have a whole bunch of very intricate coloring books, meant to be colored by freakish grown ups like me that still enjoy a good coloring book, and published by companies like Dover and Bellerophon.  Before you even start, NO, these are NOT "adult" coloring books!  They're just really detailed designs, like knights in chain mail armor and Elizabethan English fashions.  Because of my obsession with all things ancient Egyptian, I have by far more coloring books about Egyptian costume, religion and daily life than I do about anything else.  My beloved SuperToddler loves to flip through these, though she knows that somehow they're special and she's not allowed to color in them like she does in her coloring books.  She has also entered the non-stop "What's that?" phase, and whenever I answer that question, she repeats what I say again and again until it sticks in her mind.  The script goes something like this:

Copyright Dover Publishing

"Mommy! What's that?"
"Those are E-gypt-ians."
"E-GYPT-IANS!"
"That's right! Very good!"

Copyright Dover Publishing

"What's THAT?"
"Those are Egyptians, too."
"E-GYPT-IANS!"
"Yep, that's right!"
"What's THAT?"
"Oh, that's a statue."
"STATUE!"

The child now roams through the house, shouting, "EGYPTIANS!"  She comes to me while I'm on the computer doing something and says, "Get up! Egyptians!", which being interpreted means, "I want to get up onto your lap and look at pictures of ancient Egyptian art on Google Images like we did last time, and the time before that, and the time before that, and...".  I think the highly stylized lines and bold colors appeal to her. After all, they've held an almost mystical fascination over adults ever since Napoleon's men first rediscovered them in the 18th century, these images.  I've just never seen a 2-year-old so enamored with them before!

Queen Nefertari (NOT Nefertiti),
in case you were wondering

I swear to you, I am NOT making any of this up, and today, I got photographic evidence.  Remember when I reviewed the beautiful picture book by Demi called simply Tutankhamun?  Well, my daughter found that book, and is absolutely in love with it. 

See the pyramids?  Along the Nile, obviously.

She sits and "reads" it over. And over.  AND OVER.  Occasionally she asks me, "What's that?" or "Who's that?", but for the most part she just flips through and looks at the pictures, sometimes calling out the names of things as she turns the pages.  She now says things like "FINKS!" (which means "sphinx"), and "STATUE!", excited and proud of herself with each new accomplishment.  The other day, she identified an image of King Tut's death mask on sight, as we were sifting through pics on Google.  I won't make prophecies about her having a brilliant career as an archaeologist ahead of her or anything, but I AM excited at the thought that I'll have a fellow enthusiast with whom to discuss it all someday!

Review of "Tutankhamun"

Tutankhamun

by Demi

This is a picture book (though that's a little like saying a Stradivarius is a "fiddle"), so it may seem odd to some of you that I have chosen to review it.  However, all of Demi's books are so gorgeous, and this one in particular so breathtaking, that I had to share it with you, and draw your attention to her work if you're not yet familiar with her.  Visually, her books are simply transcendent, like slipping into the best humanity's dreams have ever achieved.

Demi takes her research very seriously, another thing I greatly admire about her, so her copy that accompanies the illustrations reflects the best that current scholarship on the subject has to offer. 

"Can anyone spot the defect in this plan?"

Yes, that's right.  Demi's books occasionally become dated as scholarship continues to develop, and this one is the latest victim, since our beloved Zahi Hawass revealed more of Tutankhamun's story.  Still, I just find it impressive that Demi gave her bibliography.  And it included some of the biggest names in Egyptology.  In a "picture book".  Tell me you don't find that impressive.

For those who know anything about Egyptian art and language, I must warn you that a few of Demi's artistic choices, made no doubt for stylistic reasons, accidentally made someone or something say something she probably didn't intend them to.  But it's a flaw most people would probably never notice, and it's just so gorgeous that it hardly matters.  If you like Egyptology, history, or even just shiny things, you must give this book a flick through.

Review of "Red Land, Black Land"

Red Land, Black Land

by Barbara Mertz (aka Elizabeth Peters aka Barbara Michaels)

Yes, I finally finished this book!  After some five years.  And it did NOT "go gently into that good night," let me tell you.  Don't get me wrong; I really enjoyed this book.  I just mean that Red Land, Black Land makes you fight for it every sentence of the way; this book is not fluff, and your attention can't waver if you want to keep up with what's going on.

I love Barbara Mertz, and have ever since I stumbled upon my first Amelia Peabody mystery novel.  Murder mysteries set during the dawn of European Egyptology, written by an actual modern Egyptologist!  Forget "What's not to love?"  We can now move straight to "I can die happy!"  So when I discovered that my favorite sleuth-maker had written a duo of non-fiction Egyptology books, I had to own and read them.  I flew through Temples, Tombs and Hieroglyphs, as I imagine most readers did; it's an unrepentant orgy of all things pharaonic and monumental that still exist of ancient Egypt, all those things that stand out as most flashy and memorable in peoples' minds.  Red Land, Black Land is sort of the antidote to all that, covering the little we can reliably say we know about every aspect of the average ancient Egyptian's life.

This book really does have a very slow start, and I'm not surprised that it took me a couple of tries to get into it.  It's definitely worth it, though; even the beginning material is interesting--if you like Egyptology, anyway--it just feels rather haphazardly arranged, which is why it took me a little while to settle in to Mertz' style of organizing her topics.  It's a riveting read, once you're into it, though, and well-illustrated with line drawings of Egyptian art.  The author makes no secret of the fact that she doesn't know the definitive answers to a number of questions laymen often ask.  Indeed, she reveals that NO Egyptologist can answer all those questions; I don't doubt that some of her colleagues weren't too thrilled with her!  She baldly announces that most learned scholarly theories are at best just the considered guess of an intelligent person.  This is actually one of the most satisfying aspects of the book--Mertz' legendary caustic wit created some priceless one-liners here.

I've been a (decidedly amateur) armchair Egyptologist for years, so much of what Mertz had to say only built on things I've been reading about for years, or brought me up to date on theories that have changed or been rejected since I last read about them.  The only thing I wonder about this book is whether it would be that useful for the true beginner who knows nothing about the topic at all, but is just curious.  I think a little bit of previous background would be useful, though just reading the first of the pair of books before reading this one might be enough.  Barbara Mertz does an excellent job of avoiding overcomplication; Egyptology is just an inherently complex subject.