We have a seemingly endless fascination with the lives of the ancient Egyptians. Although it is the elite – the pharaoh, royal family, and powerful officials – that captivate most popular interest, the more humble daily existence of the majority of the Egyptian population exerts its own special appeal. Despite the modem tendency to focus on celebrity lifestyles, museum visitors frequently express an interest in knowing what their own lives would have been like had they been bom in the time of the pharaohs.
We are uniquely privileged to have so many sources with which to get to know the inhabitants of the ancient Nile valley. Few other ancient civilizations preserve such a wealth of objects, written records or depictions of life as they hoped it would continue for eternity. From the priestly statue-owner, who buys his right to an offering service with a donation to the temple, to the charioteer who left a boastful account of his bravery in the king’s service, we are afforded bright but fleeting glimpses into everyday activities. Of course, the Egyptians did not act with future Egyptologists in mind – although I suspect that they would be touched to know of our abiding interest in them. The picture we have of life – and even expectations after death – is partial. We must use our imagination – albeit informed by familiarity with other, relevant sources – to fill in the gaps, but it is always tempting to imagine ancient Egypt as it was experienced by its inhabitants.
The Manchester Museum, home to one of Europe’s most significant Egyptology collections, contains a unique series of objects that give a special perspective into day-to-day life. These derive principally from the excavations of the ‘Father of Egyptian Archaeology’, William Matthew Flinders Petrie (1853–1942), at the site of the pyramid builders’ town of Kahun and the royal harem palace at Gurob. Unlike the majority of items in museums, which come from tombs and temples, these objects were for the most part not deliberately deposited and therefore give an incidental insight into everyday activities and concerns.
Professor Rosalie David knows this material better than most, having been Keeper of Egyptology at the Museum for thirty years. Her deep familiarity with the country of Egypt has helped the author produce an authentic feel for life on the banks of the Nile so long ago, perhaps not so very different from rural parts of Egypt today. By arranging her narrative around the three seasons of the Egyptian year, Rosalie adopts a framework that would have governed most ancient Egyptian life and in doing so, with typically lucid style, imparts a great deal of information derived from preserved sources.
Rosalie has chosen several names for her dramatis personae that belong to mummies in Manchester. Her own ground-breaking work on the mummies has brought them to life through the lens of modem science, yielding insights into ancient diet, disease and lifestyle. It is therefore appropriate that the names of some of the mummies have been used in an imagined setting here – for, according to the ancient funerary wish, remembering the name of the deceased enables them to live again.
Campbell Price
(Dr Campbell Price, Curator of Ancient Egypt and the Sudan, Manchester Museum, The University of Manchester)