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Al-Ahram Weekly 4 - 10 March 1999 Issue No. 419 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 4 - 10 March 1999 Issue No. 419
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Book Review
Dismantled, relocated and rebuilt
Guide to the Nubian Monuments on Lake Nasser, Jocelyn Gohary. American University in Cairo Press, 1998.
This is a first. The first comprehensive introduction to the layman of the history and culture of Nubia, now lost beneath Lake Nasser; the first informative guide to the saved monuments including four that were transported and re-erected; and the first guidebook to provide (to the rear of the book) detailed and comprehensive descriptions of temples alongside clearly-marked plans in the manner of Baedeker's guides of yesteryear.
Yes, this book is highly recommended. It is compact, easy to handle and has the added advantage of being an inexpensive paperback.
I would have benefited from having had a copy with me when I made the Lake Nasser Cruise last autumn. I found myself visiting temples which -- apart from the two at Abu Simbel -- I had last seen in situ in the 1960s and I could well have done with Jocelyn Gohary's book to remind me of what I was looking at; to provide me with details of monuments I had never seen before.
Among the latter is the delightful tomb of Pennut, a rock-hewn construction moved from its original location at Aniba. True, the reliefs are in poor condition, but I would have liked to know that the well-titled Pennut may actually have been "a native Egyptian or an Egyptianised Nubian."
Also, it was good to have the Qasr Ibrim's historical role described in such detail to better understand its strategic importance and role as a frontier post in Roman, through Christian and Muslim times.
I feel it would have been useful, before launching into the country's ancient past, to have a brief description of Nubia -- perhaps augmented by a few photographs of the unique houses, extensive palm groves, tiny plots of land, and people in their environment -- before their land was lost forever beneath the waters of Lake Nasser. But maybe that's pure nostalgia on my part. After all, the book claims to be a "Guide to the Nubian monuments" and it fully lives up to its promise.
Jocelyn Gohary, well known for her lectures and articles, is an Egyoptologist and archaeologist living in Cairo.
Reviewed by Jill Kamil
