Preface

Ancient Egypt has a particular fascination, even for people who know little about its civilisation, and tales of golden treasure and weird curses only add to its mystique. Visitors to almost any of the world’s major museums can see Egyptian objects and statues inscribed with hieroglyphs or picture writing. Even the owners of these articles may be seen as they were mummified and buried thousands of years ago along with their worldly treasures in pyramids and rock-cut tombs.

Such tombs were always likely to be robbed of their treasures, so elaborate devices were made to foil thieves. Just a few graves have reached the present time intact, but most have been ransacked for valuables, leaving behind the seeds and baskets, linen and papyrus, timber and resins, that were of no value to the thieves. Egyptologists took a long time to appreciate their significance - archaeologists were more interested in the pots than their contents - although they were the reason for the pot being left there in the first place. Even Tutankhamun’s tomb was not immune from theft, but fortunately the bulk of the objects were left in place.

Tutankhamun was buried with a reed wand which, according to the inscription on it, ‘was cut with his Majesty’s own hand’. His body was garlanded with fresh flowers that, more than 3,000 years later, are still recognisable. The young king’s gilded furniture was buried with him, together with his childhood ebony chair and linen clothes, bark-encrusted bows and reed arrows, perfumes from exotic plants and a host of other items of botanical origin. This book ranges across all of these objects made from plant material. It does not attempt to be comprehensive archaeologically, but in botanical terms it looks beyond the flowers to timbers hidden by gold leaf, to dried-up ointment in alabaster jars, and to botanical motifs on chair backs or as lamps. We shall see the food and drink prepared for pharaoh, and even the gaming boards ready for eternal playing.

By Tutankhamun's time the Great Pyramid and Sphinx at Giza were already historic monuments over 1,200 years old. Photo: F N Hepper

Readers will notice that there are allusions in the text to relevant passages of the Bible, especially the Old Testament, where Egypt is mentioned. Many more such references could be found, as Egypt played an important role in biblical history and it has had a great influence on the culture of neighbouring nations.

Each chapter consists of two parts. The first section describes the objects found - wreaths, furniture, textiles, etc. - and the second describes individual plant species and the ways in which they were used. Cross-references between the two sections are provided throughout. Drawings and photographs of the plants are fully integrated with the text. These show what the species look like as living plants as well as their appearance as dried specimens and motifs in art. The Further Reading section will enable both specialists and general readers to follow up other literature and online resources on the subject. The book concludes with a short glossary of botanical terms, and a list of the quotations from the Bible that are not incorporated into the main text.