Preface

The current Companion to Ancient Egypt is designed to fit into Blackwell’s highly successful Companion series, several volumes of which have already appeared. However, since the time-scale of Egyptian civilization is so long, it has been decided that it would be appropriate for this publication to appear in two volumes rather than the standard one so that full scope can be given for the discussion of a civilization whose development lasted well over three and a half millennia and was certainly one of the most successful that the world has ever seen.

The purpose of the Companion is to provide up-to-date, readable, and, where apposite, well-illustrated accounts of the major aspects of Egypt’s ancient history and culture as currently perceived. Since chapters are relatively long, it does not duplicate such compendia as the Oxford Encyclopedia but is intended to function as the next port-of-call. The coverage is also much broader than that of survey volumes like the Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. The target readership is academics, students, and the sophisticated amateur. For all these constituencies the chapters will provide as full a coverage of major topics as can be accommodated in the space permitted, but the level at which the chapters have been pitched is such that even professional Egyptologists will be able to find many chapters of value in areas where they do not have a major expertise.

In addition to meeting the agenda just described I have tried a little more - and something unusual. It is often a matter of comment that Egyptologists and students of Graeco-Roman Egypt do not talk to each other, despite the obvious fact that each has clearly much to learn from the other. I decided, therefore, that, wherever possible, coverage of particular topics should consist of linked Pharaonic and Graeco-Roman chapters which would certainly recognize differences but would also emphasize the continuities of Pharaonic Egyptian civilization and its extraordinary capacity to evolve and respond effectively to the many different stimuli and challenges with which it was confronted in its millennial historical career. This strategy, it is hoped, will provide valuable perspectives and data both to Egyptologists and Graeco-Roman specialists in their efforts to come to terms with historical phenomena within their specialist subject areas and encourage a closer synergy between the two constituencies. This inevitably means that there is, at times, an element of repetition, but I have not edited this out on the basis that each chapter should, as far as possible, be a self-contained entity. In the same inclusive spirit it seemed highly apposite, particularly in the light of current foci of research, to investigate the reception of this enormously varied culture not only within European contexts, ancient and modern, but also in the Islamic world in all of which very different cultures have responded to their vision of Ancient Egypt and processed it for their own distinctive purposes. The final part of the book has, therefore, been devoted to chapters by specialists in this field.

Whilst it must be conceded that all aspects of cultures interpenetrate each other in complex ways in order to serve the needs of their adherents, it is essential for the purposes of exposition to break down their activities into categories such as physical context, history, economic and social mechanisms, language, literature, and the visual arts. This I have done, and, generally speaking, such analytical categories have proved relatively unproblematic. Though many might find the fact surprising, the biggest problem has been presented by the historically orientated chapters. In this context authors have been encouraged not to provide bare reign-by-reign accounts of a string of dynasties or Hellenistic and Roman rulers but have been asked to try to present answers to the simple question: ‘‘What do I want people to know about this period of history?’’ This means that they have been encouraged to lay more emphasis on thematic issues than deliver plain narratives. Given the inadequacy of the evidence for many periods of Egyptian history this is often, in any case, the most effective approach, but such a process brings with it an orientation problem for those who are not familiar with Egyptian history, and I have, therefore, provided at the beginning of the first volume a chronological table fleshed out with some historical comment so that readers can locate each historical chapter in its overall context. However, the production of any chronological table for Egypt is fraught with peril since the evidence for allocating absolute dates to many periods is problematic. The reader should, therefore, treat the table as a framework only and should not be in the least disturbed if alternative dates appear either in the text of the Companion or in other publications. I have made no attempt to create consistency on this matter since consistency would not reflect the differing scholarly views, sometimes fiercely held, which characterize this area of Egyptian studies.

The inadequacies of our database present us with yet another problem. In all forms of historical enquiry differences of perception and opinion abound, and no definitive view can be presented, but, in the case of a culture as distant as that of Pharaonic Egypt, the problems can be acute. In addition, the unequal temporal distribution of material creates major problems, and difficulties in determining the precise meaning and significance of data are recurrent. All this means that differences of opinion abound, and I have made no attempt to conceal that fact by airbrushing such differences out of the picture to create a specious sense of consensus where I know perfectly well none exists or can exist. It is important for the reader to be aware that scholarly opinion is divided on many issues, frequently issues of great importance, and, if two or even three different interpretations appear in this Companion, I have left them that way; it is the nature of the beast!

Professor Alan B. Lloyd Swansea 26 May 2009