Bulletin of the Egyptian Museum Reviews

The ancient Egyptians were skilled in the use of herbs and spices for medicines, cooking, cosmetics, perfumes, and many other purposes. Drawing on texts written by the Egyptians and their neighbors, Lise Manniche has reconstructed a herbal of 94 species of plants and trees used before, during, and after the pharaonic period in Egypt. Each plant, from acacia to zizyphus, is named in Latin and English and (where known) in ancient Egyptian, Coptic, Greek, and modern Arabic. The author explains the special properties of each plant, and quotes authentic recipes for cosmetics and remedies. She also dis-cusses the Egyptians’ uses of herbs and flowers for both decorative and practical purposes, and the importance of plants for funerary and festive occasions. A section on perfume draws on the latest research into the ingredients and uses of Egyptian scents.

This authoritative publication remains the definitive source for the findings of the various archaeological excavations undertaken in Egypt. Published under the auspices of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, its contributors include some of the most well-known Egyptologists in the world, covering a broad range of archaeological disciplines and spectrums. Volume 84 includes reports from Egyptian, Spanish, Polish, British, German, Swiss, French, American, Belgian, and Japanese archaeological missions working in Egypt. Included in this volume are reports on a video exploration of the Queen’s Chamber in the Great Pyramid at Giza; an examination of an ostracon with notations about bread in Demotic script; excavations at North Saqqara, Siwa Oasis, Abydos, the Temple of Thutmosis III at Luxor, Elephantine, Syene and Queen Tausert’s temple in Western Thebes; the recording of rock inscriptions in Wadi Nag el-Birka on an important ancient road leading from Thebes; and documentation and fieldwork at a late Roman fort at Nag al-Hagar, near Kom Ombo.