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Cargando... Eros on the Nile (1998)por Karol Mysliwiec
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Daily life in ancient Egypt was, according to Karol Mysliwiec, saturated with eroticism and much influenced by cult and magic as well. Ancient Egyptian religion, with its variety of gods living, feeling, and reacting much like mortals, he says, is a valuable index of human lifestyles of the day. Eros on the Nile, which has more than a hundred illustrations, including nineteen in full color, addresses selected facets of the erotic concepts and practices of the ancient Egyptians, as recorded in art and literature; it also includes some recent archaeological discoveries by the author and his colleagues. Mysliwiec presents his theory about one of the most intriguing, mysterious hieroglyphic signs, representing a male face with female coloration. Mysliwiec examines the cult of the king and his relationship to the gods as reflected in a legend depicting the royal child as the fruit of a relationship between a god and an earthly woman. He discusses in detail the special religious and political role of royal women, which found expression in the institution of the "gods wife" and describes and illustrates sexual episodes depicted in the "Turin Papyrus," a unique document dating from the times of the New Kingdom (2nd Millennium B.C.E.). Contrasting with the somewhat brutal naturalism of these scenes is the subtle sensuality of Ancient Egyptian love poetry, excerpts from which are quoted in the book. No se han encontrado descripciones de biblioteca. |
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Google Books — Cargando... GénerosSistema Decimal Melvil (DDC)299.31Religions Other Religions By Region/Civilization Of North African Origin Ancient EgyptianClasificación de la Biblioteca del CongresoValoraciónPromedio:
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Mysliwiec's discovery and theorization about the cross-gendered coloration of the har glyph leads to some interesting discussion about the "feminine aspects of the nature of Horus." (xiii) His summary of the long development and transformation of the office of the "God's Wife of Amun" reveals a line of priestesses who, at the height of their prestige, may have possessed power second only to the pharaoh. Also noteworthy and very fascinating is the reproduction and analysis of the Turin Papyrus, an elaborately erotic document from the Ramesside era.
The writer is perhaps the most accomplished Polish Egyptologist of the late 20th century, and his authority is not in doubt, but considering the author and the publisher (Cornell University Press), the absence of scholarly apparatus is somewhat unsettling. I could forgive the lack of full citations, if there were at least some references provided for secondhand claims in the body text. Instead, it is rife with such constructions as "according to several scholars" (60) and the uninformative passive-voice "drawings that are designated in Egyptological literature as satiric-erotic." (120)
The latter phrase is in allusion to the Turin Papyrus, and I would have liked to know who made that classification (or at least when), since I am not entirely persuaded. (Based on the bibliography, I know at least that it was a characterization accepted by Joseph Omlin in 1973, when he published his groundbreaking German monograph on the topic of the papyrus.) Certainly, there is a temptation for moderns to see mirth or mocking in the subject matter, especially when presented with the alien artistic conventions of Egyptian antiquity. But Mysliwiec presents a persuasive case that the series of drawings deliberately parallels religious documents. To some readers, this feature may indicate parody, but if the author is correct that "the ancient Egyptians themselves did not consider sexual topics shameful, and did not find any ambiguity in these matters," (viii), then it seems more reasonable to conclude that the Turin Papyrus is esoteric in its transposition of a religious sequence to an erotic register.
While not a coffee-table book or art catalog, Eros on the Nile is in fact rich with useful illustrations: both color and black-and-white plates, as well as many line drawings, and a helpful map. Packer's translation is lucid, and the whole book can be read in few sittings.