8. Agyptologische Tempeltagung: Interconnections between Temples.

• Author: Eaton, Katherine
• Position: Book review

8. Agyptologische Tempeltagung: Interconnections between Temples. Edited by MONIKA DOLISISKA and HORST BEINLICH. Kdnigtum, Staat and Gesellschaft friiher Hochkulturen, vol. 3,3. Wiesbaden: HARRASSOWITZ VERLAG, 2010. Pp. x + 237, illus., CD-ROM. [euro]68 (paper).

The eighth occasion of the Tempeltagung conference had a dual focus. The first, as indicated by the subtitle of the proceedings, was interconnections between temples. Roughly two-thirds of the volume is directly related to various approaches to this theme. The remaining third is devoted to studies of the site of Deir el-Bahri, one of the four mains stops on the Theban processional circuit, along with Karnak, Luxor, and Medinet Habu. The focus on this site befits the location of the conference, in Warsaw, given the strong Polish presence at that site for over half a century. The volume is dedicated to Prof. Jadwiga Lipitiska (d. 2009), founder and director of the Thutmosis III mission, and long-time team member Dr. Joanna Aksamit (d. 2008).

The proceedings place a strong emphasis on analysis of ritual scenes and texts from the New Kingdom and Ptolemaic Periods. Economic interconnections are explored in two articles on Memphis in the Fifth Dynasty. These are also the only two articles on Old Kingdom material. Hratch Papazian assesses the role of the Temple of Ptah. Hana VymazalovEi compares the sources of income for different royal establishments. The two articles focusing on Middle Kingdom material both highlight regional decorative programs of individual kings. Ingrid Blom-Boer analyzes remains of the decorative programs of four establishments of Amenemhat II in the Fayum area, suggesting a land triangle between Medinet Madi, Hawara, and Medinet el-Fayum, connected by different manifestations of Sobekshedti. This land triangle connected to the water at Biahmu through Medinet el-Fayum. Rolf Grundlach reconstructs the cultic landscape of Thebes in the time of Sesostris I. His concluding analysis places particular emphasis on the significance of various manifestations of the king's titulary.

In another study focused on iconographic variations between establishments in a localized area, Ewa Laskowska-Kusztal argues that patterns in divine representation suggest that the officials at Elephantine were primarily responsible for carrying out the "authorship of the decorative programme of the Ptolemaic buildings dedicated to Mandulis [at Kalabsha]," whereas there appears to be no evidence...