9. Agyptologische Tempeltagung: Kultabbildung und Kultrealitat.

• Author: Eaton, Katherine
• Position: Book review

9. Agyptologische Tempeltagung: Kultabbildung und Kultrealitat. Edited by HORST BEINLICH. Konigtum, Staat und Gesellschaft Fruher Hochkulturen, vol. 3,4. Wiesbaden: HARRASSOWITZ VERLAG, 2013. Pp. 391, illus. [euro]84 (paper).

The theme of the ninth Agyptologische Tempeltagung conference was cult illustration and cult reality (Kultabbildung und Kultrealitat). The conference volume includes a series of explorations focusing on the relationship, or lack thereof, between representations and images of cult activities and the realia of cultic performances. Due to the presence of members of Gottingen s Edfu project, there is an emphasis on material from this site in the volume. Overall, five articles stand out in providing overviews of theoretical approaches to the topic at hand. Together, they would make a good introduction to the issues for graduate students. Most other articles in the collection are more focused on analysis of specific groups of data, which will be discussed in light of the theoretical articles which frame this review.

First, in "Die agyptischen Wirklichkeiten in Kultpolitik und Kult," Rolf Gundlach takes a very broad view, exploring the places of ritual scenes and ritual performance in relation to five aspects of temple building programs--environment ("Lage/Umgebung"), architecture ("Architektur"), decoration ("Dekoration"), equipment ("Geratschaften"), and actions ("Handlungen"). He groups Kultabbildung with decoration and Kultrealitat with actions. He then describes four stages in planning temple building programs, emphasizing the importance of the form of the royal titulary in the beginning of the process, describing it "als Nucleus der Grundlage von Tempelplanungen." The wall scenes, which are the focus of most of the studies in this volume, come very late in the process, after the locations and types of temples were chosen based on political considerations. One of the main approaches which authors in this volume take is analysing decoration in light of broader categories of evidence, like those represented by Gundlach's other four categories.

Christopher Theis focuses on the history and function of the Temple of Ptah within the enclosure at Karnak, examining a broad complex of associations, including its place in both the geography of Karnak and the chronology of Ptahs worship at that site ("Le temple de Ptah a Karnak. Remarques preliminaires"). Martina Ulimann addresses the meanings and functions of wall decoration, in...