Alexander the Great and Egypt: History, Art, Tradition.

• Author: Finn, Jennifer
• Position: Book review

Alexander the Great and Egypt: History, Art, Tradition. Edited by Volker Grieb; Krzysztof Nawotka; and Agnieszka Wojciechowska. Philippika, vol. 74. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2014. Pp. 458, illus. 83 [euro].

The present volume, product of a conference held in November 2011 at the University of Wroclaw, in cooperation with Helmut-Schmidt University (Hamburg), is an interdisciplinary foray into Alexander's short stay in Egypt and his legacy in Egyptian culture. Consisting of twenty-two contributions (excluding the introduction), the aim of the volume, according to the editors, is "to look at the Macedonian king through the Egyptian eye," using Egyptian and other non-classical evidence as a way to "assess the depth (or shallowness) of the Greek veneer in Egypt in the age of the Argead rulers" (p. 8). Though contributions are mainly in English, German and French are also represented. Naturally, there are hazards in compiling a volume with such international character; both the quality of the editing and the argumentation of each chapter are of inconsistent nature, though that is not to diminish the importance of several scholarly contributions throughout the work.

Though the volume is organized in a roughly chronological way (beginning with Argead strategic interest in Egypt and ending with several contributions on the Medieval Alexander Romance), the editors have missed an opportunity for what could have been a more meaningful thematic approach. For instance, multiple authors address the question of chronology, Alexander's legitimation as pharaoh (with heavy focus on the oracle at Siwa), the foundation of Alexandria and other important building projects throughout Egypt, his death and burial, the behavior of the Diadochoi, and Alexander's reception/legacy. One of the most important threads throughout the volume is the almost uniform insistence on the continuity of Egyptian (especially dynastic) custom as a major element in Alexander's campaign. Due to constrictions of space, I will not focus on all of the contributions in the volume, but highlight a few outstanding or controversial pieces.

As previously mentioned, as a fascinating piece of reception literature, The Alexander Romance naturally plays a great role in several studies in this book. Wojciechowska and Nawotka ("Alexander in Egypt: Chronology") take this work (which, they argue, uniquely preserves a local tradition that does not follow the conventional line of Alexander...