Theban Desert Road Survey in the Egyptian Western Desert, vol. 1: Gebel Tjauti Rock Inscriptions 1-45 and Wadi el-Hol Rock Inscriptions 1-45.

• Author: Peden, A.J.
• Position: Book Review

Theban Desert Road Survey in the Egyptian Western Desert, vol. 1: Gebel Tjauti Rock Inscriptions 1-45 and Wadi el-Hol Rock Inscriptions 1-45. By JOHN COLEMAN DARNELL, with the assistance of Deborah Darnell. Oriental Institute Publications, vol. 119. Chicago: THE ORIENTAL INSTITUTE, 2002. Pp. 1vi + 174; figures, plates. $75.

This elegantly assembled volume, stoutly bound, is the culmination of nearly a decade's hard work in the arid desert plateau west of modern-day Luxor by the husband and wife team of John and Deborah Darnell. Since the early 1990s the Darnells, with the assistance of other members of the Theban Desert Road Survey, have been engaged in the long and arduous business of plotting the many new rock-drawings and inscriptions which they have found at Gebel Tjauti, an ancient caravan stop on the Alamat Tal Road in the Western Desert of the Thebaid. In short their findings have been nothing less than sensational.

Here, well laid out with copious illustrations (as befits its subject matter), are the rock-inscriptions of this inhospitable region as traced and copied by the Darnells with tremendous care and enthusiasm. It is a very real triumph, as these texts are frequently found in the most awkwardly placed locations and are commonly difficult to record and publish accurately. Based on repeated collations, this initial volume is the first of a series intended to cover several hundred rock-graffiti on the Farshut and Alamat Tal routes that cut across the elbow of the high desert jutting eastward into the Nile's course, between Hu and Abydos in the north, Coptos to the east, and Thebes on the south. This volume was originally planned just to publish the materials from the site of Gebel Tjauti, but inevitable delays in press gave the authors an opportunity to include an equal installment of material from Wadi el-Hol.

In addition to its many excellent photographic plates and accompanying line-drawings, the book has an impressive bibliography, a full glossary, and short general index. As for the core section of the book with its text-notes and detailed commentary, no desk-bound reviewer can expect to improve on readings simply from studying the published photographs, no matter how good they are. Thus, my comments below will more modestly seek to note highlights in this work, with limited further observations.

As a result of the Darnells' endeavors, it is now known that Gebel Tjauti has ancient depictions and texts ranging in date from...