Egypt beyond Representation: Materials and Materiality of Aegyptiaca Romana
by Sander Müskens
Leiden University Press, 2017 Paper: 978-90-8728-275-2 Library of Congress Classification NB115.M886 2017
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | TOC
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Egypt beyond Representation develops and applies a new approach to study Aegyptiaca Romana from a bottom-up, Roman perspective. Current approaches to these objects are often still plagued by top-down projections of modern definitions and understandings of Egypt and Egyptian material culture onto the Roman world. This book instead argues that these artifacts should be studied in their own right, without reducing them to fixed Egyptian meanings. This study shows that, while “Egyptianness” may have been among Roman associations, these objects were able to do much more than merely representing notions of Egypt.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Sander Müskens is a postdoctoral researcher and lecturer at Leiden University.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements
List of Figures
List of Tables
List of Abbreviations
Note on Nomenclature
I Introduction
1. The study of ancient Egypt: historiography and present status quaestionis
1.1 Prelude: the 16th and 17th centuries
1.2 The Age of Reason and the study of ancient Egypt
1.3 The 19th century: the establishment of the modern discipline of Egyptology
1.4 Into the 20th century: ‘l’Égypte hors l’Égypte’ and the ‘cultes isiaques’
1.5 ‘Nicht mehr Ägypten, sondern Rom’: towards a contextual understanding of Aegyptiaca Romana in the 21st century
2. The category and classification of Aegyptiaca
2.1 Winckelmann’s synthesis on Egyptian art history: the foundations
2.2 Roullet’s The Egyptian and Egyptianizing monuments from Imperial Rome (1972)
2.3 Malaise’s Inventaire preliminaire (1972)
2.4 Lembke’s Die formale Systematik der Aegyptiaca im Iseum Campense (1994)
2.5 Conclusion: Aegyptiaca and the focus on representation
3 Set-up and aims
II Understanding stone in the Roman world
1. Understanding stone in the Roman world I: provenance, style, and workmanship
1.1 Stones in pre-modern societies
1.2 Rome’s marble yards: blueprints of the Roman world?
1.3 Marble in the cargo: Roman shipwrecks
1.4 Itinerant craftsmen
1.5 Relations between materials and carvers
1.6 Conclusion: circulation of stones, sculptors, and skills
2. Understanding stone in the Roman world II: Roman perceptions of stone
2.1 The demand for decorative stones
2.2 Roman appreciations of stones
2.3 Roman sculpture beyond representation
III Methods and materials
1. Rock classification and source determination
1.1 Aegyptiaca Romana: rock classification and source determination
1.2 Conclusion: the macroscopic analysis of the stones of Aegyptiaca Romana
2. Object parameters: selection and definitions
3. Corpus of Aegyptiaca Romana
IV Aegyptiaca beyond representation
1. Analysis
1.1 Distribution of stone types and material characteristic
1.2 Material characteristics and other object parameters
2. Discussion
2.1 Egyptian imports
2.2 Roman imperial productions
Outlook
Appendices
A. Excerpt of Winckelmann’s letter to Philipp von Stosch (Rome, 10 April 1761)
B. Selected Greek and Latin sources
C. Ancient authors on the transportation of obelisks to and use in Rome
D. Various uses of lime-and sandstone in Egypt
Bibliography
Nederlandse Samenvatting
Curriculum Vitae
Egypt beyond Representation: Materials and Materiality of Aegyptiaca Romana
by Sander Müskens
Leiden University Press, 2017 Paper: 978-90-8728-275-2
Egypt beyond Representation develops and applies a new approach to study Aegyptiaca Romana from a bottom-up, Roman perspective. Current approaches to these objects are often still plagued by top-down projections of modern definitions and understandings of Egypt and Egyptian material culture onto the Roman world. This book instead argues that these artifacts should be studied in their own right, without reducing them to fixed Egyptian meanings. This study shows that, while “Egyptianness” may have been among Roman associations, these objects were able to do much more than merely representing notions of Egypt.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Sander Müskens is a postdoctoral researcher and lecturer at Leiden University.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements
List of Figures
List of Tables
List of Abbreviations
Note on Nomenclature
I Introduction
1. The study of ancient Egypt: historiography and present status quaestionis
1.1 Prelude: the 16th and 17th centuries
1.2 The Age of Reason and the study of ancient Egypt
1.3 The 19th century: the establishment of the modern discipline of Egyptology
1.4 Into the 20th century: ‘l’Égypte hors l’Égypte’ and the ‘cultes isiaques’
1.5 ‘Nicht mehr Ägypten, sondern Rom’: towards a contextual understanding of Aegyptiaca Romana in the 21st century
2. The category and classification of Aegyptiaca
2.1 Winckelmann’s synthesis on Egyptian art history: the foundations
2.2 Roullet’s The Egyptian and Egyptianizing monuments from Imperial Rome (1972)
2.3 Malaise’s Inventaire preliminaire (1972)
2.4 Lembke’s Die formale Systematik der Aegyptiaca im Iseum Campense (1994)
2.5 Conclusion: Aegyptiaca and the focus on representation
3 Set-up and aims
II Understanding stone in the Roman world
1. Understanding stone in the Roman world I: provenance, style, and workmanship
1.1 Stones in pre-modern societies
1.2 Rome’s marble yards: blueprints of the Roman world?
1.3 Marble in the cargo: Roman shipwrecks
1.4 Itinerant craftsmen
1.5 Relations between materials and carvers
1.6 Conclusion: circulation of stones, sculptors, and skills
2. Understanding stone in the Roman world II: Roman perceptions of stone
2.1 The demand for decorative stones
2.2 Roman appreciations of stones
2.3 Roman sculpture beyond representation
III Methods and materials
1. Rock classification and source determination
1.1 Aegyptiaca Romana: rock classification and source determination
1.2 Conclusion: the macroscopic analysis of the stones of Aegyptiaca Romana
2. Object parameters: selection and definitions
3. Corpus of Aegyptiaca Romana
IV Aegyptiaca beyond representation
1. Analysis
1.1 Distribution of stone types and material characteristic
1.2 Material characteristics and other object parameters
2. Discussion
2.1 Egyptian imports
2.2 Roman imperial productions
Outlook
Appendices
A. Excerpt of Winckelmann’s letter to Philipp von Stosch (Rome, 10 April 1761)
B. Selected Greek and Latin sources
C. Ancient authors on the transportation of obelisks to and use in Rome
D. Various uses of lime-and sandstone in Egypt
Bibliography
Nederlandse Samenvatting
Curriculum Vitae