Rev. Architecture and Mathematics in Ancient Egypt by Corinna Rossi

Review Author(s): T. Musacchio Review by: T. Musacchio Source: Near Eastern Archaeology, Vol. 70, No. 2 (Jun., 2007), pp. 118-119 Published by: The American Schools of Oriental Research Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25067706 Accessed: 27-06-2015 19:27 UTC

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Idols of thePeople is a book that iswell researched, well and

reasoned, ceramic

insistence

Moorey's that

and

may

not

that

western and

What

precisely

Asia,

be

assemblages

be unique.

that he does

on

Cyprus,

underscores

his

analysis to do.

he examines

going

into

themes

mathematics.

that

The

first

an expectation;

the study with

the

by current

the ancients

by

Her

scholars.

and

the modern

intent with

is

this book

to rationalize the differingapproaches that have traditionally been

within

evidence

specific

used

system

used

system

the longue dur?e

motifs

iconographie

is

across

Looking

of ancient

study

impeded

three main

addresses

the

mathematical

entirety,

so effective

Rossi

preface,

second is the reliance on simplified plans that blur essential details; and the third is the largepitfall that lies between the

aside,

archaeological

he proposes

and Egypt,

recurrent

be put

in their

considered

makes

what

relevant

In her have

is researchers

ways.

interesting

notions

all

the study of

topic,

and

that preconceived be based

interpretation

data,

it in new

and discusses

figurines,

a popular

It takes

thoughtful.

taken

by architects

(ignoring

or

archaeological

for a mathematical

in favor of the search

textual

rule) with

archaeological and socio-historical contexts. Idols of thePeople

those of Egyptologists (well-familiarwith the ancient evidence

is a thought-provoking

but not

seeking

Rossi's

book

study of a most

fascinating

topic.

Reference 2003

and Stein, D.,

Culture inHonour Oxford

eds.

Ancient Near Eastern Studies through Objects: of P R. S. Moorey. Oxford: Griffith Institute,

University.

to study

attempts architectural

is an overview

Note

the ancient

1. For the full list, see Potts, Roaf

and Stein, eds., pp. 11-16.

Beth Alpert Nakhai

In Part

and Mathematics

remains

textual

"Ancient

part,

case.

of Space,"

with

on

the focus Part

evidence.

III, "The

two

of the

integration

a test

sections are

tables

Appropriate

examining

to psychology. in nature

frequently

and in ancient

past

nebulous

category

that Egyptologists refer to as

treating

"pyramidiocy,"

un-provable

conspiracy or

theories

with

scientific reason, Corinna

support.

For

it is refreshing Rossi's

no that that

Architecture

inAncient Egypt iswritten by a soundly trained Egyptologist with an and Mathematics

and no preconceived

biases.

Rossi

represented

Section

Golden often

used

appears the Greeks

by

to project

architecture, does

in ancient illustrates

but

appear

The

only

that

its appearance

instance from

dates

lengths

of

that

scholars

the be

may

the Golden

the Ptolemaic

to which

onto

Section

concludes

provable

Egypt the

the Golden Rossi

period. have

gone

(usingmodern techniques and knowledge) to find theGolden and

Section,

she stresses

that complex,

modern

methodologies

often failwhere simplermethodologies, more in linewith the

anachronistic

suppositions

Section

unintentional. Section

The was

and

attempts

Egyptian

Golden

was

1:1.62)

to influence their building design. After

(in particular) ancient

Egypt too often fall into the

the Egyptians

letter X and has influenced everything from

architecture

reviewing

mathematics

or not

of whether

returns

Rossi

scholarship,

(or the ratio

1.62

roughly

by the Greek

Works

of prior

to the question

Section,

architecture

review

I, her

repeatedly

By Corinna Rossi. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Pp. xxii + 280, appendix. Cloth, $100. ISBN 0-521^82954-2.

background

second

past

from an

were familiarwith theGolden Section. The so-called Golden

inAncient Egypt

architectural

the

I,

included throughout the text, and an appendix, bibliography, and index follow at the end of the volume.

University ofArizona

Architecture

and is an

as

the pyramids

surveys

and Representation

of the architectural

archaeological

Part

parts.

of the pyramids

of view, while

Construction

main

three

Architecture,"

Egyptian

of Pyramids,"

Geometry using

into

the mathematics

point

Sources:

Egyptian

rule).

is divided

in Ancient

"Proportions

Potts, T., Roaf, M.

a mathematical

ancients'

way

reasons people

naturally

too much Part

of thinking,

for the endurance prefer

would

suffice.

of the Golden it, and

the

To

wit,

Section

tendency

one

of the

is because

is great

to read

into this idea. II

demonstrating archaeological

is an

examination architectural and

textual

118 NEAREASTERNARCHAEOLOGY70:2 (2007)

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o?

the

techniques, evidence.

ancient including Evidence

evidence both

the

is scanty,

especially prior to theNew Kingdom, but Rossi concludes that Egyptian

architects

or notes

rather

small-scale

preferred than

detailed

as reminders

drawings or drawings.

plans

as

While,

the author admits, this could simply demonstrate a lack of drawings

is fairly extensive

there

preservation,

throughout

large-scale

the search

Despite

plans.

evidence and

history

Egyptian

for small-scale no

evidence

for elaborate

Towns inAncient Israel and the Southern Levant H.

By C. for

J. De

Geus.

Palestina

architectural rock-cut

by using beliefs

code.

"g, ,

of religious

example

the use of space,

on

limitations

The

is that

between

and

religion

practicality.

she dispels

pyramid,

that went

techniques

common

several

or numerological

mathematics sekeds,

or

the ancient

assess

the

slope.

of the pyramid

the to

used

afterthe pyramidofKhufu. Rossi's

of ancient

book

and

fair, accurate, this nature

secondary reviewing

a

from

to architecture.

its relationship

lack

but

studies,

any

Naturally

of primary

she

into

that

takes

study

evidence

of the measurements

(im) precision

the relevant

details.

in a manner

the material

She

understand. clear

and

concise

accompany and

Rossi

providing

reviews

an

does

to those

be daunting

an excellent

that is both the evidence

incredibly

interesting

X Musacchio University of Pennsylvania

The

visual

technical

but

readers

figures

useful,

also and

and

illustrating

accompaniment.

easy

to

presents

tables

data,

that

her points

and

interested

is invaluable

can

archaeology

inform

a wall

and

book

introductory

titles

textbook,

a history

particularly

students

to the

of ancient

Israel.

introduce

the author

issues

method

on

and

theory

cultic

assigning

Throughout the reader

introduces

(e.g.,

to

how

to the

interpretations

record).

archaeological

are:

it informs

appropriate,

and

a specific

to

in a style for nonspecialists.

is written

book

date

job of presenting

thoroughly

The

conclusions.

the text are

archaeological

as

is

who have long since putmath class behind them, readers should be more daunted by the high price of the volume then by the mathematical

courses,

The may

than

Mesopotamia,

the volume

as a supplementary

to be used

of archaeological

consideration

and

how

for biblical-studies

to issues

in

smaller

enhance the field of biblical studies and history.The book is

of

of previous

that in the

or contemporary

is "students

is worthy

purpose

when

and

reader

were

cities

of Egypt,

audience

to demonstrate

the book,

data.

her subject matter

Although

contribution

researched.

well

suffers

to the

to the study

theories are reviewed and her analysis is

All of themajor

subject

and

mathematics

author's

a tool

designed

is an excellent

intended

underlying

to the region."

visitors

as

The

Syria.

The

Dynasty pyramids seem to be modeled after the slope of the pyramidofKhafre,whereas FifthDynasty pyramids seem to take Overall,

and

Sixth

for instance,

emerge:

patterns

calculates

aim

as represented

Bible,

the modern cities

of

archaeology

the modern

cities,

Hebrew

of towns

components the

The

of the various

Israel. The

biblical

(using modern

and

theories)

and

is to teach

of a

the creation

fallacies

measurement,

Some

into

is an overview

ancient

studyof the pyramids in Part III.After reviewing the symbolism the building

book

on

Bible

data.

archaeological

based

Rossi combines the data fromPart I and Part II into a detailed and

is to illustrate

goal

using

features

1.

Egyptian architecturalmath could be flexible and was based on the intersection

author's

towns in the Hebrew

demonstrated

conclusion,

as a primary

tombs

up against

coming

Her

Peeters,

and

plans

universal guiding principles that haunted past scholarship, she fails to find evidence for a defining, pre-meditated, and deliberate

10. Leuven:

Antiqua

2003. Pp. vi+186. Paper, $39.00. ISBN 90-429-1269-3.

consists

of

chapter,

there

component Fortifications,

of

fourteen are

the

The

ancient

Town

After

chapters.

ten chapters

that

city. These or Gates,

Gate

focus

an on

chapter Acropolis

(in this chapter the author discusses palaces), Pillared Buildings, Houses, Sanctuaries and Temples, Tripartite and Citadel

Various Presumed or Specialized Buildings, Watersystems [sic],Tombs, and Fields and Gardens. The last three chapters discuss

Patterns

of Settlement,

An

Israelite

Town?,

and Town

Planning and Population. The chapters dealing with individual are adequate

components students are

and

to the archaeological

the most data.

The

useful last

for introducing three

chapters

superficial.

This

book

does

not

provide

as much

data

as a standard

textbook (e.g.,Mazar's The Archaeology of theLand of theBible, Ben-Tor's edited The Archaeology ofAncient Israel,or T Levy's (ed.) The Archaeology of Society in theHoly Land), or as much

70:2 (2007) NEAREASTERNARCHAEOLOGY

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119