Egypt Exploration Society

Review
Reviewed Work(s): Untersuchungen zu den Frauenstatuen des ptolemischen gypten by
Sabine Albersmeier
Review by: Christina Riggs
Source: The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, Vol. 92 (2006), pp. 298-301
Published by: Egypt Exploration Society
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40345927
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298

REVIEWS

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92

examples.1 Spencer suggests tha

either of an official position su

they were related to the royal fa

mutually exclusive; it is very like
royal family. Spencer comes down

is evidence of falcon masks wit

tombs and on the granite sarco
there is no evidence for the pre
first and Twenty-second Dynast
of such jars in the Balamun bur
pages devoted to 'minor investi
Chapter 4 is devoted to a catalo
is almost entirely illustrated. T
faunal, written by Joyce Filer.
elite tombs, and in her descript
Excavations at Tell el-Balamun 1
growth comes about simply as a
statistics to the femoral measu
commentary on the basic objec
probably have been better site
catalogues the pottery and objec
Overall this is the slimmest, a
excavation reports and the har
previous volumes. Indeed, if the
all the details, then she/he wou
provides a useful addition to w
David A. Aston

Untersuchungen zu den Frauenstatuen des ptolemaischen Agypten. By SABINE ALBE

Aegyptiaca Treverensia 10. Pp. 457, pls. 86, tables 32. Mainz, Philipp von Zabern, 2002
8053 2976 8 (hardback). Price 92.50.

The 'heft' of Sabine Albersmeier's Untersuchungen zu den Frauenstatuen des ptolemaischen A

is not limited to its physical weight, for this study of both royal and non-royal statues of wom
adept and exhaustive work. Based on the author's doctoral thesis at Trier, the book collects

from museums and private collections, and benefits from the author's access to the Corp
Egyptian Sculpture in the Brooklyn Museum of Art and to a number of unpublished stat
Egyptian Museum, Cairo.
In Chapter 1, Albersmeier provides a succinct but thorough overview of previous wo
Ptolemaic sculpture and defines the limits of her own study, which is based on stone sc
recognizable as fundamentally Egyptian in form by the inclusion of a back pillar (p. 7).
statues with the back pillar are private or royal is one of the questions that the study is t
consider, rather than eliminating presumed 'royal' or 'non-royal' sculpture from the start
on statues of women narrows the topic of study - if 161 examples can be called 'narrow' - a
useful comparison within the corpus as well as with male Ptolemaic sculpture. Previousl
female statues have been studied as an adjunct to male royal statues, and non-royal female
has only sporadically appeared in museum catalogues and commentaries.

Chapter 2 discusses technical aspects of the corpus, from stance and arm position

characteristics of bases and back pillars. The author also discusses the different sizes of the
feature which is not always explicitly considered in other studies but which is fundame
1 For this cemetery see M. C. Perez Die,
reutilisation de la necropole de la Troisieme Periode
'Herakleopolis Magna', Archeologia 225 (1987),
36-49;
Intermediaire/debut
de l'epoque Sai'te a Ehnasya el
'Excavaciones en Heracleopolis Magna (Egipto),
Medina (Herakleopolis Magna)', in H. Guksch and D.
Campana de 1987', Aula Orientalis 6 (1988), 103-4;
Polz (eds), Stationen: Beitrdge zur Kulturgeschichte
'Excavaciones de la Mission Arqueologia Espanola en Agyptens: Rattier Stadelmann gewidmet (Mainz, 1998),
Heracleopolis Magna', Archivo Espanol de Arqueologia 61473-83; and M. C. Perez Die and P. Vernus, Excavaciones
(1988), 337-41; 'Necropola de Heracleopolis Magna delen Ehnasya el-Medina (Heracleopolis Magna) (Madrid,
Tercer Periodo Intermedio', Geo 19 (1988), 102-16; 'La1992).

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2006

REVIEWS

299

understanding
the
orig
were
less
than
50
cm
hi
the
most
common,
at
a
90-160
cm
high
(30%).
S
of
the
corpus,
which
A
sacerdotal
decrees
for
b
described
as
over-lifesiz
The
stones
used
in
Alb
roughly

one-third

of

the

statues.
The
remaining
Some
statues
preserve
t
of

examples

feature

meta

provenance,
Albersmei
Egypt
are
all
in
hard
st
'Egyptian',
like
the
scul
Chapter
3
is
devoted
to
for
queens
and
goddesse
previously
attested
in
t
neutral
German
term
'W
the
left
arm
bent
acros
used
for
images
of
quee
is
more
common
with
p
Other
hand-held
attri
statues
wearing
the
'Isis
of
Arsinoe
II
(cat.
137).
cornucopia,
a
Greek
sym
II,
and
cornucopias
are
e
normally
worn
with
th
Chapter
4
looks
at
the
styles
such
as
the
trip
variously
been
called
'Li
century
BC
onwards
in
as
well
as
on
royal
stat
Albersmeier
suggests
th
Chapter

is

on
female
traditional

long

and

statuary
in
dress
had
m

representations,
than
w
traditional
sheath
dres
appears
on
many
types
but
also
on
some
royal
queens,
for
the
goddess
Albersmeier
proposes
women
wearing
a
long
garment
styles
seems
t
usurped
for
Cleopatra
I
private
sculpture.
For
p
from
the
Karnak
cache
elite
Theban
families.
In
the

fly-whisk

While

which

the

is

the

Kingdo

Albersmeier

speculation.

that

attribute.

New

Albersmeie

dress

consist

postulated.
The
over-ga
and
sleeves
of
the
tuni
dress
is
related
to
the
s
a
native
Egyptian
orig
Ptolemaic
representatio
Period,
the
knotted
dre

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300

REVIEWS

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92

two- and three-dimensional imag

cult statues, which began as early
the appearance of the 'Isis dress'
The Ptolemaic rulers seem to hav
and a mantle and tunic for kings
observed elsewhere (with Martina
forms

of

dress

where

they

are

show

Chapter 6 is devoted to the inscr

that these inscriptions have been
first time, supplemented by line
27% of the corpus), and 33 of the
include the title 'sistrum player' (
the Karnak cachette statues, and t
bear a funerary inscription, the
'Hathor' (three examples).
Inscriptions on royal statues, tho
marble statue of a queen in the M
Cleopatra on its arm, which may
of Arsinoe II, both shortly after
Koptos, now in the Petrie Museu
Arsinoe III; Albersmeier tends to
published suggestion that the cro
Chapter 7 is devoted to the holy
lack of archaeological context, ins
clarify

statue's

necessity.

this

method

date

How
of

or

the

identit

rigorously

dating;

and

moreover,

attribution and certainty. With s

artists tended to sculpt female fa
subjects like the Ptolemaic kings.
Albersmeier begins by surveyin
corpus. Early Ptolemaic sculptures
tradition.

since

Her

ensuing

different

discussion

dating

of

criteria

arrangement, which follows the c

be seen side-by-side.
In terms of chronology, and in
alongside two recent books about
theses): Paul E. Stanwick's Portrai
2003), and Sally-Ann Ashton's Pto
and

Egyptian

Traditions

chronological
single

statue,

Oxford,

distinctions,

testify

to

the

but

20

th

difficu

Jose (Albersmeier cat. 127) is pla

Cleopatra III by Stanwick, and fir
in

Leiden

the

first

Arsinoe

(Albersmeier

century

II

BC

(Ashton).

cat.

82),

read

(Stanwick),

Elsewhere

(Albersmeier cat. 114) sits comfor

and does not appear in Ashton. Ge
discussions in support of their ar
by marking their proposed identi

1 S. Albersmeier
and
M.
Minas,
'Ein
2.7), where
the inscription
is presented
in translation only.
die vergottlichte
Arsinoe
IT,
in
W. Cla
The Cleopatra
VII identification is
based on the
appear-

and H. Willems (eds), Egyptian Religion: The Last

ance of three uraei on the head-dress.

Thousand Years. Studies Dedicated to the Memory of Jan 3 See also S.-A. Ashton, 'Identifying the EgyptianQuaegebeur (Leuven, 1998), I, 3-29.
style Ptolemaic Queens', in S. Walker and P. Higgs (eds),
2 S.-A. Ashton, Ptolemaic Royal Sculpture from Egypt:Cleopatra of Egypt: From History to Myth (London,
The Interaction between Greek and Egyptian Traditions2001), 148-55.

(BAR International Series 923; Oxford, 2001), 67 (no.

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2006

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301

The
attribution
of
royal
'key'
to
identifying
and
beleaguered
modern
sch

queens

can

sport

single

Kingdom
parallels
(inclu
triple
uraeus
is
more
co
crown
from
Koptos,
and
44-52)
argues
against
pre
or

that

the

assertion
assigns

three

that

the

six

uraei

the

hav

triple

core

statue

group
to
Cleopatra
III
an
VI
I
-attributed
statues
i
105
the
MMA's
'Kleopat
the
third
century
BC,
i.

Cleopatra

III,

plus

cat.

steatite
statue
in
the
Lou
in
the
first
century
BC,
drawing
fire,6
but
Alber
informed

by

her

focus

on

links
the
queens
to
Egyp
support
of
this
argumen
three
uraei
(pl.
86a),
and
them
(pl.
86b).
If

there

is

weak

spot

statues
were
used,
in
point;
he
devotes
one
geographic

in

par
cha

distribution

an

royal
sculpture.
In
this
complements
Albersmeie
The
book
includes
a
cata
order
by
the
city
where
personal
name,
Greek
an
and
summarizing
inform
painting
(3);
find
spots
(
to
13);
crowns
and
head-d

(25

to

30);

and

inscript

illustrate
many
of
the
st
Untersuchungen
zu
den
F
private
statuary
as
well
a
scholarly
detail
and
high
necessary
to
advance
th
exhibition
catalogues,
wit
observations
and
ideas,
w
Christina Riggs

intaglio that Ashton identifies as Cleopatra VII wearing

4 B. V. Bothmer, H. De Meulenaere, and H. W.
Miiller, Egyptian Sculpture of the Late Period (Brooklyn,three uraei, and uses as the crux of her triple-uraei argument, instead depicts an Egyptian composite crown. I
1960), 146.

would add that the gem is too small (1.3 cm L) to con5 H. Maehler, 'Ptolemaic Queens with a Triple
Uraeus', CdE 78 (2003), 294-303, favours Bothmer's pro- tribute much to any interpretation: see Walker and Higgs
posal that the three uraei represent a triple regency; thus (eds), Cleopatra of Egypt, 156 (no. 153).
6 Cf. S.-A. Ashton, review of Stanwick, Portraits of the
all statues with triple uraei would be identified as either
Cleopatra II (with her two brothers) or Cleopatra III Ptolemies, in EA 23 (Autumn 2003), 42, and S.-A. Ashton,
(with her mother and uncle). Albersmeier does not 'The Ptolemaic Royal Image and the Egyptian Tradition',
embrace this explanation, and in any case it is probably in J. Tait (ed.), 'Never Had the Like Occurred': Egypt's
unhelpful to substitute one iron-clad iconographic argu- View of its Past (London, 2002), 223 (on an error substiment for another. Maehler also suggests that the glasstuting 'Vatican' for 'Alexandrian').

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