The Pharaoh's Shadow - Anthony Sattin
Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2018 8:54 am
I must thank Yildez for recommending this book, which recently reached my Kindle and gave me two days of enjoyable reading.
It's well researched. easy to read, and apart from the author's search for the continuance - in one form or another - of ancient Egyptian customs and beliefs, it gives an interesting reflection of life in Egypt as the 20th century ended. I'd forgotten the near- hysterical atmosphere post the Hatshepsut massacre and the deep suspicion of foreigners generally in a time of heightened security.
It was interesting to read how the islamification of Egypt since the 1970's had suppressed the more exotic customs carried over from millennia ago...particularly spells and magic generally. As the author notes, few people now even remember when the Nile used to flood regularly let alone how earlier generations, particularly in rural Egypt. related to the "supernatural".
Which may explain the young reviewer in Al Ahram Weekly at the time of publication (2000?) dismissing the book as "of little interest".
On the contrary...I found it fascinating.
Anthony Sattin's other publication "Lifting the Veil" does not appear to be available on Kindle but I intend to obtain a copy as soon as I can access a decent bookshop. It appears equally fascinating from what little I've gleaned from reviews.
I did come across this interesting article on Sattin in the same Al Ahram Weekly issue that was so dismissive of The Pharaoh's Shadow :
"Unlike the hundreds of self-styled writers whose first literary trials are often hastily hailed as (short-lived) masterpieces, Sattin is a professional writer whose academic record is impeccable and whose full-time job is composing, editing and reviewing books (the latter for the Sunday Times)."
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/Archive/2000/485/profile.htm
It's well researched. easy to read, and apart from the author's search for the continuance - in one form or another - of ancient Egyptian customs and beliefs, it gives an interesting reflection of life in Egypt as the 20th century ended. I'd forgotten the near- hysterical atmosphere post the Hatshepsut massacre and the deep suspicion of foreigners generally in a time of heightened security.
It was interesting to read how the islamification of Egypt since the 1970's had suppressed the more exotic customs carried over from millennia ago...particularly spells and magic generally. As the author notes, few people now even remember when the Nile used to flood regularly let alone how earlier generations, particularly in rural Egypt. related to the "supernatural".
Which may explain the young reviewer in Al Ahram Weekly at the time of publication (2000?) dismissing the book as "of little interest".
On the contrary...I found it fascinating.
Anthony Sattin's other publication "Lifting the Veil" does not appear to be available on Kindle but I intend to obtain a copy as soon as I can access a decent bookshop. It appears equally fascinating from what little I've gleaned from reviews.
I did come across this interesting article on Sattin in the same Al Ahram Weekly issue that was so dismissive of The Pharaoh's Shadow :
"Unlike the hundreds of self-styled writers whose first literary trials are often hastily hailed as (short-lived) masterpieces, Sattin is a professional writer whose academic record is impeccable and whose full-time job is composing, editing and reviewing books (the latter for the Sunday Times)."
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/Archive/2000/485/profile.htm
