Soldiers, Sailors and Sandalmakers ─ A Social Reading of Ramesside Period Votive Stelae

Limiting her study to stelae that commemorate votive activity by private individuals in Egypt from 1295 to 1069 BC, Exell explores the meaning of the stelae to the people who dedicated them, and the nature of the events they commemorated. She explains that they are typically round-topped or rectangular slabs of stone or more rarely wood, decorated in painted sunk or raised relief or even paint alone, and erected in and around temples and local chapels and also in domestic contexts. Her study is firmly within the discussions of identity and agency, and archaeology and text of the past 20 years, she says. Topics include the Deir el-Medina votive stelae, divine access and social display in Thebes; festivals, fertility, and divine intervention at Deir el-Medina; beyond Thebes; and the individual and society. Drawings and photographs are provided. Distributed in North America by The David Brown Book Co. Annotation c2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)