Description: This catalogue presents the ancient Egyptian footwear in the collection of the Coptic Museum in Cairo. The catalogue contains detailed descriptions and measurements, photographs and drawings. Each description of a footwear category is followed by short discussions, addressing topics such as typology and dating.
Brief description: Prof. Dr. Salima Ikram is an Egyptologist and bioarchaeologist who has worked in Egypt, Turkey and the Sudan. She has directed the Animal Mummy Project at the Egyptian Museum, directs the North Kharga Oasis Darb Ain Amur Survey, and has worked as a funerary archaeologist and archaeozoologist at sites throughout Egypt from Alexandria to Aswan. She has published extensively.
Review Quotes: This book, in A4 format, is the product of a training project for curators "researching museum collections", which encompasses an holistic approach, involving museologists, leather specialists, archaeologists, Egyptologists, archaeobotanists, illustrators and photographers.
The introduction gives a short history of the Coptic Museum to set the scene for the study of ancient Egyptian footwear. It explains how the material is classified into distinct groups (sandals, shoes, boots and so on) and then subdivided into categories and types. The explanation of the terminology used is invaluable for anyone using the book as a basis for study or for comparison with other museum collection pieces and it is very helpful to be able to refer back to the detailed terminology as one progresses through the book.
In the first half of the catalogue, each item is given a very detailed description including type, materials, measurements, catalogue numbers and locations. This is followed by a discussion relating each item to other similar items in the catalogue, with detailed notes about the characteristics of the different types of footwear (which is again very helpful for comparison).
The rest of the book is a treasure trove of photographs and illustrations.
The range and quality of these completely complement the written materials and are almost (though not quite) as good as seeing the objects themselves.
--Regina De Giovanni ", Dec2014/Jan 2015"