A Mystery from the Mummy-Pits: The Amazing Journey of Ankh-Hap
by: Frank L. Holt (Author)
Publisher:OUP USA
Publication Date: 22 April 2024
Language:English
Print Length:216 pages
ISBN-10:0197694047
ISBN-13:9780197694046
Book Description
As the world recently commemorated the hundredth anniversary of the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun, our fascination with the pharaoh begs for a balanced view. Most Egyptian tombs are not royal; most were never carefully cleared and documented; most have not had their occupants treated with respect or returned to their sepulchers; and most recovered mummies have not escaped the modern trafficking in ancient bodies and body parts. The story of Ankh-Hap, a Ptolemaic-era mummy seized in the nineteenth century from the infamous mummy-pits of Egypt, provides a salutary example of what most mummies have endured.Like a detective, Frank Holt makes use of a robust combination of scientific tools and archival research to tell the story of Ankh-Hap's life, death, and his mummified remains, which ended up in the back of an American college classroom. A Mystery from the Mummy-Pits takes the reader into a forgotten world of mummy trafficking by an American entrepreneur named Henry Augustus Ward (1834-1906). In Rochester, N.Y., his company's shelves were stocked with mummies, coffins, and even ancient body parts such as mummies' heads ($10 each), legs ($4 each), and arms ($5 each). Customers could piece together their own "Frankenmummy" with authentic wrappings and amulets sold separately. A Mystery from the Mummy-Pits contextualizes this fascinating information by surveying the history of similar mummies from antiquity to the twentieth century, moving from ancient tomb robbers and medieval apothecaries to modern dime museums, traveling shows, pulp fiction, films, and pop culture. The book offers readers a new glimpse inside a dark chapter of mummy history.
About the Author
Review Holt's story of his work on Ankh-Hap is very personal and intimate, eminently readable and lively, and brings Ankh-Hap to life. It emphasizes the importance of studying mummies in order that the dead may live again and be remembered, connecting us to our shared past and humanity. ― Salima Ikram, Author of Ancient Egypt: An IntroductionPrior to the modern era of relatively responsible archaeology, the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries often revealed a fascination with the seedier side of Egyptomania. This resulted in the tragic mistreatment of ancient Egyptian human remains to serve a wide range of commercial agendas. In this engaging and readable account, Frank L. Holt provides some much needed context for this era with a story that cuts across multiple layers of American society. ― Peter Der Manuelian, Author of Walking Among Pharaohs: George Reisner and the Dawn of Modern EgyptologyThere are many books about mummies, but Frank L. Holt's is a unique, informative, and fascinating contribution to the subject. Based on several decades of detective research, it tells the story of the Ankh-Hap mummy: from its origin to its departure from the mummy pits of late nineteenth-century Egypt to its permanent home in the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Along the way, readers are treated to the bonus of a concise history of mummy-mania. ― Ronald H. Fritze, Author of Egyptomania: A History of Fascination, Obsession, and Fantasy
About the Author Frank L. Holt is Professor of History at the University of Houston. His previous books include When Money Talks: A History of Coins and Numismatics, The Treasures of Alexander the Great: How One Man's Wealth Shaped the World, Lost World of the Golden King: In Search of Ancient Afghanistan, and Into the Land of Bones: Alexander the Great in Afghanistan. Holt is also a prolific writer for the public, with essays appearing in Newsweek, American Scientist, Archaeology, History Today, Archaeology Odyssey, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Saudi Aramco World, and other widely read publications.
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