|
|
|
Ancient Egypt Magazine Issue Six - April / May 2001 Netfishing
by Hapy The
number counter proclaimed that this was the 1,095,025th
visitor to the site, which isn’t really surprising in view of its quality and
presentation. The site has been built by Mark Millmore, with the emphasis on
illustration and imagery, and is to be found at www.discoveringegypt.com The approach is anecdotal and particularly
encouraging for children or newcomers to the subject. The sites of Egypt are
covered with a good amount of unusual detail. Some of the stories will be well
known to old hands at the subject, but it’s surprising how fresh they can seem
with the right handling. What gives the site its individuality, is, in
particular, is the impressive artwork of Millmore. Atmospheric etchings and
colourful temple reconstructions are supported by sympathetic text. Dendera, for
example, is brought to life thus: “What really grabbed my artistic attention
among all this magnificence was a small detail. The place sings with the music
of birds. Hundreds of them roost in small cracks and hollows in the walls,
seeming to contemplate their carved likenesses in the hieroglyphic reliefs.” There’s a regular flow of one liners at
various points of the site, so you can pick up information such as: “The
average life expectancy of an ancient Egyptian was 52 years for a man, 54 for a
woman.” This does seem to be a bit on the generous side, from what we know of
ancient populations. The wisdom of ancient Egypt is there, too, with quotes such
as this from scribal literature: “No limit may be set to art, neither is there
any craftsman that is fully master of his craft.” However, it’s not just an attractive and
well-presented site. The emphasis is also on “doing”. You can send an
Egyptian themed card, download one of Mark Millmore’s images for your desktop,
or acquire, via shareware in some cases, a selection of games, some of which are
based on ancient Egyptian board games. There’s Hounds and Jackals, for
instance, and the well-known Senet,
and 20 squares. Then there are
games designed for more modern tastes such as Pharaoh’s Ascent, The
Curse of Ra, Powerslave
and Sand Warriors. The
description of Pharaoh’s Ascent had a certain appeal; the king is deceased,
but “the hows and when of the incident are insignificant now, since you’re
dead.” This was a reminder of a cheerful soul known to some of us who is wont
to go round crushing whingers with the comment “Never mind, cheer up, soon be
dead” to which there is not much to say in response. If I remember rightly, it
was also on this site that, at some point, the enigmatic words “You may now
return to where you came from,” appeared. Cogitate on that one for a while. The virtual tours of some of the Egyptian
sites are good, especially since they avoid the problem encountered with a
number of attempts on other web sites; they are brief and simple to achieve, and
give a flavour of the site that encourages the viewer to find out more. The
“click-on” plans are simple and easy to use. The links on this web site are also a gift
to the newcomer, since they offer the chance to link up with both more academic
sites and some very good personal ones, such as Gavin’s Egyptomania pages.
These can be found at http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/gavinegypt This is a beautifully designed site, as
you might expect of a web site devoted principally to Egyptian themed design,
with spare backgrounds free of clutter against which the items themselves,
cards, fabrics, book covers and so on can take pride of place. The black and
white and tinted postcards and stereoscope scenes conjure up a magical image of
Egypt now long gone. Not having considered stereoscopic cards for years, it was
remarkable how just seeing them on the screen brought back memories of scenes
that jumped into 3-D vision long before the days of virtual reality; simple, yet
effective. There was also an essay by Anne Midgely,
whose interest and enthusiasm also lies in the field of Egyptian design,
detailing some of the Egyptian influences on British produced items of the 20th
Century, in particular. This was well-worth reading. The same was not always true of some of the essays on The Vines Network (ancient.thevines.com ). However, this is a members’ forum which is totally produced by the members themselves, and so there are bound to be issues with which the visitor does not agree. Also, some of the pages refused to open. The Vines Network as a whole has been described (in a New York Times article) as “The Encyclopedia (Encyclopaedia, for our non-US readers!) of Everything, Written by Everyone!” and it is clearly stated that “since the content on our site is written by members, some areas have more information than others.” On the whole it’s worthy, and interesting, and should be encouraged. The Ancient Vine, comprising classical and Middle Eastern offshoots, is where to find the Egyptian material, but the Vine as a whole spreads its tendrils into the soil of a range of subjects. And the Ancient Vine members have some very sensible names, too, like Sekhmet, Akhenaten and Madbat. Are the last two connected? I think we should be told.
|
|
Return to Home
with questions or comments about Ancient Egypt Magazine. or for sales, subscriptions, back numbers and advertising |
e-
mail to: