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Summary
Summary
Using the classic style of Egyptian art, the book is painstakingly accurate in facts and illustrative style. Artefacts, funerary customs, wonderfully gory details of the mummification process, hieroglyphics and details of life in ancient Egypt are told through the eyes of Ipy, whose father is embalmer to the King. Yuya, father of the Queen, has died and Ipy must help his father in the mummification process. Yuya is an actual mummy and the discovery of his tomb is an entertaining story in itself.
Author Notes
TAMARA BOWER has been fascinated by ancient Egypt since she was a child and dressed up to play as ancient Egyptians with her friends. She studied fine art in college and was trained in archaeological illustration at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where she worked as a staff illustrator in the Department of Egyptian Art. She has also served as the technical illustrator for archaeological digs in Egypt, Turkey, Spain, Belize, and California. Bower is the author of three children's books about ancient Egypt- How the Amazon Queen Fought the Prince of Egypt (winner ofthe ALA Amelia Bloomer Award for Nonfiction Picture Books, the Blue Ribbon Nonfiction Book Award, and the Africana Book Award for Young Children), The Shipwrecked Sailor and, most recently, The Mummy Makers of Egypt . She lives in New York City.
Reviews (2)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6-Award-winning author and illustrator Bower reveals the process of Egyptian embalming in a colorful and informative manner. The narrative follows the death and embalming of Yuya, an official of the royal court whose tomb was discovered in 1905 near the Valley of the Kings. The text begins with the historical context of embalming in ancient Egypt, followed by a description of the soul's journey to and judgment at the court of Osiris. The majority of the content thereafter concerns the process of embalming in greater detail and burial. Bower's training in archaeological illustration is evident in the book's stylized figures, all painted in classical Egyptian form. Solid earth tones guide readers through the narrative, and many illustrations are beautifully rendered. In this uniquely Egyptian style, Bower depicts the journey into the afterlife, the embalming priests, the colorful funerary processions, and hieroglyphics. The text is just as hearty as the artwork, the embalming process detailed in a respectful manner. Bower explains the process without dumbing down or sanitizing the material, describing the priests' careful incisions and the removal of organs. The culture of embalming is also examined. For instance, readers learn that the priest who made the abdominal incision was a specialist. After this priest made the incision, he was, by tradition, cast out by the other attending priests (with a wink and a nod), because it was wrong to cut a human body. Bower appends a useful article discussing the discovery of Yuya and his wife Thuya's tomb. Much like David L. Weitzman's Pharaoh's Boat, this offering succeeds in illuminating a specific element of ancient Egyptian life. VERDICT An artful and informational book on a high-interest topic.-Jeffrey Meyer, Mt. Pleasant Public Library, IA © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
An exact description of a royal mummy's embalming and burial, drawn from ancient records and from evidence found in a nearly intact tomb discovered in 1905. Bower (How the Amazon Queen Fought the Prince of Egypt, 2005) embellishes her reverent account in minor ways with invented narrative details and in major ones with majestic illustrations of figures drawn in ancient Egyptian style. Ipy, son of the royal embalmer, Paneb, helps his priestly father prepare the body of Yuyamaternal grandfather of Pharaoh Ankhnatenwho is then buried near the Valley of the Kings. The author interweaves the explicit procedures ("Paneb slowly slipped his hand into the cut and started to pull out the intestines") with associated rituals, transliterations of messages and prayers tucked into the many layers of linen wrapping, and explanations of each step's physical and metaphysical significance. The pictures are less detailed, but they do capture the solemnity of the occasion as the mummy is created and then interred by a long procession of figures, each with a name or explanatory caption beneath. An emotional account of the tomb's rediscovery, with photos and research notes, forms a substantial afterword. Readers will come away still vague on the actual chemicals employed (natron, for instance, though much mentioned, is defined only as "a sacred salt-like substance") but clear about the profound ceremonial importance of the ancient rites. Thrill-seekers and serious students of ancient Egyptian culture and values will be equally enthralled. (map, bibliography, family tree) (Informational picture book. 8-11) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
