Omm Sety's Living Egypt

More about the book

A special connection with ancient Egypt led Omm Sety to study under renowned Egyptologists Selim Hassan and Ahmed Fakhry. For over four decades, she lived near the Great Pyramid of Giza and the Temple of Sety I at Abydos, where she perceived no divide between ancient and modern Egypt. Tomb wall illustrations depicted local children's games, while her translations of temple texts illuminated the social customs of her neighbors. This book, Omm Sety's life work, remained undiscovered for another four decades until Nicole B. Hansen, an Egyptologist focused on the ties between ancient and modern Egypt, unveiled it in an annotated edition featuring extensive notes, a bibliography, and Omm Sety's own drawings. The edition includes a foreword by Kent R. Weeks, who rediscovered KV5 in the Valley of the Kings, and an introduction by Walter A. Fairservis, former director of the Hierakonpolis Project. For Egyptologists, it offers explanations of texts from the Pyramid Texts to Herodotus and insights into ancient Egyptian art. For anthropologists, it showcases a lifetime of participant-observation, including Omm Sety's use of folk remedies and her role as a medium in a magic ritual. Additionally, the book reveals new insights into Omm Sety's life, her acquaintances, and her surroundings.