Matthew Ismail

The inside story, more than I bargained for

What this book is not: this isn't a watered down life story with every esoteric word defined like in The Millionaire and the Mummies, another recent biography of an early Egyptologist. Mummies and Magic... is a compelling immersion into EA Wallis Budge's genealogy, Middle Eastern expeditions, personal relationships and his controversial professional accomplishments. I knew he attracted readers of the occult with his titles on gods and magic but who show more knew he was a devout Christian? I had noticed that the title pages in his books list a master's and three doctor degrees, but how could anyone accomplish all that, let alone an underprivileged child? I confess curiosity because of my Egyptophile leanings and a slew of his books, some which transcribe hieroglyphs otherwise unavailable to compare against more modern interpretations; yes, I am mindful that some contemporary scholars deride Budge's work. What is their grudge against him, I wondered.

Reading Mummies and Magic answered many questions via a romp through arcane British archives that unmasked museum politics directly from original letters. Matthew's cultural and historical sketches gave me a sense of Victorian and Edwardian England and Egyptologists' and Assyriologists' views. I was surprised that Budge's voracious ambition encompassed academia, the British Museum and knighthood and yet he honored the love of his life even after both their deaths. These dimensions only begin to detail his larger than life scope--this read delivers right to the end, actually even afterwards as an afterword by a professor tries to revive some old feuds. Anyone who has an opinion about EATW Budge is in for some surprises from an insider's view. show less

Mr. Ismail has written a biography of E. A. Wallis Budge, prolific writer on ancient history and longtime Keeper of the Department of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities at the British Museum. A biography of such an important, and still published, scholar is much needed, and much appreciated. Ismail is of the Hershel Parker school of biography: reference (almost) every letter ever written or received by the subject and every event in their life you can lay hands on. As such, it is a hard slog show more of a book, with a huge cast of characters, lots of back-office politics, lots of drudgery. It is interesting in spots, but tedious in others. Lots of illustrations, but a majority are not of the subject. Large swathes of Budge's life and career are elided due to a lack of sources. Some of the many books he wrote are mentioned, but many others are not. A valiant effort, but not the best of biographies. The retrospective by Dr. Julian Reade, a historian, scholar, and curator at the British Museum, is interesting and puts Budge in some context. Both Ismail and Reade mention Budge's less-than-stellar reputation in post-Petrie archaeology and anticolonialism studies, but they assume the reader knows much more than they explain. Still, an interesting title that I wish had more exposure. show less