Reconstruction of Holy Realm——The Book of the Fayum and"The Lost Labyrinth"
For classical writers,"East"is almost an indispensable image,while Egypt is to a considerable extent the core of the entire Eastern imagination and an important exception.In their writings,a"disappearing labyrinth"is quite eye-catching,even making ancient pyramids pale in comparison.With the rise of Crete archaeology in the 19th century aiming at rediscovering the Knossos Labyrinth,enthusiasm for exploring this Egyptian model also surged.However,even though Egyptologists such as Pe-trie have claimed to have discovered this"labyrinth"in Hawara,there are very few ancient Egyptian documents that can be con-firmed.In the Book of the Fayum,which is considered to be the"map"of ancient Egypt,it seems that there is no trace of this massive architectural complex.But in fact,the"labyrinth"is precisely the materialized Book of Fayum,and in turn the Book of Fayum is also a textual and even"canonized"labyrinth,reflecting the sacred landscape and world imagination built by the ancient Egyptians around the Fayum region in the late Middle Kingdom.In fact,they are different carriers of the same concept.As a result,the sacred monarchy,the worship of Sobek in the Fayum region,and the entire Egyptian world were integrated,creating a brand new,Fayumized"world".In this world,Sobek is the faith that governs all beliefs,integrating various parts of Egypt not only in a secular and practical sense,but also through the carrier of Fayum,the imagination related to the world is first concretized,materialized and canonized,thus penetrating into the heart of everyone.
ancient EgyptMiddle KingdomBook of the FayumHawara Labyrinthsacred geography
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