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At first we thought this was our favorite thing in the current New York Review of Books:
To the Editors:
In "Survival of the Smallest" [NYR, March 10], Istv n De k writes on page 22: "In anciect Egypt, dwarves were often venerated like gods." De k here is discussing pathological dwarves. However, Paul Schebesta, Die Bambuti-Pygm en vom Ituri (Brussels: Institut Royal Colonial Belge, 1938, Vol. 1, pp. 5-11), argues persuasively that the "god-dancers" venerated by the ancient Egyptians were not pathological dwarves at all, but pygmies from the African rain forest. Schebesta cites, inter alia, a letter of the pharaoh Pepi II or Phiops II (Sixth Dynasty) which seems clearly to support this view.
Theodore John Kaczynski
Florence, Colorado
On further reflection, however, we realized the letter is actually only our second-favorite thing in the issue.
Our favorite thing is that Istv n De k then spent nearly 200 words rebuffing the Unabomber's claims. About pygmies.
