Product Description
From stories of resurrected mummies and thousand-year-old curses to powerful pharaohs and the coveted treasures of the Great Pyramids, ancient Egypt has had an unfaltering grip on the modern imagination. Now, in Egyptian Mythology, Geraldine Pinch offers a comprehensive introduction that untangles the mystery of Egyptian Myth. Spanning Ancient Egyptian culture--from 3200 BC to AD 400--Pinch opens a door to this hidden world and casts light on its often misunderstood belief system. She discusses the nature of myths and the history of Egypt, from the predynastic to the postpharaonic period. She explains how Egyptian culture developed around the flooding of the Nile, or the 'inundation,' a phenomenon on which the whole welfare of the country depended, and how aspects of the inundation were personified as deities. She explains that the usually cloudless skies made for a preoccupation with the stars and planets. Indeed, much early Egyptian mythology may have developed to explain the movement of these celestial bodies. She provides a timeline covering the seven stages in the mythical history of Egypt and outlining the major events of each stage, such as the reign of the sun God. A substantial A to Z section covers the principal themes and concepts of Egyptian mythology as well as the most important deities, demons, and other characters. For anyone who wants to know about Anubis, the terrifying canine god who presided over the mummification of bodies and guarded burials, or Hathor, the golden goddess who helped women to give birth and the dead to be reborn, or an explanation of the nun, the primeval ocean from which all life came, Egyptian Mythology is the place to look. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Product not received...y e t
The product hasn't been delivered yet. Egyptian Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Goddesses, and Traditions of Ancient Egypt (Purchased on 02/21/2010)

Very Informative
I wanted to do some personal research on Egyptian mythology and this book covered almost all the questions I had. I greatly enjoyed reading it.

Mythology
A good companion to Greek mythology. I recommend it to all.

/Torbjörn Jerlerup

Egyptian Mythology: A Guide to Gods, Goddesses, and Traditional Ancient Egypt
I enjoyed the content of the book but would have liked more pictures of gods & goddesses.I wanted to be able to identify them on temple & tomb walls in Egypt.I felt it gave me a solid foundation in Egyptian mythology though.

Just okay....
I was expecting more from this book. Yes, it did contain some great info, but it was so dry and quite frankly, boring at some points, it took forever to get through, and I wouldn't want to read it again. It does have a godd index about gods/goddesses in the back, but this is not for pleasure reading at all. If you enjoy reading manuels and textbooks, you will enjoy it more than I did. ... Read more

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Read the Bldg Blog interview with Mary Beard about the Wonders of the World series(Part I and Part II)

The Rosetta Stone is one of the world's great wonders, attracting awed pilgrims by the tens of thousands each year. This book tells the Stone's story, from its discovery by Napoleon's expedition to Egypt to its current--and controversial-- status as the single most visited object on display in the British Museum.

A pharaoh's forgotten decree, cut in granite in three scripts--Egyptian hieroglyphs, Egyptian demotic, and ancient Greek--the Rosetta Stone promised to unlock the door to the language of ancient Egypt and its 3,000 years of civilization, if only it could be deciphered. Capturing the drama of the race to decode this key to the ancient past, John Ray traces the paths pursued by the British polymath Thomas Young and Jean-Francois Champollion, the "father of Egyptology" ultimately credited with deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs. He shows how Champollion "broke the code" and explains more generally how such deciphering is done, as well as its critical role in the history of Egyptology. Concluding with a chapter on the political and cultural controversy surrounding the Stone, the book also includes an appendix with a full translation of the Stone's text.

Rich in anecdote and curious lore, The Rosetta Stone and the Rebirth of Ancient Egypt is a brilliant and frequently amusing guide to one of history's great mysteries and marvels.

Customer Reviews (6)

Excellent discussion of Rosetta Stone
A small but excellent discussion of the Rosetta Stone with full translation of the inscription.Excellent bibliography.

Very interesting, informative and well written!
I was glad that this book wasn't overly dry and boring to read, as even the most informative books sometimes are. It was easy to get through and had a lot of interesting information, including things that I had never learned about even though I considered myself to know more than the average person about the Rosetta Stone. Lots of historical information about the European perception of Ancient Egypt prior to the translation that was of interest to me as well! Highly recommended!

Decent primer
In The Rosetta Stone and the Rebirth of Ancient Egypt, John Ray introduces the enigmatic Rosetta Stone as being a key to our understanding of Ancient Egyptian culture as well as our own. In seamlessly weaving together a condensed chunk of human history, Ray convincingly asserts that without the Stone, ostensibly an exalted piece of granite, Egyptology (the scientific study of Ancient Egyptian culture) would still be in its infancy.Ray also handles the sticky issue of the Stone's rightful "owner" in an impressively objective way. Anyone with even a vague interest in Ancient history or the illustrious heritage of Egypt would be behooved to read Ray's articulate and fascinating survey of one of the world's best-known treasures.
As for the mechanics of the text itself, there certainly is a kind of authenticity in how the author chooses to present his findings. One gets the sense that he is not merely a broad-field historian with a cursory interest in Egyptology and the Rosetta Stone. Ray is clearly a devout disciple of ancient lore, Egyptian religion and archaeology, etc. He's also not just another dry lecturer bent on presenting the facts in the most straightforward and dull manner imaginable; he is quite witty and frequently takes academically correct jibes at popular culture for its general antipathy to ancient civilizations and their importance to our present affairs.Each chapter begins with some kind of quote relating to the content that follows. These are usually composed of scraps of correspondence between historical figures with some relationship to the Stone, others may be thoughtful poems by the likes of Lord Byron among others. Invariably, each chapter begins with a redundancy from the last before moving on into new waters. If one is reading the book in a single sitting (not unlikely given that it's a slim volume of 200 pages), this may seem somewhat like the author needed a recap himself, but if it is read in installments the recaps would probably be quite helpful. On the whole The Rosetta Stone advances fluidly and the language, while fraught with arcane historical allusions, is easily understood and free from trifles of jargon.
So what exactly is the Rosetta Stone and why is it so important to human history? It is a decree set down by Ptolemy V Epiphanes and members of the synod of Memphis, who collaborated with the house of Ptolemy, consisting of Egyptian hieroglyphs, Egyptian demotic (shorthand of hieroglyphic), and ancient Greek. The actual text concerns the removal of a tax on temple priests. This amnesty was awarded during a time of turmoil within Egypt and the desired result was to insure the trust of the majority to the Pharaoh's motives so as to ultimately gain more taxes for the use of the temples; because the people needed their religion, which is interlocked with political affairs and so the more the people exalted their gods with gold and other offerings the more the state profited and was able to keep up the veil of security over the war torn nation. The priesthood was put in a position to deliver loyalty to the Pharaoh, and consequently the Ptolemaic dynasty, but there then came a revolt.
Amidst the wars with neighboring lands, civil wars broke out as well. There was a great disputation on behalf of native born Egyptians and the Greeks. Class distinctions under the Ptolemaic rule were almost invisible and many began to question who they owed loyalty.Ptolemy V Epiphanes was at this point the ruler of Egypt in title only.Much of the country was outside the Pharaoh's control; he needed the native temples to effectively placate this rebellion. So he needed to tap the temples' wealth and also their considerable control over public opinion.Allegiances to the Pharoah, however, started to dwindle and divisions of leadership began to sprout throughout Upper, Middle, and Lower Egypt.Even with his synod of priests who continually propagated adornments to the Pharaoh and built many altars to him which were to be commonplace throughout the whole land, the youngest Ptolemy's powers still waned. Thus, the text of the Rosetta Stone inaccurately portrays the Pharaoh as the ideal example of what a ruler should be, a flattery concocted by the highest clergy in the land to preserve the Pharaoh's image as a generous philanthropist, which he was, but also inexperienced and mediocre compared to his predecessors.The Rosetta Stone's inscription describes this pivotal part of ancient history.
Over the centuries a debate has raged over who is the rightful owner of the Stone and who was the first to decipher it.In the course of the Napoleonic Wars, Britain edged France out of Egypt and was free to loot the land as they wished. Certainly one of their greatest spoils was the Rosetta Stone. However, this was truly looted. Napoleon's gang of savants had officially "discovered" the stone on an earlier expedition, but as his troupes got pushed back and forced into armistice their remained a settlement issue over loot plucked from the sands of the desert. The Stone itself has found its way through much of Europe, but the question remains of who its rightful owner is. Are the French for finding it in one of their designated forts in Egypt and beginning investigation into its origins, or the British for having "earned" it as a spoil of war? Ray attempts to settle this age old debate by arguing that the Rosetta Stone belongs not to France, or Britain, or even Egypt itself, but rather to the entire world, since the curiosity it has inspired has touched nearly every country on earth. He claims that it is not only the responsibility of the British Museum (where the Stone is currently housed), but the responsibility of the global academic community. The Stone is, after all, the very key to our understanding of ancient times as well as the development of language in general.Many people may be surprised to find that their own language, which perhaps they'd taken for granted, finds its roots in the pictorial writings of the Egyptians.
Ray leaves no room for confusion on who made the greatest breakthroughs in deciphering the texts of the Stone.The Frenchman Jean-Francois Champollion is known as the godfather of Egyptology for good reason. He committed his life to the translation of the hieroglyphs and the study of the ancient world.Every scholar of Egyptology since owes to Champollion's code-cracking abilities. That's not to say he did it all alone. He drew from the work that the British polymath genius Thomas Young had amassed during his stint as a decipherer. Young's contributions to every branch of the natural sciences were profound, and while his work on the Stone was groundbreaking, it was his rival Frenchman who really took things to the next level and changed the face of history with his discoveries. Here again, a feud exists over who is the "true" arbiter of the Stone's deciphering. Clearly, Champollion made the greatest advancements on the translation but not without a leg up from Young. Given Young's successes in other fields, the two are traditionally billed as equals in the academic arena, but, as John Ray asserts, the Frenchman's role in the evolution of Egyptology is unparalleled.
Overall, John Ray's The Rosetta Stone and the Rebirth of Ancient Egypt is an informative, engrossing read. I found his language to be very precise: there were no dangling paraphrases in search of meaning; the language fluidly describes this controversial subject, and even with the occasional subtle quip to lighten things up a bit. This book is an excellent introduction to Rosetta and Egyptology and would make an effective primer for advanced studies in archaeology.

Good Lay-level History
Engaging story of the discovery of the Rosetta Stone, the battles for possession, the efforts to decode it, and the rebirth of Egyptian history that followed.It's a story full of interesting characters and plot twists.As a linguist, I might have enjoyed more detail on the actual decoding, but it was a delightful read.

The Key To Understanding A Lost Culture
The story of the Rosetta Stone's role in recovering the splendor of Pharaonic Egypt in its own words is generally well known, at least in outline. This delightful book by an eminent expert in the field provides a very readable wealth of context and detail, from the Stone's original purpose and creation, to its current repository at the British Museum. The accidental discovery of the stone by Napoleon's troops is highlighted by the struggle for the Stone's possession. The decipherment story is very much like a mystery novel, with large egos and intense competition among the international contenders. The author makes clear that Champollion certainly was the clear winner. The challenge has aspects that reach into the nature of human intelligence and communication, and while others may provide pieces and hints without complete explanations, the `aha' moment of insight is singularly personal. This is something the author has direct knowledge of in his solution of the unreadable Carian script that also had a home in Egypt. Although a small book, the nine chapters are complemented by the Stone's text, along with an extensive reading list for those wanting more specific details over a wide range of topics and references. ... Read more

Product Description
Originally published in 1903.This volume from the Cornell University Library's print collections was scanned on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format by Kirtas Technologies.All titles scanned cover to cover and pages may include marks notations and other marginalia present in the original volume. ... Read more

Product Description

Imagine being an interpreter of dreams in ancient Egypt.

What was the daily grind like for the ancient Egyptians? Imagine it's your job to carve elaborate tombs out of rock formations (it will take years to do) or man an army outpost in the extreme heat of the desert. You might have worked transporting some of the over 2 million stones for the Great Pyramid or engineered irrigation projects along the Nile. Pharaohs and Foot Soldiers offers an innovative look at the jobs that kept Ancient Egypt running for 3,000 years.

Among the 100 careers profiled you'll also find reed cutters (who worked naked), sandal makers (many went barefoot) and even embalmers (pulling out organs took special training). Whether prestigious or poor, Egyptians had to be tough, trustworthy, stealthy and skilled to get by.

Complete with a fact-filled introduction, a comprehensive timeline and playful illustrations throughout, Pharaohs and Foot Soldiers will inspire readers to imagine how they may have lived out their days as a member of one of history's most fascinating civilizations.

Customer Reviews (1)

Fabulous fun
Pharaohs and Foot Soldiers: One Hundred Ancient Egyptian Jobs You Might Have Desired or Dreaded has been in my to-read stacks for some time now. However, I've had the hardest time finishing up the last few chapters necessary to wrap it up with. Each time I cracked the pages and began to read Kristin Butcher's tongue-in-cheek job descriptions from ancient Egypt and soak in the comical, cartoon-like illustrations by Martha Newbigging, I felt a persistent tug on its pages. Soon the book would be slipped out from between my fingers and into the eager hands of a waiting child.

My three and six-year-old were each as likely as the other to abscond with this colourful title into a hidden nook or cranny of the living room. I found them curled up in the windowsill, sprawled out belly-down on the living room carpet, and curled in bed leafing through its pages. I finally succeeded in my mission by retreating to the bedroom during my toddler's naptime and reading in the silent secrecy to be found there.

Ancient Egypt is without a doubt, one of the most fascinating historical time periods for children - the mummies, the pyramids, it's all so mysterious. Author Kristin Butcher ensures that the quirky, and downright odd facts about living in ancient Egypt are expressed to children in ways that make an exploration of its culture unforgettable.

Covering 100 Egyptian `jobs' in fifteen categories, children are invited to imagine themselves in each of the positions depicted. "It is your job to cut the huge stone blocks that will be used for monuments, statues, temples, and tombs." Is the opening line of a job description for the position of quarryman. Each job category, such as "Nile Jobs," "Assisting Pharaoh Jobs," and "Noble Jobs" provide background information about the culture of Egypt and the importance and role of the category's importance in Egyptian life. At times quite a depth of historical detail is included here.

Each individual job description is approximately two to three paragraphs in length and is accompanied by Newbigging's trademark watercolour and ink illustrations that fill the pages of the other titles in Annick Press' `historical jobs' series of books.

Sidebars backed by a watermarked pyramid also accompany some job descriptions and provide additional archaeological information, historical detail, or relevance to modern society. A pictorial timeline, introductions to topics ranging from Egyptian government to belief in the afterlife, a fabulous list of additional recommended reading (think historical fiction chapter books), and an index round out the value-added educational components.

Whether read front-to-back, opened randomly, or browsed through while reading high-interest Egyptian job openings, children are sure to pick up a wealth of tidbits and Egyptian trivia while developing a passing familiarity with the lives of the ancient Egyptian people. Butcher is sure to include all manner of fascinating, personal details - which jobs will make you sweaty, which will make your back hurt, which will require you to marry your brother, and so on. My six-year-old has broken into unprompted narrations of certain enthralling jobs to her father such as our family favourite, "Sandal Bearer," in which the lucky holder of this job gets to kiss Pharaoh's big toe each time he helps him on with his shoes. A highly esteemed position in Egyptian society apparently. And of course, all of the fascinating details about removing the brain through the nose are included in the "Embalmer" job description in the "Temple Jobs" category.

For a picture book about Egypt, everyone is fairly well-covered, the men are all decked out in short linen skirts, the ladies wear long linen dresses for the most part. There is one gentleman - a reed cutter - who's caught in full rearview nudity, a birthing mother is screened by her supportive attendants, and the dancing girls sport the equivalent of underwear with hair and hands that serve to conceal the upper torso. I'm thankful for Newbigging's restraint in this area.

Some additional explanations may be required from parents as to the `godhood' of Pharaoh. Butcher explains in her introductory background information that "Pharaoh was though to be the only living god left," but then goes on to refer to him as a god throughout the text. While always subtly tongue-in-cheek with these mentions, younger children will no doubt miss the irony, leaving a need for some additional parental input on the topic.

The blithe disregard of my children for the official recommended age range of nine to twelve-years-old proves the book to work well across a broad range of ages when read aloud to a younger audience. Now that I've finally finished it, I can relinquish Pharaohs and Foot Soldiers to my daughters once again - I'm sure they've been missing it. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (9)

Not Scholarly, Just Boring
ok - this book is actually pretty boring. I'm not sure how it's possible, considering the subject matter, but there it is.

Some other reviewers describe this book as too scholarly, but I think they mean boring. Scholarly doesn't = poorly written.

Will struggle through to the end, as long as there's coffee...

A Formidable Leader
Wonderful insight into Cleopatra's challenges in ruling Egypt. Ms. Tyldesley puts everything in chronological and easy to understand order with how the family relations and current foreign policies affected Cleopatra's decisions to control her kingdom.

Provides a well rounded background
I bought this book as an introduction to Cleopatra after watching the Rome mini-series.I wanted to get an idea if the story was accurate.This book provides a great introduction, but left me with the impression that her life is shrouded in mystery.The author often went off on tangents to fill in a complex background that most readers (including myself) are not familiar with.These tangents include Egyptian geneology, the layout of cities, and the history of Egypt.These deviations were generally interesting, but I often found myself wondering how this all fit back into Cleopatra's life, and why they were included.

I found the sections of the book where the author explained the myths surrounding Cleopatra and broke down the possible origins, and debunked them the most interesting.I felt these left the best impression of what her life must have been like, and the complex world she maneuvered in.

The last queen of the Nile
Of the famous women in history, the one that's either at the top of the list or at least in the top five would be Cleopatra.Does she truly merit this fame, or is all image and little substance.The answer is probably somewhere in the middle.

Joyce Tyldesley's biography of the celebrated Queen of the Nile suffers from the same problem that most Cleopatra biographers face:there is very little primary material about her life.Instead, we get descriptions of her from secondary sources, often decades or centuries after the fact, and, of course, these sources have their biases.It's like working with a jigsaw puzzle with some pieces missing and other pieces warped or broken:you can put a picture together, but it won't be a complete one.And in a time filled with other Cleopatras (and Ptolemys), it is sometimes hard to even figure out if you're working on the right puzzle.

The basic facts of Cleopatra's life are pretty well-known.She was romantically (or at least sexually) involved with Julius Caesar and then Mark Antony.After Antony's death, she committed suicide, allegedly by having an asp bite her.She was able to use her associations with these men to consolidate her own power in Egypt, but her queenship was often threatened, both by internal threats and those of foreign powers, particularly Rome.

Cleopatra is one of the great romantic figures in history, which promotes the common belief that she was one of the most beautiful, a real-life Helen.Was she really beautiful, either by the standards of the day or by today's standards?As Tyldesley points out, politics probably had more to do with her liaisons than attraction.Another controversy is Cleopatra's race:Tyldesley addresses this as well, though the true answer may never be known.

Cleopatra was no lightweight, but in terms of impact on history, she was a minor player who happened to be associated with major ones.Tyldesley does a good job constructing a picture of Cleopatra while also being honest about the shortcomings of getting a real accurate story.The book itself is brief (just over 200 pages), but even that is a bit of a stretch for Cleopatra's life:many pages deal with general Egyptian history or mythology.But Tyldesley writes well, and if you want to learn more about Cleopatra, this book is a good resource.

Better than Fiction
In our odd culture of changing values where truth is often misrepresented, it is no surprise that the commonly-accepted story of Cleopatra is so wrong.Based upon Hollywood's depiction of Roman historical drama, how could it possibly be otherwise?

Thankfully, Joyce Tyldesley combines her scholarly precision with a warmth and wit to tell the true tale of a really remarkable woman.Calculating and charming, sagacious and seductive, intellectual and ingenious, a mother and a monarch - all of these describe the fascinating character of a queen who was ahead of her time.

Dispelling the myths, mischaracterizations and motives attributed by Roman historians who were hostile to her influence on their home-grown heroes, Dr. Tyldesley's Cleopatra emerges as a more complete and admirable stateswoman who seems more modern than ancient.In this case, truth is not stranger than fiction, it is simply better. ... Read more

Product Description
The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: History / Ancient / Egypt; History / Ancient / Egypt; Social Science / Archaeology; ... Read more

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A unique study of the engineering and tools used to create Egyptian monuments

• Presents a stone-by-stone analysis of key Egyptian monuments, including the statues of Ramses II and the tunnels of the Serapeum

• Reveals that highly refined tools and mega-machines were used in ancient Egypt

From the pyramids in the north to the temples in the south, ancient artisans left their marks all over Egypt, unique marks that reveal craftsmanship we would be hard pressed to duplicate today. Drawing together the results of more than 30 years of research and nine field study journeys to Egypt, Christopher Dunn presents a stunning stone-by-stone analysis of key Egyptian monuments, including the statue of Ramses II at Luxor and the fallen crowns that lay at its feet. His modern-day engineering expertise provides a unique view into the sophisticated technology used to create these famous monuments in prehistoric times.

Using modern digital photography, computer-aided design software, and metrology instruments, Dunn exposes the extreme precision of these monuments and the type of advanced manufacturing expertise necessary to produce them. His computer analysis of the statues of Ramses II reveals that the left and right sides of the faces are precise mirror images of each other, and his examination of the mysterious underground tunnels of the Serapeum illuminates the finest examples of precision engineering on the planet. Providing never-before-seen evidence in the form of more than 280 photographs, Dunn’s research shows that while absent from the archaeological record, highly refined tools, techniques, and even mega-machines must have been used in ancient Egypt. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

Amazing
Brilliant, playful, challenging--to see somone outside The Club asking questions all the members have agreed to ignore--isn't that what the Academy needs?And the second foreward is nails.Who are these guys?Where is Danville?What's next?

A very solid foundation
After reading Chris Dunn's book, "Lost Technologies of Ancient Egypt", I was underwhelmed, much as I was underwhelmed the first time I saw the Grand Canyon, the first time I listened to the Beatles' White Album, the first time I tried avocado, or the first time I watched Star Wars.Nevertheless, all of these things eventually made a profound impression on me, and slowly became awesome to me.And needless to say, I have learned not to trust first impressions until things play out a little more in my consciousness."Lost Technologies of Ancient Egypt" is slowly but surely doing just that.

I was expecting more pyramid talk and got chapters on Rameses statues.Those are primitive sculptures compared to the Great Pyramid, I had thought.Now, I am totally turned around by Dunn's discussion of the kind of intricate construction of these statues, not to mention the other items he painstakingly reviews.There is no doubt in my mind that the expertise behind the obelisks, the pillars, the big building blocks, the ubiquitous carvings of ancient Egypt was from the same engineering brotherhood as the big boy itself.And I am at a loss to explain it, chronologically speaking, since I still place the Great Pyramid and Sphinx thousands of years earlier than the rest of the Egyptian treasures on the timeline.Thus, I am now compelled by this book's evidence to assert the mind-boggling conclusion that ancient Egyptian engineering not only goes way back in time, but it also has a continuity far exceeding any other civilization on Earth.

Having read Dunn's earlier book, "The Giza Power Plant", I expected this companion volume, "Lost Technologies of Ancient Egypt"to be the Philosopher's Stone of ancient technology.It may not quite be that, but it sets a foundation for further investigation into the mystery of what the tools of the trade were, as well as the baffling question of where they are.

This is a real winner!!
This book was well researched and clearly grounded in fact -not theory.Though tools that would further support the conclusions of the author have yet to be found, the precision that the author personally discovered time and again in ancient statuary intemples, palaces and the pyramids at Giza leaves little doubt that ancient Egyptian engineers and artisans had rather advanced tools at their disposal.In fact, from all accounts it seems that it would prove difficult for modern day engineers and machinists to duplicate the precision found in the Great Pyramid at Giza.

A Voice of Reason and Fact in a Speculative Field
When it comes to the study of ancient technology,there are a lot of far-out theories vying for attention.Many (some would say most) are too far out, consisting of speculations with no foundation in fact, and often no internal consistency.

Chris Dunn has always been a refreshing voice of reason in this field, a man who doesn't just speculate.Prepared with physical facts and on-location research, Dunn demonstrates exactly how and why his concepts of ancient technology work.He brings the technologies of the ancients to vivid life.

Dunn also proves to be a talented writer.His prose reads smoothly as he provides succinct explanations of how (ancient) things work, never talking down to or lecturing the reader.In addition to being informative, Chris Dunn is an entertaining read.

Buy Lost Technologies of Ancient Egypt and prepare to be amazed, even enthralled by what once was.

Extremely Interesting!!
In the north, there were the pyramids. In the south, there were temples. Both very mysterious in more ways than one. What were they for? Why were they built? Who built them?

Well, Christopher Dunn an engineer, has asked these questions for years. Now, he has done something about the lingering questions. He has studied and written about them.

How did the Egyptians get this marvelous technology to build with the precision of our most competent engineers? Who taught them the technologies? Were the techniques carried down from the earliest Eygptians? And, how did THEY gain the skills?

With his 280 pictures included in the book, Dunn makes a convincing case that the technology was precise and exact.

But, there exists no records of how Egyptian builders got it.
... Read more

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Product Description
During the Old and Middle Kingdoms, Ancient Egypt led the world in the construction of fortifications. The oldest was discovered on Elephantine Island and dates to c.2900 BC. This book investigates over 2,000 years of Egyptian fortification, including both fortified cities and military installations. It covers the most famous sites, including the fortified town of Ayn Asil and the fortress of Buhen. The text also examines the specific defensive structures within the fortifications, including gates, walls, and towers, and looks at both the operation and social history of these ancient military strongholds. Maps, photographs, and artwork by Brian Delf recreate this long-lost but legendary era, a treat for the eye as well as the mind. ... Read more

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Internationally renowned Egyptologist Barbara Mertz transports us back thousands of years and immerses us in the sights and sounds of day-to-day life in a vanished desert culture.

Customer Reviews (14)

Fascinating!

This book deals with a broad range of aspects of daily Egyptian life in Antiquity: housing, food, medicine, architecture, religion, etc.

It constitutes an excellent complement to `Tombs, Temples and Hieroglyphs' by the same author which covers history in an essentially classical fashion.

In this case, the author's comments are generally interesting though sometimes a bit longish and too personal.

In the audio book version, the narrator's maternal voice and intonations are very much in tune with the text.At times, you think of your grandmother reading you bedtime stories!

Overall, this is a worthwhile book for anyone interested in ancient Egypt.

Good basic book, but a bit distorted by the author's prejudices
Mrs. Mertz book is an excellent way to gather basic general knowledge of pharaonic Egypt. It has a nice little reading list by subject (she needs to add Aidan Dodson's "Monarchs of the Nile," that has excellent info on dynasties, and bibliography). The book has some nice pictures too. Now, it is certainly difficult to write a book without bias--and here I am, giving my biased opinion!--but not impossible, and it should be of utmost importance to an Egyptologist conveying the little that survived about that civilization. Her "feminist inclinations" are a constant presence in the book. Yet, I believe the small amount of documents that survive would be better comprehended if readers were allowed their own conclusions. She harshly--and too frequently--criticizes Victorian scholars for judging Egyptians based upon their values, yet, she can hardly claim no prejudice. On adultery, she concludes it was not a big deal--yet documents record adulterous women being burned alive, or killed and thrown to dogs. Then there is one V Dynasty tomb at Sakkara that belonged to 2 court officials; both had wives and children, but are "shown in their joint tomb in attitudes more commonly found between husband and wife." So, she concludes that was "Strong indication that [homosexual] relationships were accepted"! Silly me, I thought Egyptologists expected to find at least several examples to believe something common in a civilization--and one that lasted thousands of years! On the other hand, she describes a mummy of a "middle-aged woman found at Deir-el-Bahri [that] has the most extraordinary hairdo for an Egyptian woman." She says that the mummy's hairdo "is very `un-Egyptian' and I know of nothing like it in the pictorial representations." So, she believes that one example of (possible) homosexuality proves it was accepted among Egyptians, yet one hairdo example does not make it a rule for Egyptian women... It seems Mrs. Mertz may believe readers are ignorant and cannot make up their own minds if given only facts. (Consider this: not even the "experts" agree and many explanations/views exist to each surviving piece of evidence.) Her book is lavishly punctuated with silly remarks, such as "don't ask me, because I don't know!" At one point she wonders if Nefertiti ever had a bad hair day... She informs us that: "Some loaves [of bread] have survived to the present day; they are like rock, the stalest bread you can imagine." Who'd had expected hundreds-of-years-old bread to be stale or hard, right? Oh, and there is the case of the many centuries old rose bud found by an Egyptologist, who put it in water and it... opened--I kid you not! Later on she mocks Mika Waltari for inaccurately using a name--Nefer-Nefer-Nefer--in his famous novel "The Egyptian." Gosh, could she have forgotten Ka-Nefer-Nefer (the Twice Beautiful Ka) whose name has been given by an Egyptologist (Goneim)? Paraphrasing Mrs. Mertz, don't ask me, because I don't know!(Is that annoying or what?)

The Best From the Best
When I'm planning some research or need to check a fact from another source, any book by Dr. Mertz is a good place to start. Her knowledge and ability to impart that knowledge is always welcome and a breath of fresh air in a subject that other authors tend to get detail heavy and enjoyment light.

Dr. Mertz handles the subject with thoroughness and aplomb, making this an enjoyable read for those that just want a little background on the history of this vast area of research. Her humor shines through on every page and will bring the past back to life as only she can.

Through this book and her other superb book, Temples, Tombs, and Hieroglyphs: A Popular History of Ancient Egypt you can get the true feeling for this ancient culture and realize that no matter the time in history, people are people and it makes the long dead seem much more alive.

Better than the Amanda Peabody series
I wish that Dr. Mertz would write more non-fiction. Her Amanda Peabody mystery series, written under the nom de plume of Elizabeth Peters, is harmless entertainment. But her books on ancient Egypt are sharp, witty, well-researched and accessible. She brings to the sometimes dry subject matter a lively style and easy competence; it's like being taken on a tour of the ancient land of Egypt by an old and knowledgeable friend. She tells us about the everyday life of farmers, scribes, warriors, kings and commoners, with pithy comments on their art, furniture, clothing and diet. It is a comprehensive and interesting introduction to Egypt, the Egyptians, and Egyptology. Too many books aimed at laymen on this topic dwell overmuch on tombs and mummies and kings; Dr. Mertz' summation of the daily routines of quite ordinary Egyptians brings them vividly to life. The people of the Black Land (their name for Egypt) come alive as quite approachable human beings, whose lives, diets, and attitudes are much more familiar than the lives of, say, medieval European peasants. The Egyptians, by all accounts, loved life so much, and lived such pleasant lives, that their idea of the afterlife was merely a continuation of this one. From the smallest detail of a child's toy to the grand marvel of the Great Pyramid, their attention to every facet of daily life, their excellent faculty for observation, and their quick wits shine through in this story of their lives. This is a book every lover of Egypt should have on the shelf.

Also recommended: Temples, Tombs, and Hieroglyphs: A Popular History of Ancient Egypt

Funny and Descriptive
I loved this book, and can't wait to buy her other books. It isn't lengthy and describes things wonderfully. Her word choice and tone portray ancient Egypt beautifully. I would definitely recommend this book to any Egypt and/or book lovers! ... Read more

Product Description
The civilization of ancient Egypt flourished along the banks of the Nile for almost 3000 years. Many of their great monuments still stand for later generations to wonder at, but there is also a wealth of evidence about the ordinary lives, work and beliefs of the Egyptian people. This colourfully illustrated book shows children how ancient Egyptian people lived, how they farmed, what they wore and ate each day. The book also describes their religious beliefs, including the underworld, and shows how they built their pyramids, temples and tombs. Acetate overlays allow the reader to incover the secrets of four important Egyptian topics. Lift the lid on a mummy; look inside the secret shrine at the heart of a temple; uncover the hidden treasures of a tomb in the Valley of the Kings; and enter the village home of an ordinary Egyptian family. ... Read more

Product Description
The Mind of Egypt presents an account of the mainsprings of Egyptian civilization - the ideals, values, mentalities, belief systems and aspirations that shaped the first territorial state in human history. Drawing on a range of literary, iconographic and archaeological sources, Jan Assmann reconstructs a world of unparalleled complexity, a culture that, long before others, possessed an extraordinary degree of awareness and self-reflection.Amazon.com Review
"Writing a history of the development of the ancient Egyptian mind," wrote the Swiss historian Jacob Burckhardt a century and a half ago, is "an impossibility." Today, observes Jan Assmann, we know "infinitely more about Egypt" than did the scholars of Burckhardt's day. But, even so, the ancient Egyptian mind continues to elude us.

Turning to what he calls "the hidden face of history," Assmann explores the meaning of the Egyptian past to the ancients themselves. For them, history, that chronicle of pharaohs and empires, began with the recognition that humans, not gods or demigods, controlled earthly affairs. From the beginning of the Old Kingdom to the time of the Ptolemy dynasty, the idea of the state was central to Egyptians' view of themselves in the world. With this centralized power, Assmann argues, grew other ideas, such as the notion that the stone of the pyramids was "an eternalized form of the body" and that our short time on earth was "something more akin to a dream than to reality." Full of learned discussions on such matters as the origins and development of hieroglyphic writing and the evolution of funereal architecture, Assmann's book offers a fascinating view of ancient history, and of ancient ways of thinking. --Gregory McNamee ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Deeply Theoretical
Assmann is very theoretical but offers many different ways at looking at Anicent Egypt. His writing centers around memory in Egypt, since it Ancient Egypt really didn't follow a time line. This very indepth book and not a light read, but good none the less.

Great book
It is hard to imagine how transient and fleeting our civilization is. Ahundred years has seen a shift from the Sand Creek massacre, where Christian priests were scalping Native American women and children to nominal civilization with universal suffrage.A thousand years ago Europe itself was in Dark Ages of barbarism and chaos.A modern day European has no connection to the Langobards, Alemani, Thracians and Visigoths.In contrast, the ancient Egyptians had known three thousand years of relative continuity and self-identity so that the people born in the New Kingdom could identify themselves with the texts, narratives and beliefs from the Middle and the Old.What made possible this amazing continuity? Who were these people and how did they look at life? Jan Assman,a Heidelberg University professor and one of the most eminent Egyptologists of our time has written a superb book on this topic, a book that addresses key elements of time, memory, free will and historical continuity that are ever so relevant today. I found it difficult to put down.

According to Assman, life for the ancient Egyptian was a fellowship, a connectedness. This connectedness was maintained by harmony and justice (ma'at) a key organizing principle that can perhaps be regarded as the Egyptian version of Tao or perhaps the Navajo idea of `hozho'. Harmony makes community possible and is synonymous with law, security and order set by a centralized state. The failure to realize this interconnection of life results in loneliness and death. Maat is ensured by the State: all common, shared things, depend on the state: language, knowledge, and memory.
The Egyptian state was founded on an unshakable faith in the immortality of the soul and the prospect of future judgment. Interestingly, these ideas are also central to Christianity, but not the Old Testament (a tribal document devoid of the concept of life after death or notions such as kindness, or lovingness).

The Egyptians identified covetousness, greed, as the source of all evil. Keeping greed in check required constant effort. The great countergod of the E. pantheon, Seth is:

"He who is content with separation and hates fraternization;
he who only supports himself on his [own] heart among the gods"

very modern, this guy Seth. Would feel very comfortable in Wal-Mart or NYSE. Or the blood diamond merchants of Antwerp. There is great sophistication in using language and thinking in Middle Kingdom, when weobserve a universal political education, indoctrination and propaganda. Religion itselfrequired a great mnemonic effort on the part of the pharaoh and the priests; including ritual practices that we might call magic, as thoughts and dreams were very real to E. - so real, that evil in the sphere of language and imagination is given greater prominence than bad deeds; figurines found in pots made of burnt clay had inscribed curses against:

"All bad words, all bad speech, all bad imprecation,
all bad thoughts, all bad plotting
all bad battle, all bad plans, all bad things,
all bad dreams, all bad sleep."

Assmann emphasizes that human equality is a fundamental principle of Egyptian society. Unlike the Vedic Indians with their castes, and the Greeks with their free citizens and slaves, the Egyptians did not see existing differences between rich and poor, strong and weak, as part of the creation... "I have made each man the same as his neighbor", says Amon Ra, the sun god. The king is advised to `appoint his officials solely on the criterion of ability'. Inequality was seen as a product of covetousness, the "greed of the heart". Hardheartedness, selfishness and megalomania were universally condemned. These differences are traced back to the "heart" -to human free will. In fact, the idea of a "heart-guided individual"is central the Middle Kingdom.

Assman is ever so careful to evade a (self-imposed) 'hermeneutical trap', avoiding any temptation to actually 'feel' what Egyptians themselves might have felt or experienced. Conequently, while the book has many fascinating pages, it lacks a certain depth that could only come from the author's 'tuning in' into phenomenology of subjects he has devoted his life to studying.

Anyway, I liked the chapters on the two Transitional Periods, and the descriptions of the Hyksos (who, according to Assman were related to theJews), the Nubians and even references from the Greeks; what I missed was more information of the Assyrian and Persian conquest and more information about the Egyptian religion.Here are "Instructions for King Merikare":

"Beware of unjust punishment.
Kill not, for that cannot be useful to you.
Punish with beatings and prison:
By this the land will be well founded. [...]
Kill no one whose spiritual strength is known to you
With whom you have sung scriptures
Who has read in the book of trial and can walk freely in the sacred space.
For the soul returns to the place it knows.
No magic can hold it back
It reaches him who gives it water.

The Egyptians and Ourselves
This book attempts to reconstruct the ancient mind set of the Egyptians, in so far as possible, and relate it to our own. Assmann writes "ancient Egypt is an intellectual and spiritual world that is linked to our own by numerous strands of tradition." He discusses, for example, the influences of works such as "The Admonitions of Ipuwer" [13th cent.BC]on Bertold Brecht who used parts of it in his play "The Caucasian Chalk Circle". He explains the most important Egyptian philosophical concept "ma'at" or "connective justice" (illustrated in "The Eloquent Peasant" a Middle Kingdom work but holding "for Egyptian civilization in general" in terms of the ideas of both Karl Marx and Nietzsche.
Most importantly he shows what the Egyptian state really stood for as opposed to the false images found in Old Testament propaganda that mispresents Eqypt as an oppressive slave state. "The Egyptian state." he says, "is the implementation of a legal order that precludes the natural supremacy of the strong and opens up prospects for the weak (the 'widows' and 'orphans') that otherwise would not exist."
Unlike many who think that the revolution initiated by Akhenaten perished with him, Assmann presents evidence that its main principles survived in other religious traditions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) as well in secular venues from Greek philosophy "to the universalist formulas of oun own age as embodied in the physics of Einstein and Heisenberg."
It is possible that many of the ideas of "Christianity" were originally formulated by the Egyptians.
Today we know more about the Ancient Egyptians than ever before so we should "attempt to enter into a dialogue with the newly readable messages of ancient Egyptian culture and thus to reestablish them as an integral part of our cultural memory."
I have only skimmed the surface of this important book. Anyone who wants to understand ancient Egypt must read this book." ... Read more

Product Description
Examines life in ancient Egypt, including the importance of the Nile River, and the daily life of both nobles and commoners.Several major pharaohs are discussed, as well as various Gods and religious beliefs, especially those having to do with preparing the body for the afterlife.Hieroglyphics are included, and a sidebar highlights the discovery of the Rosetta Stone. ... Read more

Product Description
Ptolemaic rule in Egypt began with the death of Alexander in 323 BC and continued until the tragic deaths of Antony and Cleopatra in 30 BC.Dr. Holbl provides an integrated and compelling narrative of the political and religious history of these three centuries.He writes as an authority both on Egyptian religion and archaeology and on the demotic texts, as well as on the Greek sources.His work commands the whole field of Ptolemaic history and encompasses the most up-to-date findings of scholars in several fields and has occasioned many revisions of long held scholarly views. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A scholarly history of a disgusting empire
In 332 BC, Alexander the Great conquered Egypt. After Alexander's death, his general Ptolemy was granted control over the country. His descendants would rule it for three centuries. The Hellenistic or Ptolemaic period in Egyptian history came to a dramatic close in 30 BC when Cleopatra committed suicide and her son Caesarion was murdered by the Romans.

"A History of the Ptolemaic Empire" is a study of this tumultuous period in ancient Egyptian history.

The book isn't intended for a general audience. Rather, it's a scholarly work. The causal reader will soon be lost in the labyrinthine power struggles between various members of the Ptolemaic dynasty. Incestuous relationships, orgies in the name of Dionysius and a penchant for political assassinations characterized this truly dysfunctional family, described with remarkable scholarly restraint by the author.

The book places a particular emphasis on the religious policies of the Ptolemaic dynasty. The Ptolemies (who were Greek or Macedonian) attempted to combine Greek and Egyptian notions of religion and kingship, the better to bolster their authority in a foreign land. The author analyzes the role of the Egyptian priesthoods and describes the ruler cults of the Ptolemies themselves in some detail.

An interesting chapter deals with the class struggles in the Ptolemaic Empire. Periodically, the empire was quite weak and had difficulty restraining the peasantry, which protested against high taxation either by absconding or by taking up arms. Several Ptolemaic rulers were forced to issue decrees of amnesty for peasant rebels, in order to induce people to go back to their work. There was also a rebellion in Upper Egypt, fuelled by a combination of national and social sentiments. For a short period, Upper Egypt was independent and ruled by "real" Egyptian pharaohs.

The scientific and philosophical achievements during the Hellenistic period are mentioned mostly in passing. The author makes the interesting claim that anti-Semitism was rife in Alexandria already during this time. The most sensational claim, however, is that Cleopatra had Egyptian ancestry! The author believes that both her mother and grandmother may have been Egyptian temple priestesses. However, this issue is also mentioned mostly in passing. Perhaps the author (an Austrian professor) isn't aware of the explosive political implications of this claim in the United States.

"A history of the Ptolemaic Empire" isn't the most graceful read around. General readers might be put off by the sheer amount of information about wars, assassination plots and the constantly changing religious cults. However, for advanced students of ancient history, this book might prove indispensable. After reading it, I'm more convinced than ever that the Hellenistic period, despite its scientific and philosophical achievements, nevertheless represents a low point in ancient Greek history.

This is a scholarly history of a disgusting empire.

Good Summary
Provides a good overall review of the Ptolemaic Dynasty. Covers all aspects of Greek influence on Egypt as well as a military and politcal narrative. Worth the money as it is the best source on the subject. ... Read more

Product Description
Dramatic new discoveries rewrite the origins of ancient Egypt!

For generations, tourists, scholars, and armchair travelers have been intrigued by the puzzle of the ancient Egyptians' origins. Was civilization brought to the Nile Valley by invaders from other lands, even refugees from Atlantis? Or did civilization develop, over a long period, within Egypt itself?

Most archaeologists favor the latter theory, yet nagging doubts have always remained because many of ancient Egypt's most distinctive elements seem to have appeared quite suddenly, as if from nowhere. Now the quest for the elusive "missing link" is finally over, and, in the light of dramatic new discoveries, the genesis of the pharaohs is coming into focus.

Ancient Egypt, it seems, did not begin by the banks of the Nile but in a much harsher environment. The ancestors of the pyramid-builders were not village-dwelling farmers but wandering cattle-herders, and pharaonic civilization was forged in a remote region, one of the most forbidding places on earth. These are the startling conclusions of Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson, based on his own discoveries in the heart of the Eastern Desert, between the Nile Valley and the Red Sea. Here, the pharaohs' distant ancestors left a stunning legacy that has remained hidden for 6,000 years: hundreds of intricate rock carvings that tell us about their lifestyle and their deepest beliefs. Pharaonic imagery such as the afterlife journey by boat, royal hunting, and the iconography of gods and kings all find their origins in this inhospitable terrain.

Genesis of the Pharaohs traces the discovery of these ancient records, dates them, and identifies the artists who made them. As the story unfolds, we travel back in time to a remarkable early period of human creativity and discover the answer to the question of where, when, and how ancient Egypt began. 88 illustrations, 25 in color. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Not Eurocentric at all
The earlier reviewer Donald Peyton is an illiterate idiot if he thinks this is Eurocentric propaganda. The truth couldn't be more different! Wilkinson is very critical of the old "Dynastic Race" theory which attributed dynastic Egyptian culture to Southwest Asian invaders, and although he does claim there were Palestinian immigrant communities in prehistoric northern Egypt, he makes it clear that most of northern Egypt at the time was an uninhabitable marsh and that it was the southern Egyptians, especially those living in the southeast, who laid the foundations for classical Egyptian civilization.

In fact, while reading Wilkinson's reconstruction of prehistoric Egyptian culture, I was reminded of another book I read about the Dinka in southern Sudan, "Warriors of the White Nile" by John Ryle and Sarah Errington. The proto-Egyptians as described by Wilkinson had the exact same cattle fixation and semi-nomadic lifestyle of shifting between river valley and savanna that the Dinka do today! In addition, both ancient Egyptians and Dinka consider cattle synonymous with wealth, as do many other cattle-herding cultures in Africa.

Far from being Eurocentric propaganda, this is an excellent resource for those interested in ancient Egypt's African heritage.

AN ORGY OF SPECULATION AND INTELLECTUAL COWARDICE
Toby Wilkinson's "dramatic new discoveries" that were supposed to "rewrite the originsof Ancient Egypt" quickly morphs into a pathetic variation of the tired, worn out race-based "Egyptology" of the past, an Egyptology that forces all archeological, ethnological, linguistics, ancient Egyptian written documents-all scientific evidence -into a rigid intellectual paradigm. The UNSTATED premise of this rigid paradigm was that ancient Egypt was not a black African creation.
On pages 21-22, Wilkinson writes of Winkler's"obsession" : was the great civilizationof "ancient Egypt" the "creation, not of "savage Africans, but of enlightened invaders from the "Aryan' world of the east." This was not only Winkler's obsession-it remains the obsession of Toby Wilkerson and most euro-centric writers and thinkers. They simply never state the premise! But they respect it! They adhere to it!

In this book Mr. Wilkinson engages in an orgy of speculation to support his hypotheses.
It is a web of speculation deliberately contrived to mislead the general reader and to spread euro-centric myths in place of known facts.
Mr. Wilkinson writes on page 14, this astonishingly, euro-centric, ethnocentric, false and misleading assertion: "To European archeologists, as to the ancient Egyptians themselves, Nubia was a strange and exotic place, not quite part of pharaonic Egypt." To imply that "European archeologist" and "ancient Egyptians" held similar opinions about Nubia is nonsense .
In the texts from the tombs of Seti I, Merenptah, and from Ramses III(Book Of Gates) we find indisputable evidence written by the ancientEgyptians themselves which demonstrates that they considered themselves to be profoundly related to the peoples of Nubia."The Semites(3mou), Sekhmet has transformed them,it is She that hammers their souls. You are those(Egyptians) that strike against them (Semites) for me. I am happy for the multitude that I gave birth to(or who came from me)among your name(those of the Egyptians) destined for the Nubian-Sudanese(nehasu),who are born with the favor of Horus. It is he who protects their souls." The passage is repeated with tamahou(Indo-Europeans)replacing 3mou(Semites/Asiatic).We know that etymologically the ancient Egyptian terms for Europeans and Asians are extremely pejorative, indicating a animal-like human, with a qualifying sign indicating something that walks on four paws like an animal.
The word for Nubian (nehase) does not have any racial or pejorative connotation whatsoever in the ancient Egyptian language. To translatethe word nehase as black or Negro is a deliberate mistranslation. It seems to be the name of some group of ancient Africa people just as Yam and WaWat, were names of other African peoples.
Toby Wilkinson stumbles along attempting to create some kind of Apartheid Wall between these two ancient African peoples.
Wilkinson often remarks about the use of hippopotamus figures in ancient Egyptian culture. Toby Wilkinson again attempts to separate, in the minds of his readers, ancient Africans from ancient Egyptians (p.64). He writes how the lumbering bulk and small ears of hippos amused the ancient Egyptians... "inspired wry amusement" inthose who drew them.On the other hand he writes, "....to African people, hippos are not always figures of fun: they are dangerous wild animals that pose a threat to humans". If Mr. Wilkinson dared step out side his euro-centric intellectual prison; he would have been able to tell his readers that the hippo is inextricably connected to African cultures. For example, the river valley civilizations of Africa could shade much needed light on the customs of ancient Egypt.Among the Pulaar people who live along the Senegal River there is a Diba clan, which has the Hippo as a totem for fishermen. We know there are several words for hippo in ancient Egyptian:h3b,db and dib, each term is followed by a hippo determinative . Thus we have the diba clan or hippo clan among African people today(De L'orgine Egyptienne Des Peuls,by Dr.Aboubacry M. Lam p.211). We could cite many, many, many more examples from throughout Africa from culture, language and religion.So again Mr. Wilkinson clearly shows that his work is far from scholarly, and that he remains willingly captive to the tyrannical Euro centric paradigm.

Perhaps Toby Wilkinson personifies the dilemma of the modernEuro-centric scholar who knows very well what happened to the late Sir E. A. Wallis BudgeScholar of Christ's College, Cambridge,Tyrwhitt Hebrew Scholar, Keeper of The Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities, British Museum.
Even knighthood could not save Budge from the vicious and endless slander that was heaped upon him and all of his work after he wrote in V.1 of Osiris& The Egyptian Resurrection, Dover1971,(p.xvii,Preface)the following about the study of the Ancient Egyptians: "The modern Sudani beliefs are identical with those of ancient Egypt, because the Egyptians were Africans and the modern peoples of the Sudan are Africans".All hell broke loose and Budge's works were condemned and ridiculed-finally they were ignored. Budge became a pariah.
So instead of "Dramatic New Discoveries to Rewrite the origins of Ancient Egypt", Mr. Wilkinson gives us an orgy of speculations, suggestions and assertions about African rock art from the Eastern desert. Again, all interpretations of the rock art is forced into the race-based euro-centric paradigm. Wilkinson does not tell his readers that all the periods and categories of rock art are found only in Africa.

Poor Toby Wilkinson remains locked in his Euro-centric Cambridge-built intellectual prison. He has the key to unlock the door. But what he does not have is the intellectual courage to use the key to unlock the door and step out into the bright sunshine.
Only then can hecontribute to the rewriting of the true history of these fascinating African civilizations that we call "Ancient Egypt"!

Alas poor Toby...!

Where did the pharaohs come from? Not so very far away, actually.
This interesting -- but not especially "dramatic" -- history by a Cambridge Egyptologist is a prime example of the sins of jacket-copy writers. Because the author, a thoroughgoing academic, actually has nothing whatever to say about refugees from Atlantis or space-aliens, beyond dismissing them as twaddle. There has always been contention between "nativists" and "diffusionists," no matter which ancient civilization is under discussion, including the Sumerians and the earliest Egyptians, and the arguments on each side can be fascinating. Wilkinson argues that the first kings of the Nile Valley some 6,000 years ago were not, in fact, produced by the local culture in the Delta but by interlopers from the desert between the Nile and the Red Sea -- which is not actually a new idea, either. However, he ties his theory convincingly to a series of petroglyphic monuments, first discovered by Arthur Weigall (a student of Flinders Petrie) in the early years of the last century, and later studied and photographed by Hans Winkler in the late 1930s. The sites are still there, relatively undisturbed because of the remoteness of the protected wadis in which they were carved (Winkler's chalking is still visible), and Wilkinson's task for nearly a decade has been to publicize them, to bring them to the attention of modern academics as well as the educated public. The parallels between the rock art and classical tomb art in the Valley of the Kings is remarkable. Both feature gods traveling by boat, both depict deities in twin-plumed headdresses. Moreover, the crook and flail -- the canonical accoutrement of the pharaohs -- were herdsmen's tools from the eastern lands (which had not yet become desert), not agricultural implements from the Delta. The author strives for a popular style but, given the technical subject matter, he doesn't always succeed. Still, it's a well-written treatment of a very interesting subject. Just ignore the jacket copy.

Egypt out of Africa
When I first saw this book, I thought it was a pseudo-scientific, sensationalist book written by some Velikovskian. Its title and cover certainly conveys that impression. Indeed, it might be quite deliberate. Toby Wilkinson presumably wants to reach out to those who mostly read "alternative" books about ancient Egypt. In reality, the book is solid science.

What makes the book interesting is that it refutes the idea that Egyptian civilization came from the outside, from the Middle East, read: not from Africans. This is known as the "Dynastic Race" theory. Recently, this theory has been popularized by pop musician-cume-maverick Egyptologist David Rohl. Wilkinson belongs to another faction within Egyptology, the one that has began to take the African roots of Egypt seriously.

According to Wilkinson, many aspects of Pharaonic civilization existed, at least in embryo, already during the pre-Dynastic period in Upper(southern) Egypt. Tribal rulers were burried in small, pyramid-shaped mounds. The boat and the cow were important religious symbols. We know from other studies that the Afro-asiatic ("Semito-Hamitic") languages originated in Ethiopia. This all points to an essentially African origin of Egyptian civilization. There is a continuity between the pastoralists roaming the Sahara, pre-Dynastic culture proper, and Dynastic culture. Mesopotamia had nothing to do with it.

Will Wilkinson's ideas stand further scientific scrutiny? True, archeology is by its very nature an inexact science. But personally, I believe he and others like him are on the right track.

Ancient Egypt might indeed have been "a Black thing".

The rock art of Pre-Dynastic Egypt and the implications
"Genesis of the Pharaohs" ponders the question of the origin of the direct ancestors of Pre-Dynastic Egypt.Wilkinson attempts to refute theories that these ancestors came from outside the area either forceably or peacefully, and brought their complex culture with them, which formed the basis of the Old Kingdom.Rather, through a comparative analysis of the rock art of the eastern savanna (located between the Nile and the Red Sea) with the art of the Naqada and Pre-Dynastic periods, the author proposes that the ancestors of Ancient Egyptian civilization were locals who lived in and around the eastern savanna.

Wilkinson's enthusiasm for his subject is very apparent, and he creates an enjoyable experience for the most part for readers of this book.However, I thought that the evidence he used to support his story was speculative and subjective, and this is inevitable when Wilkinson's argument is based primarily on art comparison.In certain parts of the book, I felt that the author was taking on the role of a salesman who was trying to sell us his story, and using his personality rather than the evidence to win us over.

At times, I also thought Wilkinson's enthusiasm was excessive to the point that he became too familiar with his subject.For example, in one of the chapters, he concocts a hypothetical story of a boy named Seth who lived in the eastern savanna region during the time that the rock art was created.Wilkinson goes through the trouble of constructing a hypothetical scenario involving the boy's interaction with his parents and his environment, all against the backdrop of the rock art.Apparently, this fictional account was meant to reinforce what Wilkinson thought was the social function of the rock art paintings to these early people.Instead, it left me feeling like I had mistakenly picked up a children's book rather than a book on Pre-Dynastic art.

Nevertheless, the idea that Wilkinson considers is an important one, and most Ancient Egyptophiles as well as students of art history will find this book worthwhile.I just felt that this work could have been much better if it were rewritten in a different tone and more material evidence included. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

Good textbook, good service
I was thoroughly impressed by the speed of the shipping and delivery.I go the textbook a few days after I ordered it and it was in perfect condition.I am very happy.

Interested in Ancient Egyptians views of death?
Originally commissioned for a collection of funerary material in the British Museum, Death and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt covers in some detail the Ancient Egyptian mythology and practices of death and the afterlife. The work has numerous pictures of mummies, pyramids, texts and statues that add to the ideas discussed. The book is not meant to be an exhaustive resource on each of the eight topics it discusses, but offers a lot of information for the novice to intermediate Egyptologist. Chapters:

1) Death and Resurrection in Ancient Egyptian Society 2) The Eternal Body: Mummification 3) Provisioning the Dead 4) Funerary Figurines: Servants for the Afterlife 5) The Threshold of Eternity: Tombs, Cemeteries and Morturary Cults 6) Magic and Ritual for the Dead (My favorite chapter!) 7) The Chest of Life: Coffins and Sarcophagi 8) The Burial and Mummification of Animals

Excellent book for one interested in any of the above topics, great information, great pictures and easy to read, but still scholarly in the amount and quality of the information presented. ... Read more

Product Description
This book is an introduction to the war machine of New Kingdom Egypt from c. 1575 bc–1100 bc.

Customer Reviews (3)

Good Scholarship, Bad Writing
I have read many history books, including many books on Egyptology. I have been very fortunate that most of these books have been well written, some even beautifully written. This book, however, was so badly written it severely impaired my enjoyment of it. The only reason I read it from cover to cover (not an easy feat) was for the information contained in it. The syntax ranges from poor to atrocious. The grammatical mistakes are numerous. Words are misused or used inappropriately. The author has almost no grasp of idiom. There were times when sentences were nonsensical. Moreover, I had the distinct impression that Dr Spalinger put little thought into the writing in that it was unimaginative and bone dry. The fact that it is a scholarly work is no excuse. I have read many scholarly works on many subjects, and most of them did not have the linguistic characteristics of this work. I do not question Dr Spalinger's scholarship, and I am impressed with his argumentation, however I will never read another book written by him. It is simply too painful to see the English language butchered like this and it is too exhausting to derive what I should from Dr Spalinger's linguistic mess.

Great Scholarly Work
Spalinger has triumphed in his attempt to produce a very scholarly book on such a difficult subject.A casual reader might find hima bit verbose but what he is really trying to do is demonstrate how New Kingdom can be studied in an academic way (you know, with references and citations).This book is sure to be referenced in ancient warfare studies for the next 50 years.

Egyptian New Kingdom Battles!
This book discusses the New Kingdom wars, estimating how much was needed to supply the units, the speed, distances involved, and the military equipment.It had a lot more detail than I needed at times.

... Read more

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Product Description
In the mid-nineteenth century, the source of the Nile River was found through the efforts of British explorers Richard Burton, James Augustus Grant, and Samuel White Baker, who, through their tenacity, revealed the great river’s secret. This handsome volume chronicles the expeditions, exotic lands, initial failures, and hard-won successes through a vivid text accompanied by hundreds of fascinating graphics.The Discovery of the Nile recounts the complex history of the gradual exploration of the course of the river and its tributaries, from the ancient Egyptians to the Napoleonic conquests; from the British expedition to Abyssinia to the Egyptian invasion of Sudan. History comes to life through the lively narrative and superb visuals including nineteenth century landscape paintings, maps, botanical prints, and much more. History buffs will be delighted to delve into the fascinating story of the discovery of the Nile as recounted through hundreds of vibrant images and a narrative as lively and engaging as any adventure story.Amazon.com Review
Explorers have sought the sources of the Nile River since thedays of the pharaohs. This superbly illustrated, oversized bookdetails the quests of those ancients, but concentrates more on the19th-century efforts of men who were well known in their day: SirRichard Francis Burton, Sir Benjamin Baker, John HanningSpeke, Sir Henry Morton Stanley, DavidLivingstone. Gianni Guadalupi also covers lesser-known explorers,especially generally uncelebrated Africans in the employ of MehemetAli, the Albanian pasha who conquered Egypt and much of the Sudan inthe early 19th century. Packed with ethnographic drawings, paintings,maps, and charts, The Discovery of the Nile will fuel thedreams of those who long to undertake a latter-day Nile voyage oftheir own. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Outstanding
With over 300 pages, countless well-reproduced color illustrations mostly from historic prints (printed in Italy- no surprise)and oversized pages around 10 x 14 inches, this book is one of my favorite "coffee table" books.But it is more than that. It is engagingly written and filled with information on the discovery of the Nile and more.I especially like all the historic maps reprinted in it. There is so much more, too, including David Roberts' prints in very accurate color.If you are at all interested in this subject, you will love this book!

Stunning Plates!
The plates in this LARGE volume are absolutely stunning!If you are at all interested in the history of Africa, it will be well worth your while to get this book before all of the cheaper copies are bought up. ... Read more