Customer Reviews

Abydos: Holy City of Ancient Egypt

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The past of Egypt is truly captured in the words of Omm Sety and the photography of Zeini. History comes to life in this moving epic of the pharaonic period of Egypt. The book is a real monument to its author as she was affectionately known by tens of thousands of tourists and professionals. Sety is a British woman whose real name was Dorty Eady, and who spent 48 years in Eqypt until her passing. Her "Abydos" desribes the rise, the glory years, and the fall of this former magnificent site. Emphasized is the beautifully temple of Sety I in Abydos of about 1300 BC which really belongs in the list of the wonders of the ancient world. Sety was known and loved by the many thousands who visited her and Abydos. Even if visitors forgot what they saw, they never forgot Sety. Through the media she is known throughout the world. Within days of her passing, BBC televised a documentary "Omm Sety's Egypt." This book is Omm Sety's Egypt-- all 282 pages of it.! ! The book is full of intrigue. All visitors will learn much of what he or she can see or has seen in their encounter with Egypt's antiquities.

The authors painstakingly have explained, with photographs, the discoveries at and restoration of the temple of Sety I at Abydos, Egypt. Very detailed and interesting. Sketchy biographies of both authors. Discussed are how and why Abydos and the temple are thought to have been established and used, periods of Egyptian history and its gods, world religions as related to Egyptian temples, writings of various rulers. Hieroglyphs are frequently translated; the colors used by the ancient artists are explained. Overall, an excellent portrayal of life in ancient Egypt and how beliefs influenced the rulers, the citizens, and the structures they built.