Ancient Egypt [Paperback]

David P. Silverman (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 019521952X | ISBN-13: 978-0195219524 | Publication Date: June 5, 2003

The ancient Egyptians created some of the world's most beautiful art and architecture. To this day, this ancient civilization--which produced the great pyramids, the riddle of the Sphinx, and the riches of Tutankhamun--exerts a strong hold on our imaginations.
Now, in Ancient Egypt, eminent Egyptologist David P. Silverman and a team of leading scholars explore the cultural wealth of this civilization in a series of intriguing and authoritative essays based on the latest theories and discoveries. Illustrated with more than 200 superb color photographs, maps, and charts, this book illuminates the vivid and powerful symbolic images of this fascinating culture--from pyramids and temples to priests and rituals; from hieroglyphic writing to daily life by the Nile; and from temple carvings to the cult of the dead. Correcting the popular misconception of the Egyptians as a death-obsessed people, the book uses the most recent historical research and archaeological finds to illuminate the routines of daily life in royal, elite, priestly circles, as well as at lower levels of society. We learn, for example, that despite the monochromatic appearance of most temple ruins today, in ancient times they would have been colorful, even gleaming structures; that the title "Pharaoh" derives from the Egyptian phrase per aa, which means "great house" and was originally a reference to the royal palace; that temples employed all manner of part-time and full-time personnel, from farmers and carpenters to scribes, jewelers, and keepers of livestock; and that Egyptian law viewed women as equal to men, and they could, in some cases, wield considerable influence.
The ancient Egyptians created some of the world's most beautiful art and architecture. To this day, this ancient civilization--which produced the great pyramids, the riddle of the Sphinx, and the riches of Tutankhamun--exerts a strong hold on our imaginations.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Twelve contributing scholars have joined Silverman in writing this lavishly illustrated book that contains 200 color photographs, maps, and charts. Their essays cover such broad subjects as history, geography, legends, archaeology, religion, economy, art, architecture, and language. There are pieces on international trade and travel, farming, hunting, fishing, mining, capital cities, palaces, fortresses, gender and society, mathematics, medicine, magic, the pharaohs, the cosmos, the cult of the dead, ritual games, the pyramids, tombs, temples, the solar cycle, and hieroglyphs. The writing is based on the latest historical research and archaeological finds, offering readers a penetrating look at the daily life of both royalty and commoner. George Cohen --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Blend 200 newly-commissioned color art pieces and photos of architecture and tombs with the latest Egyptology scholarship and a focus on historical themes and you have a coverage by an Egyptologist and a team of scholars which competes well with any on the market. Essays on the latest discoveries provide central keys to understanding new development in Egyptology. -- Midwest Book Review --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (June 5, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 019521952X
• ISBN-13: 978-0195219524
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #30,451 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #16 in Books > History > Ancient > Egypt

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an excellent coffee table book with vivid images, August 3, 2000

By 

Heath L. Buckmaster "_heath_" (Sacramento, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ancient Egypt (Hardcover)

I have always been fascinated with ancient egypt, and have many books on the location, and its history. This is a perfect coffee table book, in fact, I have it on my coffee table always. The images are vivid, and some breathtaking. There are historical details about the land, its culture, myths, gods, etc. The book also has wonderful images of many of the artifacts found in tombs during excavations, as well as detailed accounts of some of the gods and goddesses and their lives and influences on society. Other topics covered are the tombs, artwork, language, architecture, women in egypt and their roles, etc. wonderful book.

41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!, January 10, 2000

By 

Thrilled (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ancient Egypt (Hardcover)

This is a very interesting and extremely readable book. The writer does not try to cram information, rather he arranges the information as well as the illustrations in a balanced and attractive way. He is also honest about what information is in question and what evidence is considered reliable. There are many colorful illustrations and this makes it all the more interesting to read and get involved. The writer makes a civilisation of long ago come alive today.

34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Walk Like An Egyptian, March 4, 2002

By 

Author Bill Peschel "Writers Gone Wild" (Hershey, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ancient Egypt (Hardcover)

"Ancient Egypt" is the perfect antidote to those Time-Life books about ancient civilizations, where you look at the pictures and read the text and wonder, "is that all there is?"

Well, of course there is. The problem is finding it. This collection of essays uses words, pictures, artwork and imaginative reconstructions to describe the ancient world ruled by gods and which built monuments that have lasted millennia.

The book's 15 chapters opens all aspects of the Nile kingdom's world. In addition to the expected sections on the pyramids, its hieroglyphs and Pharaohs, "Ancient Egypt" also delves into religious beliefs, political campaigns, the role of women, the development of towns and trade and the daily rituals of its people.

Wrapped around the text are superlative photographs, shorter articles about equally fascinating subjects (a profile of Ramesses the Great in the section on Pharaohs, for example, or on the "letters" to the dead, written on simple pottery bowls and deposited in the tomb or coffin), plenty of colorful reproductions of Egyptian art so vivid that the course of individual brush-strokes could be seen, and commissioned drawings giving theories of how pyramids were built, and what the Temple of Karnak must have looked like at its height.

But what really shines are the little touches. A closeup of an Egyptian artist, his scruffy hair and scraggy beard making him look like a New York bohemian, using an odd-shaped tool on a wooden beam; the vivid face of a long-dead woman painted on a board and included with her mummy wrappings, gazing at the reader with the poise of nobility; a piece of prose passed among the scribes that mocks all other trades ("the potter is under the soil, although he stands among the living / He grubs in the mud more than a pig in order to bake his pots"); a drawing of a fortress built to impress the Nubians in southern Egypt, looking for all the world, with its towers and crenellations like something out of medieval Europe.

So much about ancient Egypt seems so familiar, but, really, we were just watching "The Ten Commandments," or remembering the villain King Tut from the old Batman TV show."Ancient Egypt" shows us what we were missing.