Customer Reviews

Ancient Egypt: The Great Discoveries

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
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Since rediscovering Ancient Egypt after a laspe of 15 years this boo k was an excellent way to put things in persepctive. Clear overview of old and recent discoveries and an excellent starting place for in-depth research. Interesting reading and wonderful pictures.

This is probably the best single, detailed book on the antiquities in Egypt that I have seen. The organization is unusual, but that probably makes it more interesting. It is real written with many good photos. I liked it so much I bought a second copy for a friend who has been to Egypt.

this book is a fabulous breakdown yr to yr of the great discoveries of egypt. the author apologies that it was not possible to get all the discoveries for everything found, but he has done a great job with what has been included. many of the finds are described well in detail, and given to you with the who what where and when of how the discovery came to light. there is a lot of information on every page, including the side margins which will tell you the archaeologist and their background and well as some historical info as to who controlled the aniquities throughout the course of time. you will constantly be updated as to when control changed hands, and the politics involved in why certain people were put as head of antiquites. updates throughout also, on when museums were established, and what antiquities were given away, stolen, destroyed, exported, etc... i havent found a better such complete compilation of events on a timeline than this. not your average compilation on egypt a must have for your bookshelf. nicholas reeves knows his stuff and presents it well

A well written and though out book by Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves. Basically, this is a chronological listing of important Discoveries in Egyptology. This is a good book for the student and layman. As an Egyptology student, this book was helpful to highlight interesting areas for further study. 2 minor negative comments are: the body font appears too spread out for easy reading and size of the Font too small. However, in general, Dr. Reeves book provides excellent content to guide the scolar and enthusiast.

I had some doubts about a chronological approach, but it was a fascinating way to cover the discoveries and the politics in one book. Nicholas Reeves couldn't give photos of all the discoveries, but what he did, in condensed form, was perhaps even better. Brief biographies of all the characters making major discoveries, good lists of what was in each tomb/find, how or why this was important, and often, lists of the museum catalog numbers and the museums where each piece now resides. The last was shocking in a number of cases because one "find" would be split and end up in 3 museums. Anyone researching the finds would surely need a good travel budget! (On the other hand, this would make a great excuse to travel all over...) I just wish I had seen this book before visiting the Metropolitan Museum collection. My time was much too short there, but I would have understood much more of what I was seeing and been able to be more selective rather than being overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of material on display. I'm definitely getting a copy of this book.

There are some really good maps and pictures in this book.
The trouble with ancient empires like that of Egypt and China seems to be
cultural xenophobia and ingrained traditions that stop
innovation and cutural transfer from taking place.
The tradition directed civilization changes very slowly
unless their are wars or invasions like the Hyksos, Persians or the Alexandrian Greeks or Romans. Being the best around can be the worse thing for progress? Looking at 5000 years of cultural stagnation can get really boring. There were several thousands of years at a time where pretty much nothing new was allowed to happen by their God-Kings.

I think this book is really great! It tells me what had discovered in the past 100 years in Egypt in order, includes tombs, temples, statues etc. This book is very useful, I think. This book is very suitable for those who really like egypt and it will seem be a dictionary to them. This book is very thick and are nearly all printed with colour. And it is not expensive so i highly recommend this to all of you. Hope you will enjoy it like me!

I have this book but have not finished it yet, but from what I've read, I already know that it is wonderfully written, and should be easily read by anyone. And better yet, there are very many well-chosen pictures to match each discovery displayed on each page. The discoveries are put in order by year so it's easier to find the discovery you want to read about. There are many of the lesser known finds, such as the Oxyrhynchus Papyri, and greater(the Tomb of Twtankhamwn, for example). There are old(the Rosetta Stone,)and recent(Valley of the Golden Mummies). It gives the info---ALL the info---about the finds, such as Who, When, What, and tells the story of the person who found it. This book is perfect for anyone interested in Egypt or its artifacts. If you're one of these people, be sure to get this book!