The British Museum Concise Introduction to Ancient Egypt [Paperback]

T.G.H. James (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 30, 2005

The British Museum Concise Introduction to Ancient Egypt provides a lively and accessible introduction to ancient Egyptian life for general readers and students. The nearly independent chapters provide a comprehensive survey of ancient Egypt and its rich and well-documented culture. In addition to individual chapter bibliographies there is a general bibliography, an annotated list of important museum collections, a king list with a selected set of illustrated royal cartouches, and a general index.

Highlights include:

• Lively overviews distilled from the latest discoveries and research
  
• Maps, plans, reconstruction drawings, chronologies, site lists and recommendations for further reading
  
• Hundreds of color and black-and-white illustrations

T.G.H. James is a former Keeper of the Department of Ancient Egypt and the Sudan in the British Museum and is the author of several books on Egypt and Egyptology, including Pharoah's People: Scenes from Life in Imperial Egypt; Howard Carter; Tutankhamun; and others.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: University of Michigan Press (September 30, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0472031376
• ISBN-13: 978-0472031375
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,498,561 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars history book, October 27, 2010

By 

K. Echols "kyle" (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The British Museum Concise Introduction to Ancient Egypt (Paperback)

this is a decent history book of Ancient Egypt. It is less dry and boring than most history books and is ordered fairly well according to relevant topics and their dates. The book presents all there is to be known almost about Egypt ranging from pharaohs at 3100 BC (Narmer Menes) all the way to the evolution of hieroglyphics into the language we see it as today.

All in all this is a great book for history lovers and college students. 4 Stars

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars good but perhaps misfocused, March 18, 2010

By 

Michael Lewyn (Forest Hills, NY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The British Museum Concise Introduction to Ancient Egypt (Paperback)

This book gives the reader a good sense of why Egypt rose and survived so long: it was protected from invasion by deserts and the sea, was fertile because of the Nile, and had ample reserves of stone and metals in the nearby deserts.

James also explains Egypt's hidden vulnerability: the Nile was watered by rains hundreds of miles further south, and when there was too much rain (causing ruinous floods) or too little (causing drought) famine and other bad things resulted. One high official wrote on his tomb that in his time, "All of Upper Egypt perished of famine, and every person became so hungry that he ate his own children."

He also points out that Egypt was intellectually limited; because it never developed a normal alphabet, mass literacy did not happen, and ancient Egypt produced little nonreligious literature.

One thing I didn't like: the author spends so much space on arts and crafts that he does not devote enough space to more intellectually interesting issues, such as why Egypt declined.