Customer Reviews

The British Museum Concise Introduction to Ancient Egypt

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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

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.