Customer Reviews

Chronicle of a Pharaoh: The Intimate Life of Amenhotep III

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It is rather surprising that a book-length biography of a king who lived three thousand years ago could be accomplished. Naturally, there are few amusing anecdotes or personal recollections to draw on, and it is not possible to come up with even a biographer's speculations about how the character of the subject was formed. What Dr. Fletcher (the jacket says she is a "freelance Egyptologist") can do is look at the monuments, paintings, and written records to show aspects of what Amenhotep III did from year to year, and from his possessions make inferences as to what was important to him. It is as full a biography of this ancient as we could expect.

For instance, it is possible to get some idea of what the prince's upbringing was like. Children of the royal nursery were taught to read and write hieratic, the "cursive" variety of hieroglyphics by the scribe Menkheper. He also would have learned cuneiform script, the language of diplomatic correspondence of the time, and he would use it prolifically during his reign. A primer of the time advises students: "You have to do your exercises daily. Don't be idle... Ask from those who know more than you, and don't be weary - try to understand what your teacher wants, listen to his instructions." Maybe such exhortations worked, but obviously not always: a contemporary proverb says, "A boy's ear is on his back: he hears when he is beaten." It was not all work and no play, however. There is a palette of six blocks of paints which bears the name of Amenhotep III, and his playroom (shared by children of the royal generations) in the palace of Amarna has paint marks on the floor and lower walls.

_Chronicle of a Pharaoh_ is a beautifully illustrated book, with pictures on most of its pages. Some of the descriptions of life in ancient Egypt will seem as if they are taken from the ruling classes of our own times, but most interesting are the descriptions of customs, dress, and religion which are nothing like our own. Amenhotep III lived a full reign of 38 years, mostly with his nation at peace, and prosperous from good weather and big harvests. He had many construction projects, notably the temples at Luxor. He was a capable administrator and had a sense of humor (shown by the cache of diplomatic correspondence displayed here). The details of life in the times, and the lovely pictures, are captivating.

Chronicle of a Pharaoh is a readable in-depth look at pharaoh Amenhotep III, one of the three greatest kings of ancient Egypt. The layout is superb as it chronicles his life with a year-by-year format. Contains a generous amount of personal minutae, reinforced with pictures and plates on almost every page. Outstanding in all respects, this one is a keeper.

I agree with the first reviewer--it's amazing that Joann Fletcher has pieced together so much about Amenhotep and presents it in a way that conveys an actual life. The little details, like the name of his family cat, make this book tons of fun. An all-around beautiful book.

First of all, the design of the book is exquisite; it's a pleasure to leaf through this book, full of colorful high-quality illustrations. After reading it, however, I found the content a bit disappointing, most of it was re-hashing of the fairly well-known facts, although with a few interesting tidbits sprinkled throughout. This book would be great for someone with a passing interest in Ancient Egypt, it gives a good general overview of what life might have been like during the New Kingdom.

A very nice hard-cover book with wonderful full color plates and a wealth of information concerning his intimate life, not overly concentrating on his building projects but more on his personal life.

Non-fiction biography with great color photographs on every single page; the book is worth it just for those. It is a well written biography of the father of Akenahaten. It is interesting to learn that he was dabbling in an interest in the "Aten" god cult prior to his son Akhenaten's obsession with it later on when he became sole ruler.
I recently went to a museum show of objects sent from the British museum, interestingly the majority were objects found in the pages of this book! Unbelievable to see them in real life!! A great experience.