Customer Reviews

Chronicle of the Pharaohs: The Reign-By-Reign Record of the Rulers and Dynasties of Ancient Egypt (Chronicles)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

have long been an avid student of ancient Egypt, since the age of 11 to be exact. I have never lost my interest in Egyptology, and it only gets strengthened when a book of this calibre comes along.

Chronicle of the Pharaohs is a wonderful guide to each and every pharaoh that ruled Egypt during its 3000 year history, and 30 dynasties. The author, Peter A. Clayton, does a fantastic job in not only the chronology, but also in the biographical information, history, and hieroglyhpic translations and transliterations of each pharaohs name.

Richly illustrated, this book is a must for any ancient Egypt fan's library.

Author: Peter A. Clayton
Published: 1995
Binding: Hardcover with Dust Jacket
Pages: 224
Illustrations: 350 (130 in color)

What follows is a synopsis/review of the book.

This book is five major sections, with a number of subsections in each section.

Preface and Introduction. This section introduces us to the subject of ancient Egypt, and we get a good introduction to the place of the pharaoh in the political state, as well as in the religion and mythology of ancient Egypt.

Section One. The First Pharaohs.
This section covers mainly the late predynastic period and early dynastic period. The unification of Egypt is the dominant theme here, when the "two lands" became one. Narmer and the legendary "Menes" are compared.

Section Two. The Pyramid Builders.

This section and subsections covers the pharaohs of the Old Kingdom, from 2700-2400 BC, and covers in particular the pyramid age.

Section Three. Chaos and Rebirth.
This section and its constituent subsections cover the "First Intermediate Period", when political stability collapsed, and there was over 120 years of civil war. This is followed by the "rebirth", and reunification of Egypt in the Middle Kingdom, dynasties 11-12. The "Second Intermediate Period" is also covered, the time when Egypt was invaded by the Hyksos.

Section Four. Rulers of an Empire. The New Kingdom era begins with the expulsion from Egypt of the foreign invaders. Thus begins a pattern of warrior pharaohs, who carve out the first empire in history of any significance.
Pharaohs like Thutmose III and Ramses II dominate the scene here.

Section Five. The Weakening of Pharaonic Power.
This is the Late Period of Egypt, or the "Third Intermediate Period", in which Egypt's power and influence decline for another 1000 years, from the 21st to 30 dynasties. During this time there was mostly foreign rule, but a few native dynasties prevailed. Finally, in 332 BC, Egypt was conquered by Alexander the Great, and his general, Ptolemy founded the last dynasty, the one that ended with Cleopatra VII as the last pharaoh of Egypt. Then Egypt became a province of Rome, and there were no more pharaohs.

All in all, "Chronicle of the Pharaohs" is an excellent piece of scholarship, history, biography, and is a fascinating reference tool and a great read. I recommend it highly to anyone interested in ancient Egypt, and history in general.

Without a doubt, this is one of the best accounts of Egypt's pharoahs I have ever read (and I have been reading about Egyptian history since a child in the 1960s). Easy-to-read and concise, "Chronicles" provided me with new information about personal favorites (Akhenaton, Hatshepsut, Thutmose III) and reminded of the reigns of others I'd forgotten (e.g. Ahmose I, Amenhotep III). I am not a historian and expect this book might lack details that a historian would want. However, as a history lover, and one fascinated by Egyptian history in particular, this is one of the books I would want with me if stranded on a desert island. I liked it so much that I also bought the "Chronicles Of The Roman Emperors", with which I am equally as pleased.

An excellent books, perhaps lacking a bit in depth, but very informative nevertheless. The best feature is that it gives some information on every pharoah, not just the famous ones, as well as on their wives, daughters and other female relatives, who often seem to be ignored by more prestigious tomes. I also especially appreciated the fairly comprehensive coverage of the evidence concerning the identity of the first pharoah, the shadowy "Scorpion", which I hadn't come across in any other book to date. In short, a valued addition to my Egyptology library.

I bought this book a number of years ago, and I return to it again and again. It starts with an interesting introduction on the chronology of Ancient Egypt and the problems of trying to reconcile archeological evidence with fragmentary written sources. Peter Clayton did an excellent job pulling together all the pieces available, and he would say when pieces were missing. I learned more about the Early Dynastic Period and the Middle Kingdom than I had suspected existed, and even the Intermediate Periods made more sense than I had run across before. I very much liked the translations of the pharonic names, especially the name of the woman who may have been Hor-Aha's queen: Berner-Ib, which literally translates as "Sweet-heart". Some of the ironies of history appealed to me, too, such as the fact that the features of the builder of the biggest pyramid (and only remaining Ancient Wonder of the World) are only known by one small statue three inches in height. The author tried to include photos of statues or paintings of every pharaoh and announced happily that the book even includes photos of the faces of the pharaohs themselves. I find that a mixed blessing, as Ramses II looks good considering his age, but Seqenenre is not a pretty sight. The only major complaint I have with the book is that it leaves you wanting more. Well, maybe not more photos of 3000+ year old corpses.

This book is the first I've come across with every single Egyptian pharaoh listed- even pharaohs I've never heard of, like "Scorpion", the first known pharaoh (even before Narmer!). The book is very good in the sense that it gives a the reader a viewpoint into each of the rulers lives, deeds, and conquests, even including sections on the royal wives and families. The photographs are excellent, especially in the coverage of Seti I/Ramses II, however, I found myself longing for a deeper look into each of the pharaohs history. Some of the descriptions are rather generalized and vapid, yet long and slightly tedious to read.Yet for a beginning Egyptolophile, it is a good addition to the collection.

Although informative, this guide to the chronology of the dynasties of Egypt is written in a style that does not lend itself to easy reading. The author presupposes that the reader is familiar with many facets of Egyptology that are beyond the entry level. A few simple lessons would have gone a long way. It is a tedious read, and a book that can easily be put down, even by the most avid fan of egyptology. The illustrations are excellent, and the extent of coverage, especially the reigns of Seti I and Ramses II, are very good. This is a worthwhile buy to the beginning explorer, as it sets time frames for the dynasties and gives perspective to the prosession of kings, however it needs re-editing to make it a must have volume.

For people, like me, who are fascinated by political history and specifically in statistics (dates, rulers, genealogy, maps etc.) this is a great, great book for which 5 stars are not too much. Fans of cultural and other types of history however, should not buy this book. One more thing about the reader from Austin, Texas who was disappointed that this book was not as detailed as he had hoped: The last of the native pharaos died more than 2000 years ago. Much information has been lost. In stead of dramatizing things, or writing some interesting theories which are based on air, this book only gives the hard facts of which is found and known about these people. And that is a good thing, because otherwise people expect the details to be known. Which they aren't.

I have a whole library of books on ancient Egypt and the dynasties of pharaohs ruling from 2664 B.C. to 345 B.C. and i consider this book to be the best encompassing book available for people who want to learn about ancient Egypt. This book should be the first you buy and read as a neew scholar to ancient Egyptian history. You will not regret it and it will allow you to decide how to procede with your interest.

I have been searching for a book all over the Internet on all Egyptian pharaohs from the beginning to the end. However, it was quite hard until I came to Amazon and found this book.
I tell you Amazon has every book you are looking for!
I read the reviews, and "looked" in the book.
I bought it, and I tell you that this is one of the best comprehensive book ever! It is in great detail and has many colored pictures.
I would suggest anyone to get this book because it makes a great detail reference and information on the pharaohs.

The writing style leaves something to be desired, which is all that keeps this from being a five-star review; purely for information, the book is a treasure, but the narrative style is somewhat flat and uninspiring. This book is a marvellous reference, but a rather tedious read. It succeeds gloriously in its primary purpose, but it would have been a nice extra if it had been more compellingly written.