Customer Reviews

Daughters of Isis: Women of Ancient Egypt (Penguin History)

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This book is an excellent scholarly study of the women of Ancient Egypt. Pulling exclusively from written accounts and archaeology finds, Ms. Tyldesley remarks on what we know of all facets of the lives of the women of this age. She is careful to admit when we don't have enough knowledge to guess the meaning of this, or the customary use of that. She is never afraid to admit we just don't know for sure.

The great scope of this work manages to be laid out in an easy to read and understand format that is entertaining as well as informative. Interspersed throughout the text is quotes from various ancient translated sources that give an insight to daily life and beliefs. The book also is wonderful because it looks at both the wealthy Queens and the lowly servants, the slaves, the merchant's wives.

What did they wear? Why did they wear wigs and shave their natural hair? What jobs did women hold? How were marriages arranged? Did harems of women really exist? Which women ruled Egypt alone? What rights did women have in Ancient Egypt? What was day to day life like? Why was Ancient Egypt the very best society for women at the time? What did they eat?

It is all explained with supporting information, footnotes, and an extensive bibliography to advance your search for information after you've read this book. Highly recommended addition to your library!

"Daughters of Isis," is a must from those who want to know the ins and outs of Egyptian civilization, which includes the often over-looked role of women. This book covers the life of women from birth to death and contains a wonderful chapter on female kings, including Maatkare Hatchepsut and Neferuaten Nefertiti along with other, lesser known great women. Changes in styles and beliefs through the history of Ancient Egypt are noted with wonderful detail. The plates are superb and portray a variety of household implements and portrayals the Egyptians, themselves, made of their women. Forming a wonderful compliment to other literature that examines the lives of those below Pharaoh as well as other works by Joyce, "Daughters of Isis" does those same daughters and their goddess quite the justice.

From the moment I began reading this wonderful book, I was hooked! Joyce Tyldesley draws you in with her evocative narrative and transports you to a time and place often romanticized by modern Western culture. She "sets the record straight" and tells the reader, based on current archaeological evidence, what women's lives were like 3,000 years ago in Egypt. The great thing about this book is that it's written with the average reader in mind (in other words, in plain English), so you don't have to have a Ph.D in Egyptology to understand it. Tyldesley discusses every aspect of women's lives, from what makeup they used, how they dressed, what they ate, and their daily household duties. She describes women from every social class--from the poor all the way up to royalty. The author does a good job of presenting available evidence and making objective interpretations, not assumptions as many archaeologists have in the past. She constantly points out throughout the book how little is actually known about women's lives, since Egyptian history was recorded by men. Even the ever-present wall paintings which adorn tombs and temples present Egyptian life in an idealized manner, so it is often hard to deduce what is real and what is fantasy.

The book includes a plethora of photographs and illustrations which act as effective visual aides to the text. The well-organized timeline in the back of the book was also very helpful, and I found myself referring to it often just to keep track of the time periods and which pharaoh came when. This was a very enjoyable book which I had a hard time putting down. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in ancient women's history.

joyce tyldesley is such a great writer. this 318 page book has 8 chapter's images of women, married bliss, mistress of the house, work and play, good grooming, the royal harem, female kings, and religious life and death. this is a great book on women in ancicent egypt. you can tell that joyce tyldesley has researced the topics and knows what she is talking about and she also puts it into words that anyone can understand. there are 16 pages of black and white pictures. if you are just looking for a picture book this is not for you but if you are looking for a book with great info on women of ancient egypt this is the book for you.

Egyptologist Joyce Tyldesley has provided us with a stunning rare glimpse into the lives of ancient Egyptian common and royal women. This informative, well-researched book discusses the role women played in Egyptian art; marriage; common household life; women's work and leisure activities; grooming; royal women (from harem members to the female pharoahs); religious life and funerary customs for women. Tyldesley explores every aspect of the lives of these ancient women - from their daily chores and child-rearing practices to their marital relationships and religious affiliations to descriptions of elaborate hairstyles, clothing and jewelry. Tyldesley provides plenty of interesting photographs and drawings to illustrate her fascinating text, and includes an informative geographical and historical background, maps and a historical chronology of events to help orient the reader. The book is extremely well organized and well written. You will come away with a real understanding of and appreciation for the lives of ancient Egyptian women.

This is an exhaustive attempt to depict the lives of women in ancient Egypt. It is compiled mostly from primary sources, contemporary observations, and some references to papers published in the last decade. Many of the observations are assumptions from legal records and comparisons to what is known about the of contemporary women in other Mediterranean cultures. While being an academic work, it is an easy read and clearly was written for non academics. Recommended for the curious and introductory reading for this area of expertise.

I came very close to getting in very deep trouble for bringing this book to school (I'm a freshman in highschool.) the day after I'd bought it. At that point I had barely begun it.
One of my friends decided to look through the book, and came upon a very detail picture of a prostitute with a client.

Other than that, this book was very helpful, and it helped me to understand Ancient Egyptian women a little better. It doesn't really need a synopsis, the name does sort of tell you what the book is about.

If you are interested in Ancient Egypt, definitely try it, just make sure you don't let any little kids look through it.

This is a wonderful book; it examines much less talked about lives of women in ancient Egypt. I find, Joyce Tyldesley, a writer of immense power, who can bring a world that we know comparatively so little about so close to us. I like her style, not dry and yet not overly flowery, and most importantly not inventing anything that is not there. She takes information and examines it without building any falsification around it. History is interesting and beautiful with out anyone actually inventing anything. Joyce Tyldesley have done an exemplary job, which cannot be compared to some of our other historical literature. It is a refreshing female perspective on lives of women of Ancient Egypt. I could not put the book down until I finished it. I want to thank her for that.

Here a great overview of everyday household life in ancient Egyptian culture, given from the central locus of the ancient Egyptian woman. The author uses extensive archaeological and written sources to create a vivid pictures of many, many aspects of Egyptian material culture. The lower and upper classes are considered. There is little overlap between this work and the biographies of Tyldesley, even in the chapter on Female Kings, which makes it a genuinely worthwhile addition to her corpus. Just as those biographies often spilled over to reveal a general history of the period they were set in, so this overview of women in Egypt spills over to talk about all of Egyptian culture.

This book is one more evidence of the civility of ancient Egyptians. In short, women in ancient Egypt were treated equally to men. Actually, the ancient Egyptians believed that the royal blood flows through princesses rather than princes.