Death and Burial in Ancient Egypt [Hardcover]

Salima Ikram (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 17, 2003 | ISBN-10: 0582772168 | ISBN-13: 978-0582772168

In Ancient Egypt, how you died was just as important as how you lived.  After all, your eternal existence was at stake.  The rituals, coffins, plans, treasures, temples, tombs and spells that surrounded death were pervasive, detailed and profound.  This book covers all aspects of death in ancient Egypt.

Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs about death, after life, and resurrection are explained, with a section on the Egyptian funeral. The mummification process, with all the variations that took place in Egypt's three thousand year history, is also explored in detail. This is a complete source-book on death and burial in ancient Egypt.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

For ancient Egyptians, death was part of the journey of life.

The tombs, mortuary temples and mummies the Egyptians produced were a celebration of life and a means of continuing it for eternity.

Death and Burial in Ancient Egypt transports us to a different world, to reveal the religion and funerary beliefs of one of the world's greatest civilizations.

About the Author

Professor Salima Ikram is Assistant Professor of Egyptology and American University in Cairo.  She is the author of `The Mummy in Ancient Egypt' (Thames and Hudson).  She has curated and organised many special exhibitions including `May He Live Forever', celebrating the 75th anniversary of the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Longman (February 17, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0582772168
• ISBN-13: 978-0582772168
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,129,661 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fun summary of current knowledge, April 19, 2005

By 

Sara E. Orel (Kirksville, Missouri, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Death and Burial in Ancient Egypt (Hardcover)

If you are interested in mummification, this is definitely the book to have. Salima Ikram writes well, and the stories she has to tell are just amazing. The discussion of making mummies includes not just the way humans are treated, but also animals, something that until the work of Dr. Ikram has been really difficult to find out about. She has photographs of things you won't find elsewhere (without a lot of looking through much more difficult to find sources), and a useful appendix and excellent index. My one regret is that the photographs are all in black and white (and for a few of them the lack of contrast indicates that they were transferred from colour images). I would love to have the beautiful colour photos I am sure she has access to. But that would make this a much more expensive volume. The quality of the information, the images that she does use, and the lively writing all added together make this a must for someone with great curiosity about ancient Egypt.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Egyptian Mummies 101, September 29, 2007

By 

Friend of Egypt "Instructor" (Midwest, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Death and Burial in Ancient Egypt (Hardcover)

Salima Ikram is an experienced Egyptologist whom has written many excellent books and is a constant contributing author for KMT magazine Kmt. This book is basically a shortened version of her earlier, much larger, and more scholarly work "The Mummy in Ancient Egypt" Mummy in Ancient Egypt: Equipping the Dead for Eternity co-authored with Aidian Dodson, another prolific writer of Egyptian works. For beginners "Death and Burial" is a good start into the subject. However, there is much material at hand that covers Egyptian mummification and burial practices just as well, if not better.

Bob Brier's book "Egyptian Mummies" Egyptian Mummies: Unraveling the Secrets of an Ancient Art. contains essentially the same information on the embalming process with some major exceptions, he actually mummified a modern human in the manner of the ancient Egyptians. His mummy research is still the cornerstone for Egyptian methodology and his modern mummy is still being studied today. As one of the world's top experts in the field, Brier's style brings a vein of humor to the subject that most readers will find as a fresh relief from the "stiff" writing styles of most Egyptologists. He even has a short chapter "The Mummy in Film" which ends his volume well.

All three books are good. Ikram's masterwork is definitely her earlier "Mummy" which stands as a premier for burial practices and an excellent reference that I'm sure most Egyptologists have at hand. If I had to choose a starter book, Brier would win with a close second by Ikram.

One drawback for some is that all of these books have no color photography. This does not detract from their content but it would have made them even more appealing to a wider audience. If you enjoy Ikram's "Death & Burial" you'll want to see her earlier work and read Brier's book as well.