Customer Reviews

Egyptian Mythology (Mythology Series)

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I am 10 years old and I read this book after watching the movie 'The Mummy'. This book provided most of the answers to the questions I had about Ancient Eygpt. I found Imhotep was a great vizier and architect of Djoser. I looked for Hammanaptra but did not find it. My father said it was probaly a make believe city. I loved the pictures in the book and I found it was easy to read even at my age. I would recommend it to other children above the age of 9. I would also like to say that it was a great book and I am now very interested in Eygpt.

Hey I'm 14 and I got the book too. This book is a really good value. It has information about all aspects of ancient egyptian stuff, like the gods, daily life and all sorts of stuff. One of the biggest thing in it though is about religeon and gods and godesses which it explains in great detail. The pictures are beautifully done and it is in an easy-to-read format. You can probobly find out the info in it online but all in all it is a great book with lot's of information in it. It is well worth the price!

The ancentral and ancients myths and legends of Egypt comes alive through an incredible study supported with over 100 color and archival images . The information is valuable ; sumptuous edition , highlighted volume extraordinary detailed .
Acquire this issue of you are interested in the story and the costumes of that advanced and yet mysterious civilization.

What is wrong:

First, the pictures: most of them are not photographs of existing tombs or papyrii but _seem_ to be paintings made for the book. (There is no information about the pictures!) There is one of Cleopatra in a costume no Egyptian or Greek woman (which is what she was) would ever have worn (a sort of bikini). It looks like a costume drawing for a Hollywood movie of the 1930s which was never made.

Then, opinions are presented as facts and facts are just wrong, for example:
"The pharaohs fostered this belief [that each was the son of the god Ra] until the time of Alexander the Great."

On the contrary, Alexander, and the Ptolemies and Romans after him, always had themselves portrayed in the traditional Egyptian manner. Nor do we know that the kings 'fostered' a belief rather than truly believed it themselves.

"Queen Hatshepsut (a regent)...sent expeditions to the land of Punt...later abdicated".

Actually, she was regent for a short time, then was enthroned as _King_! in a religious ceremony which installs the 'ka' of the ruler into the current human on the throne, thus making her a living god! _Not_ something you can abdicate from!

In fact, no one knows what happened to her when her name is no longer found in the records - whether she died, naturally or not, or retired (still King but leaving the work of the state to the co-ruler, her stepson).

She sent only _one_ expedition to Punt and that was such a big deal that she recorded it on her tomb temple.

I could go on.

Very little in the book is either correct or honest. There are many, many better books on ancient Egypt, at all reading levels, and with much better illustrations.