Customer Reviews

A History of Egypt, Part 1: From the Earliest Time to the Persian Conquest (Pt. 1)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Breasted's account of the history, culture, and religion of ancient Egypt stands, to this day, as a rare example of scientific writing that is also tremenduously entertaining to read. Never dry, this book is lively, vividly evoking images of the subjects described. Though research into ancient Egypt in the decades since this book was originally written has made many important discoveries, the essential value of this book, its capability to enlighten the reader on one of the great cultures of human civilization, has not diminished. As a writer, Breasted might have excelled at almost any genre of literature he might have selected. His work as a serious historian allowed him to use his skill as a writer to make otherwise perhaps esoteric material available to a broad range of readers, asking not much more from the reader than the capability to simply enjoy a good book.

While his translations are slightly dated because of new linguistic discoveries, there is still no other work that can compare to James Breasted's monumental "History of Ancient Egypt." It is an indispensable work for novice and expert alike. There are many epigones to this book, but not many are equal to it. It is stylish in manner, which captivates the reader's interest and holds it through many, many pages - no little feat! I would highly recommend this book to any one wishing to discover ancient Egyptian culture, whether your studies are inchoate or advanced. It is marvellous!

My copy is the Bantam 1964 reprint of the 1905 classic. Almost a hundred years old, this book still reads surprisingly easily. Whether it's out of date or not, I'm in no position to judge, not being an expert in this field. But I'd assume that a lot of archaeological discoveries must have been made in the last century to make this book somewhat obsolete.

Breasted was the first and foremost American Egyptologist, the founder of the prestigious Oriental Institute of Chicago (the premier archaeology academy in America - featured in Indiana Jones), and the first archaeologist elected to the National Academy of Sciences.(He was also a former President of the American Historical Association, and must have been the only person to have both honors.) I particularly like his opinions of Thuthmosis III, whose 3450th passing is today.

Two other books that may shed some light on the recent findings are "Egypt of the Pharaohs" by Sir Alan Gardiner and "The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt" edited by Ian Shaw.

Back when I first read Breasted's history it was already 60 years old. I was 14 and much enamored of this ancient culture that I knew mostly from horror movies and eerie museum displays. Cruising the library shelves I found this ponderous volume and dived into it. Starting a lifelong habit of always picking the heaviest book. Of course, the book was out of date then, and today it is more a document of the turn of the century mythology about ancient Egypt than it is anything that qualifies as 'history.'

And yet, in many ways it entirely changed the world of a fourteen year old child - whose horizons were suddenly broadened in a multitude of directions. Breasted bridges the gap between tedious academic history and popular and simpleminded glosses. He is always conscious that the facts he narrates are a telescopic look into a culture almost completely alien from what we are today. His simple, direct style has brought the old world alive for the curious for almost a century now.

If his thinking seems a bit naïve now, it is important to understand that there has been a wealth of discovery in the intervening years. And this book was one of the inspirations that fueled that pursuit of knowledge, drawing people's attention to the mysterious past, and inspiring countless readers to look further. Look elsewhere for accurate material, but come here to see ithe excitement in the archeologist's mind.

Both vols 1 & 2 of this long out-of-print classic belong on the reference shelves of any aspiring Egyptologist or ANE historian. And if the reader is truly serious, the companion Ancient Records of Egypt, vols 1-5 belong there as well. Breasted refers to these coyly as a 'dictionary'. They represent a completely new translation (ab ovo) of all memorials, et al extant at the time of the original publication - 1909 - and are referred to throughout the main history.
This history, though dated, is a much better read than the more recent and stuffy work by Grimal (a sure cure for insomnia).
Breasted is able to switch from a wonderful flow of descriptive narrative when giving a synopsis of The Land to a more scholarly mode without dropping a beat.
Don't buy this book for the illustrations - being an off-print, they've suffered in the process but there are better places to find these anyway. The Oriental Institute Archives come to mind.
This is the seminal work on AE history despite its age - the historical vade mecum for the AE buff.

The person who refers to himself as reader "July 8 2003" should stick to comic books and tabloids. He (or She) has no historical clue and was probably on drugs while reading Breasted.

To Call Tuthmosis III (who spread civilization into Asia among the savage Hittites) a mass murderer, displays the utmost ignorrance of the simplest facts of ancient history. The barbarians of Asia Minor raided cities, killed, maimed, raped and pillaged and it was the duty of any civilized King, from the Pharaohs down to the Romans, to restore order in the Empire and force civilization upon them.

I can understand our dislike for war in the 21st century; I am a pacifist myself. War is outdated like tooth extraction and limb amputation without anaesthesia, but 16 centuries before the birth of Christ life was different and thanks to Great rulers like Tuthmosis III, and Alexander the great, we can enjoy peace today.

For the love of God, read History from an historical standpoint not your own morality or else stick to watching Fox news.

James Henry Breasted, is the founder of american egyptology. I use the 1954 print of this book as a reference book. James Henry Breasted has opened the door to Egypts past for all to have a glance at the world as it was thousands of years ago. This book is a must have if you want to study ancient Egypt.

The content of A History of Egypt is without peer and essential to ones understanding of this ancient civilization. However, the reproduction of the original text and photographs is unworthy of its author and his work. Broken type, such as many a dot-less lower-case "i" and arm-less lower case "r" is a constant irritant and source of confusion throughout its 600 pages. The original photographs have lost much valuable detail, bordering on worthlessness. A long-ago reader's inane underlining, imbedded in the source text, is carefully preserved in defiance of our digital age. Surely a better source copy could have been found resulting in a cleaner edition, I am appalled to think that Amazon would permit such a shoddy reproduction to leave its premises without due warning.

a) Very poor print
b) Copy of previous readers' remarks on the text side
c) Very poor quality of images

A better quality edition with colored plates should be available, even at some more cost

See my review of A History of Egypt, vol 1.