Customer Reviews

Judgement of the Pharaoh: Crime and Punishment in Ancient Egypt

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Excellent overview of crime and punishment in ancient Egypt. Well documented. Probably of more interest to scholars.

This book was given to me as a Christmas present and I consider it one of the best books I've read lately. Ms. Tyldesley covered all aspects of ancient Egyptian justice, not just the Pharaohs. If you are a beginner to ancient civilizations as I am, you will really enjoy this book.

Egyptologist Joyce Tyldesley has an enviable string of best-selling books to her credit; her demonstrated strong suits being the biographies of pharaonic queens, and the societal aspects/conditions of non-royal women in ancient Egypt. All of these previous efforts are informative, insightful, and can probably be classified as references on these topics. The Judgement of the Pharaoh however, is a departure from her previous efforts and in my opinion does not achieve the majestic heights of her lofty classics. The initial third of this book is the most interesting and informative aspect. After that, things begin to tumble downhill. To all who are even casual readers aquainted with ancient Egyptian historicity, this book rehashes selected historical events, requotes dynastic literature, and in essence adds nothing that has not been theorized or quoted previously. By far the weakest section of this well traveled recitation of ancient Egyptian crime sprees, is the treatment afforded the death/murder of the 18th dynasty pharaoh Tutankhamun. Ms. Tylsesley inexplicably equates the postulated assassination theory of Tutankhamun with the Hollywoodesque "Curse of the Mummy" story. This is sheer nonsense. Playing crime detective, she sets out to punch gaping holes in the Tutankhamun murder theory as it was so eloquently and persuasively covered in Bob Brier's best-selling book "The Murder of Tutankhamun". In the final analysis, Ms. Tyldesley has to settle for mere pin-pricks and, in closing, leaves us wondering why she even attempted to tackle this subject in the first place. All in all, this book is very readable and does an excellent job of explaining the concept of ma'at, the ancient Egyptian justice/penal system, and the penalties incurred by those who commit criminal acts and embrace chaos. In my opinion, borrow this book from a friend and then pass it along. It does not fit snugly next to her other cherished books in your personal library.