Customer Reviews

The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt: 3 Volume Set

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

 

 

This is an A-Z of Egyptology which will act as a definitive reference. Two downsides:
1) There is no narrative introduction to the subject, so this Encyclopedia would complement a 'history', but not replace it
2) The photographs are in black and white and are often bad quality: badly focussed, badly lit.

The most complete source that can be found on the subject of ancient Egypt. It contains everything one would want to know about the civilization in an easy to use fashion. Written by the who's who of egyptology and covering its entire history.

There are a couple problems with the encyclopedia. The first is that most of the pictures are in black and white and of a lower quality. The most frustrating problem is that different aritcles sometimes use different spellings for the same god or person for example, the goddess of Lower Egypt can be found spelled Wadjet, Wadjyt, and in one article she is reffered to as Uto and in the caption to the picture on the same page she is reffered to using Edjo. Each spelling has to be refferenced in the glossary seperately, only showing the the page indicating to that particular spelling and not the rest. This makes it somewhat more difficult to find certain information (familiarize yourself with as many spellings as possible).

These shortcomings are small and aren't enough to lower its score. What remains most improtant is that it is still the best, most up-to-date, and accessible reference work out there (a five all the way).

This is a 3 Volume Encyclopedia and does consist of 1880 pages. It is the most authorative book that the non professional person wanting to learn about Egypt can obtain. Some of the other reviews (1 star) do not make sense to me and they must be talking about some other set of books.

This book is filled with everything from timelines, to in depth looks of pharoahs never before have I read a series more complete and interesting. It might be a little expensive but well worth it, I have more knowledge on the subject now than I ever thought possible.

I have read many books on Ancient Egypt and this one is by far the best and most complete I have found. It covers all of the ancient Gods in detail, including many I had not come across in other publications. It also gives detailed descriptions of all the ancient sites. I highly recommend it!

The problem with this encyclopedia is that it is not encyclopedic in nature. Many topics are not covered (for example, you won't find Hatshepsut's mortuary temple in it), and those that are covered are handled in a very simplistic and abbreviated (not concise, just short) way.

I cannot remember when I was so disappointed in a reference book...maybe never.

This set is about as complete as can be found today. Some can and will argue specific gaps, discrepancies and/or minor points - all perhaps legitimately - but to hold as much information as these volumes have right in one place at any time, no other current compendium exists; especially considering these volumes' publication date.

I have read many books on Ancient Egypt and this one is by far the best and most complete I have found. It covers all of the ancient Gods in detail, including many I had not come across in other publications. It also gives detailed descriptions of all the ancient sites. I highly recommend it!

There is a problem here - there is an updated version of this book, available elsewhere, which (i) is longer, (ii)has more color photos, and (iii) is about 10% cheaper.

My main problem is with the man behind the book. The book for all intents and purposes is an "authoritative view" on Ancient Egypt, hahahah. Scholars know that Redford is far from the ideal candidate to construct a Encyclopedia on Ancient Egypt. His methods and views are for the most part outdated. He is a laughing stock in the scholarly community. His digs rarely produce actual "archaeology," if you could even call it that. From someone who has personally worked with Redford (and I have in Mendes and Karnak) I can tell you that no one takes this man seriously, and for the most part people pay homage to him for either grant money or just stupidity. He is a racist and sexist. Do not buy this book if you actually want to learn anything. I would look at Ian Shaw's Encyclopedia, because this is actually what introductory Egyptologists use in school and in the field. The positive reviews are all from graduate students awaiting his death, and hoping to profit from it. Thank you Sean, Rachel, and all the other graduate students who want to help his bad reputation, also merenptah... hahaha.. i know you, and what you have done to preserve the legacy of this moron....
But seriously, Ian Shaw's is much cheaper and actually an "authoritative view." From someone who has worked with both scholars, i will tell you, Redford is laughable.