Red Land, Black Land: Daily Life in Ancient Egypt [Audiobook, MP3 Audio, Unabridged] [MP3 CD]

Barbara Mertz (Author), Lorna Raver (Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 15, 2008

Esteemed Egyptologist Barbara Mertz updates her widely praised social history of the people of ancient Egypt, which was originally published in 1968. Combining impeccable scholarship with a delightfully personal style, the author reconstructs the life of the Egyptians from birth to death, and beyond death, too. She also presents much fascinating detail on the building of the pyramids and the intricate art of mummification. Students and laymen alike will enjoy the wealth of authentic material on every aspect of Egyptian life that Mertz provides.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Barbara Mertz studied at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, receiving an M.A. in 1950 and a Ph.D. in Egyptology in 1952. A former president of the American Crime Writers League, she presently serves on the editorial advisory board of KMT, A Modern Journal of Ancient Egypt and the board of governors of the American Research Center in Egypt, as well as the editorial board of The Writer. She is also a member of the Egypt Exploration Society, the James Henry Breasted Circle of the Oriental Institute, and the National Organization for Women. Under her own name she is the author of Red Land, Black Land, Daily Life in Ancient Egypt. Under her pseudonym Barbara Michaels, she has written twenty-nine novels of suspense. As Elizabeth Peters, she has produced twenty-nine mystery-suspense novels, many of them set in Egypt and the Middle East. The Mystery Writers of America awarded Dr. Mertz the MWA Grandmaster in 1998. Lorna Raver has been named a Best Voice of the Year by AudioFile magazine and has been nominated for Audie Awards for her readings of Washington Square by Henry James, Nothing with Strings by Bailey White, and Marion Zimmer Bradley's Ravens of Avalon by Diana L. Paxson. She has also received numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards for her narrations. An accomplished stage actress, Lorna has also guest-starred in many top television series, and she stars in director Sam Raimi's film Drag Me to Hell.

From AudioFile

Lorna Raver immerses herself in renowned Egyptologist Barbara Mertz's fascinating and exquisitely detailed account of daily life in ancient Egypt. In a pleasantly modulated voice, with plenty of high drama and frequent witticisms, and no hints of pedantry, Raver takes us back thousands of years and introduces us to Egyptians of many strata--pharaohs, queens, painters, slaves, scribes, temple builders--showing us their everyday ways of life with respect to marriage, birth, food, beer, wine, orgies, rituals, clothing, sexual practices, religion, the construction of magnificent temples and tombs, and beliefs regarding the afterlife. Be forewarned, this is a long production, but it's never boring. In fact, the time seems to fly by. M.T.B. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Product Details

• MP3 CD
• Publisher: Tantor Media; Unabridged,MP3 - Unabridged CD edition (March 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400155754
• ISBN-13: 978-1400155750
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,959,978 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Egypt Lives!, January 28, 2000

By 

Sarah Asher - See all my reviews

This review is from: Red Land, Black Land: Daily Life in Ancient Egypt

A wonderful sequel to 'Temples, Tombs and Hieroglyphs', this book sets aside the well-scrutinized lives of famous pharoahs, and turns instead to the day-to-day life of the rest of Ancient Egypt. Much of the material is new to me, and I found it fascinating reading. Of course, Ms. Mertz could probably make the Boston Phonebook palatable; I would certainly read anything she chose to write. (I firmly believe she hangs out with Elizabeth Peters; Joan Hess occasionally dropping in to make a threesome..)

Enough fawning! Read this book! It's interesting! You can tell them I said so...

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Book, February 17, 2000

By 

[e-mail] (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Red Land, Black Land: Daily Life in Ancient Egypt (Paperback)

I read this a while back and I must say, "jolly good writing," which of course is now my only expectation from Ms. Mertz/Peters/Michaels & any other pseudonyms she has chosen to go by.

As an aside, I was watching tv the other day and saw Ms. Mertz on an A&E Ancient Mysteries Special on Queen Maatkare Hatshepsut. That was Jolly Good too!

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Red Land, Black Land: Daily Life in Ancient Egypt, January 24, 2004

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Red Land, Black Land: Daily Life in Ancient Egypt

Loved it. This book is actually a textbook, but it's the most interesting textbook I've ever read. It really gives you a "feel" for daily life in ancient Egypt.