Customer Reviews

Secrets Of The Sphinx (Orbis Pictus Honor for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children (Awards))

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This is a really well written book about Ancient Egypt that drew me right in. It covers everything you can think of regarding the Sphinx. The Muslims who tried to deter the Egyptians from continuing the worship the Sphinx and the labor involved in making it. A really, wonderful book. Read it!

We are big fans of Bagram Ibatoulline. He did "The Serpent Came to Gloucester" with M. T. Anderson, and he makes this book something extraordinary.

This is a longer text. It covers modern Cairo, and takes you back to prehistoric Cairo. It discusses the rise of hieroglyphic writing in Egypt, talks about the older pyramids and burial rituals, then shows you how the gigantic Sphinx and pyramids were built. It puts a new perspective on how the work got done, and on who did the work, based on excavations of the worker burials and villages being done in Egypt. There is a great illustrations of the Sphinx being painted, and a wonderful mural showing some of the technology used in construction.

Then the book gives you Thutmose, who slept in the shadow of the Sphinx and dreamed the voice that changed Egyptian worship.

Talks about con artists who pretended there was treasure buried beneath the Sphinx; talks about the translation of the Rosetta Stone; Talks about the legend of Atlantis; talks about preservation of the Sphinx in modern times; and does not shy away from mentioning the damage that was done to the Sphinx by Muslim crusaders incensed that the common people were worshiping it.

Simply excellent, informative text.

Now, look carefully at the images in this book. Those aren't photographs. Those are Bagram Ibatoulline's genius illustrations.

Great notes section/bibliography. Two-page index. This book is COMPLETE.

Awesome book! Needed it for a class and it came promptly and in great packaging. The illustrations are beautiful and the information is great for students in the upper grades or anyone who is interested in Ancient Egyptian civilization. I would definitely order from this seller again!