The Seventy Great Mysteries of Ancient Egypt [Hardcover]

Bill Manley (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 24, 2003

Ancient Egypt - so familiar and yet so distant. We know so much about it, but there are still many unresolved questions. What were the pyramids actually for? How old is the Great Sphinx? Did Moses learn his beliefs at the court of Akhenaten? Why did the beautiful queen Nefertiti suddenly disappear? This volume explores and explains 70 of the most intriguing mysteries of this ancient civilization.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Organized as 70 short, easily digestible essays by noted scholars, this engaging and lavishly illustrated survey covers all of ancient Egypt's greatest hits, including the pyramids, hieroglyphics and mummies, along with intriguing biographical material on such pharaonic celebrities as the courageous Ramesses (whose battle of Qadesh in 1275 B.C. is the first for which we have a detailed historical record), religious reformer Akhenaten and his queen Nefertiti, lady pharaoh Hatshepsut and, of course, Cleopatra. Alongside sensational subjects like assassinations and pharaonic incest are equally interesting background articles on Egyptian prehistory, technology, religion and literature. The authors discourage the "fantasy archaeology" behind suggestions about the extra-terrestrial or Atlantean provenance of Egyptian culture, but they include a generally indulgent, if non-committal, section on the possible concordance between Biblical stories about Egypt and the historical reality. Although written for laypeople in an accessible style, there is a fair amount of depth to the articles, which bring a wealth of archaeological, linguistic and textual evidence to bear on the controversies they explore. A few subjects, like the fecund Nile agricultural system that underlay Egypt's ascendance, receive skimpy coverage, while some of the denser pieces about the whereabouts of various pharaohs' tombs and corpses address mysteries that only an Egyptologist could relish. But the wide-ranging, skillfully written and conveniently browsable articles and the hundreds of ravishing color photos of art and architecture demonstrate anew why Egypt is holds a continuing fascination. 434 illustrations with 344 in color.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Bill Manley has been a lecturer in Egyptology at the universities of London and of Liverpool. His publications include two best-selling books, The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Egypt and, with Mark Collier, How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson (November 24, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0500051232
• ISBN-13: 978-0500051238
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 7.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #571,123 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Ancient Egypt FAQ, December 12, 2003

By 

Michael Gunther (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Seventy Great Mysteries of Ancient Egypt (Hardcover)

"Seventy Great Mysteries of Ancient Egypt" is an unusual book - a collection of seventy very condensed essays (4-5 pages each) about pre-dynastic Egypt, Egyptian burial practices, kingship, history and religion, and the Bible. The book is quite well produced, with numerous color photographs.

The organization of this book is highly innovative. Most books on ancient civilizations can be classified either as histories (example: Peter Clayton's "Chronicles of the Pharaohs") or as topical studies (example: Barbara Watterson's "Gods of Ancient Egypt.") This book is radically different. It begins, like all true learning, with questions: Who was Nefertiti? Was the Exodus myth or reality? Who robbed the Valley of the Kings? The FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) has long been a staple of computer science, but I have seldom seen it applied so thoughtfully and so well to the study of an ancient civilization.

You'd think that a book like this might be both narrow (only 70 questions? Come on!) and shallow (only 4-5 pages per question!) But actually neither is the case. In terms of coverage, Egyptian art and sociology (especially non-royal women and the working class) are slighted, but other than that, the book's essays sample a remarkable variety of Egyptian life and culture. The covered topics include basic information about ancient Egypt ("Were the pyramids built by slaves?"), ongoing investigations ("The Sea Peoples: raiders of refugees?"), popular/fringe topics ("Are the pyramids aligned with the stars?"), and a few obscure but interesting things that I, at least, had never heard of before ("Khababash, the guerrilla king.")

As for depth of coverage, in a few short pages per topic the authors are not able to get into much detail (thousands of book-length studies have been written just about Nefertiti, for example), but on the other hand, the authors have read those thousands of books so that we don't have to; their essays are accurate, reliable, absolutely up to date (as of 2003), and - because they are written by experts in each topic - will contain some information that even other Egyptologists may not be aware of.

Whether you are a beginner or expert on Egypt, there is sure to be something in this very innovative book to please and delight you. Highly recommended!

5.0 out of 5 stars well written, December 19, 2011

By 

tigerzulu - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Seventy Great Mysteries of Ancient Egypt (Hardcover)

this book is well written with many beautiful photos . i received it promptly . my only complaint is that it came with a different dust jacket as advertised . overall , i'm satisfied .