Customer Reviews

Women in Ancient Egypt

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

 

 

This is a very detailed book that I found invaluable when doing a research task on Women in New Kingdom Egypt. The information is organised into the Old, Middle and New Kingdom periods, and is backed up with numerous pictures and references to tombs.

This book is a detailed account of domestic, economic, social and legal lives of ancient Egyptian women. The author describes queenship, marriage, childbirth, family, religion, and death; she also discusses women in Ancient Egyptian literature and art; and she provides excellent information to back up her study. An excellent bibliography is included, as well as good black and white illustrations. This is a recommended book for those interested in the lives and roles of women.

The author is obviously very learned and has every right to draw conclusions from evidence witnessed first-hand; however, she too often mentions that the evidence is weak or strong without discussing why the evidence seems to suggest (either weakly or strongly) what has been asserted. This simply happens too often and leaves the reader wondering whether or not she has "learned" something that is not exactly true.
Overall, the portraits of the lives and interactions of the historical characters are very compelling and vivid, among them many pharaohs and their various wives and lovers.

This book has a lot of detailed information in it about what it was like for women in Ancient Egypt. Since I'm a fanatic for Ancient Egypt history, I loved this book. Some parts were a little on the boring side, almost tooooo much information, but all-in-all, this is a very good book.