Village Life in Ancient Egypt: Laundry Lists and Love Songs (Hardcover)

by A. G. McDowell (Author) "The texts collected in this anthology belong to the New Kingdom (c.1539-1075 BC), a period of a different character than earlier eras of Egyptian history..." (more)
Key Phrases: copper deben, ruler endures, alabaster shrine, Place of Truth, Valley of the Kings, New Kingdom (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
`Village Life is a good way to make a first acquaintance of a key source population.' Barry Kemp, Cambridge Archaeological Journal, Vol.11, No.1, April 2001

`This is one of the best volumes on Deir El Medina, and is an outstanding scholarly achievement, certain to prove useful to Egyptologist and historian alike.' M. Bontty, Ph.D., BMCR, 00/08/21.

`The volume gets off to an impressive start with an informative introduction.' M. Bontty, Ph.D., BMCR, 00/08/21.

`It is most welcome that a scholar witha combined background in Egyptologya and law has presented legal material ... The reader is provided with a wealth of information on this fascinating aspect of human activity ... in the future legal historians with no knowledge of Egyptian will have no difficulty using the texts.' M. Bontty, Ph.D., BMCR, 00/08/21.

`As Egypt became weaker ... so too did the prosperity of the workmen in the village. This period ... is brilliantly illustrated textually by her chosen material. Village Life will be a standard work for years to come and is a valuable addition to books on Deir El Medina and the topic of daily life. It is well written, complete, extremely user friendly and provides refereshing and modern translations of known texts in addition to much welcome unpublished material. Its main advantage will be its use to scholars from other areas researching daily life in antiquity. We owe our thanks to the author for this wonderful volume.' M. Bontty, Ph.D., BMCR, 00/08/21.

`The results of painstaking and meticulous research do not always make thrilling reading for the non-academic. The documentary evidence that provides the basis for this book, however, is by turns amusing and enlightening, and always entertaining. Those who already have some knowledge of the lives of the workmen of Deir el-Medina will enjoy further detailed insights provided by this book. Those who are new to the subject will benefit from the well-written and illustrated introduction and enjoy the lively commentaries.' Ancient Egypt Vol.1 No.1

Product Description
Deir el-Medina, the village of the workmen who built the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings, is a uniquely rich source of information about life in Egypt between 1539 and 1075 BC. The abundant archaeological remains are complemented by tens of thousands of texts documenting the thoughts and activities of the villagers. This book combines translations of over 200 of these texts spanning the entire range of preserved genres with stunning illustrations.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (December 30, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198149980
• ISBN-13: 978-0198149989
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,209,189 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Daily Life 3000 Years Ago, January 14, 2008

By	Louise (Copenhagen V, Denmark) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Village Life in Ancient Egypt: Laundry Lists and Love Songs (Paperback)

A.G Mc Dowell has written a book about the workers who build the tombs of the kings and queens of Egypt's New Kingdom (circa 1550 - 1075 BCE). Those workers, whose daily lives we follow through a wealth of original written sources, lived in a village; today the ruins are called Deir el-Medina, back then the village was simply called "The Village".

The workers lived with their families in small houses in Deir el-Medina, and while their main concern was building the tomb of the Pharaoh, they also had all the problems and sorrows and joys as modern people have. We can read about their problems with superiors at work, their love life, marriage, kids, sickness and about their interest in suing each other for minor crimes!

While this book use the original sources, Mc Dowell explains each little text in a modern and easily understood language, and this book is for everyone who wants to know how the Ancient Egyptians lived more than 3000 years ago.