The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt: A Genealogical Sourcebook of the Pharaohs (Hardcover)

by Aidan Dodson (Author), Dyan Hilton (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
An essential resource for the study of ancient Egypt's pharaonic dynasties, covering the lives of some 1,500 rulers and royal individuals.

This groundbreaking new book illuminates the lives of the kings, queens, princes, and princesses of ancient Egypt, unraveling family relationships and exploring the parts they played in politics, cultural life, and religion. It ranges from the dawn of Egyptian history, when only isolated glimpses are available of the royal family, through the vast progeny of Rameses II, and ends with the fiendishly complicated—and blood-soaked—interconnections of the Ptolemies and Cleopatras.

The authors begin with a basic summary of the structure of the pharaonic state, including the nature of ancient Egyptian kingship itself and how its functions meshed with those of the bureaucracy. They introduce key members of the royal family and assess what is known about the implications of the major titles that define them.

The book then moves from the general to the particular, with a chronological survey of the royal family from c. 3100 BC and the First Dynasty up to Egypt's absorption into the Roman Empire. For each dynasty, or significant part of a dynasty, the authors provide an historical overview of the period, a summary listing of the kings involved, and a discussion of their families' relationships, including, most importantly, how we know what we think we know about them. Finally, the individuals who made up these families are placed in context via twenty-seven genealogical trees, and described in a comprehensive list of short biographies.

Handsomely illustrated with more than 300 photographs and line drawings, this book will serve equally well as a biographical history of ancient Egypt and a superb volume for home reference. 330 illustrations, 80 in color.

About the Author
Aidan Dodson is a Visiting Fellow in Archaeology at the University of Bristol, where he teaches Egyptology and is a specialist in aspects of dynastic history. Dyan Hilton holds a Certificate in Egyptian archaeology from the University of Bristol and works at the Roman Baths Museum in Bath.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson; First Edition edition (October 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0500051283
• ISBN-13: 978-0500051283
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 7.8 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #502,741 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #33 in

  Books > Science > Archaeology > Egyptian

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Royal Genealogy of Ancient Egypt, February 19, 2005

By	J. N. W. Bos "Joan" (Utrecht, The Netherlands) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is the most complete reference of royal genealogy in Ancient Egypt that I have ever come across. I did not expect so much detail about royals who lived thousands of years ago.
Each chapter contains
- a general description,
- an extensive genealogical tree with relationships marked as either certain, highly probable, likely or hypothetical,
- a section with short descriptions of all involved persons,
- many photographs and drawings.

Where "Chronicle of the Pharaohs" by Clayton focuses on the rulers of Ancient Egypt, Dodson and Hilton describe all their known (likely) family members.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Aidan Dodson does it again!, November 8, 2004

By	Sennefer (Holland) - See all my reviews

Yet again Thames and Hudson's series `The Complete' comes up with a winner. Royal Families starts with an outline of the Ancient Egyptian Pharaonic State and the set up of the royal family then goes on to list over 1.300 Kings their known Queens and off springs. Royal Families is laid out in an easy to follow, dynasty-by-dynasty fashion with sections on the family tree, historical information and a fascinating section called `Brief Lives'. This later section is a who's who of all the known players on the Ancient Egyptian Royal Families stage. All in all it's an extremely interesting read suitable for academics and armchair historians alike, but then with Aidan Dodson's involvement what else would you expect.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, July 17, 2005

By	Kenneth A. Dailey "kadailey" (Cairo, Egypt and Nashville, Tennessee) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

1. Easy to read.
2. Easy to understand.
3. Shockingly thorough.
4. Well researched.
5. Most complete work on Egyptian royal families that I have ever seen.