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The Oxford Illustrated History of Ancient Egypt (Oxford Illustrated Histories) (Paperback)

~ (Editor) "All history is clearly reliant on same form of chronological framework, and a great deal of time has been spent on the construction of such..." (more)
Key Phrases: ist dynasty, donation stelae, subsidiary burials, Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, Upper Egypt (more...)
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

One of the most vexing problems in Egyptology is the question of establishing reliable chronologies, whether through relative methods such as stratigraphy and the dating of artifacts or through more absolute time horizons established by astronomical ephemera or radiometric dating. In this overview of ancient Egypt--meant for advanced students, but accessible to general readers with an interest in the area--Ian Shaw and 13 contributors pay close attention to issues of chronology, reconciling conflicts of dating that mark older scholarship.

While doing so, they address other problems in the study of ancient Egypt, such as the lack of material evidence of early humans in the region and the increasing destruction of sites in the face of contemporary urban growth. Elsewhere, they remark on the principal developments that distinguish periods in Egyptian prehistory, such as the Old Kingdom's use of large-scale building projects to consolidate power and "remind people of the greatness of pharaonic civilization," and the Middle and New kingdoms' apparent openness to foreigners, which lent Egypt a cosmopolitan, multicultural air that persisted for centuries during long periods of domination by outside powers such as Persia and Rome. Highly useful as a reference and survey, this handsomely illustrated book is a fine addition to any Egyptophile's collection. --Gregory McNamee --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review


Review from previous edition "The approach combines traditional chronological history with cultural and social historical material to produce a well rounded picture...chapters covering prehistory and the intermediate periods are particularly good, with Seidlmayer on the First Intermediate Period and Bourriau on the Second Intermediate Period outstanding. Bryan's chapter on the 18th Dynasty before the Amarna Period is also particularly good."--Antiquity
"If you only want to read one book on Egypt, then read this one...even people who consider themselves as experts on Ancient Egypt will find much to set them thinking: And while such Egyptologists will have a field day, the casual reader will find plenty to arouse their interest, ranging from the story of the world's first strike ... to the revelation that Scotland Yard possesses a print taken from the hand of a mummy."--The Northern Echo
"brimming with...intriguing facts ...also provides a first-rate overview of - le progress Egyptien - from the period when Homo erectus first stalked the land right up to Octavian's triumphant entry into Egypt in 30 BC."--Douglas Kennedy, The Times


`From the Stone Age to the Roman occupation in the fourth centry AD, the mighty Egyptian dynasties are brought to life in almost 450 pages ... never anything but deeply informative, without losing sight of the essential attribute of any book - readability ... both stimulating to the casual reader or keen-to-learn holiday maker and the serious student alike.' Peter Leach, North West Evening Mail

`If you only want to read one book on Egypt, then read this one ... even people who consider themselves as experts on Ancient Egypt will find much to set them thinking: And while such Egyptologists will have a field day, the casual reader will find plenty to arouse their interest, ranging from the story of the world's first strike ... to the revelation that Scotland Yard possesses a print taken from the hand of a mummy.' The Northern Echo

`Review from previous edition The approach combines traditional chronological history with cultural and social historical material to produce a well rounded picture ... chapters covering prehistory and the intermediate periods are particularly good, with Seidlmayer on the First Intermediate Period and Bourriau on the Second Intermediate Period outstanding. Bryan's chapter on the 18th Dynasty before the Amarna Period is also particularly good.' Antiquity

`brimming with ... intriguing facts ... also provides a first-rate overview of - le progres Egyptien - from the period when Homo erectus first stalked the land right up to Octavian's triumphant entry into Egypt in 30 BC.' Douglas Kennedy, The Times

`splendid, lavishly illustrated book ... the only single-volume work to cover 700,000 years of Ancient Egypt from the stone age to Roman conquest ... Lucidly edited by Ian Shaw ... you get the facts without the dust. An excellent choice for enthusiasts and novices alike; even better if you can persuade someone to buy for you as a present.' Roddy Phillips, Aberdeen Press and Journal
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 552 pages
  • Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (June 13, 2002)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0192802933
  • ISBN-13: 978-0192802934
  • Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.9 x 1.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #447,489 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Ian Shaw
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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First Sentence:
All history is clearly reliant on same form of chronological framework, and a great deal of time has been spent on the construction of such dating systems for ancient Egypt. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
ist dynasty, donation stelae, subsidiary burials, cataract forts, divine adoratrice, great royal wife, funerary enclosures, pharaonic civilization, pharaonic state, pharaonic period, pharaonic culture, funerary equipment, great overlord, biographical inscriptions, funerary papyri, cosmetic palettes, royal titulary, mortuary cult, élite tombs, funerary beliefs, late predynastic, funerary cult, mortuary complex, victory stele, boat burials
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, Upper Egypt, Early Dynastic, Third Intermediate Period, Lower Egypt, Eastern Desert, Turin Canon, Second Intermediate Period, Western Desert, Red Sea, Middle Palaeolithic, Valley of the Kings, North Saqqara, Late Period, Roman Egypt, Near East, Medinet Habu, Late Palaeolithic, Wadi Hammamat, Sea Peoples, Mons Claudianus, Palermo Stone, Deir Rifa, Gebel Barkal
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180 of 186 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Phenomenal Introduction to Egyptology, January 5, 2001
By Jonathan Bailey (Lawton, OK USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (Oxford Illustrated Histories) (Hardcover)
I cannot praise this book enough. Unfortunately in academic areas, introductions and overviews to various fields, particularly broad histories, tend to reflect the opinions and suppositions of the authors much more than render the actual environment they are working in. This book proves to be a rare exception to this sad fact and sets a standard of scholarship to be emulated by all researchers of the ancient world. Never in egyptology, assyriology, or biblical studies have I found a history that did such a wonderful job of laying out the textual and archaeological finds that scholars base their judgments upon. This is important to me, as I am in disagreement with many scholarly communities about issues of chronology. This book, rather than simply laying out tables and dates, supplements those tables with actual references to the texts and archaeological items that have lead scholars to date things the way they have, pointing out inconsistancies and uncertainties along the way.

After reading this book, I have become convinced that the history of Egypt is not as well known as most books on Egypt would have us believe.

The book is a mammoth undertaking, attempting to chronicle the history of Egypt from prehistory until 311 BC. Introductory sections on the state of research and certainty of chronolology are extremely enlightening. I was particularly impressed with the chapters on prehistory and the naqada culture, in which the archeological evidence and its interpretation were expressely explained to the reader, allowing the reader to agree or disagree with the authors as they wish. My only complaint is that the book, being an anthology of essays by a variety of scholars, shows some inconsistancy in its thoroughness. The chapter on the 18th dynasty reads a little like standard books on the subject, that is, the reader is kept from the evidence to support the author's view and the author seems to have trouble distinguishing his own suppositions from the facts of history, at times appearing a little tendentious.

Overall, this book is the best history of an ancient culture that I have yet read.

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63 of 65 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars If you read one book about Ancient Egypt, read this one., February 3, 2003
As a quote expresses on the back of this book, "If you only want to read one book on Egypt, then read this one." Ian Shaw's history of ancient Egypt is a beautifully constructed volume that is at once densely packed with information and high in its level of scholarship, and aesthetically appealing and fairly accessible. The book surveys Egyptian history from 700,000 years before the present through the Roman period (ending in AD 395). This is an enormous task, and one might assume that the book could only be very summary and superficial in its treatment of each period. However, every member of Shaw's team of scholars manages to describe his or her period of expertise in a good amount of detail, discussing not only historical events but also art, religion, economics, and material culture. The book thus very successfully follows current trends in history of approaching periods from myriad points of view. Equally importantly, each author discusses the current problems and debates in the scholarship of his or her field. The multi-author approach allows the reader insight into the nature of research for each stage of Egyptian history: the reader gets a sense of the way in which research is conducted, the modes of analysis applied, and the style and terms of discussion. This book serves as an introduction to Egyptian historiography and to the nature of the study of ancient history almost as much as it serves as an introduction to ancient Egypt itself. Thus, The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt manages a high level of scholarship while remaining a useful survey of a huge span of time and culture. Readers who are unfamiliar with archaeological language might find some of the articles in this volume slightly more difficult than others, but there is a decent glossary in the back, and it is more the scholarly tone than the actual material that needs getting used to. Any reader who is genuinely interested in the topic will be able to read through this entire book without much trouble. My only reservation is this: the highly dense nature of the text means that it is occasionally a bit of a slow read. I read the book for a graduate class with Egyptologist David O'Connor (excavator of Abydos; you will see him mentioned several times in the book) and it took me about a week of constant focus. On the whole, though, this is a remarkable book and probably the best existing introduction to ancient Egypt. With a publication date of 2002, it is also the most up-to-date.
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23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Encyclopedic work, April 17, 2006
By Neutiquam Erro (Isles of Llyonnesse) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (Oxford Illustrated Histories) (Hardcover)
The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt is really more of an encyclopedia than a narrative history. Each of its 15 chapters is written by a different author, presumably an expert in the particular time period under study. This lends itself to a disjointed style as each author presents an overwhelming welter of archeological facts in an effort to deal with their own view of the controversies in the assigned area. While no doubt providing the experienced Egyptologist with fine details is important, the casual reader will find the book a dense and confusing read. The details of stone-age arrowhead manufacture or the various types of thrown pottery in the First Intermediate Period tend to obscure the bigger picture. As a prerequisite for reading this book I would recommend something lighter and more cohesive such as "A History of Ancient Egypt" by Grimal.

That said, the book is definitely a significant resource for anyone interested in Egyptian history. It covers the Egyptian state from prehistory through its incorporation into the Roman empire. Three chapters cover the pre-dynastic period including one on the Paleolithic period, one on the Naqada period and one entitled "Emergence of the Egyptian State" (Dynasties 0-2). Subsequent chapters for the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms (2 chapters for the last of these) and the Intermediate Periods follow. A rather strange and slightly redundant chapter, entitled "Egypt and the Outside World" is located just prior to the article on the Third Intermediate period. Its insertion here seems an afterthought as it covers the material of several preceding chapters using a topical, rather than chronologic, approach. Finally, several shorter chapters cover the Late Period, the Ptolemaic Period and the Roman Period. The book has a substantial further reading list and glossary as well as a tabular chronology, and index. It is well illustrated, with many black and white pictures, extensive maps and approximately 40 colour plates. Unfortunately, there is often a disconnect between the written material and the plates and pictures, leaving the reader confused as to their purpose.

I would definitely recommend this book as a scholarly or reference resource due to its detailed approach but I would suggest it not be the first book you read if you are a casual reader, interested in understanding the sweep of Egyptian history.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars I received alot of value by reading this book
The book covers the different time periods and kingdoms of Egypt. "Ancient Egypt" highlighted many of the interesting issues associated with each Pharaoh and the personal... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Golden Lion

1.0 out of 5 stars "Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive"
First we must not allow ourselves to be awed by the "prestige" of OXFORD UNIVERSITY. Then we must strip away layers after layers of Victorian scholarly rhetoric until we expose... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Donald Peyton

3.0 out of 5 stars Good but Very Dense
This book is a collection of essays by various authors, and the quality of them varies tremendously from chapter to chapter. Read more
Published 4 months ago by John Fischer

5.0 out of 5 stars EGYPT
I agree with the other reviewers. A very good book!

"If you only want to read one book on Egypt, then read this one."

AGREE! Read more
Published 9 months ago by Torbjörn Jerlerup

2.0 out of 5 stars you get the basics, but the narrative is as dessicated as, well, a mummy
This has got to be one of the most boring history books that I have read in years, and I read a lot of them. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Robert J. Crawford

5.0 out of 5 stars Good book
I bought this book for a class in Egyptology as required course material but it is so well written and has great pictures and information that instead of selling it after the... Read more
Published on July 19, 2007 by Kimberly K. Owens

1.0 out of 5 stars Very disappointing
This book is a collection of dry essays written with poor cohesion. It's as if the sum editiorial guidance was "Write something about the second intermediate period. Read more
Published on January 5, 2007 by David Weisman

5.0 out of 5 stars So Rameses II had 85 kids...
This is a very thorough history on Ancient Egypt. All aspects of Egyptian history and society are addressed- chronology, history, religion, and culture. Read more
Published on December 20, 2005 by Rob

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Work
A wonderfully complete work this book deals with all periods of Ancient Egypt stretching far back into pre-history. It is a rather difficult read but well worth it. Read more
Published on September 22, 2005 by Patrick Salland

3.0 out of 5 stars Thorough but unbelievably dry.
I am admittedly not a specialist in Egyptology; a fairly thorough survey is all I was looking for. However, I do read a lot of history (as well as law, philosophy, literature), so... Read more
Published on September 10, 2005 by A. M. Whalen

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