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Barbara Mertz

Temples, Tombs, and Hieroglyphs: A Popular History of Ancient Egypt Paperback – February 24, 2009

by Barbara Mertz (Author)

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World-renowned Egyptologist Barbara Mertz explores the reality behind the bestselling fiction she writes (as Elizabeth Peters) and casts a dazzling light on a remarkable civilization.

Afascinating chronicle of an extraordinary people—from the first Stone Age settlements through the reign of Cleopatra and the Roman invasions—Temples, Tombs, and Hieroglyphs brings ancient Egypt to life as never before. Lavishly illustrated with pictures, maps, and photographs, it offers tantalizing glimpses into Egyptian society; amazing stories of the pharaohs and the rise and fall of great dynasties; a sampling of culture, religion, and folklore; stories of explorers, scientists, and scoundrels who sought to unravel or exploit the ageless mysteries; and new insights into the architectural wonders that were raised along the banks of the Nile.

Print length

324 pages
Language

English
Publisher

William Morrow Paperbacks
Publication date

February 24, 2009
Dimensions

8.02 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
ISBN-10

0061252778
ISBN-13

978-0061252778
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Barbara Mertz is a New York Times bestselling author who writes the popular Amelia Peabody mystery series under the pen name Elizabeth Peters and romantic suspense novels as Barbara Michaels. She was born and brought up in Illinois and earned her Ph.D. in Egyptology from the University of Chicago's famed Oriental Institute. Named Grand Master at the inaugural Anthony Awards in 1986 and Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America at the Edgar Awards in 1998, she lives in a historic farmhouse in western Maryland.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ William Morrow Paperbacks; 2nd Revised, Updated ed. edition (February 24, 2009)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 324 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0061252778
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0061252778
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.9 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.02 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #427,823 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #145 in Egyptian History (Books)
- #383 in Ancient Egyptians History
- #617 in Archaeology (Books)

Customer Reviews:
138 ratings

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George Wood

A Wonderful Introduction to Egyptology

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 2, 2008

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Writing under the pen name Elizabeth Peters, Barbara Mertz started the Amelia Peabody series of tongue-in-cheek Victorian archaeological thrillers in 1975. But 11 years before then this trained Egyptologist published the first edition of "Temples, Tombs & Hieroglyphs".

Like many other books this traces of the history of ancient Egypt from the pre-dynastic to the Ptolemies. But Mertz brings her sense of humor to lighten what can be a dry series of lists of kings. She brings to life highpoints in the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms, as well as the chaotic periods in between. Moreover, she lifts the veil and lets the reader in on many of the scholarly disputes, like those over the woman pharaoh Hatshepsut and the role of Nefertiti in the succession to her heretical husband Akhenaton.

It's also nice to see someone reveal the egomaniac Ramses II for what he was, a poor leader who lost the second Battle of Kadesh, and who covered his weaknesses by pasting his image everywhere.

For anyone who has read the Peabody books, including the depiction there of Sir William Flinders Petrie (and his approach to feeding his staff), Mertz' homage here to the founder of modern Egyptology is interesting.

In her forward to this Second Edition, Mertz says she thought she wouldn't have to do much to revise the earlier work. But then, she adds, taking into account four decades of new discoveries proved to be a challenge. There are places in this book where she discusses post-1964 work, but the addition of the new material is seamless, with no sense of things just stuck in.

This is a delightful introduction to the fascinating history of ancient Egypt.

17 people found this helpful

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Fred

Includes new research and is worth reading, but writing is not as good as the first addition

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 28, 2019

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I fondly remember reading this book when I was younger and it was a real page turner. Over the last 40 to 50 years a lot of new evidence has been found and the book needed to be updated and was. The writing style of the original was crisp and clear but now often is not. The author engages in unnecessary and dubious speculation where formerly her speculation was more on point and rational. The book is about a historical period that very long ago and thus poorly documented and calls for the author to speculate. The author gets side tracked with irrelevancies and the writing is now ponderous in places. But this is still a very good book for the non-specialist and most people will enjoy reading it like I once did so many years ago.

3 people found this helpful

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Worldreader

Great Overview if You Plan a Trip to Egypt

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 7, 2018

Verified Purchase

This book delivered what I was looking for: a lively overview of the history of pharaonic Egypt. I read it so as to make sense of what I was seeing on a trip there. I enjoyed the author's asides and humor and her attempts to stick to the historic record and be clear what is and what is not known. One can see that she would be a good writer of historical fiction -- her more usual job -- as she clearly enjoys filling in the human gaps in the archaeological record: but she restrains that impulse in this book. This is not everything one would want to know about Egypt, but it's a great introduction for the uninitiated to get a sense of the sweep of over two millennia of Egyptian history, and it helps to make sense of the archeological sites one sees in Egypt now.

One person found this helpful

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cat owner

Good Read

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 1, 2021

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Very entertaining as well as factual, Not dry facts !

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Fhazure

Easily Readable, Scholarly, Enjoyable Book

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 25, 2016

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I love it when historians are so confident of their material that they can write as if they had been there. Barbara Mertz is a consummate storyteller, as her dozens of fiction bestsellers under two pseudonyms attest. Here, she turns her seemingly casual mastery to her original career of Egyptology, and the result is a wonderfully readable book that still manages to teach detailed ancient Egyptian political history across thousands of years in a scholarly fashion. This new edition shows signs of significant updating, as well as her trademark humor from the standpoint of greater experience than in the first writing. As "Red Land, Black Land" is a detailed look -- as much as can be done given current knowledge -- at the lives of ordinary ancient Egyptians, "Temples, Tombs and Hieroglyphs" provides the history at the better-known levels of Egyptian kings and priests. It reads very quickly -- and how often are you able to break out laughing when reading nonfiction ancient history? If you have any interest in ancient Egypt, read this book.

11 people found this helpful

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Sandra E. Schmidt

Easy history of Egypt if you are into that

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 7, 2021

Verified Purchase

Love all stuff Egyptian and regular histories are too dedeous. But so enjoying the Amelia Peabody series that I had to buy this book by the same author. A delight!

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Eve

solid, entertaining history

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 2, 2019

Verified Purchase

Barbara Mertz is almost as endearing writing non-fiction as she is fiction, in her Amelia Peabody series. I found the book to be engrossing, not at all dry, with interesting points of view all stated to either agree or disagree with her own. Her history is very thorough and, if you read the Kindle version, you can always highlight a name and go to Wickipedia to see images of the subject.

Helpful

Amazon Customer

Understanding Ancient Egypt

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 10, 2019

Verified Purchase

The book is very informative and really helps you to understand ancient Egypt. You get a good perspective of the many Dynasties. A few more charts and diagrams would help.

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Top reviews from other countries

Miz

Brilliant - what a terrible shame the author has passed away

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 13, 2014

Verified Purchase

Having exhausted the Amelia Peabody fiction series (written as Elizabeth Peters), I needed another ancient Egypt "fix" from Barbara Mertz - and this doesn't disappoint.
It's written in a similar easy-going style as the fiction, factual and fun.

Kathleen

Not enough illustration

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 14, 2018

Verified Purchase

A good book but for someone who is never likely to go to Egypt the illustrations were a little disappointing.

P. R. Pearson

Intro Egyptology

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 17, 2018

Verified Purchase

Well written introduction to Egyptology