- Hardcover: 512 pages
- Publisher: Atlantic Books; Hardback edition (11 Mar 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1903809452
- ISBN-13: 978-1903809457
- Product Dimensions: 23 x 15.4 x 4.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
653,978 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #55 in Books > History > Archaeology > Industrial Archaeology
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"'A fascinating and comprehensive book... The Pyramids is a portrait, not only of the pyramids themselves, but of an entire civilization, the first in history to build in stone, and thereby aim for eternity... Exceedingly welcome and timely' Literary Review * 'Verner moulds all known science and history on the subject into a fascinating and accessible introduction - essential reading.' Sunday Times 'A detailed, beautifully illustrated and eminently readable introduction to the pyramid-building age which will appeal to both experts and first-time Egyptologists alike. Here the mysteries of the pyramids and their readers are laid bare. It is a fascinating story.' Joyce Tyldesley, author of Nefertitl 'Refreshing and thorough' Scotland on Sunday 'The new seminal text on this subject' Science News"
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Product Description
Over the past two decades, archaeologists have made great progress in researching the pyramids. They have uncovered edifices buried for centuries under the desert sand and new technology has enabled them to conduct extensive investigations of the pharaohs' tombs. These discoveries have enabled us to answer some of the fundamental questions that have been asked about the pyramids for centuries: how did a people who lived nearly 5000 years ago, who knew neither iron or bronze and lacked mastery of elementary rules of calculation, manage to construct enormous stone structures with a precision seldom matched even by modern architecture? What culture, politics, and religion stood behind this extraordinary achievement? This text presents a contemporary account of the knowledge we have about the pyramids. It recounts the history of ancient Egyptian culture before and during the period of the pyramids, as well as the exciting history of modern research, which began when Napoleon's troops conquered Egypt 200 years ago.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Quite a comprehensive book; along with some full-colour image inserts of some of the pyramids, temples, texts and statues, The Pyramids also uses detailed diagrams to provide a comprehensive, traditional reference guide to the pyramids. It offers no controversial theories as to their usage, it is simply an excellent, well-written collection of facts and mainstream theories. Ideal for study on a personal or educational level - I find it indispensable.
It serves it's apparent purpose well - to provide facts - and the colour photographs contained on certain glossy pages are of high quality and demonstrate the true beauty of some of Egypt's ancient monuments. The diagrams dotted around where need be are also very useful, very informative -they allow you to see what certain descriptions contained within the text are referring to.
An all-round excellent book, in terms of usefulness, overall quality, the gorgeous images and informative, well-written narrative.
It serves it's apparent purpose well - to provide facts - and the colour photographs contained on certain glossy pages are of high quality and demonstrate the true beauty of some of Egypt's ancient monuments. The diagrams dotted around where need be are also very useful, very informative -they allow you to see what certain descriptions contained within the text are referring to.
An all-round excellent book, in terms of usefulness, overall quality, the gorgeous images and informative, well-written narrative.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
i bought this book to research the great pyramids of giza ~ i could not put it down. Verner certainly knows his stuff and what he knows as fact he states as fact. where things are conjecture ~ he tells u they are conjecture. A true historian.
his references are true to primary source + so believable and the illustrations are marvellous. i was a bit disappointed in the photographs ~ i felt they could have been better: but, ah well, i cant have everything.
having seen the artifacts of the louvre, the british museum and the great egyptian museum of cairo ~ this book brought it all back to life. from the rocky plateau of giza to the sandy wastes of saqqara.
i will be certainly looking out + buying more of verner's books. im so glad i found this author
Format:Paperback
Surprisingly few serious books on the pyramids are available in the market today. Most of what has been written is stuffed with nonsense on aliens in UFO's or strange mathematical theories having the pyramid dimensions yield very precise results based on very unprecise measurements.
Miroslav Verner, together with old I. E. S. Edwards, do not waste the readers' patience with this kind of rubbish, but stick to established historical and achaeological facts. The pyramid is a hugely interesting subject in itself. Egypt was a society which over hundreds of years spent large fractions of the national income just on building tombs for the rulers and on running and maintaining the accompanying temples and other edifices of worship. No doubt a civilisation with a frame of mind so utterly different from what we are used to in the world of today.
Verner's book consists of short chapters with a summary of each pyramid-building dynasty, and thereafter the longer descriptions of each and every tomb complex found and excavated. A lot of the information is of course deeply fascinating, but somehow the listing of all the known details on each and every funerary temple: "red granite niches, white limestone tiles, etc. etc" becomes a bit tedious to read. One would have preferred a little more information on the pyramids themselves, especially on the methods of construction, which are alluded to verbally, but the descriptions lack the support of some illustrative sketches. During the history of the pyramids, there was a steady development in the way they were built, culminating with the great Khufu pyramid, and later on turning into cheaper and less durable designs. This in itself is a very interesting story, but not much in focus in Verner's book.
Apart from this minor complaint, it must be said that Verner's book is very nice, with well-written text, beautiful colour photos and lots and lots of small black & white illustrations & sketches intermingled with the text.
Miroslav Verner, together with old I. E. S. Edwards, do not waste the readers' patience with this kind of rubbish, but stick to established historical and achaeological facts. The pyramid is a hugely interesting subject in itself. Egypt was a society which over hundreds of years spent large fractions of the national income just on building tombs for the rulers and on running and maintaining the accompanying temples and other edifices of worship. No doubt a civilisation with a frame of mind so utterly different from what we are used to in the world of today.
Verner's book consists of short chapters with a summary of each pyramid-building dynasty, and thereafter the longer descriptions of each and every tomb complex found and excavated. A lot of the information is of course deeply fascinating, but somehow the listing of all the known details on each and every funerary temple: "red granite niches, white limestone tiles, etc. etc" becomes a bit tedious to read. One would have preferred a little more information on the pyramids themselves, especially on the methods of construction, which are alluded to verbally, but the descriptions lack the support of some illustrative sketches. During the history of the pyramids, there was a steady development in the way they were built, culminating with the great Khufu pyramid, and later on turning into cheaper and less durable designs. This in itself is a very interesting story, but not much in focus in Verner's book.
Apart from this minor complaint, it must be said that Verner's book is very nice, with well-written text, beautiful colour photos and lots and lots of small black & white illustrations & sketches intermingled with the text.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
simply unavoidable for true aspiring Egyptologists
This is a deeply serious scientific work on the pyramids of Egypt (no pseudo-science like things on pyramidology !). Read more
Published on 20 July 2009 by Luc Pierson
The pyramids of the Ancient Egypt
It is the definitive book on the subject.Great text,clear illustrations.
Published on 15 Mar 2002 by Rucsandescu Silvian(rsilvian@yahoo.com)
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