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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Heavyweight champion, 8 Feb 2006
Here is a sound, general purpose all rounder that appears to be popular with tourists returning from Egypt as also noted by a previous reviewer. This book must be considered as a challenger for the heavy-weight title, weighing in at about 7lb (3.5 kg) and an approximate 12” by 11” (30 cm x 28cm) format, nearly 550 glossy pages with more than 800 photographs, maps and diagrams. The main strength of this book is the visual impact of the large leaf colour photographs with plenty of one and two page images to ponder over.The book is split into ten sections comprising, Prehistory, Early History, Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, New Kingdom, Late Period, Greco-Roman Period, State and Society, Gods, Cults and the Kingdom of the Dead and Investigations into the Nile Valley. There are multiple international academic contributors to the book, predominantly from German Institutions. A potential draw back with multiple contributors is each has there own style but the editing of Regine Schultz and Matthias Seidel has helped pull it together. The text has an academic tone that may leave some readers a touch cold. Half the book is committed covering up to and including the New Kingdom. The earlier chapters considering Pre and early history are relatively brief but contain some excellent images of flint hand axes, stone tools and period wares. I was pleased that so many pages were given to a time period that some books ‘gloss over’. The old Kingdom, classed here as 3rd to 8th dynasties discusses the political history and development of Royal Tombs, there are some excellent photographs of mastabas, statues, Pyramids and Sphinx. The Middle Kingdom is a relatively short section; classed here as 9th to 17th dynasties has the political history reviewed and moves into the tombs of the Pharaohs, tombs of the Governors and Officials and Temples of the Gods. Some of the colour photographs of wall relief help give you a picture of the high level of craftsmanship of the period. The New Kingdom, classed here as 18th to 20th Dynasties has the political history reviewed and discusses the Amarna influence. A generous portion of the book is given to the Temples and Valley of the Kings, again with oodles of colour images to help convey the splendour. This section provides the reader with value for money. A section on the valley of the Queens is relatively short as are Private Tombs at Thebes and hidden Tombs of Memphis. The book continues with two short chapters, the late Period, classed here as 21st to 30th Dynasties and runs into the Greco-Roman Period. A touch over half of the book is completed at this point. The time line analysis is broken and State and society addresses sacred Kingship, beauty and perfection, Hieroglyphs, administration, the Military, Economy and Trade, The Nile, Houses Cities and Palaces, Daily Life and Stone Quarries. This section represents a fair chunk of the book. Gods, Cults and the Kingdom of the Dead is a fair sized section comprising religious concepts, Gods and deities, the Cosmos, Festivals, Mummification, burial and mortuary cult. Finally, Investigations into the Nile Valley is a relatively short section. If you wanted a general reference book, for the price it must be considered. You must bear in mind that the book covers a massive time span and therefore cannot cover each time period in great depth. However, as a first stop to refer to before going onto more specialist books this work has got to be in there with a chance.
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by Ian Shaw
by Brigitte Hintzen-Bohlen
by Gabriele Bartz
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