Ancient Egypt - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195212703 ISBN 13: 9780195212709

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1997

Synopsis

The ancient Egyptians lived in a remarkable culture that created some of the world's most beautiful art and architecture. It was a land where Pharaoh was the monarch of the entire world, the living emodiment on Earth of the god Horus, son of Osiris, ruler of the underworld. It was a culture that relied on the rising and falling of the Nile, but resided next to the Great Sahara, one of the hottest and driest deserts on the planet. Even today, the ancient civilization of Egypt--which produced the great pyramids, the riddle of the Sphinx, and the riches of Tutankhamum--exerts a strong hold on our imaginations.
Now, in Ancient Egypt, eminent Egyptologist David P. Silverman and a team of leading scholars explore the cultural wealth of this civilization in a series of intriguing and authoritative essays based on the latest theories and discoveries. Illustrated with more than 200 superb color photographs, maps, and charts, Ancient Egypt illuminates the vivid and powerful symbolic images of this fascinating culture--from pyramids and temples to priests and rituals; from hieroglyphic writing to daily life by the Nile; and from temple carvings to the cult of the dead. Correcting the popular misconception of the Egyptians as a death-obsessed people, the book uses the most recent historical research and archaeological finds to illuminate the routines of daily life in royal, élite, and priestly circles, as well as at lower levels of society.
We learn, for example, that despite the monochromatic appearance of most temple ruins today, in ancient times they would have been colorful, even gleaming structures; that the title "Pharaoh" derives from the Egyptian phrase per aa, which means "great house" and was originally a reference to the royal palace; that temples employed all manner of part-time and full-time personnel, from farmers and carpenters to scribes, jewellers, and keepers of livestock; and that Egyptian law viewed women as equal to men, and they could, in some cases, wield considerable influence.
Lavishly illustrated with beautiful color artwork, Ancient Egypt is an authoritative and accessible guide to the many dimensions of the ancient Egyptian world.

About this title

About the Author

About the General Editor:
David P. Silverman is currently Curator-in-Charge of the Egyptian Section of the University of Pennsylvania Museum and Chairman of the university's Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. His many previous books include Language and Writing in Ancient Egypt, Religion in Ancient Egypt, Ancient Egyptian Kingship, and Masterpieces of Tutankhamun. His fieldwork includes the co-directorship of the University of Pennsylvania/Boston Museum of Fine Arts expedition to record the tombs of the Old and Middle Kingdoms (ca. 2625-1530 BCE).

From Booklist

Twelve contributing scholars have joined Silverman in writing this lavishly illustrated book that contains 200 color photographs, maps, and charts. Their essays cover such broad subjects as history, geography, legends, archaeology, religion, economy, art, architecture, and language. There are pieces on international trade and travel, farming, hunting, fishing, mining, capital cities, palaces, fortresses, gender and society, mathematics, medicine, magic, the pharaohs, the cosmos, the cult of the dead, ritual games, the pyramids, tombs, temples, the solar cycle, and hieroglyphs. The writing is based on the latest historical research and archaeological finds, offering readers a penetrating look at the daily life of both royalty and commoner. George Cohen

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0195212703
• ISBN 13: 9780195212709
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256
• Editor: Silverman David P.