Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0415185890 ISBN 13: 9780415185899

Publisher: Routledge, 1999

Synopsis

The Encyclopedia opens with a general map of the region and a chronology of periods and dynasties, providing a context for the entries. The first section of the volume then comprises 14 overviews which explore the history and significance of each period.
The main body of the text offers more than 300 alphabetically organized entries, written by some of the most eminent scholars in this field. Areas covered include:
artefacts - glass, jewellery, sculpture
archaeological practices - dating techniques, representational evidence, textual sources
biographies - Howard Carter, Gertrude Caton Thompson, Gaston Maspero
buildings - cult temples, private tombs, pyramid complexes
geographical features - agriculture, climate, irrigation
sites - Abydos, Dakhla Oasis, Thebes
social organization - kingship, law, taxation
The text is extensively illustrated with over 120 images. Each entry is followed by a selected further reading section which includes foreign language sources to supplement the available works in English.

About this title

About the Author:

Kathryn A. Bard is Associate Professor of Archaeology, Boston University, and is the editor of "The Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt" (1999). She has directed excavations in Egypt and northern Ethiopia since 1989 and was the recipient of the National Geographic Society's Committee for Research and Exploration Chairman's Award in 1998. Bard is Co-Director (with Rodolfo Fattovich) of excavations at the pharaonic seaport at Wadi/Mersa Gawasis, where in December 2004 they discovered the first pieces ever recovered from ancient Egyptian seagoing vessels, including riggings and cedar steering oars.

From Booklist:

Ever wondered what an oxyrhynchus is? Or why the Greeks gave that name to an Egyptian town? This is the encyclopedia to consult for scholarly information on ancient Egypt. Bard, an expert on the topic, has enlisted scholars from universities, museums, institutes, and research centers worldwide to produce more than 300 signed entries covering the Paleolithic era to the Arab invasion of Egypt in A.D. 639 . She and others wrote the introductory essays, which provide general overviews of the periods covered--Paleolithic, dynastic, six subsequent kingdoms, the Ptolemaic, and the Roman periods. A detailed chronology lists the numbered dynasties and the names of kings and queens who ruled during each period. Alphabetically arranged entries treat specific sites (Karnak), aspects of culture (brewing and baking), famous Egyptologists (Breasted, James Henry), structures (Late Period private tombs), other cultures (Macedonians), and themes (anthropology and Egyptology).

The work is especially strong on details of specific places, such as Abu Simbel. Coordinates are given in parentheses along with a description of where the site is, relative to such known landmarks as the Aswan Dam. Sites are listed by "most popular names." Floor plans and site maps accompany many articles. Most of the evidence for these sites comes from temples, tombs, and mortuaries because ancient settlements have become very difficult to find because of changes in the Nile River, dense population along the Nile, and other reasons, such as looting. A handy map in the front matter identifies the 103 sites treated. Metric measurements are used, and some Egyptian words are transliterated. For the uninitiated, a glossary helps identify terms used in the entries, such as stela and wadi. Brief bibliographies follow each entry, and the 43-page index is the best way to approach the volume.

This outstanding work is prepared by scholars for serious students of the archaeology of ancient Egypt. Egyptologists, philologists, historians, classicists, art historians, and anthropologically trained archaeologists helped write it. Margaret Bunson's Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt (Facts On File, 1991) is much more accessible and more reasonably priced for public, middle-school, high-school, and college undergraduate libraries. Her black-and-white illustrations are strong and definitions are brief and clear for term-paper purposes. There are entries for such familiar topics as Nefertiti and Tuthmose (spelling used by Bard), which are accessible in Bard only through the index as part of more complex, but thorough, discussions. Bard's work, however, is well worth the cost and belongs in all college and university libraries and other libraries supporting research in ancient archaeology.

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0415185890
• ISBN 13: 9780415185899
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 968
• Editor: Bard Kathryn A.