Rating: 
Summary: Walk Like An Egyptian
Review: "Ancient Egypt" is the perfect antidote to those Time-Life books about ancient civilizations, where you look at the pictures and read the text and wonder, "is that all there is?"Well, of course there is. The problem is finding it. This collection of essays uses words, pictures, artwork and imaginative reconstructions to describe the ancient world ruled by gods and which built monuments that have lasted millennia. The book's 15 chapters opens all aspects of the Nile kingdom's world. In addition to the expected sections on the pyramids, its hieroglyphs and Pharaohs, "Ancient Egypt" also delves into religious beliefs, political campaigns, the role of women, the development of towns and trade and the daily rituals of its people. Wrapped around the text are superlative photographs, shorter articles about equally fascinating subjects (a profile of Ramesses the Great in the section on Pharaohs, for example, or on the "letters" to the dead, written on simple pottery bowls and deposited in the tomb or coffin), plenty of colorful reproductions of Egyptian art so vivid that the course of individual brush-strokes could be seen, and commissioned drawings giving theories of how pyramids were built, and what the Temple of Karnak must have looked like at its height. But what really shines are the little touches. A closeup of an Egyptian artist, his scruffy hair and scraggy beard making him look like a New York bohemian, using an odd-shaped tool on a wooden beam; the vivid face of a long-dead woman painted on a board and included with her mummy wrappings, gazing at the reader with the poise of nobility; a piece of prose passed among the scribes that mocks all other trades ("the potter is under the soil, although he stands among the living / He grubs in the mud more than a pig in order to bake his pots"); a drawing of a fortress built to impress the Nubians in southern Egypt, looking for all the world, with its towers and crenellations like something out of medieval Europe. So much about ancient Egypt seems so familiar, but, really, we were just watching "The Ten Commandments," or remembering the villain King Tut from the old Batman TV show."Ancient Egypt" shows us what we were missing.
Rating:
Summary: Walk Like An Egyptian
Review: "Ancient Egypt" is the perfect antidote to those Time-Life books about ancient civilizations, where you look at the pictures and read the text and wonder, "is that all there is?" Well, of course there is. The problem is finding it. This collection of essays uses words, pictures, artwork and imaginative reconstructions to describe the ancient world ruled by gods and which built monuments that have lasted millennia. The book's 15 chapters opens all aspects of the Nile kingdom's world. In addition to the expected sections on the pyramids, its hieroglyphs and Pharaohs, "Ancient Egypt" also delves into religious beliefs, political campaigns, the role of women, the development of towns and trade and the daily rituals of its people. Wrapped around the text are superlative photographs, shorter articles about equally fascinating subjects (a profile of Ramesses the Great in the section on Pharaohs, for example, or on the "letters" to the dead, written on simple pottery bowls and deposited in the tomb or coffin), plenty of colorful reproductions of Egyptian art so vivid that the course of individual brush-strokes could be seen, and commissioned drawings giving theories of how pyramids were built, and what the Temple of Karnak must have looked like at its height. But what really shines are the little touches. A closeup of an Egyptian artist, his scruffy hair and scraggy beard making him look like a New York bohemian, using an odd-shaped tool on a wooden beam; the vivid face of a long-dead woman painted on a board and included with her mummy wrappings, gazing at the reader with the poise of nobility; a piece of prose passed among the scribes that mocks all other trades ("the potter is under the soil, although he stands among the living / He grubs in the mud more than a pig in order to bake his pots"); a drawing of a fortress built to impress the Nubians in southern Egypt, looking for all the world, with its towers and crenellations like something out of medieval Europe. So much about ancient Egypt seems so familiar, but, really, we were just watching "The Ten Commandments," or remembering the villain King Tut from the old Batman TV show."Ancient Egypt" shows us what we were missing.
Rating:
Summary: Makes the world of the Pharaohs come to life
Review: A great book that has kept my interest. I found ancient Egypt hard to understand but this book made learning about Egypt easy.
Rating:
Summary: If I could only have one book on Ancient Egypt...
Review: David Silverman, author of several fine books as well as Curator of the Egyptian Collection at the University of Pennsylvania Museum, has made a major contribution to the literature in this comprehensive, engagingly written and well-illustrated volume. I have to admit a bias, since I studied hieroglyphics in one of his classes at the University of Chicago a while ago. His enthusiasm and knowledge shine forth in this mature work, which draws on the talents of the best people in the field today. I would give this book a ten-star rating!
Rating: 
Summary: Not good for the classroom
Review: Given the previous high reviews of this book I was hoping that this might replace Grimal's and a cultural atlas in a college history course on Egypt. Sadly it cannot. The essays will interesting and focused still are too general in some areas such as women and religion where it seems that there is no change over time in Egypt. That simply isn't true. In other sections, change is suggested but it isn't explained. Overall too little time is spent on each subject to justify its separation from the whole. A good solid introduction to the basic chronology and traditional history is covered in only 20 pages! I was so disappointed in the book that I'm returning it for a refund. I have specific and general books on Egypt already and this adds nothing to them. On the bright side, if you like a very general book then you should like this one because it is organized by topic and has very nice images and decent maps (not as good as others I've seen however).
Rating:
Summary: Not good for the classroom
Review: Given the previous high reviews of this book I was hoping that this might replace Grimal's and a cultural atlas in a college history course on Egypt. Sadly it cannot. The essays will interesting and focused still are too general in some areas such as women and religion where it seems that there is no change over time in Egypt. That simply isn't true. In other sections, change is suggested but it isn't explained. Overall too little time is spent on each subject to justify its separation from the whole. A good solid introduction to the basic chronology and traditional history is covered in only 20 pages! I was so disappointed in the book that I'm returning it for a refund. I have specific and general books on Egypt already and this adds nothing to them. On the bright side, if you like a very general book then you should like this one because it is organized by topic and has very nice images and decent maps (not as good as others I've seen however).
Rating:
Summary: an excellent coffee table book with vivid images
Review: I have always been fascinated with ancient egypt, and have many books on the location, and its history. This is a perfect coffee table book, in fact, I have it on my coffee table always. The images are vivid, and some breathtaking. There are historical details about the land, its culture, myths, gods, etc. The book also has wonderful images of many of the artifacts found in tombs during excavations, as well as detailed accounts of some of the gods and goddesses and their lives and influences on society. Other topics covered are the tombs, artwork, language, architecture, women in egypt and their roles, etc. wonderful book.
Rating:
Summary: an excellent coffee table book with vivid images
Review: I have always been fascinated with ancient egypt, and have many books on the location, and its history. This is a perfect coffee table book, in fact, I have it on my coffee table always. The images are vivid, and some breathtaking. There are historical details about the land, its culture, myths, gods, etc. The book also has wonderful images of many of the artifacts found in tombs during excavations, as well as detailed accounts of some of the gods and goddesses and their lives and influences on society. Other topics covered are the tombs, artwork, language, architecture, women in egypt and their roles, etc. wonderful book.
Rating:
Summary: This book is good material
Review: I have read many a book on Ancient Egypt.This is one of my personal favorites.David Siverman filled this book with everything on Ancient Egypt. Any Ancient Egypt fan (like me) will enjoy reading it.
Rating:
Summary: The most comprehensive general volume yet written on Egypt.
Review: Of every book on Egyptology I've ever read, from Budge to Gardiner, this is the most up-to-date general study of Ancient Egypt I've yet to read. With the best modern scholarship covering a wide range of topics from mathmatics to the tale of Isis and Osiris, this is a must have for anyone interested in Egyptology.
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