Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization

Rating:
Summary: Cultural History of the Highest Order
Review: Simply put, this is the best book on Ancient Egypt I have ever read. It's also the kind of volume one can only produce after years of careful study and thought. Over the last two decades, as he conducted extensive excavations at Akhetaten's ancient city of Amarna, Kemp has achieved an extraordinary depth of knowledge about Egyptian culture. Among other issues, his thematic investivation ("anatomy" is exactly the right word), examines the founding of the state, the bureaucratic mind, and the use of propaganda. Throughout, the author employs abundant visual evidence to support and illustrate his ideas. He also carefully connects this "other" world to our own, repeatedly demonstrating that we are far more closely related than we might like to admit. This is an ambitious book. As he notes in the introduction, Kemp's real goal is to reveal "basic aspects of human thought and organization." That he is so successful, is in large part due to the author's extraordinary ability to clarify the most complex ideas in lucid, engaging prose.

Rating:
Summary: Cultural History of the Highest Order
Review: Simply put, this is the best book on Ancient Egypt I have ever read. It's also the kind of volume one can only produce after years of careful study and thought. Over the last two decades, as he conducted extensive excavations at Akhetaten's ancient city of Amarna, Kemp has achieved an extraordinary depth of knowledge about Egyptian culture. Among other issues, his thematic investivation ("anatomy" is exactly the right word), examines the founding of the state, the bureaucratic mind, and the use of propaganda. Throughout, the author employs abundant visual evidence to support and illustrate his ideas. He also carefully connects this "other" world to our own, repeatedly demonstrating that we are far more closely related than we might like to admit. This is an ambitious book. As he notes in the introduction, Kemp's real goal is to reveal "basic aspects of human thought and organization." That he is so successful, is in large part due to the author's extraordinary ability to clarify the most complex ideas in lucid, engaging prose.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting but what exactly is it?
Review: The title of this book claims it is an "anatomy of a civilization" and that civilization is Egypt. That isn't what this book is, however, because that title suggests that this is some sort of geneal introduction or study of Egyptian history. It isn't. In fact, even though the first 180 looks at the formation of the nation, two kingdoms, and the intermediate periods, this is really just a build up to the second half of the book. This second half is focused on the New Kingdom, especially Amarna and Akhenaten. The overall idea of this book is that this odd period in Egyptian history is somehow "better" than the previous and following periods and that it is a foreshadow of later times, maybe even our future. Kemp's ideas are certainly intriguing and indeed may have strength but they should not be promoted this way because it will mislead readers into thinking they are getting a general history when they are not. This is really an academic argument, a worthy one in fact, but it is not appropriate for an introductory audience. If you want to look at Amarna, this is a good resource.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting but what exactly is it?
Review: The title of this book claims it is an "anatomy of a civilization" and that civilization is Egypt. That isn't what this book is, however, because that title suggests that this is some sort of geneal introduction or study of Egyptian history. It isn't. In fact, even though the first 180 pages look at the formation of the nation, the first two kingdoms, and the twointermediate periods, this is really just a build up to the second half of the book. This second half is focused on the New Kingdom, especially Amarna and Akhenaten. The overall idea of this book is that this odd period in Egyptian history is somehow "better" than the previous and following periods and that it is a foreshadow of later times, maybe even our future. Kemp's ideas are certainly intriguing and indeed may have strength but they should not be promoted this way because it will mislead readers into thinking they are getting a general history when they are not. This is really an academic argument, a worthy one in fact, but it is not appropriate for an introductory audience. If you want to look at Amarna, this is a good resource.

Rating:
Summary: a provocative archaeological book
Review: This provocative book presents a broad examination of Ancient Egyptian society, based on archaeological evidence of available information and material. The author surveys the influence of the ancient Egyptian civilization. Carefully researched, and written in a comprehensible manner, this is a most recommended book for all students and scholars.

Rating:
Summary: a provocative archaeological book
Review: This provocative book presents a broad examination of Ancient Egyptian society, based on archaeological evidence of available information and material. The author surveys the influence of the ancient Egyptian civilization. Carefully researched, and written in a comprehensible manner, this is a most recommended book for all students and scholars.