The Private Lives of the Pharaohs
The Private Lives of the Pharaohs

Author: Joyce A. Tyldesley

Publisher: MacMillan Distribution Limited

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 248

ISBN-13:

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Egyptian civilization, preserved for two thousand years, left a mysterious legacy in the form of human remains, monumental buildings, inscrutable writings, and elaborate tombs. But until recently, Egyptian mummies were considered to be little more than curiousities. Much of our understanding of Egyptian civilization has been gleaned from nineteenth century tomb robbers and twentieth century filmmakers. 'Private Lives of the Pharaohs' highlights the exciting new developments in medical science that are allowing Egyptologists to extract information from mummified Egyptians. Recent scientific advances, including DNA analysis, endoscopy, and CAT scans, are allowing Egyptologists to bring Egypt's dead 'back to life.' The once-hidden evidence extraced from their bones, hair, and rehydrated skin is unlocking the mysteries of the pyramids, showingus the secrets of Tutankahamen's court, and revealing the use of recreational drugs in the royal household. The result is a breathtaking new look at the Pharoahs and their monumental civilization. Renowned Egyptologist Joyce Tyldesley describes the major secrets that forensic scientists have been able to retrieve from Egypt's famed mummies ...

Chronicle of a Pharaoh
Chronicle of a Pharaoh

Author: Joann Fletcher

Publisher:

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 184

ISBN-13:

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Taking an eye-opening new approach to Egyptian history, Chronicle of a Pharaoh presents a unique and intimate portrait of Amenhotep III, the man and self-proclaimed god who presided over the zenith of Egypt's greatness. Through an unprecedented wealth of details--from the day-to-day running of a huge empire to his clothes, cats, and bedroom habits--the private and public faces of a pharaoh are vividly brought to life as never before. Joann Fletcher explores Amenhotep's private and public life in a compelling year-by-year account, drawing on firsthand and previously unpublished material. Among the many subjects covered are his daily schedule, such as bedchamber ceremonies and meetings with ministers; his relations with rulers of other ancient superpowers, recorded in a lively correspondence covering topics from new wives to the price of silver; his family life, including the remarkable role of his wife, Queen Tiy; the superlative art of the reign; and his monumental construction projects--among them the great temple of Luxor. Amenhotep III also established the cult of Aten, the sun disk, and after Amenhotep's death his son, the rebel pharaoh Akhenaten, became fanatically obsessed with the god. Illustrated with spectacular full-color photographs, maps, and artifacts, many of which are published here for the first time, Chronicle of a Pharaoh provides the full context for understanding the monarch who presided over the magnificent flowering of Egyptian civilization.

The Red Sea Scrolls: How Ancient Papyri Reveal the Secrets of the Pyramids
The Red Sea Scrolls: How Ancient Papyri Reveal the Secrets of the Pyramids

Author: Mark Lehner

Publisher: Thames & Hudson

Published: 2022-01-11

Total Pages: 488

ISBN-13: 0500777020

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The inside story, told by excavators of the extraordinary discovery of the world’s oldest papyri, revealing how Egyptian King Khufu’s men built the Great Pyramid at Giza. Pierre Tallet’s discovery of the Red Sea Scrolls—the world’s oldest surviving written documents—in 2013 was one of the most remarkable moments in the history of Egyptology. These papyri, written some 4,600 years ago, and combined with Mark Lehner’s research, changed what we thought we knew about the building of the Great Pyramid at Giza. Here, for the first time, the world-renowned Egyptologists Tallet and Lehner give us the definitive account of this astounding discovery. The story begins with Tallet’s hunt for hieroglyphic rock inscriptions in the Sinai Peninsula and leads up to the discovery of the papyri, the diary of Inspector Merer, who oversaw workers in the reign of Pharaoh Khufu in Wadi el-Jarf, the site of an ancient harbor on the Red Sea. The translation of the papyri reveals how the stones of the Great Pyramid ended up in Giza. Combined with Lehner’s excavations of the harbor at the pyramid construction site the Red Sea Papyri have greatly advanced our understanding of how the ancient Egyptians were able to build monuments that survive to this day. Tallet and Lehner narrate this thrilling discovery and explore how the building of the pyramids helped create a unified state, propelling Egyptian civilization forward. This lavishly illustrated book captures the excitement and significance of these seminal findings, conveying above all how astonishing it is to discover a contemporary eyewitness testimony to the creation of the only remaining Wonder of the Ancient World.

The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt
The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt

Author: Toby Wilkinson

Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks

Published: 2013-01-08

Total Pages: 658

ISBN-13: 0553384902

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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Magisterial . . . [A] rich portrait of ancient Egypt’s complex evolution over the course of three millenniums.”—Los Angeles Times NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post • Publishers Weekly In this landmark volume, one of the world’s most renowned Egyptologists tells the epic story of this great civilization, from its birth as the first nation-state to its absorption into the Roman Empire. Drawing upon forty years of archaeological research, award-winning scholar Toby Wilkinson takes us inside a tribal society with a pre-monetary economy and decadent, divine kings who ruled with all-too-recognizable human emotions. Here are the legendary leaders: Akhenaten, the “heretic king,” who with his wife Nefertiti brought about a revolution with a bold new religion; Tutankhamun, whose dazzling tomb would remain hidden for three millennia; and eleven pharaohs called Ramesses, the last of whom presided over the militarism, lawlessness, and corruption that caused a political and societal decline. Filled with new information and unique interpretations, The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt is a riveting and revelatory work of wild drama, bold spectacle, unforgettable characters, and sweeping history. “With a literary flair and a sense for a story well told, Mr. Wilkinson offers a highly readable, factually up-to-date account.”—The Wall Street Journal “[Wilkinson] writes with considerable verve. . . . [He] is nimble at conveying the sumptuous pageantry and cultural sophistication of pharaonic Egypt.”—The New York Times

Empires of Antiquities
Empires of Antiquities

Author: Billie Melman

Publisher:

Published: 2020

Total Pages: 412

ISBN-13: 0198824556

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Empires of Antiquities is a history of the rediscovery of the imperial civilizations of the ancient Near East in a modern imperial order that evolved between the outbreak of the First World War and the decolonization of the British Empire in the 1950s. It explores the ways in which near eastern antiquity was redefined and experienced, becoming the subject of imperial regulation, modes of enquiry, and international and national politics. Billie Melman follows a series of globally publicized spectacular archaeological discoveries in Iraq, Egypt, and Palestine, which made antiquity material visible and accessible as never before. She demonstrates that the new definition and uses of antiquity and their relations to modernity were inseparable from the emergence of the post-war international imperial order, transnational collaboration and crises, the aspirations of national groups, and collisions between them and the British mandatories. This study uniquely combines a history of the internationalization of archaeology and the rise of a new 'regime of antiquities', under the oversight of the League of Nations and its institutions, a history of British attitudes to, and passion for near eastern antiquity and on the ground, colonial policies and mechanisms, as well as nationalist claims on the past. It points at the centrality of the new mandate system. Drawing on an unusually wide range of materials collected in archives in six countries, as well as on material and visual evidence, this volume weaves together imperial, international and national histories, and the history of archaeological discovery which it connects to imperial modernity.