A history of ancient Egypt : from the first farmers to the Great Pyramid
The story of the ancient world is told in this first volume in a two-book series on the history of Egypt, spanning the first farmers to the construction of the pyramids. Famed archaeologist John Romer draws on a lifetime of research to tell one history's greatest stories; how, over more than a thousand years, a society of farmers created a rich, vivid world where one of the most astounding of all human-made landmarks, the Great Pyramid, was built. Immersing the reader in the Egypt of the past, Romer examines and challenges the long-held theories about what archaeological finds mean and what stories they tell about how the Egyptians lived. More than just an account of one of the most fascinating periods of history, this engrossing book asks readers to take a step back and question what they've learned about Egypt in the past
Print Book, English, 2013
First U.S. edition View all formats and editions
Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin's Press, New York, 2013
History
xxvii, 475 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 25 cm
9781250030115, 9781250030139, 1250030110, 1250030137
811597800
pt. 1. Making culture (5000-3000 BC). Beside the Pale Lake: living in the Faiyum, c. 5000-4000 BC : The Nile year ; Measured lives
Sickle sheen: most ancient Egypt and the Neolithic : 'Egyptianness'
Merimda and el-Omari: Lower Egypt, 4800-4300 BC : The cemeteries of el-Omari ; The Merimda head ; The big mistake ; A Neolithic Revolution? ; The character of change
The Badarians: Middle Egypt, 4400-4000 BC : Badarian pottery ; Badarian landscapes ; Pots and history ; The living people ; The burial of the dead
Black-topped, white-lined: life in Upper Egypt, 4000-3500 BC : The graphic image ; Settling and herding ; Naqada, Abydos and Hierakonpolis
A cloud across the moon: death in Upper Egypt, 4000-3200 BC : The oval court ; Great tombs
Boats and donkeys: copper, trade, and influence within the Lower Nile Valley, 3500-3000 BC : Boats and pots ; Maadi-Buto: import-export
Rolling along: of men and monsters, 3500-3000 BC : New space ; New forms
pt. 2. Making Pharaoh (3200-3000 BC). Scorpion and hawk, 3200-3000 BC : The wine-rich tomb
The coming of the king: the origins of hieroglyphs, c. 3000 BC : Interpretations ; On the origins of hieroglyphics
Narmer's palette: the qualities of kings, c. 3000 BC : Purposes and meanings
The hawk upon the wall: history, land and Naqadan resettlement, 3500-3000 BC : Migrations
Taking wing: Naqadan emigration, 3500-3000 BC : Into the Delta ; Into the Levant ; Into Nubia
Taking stock: ordering and accounting within the early state : Counting and accounting ; The order of the state
The shadows of birds: rite and sacrifice within the early state : Tithe and ceremonial ; Sacred and profane
pt. 3. Making a kingdom (3000-2650 BC). The Serekh tomb: the story of the Naqada Mastaba, c. 3000 BC : Uruk in Egypt
A line of kings: the first dynasty royal tombs, 3000-2825 BC : Reconstructing ancient Abydos ; Histories and kings ; Aigyptiaka: Manetho and the dynasties
The lost dynasty: fake histories, real lives: dynasty two, 2825-2675 BC : Let me call you sweetheart? ; From anthroponomy to history ; Aswan 1
2
3
The wheeling hawk: refining Egypt: dynasties one, two and three : trading clichés ; The material world ; Before and after
The realms of pharaoh: dynasties one and three : The politics of sacrifice ; King Djet's comb ; Tithe and sacrifice
Two gentlemen of Saqqara: Merka and Hesi-re: dynasties one and three : Merka ; Mariette and Hesi-re ; Order and the court ; Constancy and change ; Ars brevis
pt. 4. Step pyramid (2675-2650 BC). Djoser's kingdom : Djoser and history ; The switch to stone ; To make a pyramid ; Antiquarian
Heb Sediana: visions of the pyramid : The Egyptian Leonardo ; Forms and functions
Deus absconditus: the hidden god : The Demesne of the shrine
In consequence: the pyramid's effect
pt. 5. Building ancient Egypt (2650-2550 BC). A diadem of pyramids, 2650-2625 BC : In the provinces
Court and country: Metjen and the early reign of Sneferu, 2625-2600 BC : The meanings of words
High society: Sneferu at Maidum, 2625-2600 BC : Country life ; Life and death at Maidum ; The state in life and death ; Offering at the pyramid ; Annals
A building passion: Sneferu at Dahshur, 2600-2575 BC : A history in stone ; Building the machine ; Running the machine
Making the gods: deity at Dahshur, 2600-2575 BC : In the image of the king ; The place of kings
The perfect pyramid: Khufu and Giza, 2575-2550 BC : Imagining the pyramid ; The state machine ; After the pyramid ; The tomb of Khufu's mother
Chronology
"First published in Great Britain by Allen Lane, an imprint of Penguin Books"--Title page verso