Product Description

This book is the most comprehensive treatment of Early Dynastic Egypt to date, and breaks new ground by tackling such topics as administration and religion. Accessible to the general reader and student alike.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #171116 in Books
• Published on: 1999-03-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 440 pages

Review
"Indispensable to students and scholars."
-Religious Studies Review
"A full treatment of this era was badly needed, and Wilkinson's new book fills this need admirably and will be indispensible to students and scholars. "Religious Studies Review, Volume 26, Number 4, October 2000."
"Wilkinson's book provides an encyclopedic survey of...Egyptian history....An important book."
-"Choice
"A remarkable publication with great photography. Highly recommended for the interested student or scholar.."
-"The Bibliography of Ancient Egypt"
"An important book.."
-"Choice, March 2000

From the Back Cover
Early Dynastic Egypt spans the five centuries preceding the construction of the Great Pyramid at Giza. This was the formative period of ancient Egyptian civilisation, and it witnessed the creation of a distinctive culture that was to endure for 3,000 years. This book examines the background to that great achievement, the mechanisms by which it was accomplished, and the character of life in the Nile valley during the first 500 years of pharaonic rule.
This highly illustrated volume is divided into three parts, which trace the re-discovery of Early Dynastic Egypt over the last century, explain how the dynasties established themselves in government by means of economics, politics, administration and religion and conclude by examining the impact of the early state on individual communities and regions.
The results of over thirty years of international scholarship and excavation, including recent dramatic discoveries, are presented in a single volume. This is the most comprehensive treatment of Early D

About the Author
Toby Wilkinson, a former Lady Wallis Budge Junior Research Fellow in Egyptology at Christ's College, Cambridge, currently holds a Leverhulme Trust Special Research Fellowship in the Department of Archaeology, University of Durham. He is the author of State Formation in Egypt and has excavated at the Early Dynastic Egyptian sites of Buto and Memphis.

Customer Reviews

An overview of the formative period of Egyptian civilization
This book replaces W.B. Emery's Archaic Egypt as the standard English-language introduction to the early dynastic period. It is a fine synthesis of the last century of work in the field and in specialist journals, including the many recent discoveries (e.g., cemetary U at Umm-el-Qaab, the many delta sites) as well as the most important discussions (e.g., Seidlmayer, Renee Friedman). Especially strong in dealing with the "new" archeology, the most important original contribution of this work is its analysis of royal administration in the 1st through 3rd dynasties. If this study does have a weakness, it is in its catalog-like treatment of religion; but even on this topic the major references are given for the interested reader to consult.

Excellent
I have been to Egypt, the first time was in 1993, and I made my mind up that I'd like to study Egyptology.

Although in my second year of studying Egyptology, during my first year this was one of my study books. It's an excellent book for discovering about Ancient Egypt before the Unification of Upper and Lower Egypt.

It's a very in-depth read and you'll learn a lot about Egypt's beginning, it can be a little slow and sometimes you may have to read a chapter more then once for the knowledge to sink in,( I know I did), but it's well worth the money.

It makes an excellent edition to my little Egyptian library, which now stands at nearly 1000 books on this subject. :-)