Product Description

More than 3000 years ago a village was established at Thebes on the west bank of the Nile. Situated amid a barren and arid landscape, it housed the workers who created the tombs of the Pharaohs and the Valley of the Kings. It was through death and the ritual of burial that the Pharaohs became gods, and their elaborately carved and decorated temples were an essential part of this mystical process. Stonemasons, painters, sculptors, quarrymen, lived with their wives and children in the village, and worked closely together in the sacred valley. As well as building the magnificent tombs of the Pharaohs, they built their own tombs, erected temples for the village gods, and wrote prayers and recorded their thoughts on stone and papyri. This is the story of the Egyptian tomb-makers who, shortly after the death of Ramesses II, staged the first industrial action in recorded history. As the wealth of the Pharaohs dwindled, the tomb- makers began to plunder the very tombs they had built, helping to plunge Egypt into a spiral of decline and anarchy from which she never recovered.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #269668 in Books
• Published on: 2003-06-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

About the Author
John Romer is a graduate of the Royal College of Art. He began work in archaeology in the University of Chicago's epigraphic survey at Thebes and Upper Egypt. For the last twenty-five years he has alternated professional archaeology and interests in conservation with an international career of writing books and television series which he also presents to critical acclaim. John Romer lives and works around the Mediterranean and the Middle East with his wife Elizabeth.

Customer Reviews

Ancient Lives by John Romer
This is the book that accompanied the television series which was broadcast in the 1980's (I think). It is superbly written in the form of an historical story rather than a text book and is an accurate account of the daily lives of the inhabitants of Deir el Medina, the village where the builders and craftsmen who created the tombs of the Valley of the Kings lived.

Romer's infectious enthusiasm for his subject shines out of every page. I would highly recommend it to any amature Egyptologists especially those who have also read Christian Jacq's fictional 'Stone of Light' series about the tomb builders village. I read 'Ancient Lives' many years ago and when I recently read the 'Stone of Light' series felt that I already knew many of the characters.

I would highly recommend this book to those new to the subject of Egyptology as after reading this you will be hungry for more.

Now on DVD
This was a book and TV series that opened my interest in Egyptology. An Excellent read. When I looked up John Romer on the internet I saw that you could pre order the DVD Ancient Lives on Amazon USA. I assume this is why the U Tube extracts have been withdrawn. Is it to be released in England? If so when?
Cheers Steve

ancient lives-the story of the tombmakers.
i thought this book was outstanding.
written beautifully. feel like your really there !