Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #463354 in Books
• Published on: 2001-02-09
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 335 pages

Synopsis
Temples, Tombs and Hieroglyphs is a complete history of ancient Egypt aimed at the non-specialist reader and is recommended to all those planning a trip to Egypt. The book is lavishly illustrated throughout with maps, photographs and drawings. In an easily accessible and lively style, Barbara Mertz, an Egyptologist of wide experience, provides an informative and highly readable overview of ancient Egyptian history.

Customer Reviews

A Readable Egyptian History
This book is very readable because it is scattered with titbits of information that make you stop and think. These little gems hold your attention and make you refocus on what you have read, enhancing the reading experience and acting as memory aids. Barbara has written a simplified Egyptian history that a new-comer can get a handle on and form the basis for more research work. The history is generally split into ten chapters, each complete with illustrations, photographs and examples of hieroglyphs. As you read your way from archaic through to the more recent Barbara gives you the impression she is there, guiding you through step by step. When you are fully settled the hieroglyphs are discussed (chapter 9), just enough to keep you interested without getting too technical. I cannot stress enogh how readable the book is, almost urging you to venture into the further reading section. If you want a fun history session, this is the book for you

A fantastic rip through ancient Egyptian history.
This book is written by an Egyptologist so is factually correct and very well informed, but the author also writes novels under the names Elizabeth Peters and Barbara Michaels so its not some weighty, dull tome. The book reads almost like a novel with a friendly, exciting tone that anyone who's read her novels will expect. Barbara Mertz lets you see her excitement and love of her subject, but assumes no previous knowledge about Egypt. Having said that I've read loads of books on ancient Egypt but still learned things I didn't know. Its nice to fit it all together as the full story of ancient Egypt and who the major characters were then and who the people were/are who have since discovered the tombs and temples. Its great background reading for all those who enjoy her fiction, particularly the Amelia Peabody series of books. Many of the sites mentioned there are discussed here and a number of the Egyptologists who appear in that series of books are brought to life, warts and all. All in all its a fantastic book and I'm waiting to get Red Land, Black Land her other factual book. I've read all the fiction she's written!