The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt

This has got to be one of the most boring history books that I have read in years, and I read a lot of them. While it competently covers the grand outlines of Egyptian history, it gets mired in the details of how archaeologists go about piecing together their clues, that is, the deductions behind how an artifact is interpreted by whom at what unrecognizable excavation site. Now this can certainly be interesting if a story is told, but in this book it comes across as the driest of exercises in academic rigor. Of course, this kind of detail, particularly regarding their methods, should be of great interest to serious university students who are wondering about the cutting edge in their field. But it is most emphatically not for the interested amateur.

If you want to get an idea of what the book is like, take a look at the introduction, which is available in the "excerpts" on the amazon onlinereader. It is 15 pages of a kind of lecture on how chronologies should be compiled, what kinds of artifacts are available in what period, what problems there are in interpretation of them, who pioneered what method, etc. It is so boring that it is akin to eating cardboard. And the rest of the book is hardly any better.

In addition, because each chapter is written by an expert, the overall book loses a coherence of voice that is available only in works by a single author. The chapters thus feel rather disjointed, and of course, there is no narrative momentum. As such, I got little sense of why so much attention is lavished on certain archaeological details while events about which much is known, such as the reign of the various Ramses (think Moses, etc.) receive at most passing mention. I also barely got any sense of the religion or mythology. Even the religious schism caused by Tutankhamen's father (Amenhotep) is so poorly explained that I had to search elsewhere for details.

All that I got was the gist of Egyptian history. It was one of the first centralized kingdoms to exist, which enabled its rulers to embark on their extraordinary building projects from 3100 BC. In a geographically rich and protected region, they gained time free from invaders to experiment and develop a truly unique society. However, by delegating power to local governors or priests (often through inter-marriage with the royal family), local strongmen began to fight civil wars, leading to the three "intermediate periods" of fragmented rule and breakdowns of order. Only after centuries of struggle in each case did a new leader emerge to reunite the country. The book then concludes with descriptions of the various foreign powers to conquer Egypt, from the Libyans and Persians to the Macedonians and finally the Romans; until the very end, invaders were seduced by Egyptian culture, much as was the case with the Chinese. While there is much interesting detail here, it is recounted again from long interpretations of their artifacts and textual sources, which makes it a lugubrious reading experience.

This book errs on the side of analysis: it is highly technical and singles out the contributions and controversies generated by various academics (all of whom are named and discussed at some length, regardless of their obscurity with non-Egyptologist readers). The reader gets virtually no feel for what the society was like, with its unusual mix of religion and political power and its reverence for peculiar gods, or what the personalities of some of its great leaders were like. To be sure, the empire is so ancient that only towards its end do written sources emerge that offer details beyond the propaganda recorded in tombs or commemorative stellae. But I think it could have had much more narrative with flavor.

I would recommend this book for academics, whom it should rightfully please and whose discipline I certainly respect, but not for history buffs seeking a fun introduction to an incredible empire. It is a book to be studied, but it cannot be read for pleasure.

This book is excellent. It is very detailed for an overview. The book has excellent discussions on the pre-history of Egypt, as well as Egypt's military and political contacts and/or wars with the Mittani culture, the Hyksos, and the Hittites, as well as the people of the Western Desert -"Libyans", and the cultures in Nubia, etc.

It discusses the archeological evidence and discusses the chronologies based on the "pottery clock" type dating of sites (although the term "pottery clock" is not used) and stratigraphic analyses, as well as the King lists, etc. What we know vs. what we believe vs. what is an open question.

It contains detailed discussions on the influence of the Sea Peoples, and the evidence regarding contacts from Cyprus, Crete, and Mycenaean Greece, and which way those contacts ran (i.e., from Egypt to Greece or vise-versa, and what we know and don't know regarding these contacts).

It also has an excellent overview of Ancient Egypt's trade and economics including some good overview maps of the locations of the Eastern Desert Gold Mines, and the Gold/Turquoise Mines on the Sinai Peninsula, and the extent of the empire into modern day Sudan, etc.

For those interested in Ancient Egyptian religion the book has great discussions on the Armana Period and Akhenaton, Nefertiti and monotheism, and the priestly revolt, as well as on all the main cult centers and their evolution.

The book concludes with Ptolemaic Egypt and its relations with Rome.

I bought this book for a class in Egyptology as required course material but it is so well written and has great pictures and information that instead of selling it after the quarter is over like I do with most books for my class I'm going to keep this one. It's well worth the buy if you are interested in Ancient Egypt. It has a great deal of insightful detailed information.

This book is a collection of dry essays written with poor cohesion. It's as if the sum editiorial guidance was "Write something about the second intermediate period." Some articles repeat discusssions (for instance, after dozens of citations of Manetho's Aeqyptiaca and the Turin Canon as well as an explanation of both, on page 186, these sources are explained as if for the first time), some articles refer to history that has never been discussed.

If you are not knowledgeable about the geopgraphy of Egypt, you will be frustrated. For instance, the city Memphis is cited 4 times before the page with a map including its location. I was constantly flipping through the maps trying to find different cities. It didn't help that this particular map (p 91) is not even included on the list of maps and plans! The 1st and 2nd cataracts are not included on a map until page 227!

Some cities are never included on maps (historical and modern: "route from 'Sako' (probably modern el-Qes)"). And when locations are on maps, the text often contradicts the map. On page 201: "Cusae lies about 40 km, south of Hermopolis (el-Ashmunein)". On the facing page, Cusae is about 5 km ne of Hermoplois.

Religion is an essential part of understanding Egyptian history. I was really disappointed that a 500 page book did not include one article on religion or the afterlife.

The final annoyance is the glossy stock. If you don't have a lamp in the right position, you will get a large unreadable glare on the page.

The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt is really more of an encyclopedia than a narrative history. Each of its 15 chapters is written by a different author, presumably an expert in the particular time period under study. This lends itself to a disjointed style as each author presents an overwhelming welter of archeological facts in an effort to deal with their own view of the controversies in the assigned area. While no doubt providing the experienced Egyptologist with fine details is important, the casual reader will find the book a dense and confusing read. The details of stone-age arrowhead manufacture or the various types of thrown pottery in the First Intermediate Period tend to obscure the bigger picture. As a prerequisite for reading this book I would recommend something lighter and more cohesive such as "A History of Ancient Egypt" by Grimal.

That said, the book is definitely a significant resource for anyone interested in Egyptian history. It covers the Egyptian state from prehistory through its incorporation into the Roman empire. Three chapters cover the pre-dynastic period including one on the Paleolithic period, one on the Naqada period and one entitled "Emergence of the Egyptian State" (Dynasties 0-2). Subsequent chapters for the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms (2 chapters for the last of these) and the Intermediate Periods follow. A rather strange and slightly redundant chapter, entitled "Egypt and the Outside World" is located just prior to the article on the Third Intermediate period. Its insertion here seems an afterthought as it covers the material of several preceding chapters using a topical, rather than chronologic, approach. Finally, several shorter chapters cover the Late Period, the Ptolemaic Period and the Roman Period. The book has a substantial further reading list and glossary as well as a tabular chronology, and index. It is well illustrated, with many black and white pictures, extensive maps and approximately 40 colour plates. Unfortunately, there is often a disconnect between the written material and the plates and pictures, leaving the reader confused as to their purpose.

I would definitely recommend this book as a scholarly or reference resource due to its detailed approach but I would suggest it not be the first book you read if you are a casual reader, interested in understanding the sweep of Egyptian history.