In this survey, the author gives an account of Egyptian burial customs, the reasons for their existence and how they changed in response to developments in religion. The author describes the tombs and the objects inside them - furniture, food, inscriptions, temples for animal gods - and shows how the Egyptians coped with the problems of security involved in guarding the afterlife of their dead. He goes on to demonstrate how recent scientific developments have added a new dimension to research, enabling scholars to trace family relationships, identify prevalent diseases and sometimes to discover the full pathological case histories of mummies, producing a detailed picture of this culture.

Death in Ancient Egypt

History

Spencer, A. Jeffrey

Americas

Penguin Group USA

The emergence of a complex civilization in the Nile valley of Egypt at the beginning of the third millenium BC is a story of rapid development in art, technology and social organization. The initial conditions for this advance were created by the adoption of agriculture in about 5000 BC; this freed the early inhabitants of the region from the hunting and gathering lifestyle which had persisted for the preceding quarter of a million years. Settled communities of farmers along the Nile gradually coalesced into urban centres under local rulers as the pace of development accelerated a process which culminated in the unification of the country under the authority of a king from southern Egypt in about 3100 BC. Under this king and his successor, during the first two Egyptian dynasties, the character of Egyptian civilization was established through a period of innovation coupled with increasing wealth and rapid technological advance. It was the substantial achievements of this period which laid the foundations for the political stability of the Old Kingdom, an age of highly centralized royal power which found expression in the construction of the pyramids.

Early Egypt: The rise of civilisation in the Nile Valley

published for the Trustees of the British Museum by British Museum Press

First published by the British Museum Press in 1993. Using ample color and b&amp;w illustrations, the author shows how our knowledge of the Predynastic and Early Dynastic Periods has developed with recent archaeological discoveries and excavations. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

Early Egypt: The Rise of Civilization in the Nile Valley

Ancient Civilizations

Univ of Oklahoma Pr

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Books by Spencer, A. Jeffrey