"The Egyptians were people of flesh and blood, capable of both greatness and weakness, masters of ambitious projects but also slaves to banal preoccupations. They imposed their vision of the world on their environment, but they were weighed down by the burden of the human condition. In short, they were like any of us. And like ours, their society had its affairs, its scandals, its uncertainties, and its rifts."―from the Preface
Drawing on ancient texts, archaeological reports, and other sources, Pascal Vernus focuses attention on the human failings of the too-often-mythologized Egyptians. Affairs and Scandals in Ancient Egypt treats instances of significant corruption―which, according to Vernus, constitute a crisis of values―in New Kingdom Egypt. His discoveries afford sobering new insights into the tension between stated beliefs and actual behavior in ancient Egyptian civilization. The examples of corruption Vernus describes run the gamut from graverobbing to labor unrest, from embezzlement to palace intrigue.
The first chapter deals with the tomb robberies in the Theban necropolis during the Twentieth Dynasty. The second outlines the economic context and events associated with strikes carried out by the workmen of the royal necropolis. The third chapter uses a certain Paneb as an exemplar of corruption in the area of Thebes. Chapter 4 considers the theft of government property and attempted cover-ups in the Aswan region. The last example may be the most dramatic―the conspiracy in the royal women's quarters in the last year of Ramesses III aimed at affecting the succession to the throne. In the book's final chapter, Vernus analyzes the historical contexts and the main issues surrounding each scandal.

Affairs and Scandals in Ancient Egypt

Vernus, Pascal

Religion & Spirituality

Cornell University Press

This volume by the renowned Egyptologist Pascal Vernus captures the very essence of Ancient Egypt-a civilization thoroughly imbued by the inspirational and multiform presence of the divine. Accompanying by 110 color photographs of treasures of Egyptian art and architecture, as well as impressive aerial views of the surrounding landscapes, Vernus's exploration of Egyptian divinity reveals the central role that religion played in Egyptian life and culture.

The Gods of Ancient Egypt

History

Ancient Civilizations

George Braziller, Inc.

This is a technical study of Middle Egyptian grammar aimed at enhancing our understanding of tense, mood and aspect; a difficult area of research because, as the author notes, `we have no informants, since the discovered mummies have so far stubbornly refused to speak and are not expected to change their minds in the future'.

Future at Issue. Tense, Mood and Aspect in Middle Egyptian (Yale Egyptological Studies)

Yale Egyptological Seminar

The civilization of ancient Egypt was suffused by the divine. Omnipresent, multi-formed, mysterious and inexhaustibly rich, the pantheon of deities dictated the essence of all aspects of life. The absolute pharaonic state depended for its authority on the enduring and rigid hierarchy of the gods which supported it, and yet the Egyptian deities also influenced the existence of individual subjects during their everyday life and in their preparation for the afterlife. This book, which includes colour photographs of representations of the gods across three millennia, examines the complex nature of Egyptian divinity and seeks to present ancient Egyptian religion in a manner which is comprehensible to the modern mind. It explores the relations between the divine beings and their creation - man - in many forms: magic, oracles, amulets and superstition; the cult of sacred animals; survival in the afterlife through funerary ritual and observance; the myth of creation; the cult of the king; and other aspects of the divine. The photographs of sculptures and paintings from antiquities collections around the world reflect the diversity and beauty of the Egyptian pantheon and explain the continuing fascination that ancient Egypt holds today.

Arts & Photography

Religious

I.B.Tauris

Cet ouvrage est avant tout un vagabondage dans une civilisation, une culture plusieurs fois millénaire. Pascal Vernus, en érudit, en savant, en philologue aussi, nous familiarise avec cet ensemble de monuments, de tombeaux, d'objets, d'idées, de coutumes, de textes, nous démontrant patiemment à quel point l'Egypte pharaonique est un trésor inépuisable, tant pour l'archéologue que pour le premier des touristes.Il nous explique la nature et la fonction des dieux, la signification de l'embaumement. Il décrit l'intimité des pharaons et la vie quotidienne du petit peuple.Enfin, il nous initie à la richesse d'une littérature certes imprégnée de poésie mais également riche de morceaux d'éloquence et même d'esprit de controverse, l'ensemble non dénué d'humour.

Dictionnaire amoureux de l'Egypte pharaonique

PLON

Dictionnaire des Pharaons

Yoyotte, Jean

TEMPUS PERRIN

Affaires et scandales sous les Ramsès: AFFAIRES ET SCANDALES SOUS LES RAMSES

Reference

Foreign Language Study & Reference

Pygmalion

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