Ian Shaw (1) (1961–)

As we are used to in the Oxford History series, this compilation offers a good overview of ancient Egyptian history, always by specialists and therefore scientifically sound. Only, in practice it is actually more of a chronicle, focused on political and administrative aspects and to a lesser extent on artistic achievements. Economy, social relations, the broad culture and especially religion are touched upon very unequally and in any case to a lesser extent. On top of that, it contains hardly any illustrations, at least in my Kindle edition (strangely, the series is called "The Illustrated History"), only some sketchy maps and no charts at all. This book is now also more than 20 years old, so it is no longer completely up-to-date. On the positive side, it is well edited. A view on the more interesting things I learned in my historical account on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5292647516.… (mais)

A survey of Egyptian history from prehistory until the supremacy of Christianity in the middle 300s.

A lot of archaeological detail is given for the discoveries of prehistory and for the Second Intermediate Period in the north. Otherwise the narrative focuses primarily on what is known from funerary and temple monuments, a bit from Manetho, and whatever may exist from parallel records from other lands.

To this end a lot of the story is about kings and the things they built. It's a bit disappointing that more was not made of the Deir el-Medina community and what could be known about the life of the artisan class based on these resources. One chapter focuses on the relationships with other nations. But it's mostly rulers and what large-scale developments can be perceived through material remains.

This is a very accessible introduction to the history of ancient Egypt.… (mais)

A good resource, and well-written in its way. While I wouldn't call it an "encyclopedia," as many here have, it is almost overloaded with facts and factoids to the point that it is difficult to digest the whole thing if you try to read it straight through (which I did in preparation for a trip to Egypt). Some of the writing is dry and academic, especially in the first few chapters: okay, we don't know many things for sure, but the authors of those early chapters (and some later ones too) seem more concerned with being called out by colleagues for not ultra-qualifying every single statement than they are with making sense to a lay person and just giving us something to go on. Yet, I got a lot out of it and plan to keep it as a reference. The edition I read dates from the year 2000 or so, and I wonder if there haven't been DNA studies that tell us more about how the many bodies found in the royal tombs were truly related to each other and who some of the general populace were- did the first Egyptians to put down permanent roots come from the East, West, or South, or were thy there all along? And who were the Hyksos?… (mais)