A History of Egypt from the Earliest Times to the Persian Conquest

by James Henry Breasted

Introduction. The land; Preliminary survey, chronology & documentary sources; Earliest Egypt
The Old Kingdom. Early religion; The Old Kingdom: government & society, industry & art; The pyramid builders; The sixth dynasty: the decline of the Old Kingdom
The Middle Kingdom: the feudal age. The decline of the North & the rise of Thebes; The Middle Kingdom, the feudal age: state, society & religion; The twelfth dynasty
The Hyksos: the rise of the empire. The fall of the Middle Kingdom: the Hyksos; The expulsion of the Hyksos & the triumph of Thebes
The empire: first period. The new state: society & religion; The consolidation of the kingdom: the rise of the empire; The feud of the Thutmosids & the reign of Hatshepsut; The consolidation of the empire: Thutmose III; The empire; The religious revolution of Ikhnaton; The fall of Ikhnaton & the dissolution of the empire
The empire: second period. The triumph of Amon & the reorganization of the empire; The wars of Ramses II; The empire of Ramses II; The final decline of the empire: Merneptah & Ramses III
The decadence. The fall of the empire; Priests & mercenaries: the supremacy of the Libyans; The Ethiopian supremacy & the triumph of Assyria
The restoration & the end. The restoration; The final struggles: Babylon & Persia

Genres: History, Egypt, Nonfiction, Egyptology, Ancient History, Reference, Anthropology

667 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1905

About the author

James Henry Breasted was an American archaeologist, Egyptologist, and historian. After completing his PhD at the University of Berlin in 1894, he joined the faculty of the University of Chicago. In 1901 he became director of the Haskell Oriental Museum at the University of Chicago, where he continued to concentrate on Egypt. In 1905 Breasted was promoted to professor, and was the first chair in Egyptology and Oriental History in the United States. In 1919 he became the founder of the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago.
(wikipedia)

Reviews

[Cerebralcortext · Rating 5 out of 5]

This work is a classic in Egyptology, and by the end of the first chapter you will know why. Breasted delves in immense detail into the political, religious, and social aspects of Egypt’s ancient history. By the end I found myself wishing he would continue right up to when he had published the book in 1906. Now, yes, certain aspects of his work are dated: spelling of names, debates over chronology, and advances in archaeology will require either background cognizance of modern analyses or the desire to read further now that an excellent fundament has been set. But these are minor details in the broad brushstrokes of immaculate scholarship Breasted has laid out for the reader in eminently readable terms.

Do note that there is just an inkling of orientalism and the colonialist mindset in him. They do not though, as far as I am concerned, detract from the usefulness of the work.

[Ahmed Mubarak · Rating 5 out of 5]

الكتاب من اجمل الكتب اللي ممكن تقرأها في حياتك عن تاريخ مصر
تقريبا ده اول كتاب قرأته في التاريخ المصري القديم
سرد جميل ومسلي جدا للاحداث عكس معظم كتب التاريخ اللي ممكن تحسسك بالملل
الكتاب بدأ من عصور ماقبل التاريخ لحد توحيد مصر
وقيام الدوله القديمه وبعدها الدوله الوسطي وعصر الامبراطورية لحد الاضمحلال واحتلال الفرس لمصر

[ابراهيم الحملي · Rating 5 out of 5]

تاريخ مصر مشرف لدرجة كبيرة ف الحضارة والمدنية ، يجب على كل مصري إنه يفتخر بمصر القديمة ❤️

[Michael L Shepherd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it, and will read it again for reinforcement.

In 1978 I went to Egypt on USS Saratoga, and when we left there, my heart remained. When i woke up that first morning at anchor off Alexandria, I could see the dust in the air above Africa and couldn't wait to get on the shore of Egypt. Since then, I watch and read almost everything to do with Egypt, and although there have been many discoveries since it was written, and our understanding of the people and their country has come a long way, I think you will find a lot of useful information and some interesting observations which may describe the ancient Middle East in a way that you've never experienced before, such as with Syria, Babylon, Greece, Rome, Palestine and Israel.

[Christian Kotz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a reprint of a classic book that is very well written and a pleasure to read. Being originally published in 1905 it is unfortunately outdated in some historical detail, e.g. the timeline of the Thuthmoses.
In electronic form it is also an excellent buy - I got it for less than 2$. There are some typos, which seem to be the result of the OCR without careful editing, but these did not bother me.
I can recommend the book to newbies to Egyptian antiquities like me, but one should rely more on the general narrative than on every historical detail due to the age of the book. If in doubt I have consulted Wikipedia for a second opinion, but where I had no doubts I may have been mislead. However, rarely have I taken so much pleasure in reading an historical monography.

[Majd · Rating 5 out of 5]

رغم ان الكتاب يوحي بانه من الحجم المتوسط اي انه يتكون من ٤٠٠ صفحة الا ان كثرة المعلومات فيه جعلتني اقرأ الكتاب في ضعف المدة التي اقرأها لكتاب بهذا الحجم وما جعلني اواجه صعوبة اكبر انني لم اكن اعرف شيئا من تاريخ مصر القديم ورغم هذا استمتعت كثيرا في قراءة شيء اجهله تماما.
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من المعروف ان تاريخ الحضارة المصرية قديم جدا ولا يزال يكتنفه الكثير من الغموض ومن ولكن هناك لحظة فارقة تبدأ في عهد فرعون يسمى مينا حيث معه يوحد القطرين الشمالي والجنوبي ليصبحوا تحت حكم سلطة واحدة في في ما يقرب من ٣٢٠٠ سنة قبل الميلاد ويسمى ما قبل مينا تاريخ ما قبل الاسرات ومع توحيد القطرين مع الملك مينا يبدأ ما يسمى عصر الاسرات ويمتد تقريبا حتى سنة ٥٢٥ قبل الميلاد وقت الغزو الفارسي وتعاقبت اسرات مختلفة على الحكم.
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ينقسم الكتاب الى ثمانية ابواب كل باب له عدة فصول وهي:
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١. الباب الاول نظرة عامة عن طبيعة مصر الجغرافية والمصادر والمراجع للحضارة المصرية ومقتطفات عن تاريخ ما قبل الاسرات.
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٢. المملكة القديمة: وفيها يتكلم فيها عن عن توحيد القطرين على يد الملك مينا ويعتبر مينا مؤسس الاسرة الاولى وتعاقبت الى ان نصل للاسرة السادسة ويتحدث الكاتب عن الصناعات والفنون والدين والدولة وعلاقتها بالمجتمع وتم اتخاذ مدينة منف القديمة عاصمة للمملكة المصرية وامتدت الى عام ٢٤٧٥ قبل الميلاد.
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٣. المملكة الوسطى: وهو العصر الذي بدأت فيه تظهر قوة في مدينة طيبة منذرة بسقوط منف وتكوين المملكة الوسطى الاقطاعية وفيها يصف الكاتب التغيرات في نظام الحكم حيث كان رجال الدولة لهم صلاحيات اوسع ويملكون اراض واسعة وامتدت عليها ٦ اسر وسقطت عام ١٧٨٨ قبل الميلاد
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٤. سقطت المملكة الوسطى بعد ان دخلها عنصر غريب وهم الهيكسوس المختلف على اصلهم بالتحديد ولكن يتفق على انهم جاؤوا من اسيا وفيها صار الفرعون لا تتعدى سلطته عن طيبة واستمر حتى عام ١٥٨٠ وتعاقب عليها ٥ اسر
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٥. بعد ان طرد الهيكسوس بدأ عصر جديد حيث صارت المملكة المصرية امبراطورية توسعية حيث حرصت على تأمين جبهاتها خصوصا من جهة اسيا وبسبب التوسع الكبير كما يحدث في كل امبراطورية تتداخل الثقافات وتخرج افكار غريبة وكان اهم الاحداث هي محاولة الفرعون اخناتون فرض اله واحد بدل تعدد الالهة الشائع انذاك، وفيها وصلت مصر في اوج قوتها العسكرية ايضا وزاد الترف المنذر بانحطاط الدول ودخل المرتزقة الجيش وادى هذا الانحطاط الى احتلال فارسي في النهاية وتم الحديث عن الامبراطورية المصرية في ٣ ابواب كاملة واستمرت حتى عام ٥٢٥ وتعاقب عليها ١٠ اسر
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الكتاب دسم جدا من حيث المعلومات توقفت كثيرا لابحث في النت على بعض الاحداث لكن اسلوب الكتابة سلس نوعا ما، مرجع مهم جدا للتعرف على مصر الفرعونية

[JV]

Há exatos 201 anos atrás Champollion publicava a primeira tábua fonética do hieróglifo (tbm hierático). A descoberta é digna de Colombo. Para se ter uma ideia gregos e romanos reconheciam os três alfabetos, hieróglifo (para monumentos), hierático (como o anterior mas para uso em pergaminho e burocrático) e demótico (como o nome diz, popular) mas criam o hieróglifo mudo. Desde o final do alexandrino que ninguém entendia hieróglifos. Junto com a descoberta de Young do demótico, a compreensão direta dos egípcios galgou à consciência histórica mais de três milênios antes de Cristo.

O trabalho de Breasted é introdutório e condensa 80 anos de pesquisa global sobre o Egito, o primeiro olhar crítico e amplo naquela civilização. Discutimos tanto o legado clássico, greco-romano, e há tantas dissensões que me parece que as culturas do Egito, oriente médio e Assíria (Babilônia e outros usuários do cuneiforme) simplesmente escapam nosso horizonte conceitual. Ao leitor médio tais culturas a mesma distância de quando Napoleão invadiu o Egito. O livro dos mortos, Diálogo do homem e sua alma, a história e lenda de Hatsepshut, as conquistas de Thutmose III e os hinos a Aton de Ikhenaton são dignas de atenção em sua profundidade e beleza. Espero pesquisar mais sobre o assunto.

[Ed Barton · Rating 4 out of 5]

3500 Year Survey

This is a history covering 3500 years of Egyptian history from the rise of the Old Kingdom to the time of the Persian conquest about 600 BCE. Tying in Biblical timelines as well, the book covers a lot of ground in a very easy to read way.

[Christian Kotz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a reprint of a classic book that is very well written and a pleasure to read. Being originally published in 1905 it is unfortunately outdated in some historical detail, e.g. the timeline of the Thuthmoses. 
In electronic form it is also an excellent buy - I got it for less than 2$. There are some typos, which seem to be the result of the OCR without careful editing, but these did not bother me.
I can recommend the book to newbies to Egyptian antiquities like me, but one should rely more on the general narrative than on every historical detail due to the age of the book. If in doubt I have consulted Wikipedia for a second opinion, but where I had no doubts I may have been mislead. However, rarely have I taken so much pleasure in reading an historical monography.

[Johannes J Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

History to read and reference

This volume is packed by so much information.
I read it to look for some escape to prove Moses......yet not? It remains a wonder how much can be assembled and proven in a storyline as long as far back as 3500 bC.
I will keep this volume available for my Middle East reference .

[Belinda Earl Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Egypt revealed

The writer gives a history of Egypt based on the research of the day. He explains some of the influences affecting the Egyptian civilization. He outlines Egypt's effect on other civilizations.

[Patrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did not care for. Stopped about 50% through. Zzzzzzzz....

[Neil · Rating 2 out of 5]

Essentially a boring text book...

[Zlatina]

2 тома

[Steve R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this work was first published (1905) in the early part of the last century well over a century ago, it is still an excellent survey of the roughly 2500 years of ancient Egyptian history. For details on the various pharaohs, the construction of their monuments, the wars they fought both to defend and expand their empire, their various gods and religious developments, their economic activities and trade with Nubia, Ethiopia, Libya, Phoenicia, Assyria and later, with the Greeks as well as the critical relationships between the ruling class, the priesthood and the military, it truly presents a compelling overview of a complex and varied history.

I came to feel throughout reading the over five hundred pages of sometimes turgid prose (often, paragraphs would go one for well over two pages and quite frequently include at least twenty or thirty proper nouns referring to various individuals, peoples and places - I defy any general reader to keep them all straight!), that there were really three major high points, or crests of the waves of Egyptian history: roughly corresponding to the periods commonly referred to as the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms. More specifically, it was the fourth Dynasty, during which the largest pyramids at Giza were built; the twelfth dynasty, during which the kingdom was recovered from the Hyksos who had overrun it; and the eighteenth dynasty, during which Ramses II extended Egyptian power over large portions of Asia Minor that the glory of Egypt was most resplendent. Before, after and between their period, Breasted often uses the term 'dynasts' to refer to the local powers who fought with one another for supremacy over their much smaller fiefdoms.

I did have two major difficulties with the work. First of all, Breasted is forced by a simple lack of either concrete or archival evidence, to make an astonishing large number of suppositions. The frequent use of phrases such as 'most probably', 'must have, 'in all likelihood, 'presumably', and even 'undoubtedly' before verbs indicating some form of specific action means that he is using conjecture rather than deduction based on factual evidence. This fault diminished noticeably as the long series of years passed under his pen and more evidence became available during the later dynasties, but it is still quite a drawback to any feeling of veracity one can get about the earlier periods.

Secondly, I was dismayed by the over dominant attention paid to the ruling pharaohs and their monuments. I would have traded fifty or more of the pages on temple this or obelisk that for a description of what the farmers, artisans, government bureaucrats, religious scribes, riverboat workers and their wives lived like. I just ordered a copy of an even older work, Adolf Erman's Life in Ancient Egypt to try to rectify this glaring gap in Breasted's vision of what was important about this most-long lived of ancient civilizations.

Finally, one has to admire the solitary figure of Ikhnaton, who was pharaoh for twenty-seven years during the eighteenth dynasty. As Breasted claims, he was 'the first individual in history': someone who dared to step outside his culture and heritage to change the entire religion of his nation and refocus its leadership on a truly different path: away from conquest and economic development, toward spiritual development. The true revolution of his changes, and the manner in which they were so summarily overturned after his passing, makes for truly inspiring reading. His monotheistic worship of Aton opposed the polytheistic pantheon of gods, led by Amon, which preceded his reforms and which was quickly restored afterwards.

The work also lacks any reference whatsoever to Tutankhamun, as it was published more than a decade before the discovery of this most famous tomb.

All in all, a very interesting, solid work which provides a veritable surfeit of detail about a past civilization which lasted for a time period almost as long as the human race has survived since its passing. Highly recommended.

[Amr Jamil · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was actually the first book I read for James Henry Breasted, The book is kind of big, however it's still a summary for the rise and fall of the ancient Egyptian civilization.

This book was my entry point for having an over view about the ancient Egypt civilization before start reading in depth in specific eras.

[Beth Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the read. Breasted does a very good job drawing stories from the original sources, while still lightly touching on what the observable facts are - or were at the time.

His admiration for some of the Pharaohs and many of their accomplishments shines through. As does his compassionate disapproval of other portions of Egyptian history. There's more opinion than in many current history books.

It was interesting reading a history written in 1905, filled with names that don't look quite right, laid out before the discovery of King Tut's tomb, among other aspects of modern scholarship.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

For the serious Egyptologist, this book should be in your collection! Written by one of my favorite Egyptologists (and not just because he was from Illinois like myself and was a professor of Egyptology at Chicago's Oriental Institute), J.H. Breasted chronicles everything known about Ancient Egypt and the Neart East at the time (with the exception of Tutankhamun, whose tomb had not been found yet) with the most keen and passionate eye.

[Valerie]

I THINK this is the edition I read. I hope it includes all three volumes.

Breasted is dry reading, and I've tended to take his work in little gulps, and use it more for reference than sit-down reading. But if you're looking for a thorough grounding in Egyptology, this is your best place to start.

[Ahmed Wagih]

good book

[Diana Wilder · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautifully written, comprehensive classic by a giant in the study of Egypt. I am not marking the book itself down because of the issue of images, but do get the hard copy if you want the illustrations.

[Richard Andryszewski]

Fascinating but 6000 years of dynasties is a bit hard to remember.