Egypt Before the Written History: THE LOST KNOWLEDGE OF ANCIENT EGYPT

by Mohamed Ibrahim Elbassiouny, Billy Carson (foreword)

398 pages, Paperback

Published November 10, 2023

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in 2023, at 390 pages with perhaps a 1/7th of those being illustrations, Mr Elabassiouny provides a very solid if not unique introduction into wide range of subjects concerning Egypt's earliest past as he starts out with geological epochs beginning with the Precambrian and then steps you through to our current epoch, the Holocene, with short summarizations that demonstrate that all and parts of Egypt were underwater at different times, with short discussions on the various geological stratum that lay under the ground before moving into the pre and proto dynastic periods and eventually the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms to set up for deeper dive on the various stone constructions in Egypt from pyramids, to temples, to steles, raising provocative questions on how they were quarried, moved, and set up. Interspersed with talk on Hieroglyphics, ancient myths and funerary rites it makes for an interesting book, the kind that will want to make the reader dig deeper, which should be the intention of any introductory text, which is what you're getting here. Although his approach is a bit unorthodox and slightly undisciplined it's better than some introductory texts on Egypt's ancient past as Mr Elabassiouny is clearly enthused with his subject and that makes quite the difference. Not a dry read, actually an easy one, and spotted with interesting facts the type you'd only get from a very knowledgeable and studied tour guide, one not totally bought in on how Egypt's ancient history is portrayed and who has spent time conversing and soliciting opinions from the many professional and educated persons who have come to Egypt to see the past. Overall, insightful and slightly provocative. My only misgiving is that it did not go deeper.